A man accused of murdering an Edmonton woman more than three decades ago is seeking bail, months after his conviction was quashed by the federal justice minister.
Roy Allan Sobotiak, 62, is set to appear before a bail hearing Friday morning in Edmonton’s Court of King’s Bench.
Sobotiak has served more than 35 years behind bars for the killing of 34-year-old Susan Kaminsky, an Edmonton mother who disappeared in 1987.
To this day, her body has never been found.
Sobotiak was granted a new trial in February by then federal Justice Minister Arif Virani who concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred during the case.
Sobotiak has been receiving legal assistance from Innocence Canada, a non-profit organization that advocates against wrongful convictions.
Virani said a new trial was necessary due to new information that was not before the courts at the time of Sobotiak’s trial or appeal.
The federal justice department declined to comment on the new evidence but has said the new trial was called after a close examination of the case.
In response to the call for a new trial, Alberta applied for a judicial review contesting the decision.
In his submission for a judicial review, Alberta Attorney General Mickey Amery argued that his federal counterpart provided no reason — written or otherwise — to support his findings that a new trial is warranted.
Sobotiak was convicted of second-degree murder in 1991 and sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 16½ years.
Without a trace
Kaminsky disappeared in February 1987 after a night out with friends at a north Edmonton pub.
She never returned home and was reported missing. Her car was found the following day, abandoned on a south Edmonton street.
Kaminsky once babysat Sobotiak when he was a child. Police determined he was the last person to see her alive.
Investigators suspected foul play but no charges were laid until 1989 when Sobotiak, then 26, was charged with first-degree murder.
Just days after she disappeared, Sobotiak told CBC News he had been interviewed by police.
Sitting in his apartment, he described Kaminsky as a “nice, soft-spoken person” and recalled his first interactions with the officers investigating her death.
“They interviewed me for about three hours and then they took me on a three mile hike through the river valley here, tracing my steps from Saturday afternoon.”
Kaminsky’s disappearance triggered one of the most intensive police investigations Edmonton had seen.
The month-long search, involved police and hundreds of civilians, who scoured forest and ravines for any clues. The search, however, failed to uncover any evidence of her remains, baffling investigators and leaving her family increasingly anxious for answers as the months passed.
Two years after Kaminsky vanished, Sobotiak was charged.
The principal evidence against him was taped statements he made to an undercover police officer in which he boasted that he had tortured, sexually assaulted, killed, and dismembered Kaminsky in his mother’s basement before disposing of her body.
He also confessed to the murder during a police interrogation, but later changed his story.
Sobotiak, who has been serving his sentence at a federal penitentiary in Alberta, has since maintained his innocence.
He previously launched unsuccessful appeals to both the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Innocence Canada, which helped Sobotiak apply for a new trial, said in February that the 62-year-old has always insisted his innocence.
The non-profit organization said four of its lawyers assisted Sobotiak in his application to the federal justice minister.
