Friend of Superstore double murderer sees manslaughter conviction overturned

Alberta's top court has overturned the manslaughter conviction of a Calgary man who was found guilty of helping his friend murder two people in a Superstore parking lot.

Christian Ouellette fatally shot Colin Reitberger and Anees Amr on May 21, 2017.

Ouellette was convicted of first-degree murder for Reitberger's death and second-degree murder for Amr's killing. He was handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 40 years.

The Court of Appeal of Alberta rejected Ouellette's bid for a new trial but for co-accused Blais Delaire, who was convicted of manslaughter with a firearm, thecourt substituted an acquittal.

Delaire was convicted based on text messages with Ouellette as well as conversations with his friend that he relayed to an undercover police officer.

The trial judge,Justice Earl Wilson, ruled Delaire had offered "words of encouragement" to Ouellette ahead of the shooting.

But the court of appeal foundWilson did not consider all of the times Delaire told Ouellette not to shoot Reitberger.

"I said, 'don't do it, bro,'" Delaire told an undercover officer. "I actually told Christian not to do it."

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The appeal judges agreed with Delaire's lawyer Brian Beresh andruled the Crown had not met its burden of proof for a manslaughter conviction.

"Delaire essentially told the police agent a story about his interactions with Ouellette," reads the decision.

The night they were killed, Amr and Reitberger were at a barbecue at a friend's house in southeast Calgary.

Reitberger told his girlfriend he planned to meet someone at the Earl's restaurant on 130th Avenue S.E.

Amr went with him.

Ouellette had lured Reitberger to the Superstore in whatWilson described as an "ambush."

Amr was shot as he ran from thegunshots.