Fake car accident allowed undercover cops to meet murder suspect: trial

Allan Shyback is seen in this undated photo.

CALGARY -- Undercover officers investigating a man accused of killing his wife and burying her body in the basement of their home staged a car accident to get his attention.

Allan Shyback, 40, is charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body in the death of Lisa Mitchell, 31, who was last seen in October 2012.

An undercover operation police launched in 2013 ended with Shyback's alleged confession and arrest in Winnipeg a year later.

A female officer in the sting told the court she and her partner damaged the front and rear driver's side doors on Shyback's parked car in Dec. 2013. She then waited until he returned to apologize for the accident and offered to pay for the damages.

"Initially, he appeared upset and I apologized and explained to him it was a business vehicle -- it was not my own and due to the road conditions I had slid into his vehicle."

She then arranged to have him speak to another officer who she identified as her boss at the marketing firm where she worked.

It was the first of several meetings with the accused.

Shyback agreed to get an estimate so the damage could be repaired without an insurance claim. She told him the $1,000 quote he eventually provided was fine with her boss.

"I offered him Flames tickets as a thank you for being so good on Dec. 4 and being willing to go ahead and receive quotes outside of insurance."

The officer said she met with Shyback on Dec. 19, 2013 to give him the $1,000 and the two shared a meal. She said he talked about his two children and plans for Christmas.

The two kept in contact through texts and phone calls. She said she called him Jan. 23, 2014 to ask if he would sign an insurance waiver.

"He asked if I would be interested in going on a date," she said.

She made it clear the next day that a romantic relationship was not in the cards.

"Although flattered, I indicated I was not interested. I had just got out of a bad relationship. I was caring for an ailing mother and was focused on work. He said he's also had a bad relationship and understood."

"Did you ever make any romantic gestures toward him?" Crown prosecutor Jayme Williams asked.

"Certainly not."

The Crown told court in its opening statement that Shyback confessed to strangling Mitchell at the end of the undercover operation on Dec. 5, 2014, and admitting to burying her in his basement.

He was arrested that day.

Mitchell's partially mummified body was later found in a plastic container buried under concrete in the basement.