Convicted killer Travis Vader continues to maintain his innocence and deny his involvement in the high-profile deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann, who vanished 14 years ago.
That was a factor in Vader being denied day parole on Thursday.
The Alberta man sent to prison for the deaths of the elderly St. Albert couple has never admitted to killing them and won’t reveal where their bodies are — something he maintained at his parole hearing.
Vader was found guilty of manslaughter in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison, with the chance to apply for parole in seven years.
At a prison in B.C. on Thursday, Vader appeared before two Parole Board of Canada officers to plead his case.
Sitting in a circle was Vader, his parole officer, two parole board members and two Indigenous elders.
For several hours, they went over the details of the criminal case, Vader’s upbringing and life circumstances leading up to the 2010 homicides, and his life since entering the prison system.
The parole board said there were two specific criteria they were looking to address: that Vader will not pose an undue risk to society and his release will contribute to the protection of society.
Also attending the hearing was Brett McCann, the son of the victims and family spokesperson.
McCann stressed until Vader admits his guilt in his parent’s murder and tells officials where the bodies are, there can be no consideration of letting him leave prison.
“Vader has never acknowledged that he committed this heinous crime. Our pain is everlasting. We will never forget, or forgive, what Vader has done,” McCann said in a statement after the decision was made.
“It is very important to myself, and my family, that my parents’ remains be located, and buried properly. I think it is a critical component of our grieving. And the one individual who knows where my parents’ remains are, has said nothing. Vader must reveal what he did with my parents’ remains.”
He spoke about missing his parents and having nightmares about how they died.
Vader stared straight ahead while McCann spoke and did not express any emotion, but turned his head towards the speaker to hear better with his hearing aids.
The couple, in their 70s, vanished after leaving their home in St. Albert, a bedroom community directly north of Edmonton, in July 2010. They were headed on a road trip to British Columbia and had planned to meet up with family.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Their burned-out motorhome and a vehicle they had been towing were discovered days later near Edson, about 200 kilometres west of the city. Vader lives in that part of western Alberta.
The McCann’s bodies have never been found and it’s not known how the couple was killed.
The trial judge determined Vader was a desperate drug addict who came across the McCanns and killed them during a robbery.
Vader said at his hearing that his father was associated with organized crime through his job in the oil and gas industry and that trickled over into his own life.
Vader said he himself was never a direct member of organized crime, but members of those groups would seek him out because his job, also in oil and gas, gave him access to chemicals used to make crystal meth.
Vader himself admitted to using meth and cocaine once he was in his 30s, in part to deal with work stress. He also admitted to consuming THC and magic mushrooms.
The drug use continued after the 2010 death of the McCanns — in 2016, a urine sample tested positive for methamphetamine.
He’s been sober since 2019, Vader said, adding he attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in prison. He said he also has an AA sponsor.
When talking about his upbringing, Vader said his father was physically abusive and rough on him his entire life and that impacted who he became as an adult.
The two had a fight when he was a teenager that resulted in Vader moving to the Yukon for three years, which he said was the best experience of his life as he reconnected with his Metis culture. Vader said there’s Indigenous lineage on his father’s side of his family.
Vader says he suffers from hearing loss as a result of physical abuse from his father.
Vader said he has always had a deep contempt for people in power or uniform.
Since going to prison, Vader completed an electrical program and did have a job within the system, but bad behavior led to him losing it.
One of the parole board officers noted Vader compared himself to George Floyd after losing his job.
“During that time I probably said things that didn’t make sense,” Vader replied.
He said he felt unjustly convicted and entered prison mad at the world.
“I took a lot of deep thought and commitment, self reflection — why am I here? Why did I get to this point? I was on top of the world,” Vader said.
During the hearing, one of the parole officers said Vader exhibited narcissistic traits such as a grandiose sense of self importance, overestimating capabilities, bragging or exaggerating achievement, inflated sense of self worth and superiority.
At the same time, the officer said Vader he has a fragile self-esteem and need for admiration, and is willing to exploit others, he lacks empathy, is frequent envious of others, arrogant and can be condescending, the officer stated.
They noted Vader has challenges working with authority and his file contained several entries about his lack of honesty.
“I don’t think honesty has ever been an issue,” Vader refuted. “In fact, I have been too honest at times. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I do that lots. I say what I think. It comes out like torrents. That’s how I explain it. As for distrust for authority — yes I had a huge, very hard time with that.”
Vader said he has spent his entire life trying to be accepted and struggles with emotional self-regulation.
“I believe I’m going to work through this my entire life, I don’t think it will ever stop. It’s entrenched in my deep psyche. I don’t believe I’m ever going to be free of it,” he said.
During the hearing, Vader painted himself as a victim of vigilante justice. Because of the years-long media attention and financial reward offered for information in the McCann murder case, Vader said between 2010 and now, he said he’s been attacked on multiple occasions by other inmates and law enforcement officials.
“Very serious, life-threatening incidents I have been through in 14 years,” he said.
If he had been released, Vader would have had to follow several conditions, such as:
- Abstaining from all drugs and alcohol
- Not contacting his victim’s families
- Being geographically restricted away from the the tri-city area of the B.C. Lower Mainland because McCann family members live there
- Disclose his finances to his parole officer
- Not own more than one cell phone or SIM card
- Report all sexual and platonic friendships with men and women
- Restrictions on overnight leave
The parole board credited Vader for being a go-getter that is motivated to move forward with his life, but noted he seemed overconfident in managing the risks that could lead to backwards progress.
The parole board said Vader is entitled to hold his position of denial and responsibility and admitting to the deaths is not required to be granted parole, it would lessen the harm.
“Certainly, the harm is compounded by the family’s inability to put to rest their loved ones,” the board said in making its decision.
The board said Vader has been assessed as being at a high risk to re-offend violently. It said Vader has benefited from programs offered by Corrections Canada but has not consistent applied what he has learned.
The board noted his community supervision history is very poor, saying even on bail in the past, Vader continued to engage in criminal activity.
While he had a semblance of a plan for his life after release, the board found Vader is still a risk to the public and his request for day parole was denied.
Vader let out a deep sigh when the decision was made and shook his head, but participated in a closing prayer with the elders and shook everyone’s hands.
Vader’s next hearing for full parole is tentatively scheduled for April 2025.