Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
National

Jury deciding fate of accused in explosion that killed disabled Alberta woman

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Feb, 2015 11:45 AM

    RED DEER, Alta. — The fate of a central Alberta financial adviser accused of killing his disabled client with a bomb made to look like a Christmas present is now with a jury.

    Brian Malley is charged with first-degree murder in the death of single mother Victoria Shachtay.

    She died in November 2011 when she opened what turned out to be a homemade pipe bomb that had been left on her doorstep in Innisfail, Alta.

    Jury members retired for deliberations after the trial judge instructed them Tuesday morning.

    During closing arguments on Monday, the Crown argued that Malley killed Shachtay to cut his losses after he began paying her out of his own pocket when he lost almost all of her money.

    The defence said there's no incriminating evidence against Malley, 57, and suggested the motive just doesn't make sense.

    Shachtay was paralyzed in a car crash in 2004 when she was 16 and pregnant. Court heard she received a $575,000 court settlement in 2007 and turned to Malley, a family friend, to help her invest the money. She also borrowed another $264,000 to bump up the fund.

    On Nov. 25, 2011, a green-and-gold gift bag was delivered to her door. Her caregiver brought the package inside and Shachtay opened it while sitting in her wheelchair at the kitchen table.

    The 23-year-old was killed instantly. Her caregiver wasn't hurt and Shachtay's daughter wasn't home at the time.

    Court heard that part of Shachtay's money was lost due to drops in the market, but Malley also put some of her funds in high-risk investments.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Calgary mayor says gay-straight alliance bill 'damaging and hateful'

    Calgary mayor says gay-straight alliance bill 'damaging and hateful'
    Calgary's mayor says a now-delayed Alberta government bill about gay-straight alliances in schools would have focused international attention on "what kind of hillbillies we are."

    Calgary mayor says gay-straight alliance bill 'damaging and hateful'

    CMHC cutting 215 jobs in restructuring, adding to risk management and IT

    CMHC cutting 215 jobs in restructuring, adding to risk management and IT
    OTTAWA — The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is cutting 215 jobs in a organization of the Crown corporation, which provides mortgage loan insurance and market statistics.

    CMHC cutting 215 jobs in restructuring, adding to risk management and IT

    Body Of A Missing BC Truck Driver Found In Mill's Wood-Chip Container After 2 Days

    Body Of A Missing BC Truck Driver Found In Mill's Wood-Chip Container After 2 Days
    The BC Coroners Service says workers at the Catalyst Paper Mill couldn't find 66-year-old Perry Thomas about a half hour after he arrived on Tuesday.

    Body Of A Missing BC Truck Driver Found In Mill's Wood-Chip Container After 2 Days

    Surrey Mother Charged With Murder In 8-year-old Daughter's Death, Father 'Devastated'

    Surrey Mother Charged With Murder In 8-year-old Daughter's Death, Father 'Devastated'
    "Life will never be the same after losing my daughter to murder. Our family courts and thus we all failed #Teagan," he wrote in abbreviated social-media style.

    Surrey Mother Charged With Murder In 8-year-old Daughter's Death, Father 'Devastated'

    Indo-Canadian Man Charged In Murder Of Surrey's Tarsem 'Shane' Singh

    Indo-Canadian Man Charged In Murder Of Surrey's Tarsem 'Shane' Singh
    SURREY, B.C. — A 33-year-old Randeep Singh Match has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tarsem Shane Dhaliwal whose body was found in a vehicle in Surrey, B.C.  

    Indo-Canadian Man Charged In Murder Of Surrey's Tarsem 'Shane' Singh

    Rain And Wind Hammer B.C. South Coast Prompting Swollen Rivers And A Mudslide

    Rain And Wind Hammer B.C. South Coast Prompting Swollen Rivers And A Mudslide
    QUALICUM BEACH, B.C. — Torrential rain and strong winds carried by a series of weather systems have hammered British Columbia's south coast and more is to come.

    Rain And Wind Hammer B.C. South Coast Prompting Swollen Rivers And A Mudslide