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Calgary homicide victim Jonathan Huebner was fatally shot in the back with a single blast as he left a southeast residential garage after a dispute over a drug debt, court heard Monday.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Parkhar said in her opening statement to the jury at the Calgary Crown Court that Huebner’s death occurred after he got into a physical altercation with murder suspect Sam Frank Barbera.

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Parkhar said Huebner, his girlfriend and another man went to the garage where Barbera and his girlfriend lived around 8 a.m. on June 14, 2022.

“The three of them went into the garage through the overhead door, which was open when they arrived,” said Parhar, who along with co-defendant Tara Wells will try to convict Barbera on a charge of second-degree murder.

“When they walked in, they saw Sam Barbera … and his girlfriend, Ms. (Sydney) L’Heraud,” Parkhar said, detailing the Crown’s pending case.

L’Heraud and Huebner’s girlfriend, Tricia Daintree, went to a utility room that was separate from the main area of ​​the garage while the three men remained.

“I hope you hear the evidence that Jonathan Guebner was there to collect a drug debt, some money that Sam Barbera owed,” she said.

“There was an exchange of words between Jonathan Huebner and Sam Barbera. Eventually the two men get into a physical fight,” Parkhar said.

“A few minutes later, Trisha Daintree came out of the back room. She started to leave the garage with (two men).

“When the three of them left the garage and approached the car parked right in front of the door, a shot rang out. Jonathan Huebner was shot in the back with a shotgun.”

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Parkhar said this was confirmed by an autopsy conducted by medical examiner Dr. Lucy Bradley. “You will hear evidence that this shot caused his death.”

Two neighbors arrived at the scene, called 911 and administered first aid to the victim, “who was then lying shot in the alley behind the garage.”

“Later that evening, police searched the attached garage as well as the main residence on the property. A gun was found in the basement laundry room of the residence. It was a 12-gauge shotgun.”

That day, Barbera was seen loading bags and boxes of personal belongings into a waiting taxi.

Parhar told jurors that property seized shortly after the defendant’s arrest contained five rifles consistent with the weapons found in the laundry room.

Consideration of the case will last two weeks.

Deadly shooting victim beat his alleged killer while incarcerated, jurors heard

A fatal shooting victim whose body was dumped in a Mount Royal alley had previously beaten his alleged killer while the pair were serving time, a prosecutor said Monday.

In his opening address to the jury at the Calgary Crown Court, Crown attorney Peter McKenzie said the killing of Sean McCormack at a southeast Calgary residence was a premeditated and premeditated murder.

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And McKenzie told jurors that the victim’s ex-girlfriend played a hand in his death by helping Devon Shedrick track him down before the fatal encounter.

McKenzie said McCormack’s former intimate partner, Laura Lavorato, encouraged Shedrick to confront and hurt the victim.

“The prosecution will allege and prove beyond a reasonable doubt against Laura Lavorato that she helped Devon Shedrick find Sean McCormack and instigated Shedrick to confront McCormack with the intent to harm him,” McKenzie said.

The prosecutor said Lavorato, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, only wanted Shedrick to commit aggravated assault on her ex, not kill him.

Lavorato is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the July 2, 2022, shooting death of McCormack at her Southeast residence.

Shedrick is charged with first degree murder.

“The difference between Devon Shedrick and Laura Lavorato is what they wanted to do with Sean McCormack,” McKenzie said.

He said that while the Crown did not have to prove motive, both had reason to want the deceased to cause harm.

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“Devon Shedrick was brutally beaten by Sean McCormack while both were incarcerated at the Calgary Detention Center on June 6, 2022,” McKenzie said.

“Laura Lavorato had an intimate relationship with Sean McCormack, had a conflict with him over illicit drug use, and alleged that he was violent towards her.”

The prosecutor said Shedrick took a firearm to the confrontation he was about to have with McCormack and “shot (him) at a distance with the intent to kill him.”

McKenzie said jurors will hear from four civilian witnesses, including a detention center inmate who spoke with Shedrick while they were in custody together in August 2022.

“All the defendants, the deceased and four key civilian witnesses live in a world that includes drug use and menial employment,” jurors were told.

“Some of the witnesses have criminal records. They use nicknames and street names for people and drugs, and we’re going to have to work on that to understand the nicknames and street names.”

But McKenzie warned jurors not to use Lavorato and Shedrick’s lifestyle as evidence of their guilt.

Consideration of the case will last three weeks.

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