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Court rejects appeal of disabled man who killed bartender

A mentally disabled man who shot and killed a Calgary bar owner eight years ago has lost his bid to have the country’s highest court overturn his second-degree murder conviction.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, ruling that the lower court judge did not fail to consider all the relevant evidence in convicting Adrian Walle for killing Jeffrey Shuckburgh in 2004.

Walle shot Shuckburgh, 29, while he was being escorted out of Shuckaluck’s Pub in southwest Calgary.

Walle had concealed a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle and brought it into the bar.

He was initially found guilty of manslaughter, but the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned that decision and ordered a new trial.

In 2008, Walle was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

That ruling was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2010. Walle’s lawyers argued his conviction should be reduced to manslaughter.

But a three-judge panel dismissed their contention that Walle’s reduced mental capacity — plus his consumption of alcohol that night — meant he could not have formed the intent necessary for a murder conviction.

Last year the Supreme Court of Canada granted Walle leave to appeal his conviction.