'It all crashed': Panicked murder suspect makes plan with undercover cop to flee country

Over scotch and beers at a Winnipeg pub, panicked murder suspect Allan Shyback looked to the man he believed was one of his closest friends for advice after Calgary police said they wanted to search the home where he'd hidden his common-law wife's body.

"As soon as I stopped waiting for it to happen, it all crashed,"Shybacktold his friend, referring to the police coming after him.

• 'My hands were around her neck': Trial hears murder suspect's alleged confession

That friend, however, was an undercover police officer who'd spent 12 months building a relationship withShyback.

Shyback, 40, is on trial in Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary, charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body in the death of Lisa Mitchell. The Calgary mom, who was 31, was last seen alive in October 2012.

Two undercover officers

A year-longpolice sting launched in 2013 ended withShyback'sconfession to two different undercover officers.

At the trial, court heard recorded conversations betweenShybackand the undercover officer who were in Winnipeg in December2014.

The meeting occurred afterthe accused received a phone call from a Calgary detective telling himMitchell's case was now considered a homicide and officers wanted to search his home.

The phone call did exactly what police wanted: spooked Shybackinto confessingto his "friend."

• Undercover police used fake car accident to meet murder suspect, trial hears

Shyback admittedtoattacking Mitchell during a heated argument when she lunged at him with a knife.Hetold the undercover officer he found his hands around her neckand "then she was gone."

Instead of calling police,Shybacksaid he put Mitchell's body in a plastic bin in the corner of his basement and then poured concrete over the container, creating a homemadecement tomb.

Plans to flee

Earlier in the trial, medical examiner Dr. Jeffery Gofton testifiedMitchellwas likely strangled based on a fractured thyroid cartilage in her neck, but said her fatal injuries could havebeen inflicted almost instantly.

In thepub, Shyback and the undercover officer discussed what to do next. Hetells the officer he doesn't think anyone willbelieve him.

"I still don't believe that anybody is ever going to believe me, especially if it goes to court ...especially now because I did that, I hid it."

In the recorded conversation played in court on Friday, Shyback can he heard telling the officer he believed he hadthree options:hire a lawyer, create an explosion and fire at his home to keep police from finding Mitchell's body, or flee the country with his kids.

The officer tells Shyback it's not the right time to call a lawyer. Instead he suggests he can help Shybackget out of the country.

"I might just know some of the right people to make it happen," the undercover officer says.

'Delaying the inevitable'

Over the months where the two built a friendship, Shyback told the officer that Mitchell had been verbally and physically abusive towards him and verbally abusive with their children.

Under cross-examination, the officer told defence lawyer Balfour Der that Shyback "cared for his children a lot."

Shyback lived in subsidized housing, had very littlesocial life, was infinancial troubleand constantly worried about his kids. The officer said he played on those weaknesses as he built the relationship and elicited the confession.

"I was using justabout anything I could to keep him engaged," said the officer.

AsShybackconfidedin the man he believed to beone of his closest friends, he expressedregret that he'd hidden the body and kept such a heavy secret for more than two years.

"I think all I was doing was delaying the inevitable," he said.

Prosecutors Jayme Williams and Healther Morris' final witness is "Mr. Big" the undercover officer who took Shyback's final confession, ending the operation and resulting in the arrest. His testimony will wrap up on Monday.

It is unknown whether Der and his co-counsel, Eleanor Funk, will callShyback to testify once the Crown rests its case.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Girl who lost mother to cancer shaves cherished locks as brother battles same disease
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Cenovus plans to accelerate drilling on acquired ConocoPhillips gas properties