Lawyer seeks new trial for Mr. Big sting murder convict

Questionable evidence from a Mr. Big sting operation should garner a convicted killer a new trial, an appeal panel heard Wednesday.

Some of the claims Neil Lee Yakimchuk made to an undercover police officer following the Dec. 15, 2008, murder of Juan Carlos Dequina are dubious and should be subject to further court examination, lawyer Alias Sanders told the Alberta Court of Appeal. “There was considerable prejudicial evidence ... it’s not reliable,” she said.

Yakimchuk was convicted in April 2014 of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his brother-inlaw-to-be Dequina, who was lured to a remote road on the Tsuut’ina First Nation and shot in the back of the head. The killer then served as a pallbearer at the victim’s funeral.

Evidence at that trial showed Yakimchuk had borrowed $20,000 from Dequina nearly three months before the slaying. There was never any proof the dead man was involved in the drug trade, other than Yakimchuk’s claims.

Sanders told the panel the 2014 trial should have been more skeptical of statements Yakimchuk made to the undercover police officer, including ones connecting him to the 2004 murder in Saskatoon of alleged drug dealer Isho Hana.

A new trial has been ordered for Yakimchuk, who was convicted of first-degree murder for that slaying.

“He brings up this killing in Saskatoon and claims some credit for it,” said Sanders, adding those statements could merely have been made to impress the undercover officer. “There are a multitude of instances where Mr. Yakimchuk is making himself seem more valuable when he’s talking to Mr. Big ... he was aggrandizing himself.”

The appeal panel will render its decision at a later date.