A man accused of first-degree murder in the death of a woman he met at a bar will learn his fate on Dec. 17.
That's when Justice Gerald Allbright will render a verdict for Douglas Hales, accused in the 2004 death of 25-year-old Daleen Bosse.
A verdict had been delayed for months because a Supreme Court ruling on a case out of Newfoundland changed rules for evidence gathered by undercover police.
RCMP testified at trial they got a confession from Hales in 2008 using what's known as the "Mr. Big" sting, where they pose as gangsters out to recruit him.
On Friday, the defence and the Crown were allowed one more chance to present final arguments, including submissions about how the Supreme Court's ruling should be applied to Hales' case.
Having lost an earlier bid to re-open the trial and present evidence from a mental health expert, defence lawyer Bob Hrycan didn't add anything to submissions he made in June.
Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga argued one more time to have the statements gathered during the Mr. Big sting included.
"If they are found to be admissable, then we're back to where we were at the end of June, and I simply re-iterated the arguments I made at that time as to why Mr. Hales should be found guilty," he said.
But Miazga added that even without the Mr. Big evidence, it was the Crown's view that Hales said enough to warrant a conviction during his interrogation by Saskatoon police after his arrest.
In the course of that interrogation, Hales admitted to strangling Bosse and burning her remains in an abandonded dump site near Martensville.
During final arguments, the Crown contended that Hales killed the university student out of rage when she mocked his sexual impotence.
The defence argued that Bosse died of alcohol poisoning and that Hales burned her body out of panic, believing he would be charged with murder since he provided the alcohol.
(CKOM)
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