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In July 2010, a retired couple embarked on a road trip in their RV from Alberta to British Columbia. When Lyle and Marie McCann didn’t arrive to meet up with family at a set date and time, their loved ones were frantic to find them. Two days after they set out, their charred motorhome was discovered. But their remains were never located. As Jayme Doll reports, the mysterious and complex case is full of many legal twists and turns.
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00:00This program is rated 14 plus and contains scenes of violence and mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:14The Edson crews got a call of an RV on fire Monday about 7 p.m. and they found the RV fully involved.
00:22The license plate was able to be recovered and that was able to identify who the register owner was, which was Lyle.
00:28Investigators along with search and rescue crews have now returned to the scene of the fire to look for some evidence of the couple's whereabouts.
00:36My family is remaining optimistic that my parents are out there somewhere and we believe that someone somewhere has some information that can complete this jigsaw puzzle.
00:51We had many public pleas. Well, there's just hundreds and hundreds of tips.
00:58We were, you know, speaking to anyone that could possibly be, you know, involved in property crime or drugs because those are often the motives.
01:07The RCMP is cautioning the public and everyone out there to not approach him as he could pose a threat to your security.
01:13Until now, RCMP believed Travis Vader knew something about the disappearance of Lyle and Marie McCann.
01:19Now they believe he did something.
01:21We have been devastated for two months and it's enough. And if he knows something, he needs to help us bring grandpa and grandma home. We can't keep doing this anymore.
01:37Welcome to Crime Beat. I'm Anthony Robart. In July 2010, Lyle and Marie McCann set out from Alberta on a road trip to British Columbia.
01:47But the retired couple never made it. When they failed to show up, their family grew frantic.
01:54And two days after the couple left, their motor home was found burned to a shell. But the mystery was only beginning.
02:04Here now is Jamie Dahl with Road of No Return.
02:11You could often find them on a long open road embarking on another adventure.
02:17Lyle and Marie McCann, both in their late 70s, were seasoned road trippers.
02:23Lyle was a retired long haul truck driver. He felt right at home on the highway.
02:29On July 3, 2010, the couple left St. Albert, Alberta and set off on a summer adventure to British Columbia.
02:37We had saw them the day, Friday, before they left and had dinner with them.
02:42Mom and I went garage sailing and back to their place. Mom and I loaded the motor home and off they went the next morning.
02:52It's where they found joy, outside their RV, in nature, soaking up the splendor of their golden years.
03:00They were the classic snowbirds. They loved traveling and driving like thousands of miles.
03:09If there was something to do, they did it hand in hand together. They explored everything they could.
03:16They were going to go to Cultus Lake in BC and they were going to take about a week to get there and they were going to pick up my sister and her daughter.
03:28They lived in Calgary but Trudy was going to fly out there and they were going to pick her up at Abbotsford Airport.
03:34It was a common thing for them to go camping and we wouldn't talk to them until they got home kind of thing.
03:40It would not have been anything but normal for them not to call us.
03:44But Mary Ann did get a call, not from the McCann's but from their daughter, one week later on July 10, when the pair was supposed to pick her up.
03:54I got a call from Trudy saying mum and dad did not meet them at the airport.
04:01The couple kept an emergency cell phone in the glove box of the SUV they were towing.
04:06We got the phone call. The first thing you do is call the number.
04:11And nothing.
04:12And nothing.
04:13Brett was in a meeting so I drove to his office, barged into the boardroom and said, Brett we have a problem.
04:23Something had happened because Breton's parents never were late.
04:30You can count on them to be exactly an hour early but they just were never late for anything.
04:38Much less picking up their daughter and granddaughter from an airport.
04:44When Lyle and Marie didn't arrive, their family immediately filed a missing persons report with RCMP.
04:52I don't recall, you know, assuming the worst.
04:55Something happened with their motor home or something or they're stuck somewhere.
04:58There was some problem. It would come out and everything would be okay.
05:02Where are they?
05:04Mysterious circumstances surround the disappearance of two seniors from St. Albert.
05:08According to police, the last place the motor home was seen was here in Edson on Monday.
05:13We know you're out there. You may be hurt. But we're looking as hard as we can for you.
05:20Days before the family reported the couple missing, a discovery had been made two hours from the McCann's home.
05:26The Edson crews got a call of an RV on fire Monday about 7pm and they responded out to it, found the RV fully involved.
05:36Police in Alberta have now connected a burned out motor home that was discovered a week ago to an elderly couple that hasn't been heard from in 10 days.
05:43They were planning a trip to BC and now their family is asking for the public's help in finding them.
05:49Global Edmonton's Erin Chalmers is in St. Albert at the last place the couple was seen.
05:53Erin?
05:54Kevin, I'm standing outside the home of Lyle and Marie McCann.
05:57The couple left here Saturday, July 3rd heading for Abbotsford, BC.
06:02On Monday, two days after the McCann's left St. Albert, their motor home was found engulfed in flames near a campsite outside of Edson.
06:10But the couple was nowhere to be found and the green Hyundai SUV they were towing was also missing.
06:16Edson is only about 200 kilometres from the McCann's home in St. Albert and 869 kilometres from their final destination of Cultus Lake.
06:26We found out that the RV had been involved in a fire on July 5th, 2010.
06:31The licence plate was able to be recovered and that was able to identify who the register owner was, which was Lyle and Marie McCann.
06:37At the time when it initially came to our attention it was, should we say, simply a burned vehicle.
06:44But now with the circumstances we're treating it as very serious.
06:47There was no evidence of any people being anywhere near the RV.
06:51There was no smell of burning humans.
06:53And we just have this vehicle.
06:57They search the overall area.
07:00They do neighbourhood inquiries, do inquiries in the campground.
07:03There is no evidence, it's just foul play.
07:06They found the burned out motor home, but RCMP said they find this all the time.
07:13So they didn't think anything of it.
07:15I believe it took some time for them to even go back to the home of the McCann's.
07:20It was over the summer holidays.
07:22So I think there were these assumptions that people just weren't home.
07:27The RCMP knocked on their door about that motor home, but nobody ever contacted us.
07:33And they didn't actually put together that my parents were missing, that there was an issue until my sister contacted them.
07:42It felt from the beginning that something was amiss.
07:45The fact that that motor home was found burnt out.
07:48That it was registered to Lyle and Marie McCann.
07:51That there was a knock at the door.
07:53But then no further follow through.
07:55That's certainly a concern of ours.
07:57We're looking at how it was found, how it was reported, how it was investigated.
08:05We were able to get clear video evidence of them gassing up their RV before their road trip in St. Albert at the Superstore gas station.
08:13Credit card records helped RCMP track the July 3rd footage down.
08:18The couple also purchased some groceries.
08:21My dad's a truck driver.
08:23They gassed up in St. Albert and they would have been just blown through the mountains by, you know, the end of the first day.
08:32So it doesn't make any sense.
08:35These were the most loving, decent people.
08:39So something couldn't happen to them, couldn't possibly.
08:44Welcome back to Crime Eats.
09:01As the investigation into the disappearance of Lyle and Marie McCann intensifies.
09:07Police searched for the missing SUV they were towing, hoping that will provide a clue to the couple's whereabouts.
09:14Here again is Jamie Dahl with Road of No Return.
09:20We really need to find this SUV.
09:26Our whole family is very hopeful that, you know, that they're somewhere, and they may be hurt, but that they're somewhere.
09:35And we're very hopeful that the public can help us through this SUV find our parents.
09:41Right now our investigators are following up on tips, on interview material, anything that we can work upon trying to determine what direction to travel that SUV took from that area.
09:51Investigators along with search and rescue crews have now returned to the scene of the fire to look for some evidence of the couple's whereabouts.
09:59I can't really see my dad driving the motor home into there, so I'm not sure that that's where the SUV and the motor home became separated.
10:09Late today, a possible break with word of a reported sighting of the couple's SUV in the Prince George area.
10:16RCMP say they want to talk to a man and a woman who came into their detachment with critical information.
10:24We don't know if it's still in Prince George.
10:26This was within the last four days we're led to believe.
10:29But we do think that this information that they gave us is reliable.
10:33They had the plate number.
10:34They had the description of the vehicle.
10:36So that person, I believe, was convinced it was a mechanic SUV, maybe even convinced about the license plate.
10:41But I can tell you that based on the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that that SUV went to Prince George.
10:46So ultimately, was that tip a red herring?
10:48Yes, it was absolutely a red herring.
10:50And one that generated a fair bit of work.
10:53We had many public pleas to help us find our parents and everything that people phoned in and tips came in.
11:02Well, there's just hundreds and hundreds of tips.
11:05I created a page on Facebook to help us find Lyle and Maria.
11:09It's a mystery, you know, and I think people want to help us to solve it, to get beyond the nightmare.
11:16Look at the determination and the spirit of this little beauty.
11:20We've got four.
11:22We're challenging one another to see which one is going to be dominant.
11:27It's a free reign of the art.
11:29I give all four equal chance.
11:31My dad was very strong and very nice.
11:34And he was a truck driver.
11:36So when I was growing up, he would be out of town sort of half the week kind of thing.
11:41He did a lot of, he had a steady route into BC.
11:44My mom was, she loved her home.
11:47She was an excellent cook.
11:48She loved making meals and having company and loved taking care of people.
11:54Shopping with her, laughing with her, everything you did with mum was beautiful.
12:00Dad was one of Brett's best friends, a total guidance.
12:05They both guided both Breton and I throughout our married life.
12:10They're almost married 60 years.
12:12They loved each other very much.
12:14I remember, sorry.
12:17They always called each other darling.
12:22Lyle and Marie McCann built their lives in St. Albert, moving to the community 44 years ago and raising their three children.
12:30I'm the oldest.
12:31I'm the baby.
12:32It was absolutely a huge story.
12:34It was a story that quickly gained national attention because of that relatability.
12:38It could be your grandparents or parents.
12:40And that attention was also on the RCMP from the beginning and how they were handling the case.
12:46The McCann's were last seen gassing up their motor home on July 3rd.
12:50The burned out vehicle was found in the bush two days later.
12:53But police admit they didn't properly follow up on the evidence.
12:56I think that a couple of mistakes have been made.
12:58The matter of the burned motor home coming to life and being reported on the 5th and the delay from there till the 10th.
13:08What I will say this is that in any investigation, I have yet to see a perfect investigation.
13:15And so there's always going to be opportunities that with the benefit of hindsight, you're like, well, could we have done this?
13:21Could we have done that?
13:22I just don't believe that there really was much to go on.
13:25On July 16th, six days after the missing persons report was filed, a break in the case.
13:32On a lonely back road west of Edmonton, police find the vehicle they've been looking for.
13:41A Hyundai SUV belonging to Lyle and Marie McCann, an elderly couple who disappeared on their way to the lower mainland.
13:48It was found near Carrot Lake, about 200 kilometres from the McCann's home.
13:52And now police fear the worst.
13:54We suspect foul play.
13:56I mean, everybody can draw their own conclusions.
13:59This is completely out of character for someone not to have contacted, in this case their daughter, and not to have arrived on time.
14:06I guess the best way to answer that is we assume the worst and hope for the best.
14:24Welcome back to Crime Beat.
14:27Almost two weeks after the McCanns left for a trip to British Columbia, police locate the missing couple's SUV and announce a break in the case.
14:39Here again is Jamie Dahl with Road of No Return.
14:44RCMP said they got tips from the public who claimed to have seen a man driving the McCann's SUV in the Edson area.
14:56They publicly announced him as a person of interest.
15:01Good evening.
15:02We begin tonight with two major breakthroughs in the disappearance of Lyle and Marie McCann.
15:07RCMP have a person of interest in the case of the missing St. Albert seniors.
15:1138-year-old Travis Edward Vader is a known drug user with outstanding warrants.
15:16And late today, police announced the couple's SUV has been located west of Edmonton.
15:22We don't know where Mr. Vader is right now.
15:24And we need the public's help in trying to locate him.
15:27We were, you know, speaking to anyone that could possibly be, you know, involved in property crime or drugs.
15:35Because those are often the motives for thefts and other things.
15:39During one of those interviews that Travis Vader was seen in a vehicle that resembled the missing McCann SUV.
15:45The RCMP is cautioning the public and everyone out there to not approach him as he could pose a threat to your security.
15:52We have obtained court documents that show just three months ago Vader breached his condition.
15:57So it does appear he did have a past criminal history.
16:00The Vader's are well known and well liked in the small hamlet of McKay.
16:06Travis Vader grew up in the area and graduated from Knighton Junction High School.
16:11It's also where until just a few years ago he was raising his family of seven.
16:15Friends and neighbors say he's been spotted in the area, but because of his reputation for violence and fighting,
16:21many are simply too scared to report his whereabouts to police.
16:25The day's long manhunt came to an end on July 19th, 2010.
16:31A large contingent of RCMP members surrounded a property near McKay, Alberta,
16:35about 15 kilometres from where Travis Vader once lived.
16:38He was arrested for the outstanding ones.
16:41He is still a subject of interest in this case.
16:44We believe that Mr. Vader has information relevant to the McCann missing person investigation.
16:50There was a handful of offences that he was wanted for and those allowed us to arrest and detain him.
16:58And he was then remanded in custody in relation to those offences based on his criminal record.
17:02Three weeks after the McCann's went missing,
17:07family, friends and complete strangers gathered in St. Albert to raise awareness
17:12and pray for the missing couple.
17:14After it became clear that something terrible had happened,
17:17we had this candlelight vigil.
17:19Then we organized search parties.
17:24The McCann family isn't giving up hope,
17:27putting up posters along the Yellowhead Highway from Edmonton to Kamloops,
17:31asking for help wherever they can find it.
17:34My family is remaining optimistic that my parents are out there somewhere,
17:41and we believe that someone somewhere has some information
17:45that can, you know, complete this jigsaw puzzle.
17:48Family and friends of Lyle and Marie McCann grab a stack of posters,
17:53a roll of tape, pick a location.
17:56Okay, so cameras, can I put you down before?
17:58Sure.
17:59And head out.
18:00The waiting for my mom and dad to walk through the door is becoming interminably difficult.
18:09RCMP spent weeks scouring numerous rural properties near to where the McCann's RV and SUV were found,
18:17even calling in a civilian dive team to search a small pond.
18:21Neighbors say the man who owns the property at the end of the road where police are looking was once a close friend of Vader.
18:27Investigators were also trying to get information from Travis Vader, who was remanded in custody.
18:33Until now RCMP believed Travis Vader knew something about the disappearance of Lyle and Marie McCann.
18:39Now they believe he did something.
18:41We have been devastated for two months and it's enough.
18:45And if he knows something, he needs to help us bring grandpa and grandma home.
18:50We can't keep doing this anymore.
18:53He denied any knowledge of McCann's, any interaction with McCann's, any interaction with their property.
18:58Deep in the heart of central Alberta, friends and family of Lyle and Marie McCann scour the dense brush for clues.
19:08We're trying to stick to all the back little wiggly roads where nobody travels.
19:12Murray McCann describes this area as Travis Vader's backyard saying,
19:16Vader grew up in the area and likely knows these remote roads inside and out.
19:20Still for searchers, the area is incredibly vast.
19:23I covered numerous searches during that time.
19:27You're out there and it is deep boreal forest.
19:31It is acreages, spotty properties, mostly gated, many of which have no trespassing signs.
19:40I remember one time approaching someone who lived out there and they said,
19:43we live out here for a reason, look at the sign.
19:45It wasn't a friendly place.
19:47The monsoon grew cold and so did the search for the McCann's.
19:52The family put up billboards offering a $60,000 reward.
19:57But the hope they had steadfastly clung to was beginning to fade.
20:02And by November, the ground search was called off.
20:06I started thinking the worst and that they were gone.
20:09It's been a matter of finding out how and why and where.
20:13RCMP were absolutely incredible at keeping us informed and updated.
20:21I remember asking if they thought that mum and dad could still be alive.
20:38And he said no.
20:44Just over a year after they disappeared, a court issued an order declaring the McCann's deceased.
20:50The family also decided to hold a celebration of life for the couple.
20:55The timing of Saturday's memorial service is no coincidence.
21:00The day marks what would have been Lyle and Marie McCann's 59th wedding anniversary.
21:05I want to stress that, you know, we're laying in my parents' memory to rest here, but we will never give up in terms of finding out what happened to my parents.
21:15Investigators have conducted dozens of searches, one as recent as a week ago, seized over 700 exhibits and 1,800 documents.
21:25They say they're making progress, but with each visit to their parents' empty home, the family's optimism is waning.
21:31Was there any part of you that still clung a little bit to hope that maybe they still were alive?
21:39No, not after that summer. Not for me anyways.
21:44Welcome back.
21:56Travis Vader remained in custody on unrelated charges for which he was convicted and sentenced in December 2011.
22:04But his troubles with the law did not end there.
22:07He was facing another round of charges, 14 in total, arising out of events alleged to have occurred the previous year.
22:14These charges included drug trafficking, theft and possession of a firearm.
22:19But it wouldn't be until April 2012 that Travis Vader would face the most serious charges of his life.
22:26Now, back to Jamie Dahl with Road of No Return.
22:35As the investigation proceeded, police named Vader as an official suspect.
22:39The McCanns have never been found.
22:41They were legally declared deceased last summer and today, 22 months after they disappeared, Travis Vader is charged with their murders.
22:48Understandably, the public have many questions about what happened to the McCanns.
22:55Those questions will be answered in due course through the court process.
23:00We've never had a confession from Mr. Vader.
23:03We had circumstantial evidence and we also had a lot of forensics that was being developed and applied.
23:09You know, as long as he was still in custody, we were continuing to examine what other avenues might exist.
23:15We are very relieved. As you know, this has been quite an ordeal.
23:21We've waited a long time for this arrest, almost two years.
23:24We still don't know what happened to my parents and where my parents are.
23:32Two years later in 2014, just weeks before Travis Vader was set to stand trial for a double murder, a shocking twist in the case.
23:41Some disappointing news today for the family of an Alberta couple who went missing almost three years ago.
23:46Charges against Travis Vader, the man accused of killing Lyle and Marie McCann, have been stayed.
23:52I've worked on this man's case now for a number of months and my professional assessment is that there was not, now and there never was, a realistic or serious chance of any conviction.
24:08When Travis Vader was charged, it was just weeks before jury selection.
24:17When this was supposed to go to trial, there was word that the Crown didn't get all of the disclosure.
24:25And I think the Crown even called it a disclosure fiasco.
24:30And so the Crown said, we have to stay these charges.
24:34We do not have confidence that we are going to get all this material on time in order to go ahead with this trial.
24:44We were just gobsmacked that this was not going to proceed.
24:48After waiting for so long and assuming that they had everything, you know, their act together, that this would be halted.
24:57Everything here was on a hard drive.
25:00The Crown at that time was trying to piece everything together to get ready for trial.
25:05And she noticed that disclosure was missing, that she didn't have everything.
25:12And so she contacted the main investigator and he then very quickly went through it and confirmed that they were missing this disclosure.
25:26And this would have been with trial quickly approaching.
25:30It wasn't that the RCMP was withholding evidence from the Crown.
25:33It's there were cases when we went back to audit disclosure where information was not stored in a way, in a manner that was made it easy for the investigators to locate it and disclose it to the Crown.
25:44They didn't do it deliberately.
25:46It was just such an overwhelming case.
25:49If they don't resume charges within one year, he can't be charged again with that.
25:55And as each month goes by, you think he's closer to freedom.
26:04In October, all other charges against Vader, including the firearm and theft charge, were ultimately stayed.
26:10And for the first time in four years, he was released from custody.
26:15You still maintain your innocence, Travis?
26:18Of course.
26:20Now it's like, OK, we've got one year in order to recommence this prosecution and we need to do everything that's humanly possible to allow the evidence to be properly assessed by the Crown.
26:35And we were able to put together a new disclosure package with the same core evidence, plus new information coming in.
26:40We have to disclose that as well.
26:42Just weeks before Christmas of that year, the first degree murder charges against Travis Vader were reinstated.
26:49And six years after the McCann's went missing, the case was finally said to be heard in court.
26:56You can imagine, we've been sitting there for years, waiting for something to happen here, for Vader to be held accountable.
27:03The Crown says it could call over 100 witnesses and will prove Vader's DNA was located throughout the McCann's SUV and on a beer can found nearby.
27:13The defence alleges the RCMP had tunnel vision, making Vader their top suspect, painting him as a villain.
27:20It argues there's no proof the McCann's are actually dead and says it will call into question forensic evidence and name other suspects.
27:28This time, the trial was judge alone. There was no jury and it was a long trial.
27:37Just seeing Vader in the courtroom and his attitude, I can't forget that either.
27:44Vader made faces at us and sneered at us and was nonchalant, horrible, intimidating.
27:57It was a technical trial. It was circumstantial as well. And that was part of the defence.
28:07Where are the bodies? Where is the weapon?
28:11Bit by bit, the evidence and testimony was revealed, placing Travis Vader in the path of Lyle and Marie McCann,
28:19beginning on the day the couple hit the road in July of 2010.
28:24Mr. McCann was wearing a particular baseball hat and that became very important.
28:31They're driving west towards Blue River and at 2.15 or 2.14 PM, Mr. Vader is using their cell phone to call his ex-girlfriend.
28:51Investigators eventually recovered the McCann's cell phone after an interview with the ex-girlfriend.
28:58She said she found the phone at a mutual friend's residence that Travis was known to stay at.
29:03And before the police knew that she had the phone, she disposed of it in a dumpster.
29:07A large part of this trial was very technical, showing cell phone towers and where cell phones pinged.
29:17The Crown relied on those cell phone records and witnesses to help retrace Vader's whereabouts.
29:25Around noon that day, he had been at a friend's place whom he had done drugs with in the past, who lived near Piers, Alberta.
29:39So that would have been between Edson and Carrot Creek.
29:43And he showed up and he was driving what was later determined to be a stolen Ford F-350 truck.
29:55And that vehicle later was located with an attempt to burn it, but it hadn't burned.
30:01The key to the McCann SUV was found in that.
30:03So you've got that timeline.
30:0710.08 AM, the McCann's leave.
30:1112.15, Mr. Vader leaves Dave's place in the Piers, Carrot Creek, Edson area.
30:21At 2.15, he's using their phone.
30:25And at 4.15, he shows up at Dave's place driving their vehicle.
30:30He was broke prior to that.
30:33He now had money.
30:35All the while, what he's done is he's moved the McCann RV and their SUV,
30:47took those to a nearby campground at Minnow Lake.
30:51The campground caretaker did knock on that RV's door and never got anyone to come to the door
30:56because he was looking to make sure that they'd paid because they hadn't.
30:59On July 5th, the RV is found burning on a back road not far from the campground.
31:06I still think that my parents' bodies were in the motorhome, but the police said that they searched the ashes basically of the motorhome
31:14and found no trace of their bodies.
31:17We had anthropologists go through, just out of an abundance of caution,
31:21looking for any type of evidence that might reveal human remains.
31:25There was nothing found.
31:27But it was the evidence inside the McCann's SUV found steps away from a roadside turnoff on Highway 16.
31:35The Crown hoped would help solidify its case against Travis Vader.
31:40DNA from Travis Vader, I think it was on the gear shifter on the steering wheel.
31:44Mr. Vader bled small amounts in the SUV.
31:49His DNA is all over the inside of the vehicle.
31:54The significance as well of that bow cat is that it had a blood spatter from Mr. McCann.
32:03It also had a bullet hole in it, and the canned goods had Marie McCann's blood.
32:16It was blood spatter on the cans.
32:21The blood spatter expert confirmed from the blood spatter that those items,
32:31the blood spatter would have been deposited on those items outside the SUV,
32:36that they were subsequently placed in the SUV.
32:40But whatever bloodletting had resulted in the death of the McCann's did not take place in the SUV.
32:48The RCMP had told us that when Mum and Dad left St. Albert, they probably stopped at a comfort station,
32:58and that's where Vader got in.
33:01Mr. Vader has always, to my knowledge, to this day, denies responsibility for these deaths.
33:07But certainly, the evidence that we had is, on that day, he had a stolen vehicle that was not functioning properly.
33:13And if he wanted to get another vehicle, one location that might be someplace that you could take a vehicle,
33:19maybe without even needing to use force, would be if people stopped and got out of their vehicle and left the keys in the car.
33:26So it's certainly my hypothesis.
33:29From the bullet hole in Mr. McCann's hat, I would expect that a firearm was used.
33:39But because we don't have the bodies, other means could have been used to kill them.
33:48But the evidence clearly indicated that he robbed them and caused their deaths.
33:57The image that always comes to my mind is, you know, at one point he killed them.
34:07He killed one while the other was watching.
34:10That's the image that I just, I can't shake.
34:15Welcome back.
34:27After nearly six years, the McCann's will finally see if justice will be served.
34:33As the man accused of killing their parents, Travis Vader will learn his fate.
34:37And for the first time, the public will see it live, with cameras broadcasting the court's decision.
34:46Here now is Jamie Dahl with a conclusion of Road of No Return.
34:52This high profile crime drew so much attention because of the accused.
35:01Travis Vader was free on bail during most of the trial, but was often late to the proceedings.
35:06He was eventually re-arrested in May for allegedly testing positive for meth,
35:11and allegedly contacting a witness, later charged with break and enter.
35:15It took, again, so long for this trial to wrap up.
35:20And it took months for Justice Denny Thomas to come to his decision as well.
35:27In his closing, bearers said the prosecution's case has fallen woefully short,
35:34and asking the court to fill in the blanks is reserved for vigilante justice.
35:39It's easy to conclude there's only one suspect if you only investigate one person, right?
35:47And then you say you can justify to yourself, well, there's no evidence about anyone else.
35:51Well, of course, because they'll look for it.
35:53I think, in general, it is difficult to prove a murder case, especially,
35:57or even a homicide generally, where you don't have bodies, and you don't have a weapon,
36:03you don't have a confession, or you don't have any what we call direct evidence.
36:06But it's not impossible.
36:10This legal process has been a gruelling marathon for everyone.
36:14Charges laid, charges stayed, accusations of RCMP bungling.
36:19Now the family not presupposing a decision, hopes for justice after a three and a half month trial.
36:25We're just on pins and needles waiting for this, waiting for the verdict.
36:31This is the longest case that I've done continuously in my career.
36:35After 40 years, absolutely.
36:38The justice will deliver the long-awaited verdict Thursday in Edmonton on camera,
36:43the first time media has been allowed into a criminal trial in Alberta.
36:48Local media, a group including Global News, put in that request saying we would love to have the outcome of this trial, the verdict, live streamed.
37:02So people can understand the justice system so they could see that, in fact, justice is being served.
37:15I remember it was a charged energy in that courtroom.
37:21And we had to move to one of the largest courtrooms in that building because there was so much interest.
37:30Good morning, counsel and Mr. Vader.
37:33It's not like TV.
37:34You don't just instantly hear the verdict.
37:37You don't instantly hear guilty or not guilty.
37:40I know that Justice Thomas went through many of his reasons.
37:44I find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Vader's motivation to interact with the McCanns was to steal their property.
37:53Violence occurred in the interaction between the McCanns and Mr. Vader.
37:59There was bloodshed.
38:01A gun was discharged.
38:03Linking the facts, I have found, there is no question that Mr. Vader committed homicide.
38:08The McCanns are dead, section 22 sub 4 of the Criminal Code.
38:15A homicide is murder, section 230 of the Criminal Code.
38:20If Mr. Vader killed the McCanns, one, during commission of a robbery,
38:26the McCanns was killed.
38:29On the two counts of first-degree murder, I find you, Travis Edward Vader, not guilty.
38:36But, Travis Edward Vader, I do find you guilty of the lesser and included offense of second-degree murder of Lyle and Marie McCann.
38:49Today's verdict is a huge relief to our family.
38:53This has truly been a marathon.
38:56First, we need to thank, from the bottom of our hearts, the RCMP and the Crown Prosecutors.
39:06It was a wonderful experience that so many people cared and were in that room with us celebrating that justice was going to be served.
39:17This is the end of the road, this vindicates everything, this is fabulous.
39:22It was such a, it was such a terrific feeling.
39:25Six years later, I have to stand down.
39:28I'm sorry, Mum and Dad, I can do no more.
39:31I hope that someday, somehow, you will be found.
39:37I take joy in the legacy that you have left behind in your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.
39:47Our memory of you will last forever.
39:53Almost immediately, legal experts were tweeting out, saying, this is wrong.
40:01This section 230 of the criminal code no longer exists.
40:10Within seconds or at most minutes, it became very clear that he was convicting Mr. Vader on the basis of a defunct law, a dead letter law.
40:23Legal experts say it's possible a mistrial will be declared, but it's also possible the justice could change his ruling.
40:30Based on his pre-existing findings, based on the evidence as he evaluated it in his written decision, he could convict Mr. Vader of manslaughter.
40:39We want to review the decision.
40:41There will be an appeal based upon what we think are errors in the judgment.
40:49I think about a month later, Justice Thomas revised his verdict to manslaughter, but retained the life sentence, which to me was a good outcome.
41:03The judge in the Travis-Vader murder trial admitted he made an error, one he attempted to fix today.
41:11Justice Thomas made the correction, and even though Vader was hoping for a new trial altogether, instead, he was convicted of manslaughter.
41:20One week was set aside for sentencing arguments before Vader would learn his fate.
41:26Justice Denny Thomas handed down his sentence to Travis-Vader.
41:30Vader stood in court today maintaining he is innocent and said he will continue to fight until he clears his name.
41:38After 40 years of practice, I must say this is one of those few cases which haunts me and remains a mystery.
41:48We thought it was a just sentence, an appropriate sentence.
41:51Vader must serve seven years before he is eligible to apply for parole.
41:57As Vader repeated his words of innocence, Brett McCann demanded again for Vader to tell him where the bodies of his parents are.
42:05Travis-Vader, where are the bodies of my parents?
42:09He shows no remorse for what he has done.
42:12I want Vader to know that our family will be is at this and any future hearings, and we will demand to know where he put the bodies of my parents.
42:25Two headstones bearing the names of Lyle and Marie McCann rest in a St. Albert cemetery, but the plots remain empty.
42:34It's important to be able to bury my parents.
42:39And more bigger, it lets me know, lets us know what happened.
42:46And as time goes by, I don't lose that need to know.
42:51A bill named after the McCanns is currently before the House of Commons.
42:56It proposes stronger penalties for convicted killers if they refuse to disclose the location of their victims' remains.
43:04When people have been proven to have credible information on the location of those remains who are refusing to provide that, in my opinion, they're committing another crime against the family by withholding that information.
43:17And so it's so important that families get that closure.
43:20There's no way they deserve this.
43:23I hope they remember them.
43:26I think McCanns Law would plant their name in eternity.
43:30You think, how can anybody do this to such a loving, caring couple?
43:41I am totally grateful that I had them in my life.
43:46I am totally grateful that they gave me Breton to love for this long.
43:56I want to say that one day this will all be over, but it never will be, because we can't change the past.
44:10But that we can find peace.
44:13I don't know if they'd have lived this long, but I would have so wanted to be with them in their later years.
44:23They met my grandson, but they never saw my granddaughters.
44:36That would have been so nice.
44:38A statue of two loons stands not far from the McCanns' old home, preserving the memory of the adored couple.
44:49Travis Vader has already been denied parole once.
44:53The McCanns vow to be present at every future hearing.
44:59Thank you for joining us tonight on Crime Beat.
45:02I'm Anthony Robart.
45:05Want more episodes of Crime Beat?
45:07Listen to the Crime Beat Podcast, now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.
45:15And for past episodes of Crime Beat, go to the Global TV app, visit GlobalTV.com, or check out our Crime Beat YouTube page.
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