Crown stays cold case murder charges after identifying 'insurmountable' issue with evidence
A Calgary man accused of killing two people nearly 30 years ago saw his murder charges dropped on Friday due to what the Crown described as "a significant issue with the evidence."
Stuart Douglass MacGregor, 55, was facing two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Barry Christian Buchart, 26, and Trevor Thomas Deakins, 25, who were fatally shot in 1994.
Defence lawyers Rebecca Snukal and Michael Bates have been in pre-trial hearings dealing with the admissibility of certain evidence leading up to the trial which was set to take place in November.
On Friday, Snukal confirmed she'd received a letter from the Crown announcing the charges had been stayed.
"Our client has always maintained his innocence in relation to these charges and is extremely relieved and grateful to return home to his family," wrote Snukal and Bates in a brief statement.
Snukal confirmed Stuart will be released from custody later today after being held at the Calgary Remand Centre since his arrest in 2023.
Evidence issue 'insurmountable'
A spokesperson for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service also issued a statement, saying that prosecutors continually assess their cases to "ensure all aspects of the evidence are carefully considered at every stage of a prosecution."
"During the prosecution, the Crown prosecutor encountered a significant issue with the evidence," reads the statement.
"The Crown prosecutor thoroughly explored all paths to trial so the allegations could be determined on the merits, however, the evidentiary issue was ultimately determined to be insurmountable."
On July 11, 1994, two men broke into a home in Calgary's southeast, where Buchart and Deakins were killed.
Both victims were shot point-blank.
The investigation into the killings went cold for decades before police reopened the investigation in 2019.
Using genetic genealogical investigative techniques, police were able to track down family members of the suspects, which ultimately led them to arrest two men.
Leonard Brian Cochrane was charged in 2020.
MacGregor was arrested and charged in 2023, the same year a Calgary judge convicted Cochrane of murder.
Cochrane is currently serving a life sentence.
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