EDMONTON — A violent Alberta sex abuser turned killer has failed to get his conviction overturned for second-degree murder.
The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by Thomas Svekla to toss his 2008 conviction for killing prostitute Theresa Innes.
They rejected an argument by Svekla’s lawyer who said the trial judge mistakenly used Svekla’s comments about a dark past as proof he had the state of mind for murder.
The Appeal Court said while no one statement is enough to convict, the trial judge used all of Svekla’s statements to arrive at a just conclusion.
The murder conviction, combined with Svekla’s history of sex attacks, led a judge to name him a dangerous offender.
As such, Svekla is effectively locked up for the rest of his life.