An Alberta judge who found Travis Vader guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann has sentenced him to life in prison for the crime committed six-and-a-half years ago. 

Vader will not be eligible for parole for seven years.

Moments before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas sentenced him to life, Vader used his opportunity to address the court to avow his innocence.  "This court has convicted an innocent man, and I will continue to fight until I clear my name," Vader said.

Vader’s lawyer Brian Beresh confirmed outside the Edmonton courthouse they will file an appeal as early as this week.

Shortly after the sentence was handed down, the RCMP released a statement saying, "today, our thoughts are with the McCann family, who have demonstrated courage throughout the tragic loss of Lyle and Marie McCann and the resulting criminal trial."

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On Oct. 31, 2016, Thomas found Vader responsible for the McCanns’ deaths. The couple, both in their late 70s, vanished after leaving their Edmonton-area home on a camping trip to British Columbia in July, 2010. Thomas found that Vader was a desperate drug addict who came across the McCanns in their motorhome near Peers, Alta., and killed them during a robbery.

The couple’s bodies have never been found, and Vader has never confessed to the killing.

Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson is seeking a life sentence for Vader, on the basis that after killing one McCann, he should have known that harming the second could also result in death. Vader’s defence lawyer has argued that Vader should get two four- to six-year sentences, served concurrently.

As the lengthy sentencing hearing wrapped up in early January, defence lawyer Nate Whitling proposed that Vader get more than six years of credit for time served, meaning he could walk free at the conclusion of the court case if Thomas accepts the defence’s sentencing request.

Whitling based his calculation on the numerous times Vader has been in and out of jail as the investigation and court case played out.

Thomas will also rule on whether he has accepted any part of Vader’s application that his constitutional rights were violated during the trial. The judge already dismissed Vader’s argument that he was unlawfully strip-searched. 

Vader was originally convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, but after it was determined that Thomas had relied on a defunct aspect of the Criminal Code to come to the ruling, the murder convictions were vacated and replaced with manslaughter convictions.

The McCanns’ son, Brett McCann, has called for reform of the Criminal Code to eliminate so-called "zombie legislation" that he said increased the suffering of his family. 

Arrangements are being made so Brett McCann, who has been outspoken throughout the case, and his wife, Mary-Ann McCann, can watch Thomas deliver his decision via video conferencing from Australia.

They left the country just before Christmas, when the sentencing hearing was supposed to have been concluded.

Thomas is expected to deliver a 45-minute oral summary of his reasons for sentencing on Wednesday morning.

pparsons@postmedia.com

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