By Tony Blais
A defence witness at Travis Vader’s first-degree murder trial testified Friday that the accused killer was at her Edmonton home on the day the alleged victims were slain.
Kim Steffler, a 42-year-old mother of three who works at the Yellowhead Casino as a dealer, told court she was living in a duplex with her family in July 2010 and said her friend Sherri Campbell, a former girlfriend of Vader’s, was also staying there.
Steffler testified that Vader got to the home about 3 a.m. on July 2, 2010. She said he spent the night there and left on the afternoon of July 3, 2010, sometime before she left for work about 3:30 p.m.
She said she last saw him about 2 p.m. as she was getting prepared for work and assumed he was getting ready to leave.
The Crown alleges St. Albert seniors Lyle and Marie McCann were murdered sometime in the early afternoon of July 3, 2010, in the Edson-Peers area, about one hour and 40 minutes driving time from Edmonton.
The trial has also heard evidence from another girlfriend of Vader’s, Amber Williams, who testified that she received texts from Vader about 2:15 p.m. on July 3, 2010. Phone records have shown that the cellphone used belonged to the McCanns and was transmitting off a cellphone tower located north of Peers.
Under cross examination, Steffler agreed she told police in 2010 that she might have been off by a day regarding when Vader left her home. However, she clarified that, based on her work records, she is now positive it was on July 3, 2010.
Steffler also agreed in cross examination that Vader had told her at the time that he had been selling drugs in the Edson area and needed to get away as there was "too much heat on him."
Vader, 44, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Lyle McCann, 78, and Marie McCann, 77. The couple was last seen on that day leaving a Superstore in St. Albert.
Two days later, their motorhome was found ablaze and abandoned at the Minnow Lake campground. The Hyundai SUV they were towing was found July 16, 2010, in the woods on a rural property just off of Highway 16 east of Edson.
The trial has heard police found Vader’s DNA, blood and fingerprints in the SUV as well as blood spatter from the McCanns. Their bodies have not been found.
