Saskatchewan man charged with murder headed back to court over Mr. Big ruling

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SASKATOON—A man accused of first-degree murder in the death of a Saskatoon woman will be returning to court where arguments will be heard on whether a recent Supreme Court ruling should affect the case.

Douglas Hales is charged with strangling and beating Daleen Bosse, whom he had met at a bar where he worked as a bouncer.

He was arrested after a so-called Mr. Big Sting, in which undercover RCMP officers posed as members of a criminal organization trying to recruit Hales.

Final arguments have been made and a verdict in the judge-alone case was expected Aug. 29.

But a new court appearance next Monday was ordered after the Supreme Court ruled last week that confessions extracted through the sting operations must be presumed inadmissible in court.

In its judgment, the court said that prosecutors must prove a Mr. Big confession is admissible by showing it’s reliable, and that it won’t unfairly prejudice a crime suspect during court proceedings.

The Crown must also prove the confession was not obtained via police coercion, or was facilitated due to a suspect’s mental health or addiction issues.

Bosse’s burned remains were found four years after she vanished in 2004.

During final arguments, the Crown contended Hales killed the university student out of rage when she mocked his sexual impotence.

The defence contends Bosse died of alcohol poisoning and that Hales burned her body out of panic, believing he’d be charged with murder since he provided the alcohol.