Canada's highest court has dismissed a man's application to appeal his conviction for murdering his estranged wife in Nanaimo more than eight years ago.
Kelvin Purdy was convicted of second degree murder for killing Denise Purdy and was sentenced in November 2005 to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 19 years.
His appeal was dismissed in 2008 by the B.C. Court of Appeal and a bid to reopen his appeal was dismissed by the same court in 2010 on the grounds the court did not have the jurisdiction to reopen the appeal when it had already been dismissed on its merits earlier.
The 2010 decision noted that Purdy's wish to reopen the appeal is based on "fresh evidence" and Purdy might have recourse to other remedies, including an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
A news release published on the Supreme Court of Canada's website Thursday states that Purdy's application for leave, or permission, to appeal was dismissed without costs. No reasons are given in leave application cases other than the fact it is dismissed.
Denise Purdy was stabbed 21 times on her way to a bus stop on Dec. 12, 2003 and died of her injuries.
Several witnesses viewed part of the attack from a distance and audio of the victim screaming was recorded on 911 tapes. The case against Purdy was circumstantial. None of the witnesses were able to identify the assailant.
The couple had been battling over custody and access of their two daughters and a restraining order had been placed on Purdy.
The couple's two children were in Duncan with Purdy and his girlfriend at the time of the murder.
Issues Purdy raised during his appeal applications include: alleged flaws in the police investigation of him – in court documents he argues police focused on building the case against him and ignored other possible suspects; the admissibility of the evidence of a young person – Purdy's daughter testified at his trial and he argued that her testimony had been compromised by police interviews with her; the integrity and reliability of the DNA evidence; and evidence of the victim's new companion being a potential suspect in the murder.