B.C. man convicted of 1994 triple slaying hopes new DNA tests clear him
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man who has spent nearly 25 years in prison for the first-degree murders of his wife and twin baby boys believes modern DNA testing could clear his name.
Dean Roberts has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court asking it to order that exhibits from his original trial be tested with the prospect of gathering evidence that could lead to a ministerial review of his conviction.
The petition says only some of the evidence was tested after Susan Roberts and the couple’s 13-month-old twins were murdered in Cranbrook in July 1994, and the only DNA recovered from Susan Roberts’ fingernail clippings did not match her husband.
Items requested for updated DNA tests include ropes taken from the necks of two of the victims, hair and fibre samples found on one of the boys and a cigarette butt also found near the baby.