A Calgary jury has found Arthur Penner, 37, and Elijah Strawberry, 29, guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery in the August 2024 shooting death of Rocky View County employee Colin Hough. The verdict, delivered after 14 hours of deliberation, also convicted the men for the armed robbery of surveyor Matthew Andres, who was shot in the arm during the encounter. Justice Shane Parker acquitted the pair on attempted murder charges.

A 14-hour deliberation and a prosecutor embraced in court

According to reporting from The Canadian Press, Hough's wife, Laurie, embraced prosecutor Photini Popadatou after the verdict, saying, "I love you." The moment underscored the emotional weight of a case that began on August 6, 2024, when Hough—a 45-year-old public works employee—was fatallly shot on a rural road east of Calgary. The jury recommended parole ineligibility periods ranging from 10 to 25 years, though final sentencing will not come quickly.

How dashcam video and shell casings built the case

Trial evidence included dashcam footage from a semi-trailer driver that showed a figure collapse at the scene . Forensics found a .45-calibre bullet where Hough fell and a nine-millimetre shell casing near Andres's wound site. Although Andres could not positively identify the masked attackers, the physical evidence—combined with the later abandonment of Hough's vehicle and the arson of the suspects' truck—provided the foundation for the convictions. Penner was arrested five days after the shooting; Strawberry was captured a month later hiding on the O'Chiese First Nation.

Why sentencing is delayed until at least late 2026

Both Penner and Strawberry face mandattory life sentences for second-degree murder, but the court has postponed sentencing arguments pending completion of a Gladue report for each defendant and a forensic mental health assessment for Strawberry. The Gladue reports, required by Canadian law for Indigenous offenders, consider systemic factors and background. The source notes that the sentencing hearing will not take place until after October 16, 2026, meaning the process may stretch into November. This timeline leaves the victims' families in a prolonged wait for final closure.

The acquittals and the masks that hid the attackers' faces

A notable aspect of the verdict is that the defendants were acquitted of attempted murder charges. the source reports that Justice Shane Parker dismissed those counts, likely reflecting the difficulty of proving intent beyond a reasonable doubt for the shooting of Andres, who survived... The case underscores a recurring challenge in rural crime prosecutions: when witnesses cannot identify masked assailants, forensic and circumstantial evidence must carry the burden. The open question remains what drove Penner and Strawberry to the remote road that day—the source offers no clear motive, and the trial did not appear to produce one.. Without that context, the public is left with a sequence of violence but not its cause.

An echo of rural carjacking patterns across Alberta

The Hough killing fits a broader trend of violent carjackings and vehicle thefts in rural Alberta, where isolated roads and limited police presence create opportunities for such crimes. The incident also involved arson and the theft of Hough's vehicle, which was later found abandoned. As the community of Rocky View County grapples with the aftermath, the case serves as a reminder of the human toll behind crime statistics. The convictions offer a degree of relief , but the long sentencing delay and unanswered questions about the attack's origins mean the full story remains incomplete.