Airdrie man guilty of murder for shooting girlfriend's ex-boyfriend at point-blank range
Hunter Van Mackelberg was 19 when he was charged in the death of Kalix Langenau
When asked if he had killed a 19-year-old man, Hunter Van Mackelberg smirked at his friend and said, "My grin says it all."
That was some of the evidence considered by Calgary Judge Glen Poelman, who convicted Van Mackelberg of second-degree murder on Tuesday following a trial that started in October.
On Feb. 15, 2020, Van Mackelberg shot Kalix Langenau in the back of the head at point-blank range.
Both the killer and victim were 19 years old at the time.
Van Mackelberg's girlfriend was a woman whom Langenau had once dated. The night he was killed, Langenau exchanged texts and called that woman. Van Mackelberg found out.
Animosity grew
The case involves two women, Madeline Kot and another teen, SB, who was a youth at the time.
In 2017-18, Van Mackelberg was dating the younger teen and Langenau dated Kot.
But that summer, the two couples had split, and by the fall of 2018, Van Mackelberg was dating Kot while Langenau and SB were a couple.
Van Mackelberg's animosity toward Langenau grew through 2019 and into 2020.
In the spring of 2019, the windows of Langenau's car were shot out. He believed Van Mackelberg and Kot were responsible.
Langenau was so scared of Van Mackelberg that he moved from Calgary to B.C. just to get away from him.
Langenau said he'd made a 'boo boo'
In February 2020, Langenau came back to Calgary for a visit.
At that point, Langenau had broken up with SB but Van Mackelberg and Kot were living together.
On Valentine's Day, Langenau texted a close friend and said he'd made a "boo boo," explaining he had texted Kot. He messaged again saying he'd made "a bigger boo boo."
Kot and Langenau had exchanged 50 text messages and had a 15-minute phone call, much of which took place while Kot and Van Mackelberg were in bed together.
Fatal meetup
Cellphone data shows Van Mackelberg called Langenau just before midnight. The call lasted two minutes.
Langenau then left for a planned 1:30 a.m. meetup with Kot in the Balzac Costco parking lot. Van Mackelberg followed.
Kot returned home around 2:30 a.m. Van Mackelberg arrived at 3:09 a.m.
In the 30 minutes before he got home, Van Mackelberg made four phone calls to his father.
He would later tell a friend that he and Randy Van Mackelberg discussed what to do with Langenau's body.
Van Mackelberg wanted to bury the body while he said his father had advised him to leave it.
Killer's father involved
Two days later, Langenau's body was found in a remote, rural field. It was an area that was frequented by Van Mackelberg and his friends.
Once Langenau's remains were discovered, Van Mackelberg said to his friend, "I should never have listened to that idiot."
At the beginning of the trial, prosecutor Ron Simenik said the Crown's theory was that Van Mackelberg confronted the victim in the parking lot, threatening him with a shotgun and then had Langenau drive to the remote location, where he was then murdered.
After Van Mackelberg killed Langenau, he called his father, who was staying at the Balzac Days Inn, to come pick him up.
Security camera video from the Days Inn shows Randy leaving the hotel and getting into his truck at 2:27 a.m. The hotel is nine kilometres from where Langenau's body was discovered.
A second-degree murder conviction comes with a life sentence. The judge will hear arguments at a later date from Simenik and defence lawyer Andre Ouellette on when Van Mackelberg can apply for parole.