PRINCE ALBERT, Alta. — A Saskatchewan judge has acquitted a man and a woman of conspiracy to murder their spouses.
The judge entered the verdict after ruling that a key audio recording was inadmissible in the trial of Curtis Vey and Angela Nicholson.
A jury initially convicted them in 2016 and they were each sentenced to three years in prison.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, in ordering a new trial last year, said the judge didn't make it clear jurors must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the two intended to commit murder.
Court heard that Vey, who is from Wakaw, Sask., and Nicholson, who is from nearby Melfort, were having an affair.
They were arrested in 2013 after Vey's wife made a secret recording that appeared to suggest the pair was plotting to kill her and Nicholson's husband.
The jury heard that Vey's wife was to die in a house fire and Nicholson's husband was to be drugged and disappear.
Vey and Nicholson said there was no intent behind the plot.
Vey told police that he knew his wife was recording him and talked about the murder plot to give his wife and family something to talk about. Nicholson told officers she never intended to carry out the plan.
Vey's wife, Brigitte Vey, said outside the courthouse in Prince Albert, Sask., after Monday's ruling that she is OK with the acquittal.
"I'm at peace that it's finally over," she said.
