Douglas Garland: the case, the conviction and the sentence

In short

Douglas Garland, who lived on his parents' rural property near Airdrie, Alberta, was found guilty by a jury in Calgary in February 2017 of three counts of first-degree murder. The victims were a Calgary couple who were preparing to retire and their young grandson, who disappeared from the couple's home during the night of June 29 to 30, 2014. Their bodies were never recovered. Garland received the mandatory life sentence, and the judge ruled that he cannot apply for parole for 75 years.

What happened

On June 29, 2014, the couple held an estate sale at their home in Calgary's Parkhill neighbourhood. They were preparing to retire, planning to spend several months in Mexico and then settle in Edmonton. Their grandson, a young child, spent the day there with his mother and asked to stay the night. His mother first planned to stay as well with her youngest child, but she left around 11 p.m. to take the baby home, locking the door behind her.

The next morning, her mother did not answer the phone. When she arrived at the house to pick up her son, the door was open, the three were gone and there were clear signs of violence. She called police. The Crown later told the jury that the three had been taken from their beds during the night, driven to the Garland farm and killed there.

Garland was connected to the family: his sister was the partner of the couple's son, and he had once done wiring work on a pump the grandfather, an inventor, was developing. Garland believed he should have been credited on a patent for that pump. The Crown described this as a petty grudge and said it was the motive. Garland already had a criminal record: he had been convicted of producing drugs on the family farm, and in the 1990s he had avoided police for years by using the identity of a teenager who had died in a car crash.

The investigation and charges

An Amber Alert for the child was issued at 5:15 p.m. on June 30, 2014. It stayed in effect for about two weeks, the longest Amber Alert in Canadian history. Several agencies took part in the investigation, including the Calgary Police Service, the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and Crime Stoppers. Hundreds of volunteers joined the search.

On July 1 and 2, a plane from an aerial mapping company hired for the City of Airdrie happened to photograph the Garland property. The July 1 images showed what appeared to be two adults and a small figure lying in the grass near an outbuilding. In the July 2 images, they were no longer there. On July 4, police asked the public for help identifying a green pickup truck seen on security cameras near the couple's home. Relatives recognized it as the truck Garland drove. On July 5, police carried out one of the largest ground searches in Calgary's history. In early July, the RCMP also searched the Garland property, where the truck was seized.

Garland was questioned and released. He was then charged with the 1990s identity theft, which kept him in custody until July 11, when he was granted bail on condition that he stay away from the property. Early on July 14, 2014, he drove there in a rental car. Officers on foot, guided by a police helicopter, found him in a thicket and arrested him at 1:25 a.m. Police said they believed all three missing people were dead, and the Amber Alert was lifted. Garland was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of the two adults and second-degree murder in the death of the child. In May 2015, the charge involving the child was raised to first-degree murder.

The search of the property lasted until July 20. In the investigation, called Operation Amber, police collected more than 1,400 items of evidence, the most ever gathered for a court case in Calgary.

The trial and the verdict

The jury trial began in Calgary on January 16, 2017. Garland pleaded not guilty to all three counts. Prosecutor Vicki Faulkner led the Crown's case, and Kim Ross and Jim Lutz acted for the defence. The jury of 14, including two alternates, was expected to hear from about 50 witnesses.

The Crown argued that Garland had planned to kill the couple and that the child became part of the plan because he was in the house. The Crown's case rested on several kinds of evidence:

• DNA from all three victims on tools found on the property and on the shoes Garland wore when first detained;
• small remains recovered on the property, where the Crown said the bodies had been burned;
• files on Garland's computer showing extensive research into ways to kill;
• the aerial photographs taken on July 1 and 2, 2014.

The trial ended in mid-February 2017. After deliberating for just over nine hours, the jury found Garland guilty on all three counts of first-degree murder.

Sentence, appeals and parole

First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, so the only question at sentencing was how long Garland must wait before he can apply for parole. He was sentenced the morning after the verdict. Ten of the twelve jurors recommended that the parole ineligibility periods be served one after another. Judge David Gates ordered that Garland serve 75 years before becoming eligible for parole. He would have to live to 129 to reach that date, which in practice means he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Hours after the sentence, several inmates assaulted Garland at the Calgary Remand Centre. Emergency services said he was taken to hospital in stable condition with soft-tissue injuries. No appeal of the conviction is reported in the available record.

Public response

The case prompted the longest Amber Alert in Canadian history and the largest collection of evidence for a court case in Calgary. The community rallied:

• residents released green balloons and started a green ribbon campaign;
• a vigil was held outside the Alberta Legislature on July 23, 2014;
• the child's parents created a foundation to help disadvantaged children.

Timeline

• June 29, 2014: estate sale at the couple's Calgary home; the grandson stays overnight.
• June 30, 2014: the three are found missing; an Amber Alert is issued at 5:15 p.m.
• July 1–2, 2014: aerial survey photos are taken over the Garland property.
• July 4, 2014: police seek help identifying a green pickup truck.
• July 5, 2014: large ground search around the couple's home.
• July 11, 2014: Garland is granted bail on an identity theft charge.
• July 14, 2014: Garland is arrested and charged with murder; the Amber Alert is lifted.
• July 20, 2014: the search of the property ends.
• May 2015: the charge involving the child is raised to first-degree murder.
• January 16, 2017: the jury trial begins in Calgary.
• February 2017: guilty on three counts of first-degree murder; life sentence with no parole eligibility for 75 years.

Sources

• Nathan O'Brien's grandfather had 'petty' dispute with Douglas Garland over patent, Calgary family says | National Post
• Nathan O’Brien’s mother at Douglas Garland trial: ‘My family’s been murdered’ | Globalnews.ca