By Chris Purdy - The Canadian Press

Judge changes Travis Vader murder verdict to manslaughter

Oct 31, 2016 | 11:29 AM

EDMONTON – An Edmonton judge has changed his murder verdict to manslaughter in the high-profile case of Travis Vader and the two missing seniors he was convicted of killing.

Lawyers had returned to court to argue about whether there should be a mistrial because Justice Denny Thomas used an outdated section of the Criminal Code in his original verdict.

Thomas told court he made a mistake when he convicted Vader last month of second-degree murder in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann.

The McCanns, in their late 70s, disappeared after setting out on a camping trip from their Edmonton-area home to British Columbia in 2010.

But in finding Vader guilty, the judge used Section 230 of the Criminal Code, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1990.

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Thomas told court his written decision will follow.

“I accept that it was an error,” Thomas told court at the start of proceedings Monday.

(The Canadian Press)