Law360 Canada ( August 30, 2022, 6:03 AM EDT) -- Appeal by Staples from his convictions on two counts of first degree murder. Staples’ father and sister went missing in January 1998. Five months later, their badly decomposed bodies were found in the back of the father’s truck at Pearson Airport. The father had extensive skull fractures and had been beaten to death. The cause of the sister’s death was undetermined, but it was theorized that her throat had been cut. When his father and sister disappeared, Staples owed over $600,000 to secured and unsecured creditors, both personally and through his business. Shortly before his father’s death, Staples stole $20,000 from him by forging a cheque on his account. The relationship between Staples and his father had become strained and, in late 1997, they were not on speaking terms. According to Staples’ ex-wife, he and his sister did not talk, and he avoided contact with her. Staples inherited his father’s estate, valued at over $2.1 million. Staples was not arrested and charged with the murders until 2010. He alleged that the trial judge made errors in relation to the admission and use of post-offence conduct demeanour evidence. He also submitted that the trial judge failed to give limiting instructions in key areas, giving rise to moral reasoning prejudice. Staples further took the position that the verdict was unreasonable. He sought an acquittal or, in the alternative, a new trial....