The man accused of helping kill Sheldon Wolf of Carrot River has been found not guilty. (file photo)

By Susan McNeil

Not guilty manslaughter verdict in Sheldon Wolf death

Oct 28, 2022 | 1:48 PM

The man accused of killing Carrot River area farmer Sheldon Wolf in Calgary in 2020 has been found not guilty of manslaughter.

Victor Braima was initially charged with first-degree murder, which was later reduced to manslaughter, but a judge of the King’s Bench in Calgary said the Crown failed to prove their case.

“The Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Braima had prior knowledge of, planned or participated in the robbery of Mr. Wolf,” wrote Judge A. Woolley in a decision released on October 27.

Wolf died after being shot twice in the car of the accused but, according to Woolley’s written judgment, while Braima had arranged for the victim to buy cocaine from his friend Chemakie (not his legal name) no proof was offered that Braima planned either the robbery or the subsequent murder.

On Feb. 2, Wolf and his wife were having dinner at restaurant in the Chinook Mall and, upon leaving, saw Braima in his vehicle.

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Wolf asked if he was an Uber and could take them to their hotel downtown. Braima agreed even though he was not an Uber driver and actually made his living selling drugs.

It was during the ride and after smelling a strong odour of cannabis in the vehicle, that Wolf asked Braima if he could arrange the purchase of some cocaine and showed him an envelope of cash containing about $1,000 as proof that he could pay.

Braima agreed and arranged the transaction with Chemakie.

Once at the hotel, Wolf’s wife Jessel Wolf left the car upset at the events and her husband’s behaviour, leaving Wolf, Braima, Chemakie, and two other men in two vehicles.

From there, they parked behind the Knoxville Tavern for about 2.5 minutes.

It was during this brief period that Wolf was said to have paid for the cocaine, snorted some with Chemakie, who then pulled out a gun and attempted to rob the victim.

Wolf resisted and was then struck on the head with the butt of the weapon several times but still, according to Braima’s testimony, turned around to Chemakie in the back seat and tried to grab the gun.

Wolf was shot twice, once in the chest.

Braima and Chemakie, who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest, then drove Wolf out of the city where they left him on the side of a road. He was found several days later.

Despite Crown assertions that Braima’s testimony was not credible, had some inconsistencies and was implausible in some areas, Judge Woolley accepted that some of his explanations were legitimate as it matched with the testimony of Jessel Wolf in many instances.

Woolley questioned whether a drug purchase, consumption, physical altercation, and murder could happen in the short time the car was parked behind the tavern but said it was not so unlikely that it showed Braima as being unbelievable in his testimony.

None of the other people involved in the robbery or drug sale were called to testify at the trial.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com