Canada- Christopher Smith, 22, fatally stabbed, Portage Bridge between Gatineau & Ottawa, Ont., 12 April, '96, Dna, arrest- Lawrence Diehl, 73, 2024.

[dotr]

Mar 07, 2025

OTTAWA COLD CASE: Accused killer on bail after posting $2 million bond

Lawrence Diehl is accused of knifing Christopher Smith to death on Portage Bridge in 1996.

ottawacitizen.com

''The accused killer is now living in West Vancouver under strict bail conditions after his sureties posted a $2-million bond, which included a $500,000 cash deposit delivered to the clerk of the Superior Court in January.

It’s not every day an accused killer gets bail at the Elgin Street courthouse. His Toronto lawyer successfully secured bail for Diehl days after his arrest in the cold case, sparing his client a long wait at the notorious Innes Road jail. (Homicide detectives Sgt. Mahad Hassan and Sgt. Chris O’Brien flew to Vancouver and escorted Diehl back to Ottawa to be formally charged in court.)

As part of the accused killer’s bail, Diehl can’t go beyond 100 metres of his West Vancouver home except to see his legal team in Toronto or for court hearings in Ottawa. And when that happens, he has to send a full itinerary — including airfare receipts — to one of the detectives on the case at least 48 hours in advance. Diehl has three sureties — two in Vancouver where he lives, and one in Toronto for trips to see his legal team. When he’s in Ottawa for court hearings, he has to be accompanied by a surety at all times.''

 

[dotr]

B.C. man granted bail in 1996 Ontario cold-case murder case - BC | Globalnews.ca

Lawrence Diehl, 73, is charged with second-degree murder in the April 1996 death of 22-year-old Christopher Smith.

globalnews.ca

March 13, 2025
'A Vancouver man accused of murder in a decades-old cold-case stabbing in Ontario is back in B.C. after being freed on bail.'

“Usually in these circumstances, if you have no record, you are an older person, you’ve got a family and support systems, you’ve got a house, and you have otherwise led for scores of years a decent life, you can be a candidate for bail,” Hira said.

“It appears he satisfied the Ontario Superior Court justice that he wasn’t a flight risk, he wouldn’t be committing more crimes and it wouldn’t bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

'Under the conditions of his bail, Diehl must wear a GPS monitoring unit at his own expense.'

 

[TangledPuppet]

Jmo but prob second degree to get ng easier. canada has light sentences anyway but... this kinda has case of Candy Montgomery vibes to me. Not the reason behind it but the self defense aspect. My verdict assumption is not guilty from what I've read so far