New trial date set in death of Manitoba girl more than 30 years ago

WINNIPEG – A date has been set for a new trial in the death of a Winnipeg girl 31 years ago.

Mark Edward Grant is scheduled to be tried on a charge of second-degree murder in January 2017.

Grant was convicted of killing 13-year-old Candace Derksen in 2011, but the Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 2013, and that ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The higher courts said the trial judge erred in not allowing the defence to present evidence that pointed to another possible killer — an unidentified man involved in a similar attack while Grant was in custody.

Candace’s body was found in a storage shed near her Winnipeg home six weeks after she disappeared.

The Crown announced earlier this year it would seek a new trial, and the victim’s mother has said she still believes Grant is the killer.