A man accused in the burglary of a home in the Fleetwood area of Surrey more than three years ago has been acquitted.
The case hinged on a single fingerprint, according to reasons for judgement posted online Tuesday.
Timothy Dale Bornyk was charged with break and enter and theft in connection with the July 2010 burglary of a house near 170 Street and 83A Avenue.
The homeowners were out of town at the time of the break-in, during which the house was ransacked.
One of the owners had a hobby/business purchasing and reselling novelty items. The only fingerprint found at the scene was on the plastic wrapping of a box containing a "carnival ghoulish doll," part of a series of Living Dead Dolls, according to court documents.
The print, however, was distorted by ripples in the plastic wrap.
In his verdict, Justice Gordon Funt said while the usable portion of the fingerprint and that of the accused were "quite similar," he had "more than a reasonable doubt" that the two matched.