The hearing, which is expected to last a week, will resume Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., when Vader is expected to take the stand.
In Canada, any “culpable homicide” that doesn’t meet the definition of murder is considered manslaughter. Culpable homicide includes a person causing the death of another human by means of an unlawful act, by criminal negligence, by causing that person (through threats or fear of violence or deception) to do anything that causes their death or by willfully frightening that person.
A manslaughter conviction carries no minimum sentence and has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The Crown is seeking two life sentences, while the defense is asking for four to six years behind bars.
“I think a four to six-year sentence, with time off; he will be out on the street carrying on in a year, less than a year. I think it’s absurd,” McCann said.
In September following a lengthy trial, Thomas determined that Vader was a desperate drug addict who came across the couple in their RV and shot them during a robbery.
Court heard that Lyle McCann’s blood-stained ball cap was found with a bullet hole in the couple’s SUV. DNA that matched Vader’s was also on the hat and his fingerprint was on a can of beer in the vehicle.
A friend testified Vader was broke, yet showed up flush with cash and driving an SUV that matched the one owned by the McCann’s the day they disappeared.
The defense argued that the DNA evidence was sketchy, that witnesses had lied and that – with no bodies and no murder weapon – there was no real proof the McCann’s were dead.
http://globalnews.ca/news/3120991/travis-vader-sentence-murder-case/
