The British Columbia Institute of Technology's Burnaby forensics lab will conduct DNA testing on shell casings collected at the scene of a 1994 Richmond murder to help determine if there was a "miscarriage of justice" in the case.
William Wade Skiffington was found guilty of second-degree murder in October 2001 in the shooting death of his common-law partner, Wanda Martin, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years, according to a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling Tuesday.
Skiffington appealed the conviction, but his appeal was denied in 2004.
After a ministerial review, however, he was granted a new appeal when the federal Minister of Justice determined there was a "reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in relation to the 2001 conviction."
In support of his appeal, Skiffington applied to have shell casings found at the crime scene in 1994 – and a DNA extract taken from swabs of those casings in 2019 – released to BCIT for DNA testing.
"The identity of the shooter was the primary issue at trial," stated Tuesday's ruling. "The appellant submits that DNA evidence obtained from the shell casings may assist in demonstrating that his conviction reflects a miscarriage of justice."
The casings were sent to the RCMP's national forensics laboratory for DNA analysis as part of the federal minister's review, according to the ruling, but, even though human DNA was obtained from their surfaces, the quantity didn't meet the minimum requirement for further processing at the RCMP lab.
BCIT, however, applies a lower threshold for testing purposes, the ruling said.
Dr. Dean Hildebrand, a forensic DNA consultant with BCIT and the dean of the institute's school of computing and academic studies, told the court there may be enough DNA on the casings for testing, including the possibility of providing further samples.
The appeals court ruled it was "in the interests of justice" to grant the order to allow further forensic testing.
The court ordered the RCMP to release seven exhibits to the BCIT lab under a number of conditions.
Hildebrand or the BCIT lab staff will prepare a report detailing the results of the testing and provide the report to the RCMP, Skiffington's lawyers and Crown prosecutors within five weeks of getting the exhibits, according to the ruling.
Skiffington's conviction was "grounded" in recorded statements he made during an undercover "Mr. Big" operation the RCMP conducted five years after the murder, according to the ruling, and Skiffington says those statements were "coerced and untrue."
Although his first appeal was dismissed in 2004, the court that dismissed it said there was "no forensic evidence of any kind" to link Skiffington to the crime scene or to Martin's death, and the murder weapon was never found.
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Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
