Calgarian facing foreclosure biked to his dealer's house and shot him in 2-decade-old cold case, court hears

Broke and facing his home's foreclosure, a Calgary man grabbed a Halloween mask and gun, pedalled on his bicycle to his drug dealer's apartment and shot him in the head in a robbery gone wrong, the prosecution alleged as the trial began Monday in a two-decade-old homicide.

Paul Hepher was known around Calgary for his music and was among the performers at the city's inaugural folk festival.

He was also a small-time marijuana dealer killed at the age of 50 in a "botched robbery" in his northwest Calgary basement apartment in 2001, prosecutor Gord Haight told court Monday.

Terrance Wardale is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Hepher, who died sometime between Feb. 28 and March 4, 2001.

Although the case went cold for police, an undercover investigation more than a decade later netted a confession and new DNA evidence, giving police what they needed to charge Wardale, court heard Monday.

• DNA leads to arrest 16 years after shooting death of Calgary musician

Back in 2001, Wardale, then 45, was a client of Hepher's. He was also broke.

Wardale's home was about to be foreclosed on and he figured Hepher might keep cash in his home.

"He was desperate," Haight alleged in the prosecution's opening statement. 

According to what Wardale told police, he bought a Halloween mask depicting an older man and jumped on his bicycle, headed for Hepher's northwest apartment. He also brought a loaded handgun and tape, the prosecution alleges.

'Things went awry'

Once there, he ordered Hepher on the ground with a plan to tape him up and rob him, according to what he told undercover officers, Haight told court — but then things went "awry."

Here's what the prosecution alleges occurred:

Hepher fought back.

At some point during the struggle, Hepher ripped Wardale's mask off, revealing his identity.

"The accused shot Paul Hepher once in the side of the head, killing him," said Haight. "After an unsuccessful attempt at locating Mr. Hepher's money, he then left."

Although Wardale was always considered a person of interest, police did not have enough evidence following their initial investigation to lay charges. 

Undercover investigation

In 2014, police reactivated the case and launched an undercover investigation.

During that, Wardale "freely admitted in considerable detail" that he had killed Hepher, Haight alleged in court.

He also told officers he sold the murder weapon to an acquaintance, court heard. Police were able to track the gun down and found Hepher's DNA on it, court heard.

After his arrest on April 13, 2017, Wardale also confessed to officers, according to Haight.

The five-week trial is being presided over by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Blair Nixon.

Defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli is representing Wardale and will make his case after the Crown calls all its witnesses.