DNA testing on 30-year-old bullet casings ordered in B.C. murder appeal

Wade Skiffington is seen in a court sketch by Jane Wolsak in Vancouver on Monday, Jan. 7, 2018. His son, Ian, is seated behind him.

Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice” to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.

In 1994, Wanda Lee Martin was found dead in a Richmond apartment, fatally shot in front of her 18-month-old son. The murder weapon was never found, last week’s decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal notes. Shell casings were, however, recovered from the scene.

The three-judge panel has ordered those casings and the DNA swabbed from them to be handed over for further testing, allowing for the possibility that it could yield fresh evidence in the decades-old slaying for which Martin’s former partner says he was wrongfully convicted.

In 2001, William Wade Skiffington was found guilty of second-degree murder. That conviction was based on incriminating statements Skiffington made to an undercover officer during a so-called “Mr. Big” sting operation.

“The appellant says those statements were coerced and untrue,” the Sept. 24 decision from the B.C. appeal court says.

Skiffington spent nearly 18 years in prison after his conviction. After exhausting his options to challenge the conviction through the courts, Skiffington’s counsel appealed directly to the federal justice minister for a review of the case. He was granted bail in 2019 while that review was underway.

Skiffington has maintained his innocence and the decision releasing him from prison notes that he was denied parole “primarily” because he would not participate in programming that required him to admit guilt.

“In short, a strong case can be made that the sole or at least primary reason the applicant is not currently in the community on structured release is his continued assertion of innocence, and desire to have his conviction reviewed,” the judge said at that time.

In 2022, the minister found there was “a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in relation to the 2001 conviction” and ordered a new appeal to be heard – mainly on the grounds that it was based on a potentially coerced and legally inadmissible confession.

However, the most recent decision on the case also notes that there was “no forensic evidence of any kind” to link Skiffington to the crime scene or to Martin’s slaying. The court also heard that human DNA was recovered from the bullet casings as part of the ministerial review.

“Ms. Martin died from gunshot wounds. The identity of the shooter was the primary issue at trial. The appellant submits that DNA evidence obtained from the shell casings may assist in demonstrating that his conviction reflects a miscarriage of justice,” the decision said.

There was not enough DNA recovered to meet the threshold required for testing by the RCMP but the most recent ruling will allow the evidence to be released to the British Columbia Institute of Technology, which requires a lower threshold.

“If the testing of the shell casings and the DNA swab reveals evidence relevant to the appeal, it may also form part of a fresh evidence application,” the decision said.

If DNA can be tested, an expert will be required to prepare a report on the results and share it with the RCMP, the Crown and Skiffington’s counsel within five weeks of receiving the exhibits.