EDMONTON — A man accused of killing two Alberta seniors whose bodies have never been found is facing a new charge of assault.
Travis Vader was charged on Friday by RCMP in St. Albert, just north of Edmonton, after an alleged incident Thursday involving his mother's boyfriend at her residence.
Sgt. Jeff Campbell said Vader was charged with assault and failure to keep the peace, one of his bail conditions, and is scheduled to appear in provincial court in St. Albert on March 9.
"He was held for a bail hearing and has been released on a $2,000 no-cash bail," said Campbell. "He's still in custody because he's having to find a new, approved residence by his bail supervisor. His approved residence had been his mother's, but given the circumstances he can no longer stay there."
Vader, 42, was first charged in 2012 with two counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann.
The charges were stayed in March, a few weeks before Vader was to face a jury trial, but he was rearrested in December.
Vader was then freed on $25,000 bail but was ordered to remain under house arrest.
His murder trial has been scheduled to begin April 8, 2016.
The McCanns, both in their 70s, were last seen fuelling up their motorhome in their hometown of St. Albert, a bedroom community north of Edmonton, in July 2010. They were on their way to a family camping trip in British Columbia.
Their burned out motorhome was discovered west of Edmonton a few days after they were last seen.
Mounties soon named Vader a person of interest and later a suspect, and he was held on unrelated charges until he was charged with the killings in 2012.
Earlier this year, he filed lawsuits against prosecutors and the RCMP claiming malicious prosecution. He alleges he was kept in custody on trumped-up charges until he could be charged with murdering the McCanns. He also claims mistreatment by staff at the Edmonton Remand Centre.
