Calgary man convicted in double murder freed after court of appeal finds 'serious flaws' in verdict

A Calgary man serving a life sentence for two counts of murder should not have been found guilty, said the province's top court Monday in its decision to overturn the convictions and enter acquittals. 

The Alberta Court of Appeal found “serious flaws” in the trial judge's analysis of the evidence, which led to an “unreasonable verdict.”

Gerald Benn will now be released from prison. He's been in custody for more than five years since his arrest in September 2020.

“A conviction cannot be supported by this evidence,” wrote the Alberta Court of Appeal in its decision, siding with Benn’s appeal lawyer, Alias Sanders. 

The finding aligns with what Benn’s original lawyer, Andrea Urquhart, argued at trial.

On Aug. 8, 2020, three men were shot inside a vehicle in Calgary's northwest community of Sandstone Valley. Abas Ahmed Ibrahim, 27, and Mohamed Khalid Shaikh, 19, were killed. Dimetri Marr was injured but survived.

In 2023, following a trial, Court of King’s Bench Justice Nick Devlin found that Benn was the shooter based on the accused’s fingerprints and DNA found on two bags discovered in the trunk of the vehicle used in the shooting. 

But of the 27 fingerprints found on a Walmart bag, only four were Benn’s. The other 23 were never identified. 

Benn’s DNA was also found on a Wendy’s bag, but prosecutor Doug Taylor did not call any evidence of when or how it had been deposited. 

Devlin also relied on low quality, pixilated CCTV footage of the shooting to find that the shooter and Benn had “similarities.” 

The appeal court noted that there was a “unique danger” raised when the judge compared the grainy video of the shooter with high-quality images of Benn taken during his arrest. That is, the decision says, “the risk that a trier of fact viewing poor quality video images of an unidentified perpetrator and comparing it to high-quality video image of the prime suspect would unconsciously expect to see significant similarities between the two."

The appeal panel also pointed out that despite the video showing the shooter touching the vehicle he was in with his bare hands, Benn’s fingerprints were not found on or inside the car. 

There was also no evidence presented of any connection between the two other men in the shooter's vehicle and Benn. 

During the trial, the Crown said the shooting, which was captured on CCTV footage from a nearby business, took place over a botched $700-$900 drug deal.