Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal of Calgary murderer who killed teen, fled to Vietnam
Lukas Strasser-Hird, 18, was beaten and stabbed to death outside a nightclub in 2013
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the appeal of a Calgary murderer who once fled the country ahead of his trial.
Nathan Gervais was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019. Gervais killed Lukas Strasser-Hird, 18, outside a nightclub in 2013.
Strasser-Hird was swarmed, beaten and stabbed to death by a group after he called out someone who had used a racial slur against a bouncer at the Vinyl nightclub.
Gervais retrieved a knife from his car and stabbed the victim three times.
As he was swarmed and beaten, Strasser-Hird begged for his life.
Judgments in Leave Applications rendered today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCCLeaveApplication?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCCLeaveApplication</a> <a href="https://t.co/BkJ31TL3zi">https://t.co/BkJ31TL3zi</a>
—@SCC_engLast year, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld Gervais' conviction.
The killer's lawyers asked the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the case but on Thursday morning, the country's top court said it would not hear the appeal.
Several young men were charged in Strasser-Hird's death but just weeks before the 2016 trial, Gervais fled the country.
Following the 2016 trial, Franz Cabrera and Assmar Shlah were convicted of second-degree murder, while Joch Pouk was convicted of manslaughter. A fourth man was acquitted.
Gervais was eventually arrested in Vietnam in 2018 and brought back to Canada to face trial.
He is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.