Kelowna killer convicted in hammer attack back behind bars, again

A Kelowna killer sentenced to more than a decade in prison for second-degree murder is back behind bars, having been charged with possessing a weapon.

Steven Randy Pirko is scheduled for a bail hearing next week after he was put back in custody on an allegation that he was carrying a weapon.

Details of what took place aren’t yet known, but the incident is alleged to have taken place in Kelowna Sept. 24, and resulted in Pirko being charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and two breaches of a probation order.

Pirko was in his early twenties when he killed 32-year-old Christopher Ausman in January 2014 by hitting him on the head with a hammer.

He claimed self-defence, but following a seven-week trial, a jury found Pirko guilty of second-degree murder in 2019. He was later sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 11 years.

However, in the spring of 2023, the BC Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The appeal court found the original judge had made errors in instructing the jury on the motive to prove intent for murder.

Instead of a new trial and having spent roughly six and a half years in prison, Pirko pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was released on a sentence of time already served and given three years’ probation.

Since then, he’s had a few run-ins with the law.

In November 2024, he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, possession of stolen property, and breaching his probation. A charge of having a fake identity document was stayed by the Crown. He was sentenced to a few months in jail.

He also breached his probation in September 2023 and was sentenced to time served in custody. He also breached his probation in March this year.

None of the current charges have been proven in court.