Prosecutors stay charge for man convicted in 1987 killing, says Innocence Canada

A courtroom at the Edmonton Law Courts building in Edmonton on Friday, June 28, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

The group representing an Alberta man who spent decades in prison for the death of an Edmonton woman says his charge has been stayed.

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Innocence Canada says Roy Allan Sobotiak was to appear in court Friday to set a date for his new trial, but says the Crown Prosecution Service stayed his second-degree murder charge.

Lawyer James Lockyer says the group was “delighted” by the news and believes this is the longest a wrongly convicted person has spent in prison in Canada.

Sobotiak was granted bail earlier this year for his 1991 life sentence in the 1987 murder of Susan Kaminsky after former federal justice minister Arif Virani ordered a new trial due to what he called a likely “miscarriage of justice.”

Lawyers for Alberta Justice had requested a judicial review, arguing that Virani provided no reasoning as to why a new trial was warranted.

A spokesperson for the provincial government did not immediately return a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press