No connection between Candace Derksen's killing and teen found in boxcar, officer testifies
'I don't think they're related,' Sgt. Al Bradbury told court Friday in a voir dire
A Winnipeg police investigator said he found no connection between Candace Derksen's 1984 killing and the alleged abduction of a teenage girl found in a boxcar nine months later.
Sgt. Al Bradbury was assigned to review the Derksen cold case in 2004.
He told court in a voir dire Friday that after an extensive look at both cases he found no reason to believe there was a link.
"I don't think they're related," he said. "Nothing came back as far as them being connected as far as I was concerned."
Mark Edward Grant is being tried for a second time for the killing of the 13-year-old in 1984.
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The judge will decide whether the evidence from the voir dire — a preliminary examination within the trial — will be considered admissible.
Bradbury was called by the Crown to rebut voir dire testimony from a woman who was found tied-up in a train car nine month's after Candace's body was found frozen and bound in an Elmwood storage shed.
Grant was in jail when the second girl was found, and the defence team has argued that could point to another suspect being responsible for both incidents.
Crown Attorney Brent Davidson asked Bradbury several questions to raise difference between the cases, including the fact the girl in the boxcar was found with a plastic bag over her head and there was no evidence of that in Candace's case.
The Crown grilled the woman on Thursday over her difficulty remembering the alleged kidnapping and raised questions over whether it was even true.
The suggestion of another possible killer is central to Grant's retrial.
Grant was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2011 for Candace's death and sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, his conviction was overturned by the Manitoba Court of Appeal in 2013, which said the trial judge erred by not allowing the defence to bring up the case of the teen found in the boxcar.
Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds is representing Grant. Brent Davidson and Michael Himmelman are acting for the Crown. Justice Karen Simonsen is presiding over the judge-only trial.
The trial continues Monday and is scheduled to run until March 3.