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Travis Vader’s first-degree murder trial for the killings of an elderly St. Albert couple who disappeared in 2010 is slated to begin on Tuesday.

 

The much-anticipated case is set for 22 days and will be held in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench before Justice Denny Thomas.

 

On Jan. 26, Thomas denied a defence application to have the charge against Vader judicially stayed following a lengthy abuse of process hearing.

 

Thomas said the decision was a "very close call," but ruled the public’s confidence in the administration of justice requires Vader, 43, to be tried for the slayings of Lyle McCann, 78, and his 77-year-old wife Marie.

 

In his written ruling, the judge cited an "obvious and serious failure in the disclosure process" by the RCMP, but ruled the "bungling" was unintentional negligence and not an abuse of process.

 

Thomas also cleared the Crown prosecutor’s office of any wrongdoing and rejected the defence argument that there had been an "unreasonable delay" in the case.

 

After the decision, the victims’ family said they were "very pleased" there would be a trial and they were "keenly" looking forward to finding out what happened to them.

 

Court documents ordered released to the media during the hearing show police believe that forensic evidence, cellphone records, an undercover sting and a bullet hole in a hat link Vader to the McCanns’ disappearance.

 

According to notes taken during meetings between the Crown and the RCMP, the Mounties believe they found Vader’s fingerprint and DNA on a beer can inside the McCanns’ SUV, they believe Vader used a cellphone belonging to the McCanns on the day they disappeared in July 2010 and say a man told them that Vader had given him a ruby ring that belonged to the McCanns.

 

In a 2013 memorandum, the Crown writes that "forensic evidence ties" Vader to the McCanns’ SUV. It also says Marie McCann’s blood was found inside the vehicle as well as Lyle McCann’s hat with a bullet hole in it.

 

The seniors were last seen on July 3, 2010, fuelling up their motorhome in St. Albert while on their way to Chilliwack, B.C., for a vacation.

 

Two days later, their RV was found engulfed in flames near a campground close to Edson. The SUV they were towing was discovered six days later in a remote wooded area about 30 km east of Edson. Their bodies have yet to be recovered, although RCMP have declared them dead.

 

Vader was first charged with the killings in April 2012, but the charges were stayed in March 2014, just a few weeks before the case was to go before a jury, when the Crown realized the RCMP hadn’t disclosed all evidence in the case. The charges were re-laid on Dec. 19, 2014.