A Rocky View County worker who stopped to investigate a burning stolen pickup truck east of Calgary was shot three times, a pathologist told a Court of King's Bench jury on Monday. However, only one of the bullets proved fatal, according to Dr. Caylea Foster.
Autopsy Findings
Dr. Foster, who performed the autopsy on Colin Hough the day after his death on August 6, 2024, testified that she found six bullet wounds on his body: three entry wounds and three exit wounds. She labeled the injuries A through F but acknowledged during cross-examination that she could not determine the order in which the wounds were inflicted.
The fatal injury, labeled C on entry and F on exit, struck Hough in the left chest. It fractured his fourth rib, hit the upper lobe of his left lung, and perforated the sac surrounding his heart. “It struck the right side of the heart and created a large gaping hole,” Foster said.
Massive Internal Bleeding
The doctor explained that the heart wound caused massive internal bleeding, with nearly a liter of blood found in his abdominal cavities. “That amount of blood, approximately a liter or so, is considered significant. You’re essentially bleeding out into your own cavities,” Foster stated. She said the wound would have caused death “on the order of minutes, or less.”
The other two bullet wounds were not fatal. One entered the right side of Hough’s upper back and exited through his right shoulder, while the other entered his left arm and exited through his chest. Foster concluded that Hough’s cause of death was the gunshot wound to the chest.
Defense Cross-Examination
During cross-examination by defense lawyers Rebecca Snukal and Alexandra Seaman, Foster agreed she could not determine the intent of the shooter or shooters. When asked, “You cannot say what a shooter was aiming at?” she replied, “No.” She also acknowledged that not all bullet wounds are fatal and that Hough might not have collapsed immediately. “Theoretically the decedent would have been able to run … for a very short period of time,” she said.
Charged with second-degree murder in Hough’s death are Elijah Blake Strawberry and Arthur Wayne Penner. The trial continues.
