Southern Alberta auction company owner facing fraud, dozens of gun charges
Posted Oct 29, 2025 11:15 am.
Last Updated Oct 29, 2025 3:19 pm.
Two people are facing a laundry list of charges following a Calgary Police Service (CPS) investigation that led to the seizure of more than two-dozen guns.
Last month, investigators were contacted by family members of an estate, reporting a fraud involving the sale of their deceased father’s property by a Claresholm auction company.
The family told police the estate entered into an agreement with Starling Auctions in April to sell a large collection of valuable guns, including restricted and rare items.
On April 26, Starling Auctions hosted an online auction where some of the guns were legally sold to licensed buyers with a profit of more than $93,000 that was set to be paid back to the estate.
However, during the auction, the estate noticed some of the most valuable firearms weren’t in the lot.
In the months follow, the estate told police it may several attempts to collect payment from Starling Auctions but that was unsuccessful.
In September, the company issued a cheque to the estate that was later returned due to insufficient funds.
The estate continued to ask where the missing guns were and started to worry the auction house had stolen them.
Warrants were executed on two rural properties outside Claresholm on Sept. 26, resulting in the recovery of 25 firearms, 19 of which were identified with an estimated total of $19,000.
Police also determined that while Starling Auctions held a valid Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL), the two people that were in possession of the guns didn’t.
Charged in the case is 46-year-old Jesse Ray Starling of Willow Creek; he is facing 25 counts of careless storage of a firearm, 22 counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, and one count of fraud over $5,000.
Nineteen-year-old Whitney Starling, also from Willow Creek, has been charged with one count of careless storage of a firearm and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
The pair’s next court appearance is Nov. 18.
Anyone with information about this case is asked top contact police at 403-266-1243 or tip anonymously through CrimeStoppers.
