A Richmond senior who is serving a term of life in prison for slitting the throat of her friend is under RCMP investigation again, the B.C. Court of Appeal was told Friday.
The latest twist in a saga that has played out for nearly 20 years came as a bail hearing was about to get under way for Jean Ann James.
Prosecutor John Gordon told B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Ian Donald that James, who is incarcerated in the Fraser Valley Institution for Women, had been placed under police investigation.
He said the investigation was not yet complete and did not provide any details but said the matter was highly relevant to the bail hearing and argued that there should be an adjournment.
Ravi Hira, a lawyer representing James on her appeal, said he was informed of the situation in the same vague terms on Thursday.
Given that the Crown has asked for a one-week adjournment, Hira said he didnt think that the delay would prejudice his client.
The judge granted the one week adjournment for the bail hearing, until March 2. James wants to be released on bail pending her appeal hearing.
In November, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found James, 72, guilty of the June 1992 first-degree murder of Gladys Wakabayashi, 41, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.
James received the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
Court heard James confessing during an RCMP sting operation that she had discovered that the victim was having an affair with her husband.
I slit her throat, she said to the fake crime boss, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.
James said she used box cutters to slash her friend across the throat in Wakabayashis Shaughnessy home.
In an appeal filed shortly after the conviction, James alleges that there was evidence that should not have been admitted at trial and questions the reliability of the confession. She also alleges that the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Catherine Bruce, erred in her charge to the jury.
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