Kelowna News

The man acquitted in one of Kelowna's most notorious murder cases is back in the news -- for all the wrong reasons.

Shannon Murrin is making headlines in connection with a double murder in his home province of Newfoundland.

Murrin, 56, was found not guilty in 2000 for the 1994 murder of eight-year-old Mindy Tran. To this day, RCMP say they charged the right man.

Since then, Murrin and his partner Kathy McDonald, who sat as a juror at his murder trial, have been trying to lead a normal life in a small Newfoundland community called Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, not far from St-John's. However, that community has been rocked by the arrest of a suspect in a double murder. The victims are Dale Worthman and Kimberley Lockyer. They disappeared in 1993. Their remains were found last summer and police recently charged a Portugal Cove-St. Philip's resident, but add there are more suspects and Murrin figures he's one of them.

Speaking on behalf of Murrin, his partner Kathy McDonald says the suspect in the double homicide, Joseph Anthony Oliver, originally implicated Shannon.

"He originally said Shannon did it with him and we had the whole police force after him. We had our phones bugged and he was followed everywhere."

McDonald says the suspect later phoned Murrin and apologized for implicating him in the murders and she has it on tape.

"Shannon didn't even know those people (victims) and this murder was to do with drugs and money. Shannon never was into drugs."

McDonald says Murrin was in Portugal Cove-St.Philips when the murders occurred before heading west and ultimately ending up in Kelowna.

She says Murrin is being implicated in the murders because of the stigma attached to the Mindy Tran case.

"If Kelowna had not happened, he wouldn't be a suspect in this murder. I think there's a lot of police out there swapping lies."

McDonald says Murrin has been seriously ill in recent years. He's been diagnosed with Hep C -- has lost more than 30 pounds and his hair as a result of the treatment for the disease that attacks the liver.

She says his battle with Hep C has delayed the release of his book. McDonald is also putting together a book called 'A Private Inquiry', but she's not sure when and if it will be released. She and Murrin are having problems finding work and are living on welfare to make ends meet.

Kelly Hayes' interview with Kathy McDonald.