The Federal Justice Minister ordered a new trial for an Edmonton man convicted of the murder of a 34 -year -old woman who disappeared from the city in 1987.
Roy Allan Sobotiak was convicted of second -degree murder in 1991 for the death of Susan Kaminsky.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said that there are reasonable reasons to believe that there was probably a spontaneous abortion of justice in the case of Sobotiak.
The trial was considered necessary as a result of the identification of new information that was not before the courts at the time of the trial or appeal of Sobotiak, Virani said.
No more details were released on the new information that triggered the new trial.
The case dates back to February 1987 when Kaminsky disappeared after one night at a North Edmonton pub with friends.
His car was found abandoned. But neither she nor her body have been found.
The single mother of two was last seen in the company of Sobotiak on February 7, 1987.
Kaminsky once took care of Sobotiak as a child.
Police suspected dirty play, but no charges were presented until 1989 when Sobotiak, then 26 years old, was accused of first degree murder.
A covert confession
Sobotiak went to trial in 1991.
The main evidence against him was recorded in the statements made to an undercover police officer in which he boasted that he had tortured, sexually assaulted, killed and dismembered to Kaminsky.
The covert operation began some time in 1988, but it was not until the end of September next year that Sobotiak made the incriminating statements.
Sobotiak was convicted of second degree murder in 1991.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for probation for 16 and a half years.
The case has been subject to numerous appeals.
In May 1994, Alberta Court of Appeals dismissed Sobotiak’s appeal against his conviction.
His request for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was dismissed in 2004.
In February 2021, Sobotiak asked the Minister of Justice with a review of his conviction.
According to the Criminal Code, a person who has been convicted of a crime and who has exhausted all the rights of appeal can request the Federal Minister of Justice for a review of his conviction.
The Criminal Conviction Review Group of the Department of Justice of Canada conducts investigations on behalf of the Minister.
A key consideration for such reviews is whether new information has emerged from the trial and appeal, Virani said in Wednesday’s statement.
“An impartial justice system must account for the needs of the victims while safeguarding against possible spontaneous abortions of justice,” he said.
“After a complete review of Mr. Sobotiak’s case, I have determined that there are reasonable reasons to conclude that there was probably a spontaneous abortion of justice, and that a new trial should be ordered.”
Innocence Canada, a non -profit organization that advocates unjust sentences, said four of his lawyers helped Sobotiak in his application to the minister.
In a statement on Wednesday, the organization praised the decision, noting that ordering a new trial is the greatest power that the Minister of Justice can exercise in an alleged case of illegal conviction.
Innocence Canada said that Sobotiak, now 62, appreciates the decision and hopes that “will be a free man.”
Since his conviction, Sobotiak has continued to insist on his innocence and has never been granted probation.
After more than 35 years of imprisonment, he remains in custody in a federal penitentiary in Alberta.
Innocence said that the voice of the Alberta Crown Prosecutor’s Office is waiting for the next steps of the case.
