Bail denied after charges re-activated in Alberta missing couple case

EDMONTON – Police say bail has been denied to Travis Vader after charges of first-degree murder he faced in the deaths of an Edmonton couple were re-activated.

RCMP say Vader was brought to court on Saturday to determine whether bail should be granted, but was ordered to be held in custody until his next court appearance on Tuesday.

Vader was first charged in 2012 — two years after Lyle and Marie McCann disappeared in July 2010.

Both counts of murder were not proceeded with in March and police had one year to re-activate them.

He was arrested on Friday _ his lawyer Brian Beresh said his client was “very upset” over being taken back into custody.

Police discovered the charred remains of the elderly couple’s motorhome but their bodies have never been found.

The McCanns were last seen alive when they fuelled up the vehicle in their hometown of St. Albert, north of Edmonton.

There were just a few weeks to go before the trial was to begin when the charges against Vader were stayed last March.

Greg Lepp, head of the province’s Crown prosecution service, explained at the time that his office had recently received new evidence from the RCMP. He said he couldn’t reveal what that evidence was, only that prosecutors needed time to examine it and couldn’t proceed with the trial at the time.

Police said Sunday that they weren’t able to provide any further public comment on the arrest.

Beresh said he was surprised by the move because there have been no new developments in the case.

Earlier this year, Vader filed lawsuits against prosecutors and the RCMP claiming malicious prosecution. He alleged he was kept in custody on trumped-up charges until he could be charged with murdering the McCanns. He also said he was mistreated by staff in the Edmonton Remand Centre.