The final witnesses and evidence will be heard at Travis Vader’s sentencing hearing for his double manslaughter conviction for the deaths of an elderly St. Albert couple on Tuesday, but the convicted killer’s lengthy cross-examination by the Crown means the hearing won’t wrap up until after Christmas.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas said Monday that the hearing would continue on Tuesday as long as is necessary to get through the remaining witnesses and evidence being called as part of the Crown’s arguments against Vader’s assertion that his constitutional rights were violated during the court case and police investigation.
Vader, 44, was found guilty Oct. 31 of manslaughter in the deaths of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann, aged 78 and 77. The conviction came after a lengthy police investigation and subsequent court process that followed the couple’s disappearance. Although the couple’s burnt-out motorhome was found near Edson, human remains have never been located.
The sentencing hearing, which began on Dec. 12, is expected to resume on January 3, when the Crown and defence will make final arguments about whether Vader has proved any of his allegations of being mistreated and harassed by people in the criminal justice system, as well as oral arguments on what the sentence should be.
For the two manslaughter convictions, the Crown is seeking one life sentence, and one sentence of 12 to 15 years, arguing that after causing the death of one of the McCanns, Vader would have known that harming the second would also result in death.
The hearing was supposed to have concluded Friday, but the lengthy cross-examination of Vader by Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson ran for multiple days.
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