INNISFAIL — A trusted family financial advisor is accused of planting the bomb that killed a young Innisfail mother.
Brian Andrew Malley, 55, of Innisfail, was arrested in Red Deer on Friday and charged with first-degree murder. He’s also charged with causing an explosion likely to cause serious harm or death and sending an explosive device.
RCMP confirmed at a Monday morning news conference that Malley was a financial advisor to Vicky Shachtay, 23, and had known the single mother of a young daughter for a number of years. Malley was also a former police officer, having served a brief stint with a municipal force about 30 years ago. Police declined to name the community.
Shachtay’s father expressed the family’s gratitude for the timely arrest by police six months after the Nov. 25 explosion.
“Relief. Just plain relief,” said Victor Shachtay, 61, when asked how he reacted to news of the arrest. “It was just like a large weight had been removed.
“It’s no comfort that he was a close member of the family. But what are you going to do?”
Shachtay, 23, who had used a wheelchair since a 2004 car accident, was killed when a package left at her residence exploded around 9 a.m.
The woman’s daughter, Destiny, age seven, was in school at the time. But Shachtay’s live-in caregiver, a woman in her 30s, was in the home. She was shaken up but uninjured.
RCMP said the package was addressed to Shachtay and left on the front steps of her four-plex. It exploded as she brought it inside.
Her sister Sarah Shachtay, 25, described the crime as “monstrous.
“She did not deserve it at all.”
Sarah doesn’t hesitate when asked how her sister should be remembered.
“She was a loving, caring mother and that’s exactly how she should be remembered,” she said.
Sarah said her stepfather is now caring for Vicky’s daughter Destiny. She said the child seems to understand what has happened.
“It’s kind of hard to tell how she’s dealing with it because of her age. Kids deal with this type of stress differently.”
Sarah said she wasn’t surprised by the arrest. She had her suspicions about who was involved from the beginning.
“She was so loved and cared for and she was such a good person that you don’t have many people to look at in circumstances like this.”
Police declined to say if a financial motive was suspected, citing the ongoing court case. “We are certainly looking at that aspect of the investigation,” said Insp. Garrett Woolsey, operations officer for K-Division’s Serious Crimes Branch.
There was also no more information provided on what type of explosive was used or how a financial advisor would have the expertise to create a bomb.
Woolsey said the man’s previous police experience “has no bearing on these current charges.”
Shachtay’s murder led to a six-month investigation, led by the RCMP K Division Serious Crimes Branch, involving more than 70 investigators working thousands of hours gathering evidence.
On Friday and into the weekend, police investigators executed a search warrant at an Innisfail home and evidence was gathered.
RCMP Supt. Curtis Zablocki said the crime shocked the community and all Canadians and was “like no other in Alberta, and perhaps Canada.”
Malley made a brief appearance in Red Deer provincial court today. He appeared by closed-circuit television and charges were formally read.
He remains in custody. His next court appearance is on July 9 for plea or bail hearing.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com