Woman to stand trial in boyfriend's 2019 death

Calgary woman Mae Tallow was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for manslaughter in the Ctrain station death of her boyfriend.

Provincial court Judge Lloyd Robertson ruled there was sufficient evidence to put the case before a Court of Queen's Bench jury after hearing three days of evidence called by Crown prosecutor Donna Spaner.

Spaner called five witnesses over the course of the preliminary hearing, which had been scheduled to last a full week.

Defence counsel Adriano Iovinelli did not oppose committal, conceding the prosecution had met the low threshold to get the case to trial.

At Iovinelli's request, Robertson imposed a publication ban on the evidence at the beginning of the hearing on Monday.

Tallow was arrested last May in connection with the 2019 death of her boyfriend, Benjamin Rain, 29.

At about 10 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2019, Calgary police responded to reports of a couple passed out on the floor of the Heritage Ctrain station. Rain was in medical distress when officers arrived and was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At the time of Tallow's arrest, police said Rain died of inflicted injuries, in what they described as a “violent domestic incident.”

It took 15 months for their investigation to result in charges.

“In complex cases like this one, it can take a while to gather the evidence needed to piece together what happened,” said Staff Sgt. Colin Chisholm with the homicide unit. “Hopefully this can bring some closure to Mr. Rain's family.”

Tallow, who remains in custody, will appear in Court of Queen's Bench for arraignment on April 6.