R. v. Travis Edward Vader Opening Statement of the Crown The Crown expects to establish the following in its case. On July 2010 Lyle and Marie McCann would have celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary. They were 78 and 77 years old, respectively, in July of 2010. Lyle worked his whole life in various capacities as a truck driver. Marie was a homemaker. They lived in St. Albert, Alberta for 46 years and raised their family there. They had three grown children, 5 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. The McCanns were good people, the centre of a loving extended family enjoying the twilight of their lives. On July 3, 2010 Lyle and Marie McCann gassed up their motorhome? bought some groceries at the Superstore near their house in St. Albert, and embarked on what was supposed to be a pleasurable camping vacation to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia to visit with relatives for a kw weeks. They were never heard from again. On July 5, 2010 their motorhome, which they took good re of and which was the most valuable possession that they owned, was found ablaze and ainndoned near Minnow Lake, several kilometres south of highway 16, in a line North/South with Peers, Alberta. The McCanns planned to arrive at a_ pre-booked campsite at Cultus Lake, 3.0. on July 8. The first night of their trip was to be spent in Blue River, B.C. On July 10, 2010 the McCanns failed to pick up their daughte who was ?ying in from Calgary to join them on vacation, from the Abbotsford airport as they had a nged to do before embarking on their trip. This was dramatically out of character for them. The family reported them missing to the RCMP that day. The RCMP associated that missing persons report to the burned motorhome and commenced an investigation. The McCanns carried a cellular phone on board the motor home when they travelled. It was kept for emergencies. The RCMP obtained the usage records for that phone. The McCanns were towing a green, 2006 Hyundai Tucson sport utility vehicle behind their motorhome when they embarked on their trip on July 3. That vehicle was unaccounted for when the motorhome was found on fire. Travis Vader is presently 44 years old, 38 in July of 2010'. He moved with his family to McKay, Alberta in 1984 when he was 12. He worked in Alberta?s oil patch and was a successful operator in that industry, maintaining consistent employment and providing for his wife and seven children. By July 2010 Travis Vader had squandered it all away. He was heavily involved in the meth subculture, was living apart from his wife and children, did not have a home of his own, and was on the run from the law, having several outstanding warrants for his arrest. He was living in wooded makeshift camps in and around the McKay area and was being hunted by the Alberta Sherrist Fugitive Apprehension Support Team, which consisted of several Sherriffs in SW5 scouring Vader's known hangouts in order to arrest him. On July 16, 2010 the McCann's Hyundai Tucson SUV was discovered stashed in the woods on a rural propertyjust off of highway 16, at almost exactly where the road to Minnow Lake intersects with highway 16. Several items were seized from inside the vehicle and Forensic analysis of those things and the vehicle establish the following: - 1. several cans of food found rolling around on the floor of the SUV bore blood Spatter from Marie McCann. These cans of food were purchased by the McCanns at Superstore in St. Albert on July 3; 2. the hat that Lyle McCann can be observed wearing in the July 3 security videos from Superstore, the ?Boag?s Draught? hat, was located bythe RCMP in the SUV. It has Lyle?s blood spatter on it. 3. Travis Vader?s DNA is also on Lyle McCann?s hat. 4. Travis Vader's DNA is on a different hat owned by Lyle McCann and found in the SUV. Travis Vader?s DNA and a ?ngerprint from Travis Vader were found on a can of Boxer beer left in the cup holder between the two front seats; Travis Vader's blood is on the centre arm rest between the two front seats; Travis Vader's DNA was found on the steering wheel; Travis Vader?s blood was found on the front passenger seat; Travis Vader?s DNA was found on a tissue found on the ?oor of the vehicle. 9" In June of 2010 Travis Vader and his girlfriend, a fellow meth user named Amber Williams, broke up. Subsequently, Travis Vader persistently contacted Amber Williams via phone, text, or Facebook in an effort to get back together with her. Security camera footage from the St. Albert Superstore establishes that the McCanns left the St. Albert Superstore at 10:03 am. on July 3. The usage records from July 3 for the cell phone the McCanns were travelling with reveal that at 2:14 4 hours and 11 minutes after the McCanns are seen on video leaving the Superstore in St. Albert with their groceries, a call is made from that phone that hit off a cell tower located north of Peers, Albert. Peers is an a pproxlmately 1 hour and 40 minute drive from the St. Albert Superstore. Seven phone calls are made in a span ofJust under 5 minutes, followed by two text messages 10 minutes later. The calls and texts are all to the same person: Amber Williams. Amber Williams will say that, given the nature of what is written in the texts, Travis Vader is the author. An associate of Travis Vader named Dave Olson will say that he saw Travis Vader in Peers on July 3, 2010 on two occasions. 0n the first occasion Vader was driving a stolen pick-up truck and had no money. A few hours later In the afternoon, Travis Vader was driving a green Hyundai Tucson SUV and had money. On July 17, 2010 the RCMP recovered the pick-up that Travis Vader was driving on July 3. He had tried to set it ablaze but the ?re he set failed to catch. The keys to the McCann?s SUV were found in the bed of that truck. As part of the Investigation the police intercepted a number of Travis Vader?s private communications. In some intercepted communications Vader coached associates to provide the police with evidence regarding his whereabouts on July 3, 2010 and the vehicles he was driving earlyJuly 2010. Between his arrest on the outstanding warrants on July 19, 2010 and his arrest pursuant to the recommencement of proceedings in December of 2014, Travis Vader was interrogated by the police about the McCanns on three occasions. Each time, he unequivolly rejected any knowledge of, or involvement in, their disappearance. He categoricain denied operating their vehicle or using their phone. He rejected any innocent explanation for hlspossession of the McCanns? property so close in time to when it must have been taken from them. Those provable lies are post?offence conduct indicative of Vader?s guilt. After Lyle and Marie McCann walked out the doorto the Superstore parking lot with their groceries shortly after 10 In the morning on July 3, 2010, we don?t know what happened to them. We do know that they both met with signi?nt violence and that they are now dead. We do know that Travis Vader was driving their SUV and using their phone very recently after those possessions were takm from the McCanns. The DNA evidence found on and in the McCanns? SUV, coupled with Mr. Vader's bald assertions of having nothing to do with the McCanns or their property, eliminates any innocent eXplanation. The only reasonable inference arising from the facts that we expect to prove is that Mr. Vader murdered Lyle and Marie McCann.