Teen killed in rural field feared he'd be shot by ex's boyfriend, now on trial for murder

Two hours after Kalix Langenau texted his ex-girlfriend and arranged to meet up, he was shot in the back of the head at close range by her boyfriend, according to the theory presented by the prosecution on Day 1 of Hunter Van Mackelberg's trial.

Van Mackelberg was 19 when he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kalix Langenau, also 19, whose body was found in a field east of Balzac, Alta., in February 2020.

In a Calgary courtroom Monday, Langenau was described in a friend's testimony "as someone who loved the idea of love."

He hated drugs and being around anyone who was high. He had just enrolled at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) but dropped out because he was scared of the man now on trial for his murder.

Two couples at centre of case

The case involves two women, Madeline Kot and and another teen, SB, who was a youth at the time. 

In 2017-18, Van Mackelberg was dating the younger teen and Langenau dated Kot.

But that summer, the two pairs had split, and by the fall of 2018, Van Mackelberg was dating Kot while Langenau and SB were a couple.

The two men knew each other only through their girlfriends, according to witnesses.

Prosecutor Ron Simenik told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Glen Poelman that evidence will show Van Mackelberg's animosity toward Langenau grew through 2019 and into 2020.

'Madeline and Hunter are out to get me'

Langenau's aunt testified that the windows of her nephew's car were shot out in the spring of 2019. Kelly Watkiss said Langenau "believed Hunter and Madeline did it."

Around that same time, Langenau told his aunt he'd heard "Hunter was going to shoot him."

"I'm in trouble," Langenau told his aunt. "Madeline and Hunter are out to get me."

That November, Watkiss helped her nephew get a job in B.C. after he said he "needed to get out of town."

Langenau came back to Calgary twice; once for Christmas 2019 and again in February 2020.

Victim told friend he 'made a boo boo'

By February 2020, Langenau had broken up with SB but Van Mackelberg and Kot were living together. 

On Valentine's Day, Langenau texted his close friend Kayla-Dawn Beavers, telling her he'd made a "boo boo," explaining that he had "texted Maddy," meaning he had reached out to Kot.

Cellphone data shows Van Mackelberg called Langenau just before midnight. The call lasted two minutes.

At 12:19 a.m. on Feb. 15, Beavers received a final message from her friend: "I made a bigger boo boo."

Beavers texted Langenau back just after 1 a.m. but never heard back. 

Kot makes plan to meet Langenau

According to a statement of agreed facts, five minutes after sending Beavers the "bigger boo boo" text, security camera footage shows Langenau leaving his mother's house.

In the previous 24 hours, Kot and Langenau had exchanged 50 text messages, which had ended in the pair planning to meet at the Balzac Costco parking lot, where they arrived around 1:30 a.m.

Closed-circuit TV footage also shows Van Mackelberg following his girlfriend's vehicle to the location. 

The Crown's theory, according to Simenik, is that in the parking lot, Van Mackelberg confronted Langenau with a shotgun.

"He confronts him at gunpoint, enters Kalix's vehicle and directs that he drive," said the prosecutor.

Van Mackelberg calls his dad

Simenik said the theory is the victim was forced to drive to a nearby rural property familiar to the Van Mackelberg family. The vehicle then got stuck in the snow.

"It's our theory the accused then walks Kalix into a grassy bog in a field where he shoots him in the back of the head at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun."

Simenik told the judge that Van Mackelberg called his father to come pick him up afterward.

Randy Van Mackelberg was living at a nearby hotel. According to cellphone data, his son called him four times between 2:20 and 2:31 a.m.

Security camera video from the Balzac Days Inn shows Randy leaving the hotel and getting into his truck at 2:27 a.m. The hotel is nine kilometres from where Langenau's body was discovered.

Body found in field

Kot arrived home sometime between 2:30 a.m. to 3 a.m., with Van Mackelberg arriving at 3:09 a.m., according to the agreed facts.

On Feb. 16, the truck Langenau had been driving was found abandoned in a farmer's field.

The next day, an RCMP search team found the victim's body face down in the snow. He had been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun by someone standing less than a metre away. 

By Feb. 24, Van Mackelberg was arrested and charged with murder.

Witnesses' evidence not yet accepted

All of Monday's witnesses testified as part of a voir dire, meaning the judge has not yet ruled on whether their evidence is admissible. 

Defence lawyer Andre Ouellette pointed out in the cross-examinations of Beavers that Langenau also had a recent conflict with SB's new boyfriend, a man named Dylan. 

Beavers confirmed to Ouellette that SB had picked up Langenau from the airport when he'd arrived for his February visit.

The judge-alone trial is set to last three weeks.