The Crown prosecutor who led the case against convicted murderer Brian Malley says the system worked properly.
On Wednesday, Malley’s defence lawyer Bob Aloneissi criticized the jury’s verdict as a miscarriage of justice akin to some of Canada’s most infamous wrongful convictions.
Aloneissi criticized the “tunnel vision” of police investigators for focusing exclusively on his client and for having “skewed the facts to fit their suspect.”
Aloneissi intends to appeal.
Lead prosecutor Anders Quist defended investigators and dismissed suggestions that they were blind to other possible suspects.
“The RCMP gathered extensive evidence from many sources,” Quist wrote in an email. “They investigated several suspects other than Mr. Malley.
“All of the evidence was disclosed to Mr. Malley and the experienced lawyer he selected. The defence team acted to defend Mr. Malley.
“However, at the end of the trial the jury’s view was that the evidence proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, a view they were entitled to take.”
Innisfail financial advisor Malley was convicted on Tuesday night of first-degree murder, causing an explosion and sending an explosive after a five-week Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench trial.
After about six hours of deliberations, the jury was convinced that Malley built and sent the pipe bomb that killed 23-year-old single mother and quadriplegic Victoria Shachtay in her Innisfail home on Nov. 25, 2011.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com