'I'll be waiting': Alleged gangster facing murder charge causes courtroom drama after plea
CBC
A Calgary man facing two murder charges pleaded guilty to manslaughter in one of the cases but may be under investigation for an alleged threat he made during his plea on Thursday.
Kai Keller, 32, was accused of first-degree murder in the December 2022 fatal shooting of Ashley Mawdsley, 40, who was killed as he emerged from his southeast home after two gunmen shot at his teenage son.
Police alleged Keller has ties to gang activity in the city, and the case was prosecuted by the province's organized crime unit.
On Thursday, in the middle of pretrial motions, the Crown accepted a plea to manslaughter due to what prosecutor Brian Holtby described as "litigation risk … and the uncertainty of the jury verdict given the available evidence that the Crown had."
Justice Nick Devlin called the killing a "heinous murder of a man in front of his home, in front of his family."
"This killing had all the hallmarks of a premeditated, professionally executed assassination of a man with many of the signs of the involvement of organized crime," said Devlin, noting that Keller admitted only to a subordinate role.
Keller spent almost the entire hearing facing the gallery, staring at the friends and family of the victim.
Before handing down the sentence, Keller was given the chance to address the court.
"When I get out of the pen, I'll be waiting," Keller told a man sitting with the family in the front row of the gallery.
Later identified as a friend of the victim's family, the man responded.
"See you soon," he said before leaving the courtroom.
Defence lawyer Noel O'Brien said afterward that Keller told him that the man in the gallery had mouthed threats, prompting the staring and comment.
When asked why they didn't block the sightline to the gallery, sheriffs said their only duty was to prevent the two sides — the offender and victim's family — from physically clashing.
After court, prosecutors told Mawdsley's family that they would be requesting the courtroom security footage and would be speaking with police about the situation.
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