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Candace Derksen - 13 - Murdered November 30, 1984 - SOLVED

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Chris:
Yeah that was good news! those guys who thought they got away with it and then get busted decades later... that is just wonderful. Must be twice as hard to be arrested then.

t-lynne:
WINNIPEG - Her killing haunted Winnipeggers for decades, a 'cold case' whose secrets many feared would never be revealed.

Now, 26 years later, a trial is set to begin for the man police and prosecutors allege killed 13-year-old Candace Derksen.

Mark Edward Grant, 46, is charged with first-degree murder.

Derksen disappeared while walking home from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate on Nov. 30, 1984, sparking a massive search effort.

The search ended Jan. 17, 1985, when an Alsip's Industrial Products employee found Derksen's frozen body in a rarely-used tool shed near the Nairn Avenue overpass, about 500 metres from her home. Her hands and feet were bound behind her back, making it impossible for her to escape. She died of exposure.

Police arrested Grant in 2007 after he submitted a blood sample to the national data bank. Grant was interviewed by police in the during the initial investigation into Derksen's disappearance, but was not deemed to be a suspect at he time.

Wilma and Cliff Derksen told QMI Agency in 2007 that they had come to terms with the fact they may never find out what happened to their daughter. Grant's arrest nearly four years ago shook their world.

"Wilma and I have to admit that we had actually given up hope. We were already prepared to live with this mystery that has shadowed our family for so many years," Cliff Derksen said, reading from a statement, after police confirmed they had a high-risk sex offender in custody for the 1984 slaying.

The case touched many Winnipegers, including the officers charged with finding Derksen's killer.

"It's been a very, very disturbing case. It still haunts a lot of people," former police Chief Jack Ewatski, a homicide investigator at the time of the murder, told QMI Agency in 2001. "Every time I drive over the Nairn overpass, it brings back memories.

"To me, she died a horrible death knowing her cries for help were going unanswered. She must have felt very hopeless and very alone."

Grant was committed to stand trial following a preliminary hearing in 2009.

Jury selection was completed earlier this month. The trial is set to last a month.

The Crown is expected to call 34 witnesses, including three DNA scientists.

Jurors are expected to hear their first witness on Thursday.

t-lynne:
I am thinking somebody should just tie this 'monster' up and leave him to die in the cold...I am shocked that he could even live with himself for 26 years knowing that he left that little girl, bound,hurt, scared, cold.... 500 METERS from her home!!!  BASTARD!! (sorry for the expletive) but OMG!!

AlbertaCowboy:
Finally!

26 years to the day Candace Derksen's remains were found in a tool shed just south of the Nairn Overpass in Winnipeg, the main suspect Mark Edward Grant is finally put on trail for the killing.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110117/man-goes-on-trial-for-1984-murder-110117/

The trail is expected to last until late February.

capeheart:
I saw this on the Global News this evening and am very happy that this case was solved. What a monster to do this to this young girl. The horrible death, but finally closure after all these years for her mom and dad. RIP Candice Derksen, and there will finally be justice in your loss of life in such a violent manner. ::) ::) ::) :o :o :o

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