Accused in city homicide has case adjourned

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on June 1, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 45-year-old man accused of killing another man during a confrontation earlier in May, could seek his release from custody when he returns to court later this month.

The matter for Sheldon Nicholas LePage, who is charged with manslaughter, was in Lethbridge provincial court Tuesday, where his lawyer sought an adjournment for two weeks and told court a bail hearing would need to be held in Court of Queen’s Bench.

Judge John Maher pointed out, however, that unlike a murder charge, a bail hearing for manslaughter can be held in provincial court and he adjourned the case to June 13, ostensibly for that purpose.

LePage is also charged with failure to comply with release conditions and failure to comply with probation, both in relation to the manslaughter offence, as well as previous unrelated charges of assault and failure to comply with release conditions. Those charges also return June 13.

LePage, who is charged with the city’s first homicide of the year, was not required to attend court Tuesday. He remains in custody at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, where he has been remanded since his arrest last month.

The manslaughter charge stems from an incident at about 8:30 p.m. on May 5 when the 44-year-old victim, Amber Bahadur 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. 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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