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Alberta Prosecutors Stay Murder Charge Against Roy Sobotiak

After more than 35 years behind bars, Sobotiak is now freed from all legal restrictions under a judicial review by Alberta’s justice ministry.

A courtroom at the Edmonton Law Courts building in Edmonton on Friday, June 28, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Murder victim Susan Kaminsky.
Roy Sobotiak was given an Edmonton Oilers hat after leaving the Edmonton Remand Centre, Friday May 23, 2025. On Friday, Sobotiak, 61, was granted release from custody for the first time since his 1989 arrest for the murder of Susan Kaminsky. Earlier this year, then-federal Justice Minister Arif Virani tossed Sobotiak's conviction and ordered a new trial, saying a review of the case suggested Sobotiak was wrongfully convicted.
Roy Sobotiak was 26 when he was charged in the killing of Susan Kaminsky. In 1991, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.

Overview

  • Alberta Crown Prosecution Service stayed the second-degree murder charge against Sobotiak, halting any scheduled retrial proceedings.
  • Sobotiak was convicted in 1991 for the disappearance and presumed killing of 34-year-old Susan Kaminsky and served over 35 years in prison without her body ever being recovered.
  • Former federal Justice Minister Arif Virani quashed the conviction in February, concluding there were reasonable grounds to believe a miscarriage of justice had occurred due to undisclosed evidence.
  • Lawyers for Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery have filed a judicial review to contest the federal retrial order, arguing it lacks sufficient reasoning for a new trial.
  • Innocence Canada, which represented Sobotiak throughout his appeal, calls his case the longest wrongful conviction in Canadian history and praised the charge stay as a landmark decision.