CTV.ca News Staff
A judge has ruled there is enough evidence to try the former Airborne soldier charged in the torture and murder of a Somali teenager more than a decade ago.
It appears unlikely, however, that 38-year-old Clayton Matchee will ever stand trial.
In a ruling Tuesday, a military judge said that, although there is enough evidence to prosecute the case, Matchee is not fit to face the proceedings.
Matchee was part of a contingent of elite Canadian soldiers deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Somalia in 1993.
In March of that year, 16-year-old Shidane Arone was found dead on the Canadian base. Graphic pictures showed Matchee brutalizing the Somali teen and pointing a loaded pistol at Arone's blindfolded and beaten head.
The incident tarnished Canada's reputation as a peacekeeper and led to the disbanding of Matchee's outfit, the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
Matchee and seven other soldiers were charged in connection with the death. Another private, Kyle Brown, was found guilty of manslaughter and torture and sentenced to five years in military prison.
Matchee, however, tried to hang himself after his arrest. As a result, he suffered brain damage that left him with the IQ of a five-year-old.
Matchee was released from the military on medical grounds in April 1995 and has since lived at a psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
In the years since, Matchee has been in and out of court as prosecutors try every two years to convince a judge they have enough evidence to maintain second-degree murder charges against the former paratrooper.
Defence lawyer Maj. Gordon Duncan said the process is wearing on the Matchee family.
"They're very tired of it. It wears on them, especially Mrs. Matchee. It's very depressing for her to see her son in this condition and then to have to come in front of the trial every two years."
Matchee's mother, Celina, wept through much of Tuesday's brief hearing.
On Tuesday, the military judge ruled there is enough evidence to keep Matchee's case active. Proceeding is complicated, however, by a Supreme Court ruling that people with permanent disabilities should not be kept in the legal system indefinitely.
Parliament is expected to amend the law to reflect the high court ruling before the court-imposed deadline of June, 2005.
That means Matchee and his family will have to make at least one more court appearance -- to see if charges will be dropped, should his case qualify under the new law.
With files from The Canadian Press