Homicide suspect pleads guilty to unrelated assaults

By Delon Shurtz on June 15, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 45-year-old man accused of killing another man during a confrontation last month, has received a short jail sentence for two unrelated assaults more than a year ago.
Sheldon Nicholas LePage pleaded guilty Monday in Lethbridge provincial court to two counts of assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
The first assault occurred on April 9, 2021 at the city’s soup kitchen where LePage struck Amber Bahadur Khadka in the face, knocking him down. The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for scrapes on his face and a bloody lip. The second assault occurred a couple of weeks later, again at the soup kitchen, where LePage repeatedly punched another man in the face.
Although sentenced to 30 days on each charge, to run concurrently, LePage was given full credit for time he has already spent in remand custody, effectively concluding his sentence.
The Crown noted LePage has a lengthy criminal record, which includes repeated convictions for assaults at the homeless shelter and soup kitchen.
Lethbridge lawyer Tracy Hembroff pointed out the assault charges were adjourned many times, and at one point had been scheduled for trial, then a warrant issued for LePage’s arrest. Instead of rescheduling a trial for the assaults, Hembroff changed the previous not-guilty pleas to guilty, and the matters were resolved with the short jail term.
LePage, who appeared in court by CCTV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, remains in custody on a charge of manslaughter and is still waiting to have a bail hearing on that charge.
The manslaughter charge stems from an incident at about 8:30 p.m. on May 5 of this year when the victim from the assault on April 9, 2021, 44-year-old Amber Khadka, was approached by a man near the intersection of 8 Street and 2 Avenue North.
During an argument, the man struck Khadka, knocking him down and causing him to strike his head on the ground.
w The assailant left the area, but was found by police and arrested later in the day.
Police said the two men knew each other and the altercation was targeted at the victim. An autopsy May 9 confirmed the cause of death as a homicide.

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