WINNIPEG — Candace Derksen’s family is heading back to court.
The family was devastated in October when the accused killer’s conviction for the 1984 abduction and murder of the 13-year-old girl was overturned.
Now they’re looking to Canada’s highest court in hopes of keeping Mark Edward Grant behind bars.
“It’s a complicated case. There’s a lot of time involved, there’s degraded DNA, there’s a clash of decades — the police work back then and the police work now — there’s a lot of dynamics in the case that need to be thought of carefully,” Wilma Derksen, Candace’s mother, told Global News Saturday.
In 2011, Mark Edward Grant was convicted of second-degree murder in the teen’s death. He was handed the maximum sentence: life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The sentence brought a sense of closure to the Derksens.
“It felt euphoric. The debate was over, it had been decided and to me it was clear. I just trusted the jury, I trusted the judge,” said Wilma Derksen.
The Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled two years later that a new trial must be held to allow evidence to be heard about a case similar to Candace’s.
“There was something about the decision of the Appeal Court that just didn’t make sense to us,” Wilma Derksen said. “We didn’t think it was a good basis, I think; we’re trying to understand it but this makes sense, a lot of sense, for us.”
In February, three judges will hear the arguments for the appeal. If the review is accepted, the case will be heard in the Supreme Court. That means at least another year that the Derksens will be tied up in Canada’s justice system.
“You know it started off with debating. With the police, ‘No, she was not a runaway, she was abducted,’ so the very night that Candace disappeared it started. It’s not just an easy conversation to have. There’s always an edge to it, who’s right and who’s wrong.”
If the Derksens win the appeal. the jury’s original decision will be upheld. If not, Grant will get a new trial.
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