By Sheldon Spackman

Closing Arguments Wrap Up

Decision expected in May in Red Deer murder trial

Mar 24, 2021 | 10:43 AM

A decision will be made later this spring regarding the fate of an O’Chiese First Nation man charged in a fatal Red Deer stabbing two years ago.

Closing arguments in 39-year-old Quentin Strawberry’s murder trial wrapped up in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday, with Justice Marilyn Slawinsky expected to announce her verdict on May 10.

Strawberry faces counts of second-degree murder and assault in the March 29, 2019 stabbing death of 45-year-old Joseph Gallant and an attack on his common-law partner, Amanda Carter.

Gallant suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest from a machete at his Grandview residence early that morning, with the identity of the attacker being the primary issue at trial.

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According to an Agreed Statement of Facts, four individuals attended Gallant’s residence on 40A Avenue the night of March 28, 2019 where he resided with Carter. Among those who attended were Quentin Strawberry, Jennifer Caswell, and another man and woman who were not charged following the incident.

Carter testified during trial that Gallant told her in his dying moments that it was Strawberry who stabbed him – a claim the Crown argued offers the best evidence of who the deadly attacker was.

Defence lawyer Maurice Colllard, however, suggested Gallant was high on a potentially lethal amount of fentanyl and crystal meth that evening, with Carter either high or in withdrawal at the time, making her testimony unreliable.

Collard also suggested there’s no one who can put the murder weapon in Strawberry’s hands, given a lack of Strawberry’s DNA found on the machete. Collard suggested it was the other man at the residence that night who attacked Gallant.

Caswell pleaded guilty last September to assault causing bodily harm for her role in the incident and was sentenced to eight months in prison, satisfied by time already served.

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