A B.C. Supreme Court judge has convicted Brent Parent in the hit-and-run death of 21-year-old Silas O'Brien after finding his testimony "troubling" and "evasive."
Justice Terence Schultes delivered his ruling Thursday, finding Parent guilty of criminal negligence causing death, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and failure to remain at the scene of an accident.
One count of dangerous driving causing death was stayed.
Parent ran O'Brien down with his Ford F350 pickup truck on the night of March 13, 2008 following a confrontation with the young man and two friends.
The trio was headed for the Seattle airport to depart on a Hawaiian vacation when they caught up to Parent's truck on a rural stretch of road in Langley and tried to pass him.
Prosecutors said Parent ran their vehicle into a ditch, left the scene and then returned five minutes later after the friends had made their way back onto the road.
The 42-year-old, who testified that his behaviour that night was "stupid and childish," admitted to hearing a bang as he drove away from the scene a second time, but said he thought someone had kicked his truck or thrown something at it.
Parent claimed that he didn't realize O'Brien had been hurt until learning of his death on a TV news report.
Schultes rejected Parent's version of the events as "inconsistent with common sense," noting that the Metro Vancouver resident didn't call 911 or the RCMP after the altercation.
O'Brien's father Rodger spoke to reporters outside the courtroom after the decision was handed down, expressing gratitude to all involved in the case, including members of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
"Very pleased with the judgment," he said, adding that he and his wife "just especially want to thank the Crown and the IHIT investigators and the judge for his verdict."
Defence lawyer Vincent Michaels focused his closing arguments on the testimony of O'Brien's friends, Luke Stephens and Sam Dooley, which he dismissed as inconsistent.
Parent has a sentencing hearing scheduled for April 27.
