Murder charges against Travis Vader in the case of a slain St. Albert couple should be stayed because the prosecution gave itself an unfair advantage by delaying the case for two years, according to his lawyer.

In turn, the prosecution has blamed the delay on an Alberta RCMP "fiasco" that put Vader’s right to a fair trial in jeopardy with late disclosure of evidence. The RCMP’s disclosure problems were massive and egregious, according to the prosecution, and left no option but to stay the charges in one of the province’s most-watched trials.

Michelle Doyle, the original prosecutor in the case, said she believed disclosure of evidence was complete before the RCMP sent thousands of new documents in the weeks before Vader’s 2014 trial was set to begin.

"That was pretty surprising, to say the least," Doyle told Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton Monday in a pre-trial hearing. "It was a staggering amount of disclosure and I was concerned about Vader’s right to a fair trial. I was floored by what was going on. I was stunned. I was very upset, I was angry. It was a devastating situation."

Vader, 43, faces murder charges in the deaths of Lyle McCann, 78, and his wife, Marie, 77. The St. Albert couple was last seen on July 3, 2010, buying gas before they headed toward British Columbia. Two days later, their burning motorhome was found near an Edson-area campground. Their bodies have never been found.

Vader’s previously scheduled trial was derailed on March 29, 2014, when prosecutors stayed the murder charges because of the RCMP’s lack of disclosure. Later that year, they lifted the stay and Vader faced the murder charges once more.

Defence lawyer Brian Beresh believes the two-year delay was an abuse of process and violated Vader’s right to a timely trial. The prosecution’s delay was "to gain unfair advantages in the conduct of the trial by granting itself two years of additional time for preparation and investigation," Beresh stated in court documents.

Beresh now wants the murder charges stayed and the prosecution halted. Failing that, he is seeking a court order prohibiting the use of evidence not disclosed to the defence before the prosecutorial stay in March 2014. That would include RCMP interviews with Vader after the murder charges against him were resurrected.

Court documents show that the RCMP struggled to provide thousands of pages of disclosure in the weeks before the planned 2014 trial, including details of wiretaps, payments made to an agent who was a potential Crown witness, surveillance material and undercover operations involving Vader and his sister.

That confusion outraged Doyle and she "lost all confidence" in the RCMP’s ability to fully disclose their investigation before the trial began. Doyle proposed that the Crown would consent to Vader’s release on bail if he was willing to adjourn the trial. That proposed agreement went nowhere.

That left Doyle with no option, she said, but to stay the charges. Doyle told court she believed Vader would be convicted of killing the McCanns based on a circumstantial case, but couldn’t be sure the trial would be fair because of the RCMP’s late disclosure.

The disclosure debacle convinced the Alberta RCMP to change their method of investigating major cases to ensure proper disclosure. The Mounties have hired more support staff and centralized their major case units in Edmonton instead of in various detachments.

Vader is now scheduled to face trial in March 2016.

The pre-trial hearing is expected to last four days.

rcormier@edmontonjournal.com

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