Crown says victim had right to defend home
Date: Apr 30, 2008 10:19 AM
PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald
DATE: 2008.04.29
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / FRONT
BYLINE: Gwendolyn Richards
SOURCE: Calgary Herald
WORD COUNT: 521

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Man cleared for killing invader; Crown says victim had right to defend home

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A man who stabbed to death an intruder in his home was defending himself and won’t
face criminal charges, the Crown has decided.

But the victim’s mother is angry with the decision, which she said has caused
her grieving family more pain.

The ruling comes almost four months after Lance Norton, 32, and another man broke
into the two-storey farmhouse in Langdon as Dan Olineck and his then-girlfriend
Melanie Tanner slept in the master bedroom.

A fight broke out in the bedroom that ended with Norton dead and a second man fleeing
with serious stab wounds, leaving behind a trail of blood.

After examining statements and physical evidence, the Crown determined Olineck was
acting in self-defence when Norton was killed and the second man stabbed.

Under the Criminal Code, people can defend themselves if they believe their life
is in danger and they have no alternative, Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear
said.

“The evidence in this case was reviewed by a senior Crown prosecutor, as well
as the chief Crown in Calgary, and they were satisfied the evidence shows Mr. Olineck
is entitled to the protection the Criminal Code offers,” he said.

At the time, Olineck’s friends said he was targeted after breaking up with Norton’s
sister, Angela Eriksen, who was seven months pregnant.

Norton’s family has denied those claims. His mother — who did not want to give
her name — said the justice system has let the family down.

“He (Olineck) maybe didn’t intend to murder him (Norton), but he’s
dead. Somehow, in my estimation, that sums up to manslaughter at least,” she
said.

Norton and Olineck had been friends at one time, Norton’s mother said. Now,
without charges, she said she can only hope that Olineck forever carries the burden
of having killed someone.

“He took his life. He has to live with that,” she said.

At the same time, Norton’s mom questioned how no charges were laid in relation
to the stabbing of the second man who, she said, suffered stab wounds to the back.

RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said both the assault and the death were considered at the
same time by the Crown.

Criminologist Doug King was not surprised by the ruling Monday, saying it is within
the boundaries of common law that if someone believes their life or the life of
someone in their care is in danger, they have the right to use force to repel that
danger, even if it is lethal.

“It must have been very clear to everyone involved that the evidence was there,”
said King, chairman of the justice studies department at Mount Royal College.

In 2006, a man fatally stabbed a teenager trying to rob him as the man and his girlfriend
waited at a northeast bus stop.

Kyfer Bearhat, 16, choked the man — whose name was not released — with jumper
cables around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 20. The man used a pocket knife to defend himself,
killing his attacker.

No charges were laid against the man in that case.

“It’s not uncommon,” King said, citing the Bearhat case. “But
there has to be clear evidence that it is within the common-law notion of justifiability.”

The law also allows for a person to use justified force if a culprit trespasses
a home being peacefully occupied, lawyer Stephen Jenuth said.

“Generally, in a case like this, one’s home is their castle and one has
to have the ability to defend that, particularly in a bedroom at night,” he
said.

In this case, Christopher Joel Hansen, 27, has been charged with break and enter
in connection with the home invasion. Also charged is Norton’s sister, Angela
Eriksen, 29, for being a party to the offence of breaking, entering and committing
an indictable offence, as well as being party to the assault.

Both are due in Strathmore provincial court on May 6.

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