$50K reward for tip in Lucas Shortreed case has been claimed

Ontario Provincial Police say they’ve paid out the $50,000 reward after two people were found guilty of the hit and run collision that killed Lucas Shortreed.

The reward, which was announced in 2013, was for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the 14-year-old case.

OPP did not say who claimed the money.

“I’ve had tips that seemed more concrete throughout the years that never panned out,” Detective Const. Dave Telfer said in a media release Thursday. “So I was skeptical, but guardedly optimistic.”

OPP provided further details in an interview on Friday.

THE NIGHT LUCAS DIED

Lucas Shortreed was at a party on the night of Oct. 10, 2008. Just before midnight, while walking home, he was struck and killed by a vehicle on Wellington Road 17 in Alma. The driver did not stay at the scene of the collision.

Police found debris from the vehicle at the scene and determined that they needed to look for a white 1995 or 1997 Dodge Neon.

Despite that clue, they were unable to find the driver responsible for 14 years.

OPP said they received more than 100 tips in the unsolved case over the years and they examined hundreds of cars in their search for answers.

A break in the case didn’t come until June 2022.

A CRITICAL TIP

OPP said a tip from the public led to two searches at a Mapleton Township property, about five kilometres from where Shortreed was killed.

According to the agreed statement of facts that was presented in court, the first search on Aug. 10, 2022 was done covertly. A search warrant was obtained for the second search on Sept. 21, 2022. 

Officers discovered a false wall at the back of a semi-trailer made up of a plywood partition held in place by a steel brace. Through a small gap they spotted a white Dodge Neon.

The vehicle not only matched the description of the vehicle that hit Shortreed, but also had significant body damage.

A white Dodge Neon found on David Halliburton's property. (Source: OPP)

Two people were arrested at that time.

David Halliburton was charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing bodily harm or death and obstructing justice.

Anastasia Halliburton was charged with accessory after the fact.

Anastasia Halliburton and David Halliburton. (Facebook)

THE HIT AND RUN

The Halliburtons were released on bail two days later.

During a conversation covertly recorded by OPP on the day there were released, David Halliburton confessed to his daughter that he was responsible for Shortreed’s death.

He said he had some beers at a friend’s house on Oct. 10, 2008 and drove home with his 11-year-old son sitting in the backseat.

“During the conversation, Dave Halliburton admitted he struck Lucas Shortreed who was standing in the middle of the road and that he saw Mr. Shortreed at the last second, but it was too late to avoid him,” the agreed statement of facts said.

The address police searched on Sept. 21, 2022 was just a few kilometers from the scene of the 2008 crash and even closer to a where a billboard with Lucas Shortreed's face once stood. (CTV Kitchener)

The agreed statement of facts also detailed what happened to Shortreed.

“Mr. Shortreed was thrown approximately 30 feet airborne as a result of the collision,” it said.

His body was found by another driver.

“He had no vital signs and there were obvious signs of severe trauma – it was clear Mr. Shortreed had passed,” the agreed statement of facts said.

Shortreed’s injuries were extensive. Court heard that his spinal cord was severed, he had multiple rib fractures, a lacerated lung and liver, as well as a severe fracture of his left tibia and fibula.

An autopsy determined his death was “instantaneous.”

Halliburton admitted he was aware he struck a person, but told his son that he hit a deer. He also claimed he looked back but didn’t see anything, so he continued to drive home.

The Neon had significant damage to its roof and the windshield was shattered.

Halliburton told his daughter that he hid the car in the trailer and planned on “cutting it up” but was unable to, so he dumped bleach on the car in an attempt to get rid of any DNA.

Police search a property on Sideroad 21, Mapleton Township on Sept. 21, 2022. In a new report, police said they were acting on a tip from the public. (Wellington County Police Services Board agenda package)

“Even if I was stone cold sober, I would have done the exact same thing,” he said during the taped conversation with his daughter.

David Halliburton’s son had superficial injuries to his face from the shattered windshield, which Anastasia Halliburton tended to at their home.

CLOSE CALLS

After the collision, the Halliburtons bought a nearly identical Dodge Neon to the one they had hidden and swapped the licence plates and Vehicle Identification Numbers.

They were questioned by OPP in 2008 and 2009 and were cleared both times.

In a push for new tips in the case, OPP and Crime Stoppers staged a re-enactment of the hit and run in 2013.

They needed a Dodge Neon and an officer asked the Halliburtons to borrow theirs, not knowing that the car they were seeking was hidden on the Mapleton property.

According to the agreed statement of facts, David Halliburton told police he would be glad to help and allowed them to use the car, provided it was returned.

Police stage a media event in 2013 as they continue to investigate the crash that killed Lucas Shortreed. On Sept. 26, 2023, court heard OPP used the Halliburton's Dodge Neon, which the pair had bought to replace their previous car that was damaged in the actual crash. (CTV Kitchener/File Video)

CLOSING THE CASE

In September 2023, David Halliburton pleaded guilty to failing to remain at the scene of an accident causing bodily harm or death, as well as obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and was prohibited from driving for three years.

Anastasia Halliburton, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and careless storage of a firearm. She was given six months of house arrest, 12 months of probation and was required to complete 200 hours of community service.

David Halliburton, 55, of Arthur Township and Anastasia Halliburton, 53, also from Arthur Township. (Facebook)

REMEMBERING LUCAS

“Now we can remember Lucas and all the great things that he did and his great memories, instead of being overshadowed more by the tragedy and the investigation,” his mother Judie Moore told CTV News in Oct. 2023.

Moore said Shortreed was a volunteer at a long-term care home and encouraged the public to visit a senior in her son’s memory.

“He worked in the gardens, planting gardens and flowers with the seniors,” Moore said. “I found out that after he finished his volunteer session, he had a spaghetti lunch for the [seniors] who had helped him. I found out about that at his funeral. I didn’t know, and he didn’t ask me for any help or money to do that. So it was pretty cool to learn that.”

Lucas Shortreed's family on Oct. 6, 2023. (CTV News/Stefanie Davis)

Shortreed also loved cats, food and hugs.

On his gravestone his family included a poem which reads: “Think of him as living in the hearts of those he touched, for nothing loved is ever lost and he was loved so much.”

-- With reporting by Stefanie Davis, Jeff Pickel and Alison Sandstrom