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Preliminary inquiry begins for men accused of killing Good Samaritan in rural shooting

A preliminary inquiry got underway Monday for the two men accused of shooting a Good Samaritan in a fatal carjacking east of Calgary.

Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner each face a murder charge in death of Colin Hough

Meghan Grant · CBC News ·
A man in an orange work vest smiles and waves.
Colin Hough died last August when he was shot on a rural road east of Calgary while working as a Rocky View County employee. (gofundme.com)

A preliminary inquiry got underway Monday for the two men accused of shooting a Good Samaritan last summer in a fatal carjacking east of Calgary.

Elijah Blake Strawberry, 29, and Arthur Wayne Penner, 36, each face a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Rocky View County employee Colin Hough, 45, who was killed in August 2024.

Both men have also been charged with attempted murder. 

The purpose of a preliminary inquiry is to determine if there is enough evidence to send a case to trial. 

Strawberry's lawyer, Rebecca Snukal, requested a publication ban in order to protect her client's right to a fair trial. 

Hough left behind wife, sons

Hough, 45, was killed and a FortisAlberta employee was injured on Aug. 6 at a rural intersection north of Chestermere.

Police alleged the suspects set their broken, stolen truck on fire with a plan to steal the FortisAlberta truck.

Hough spotted the fire and pulled over, believing the two men near the flaming vehicle needed help.

Hough and the FortisAlberta employee were shot. 

The Fortis employee survived. Hough died, leaving behind a wife and two young sons.

Month-long manhunt

The suspects drove away in Hough's Rocky View County truck but dumped it about 40 kilometres away from the shooting scene. 

Penner was arrested five days later. 

A manhunt for Strawberry lasted more than a month before he was found on the O'Chiese First Nation. 

Strawberry has a violent criminal history.

He finished serving a prison sentence last June after pleading guilty to crimes that involved fleeing police in a stolen vehicle and possessing stolen firearms. In January 2023, Strawberry applied for parole but was denied release because he was found to be "heavily entrenched" in a prison gang and had been caught with homemade weapons.

Penner was on bail at the time of the incident, facing firearms, theft and break-and-enter charges.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meghan Grant

CBC Calgary crime reporter

Meghan Grant is a justice affairs reporter. She has been covering courts, crime and stories of police accountability in southern Alberta for more than a decade. Send Meghan a story tip at meghan.grant@cbc.ca.

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