By The Canadian Press

Judge rules murder trial in case of missing Alberta couple will go ahead

Jan 26, 2016 | 9:26 AM

EDMONTON — A judge has ruled that a trial will go ahead for a man charged with murder after the mysterious disappearance of two Alberta seniors.

Lawyers for Travis Vader had argued that the case should be dropped over alleged abuse of process.

Justice Denny Thomas says Vader’s lawyers failed to adequately prove that his rights were violated by an unreasonable delay in the trial.

Vader was initially charged in 2012 with first-degree murder in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann, who had disappeared two years earlier while travelling from their Edmonton-area home to B.C.

The Crown stayed the charges against Vader in 2014, days before his trial, after discovering the RCMP had failed to disclose some evidence.

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Charges were reactivated nine months later and Vader faces a trial before a judge alone in March.

His lawyers have argued the case should be thrown out because the disclosure problem resulted in an extra two years getting it to trial.

“I have decided that Mr. Vader has not made a case for the issuance of a stay based on the abuse of process doctrine,” the judge ruled Tuesday.

“Mr Vader has come close, but ultimately I have decided that unreasonable delay is not shown in all circumstances … A stay is refused on that ground as well.”