WATCH: Travis Vader, the suspect in the murder case involving a St. Albert couple, has been released on bail. Eric Szeto has the details.
EDMONTON – Murder suspect Travis Vader walked out of the Remand Centre around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday on $25,000 bail.
Vader was released on house arrest, a decision his lawyer Brian Beresh applauded. However, Beresh questioned the Crown’s decision to reactivate first-degree murder charges against his client after staying them earlier this year.
“We’re awaiting some underlying information which would have to explain this very unusual turn of events. I have no information about any new evidence whatsoever.”
Beresh said it came as a surprise when his client was again charged in the 2010 disappearance of Lyle and Marie McCann. Vader, 42, was first arrested in 2012, but those counts were stayed in March. The Crown has a year to recommence charges after they are stayed, but it’s very rare.
READ MORE: Charges stayed against Travis Vader in McCann murders
“A decision had to be made prior to the expiration of that stay period and the assessment was that it was in the public interest to proceed with the matter and that there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction,” said Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson. “That would have been based on the material that was available.”
WATCH: Raw video of Travis Vader leaving the Edmonton Remand Centre Tuesday night.
Under the terms of his bail, Vader must remain at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, “subject to medical emergencies, or meeting with his counsel or meeting with his bail supervisor,” Finlayson said.
Beresh said Vader was taking courses, doing various things in the community and assimilating back into society when he was re-arrested Friday in Edmonton. He’s due back in court Jan. 23 to set a trial date.
“Someone who is innocent should not be in custody while their trial is pending,” Beresh said outside court. “In a circumstance like this, it’s clear that he should have bail.”
The charges against Vader were re-activated against him in Alberta last week.
READ MORE: Travis Vader re-arrested in relation to McCann investigation
In October, Vader was found not guilty on nine charges unrelated to McCann deaths.
But last week, he was re-arrested in connection with the deaths of the senior couple. The RCMP announced they are proceeding with the case against Vader. He was denied bail.
The couple, both in their 70s, were last seen alive more than four years ago when they fuelled up their motorhome in their hometown of St. Albert, north of Edmonton. They were headed to Abbotsford, B.C. Their burned-out motorhome was discovered a few days later but their bodies have never been found.
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