Triple-homicide suspect appears in Calgary court

A man accused of a Calgary triple murder sat silently at his first court appearance, which lasted less than a minute on Thursday.

Wearing prison overalls, Real Christian Honorio, 25, sat with his cuffed hands folded while his lawyer asked the court for time to go through evidence. The case has been adjourned until Aug. 5.

'He obviously is very overwhelmed with the media coverage and, of course, the charges.' —Tonii Roulston, defence lawyer

Honorio is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Sanjeev Mann, 22, Aaron Bendle, 21, and Keni Su'a, 43, who were gunned down in a southeast Calgary restaurant on Jan. 1.

Mann was described by police as a known gang member, while Bendle was a gang associate. Su'a was an innocent bystander who was shot in the parking lot after fleeing the restaurant.

Brad Bjarnason, Su'a's roommate and friend who took the day off to attend the court proceeding on Thursday, said he felt anger during the appearance.

"Just because Keni wasn't involved in what these guys were doing. If they could talk to him, they would realize he was no threat to them. They don't have any value for human life, and they just don't even care who they hurt," he told reporters afterward.

Police looking for other suspects

Police have said at least three masked gunmen were involved in the New Year's Day attack. Bjarnason said he hopes someone with information on the shooters comes forward.

"I'm sure you're scared and not sure what to do. But in a few minutes I can tell you the kind of person Keni was, why you should do the right thing.

"He had hopes and dreams of stuff he wanted to do in life and that was all taken away from him, so I don't think it's right that these people get to walk free after what happened to him."

Honorio's lawyer, Tonii Roulston, said she won't make a decision on applying for bail for her client until she has full disclosure of evidence from the Crown.

"He obviously is very overwhelmed with the media coverage and of course the charges," said Roulston, who said she spoke to Honorio and his family on Wednesday night.

Calls for reverse onus on bail

The case has renewed calls for broader reverse onus on bail, which would require individuals to prove why they should be released into the community, as opposed to the Crown and police making the case against it. Under Canada's Criminal Code, reverse onus can be applied to repeat violent offenders, and those charged with gun crimes.

The Calgary police union added its support Wednesday to the campaign by the Alberta government and Calgary police in lobbying the federal government for broader reverse onus.

Honorio was released on bail on Dec. 29 after being charged with dozens of drug and gun-related offences. He's alleged to have committed the deadly shootings just three days later.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the gun charges Honorio was facing could have qualified for reverse onus.

"The person is accused of firearms trafficking, possession for the purposes of weapons trafficking or firearms smuggling — or any of these things invoke the reverse onus. It is part of the Tackling Violent Crime Act," he said in an interview with CBC News.

Suspect did not meet criteria to be held

However, police consented to the release of Honorio — who had a limited criminal background — and his co-accused in the December case, when they realized reverse onus would not have worked in their favour.

"When they reviewed the package and they realized what little they had, that there was no hope based on the criteria of the Criminal Code to even ask for it, so no it wasn't asked for," confirmed police spokesman Kevin Brookwell.

"As frustrating as it might be for the police and for the public to see people like this out on bail, there are limits that the judiciary have to work with, that being the Criminal Code. So they can only do much with what exists within the Criminal Code."

Roulston again pointed out on Thursday that bail decisions are based on the Criminal Code, and that someone charged with a criminal offence in Canada is presumed innocent until proven guilty.