SASKATOON – It was an emotional day at court for the family of Daleen Bosse as the judge in the first-degree murder trial of Douglas Hales set a date for the verdict.
Hales fate is now in the hands of Judge Gerald Allbright, who will render his verdict in the case spanning over seven-months on Dec. 17.
On Friday, Crown counsel made final arguments in the case summarizing arguments already made in court and said it felt satisfied it had met the test outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada in regards to “Mr. Big” stings.
Bob Hrycan, Douglas Hales’ defence lawyer, had no no additional submissions to make and rested its case.
The long awaited verdict comes 10 years after Bosse, 25, was last seen at a nightclub in downtown Saskatoon in the early morning hours of May 18, 2004. At the time of her disappearance, she was the mother of one who was living with her husband and attending university.
In August 2008, her remains were recovered after Hales led undercover officers to a wooded area outside of the city. On Aug. 10, 2008, Hales was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and offering an indignity to human remains.
During the trial, Hales admitted to burning Bosse’s body the night she disappeared but maintained he only did so after he panicked when he couldn’t find a pulse on Bosse after he believes she died of alcohol poisoning.
Undercover officers who posed as criminals during a three month long “Mr. Sting” testified in court that Hales confessed to choking Bosse then led them to her remains.
On Friday, the Crown prosecutor in the case said while a verdict has been set in the trial, it’s taking everything in stride.
“Things can happen, one can never be sure of what’s going to take place. There’s also a possibility that there could an appeal on either side because some of the important issues that are being addressed especially with the Hart case so that even though there maybe a verdict that day that doesn’t mean the case may not continue to proceed through the courts of there’s an appeal,” said Crown Prosecutor Matt Miazga.
This will be the second time a verdict date has been set in the case.
The first was set for Aug. 29 but came to a grinding halt in earlier that month when the country’s highest court ruled that “Mr. Big” stings can induce confessions that are unreliable and that confessions obtained this way are no longer admissible unless the crown can prove otherwise.
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