{"id":81135,"date":"2016-09-15T23:03:08","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T03:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=81135"},"modified":"2016-09-15T23:03:08","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T03:03:08","slug":"travis-vader-trial-couples-family-relieved-guilty-verdict-still-dont-know-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/09\/15\/travis-vader-trial-couples-family-relieved-guilty-verdict-still-dont-know-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"Travis Vader trial: Couple’s family relieved at guilty verdict, but still don’t know what happened"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Marie<\/a>
Marie and Lyle McCann. (Facebook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EDMONTON\u2014The son of an Alberta couple who disappeared while driving to a camping trip with family more than six years ago said Thursday that a murder verdict in their deaths is a huge relief to the family.<\/p>\n

But while the agonizing wait for the judge’s decision is over, questions about how Lyle and Marie McCann died remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t know exactly what happened on that afternoon … and probably never will,\u201d Bret McCann said outside court after Travis Vader was found guilty of second-degree murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe convicted person will need to talk and we’re not optimistic that will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled promising years ago that the family would never stop looking for the McCanns, but on Thursday he admitted the search was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to stand down. I’m sorry, mum and dad, I can do no more. I hope that some day, somehow you will be found. I take joy in the legacy you have left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur memory of you will last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas said there was no reasonable doubt that Vader killed the McCanns during a robbery, but there was nothing to suggest he planned to do so.<\/p>\n

Thomas said Vader was a desperate drug dealer who was addicted to meth and had no money or food when he crossed paths with the couple west of Edmonton on July 3, 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Vader killed the McCanns in a planned and deliberate manner,\u201d Thomas said in a decision that was broadcast live from court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe killing of the McCanns was not a first-degree murder. It is therefore a second-degree murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vader, dressed in a suit and white shirt, clenched his hands together when the verdict was read and briefly glanced at his lawyer, Brian Beresh.<\/p>\n

Members of the McCann family gasped. Bret McCann sat in the front row of the courtroom between his daughter, who put her arm around her dad, and his wife Mary-Ann, who had her head on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

When the judge left the courtroom, McCann beamed a big smile as his family and friends hugged each other and cried.<\/p>\n

Thomas also rejected a Crown scenario in which Vader killed one of the McCanns during the robbery and then killed the other to eliminate a witness. The justice said there were other possibilities as to how the couple died.<\/p>\n

The conviction carries an automatic life sentence, but a sentencing hearing still needs to be held to determine Vader’s parole eligibility. Thomas said he would set a date for that hearing on Oct. 3.<\/p>\n

The bodies of the McCanns, who were both in their late 70s, have never been found, but Vader’s DNA and a fingerprint were found in their SUV. The vehicle and the couple’s burned-out motor home were discovered days after the seniors vanished.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe McCanns and their property were likely nothing more than a target of opportunity\u2014an opportunity that Mr. Vader took,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

Beresh said his client will appeal the verdict. He said the judge appears to have constructed his own version of what happened based on circumstantial evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to review the decision,\u201d Beresh said. \u201cThere will be an appeal based upon what we think are errors in the judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crown had argued that Vader, 44, was a crystal meth user living in a makeshift camp when he came across the McCanns and killed them.<\/p>\n

The defence countered that, without evidence of human remains or a murder weapon, the Crown’s case was little more than a collection of theories and circumstantial evidence _ and that there was no proof the couple was even dead.<\/p>\n

Thomas dismissed the idea the McCanns could still be alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolence occurred in the interaction between the McCanns and Mr. Vader. There was bloodshed. A gun was discharged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe McCanns were victims of violence. Mr. Vader inflicted that violence. The McCanns suffered bodily harm. The presence of their blood makes that obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecution called forensic evidence suggesting Vader’s DNA and a fingerprint were found on several items key to the case, including a can of Boxer beer found in the SUV the McCanns had been towing. The defence argued that only proved Vader had \u201cincidental contact\u201d with the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Beresh had allowed it might be possible Vader stole the vehicle, but that didn’t mean he killed anyone.<\/p>\n

The trial was also told a ball cap with a bullet hole found in the SUV had both Vader’s DNA and Lyle McCann’s blood on it, while blood from Marie McCann was found on canned goods in the back.<\/p>\n

Beresh countered that sneezing into a vehicle or onto items might be enough to transfer DNA.<\/p>\n

The defence suggested a friend of Vader’s who died five years ago might have killed the McCanns.<\/p>\n

Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson said he was pleased with the verdict in what he called a long and difficult case.<\/p>\n

Finlayson said in the end Thomas accepted the Crown’s theories based on DNA and cellphone evidence and witness testimony.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it was a circumstantial case, it was very important that those little bits of evidence be accepted … to complete the picture\u2014it is almost like a jigsaw puzzle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bret McCann said his parents were kindred spirits, who were married in 1952, loved being together and had a happy life that ended too early.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so, so sad that my parents didn’t live to fully enjoy their golden years, did not live to enjoy their great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey and us were robbed of this happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON\u2014The son of an Alberta couple who disappeared while driving to a camping trip with family more than six years …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":81136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,18,16],"tags":[1110,7951,12226,12227,260,12225],"class_list":["post-81135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-crime","tag-justice","tag-lyle-mccann","tag-marie-mccann","tag-murder","tag-travis-vader","mauthors-john-cotter","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}