B.C.’s top court has dismissed the appeal of a Bella Coola Indigenous man convicted for the killing of his toddler cousin in the 1980s.
Phillip Tallio was 17 when he was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 22-month-old cousin Delavina Mack, who court has heard had been sexually assaulted in a home in the northern community of Bella Coola.
Nine days into the trial, Tallio pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Tallio, now 54, has said in court that he wasn’t aware of the implications of the plea agreement his trial lawyer had him sign when he was a teenager.
In 2017, B.C.’s Court of Appeal agreed to hear his case. He was released on bail in 2020, after spending 37 years behind bars.
More to come.
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