Judge acquits accused shooter of teen girl, cites lack of evidence
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2018 (2830 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg man accused of using a police handgun to shoot a 16-year-old girl was to be released from jail Thursday, after a judge ruled there’s not enough evidence to prove he was the one who pulled the trigger.
Matthew Wilfred McKay has been acquitted of attempted murder in the October 2015 shooting in Windsor Park that occurred after an RCMP officer’s gun was stolen from his unlocked police vehicle during a party involving high school students in the officer’s garage. The shooting seriously injured 16-year-old Calli Vanderaa, who was sitting with her friends in a parked car when a bullet smashed through the passenger-side window at close range early Oct. 24, 2015.
Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchbery said he couldn’t be sure McKay was the shooter.

“I am uncertain as to the accuracy of the identifications made. In this case, there is no physical evidence that ties the handgun used in Calli’s shooting to McKay,” the judge said when he delivered his verdict Thursday.
“My doubts are not frivolous. They go to the very heart of this matter: who was the shooter?” Lanchbery continued, saying proof beyond a reasonable doubt “is far from being established.”
After the verdict, a disturbance outside the courtroom led to Calli and her father, Corey Vanderaa, being taken into custody by sheriff’s officers.
McKay’s co-accused, Matthew Andrew Miles, implicated McKay in his statement to police, but contradicted himself when he testified in court, giving “incredible and unreliable” testimony, Lanchbery said.
He ruled Miles’ police statement inadmissible, meaning it couldn’t be considered as evidence in court, because there was no other evidence to corroborate the statement.
Lanchbery said there was a possibility Miles could have been the shooter. He had the gun at the end of the night, and police later found it at his home. His explanation in his inadmissible police statement was that he took it away from McKay after the shooting to keep it safe.
Other witnesses were too intoxicated that night to be certain of the shooter’s identity, the judge said.
High school students were drinking at the birthday party for McKay’s nephew, which took place in the RCMP officer’s garage. The officer’s teenage son testified he didn’t have permission to host the party. McKay and Miles were accused of going into the police vehicle, which was parked outside the garage, and stealing police equipment, including the handgun.
McKay’s fingerprint was found on the officer’s RCMP-issued camera, but Lanchbery said that doesn’t prove he was responsible for the shooting. In Miles’ court testimony, he claimed not to remember much about that night and didn’t implicate McKay in the shooting or in the theft of the gun. He pleaded guilty for his role in stealing the officer’s gun and is serving the equivalent of a 3.5-year sentence.
Police didn’t follow proper procedure when they went through photo books of possible suspects with the witnesses, court heard during McKay’s trial.
Even though three witnesses, including Calli, picked out McKay from a photo lineup, the only witness who testified he was certain McKay was the shooter had been shown McKay’s photo separately from the others in the photo book. Police left his photo out in front of the witness after they put the other nine photos away, Lanchbery said in his decision.
Another witness who picked McKay out of the lineup was shown a collection of photos in which McKay was the only one with a neck tattoo.
There were no “procedural improprieties” by police when Calli Vanderaa picked out McKay’s photo as the man who shot her, but on the stand, she said she couldn’t be absolutely certain. Lanchbery said she was a credible witness who was doing her best to remember what happened that night, but he said her recollection was clouded by the effects of post-traumatic stress.
Lanchbery also commented on the “incredible” testimony of RCMP Sgt. Chris McCuen, who was sued by the Vanderaa family for the improper storage of his service weapon. He admitted during his testimony he didn’t lock up the gun in the vehicle at the end of his shift. The judge found it unbelievable McCuen claimed not to know his son was holding a party in the garage even though he saw him carrying a chair out there, and claimed not to hear any sounds of the party, which included drunken partygoers vomiting in the backyard.
“These actions are so far out of the norm for a trained RCMP officer,” Lanchbery said.
The civil suit against McCuen on behalf of Calli Vanderaa has since been settled.
Lanchbery ordered the release of McKay. He’s been in jail for more than two years, since his arrest the day after the shooting.
katie.may@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @thatkatiemay

Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.
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History
Updated on Thursday, January 18, 2018 12:44 PM CST: Updates
Updated on Thursday, January 18, 2018 5:33 PM CST: Updated