One of three suspects arrested in connection with a violent home invasion in Red Deer last month will be sentenced in June after pleading guilty on Friday to five of the eight charges against him.
Red Deer resident Kyle Brice Connon and two others were arrested by police investigating a home invasion in Riverside Meadows at about 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 17.
Police were called by the tenant in a basement suite who heard sounds of a scuffle on the main floor, Crown prosecutor Robin Snider said in reading a brief version of the facts for Judge John Holmes in Red Deer provincial court.
Investigators learned that a man had hired two others to go to the house and beat up the male occupant as punishment for assaulting a woman, said Snider.
The hirelings were told that their reward would be the drugs and money that could be found in the house.
They gained entry by stating that they were police officers, said Snider.
Red Deer City RCMP members arrived at the scene to find the front door slightly ajar. Inside, they found a man wearing a balaclava and armed with a pellet gun.
Another man was lying face down on the floor, with his feet and hands bound in duct tape and a cloth over his head, also bound in duct tape.
Connon, 27, was identified as the man wearing a balaclava, provided to him by the man who had organized the attack, said Snider.
Connon pleaded guilty to charges of assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement, breaking and entering a dwelling to commit an assault, wearing a disguise to commit an offence and personating a police officer.
He remains in custody pending sentencing, scheduled for June 25. Defence counsel Paul Morigeau asked for a delay in sentencing to allow time for preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Also charged in connection with the incident are Michael Wade Lawrence, 39, of Penhold and Bradley Amos Erickson, 39, of Red Deer.
Lawrence and Erickson face the same charges as Connon, including attempted robbery, conspiring to commit an indictable offence and uttering threats. Lawrence has been released from custody while Erickson is being held in remand.
Both have reserved plea until their next court appearance, set for April 11.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com