A boy's death, triple murder, gang killing: Here are the top southern Alberta court cases to watch in 2018

A triple murder, police accused of corruption, parents who refused to take their dying toddler to a doctor and a gangster's third and final trial: these are just some of trials and hearings involving southern Alberta cases to watch in 2018.

1) Lethbridge triple homicide

• Accused:Austin Vielle
• Charges: 2nd degree murder x3
• Victims:Kyle Devine, Clarissa English, DakotaEnglish
• Trial: Jan. 8, 2018
• Lawyers: Tonii Roulston, Robin McIntyre(defence);Vaughan Hartigan, Bruce Ainscough (Crown)

Austin Vielle is accused of murdering three people in Lethbridge,including two siblings.

Kyle Devine, 27, Clarissa English, 24,and her brother, DakotaEnglish, 18, were found stabbed to deathin the Lethbridge townhouse they shared in April 2015. Clarissa and Devine were in a relationship.

A month after the killings, Chantelle English, the sister of two of the victims, told CBC NewsVielle "wanted to be with" Clarissa but she had started dating Devine instead.

Two weeks before the trio was killed, Vielle was charged with assaulting and threatening Devine.

2) Police corruption trial

• Accused:Steve Walton (criminal harassment, bribing an officer,unsafe storage of firearms, perjury); Heather Walton (criminal harassment, bribing an officer,unsafe storage of firearms); Ken Carter (criminal harassment, perjury);Const. Bryan Morton(criminal harassment, breach of trust, bribery,unauthorized use of a computer system);Sgt. Bradford McNish(breach of trust, bribery,unauthorized use of a computer system);Tony Braile(criminal harassment, breach of trust, bribery).
• Trials:Braile/Morton/McNish: Feb. 5, 2018;Walton/Walton/Carter: Sept. 10, 2018
• Lawyers:Pat Fagan (Braile), Jim Lutz (Morton), Paul Brunnen (McNish), Alain Hepner (Steve Walton), Kelsey Sitar (Heather Walton), Gavin Wolch (Carter), Edmonton prosecutor

Two separate trials are set for the new year for several current and former Calgary police officers accused of corruption andharassment.

The allegations centre around retired officerSteve Walton with CPS for 25 years until 2003 and his wife, Heather, a former civilian CPS employee. The pairstarted a private investigation firm and were contracting current and formerofficers to do work for them.

The only person facing charges who never worked for CPS is Ken Carter, who was a client of the Waltons' PI firm.

Carter was in the middle of a messy child custody battle and is alleged to have hired the PI company to illegally follow and harasshis ex-spouse. AkeleTaylormade the initial harassment complaint to police.

It's alleged the Waltons asked members to use the CPS computer system to run searchesfor their PI business.

Const. Bryan Morton andSgt. Bradford McNish are currently suspended from CPS pending the outcome of their trial, the two are nine and 14-year members of the force, respectively.

Tony Braile also faces harassment and bribery charges in connection with the PI firm. He was fired by the Calgary policein February 2016 for professional misconduct relatingto a 2008 high speed chase.

3) Gangster's final trial

• Accused: Nick Chan
• Charges: 1st degree murder, instructing a criminal organization
• Victim:Kevin Anaya
• Trial: April 9, 2018
• Lawyers: Andrea Serink (defence), Stephen Johnston (Crown)

Nick Chan didn't pull the trigger, but as a suspected gang leader he is accused of ordering his Fresh Off the Boat(FOB) gangunderlings to murder rival gangsters.

In this case, Chan is accused of ordering a hit on rival FOB Killers(FK)gang member Kevin Bontogon, which instead ended with the death of Kevin Anaya in 2008.

Besides first-degree murder, Chan also faces a charge ofconspiracy to commit murder for the alleged plotonBontogon's life.

Chan is accused of leading the FOB gang through a bloody seven-year period that saw 25 people killed. According to testimony at previous trials, Chan would payFOB members for successful hits on FK gangsters.

Amassive police investigation, Operation Desino, ended in July 2013 withmultiple gangsters, including Chan, facing numerous murder charges stemming from three different homicides.

In March2016, a jury foundChan not guilty of first-degree murderfor the 2009 Bolsa Restaurant triple murder. In December, he was acquitted of several weapons-related charges following a trial.

If Chan is acquitted again, he will be released from theCalgary Remand Centre where he's been held pending trials since 2013.

4) Supreme Court for controversial parents

• Accused: David and Collet Stephan
• Charges: Failing to provide the necessaries of life
• Victim:Ezekiel Stephan
• Trial: May 15, 2018
• Lawyers: Karen Molle, Heather Ferg

Instead of taking their dying toddler to a doctor, David and Collet Stephan treated the child withnatural remedies and home-made smoothies containing hot pepper, ginger root, horseradish and onion.

Even when Ezekiel Stephan's body was too stiff to sit in a car seat, they put him on a mattress in the family van and drove to their localnaturopathic clinic in Lethbridgeto pick up herbal supplements.

In 2016, a Lethbridge jury found the Stephans guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of lifeand in November, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld their convictions.

But because one of the three judges on the panel disagreed with the others and found Collet and David Stephan should have been granted a new trial, the couple has an automatic right for the Supreme Court to hear its appeal.

The Stephans have many followers who have supported them and helped raise money for their legal defence, yet they remain polarizing figures

David Stephan has also publicly criticized the justice system on at least two occasions.

In May, the Stephanswill be at the country's highest court as they try once again to have their convictions overturned.

5) Former pimp accused of murdering mother, daughter

• Accused:Edward Downey
• Charges: 1st degree murder x2
• Victims:Sara Baillie, Taliyah Marsman
• Trial: Oct. 15, 2018
• Lawyers: Gavin Wolch (defence); Carla McPhail, Ryan Jenkins (Crown)

The mystery surrounding the killing of a Calgary mother and her five-year-old daughter is expected to unravel as the man accused of killing them goes on trial in the fall.

By the time Edward Downey faces a jury, it will have been be more than two years since Sara Baillie, 34, and daughter Taliyah Marsman were killed.

A week after Baillie's body was found in her basement apartment in the northwest community of Panorama Hillsin July 2016, her daughter'sremains were discovered near a rural road east of the city.

Edward Downey whohas a criminal history involving pimping, drug trafficking and weapons offences dating back more than 25 years was charged with the two murders.

Police said at the time that Downey was known to both victims.

6) Allegedly beaten boy's caretakers on trial

• Accused: Allan and andCarolina Perdomo
• Charges: Manslaughter
• Victim: Emilio Perdomo
• Trial: Nov. 26, 2018
• Lawyers: Tim Foster (Carolina), Darren Mahoney (Allan), Vicki Faulkner, Jayme Williams (Crown)

Five-year-old Emilio Perdomo had moved to Canada from Mexico without his mother just months before he died from numerous brutal injuries.

The child was brought to hospital unresponsive and suffering seizures. He had abrain bleed, broken arm and bruises on his arms, face, legs, back, chest, stomach, knuckles and genitals.

Allan and Carolina Perdomo told police the child had suffered the injuries in several accidents. Hedied in hospital from a severe head injury seven days after he was admitted.

Although police have saidthe Perdomos are the boy's grandfather and step-grandmother, one court document suggests the boy was the product of an affair that Allan Perdomo had with a woman in Mexico.

Allan and Carolina were charged with manslaughter a year after Emilio died.

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