A Nova Scotia man convicted of murdering his girlfriend four years ago and repeatedly burning her remains has won the right to a new trial after the province's highest court ruled Wednesday the prosecution did not prove he intended to kill the victim.

Paul Trevor Calnen was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder in the March 2013 death of Reita Louise Jordan. Her body has not been recovered and the Crown depended on circumstantial evidence during Calnen's 2015 trial.

Calnen denied he killed Jordan and told police they'd been fighting at his Timberlea, N.S., home the day she died, that she took a swing at him, missed, and fell down a flight of stairs.

Calnen said he'd been using crack cocaine, panicked and decided to dispose of her body. He pleaded guilty to two charges of indecently interfering with human remains, was sentenced to five years, but maintained he did not murder Jordan.

He remains in prison.

Reita Jordan. (Submitted by Amy Jordan)

At his trial, Calnen's lawyer asked the judge to direct the jury to find his client not guilty of second-degree murder. Peter Planetta argued there was no proof Calnen intended to kill Jordan and the jury should only consider the lesser charge of manslaughter.

In its decision, the majority of a three-member panel of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal agreed.

"The appellant had made a motion asking the trial judge to take the charge of second-degree murder away from the jury," Justice Ted Scanlon wrote.

"I am satisfied that motion should have been granted because, in the circumstances of this case, after-the-fact conduct could not prove degree of culpability."

Dissenting view

The judge at trial, however, did not grant the motion. The prosecution argued Calnen's actions after Jordan died were proof he intended to kill her, supporting the murder charge.

The majority of the Court of Appeal panel said the argument is not supported by the evidence. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Michael MacDonald disagreed with his two colleagues and wrote that he would have rejected Calnen's appeal.

"We know that she died in his presence. We know that there was a confrontation. She was adding insult to injury by stealing some of his things, in the process of moving out," MacDonald wrote.

"All this adds up to motive and opportunity."

The Crown must now decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada or proceed with a new trial on the manslaughter charge. If the Crown decides to appeal, the Supreme Court must hear it because of the Appeal Court's split decision.

Under the terms of his life sentence for second-degree murder, Calnen was required to serve 15 years before applying for parole.