Timeline: The Candace Derksen case

WINNIPEG – Candace Derksen disappeared on her way home from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute on Nov. 30, 1984.

Shocked and horrified Winnipeggers combed the streets for the 13-year-old schoolgirl, but her body wasn’t found until Jan. 17, 1985.

Mark Edward Grant was sentenced for killing her more than 25 years later, but after a new trial was ordered on Wednesday, the case is back in front of the courts.

Here’s a timeline of the long and complicated case:

Nov. 30, 1984 – Candace Derksen, 13, disappears on her way home from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg.

Jan. 17, 1985 – Derksen’s body is found hogtied and frozen in a shed in an industrial yard. It was later determined that she had died of hypothermia.

Sept. 6, 1985 – A 12-year-old girl is found alive and tied up in a railway boxcar 2.6 kilometres away from where Derksen’s body was found. Grant is in custody at the time.

May 16, 2007 – Police announce they have arrested Mark Edward Grant and charged him with first-degree murder on the basis of DNA testing. The DNA evidence is later the focus of conflicting expert testimony at trial.

Jan. 17, 2011 – Grant’s trial starts 26 years after Derksen’s body was found.

Feb. 18, 2011 – A jury finds Grant guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

May 26, 2011 – Grant is given the maximum sentence for second-degree murder – life with with no chance of parole for 25 years.

April 16-17, 2013 – Grant’s appeal of his conviction is heard in Winnipeg.

Oct. 30, 2013 – A new trial is ordered by the Manitoba Court of Appeal, which ruled the judge should have allowed evidence about the September 1985 attack to be presented.