A man awaiting his appeal for a second-degree murder conviction was arrested last month in Newfoundland and Labrador for allegedly breaching bail conditions.
Wade Skiffington was sentenced in 2001 to life for the 1994 shooting death of his common-law partner Wanda Martin in Richmond after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder.
He was released on bail in 2019 after serving 17 years in prison and in 2022, Hon. David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, found a miscarriage of justice "likely occurred" in Skiffington's case and referred it back to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Without a murder weapon and forensic evidence linking Skiffington to the crime, RCMP had obtained a taped confession by Skiffington in 2000 using the controversial "Mr. Big" tactic. The tactic involved undercover officers posing as gang members and asking Skiffington to confess to a past crime during a fake gang induction.
In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Mr. Big confessions would not be considered in court if it could be shown that police abused their power while obtaining such confessions.
Following the Minister of Justice's decision, Skiffington was released on bail in December 2022 pending the new appeal with the same conditions as his previous release in 2019, which included no contact with certain persons.
As of now, Skiffington's appeal has not been heard. In her decision dated May 27, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten noted the parties agreed "it may be some time before the matter is ready for a hearing on the merits."
Arrested for interaction with victim's brother
According to DeWitt-Van Oosten's decision, Skiffington was arrested in Newfoundland and Labrador on May 15.
He had allegedly uttered threats to Martin's brother, Darryl, including "I'm going to f****** kill you."
He was charged with one count of uttering a threat against someone he was prohibited from contacting under his bail conditions and two counts of breaching bail conditions.
Due to Skiffington's arrest, the prosecution in B.C. applied to cancel Skiffington's existing release order in B.C. while Skiffington applied to be re-released on bail.
In her May 27 decision, DeWitt-Van Oosten agreed to cancel Skiffington's 2022 release order and decided to re-release him with an additional condition barring him from going to a certain area.
Skiffington's father, his surety, informed the court of "previous difficulties" that arose between Skiffington and Darryl. The issues allegedly included the Martin family initiating contact with Skiffington, information that Skiffington's lawyer relayed to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in July 2023.
Skiffington's father added Skiffington was "completely compliant with his bail conditions" apart from the aforementioned issues and suggested a boundary restriction to his bail conditions would reduce the risk of encounters with Darryl.
The prosecution did not oppose Skiffington's re-release and accepted it was not necessary for the public interest to detain Skiffington.
It acknowledged the underlying circumstances of Skiffington's new charges were serious. DeWitt-Van Oosten said the acknowledgment was "well-founded."
"Although there was no physical violence, (Skiffington) is alleged to have threatened to kill Mr. Martin," she wrote.
"Whatever the history between Mr. Martin and (Skiffington) may have been during the time of the bail order, it is (Skiffington) who has the obligation to stay away from Mr. Martin and to refrain from any form of contact with him."
However, the prosecution acknowledged Skiffington complied with all his other bail conditions and the encounter with Darryl appeared to have been an "isolated incident." There was no indication he was a flight risk.
DeWitt-Van Oosten added Skiffington's bail supervisor concluded a boundary restriction "will likely protect the safety of Mr. Martin and his family members" and "will ameliorate the risk of any further offending."
"I appreciate that the fact of new charges is upsetting for Wanda Martin’s family and that they find these circumstances difficult. Nothing I say here is intended, in any way, to minimize or diminish their concerns," wrote DeWitt-Van Oosten.
She added the new appeal was "not frivolous" and the only public safety risk would be sufficiently mitigated by the new boundary restrictions.
"Given what has occurred since May 15, 2024, (Skiffington) can be under no misapprehension that if he fails to comply with the terms of his bail, there will be consequences, including the potential for new substantive charges and cancellation," wrote DeWitt-Van Oosten.
"That message has been brought home to him."
Skiffington remained in custody in Newfoundland and Labrador at the time of DeWitt-Van Oosten's decision and his release was to be determined by that jurisdiction.
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