Crown can't say how Calgarian Christopher Stevenson died, but he was murdered, and his body incinerated jury told

The prosecution can’t prove how Calgarian Christopher Stevenson died, but it was at the hands of murder suspect Shaun Folk, jurors were told Friday.

In her final submissions to the 12-member Calgary Court of King’s Bench jury deciding the fate of Folk and his alleged accomplice, Ali El-Sayed, Crown lawyer Katherine Love said the incineration of the victim’s remains covered up his cause of death.

But Love said what is clear from the evidence she and co-prosecutor Donna Spaner presented for jurors is that Stevenson went to Folk’s East Village condo in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2023, and was never heard from again.

“We don’t know exactly what happened when Mr. Stevenson entered the Verve (condominium),” Love said.

“We don’t know who all was involved.”

But Love said Stevenson was the victim of a deadly attack inside the unit committed by Folk and likely with the assistance of others who were present.

“An available inference for you is Christopher Stevenson was unable to put of any resistance,” the prosecutor said.

Folk is charged with second-degree murder in connection with Stevenson’s death, while El-Sayed faces a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Love said the presence of Stevenson’s DNA discovered by police during a forensic examination of Folk’s unit showed a “blood-letting event” occurred there.

She said it was the prosecution’s theory that Folk and Stevenson were in business together stealing cars and changing the vehicle identification numbers and the accused killer “thought Mr. Stevenson was messing with that scheme.”

Love said the victim arranged to go to Folk’s apartment to discuss the scheme and CCTV footage showed him arriving around 4 a.m. and being let into the lobby by the accused’s then-girlfriend, Kenedee Taylor.

“Mr. Stevenson did not leave that building, at least not alive,” the prosecutor said.

Love said a telling piece of evidence implicating Folk were phone records showing he stopped attempting to communicate with Stevenson by text after the fact.

“They appeared to be in business together,” she said.

“There’s nothing after with Mr. Folk questioning where Mr. Stevenson is.”

More telling, Love said, was a video of a roaring fire found on Folk’s phone, which she suggested was the incineration of the victim.

In it, Folk can be heard saying “f— you, buddy,” calling it a barbeque and discussing making S’mores, she said.

“This is not the reaction of someone panicked or upset about the death of Christopher Stevenson. This is a celebration.”

Jurors will hear arguments from defence lawyers Pawel Milczarek and Rahul Nanda this afternoon.