SASKATOON -- A man convicted of killing a former friend, whose body was never found, has had his appeal dismissed by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Wolff was found guilty in August 2018 of killing 43-year-old James Carlson. Carlson was reported missing in 2008 and Wolff was arrested in 2016.
On Wednesday, the court dismissed Taylor James Wolff’s appeal of his second-degree murder conviction.
Wolff’s appeal raised five objections, including that trial judge Justice Gerald Allbright erred in finding a pair of witnesses, Blair Schroeder and Lindsay Reiber credible and failing to consider whether their evidence was reliable.
During Wolf’s trial, Reiber testified she and Wolff were “avid meth users” together. She had never met Carlson but testified Wolff was frustrated with Carlson because he owed him money.
When Schroeder took the stand during the trial, he told court one occasion Carlson said to him “If I ever go missing, I want you to turn the police on Taylor Wolff.”
Wolff’s appeal also argued that the Crown’s case relied on circumstantial evidence, and Allbright failed to consider if that evidence supported a decision other than Wolff’s guilt.
In his written decision, Justice Jeffery D. Kalmakoff said Allbright had in fact considered the reliability of Schroeder’s and Reiber’s testimony.
He also supported Allbright’s conclusion on circumstantial evidence that conclusions other than Wolff’s guilt were not reasonable.
Wolff will be ineligible for parole for 10 years.
