Accused murderer Travis Vader has had his release cancelled on those murder charges.
This won’t mean a significant change for Vader in the short term. He’s already in custody on other charges that arose during his 12-week trial for the July 2010 murder of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann.
Crown prosecutor Eman Joumaa explained that while Vader’s release on those new charges was denied (provincial court Judge Lloyd Malin denied his release May 30 after a two-day hearing) the seriousness of the murder charges meant the higher Court of Queen’s Bench had to deal with release on those charges.
Justice Paul Belzil cancelled Vader’s release on those charges Tuesday morning.
In order to cancel release on the murder charges, all that’s required is either a finding that an indictable offence was committed during his release, or that there are reasonable and probable grounds to suggest such an offence was committed.
“Once a judge finds there are reasonable and probable grounds, and in this case defence ultimately conceded that there were, then Mr. Vader’s release on the murder charges was cancelled,” Joumaa said.
The second part of the process, should Vader choose to exercise that option, is to have a hearing to show cause that he should not be in custody pending the outcome of the trial. She said Vader declined the option to show cause at Tuesday’s hearing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
“He still has the opportunity to show cause, so in that sense this process has not reached a conclusion,” she said. “Whether he seeks that opportunity is up to him.”
Vader’s defence finished presenting evidence in the murder trial May 27, and final arguments were heard June 22-23. Justice Denny Thomas is expected to render his verdict Sept. 15.
