Calgary man fatally shot over drug debt, jury hears

A three-week murder trial got underway Monday for a man accused of a fatal shooting motivated by a drug debt.

Sam Barbera is on trial on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Jonathan Huebner, 39, who was killed in a garage in the city's southeast on June 14, 2022. 

Details of the crime come from an opening statement delivered by prosecutor Michelle Parhar.

Jurors heard that on the morning of the shooting, Huebner arrived at the garage where Barbera and his girlfriend were living.

'A gunshot rang out'

Parhar told jurors that the evidence will show Huebner was there to collect a drug debt from Barbera.

Heated words were exchanged and "eventually the two men got into a physical fight," said Parhar.

Huebner began walking out of the garage with his friend and girlfriend. 

"A gunshot rang out," the prosecutor told jurors.

Neighbours tried to save victim

Huebner had been shot in the back with a shotgun.

Two neighbours arrived, called 911 and provided first aid but Huebner died. 

When police searched the garage and the home, officers found a shotgun in the basement laundry suite.

In the hours after the shooting, jurors heard that Barbera loaded garbage bags and crates with his personal items and got into a taxi.

Police pulled over the cab a short distance away and Barbera was arrested.

Parhar and Tara Wells are prosecuting the case. They indicated a plan to call eyewitnesses to the shooting, neighbours, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy and police witnesses. 

Justice David Labrenz is presiding over the three-week trial.

Barbera is represented by defence lawyer Katherin Beyak.