Killer has to be re-sentenced

Prosecutors are hoping to get a convicted killer back into a Kamloops courtroom next month so he can be re-sentenced for murder.

Hugh Alexander McIntosh, 58, was convicted by a jury in 2021 of first-degree murder and attempted murder. He was the gunman in a deadly Feb. 15, 2019, shooting inside a Brocklehurst apartment.

McIntosh was armed with a concealed gun when he and an accomplice, Gordie Braaten, showed up at the home to discuss a debt. Jason Glover was shot once in the back of the head, while Kelly Callfas, a drug dealer who owed money to Braaten, was shot six times — including twice in the face.

Glover died and Callfas was lucky to survive. She was the Crown’s main witness at McIntosh’s trial.

The first-degree conviction came with an automatic life sentence and no chance of parole for 25 years.

McIntosh appealed the murder conviction. It was downgraded to second-degree earlier this year after a B.C. Court of Appeal panel ruled the evidence did not reasonably support the first-degree conviction.

Gunman still behind bars

The ruling will result in less jail time for McIntosh, but his sentence will still be life.

Both first-degree and second-degree murder carry a mandatory life sentence — the difference is in parole eligibility. First-degree murder comes with an automatic 25-year period of parole ineligibility, while someone convicted of second-degree murder can be paroled after as few as 10 years.

It will still be necessary for McIntosh to be re-sentenced. Lawyers will argue over the period of parole ineligibility.

During a brief hearing Monday in B.C. Supreme Court, Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan said he would like to see McIntosh re-sentenced sometime in November.

However, an issue with McIntosh’s retainer might throw a wrench in those plans. His lawyers have been given two weeks to get it sorted out.

McIntosh appeared via video on Monday from Atlantic Institution in New Brunswick, where he was sent to serve his first-degree murder sentence prior to the B.C. Court of Appeal ruling.

Braaten previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Glover’s death. He was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

Lawyers will return to court on Nov. 4 to set a date for McIntosh’s re-sentencing.