On a rural road east of Calgary, a flat tire set in motion a chain of violence that claimed the life of Colin Hough, a 45-year-old man whose instinct to help a stranger in distress became his last act. After more than three weeks of trial and a day of deliberation, a jury found Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery — a verdict that answers the question of legal responsibility even as questions about who pulled the trigger remain, by the defense's telling, unanswered. The case stands as a reminder that in the eyes of the law, shared purpose can car
Two men convicted of murdering Good Samaritan in rural Calgary carjacking
Colin Hough, 45, was fatally shot; Matthew Andres was shot in the arm but survived; both were targeted during a carjacking on a rural road.
No one is able to tell you who did it in this case
Mark
So the jury convicted both men on circumstantial evidence alone? No one actually testified to seeing them shoot anyone?
Mimi
That's right. The DNA linked them to the scene and the vehicles, but the defense made a point of saying no witness identified either man as the shooter. The Crown argued the totality of the evidence—two stolen vehicles, two robberies, one death—pointed to both of them being responsible.
Luke
But here's what I want to flag: we don't know why the attempted murder charges were dropped. That matters. If the Crown couldn't make that stick, what does that tell us about the strength of the identification evidence?
Mark
The defense lawyers seemed confident the jury would see the holes.
Mimi
They did argue it forcefully. Seaman said the puzzle had too many missing pieces. Snukal said there was no photo lineup, no witness pointing at Strawberry. But the jury disagreed with that assessment.
Luke
The question is whether the jury convicted on the strength of the DNA and circumstantial pattern, or whether there was witness testimony we're not seeing clearly in this reporting. The source doesn't spell out exactly what Andres testified to—did he identify either man?
Mark
That's a fair point. We know Andres was shot and survived, but the reporting doesn't say he identified his shooter.
Mimi
And that's probably significant. If the person who was shot couldn't identify them, the Crown's case really does rest on the stolen vehicles, the DNA, and the theory that both men were present and responsible.
Luke
Which is why the jury's decision in less than 24 hours is interesting. Either the evidence was overwhelming, or the jury found the circumstantial case persuasive enough. We can't quite tell which from what's here.
The Pulse
- A stolen truck with a flat tire on a remote Alberta highway triggered a cascade of violence that left one Good Samaritan dead and another man shot and running for his life.
- The Crown built its case without a single witness who could name who fired the fatal shots — a gap the defense called a puzzle with too many missing pieces.
- DNA evidence recovered from the scene and from Hough's stolen truck tied both men to the crime, anchoring a circumstantial case that ultimately persuaded the jury.
- Attempted murder charges were quietly withdrawn mid-trial, leaving jurors to deliberate on murder and robbery counts alone — and instructed not to wonder why.
- After 24 hours of deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts for both men, closing the legal chapter on a killing that began with smoke rising from a burning truck.
On a rural road east of Calgary, a flat tire set in motion a chain of violence that claimed the life of Colin Hough, a 45-year-old man whose instinct to help a stranger in distress became his last act. After more than three weeks of trial and a day of deliberation, a jury found Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery — a verdict that answers the question of legal responsibility even as questions about who pulled the trigger remain, by the defense's telling, unanswered. The case stands as a reminder that in the eyes of the law, shared purpose can carry the same weight as the hand that holds the gun.
In August 2024, a flat tire on a remote highway east of Calgary set off a sequence of events that would end with one man dead and two others facing murder convictions. Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner, driving a stolen truck, were stranded when surveyor Matthew Andres pulled nearby. A masked figure shot Andres in the arm, demanded his keys, and drove his truck into a ditch. Andres ran, certain he was about to die. Behind him, the stolen truck was set on fire.
When Colin Hough, 45, saw the smoke and pulled over in his Rocky View County truck to investigate, two figures rushed him. Three or four shots were fired. A passing semi-trailer's camera captured a figure collapsing in the road. Strawberry and Penner fled in Hough's truck, which was found abandoned hours later. Penner was arrested five days after the shooting; Strawberry was located a month later, hiding on the O'Chiese First Nation.
The Crown's case was built on circumstantial evidence — DNA from the scene and from inside Hough's truck matched both defendants. Prosecutor Photini Papadatou told jurors the case involved two shooters, two guns, two stolen vehicles, and one death, and that both men bore full responsibility. The defense countered that no witness had ever identified either man at the scene, that no photo lineups were conducted, and that the evidence left too many gaps to support conviction.
Attempted murder charges against both men were withdrawn mid-trial without explanation; the judge instructed jurors not to speculate. After more than three weeks of evidence and roughly 24 hours of deliberation, the jury found both men guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery. Matthew Andres survived. Colin Hough did not.
A jury in Calgary took just over a day to decide that Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner were guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of Colin Hough, a 45-year-old man who stopped to help on a rural road east of the city in August 2024.
The sequence of events that led to the verdict began when Strawberry and Penner were driving a stolen truck that developed a flat tire on a remote stretch of highway. Matthew Andres, a surveyor working for Fortis Alberta in the area, was nearby when the disabled vehicle came to a stop. A masked figure emerged from the truck, walked toward Andres, and shot him in the arm before demanding his keys. Andres told the shooter the keys were in his truck and said to take it. He believed in that moment he would not survive. He ran as the shooter drove his truck into a ditch nose-first. Behind him, the stolen truck with the flat tire was set ablaze.
Then Colin Hough arrived. He saw the smoke and flames from the burning vehicle and pulled over in his Rocky View County truck to investigate. Two figures rushed toward his vehicle and fired three or four shots. Video footage from a nearby semi-trailer driver captured a figure collapsing in the middle of the road. Strawberry and Penner drove away in Hough's truck, which was found abandoned hours later.
The Crown's case rested on circumstantial evidence. DNA recovered from items at the scene and from inside Hough's stolen truck matched both defendants. Penner was arrested five days after the shooting. Strawberry was found a month later hiding in a home on the O'Chiese First Nation. During closing arguments, prosecutor Photini Papadatou told jurors the case involved two shooters, two guns, two stolen vehicles, two robberies, and one death, and that both men bore responsibility for all of it.
But the defense pushed back hard on the gaps in the Crown's narrative. Penner's lawyer, Alex Seaman, reminded jurors they had heard no testimony identifying who actually fired the shots at either Andres or Hough. "No one is able to tell you who did it in this case," Seaman said, describing the evidence as a puzzle with too many missing pieces to form a reliable picture. Rebecca Snukal, representing Strawberry, argued the Crown's case was riddled with holes. She pointed out that no witness had testified to seeing Strawberry at the scene, that there were no photo lineups, and no moment where anyone had pointed him out.
The trial had begun with attempted murder charges against both men, but those were withdrawn mid-trial without explanation to the jury. The judge simply informed them he was entering acquittals and instructed them not to speculate about why. After more than three weeks of evidence, jurors began deliberating on Friday afternoon. By Saturday, they had reached their verdict: guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery. Andres survived his wound. Hough did not.
Notable Quotes
It's the Crown's position that the offences before you involve two shooters, two guns, two stolen vehicles, two robberies, one death and both these men are responsible.— Prosecutor Photini Papadatou
No one is able to tell you who did it in this case. This puzzle has too many missing pieces to reveal a reliable picture.— Alex Seaman, Penner's defense lawyer
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