2018-08-22 Travis Vader to appeal manslaughter convictions for McCann deaths this fall | Edmonton Journal
Published by Bretton McCann,
Travis Vader to appeal manslaughter convictions for McCann deaths this fall
Travis Vader’s appeal of his manslaughter convictions for the deaths of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann will go before the court in November.
Vader was sentenced to life in prison after Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas found him guilty of manslaughter in connection to the 2010 deaths of the McCanns. The remains of the couple, who were in their 70s when they disappeared, have never been recovered.
Thomas initially convicted Vader of two counts of second-degree murder, finding that Vader killed the couple in the course of committing a robbery. However, the judge relied on a defunct section of the Criminal Code and had to vacate the murder convictions, instead finding Vader guilty of manslaughter.
The period during which Vader will be ineligible to apply for parole was set at seven years.
Documents explaining the grounds for the appeal filed by Vader’s lawyer Brian Beresh in January 2017 ask for his conviction to be set aside and for him to receive either a stay of proceedings or an acquittal. If a new trial is ordered, Vader has requested it be by judge and jury.
The hearing before the Court of Appeal of Alberta is set for Nov. 28.
