Winnipeg man convicted in Derksen death

One of Manitoba's most haunting historical homicide cases has been put to rest. After an emotional and at times complex five-week trial, a jury convicted sex-offender Mark Edward Grant, 47, of second-degree murder Friday evening in connection to the death of Candace Derksen, 13.

Derksen was found hog-tied and frozen to death on the dirt floor of a rarely-used supply shed in a brickyard about 500 metres from her family home on Jan. 13, 1985.

She vanished off the street while walking home from school on Nov. 30, 1984. Her disappearance triggered a massive community search, and struck fear into the hearts of many that a predator was on the loose.

Derksen's death remained a public mystery until May 2007 when police came forward with new forensic evidence linking Grant to the murder scene.

He faced a first-degree murder charge, but the seven-man, five-woman jury found him not guilty in favor of convicting him of the lesser offence.

Grant known to police

Mark Edward Grant, the man convicted in the 1984 slaying of Winnipeg schoolgirl Candace Derksen, is no stranger to police.

At the time 13-year-old Derksen went missing, Grant had convictions for sexual assault of an underage sex trade worker, forgery, fraud, break and enter and failing to comply with court orders.

In 1991, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager and served four years in prison.

Just nine days after he was released on parole, he sexually assaulted another woman and was given another nine years behind bars.

When Grant was finally released in 2005, Winnipeg police put out a community notification warning that women and children were at risk of sexual violence.

Nevertheless, he will be handed a mandatory prison sentence of life. Grant may become eligible for parole after 10 years behind bars.

Throughout the bulk of the trial, Grant was seated in a prisoner's box that shielded him from view of the courtroom gallery. It was impossible to judge his reaction as the guilty verdict was returned.

Derksen's family, however, quietly shared tears and hugs during a brief recess after the verdict, which took jurors two full days to arrive at.

The police officers who investigated and arrested Grant in a renewed effort to solve the case also shook hands, hugged and congratulated each other.

Jurors did not make a recommendation to the court about when he may be eligible for parole. The second-degree murder conviction carries with it no chance of parole for a minimum of 10 years, but the court could elect to raise that as high as 25 years.

A sentencing date will be set in March.

In convicting Grant, jurors clearly believed the Crown's theory that DNA linked him to Derksen's death.

Cold-case investigators charged with solving the homicide in 2006 sent hair samples and the twine used to bind Derksen to a lab in Thunder Bay that had the ability to run DNA tests unavailable to police at the time.

The results revealed a probablilty of 1 in 50 million that the DNA profile the lab uncovered from the forensic materials belonged to someone other than Grant.

Grant's lawyers contended the DNA results were unreliable and not to be trusted. An expert witness called by the defence contended the lab's tests were unsound.

"This has been a difficult trial, an emotional trial," Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal told jurors before thanking them for their service.

Derksen's mother and father, Wilma and Cliff Derksen, briefly spoke with reporters outside the courthouse Friday night. Wilma clutched a white rose in her hand.

"We never thought that there would be any kind of resolution to that mystery of 26 years," she said.

"We won't be celebrating. We knew that when Candace disappeared that the end of the story wouldn't be good. But we are relieved, tremendously relieved."

Wilma said the white rose she held symbolized innocence, purity and a fresh beginning. "Tomorrow we're going to meet our friends at the cemetery and we're going to lay down white roses and we're going to cry again and then we're going to move on."

Lawyers for either side did not speak to the media following the hearing.

The jury did not hear any evidence about Grant's lengthy criminal record, which includes sex crimes against young women.

Grant initially came to the attention of police in 1984, not as a suspect but because his then 14-year-old girlfriend said she saw Candace after she disappeared, statements she later recanted.