Justice minister orders new trial for Alberta man convicted of murder in 1991

Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani speaks to a reporter at his office in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — The federal justice minister has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of second-degree murder in Alberta more than three decades ago.

Roy Allan Sobotiak was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Susan Kaminsky, who disappeared in 1987.

The office of Justice Minister Arif Virani says the minister found reasonable grounds to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice in the case.

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Virani’s office says new information has been identified which wasn’t considered by the courts during the initial trial or appeal.

The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Sobotiak in 1994, and the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear his appeal in 2004.

Sobotiak applied to the justice minister’s office for a conviction review in February 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press