Jurors begin deliberations in trial of men accused in Alberta highway shooting

Jurors have started deliberations in the second-degree murder trial of two men accused of shooting a stranger on a southern Alberta highway who had stopped to check on a burning vehicle.

A Crown prosecutor argues that all the pieces of evidence make it clear that only Arthur Penner and Elijah Strawberry could have been responsible.

Defence lawyers have said the shooters can’t be identified as their faces were covered.

Colin Hough, who worked for Rocky View Country, was shot on the road east of Calgary, on Aug. 6, 2024.

He died soon after in hospital.

Court heard Matthew Andres, a power company worker, was first shot and wounded when two men drove up and he was shot through the arm.

The assailants then took his truck but it got stuck and, when Hough pulled up minutes later to see what was going on, he was shot and his vehicle was taken.

On Friday, Court of King’s Bench Justice Shane Parker reminded the jurors to keep an open mind and focus only on the evidence they have heard in the three-week trial.