Court proceedings in the double murder trial for Travis Vader were delayed Wednesday for a third time.
On Wednesday morning, court was delayed for nearly an hour – Vader arrived more than 45 minutes after court proceedings were supposed to start at 9:30 a.m.
Vader’s lawyer Brian Beresh said his client would explain his reason for being late. Vader stood, and apologized for being late, and said he slept in.
“The reason I slept in, is I’m being evicted from my motel room.”
Vader said the owners of the motel said surveillance and calls from RCMP were reasons why he was being evicted, he said after finding a new place and packing his belongings, he slept through his alarm Wednesday morning.
Justice Denny Thomas said: “You’ve always had an explanation but I’m asking you, don’t let it happen again.”
It’s the third time Vader’s court proceedings have been delayed, on March 14, he was late as he was reportedly waiting for a tow truck after his pickup truck blew a tie rod – court was delayed that morning. On March 29, blamed his late arrival on issues with multiple vehicles, he was two hours late for court.
Justice Thomas responded to Vader’s tardiness Wednesday by saying it couldn’t happen again.
“You can see the number of people who were inconvenienced by this, the effect it has on the pace of the trial,” Thomas said. “I’m imploring you not to let that happen again.”
Later Wednesday, an RCMP scientist testified that the odds of certain DNA found in Lyle and Marie McCann’s SUV is from anyone other than Vader are in the trillions.
The forensic scientist spoke about a DNA sample found on a beer can found in the SUV – saying the odds that the DNA could be from anyone else other than the accused is one in 3 trillion. DNA linked to Vader was also found on the SUV’s steering wheel and on a passenger seat.
Court is expected to start again on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
With files from David Ewasuk
