Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Suspect in the murder of Alberta seniors, Travis Vader, granted bail

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Dec, 2014 05:02 PM

    EDMONTON — A lawyer for a suspect in a case involving two Alberta seniors who vanished four years ago is planning to challenge the reactivation of old murder charges.

    Travis Vader, 42, was re-arrested last week on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann. The couple, both in their 70s, were last seen fuelling up their motorhome in their hometown of St. Albert, a bedroom community north of Edmonton, in July 2010.

    The charges were stayed in March, a few weeks before Vader was to have a jury trial. He was released from custody in October after being found not guilty of unrelated drug and weapons offences.

    Vader was to be freed again Tuesday, after a judge granted him $25,000 bail on the condition that he remain under house arrest.

    Defence lawyer Brian Beresh told reporters after the bail hearing that he will be mounting a court challenge. He said it's rare for the Crown to reactivate murder charges and officials have provided no explanation.

    "There has to be some exceptional circumstance," Beresh said. "I have no new information about any new evidence whatsoever."

    Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson said outside court that he's not sure if the reactivation can be challenged.

    He said that the Crown's office originally stayed the murder charges because there was a "disclosure issue" and the case needed to be reviewed. The Crown had a one-year time limit to renew the charges.

    "A decision had to be made prior to the expiration of that stay period," said Finlayson.

    "The assessment was that it was in the public interest to proceed with the matter and there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction and that would have been based on the material that was available."

    He wouldn't say if there is new evidence in the case.

    "There's additional material because time has passed. Beyond that, I can't comment."

    The bodies of the McCanns have never been found but RCMP say in court documents that they believe the pair were killed.

    Their burned out motorhome was discovered a few days after they were last seen in St. Albert. They had been on their way to British Columbia for a family camping trip.

    Mounties soon named Vader a person of interest and later a suspect in the case and he was held on unrelated charges until he was charged with the killings in 2012.

    Earlier this year, Vader filed lawsuits against prosecutors and the RCMP claiming malicious prosecution. He alleges he was kept in custody on trumped-up charges until he could be charged with murdering the McCanns, as well as mistreatment by staff in the Edmonton Remand Centre.

    When Vader walked out of the remand centre in March, he told reporters that he knew nothing about the McCanns and had been the subject of a witch hunt by the justice system.

    Beresh said his client enjoyed his 10 weeks of freedom and was surprised when police arrested him again last week. "He was leading a normal life, taking courses, doing various things in the community, assimilating back into society."

    Vader is to appear in court again Jan. 23. Finlayson said the case will continue where it left off before the stay of charges and a new trial date will be set.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Wines Available At Grocery Stores On April 1

    B.C. Wines Available At Grocery Stores On April 1
    Attorney General Suzanne Anton says as part of the government's relaxed liquor laws, independent wine stores now have a shot at transferring their licences to grocery stores as long as they sell only 100 per cent B.C. wines.

    B.C. Wines Available At Grocery Stores On April 1

    Amrik Virk Removed As Minister Of Advanced Education By Christy Clark In BC Government Shuffle

    Amrik Virk Removed As Minister Of Advanced Education By Christy Clark In BC Government Shuffle
    Premier Christy Clark has shuffled her cabinet, moving Amrik Virk out of his advanced education portfolio on the same day an updated report revealed that the minister was fully knowledgeable about a compensation package that broke government guidelines.

    Amrik Virk Removed As Minister Of Advanced Education By Christy Clark In BC Government Shuffle

    Lower loonie boosts revenue for Canadian Christmas tree exporters

    Lower loonie boosts revenue for Canadian Christmas tree exporters
    TORONTO — The lower loonie will put more money in the pockets of Canadian Christmas tree exporters this year, just as the industry is preparing to ramp up production to meet an anticipated surge in demand from south of the border.

    Lower loonie boosts revenue for Canadian Christmas tree exporters

    BC Lottery Corp. Draws Flak For $25 Million In Voluntary-Retirement Payouts

    BC Lottery Corp. Draws Flak For $25 Million In Voluntary-Retirement Payouts
    VICTORIA — A failed voluntary-retirement program that cost British Columbia's Lottery Corporation $25 million is a "shining" example of why business-and-management improvements are needed at the Crown corporation, says Finance Minister Mike de Jong.

    BC Lottery Corp. Draws Flak For $25 Million In Voluntary-Retirement Payouts

    Palestinians tell Canada to back Geneva Conventions meeting on Israel

    Palestinians tell Canada to back Geneva Conventions meeting on Israel
    OTTAWA — The top Palestinian diplomat in Canada says the Harper government should not have boycotted a United Nations conference this week that harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

    Palestinians tell Canada to back Geneva Conventions meeting on Israel

    Police say exact cause of fire at seniors' home likely won't ever be known

    Police say exact cause of fire at seniors' home likely won't ever be known
    RIVIERE DU LOUP, Que. — The exact cause of the fire at a Quebec seniors' home last January that killed 32 people will likely never be known, a coroner's inquest into the tragedy heard Thursday.

    Police say exact cause of fire at seniors' home likely won't ever be known