EDMONTON - After more than four years behind bars, numerous failed prosecutions and accusations that he murdered a missing elderly couple, Travis Vader was expected to walk free Wednesday evening.
Held in isolated custody since July 2012, Vader, 42, will be released from the Edmonton Remand Centre after he was acquitted of nine drug, theft and firearm-related charges Wednesday, crimes he was convicted of in 2012 before a lack of disclosure resulted in a mistrial.
In the prisoner’s box, Vader’s eyes widened and he released a long, shaky breath while his delighted family members smiled in the gallery. Outside court, his family embraced each other.
Nathan Whitling, Vader’s lawyer, said his client was "relieved, but not surprised" at the court’s decision.
"Mr. Vader has directed me to say that he is not a threat to anyone, he’s not a threat to Alberta or any member of the public," Whitling said. "His intention is to get his old job back and to live a very quiet life."
Whitling added that Vader will live with family members: "I suspect this is the last you will hear of Travis Vader."
Murder charges against Vader in the disappearance and presumed deaths of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann could still be brought to court. The couple vanished during a road trip in July 2010. They were last seen fuelling up their motorhome and their bodies have not been found.
Shortly before trial, those murder charges were stayed and Whitling said it would be "very surprising" if prosecutors moved forward.
Edmonton’s chief Crown prosecutor Michelle Doyle would only state that the charges were still stayed. Prosecutors have until March to resurrect them.
The missing couple’s son, Bret McCann, released a brief statement: "Mom and Dad raised us to be resilient, strong, patient and loving people. This was their gift to us and it has served us well throughout this ordeal, and will continue to do so until the investigation into their deaths is resolved."
Vader has filed a million-dollar lawsuit that alleges malicious prosecution in the McCann case.
Wednesday’s acquittals were the latest in a string of failed prosecutions against Vader since he was arrested in the McCann case in July 2010. Whitling called his prolonged incarceration "an unfortunate reflection on our justice system."
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Andrea Moen acquitted Vader of charges that he stole a truck, possessed an illegal revolver and trafficked methamphetamines around the Barrhead area in June 2010.
Though Moen thought Vader was an "unsavoury character," she did not believe the evidence of key prosecution witnesses and noted that Doyle did not call evidence to refute Vader’s alibi that he was with his girlfriend when he supposedly committed the crimes.
In the first trial, Vader was convicted before a mistrial was declared when a judge discovered he was not provided with two witness statements. On Wednesday, Doyle said that lack of disclosure was the fault of the RCMP, not prosecutors.
"I don’t accept this case was mismanaged," she said.
In August, Vader was acquitted of uttering threats because a judge did not believe a correctional officer’s testimony. The officer claimed Vader threatened his life at the Edmonton Remand Centre.
In February, Vader filed a $150,000 lawsuit against the RCMP and claimed they set him up on a false charge of obstructing justice. That charge was stayed shortly before it went to trial.
In October 2011, Vader was sentenced to 33 months in prison on charges of arson, theft, possession of stolen property and disqualified driving. However, that sentence was reduced to one day because of the time Vader previously spent in custody.
In that case, the judge decided Vader should get extra credit because he was held in isolation after RCMP released his picture and named him as the sole suspect in the McCann case.
rcormier@edmontonjournal.com
