Alberta's top court dismisses Crown appeal of sentence of man in Calgary chef murder
Anthony Dodgson was found guilty in 2023 by a jury of second-degree murder after fatally stabbing Christophe Herblin while his accomplice, Tommie Holloway, was convicted of manslaughter.
Court heard Dodgson and Holloway broke into the restaurant with plans to get through a wall into an adjacent cannabis shop. They fled when a car drove by and returned later to continue their robbery attempt but became frustrated when Herblin showed up.
Holloway smashed Herblin's car windows in order to lure him into the parking lot. Dodgson attacked him and stabbed him nine times.
Herblin was a longtime executive sous chef at the Glencoe Golf and Country Club, and his new restaurant was weeks away from opening.
He stumbled to a nearby gas station seeking help but soon died.
Dodgson received a life sentence with his parole eligibility set at 12 years.
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The Crown asked for the parole eligibility be increased in the 15 to 18-year range because the original sentence was 'not proportionate to the gravity of the offence' and that the judge erred in treating Dodgson's troubled Indigenous upbringing as a mitigating impact on his culpability.
The appeal court disagreed even though the sentence was on the 'low end' of what was available.
'We are unable to conclude that the sentencing judge made an error in principle that would justify the courts intervention,' writes Justice Bernette Ho on behalf of the appeal court.
'We are not persuaded it is appropriate to sentence afresh.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
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