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‘Remorseful’ Olsen sentenced for accidental shooting death of Red Deer woman

May 25, 2018 | 7:30 PM

Lyndon Olsen says he’d never do anything to harm Randee Stewart, and that he loved her.

Unfortunately, Olsen’s careless actions led to Stewart being shot and killed in Red Deer on Feb. 1, 2017.

He was first charged with manslaughter with a firearm, but in January pleaded guilty lesser count of criminal negligence causing death with a firearm.

Friday in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench Olsen was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, minus 1.5 times credit for time spent in custody, leaving him with 30 months and 20 days left to serve.

In the minutes leading up to Stewart’s death she and Olsen approached the front door of a residence at 54 Avenue and 43 Street a little before 6 a.m. A video recording showed Olsen was carrying a backpack and duffle bag along with a pellet pistol and sawed-off rifle.

Stewart went back to their truck a couple minutes later while Olsen remained on the doorstep trying to get the attention of the people inside the residence. He knocked on the door and pointed the rifle at it before eventually firing the pellet gun at the surveillance camera and walking away.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Olsen returned to the truck where Stewart was sitting in the driver’s seat. He threw the duffle bag containing the sawed-off rifle into the back seat. The rifle went off, shooting Stewart in the chest.

A panicked Olsen pushed Stewart to the passenger seat of the truck and sped off toward Red Deer Regional Hospital, losing control while driving up 50A Avenue and crashing into a pole.

Olsen got out and ran into the emergency room at the hospital where he told security that his friend had been shot. He then fled the area while firefighters and paramedics attended to the crash where they found Stewart showing no signs of life.

Five days later, on Feb. 6, Olsen was arrested after RCMP intercepted a taxi cab he was riding in. He admitted to police that he had shot Stewart, but stressed that it was an accident.

“Why would I shoot her?” he was quoted as saying, “it [gun] just went off.”

Several victim impact statements were read at Friday’s sentencing hearing.

Brenda Stewart, Randee’s mother, said she hasn’t been able to return to work since her death and that sleep has been hard to come by. She also said she worries about potential further harm toward her family.

“Are Lyndon’s friends going to try to silence us?” she wondered.

Brenda added, “No words can describe the pain that I feel.”

Randee’s father Dean Stewart talked about the void created by her death.

“Part of me died when I lost my daughter,” he said remorsefully. “But that’s small in comparison to what the kids lost. [They’re serving a] life sentence without their mother.”

Brenda and Dean are now raising Randee’s two children, daughter Aubrey who turns five next week, and 2-year-old son Knox. The couple is currently going through family court in a bid to maintain custody of the children.

Defence lawyer Maurice Collard went into great detail regarding Olsen’s troubled background. The 35-year-old grew up in a home where his mother and stepfather abused alcohol and drugs. Olsen’s mother also experienced domestic violence at the hands of boyfriends as he grew older. He fell into drugs and alcohol by the time he placed in foster care and dropped out of high school at the age of 15.

Olsen said he feels incredible remorse over Stewart’s death.

“There are no words or anything I can do to bring back your daughter or take away the pain,” he told Stewart’s family. “I really cared for her.”

Olsen admitted he thought about suicide following Stewart’s death before realizing “taking the easy way out” wouldn’t solve anything.

“I’m not feeling sorry for myself… I’m prepared to deal with it,” he added, saying he plans to do everything he can to get his life together

In announcing his decision, Justice E.S. Simpson explained that he started with a six-year sentence before removing one year in recognition of Olsen’s early guilty plea and six months relating to the facts included in the Pre-sentence Report and Gladue report that were presented.

A Gladue report is a type of pre-sentencing and bail hearing report that a Canadian court can request when considering sentencing an offender of Aboriginal background.

“While the actual firing [of the rifle]may have been an accident… his actions leading up to it showed arrogance,” Simpson said.

The Crown asked for a sentence of four to six years in prison while the defence sought four years.

Olsen’s extensive criminal record features 106 previous convictions for property, persons, weapons and driving-related offences.