A Calgary man charged as an accessory to murder in a two-year-old disappearance case will remain in jail until his trial this autumn, a Court of King's Bench justice ruled this week.
Bail Application Denied for Accused Accessory
Justice Jeffrey Jones decided on Monday that Ali Samir El-Sayed, 47, must stay behind bars. The judge found that defence lawyer Rahul Nanda did not provide a sufficient legal basis to overturn a previous detention order against his client.
Because El-Sayed had already been denied bail once, the legal onus was on his counsel to prove a meaningful change in circumstances warranted his release. Justice Jones determined this burden was not met.
The hearing was held under a publication ban, requested by Nanda. This ban covers the evidence presented by Crown prosecutors Donna Spaner and Greg Whiteside, the lawyers' arguments, and the judge's detailed reasons for the decision.
Case Connected to 2023 Disappearance
El-Sayed faces a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder in connection with the death of Calgarian Christopher Stevenson. Stevenson was last seen on August 24, 2023, and his body has never been found.
He is scheduled to stand trial alongside two co-accused. Kenedee Christine Taylor and Shaun Alexander Folk are both charged with second-degree murder in Stevenson's death.
The joint trial before a Calgary Court of King's Bench jury is set to begin on September 28, 2026, with jury selection starting September 24.
Co-Accused Also Awaiting Bail Decisions
The bail status of El-Sayed's co-accused remains in flux. Shaun Alexander Folk was ordered detained following a bail hearing in September 2025. At that time, Justice Allison Kuntz ruled his lawyer, Pawel Milczarek, failed to establish why Folk should be released before trial.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Kenedee Christine Taylor, Gavin Wolch and Sarah Rankin, have applied for her judicial interim release. Justice Johanna Price is scheduled to rule on Taylor's bail application this Friday.
In addition to the accessory charge, Justice Jones also ordered El-Sayed detained on a series of unrelated charges stemming from incidents in both Calgary and Morinville.
