A mistrial has been declared at the Michael Ball murder trial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge he was facing.
However, jurors did find Ball guilty of committing an indignity to a dead body.
“It’s a wrongful conviction,” Ball told reporters as he left the Kitchener courthouse Friday evening.
Both charges were laid against Ball in connection with the 2013 death of Erin Howlett.
Jurors began their deliberations early Wednesday afternoon.
Just before 6 p.m. Friday, they told Justice Gerry Taylor that they were unable to come to a unanimous decision on the murder charge.
Taylor responded by declaring a mistrial on that count.
A decision on whether to attempt a new trial rests with the Crown attorney’s office.
Ball was charged with first-degree murder, but jurors had been given the option of finding him guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter instead.
Howlett was last seen on June 27, 2013. Her remains were found eight days later, in a duffel bag in the Grand River near the Walter Bean Trail in Kitchener.
Court heard that the two had met in the spring of 2013 and struck up a romantic relationship, which went sour a few weeks before Howlett’s disappearance due to Ball finding sexual photos of another man on Howlett’s phone.
Outside court, Howlett’s brother said that family members were “devastated” by the outcome, but praised those working on the case for doing an “amazing” job.
“We appreciate all the hard work of the Crown, the detectives and the jury,” Dane Howlett said.
“We do still have hope that justice will be found for Erin.”
Ball will be sentenced March 11 on the charge of committing an indignity to a dead body.
The maximum sentence for that crime is five years in prison.
Prior to being granted bail weeks before his trial, Ball had spent nearly two years in custody.
