Travis Vader's defence lawyer grilled an RCMP evidence handler about whether exhibits may have been compromised in the ongoing first-degree murder trial.
Brian Beresh was cross-examining Cpl. Ray Tardiff Tuesday morning, raising doubts about evidence continuity and possible cross-contamination of DNA evidence during the initial seizure.
He first asked about a sea can used to house several exhibits at the Edson detachment, asking about who had access and how that access was logged.
Tardiff explained that on Aug. 30, 2010, evidence in from the investigation into the disappearance of St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann was transferred from the evidence room into a sea can outside that also housed exhibits from another investigation. He noted that investigation had finished, but couldn't say for sure who might have had access.
“Any officer who wanted to get into the sea can for any reason, if they needed to, would have to get the key from the evidence custodian,” he said.
Beresh then questioned Tardiff at length about how physical evidence was collected from the McCanns’ SUV, and how often gloves were changed during that process. Key DNA evidence has been linked to several of those seized items.
Tardiff said another officer wearing gloves transferred the items from the SUV to a large piece of paper before he put them in bags and marked them. He said he could not specifically remember how often either of them changed their gloves during this process, noting it was not his personal practice to use a new pair of gloves for each individual item seized.
“I have no recollection if they changed gloves or not,” he said. “My practice when collecting exhibits is when we change to a new area I change my gloves.”
Several DNA experts testified previously during the trial that it’s possible for secondary and tertiary deposit of DNA, that is, if someone got DNA on an item like a glove then touched another object, the DNA could transfer indirectly.
Tardiff also testified he had no knowledge of what happened to the liquid initially found inside a beer can that had Vader’s fingerprint and DNA on it.
Finally Beresh asked about several clothing items seized from a campsite the Crown says Vader was staying at while he was on the run from police.
Members of the Evansburg RCMP collected items from that scene, most of which were wet and were drying out, outside of evidence bags, in the prisoner cell area of that detachment.
“They were in the Evansburg cell area drying out,” he said.
“So whether they were in contact with one another before they dried out, you couldn't tell,” Beresh observed.
Monday afternoon consisted solely of playing recordings from interviews with Vader's sister Bobbi Jo. Arguments about whether those interviews can be entered as evidence exhibits will take place Wednesday morning.
She spoke about whether Travis Vader may have had firearms in his truck the day after he's alleged to have murdered Lyle and Marie McCann and whether he was using drugs in the summer of 2010, but she spoke very little of the RCMP sting operation she was the target of in 2011.
Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson did not ask her about it at all, but defence lawyer Brian Beresh questioned her about it during his cross-examination.
Bobbi Jo Vader said she had been heavily using crack cocaine in the summer of 2010, and suggested she couldn't give honest answers to specific questions about what she did or told to police in July, August and September. Beresh raised the issue of drug relapse to introduce the so-called “Mr. Big” operation targeting her in 2011.
“Somebody was giving you money and offering you advancement in a particular world,” he said. “You were being paid thousands of dollars for not much work.”
She agreed to his suggestion those people knew she was spending the money on drugs, despite court-ordered release conditions which she was subject to in November 2011.
Nothing else has been said about the operation so far at trial, but details of the undercover operation were released to several media outlets in December 2015 as part of a substantial Crown disclosure package.
While the St. Albert Gazette has not reviewed that disclosure, media reports at the time referred to “Operation Kontrail IV,” an undercover operation designed to get more information about the investigation.
Bobbi Jo Vader apparently socialized with and worked with some undercover operatives, including during a trip to Calgary during which she stopped to visit her brother at the Red Deer Remand Centre.
