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Malley appears worried, uneasy in recording of police interview

A man accused in a bombing death told police he felt sick when they told him he was being charged with the murder of a disabled Innisfail mother.

A man accused in a bombing death told police he felt sick when they told him he was being charged with the murder of a disabled Innisfail mother.

A videotape of Brian Malley’s statement to police was introduced as evidence in the fifth day of his Court of Queen’s Bench trial in Red Deer on Friday. That videotape captured the police interview of Malley on May 25, 2012 — shortly after he was arrested.

In the video Malley appears worried and uneasy. He is wearing a white t-shirt and grey pants as he sits in a police interview room.

It was the day police showed Malley some of the evidence that led them to charge him with the murder of Victoria Shacktay, 23. The woman died Nov. 25, 2011 when a bomb disguised as a Christmas present exploded in her face in her Innisfail apartment.

The Crown alleges that Malley killed Shachtay to cut his losses. Shachtay received a settlement after a 2004 car crash left her confined to a wheelchair. She invested more than half a million dollars with Malley. By 2011 that money had vanished. Malley made payments to Shachtay totalling $44,000 out of his own pocket.

During the videotaped police interview, Malley said his biggest concern at that moment was that he wasn’t going to go home that night.

“I don’t think I am with the way you’re talking,” he told McCullum.

McCullum showed Malley some of the evidence against him and how police had come to find him a suspect. This included DNA evidence found in the post-blast scene, records detailing the financial relationship between Malley and Shachtay, and Shachtay’s caregiver Marlene Punongbayan identifying Malley as Shachtay’s financial advisor.

Earlier in the day two witnesses testified to purchases made at hardware stores four months prior to the bombing of items matching the description of those used in the bombing.

In January 2012, Kyle van Delft, an asset protection specialist with Home Depot, was asked to use closed circuit television and debit transaction records to identify a purchase made on July 17, 2011 at the Red Deer Home Depot. Crown introduced 33 pages of Malley’s many debit transactions at Home Depot in Red Deer over the previous months.

Defence counsel Bob Aloneissi confirmed the debit card used belonged to Malley.

That day a roll of wire was purchased on that debit card.

A week prior, that same debit card was used in the purchase of a galvanized steel nipple — pipe with threading at either end — and one end cap for the nipple at a Rona Hardware Store in Edmonton.

It is alleged the nipple, end cap and wire were used in the making of the bomb that killed Shachtay.

Aloneissi pointed out that the same debit card was used to make transactions at the Rona store in Edmonton on Nov. 25, 2011, the day of the bombing, and on Nov. 26, 2011.

Van Delft was also asked by RCMP investigators to look to see if the debit card was used to purchase a ‘lantern-type’ battery, which was also used in the making of the bomb. However, no battery was purchased by that debit card at the Red Deer Home Depot.

The trial resumes Monday morning in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench. The trial is expected to last five to six weeks.

mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com