Man to be retried in girlfriend's murder
Ontario prosecutors will retry a Toronto man previously convicted of murdering his girlfriend 15 years ago.
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Robert Baltovich. (CP file
photo)
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- INDEPTH: Robert Baltovich
The decision comes more than seven months after Ontario's Court of Appeal set aside the conviction of Robert Baltovich and ordered a new trial.
In December, the court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that errors had been made in the judge's charge to the jury, warranting a new trial.
Baltovich will face second-degree murder charges, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General told the Canadian Press. A date has not been set.
Baltovich's girlfriend, 22-year-old Elizabeth Bain, disappeared in 1990 from the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. A few days after she vanished, her car was found with some of her blood on the floor of the car. Her body has never been found.
Baltovich, who was 24 when Bain disappeared, was convicted in March 1992 of second-degree murder.
He was sentenced to life and spent eight years in prison, but was released on bail in 2000 pending his appeal.
The Crown has insisted that Baltovich was properly convicted of the murder. They characterized him as a jealous and obsessed boyfriend who killed Bain because she wanted to break up with him.
But Baltovich's lawyers say the case against their client was a miscarriage of justice, alleging unreliable witness testimony and undisclosed evidence. They also argue that serial killer Paul Bernardo, who had not yet been identified as the "Scarborough rapist," should have been considered a suspect in Bain's disappearance.
Baltovich's lawyer asked the Court of Appeal to acquit his client. But the court rejected an acquittal, finding that there was evidence upon which a properly instructed jury could reasonably convict.