The B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial in the case of a man who was acquitted of a double murder outside Cranbrook over 14 years ago.
Following a successful appeal from crown prosecutors, the Court of Appeal, a panel of three judges unanimously ordered a new trial for Colin Correia, who is one of two accused in the murders of Leanne MacFarlane and Jeffrey Taylor on May 29, 2010, at a rural residence east of Cranbrook.
Correia and co-accused Sheldon Hunter were acquitted in April 2022 following a lengthy BC Supreme Court trial as Justice Arne Silverman found reasonable doubt in the case presented by the Crown.
However, following appeal by prosecutors, the B.C. Court of Appeal found issues with two evidence admissability rulings that excluded evidence in the original trial, particularly statements Correia made to police as well as the outsole size of his shoes.
"I am persuaded the Crown has met its heavy burden of persuasion on the admissibility of the inculpatory statements and that there is a reasonable likelihood the verdict would not have been the same had errors in respect of the inculpatory statements not occurred," write Justice Mary Saunders. "Accordingly, I would allow the appeal on this basis."
The Crown only pursued an appeal against Correia.
MacFarlane and Taylor were engaged and had just moved to Cranbrook from Salmon Arm, as they were in the process of opening up a cellphone store with a life of promise and opportunity ahead of them.
According to the Crown's theory, the murders were a horrific case of mistaken identity, as the intended target was Doug Mahon, a previous resident of the home.
Mahon was arrested at that same location by police following a shooting at the Sam Steele Hotel in Cranbrook on Oct. 29, 2009.
In 2013, Correia and Lorne Carry were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder against Mahon, allegedly in retaliation for the shooting. A third man, Lonnie Adams, was acquitted of the conspiracy charge, however, all three were also convicted of counselling to commit murder as part of the same trial proceedings.
Correia was on parole from the conspiracy sentencing when he was arrested in Edmonton on June 8, 2018.
Over the next two days, it is alleged he gave a "highly inculpatory" account of the events of May 29, 2010, to police interviewers, while also asking for immunity and Crown protection.
In terms of police interviewing techniques, the police attempted to make Correia uncomfortable on the first session by keeping him awake and without a bed until late in the evening.
Those efforts later changed to a more conciliatory approach, including restaurant food for meals and arranging a visit with his partner.
However, the crux of the "police trickery" of which the original trial judge rested his conclusion involved police inviting Correia to talk about the conspiracy offence as opposed to the murders, since he had already been charged and convicted of the conspiracy offence and couldn't be prosecuted again.
In an evidence admissibility ruling from the original trial judge, those statements were excluded from the first trial.
The Appeal Court disagreed with that ruling.
"There simply was no evidence that objectively supports the view that the police tricked Mr. Correia by somehow confusing him on his protection regarding the conspiracy to murder Doug Mahon with the serious jeopardy he faced on the two charges of murder he was facing," wrote Justice Saunders.
