B.C. man jailed for killing friend during drunken bulletproof vest game

Michael Leier was shot and killed near the Vancouver Island community of Jordan River on March 12, 2023. (Heather Leier)

A British Columbia man who fatally shot his friend during a drunken game involving a bulletproof vest has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter, in what the sentencing judge described as a case of “breathtaking recklessness.”

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan imposed the mandatory minimum sentence on Adam John Steenbergen for the 2023 death of Michael Leier, near the Vancouver Island community of Jordan River.

The court heard that Steenbergen, then 33 years old, and Mike Leier, 42, had been up all night drinking alcohol and using cocaine before driving to a remote logging road to shoot guns on the afternoon of March 12, 2023.

They abandoned Leier’s truck when it got stuck in the snow. “A couple who stopped to speak with them noted Mr. Steenbergen to be visibly intoxicated,” according to the May 8 sentencing decision, which was published Thursday.

Victim told friend to ‘do it’

An agreed statement of facts in the case states that Leier put on the body armour and encouraged Steenbergen to shoot him with a Polymer80 semi-automatic pistol.

“Don’t be a b***h,” he reportedly told Steenbergen. “F**king do it.”

The plan was for the friends to take turns shooting one another while wearing the vest for protection. “The two of them had done this before, but with a different bulletproof vest,” the judge wrote.

Steenbergen shot Leier, his friend of six years and a father of two boys, dropping him to the ground immediately.

Steenbergen initially thought Leier was pretending to be hurt. But the bullet had pierced the vest approximately eight centimetres below the collar and was lodged in Leier’s sternum.

Pieces of bone became “secondary projectiles” inside Leier’s chest cavity, causing massive bleeding around his heart, the court heard. “Blood loss was fast and significant,” the judge wrote.

Shooter raced to get help

Steenbergen dragged his wounded friend back to the truck, removed the vest and applied pressure to the dime-sized wound.

“He couldn’t get the truck to move out of the snow and he had no cell service,” the decision said. “He didn’t want to leave his friend alone, but once it started to get dark, he went to get help.”

Steenbergen left the truck’s engine running to keep his friend warm while he ran until he could wave down a passing vehicle 20 minutes later.

No one in the car had cellular service either, so they drove Steenbergen back to the truck and loaded Leier into their vehicle. Steenbergen attempted to administer CPR as they drove towards Sooke. When they found cell service along they way, they called 911 and met an ambulance at around 9:45 p.m.

Leier had no pulse and his skin was cold to the touch. Paramedics ceased their life-saving efforts after about five minutes “as it was clear Mr. Leier was deceased,” the court heard.

Police search crime scene

Police arrived and Steenbergen was arrested, still with a small bag of cocaine in his possession. A search of the area where the shooting occurred revealed a spent 9-mm bullet casing and several empty cans of alcohol in the snow.

Officers seized the restricted Polymer80 handgun and a second weapon, a prohibited Cobray M10 fully automatic pistol, which was found under the driver’s seat, the decision said.

A high-capacity magazine and several loose rounds of ammunition were found in the truck, along with two bulletproof vests, one of which was not damaged.

Steenbergen was released without charge and then re-arrested almost a year later on March 9, 2024. “Steenbergen was emotional and told police if he could change spots with Mike, he would,” the court heard.

‘Special kind of torture’

At the sentencing hearing, a victim impact statement from one of Leier’s young sons described how he “misses his dad, his hugs and snuggles and armpit tickles,” the judge summarized. “He is angry and sad that his dad won’t get to see him go to jujitsu or go to the duck race with them.”

The victim’s widow, Heather Leier, said she considered Steenbergen a friend. “The fact that he took her husband’s life is a special kind of torture for her,” the decision said. “Heather is left to raise her boys on her own.”

The judge accepted a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence lawyers, citing Steenbergen’s guilty plea, lack of criminal record and “genuine and heartfelt” expressions of remorse as mitigating factors.

‘Breathtaking recklessness’

Leier’s death was the product of “breathtaking recklessness,” the judge wrote, and Steenbergen will “live with the consequences for the rest of his life.” However, his moral blameworthiness for the crime was considered at the low end of the spectrum because the killing was not intentional.

The judge also pointed to several aggravating factors, including Steenbergen’s use of guns while intoxicated and the fact that he was not licensed to possess any type of firearm—let alone a restricted pistol and a prohibited, fully automatic weapon.

The court heard Steenbergen had struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction but sought treatment after the shooting, attending rehab and counselling programs while awaiting the court process.

In addition to the mandatory four-year sentence for manslaughter, Steenbergen received concurrent sentences of nine months and six months for possessing prohibited and restricted weapons without authorization.

He was also handed a lifetime firearms prohibition, ordered to provide a DNA sample and ordered to forfeit the seized weapons and ammunition.

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