OTTAWA - Canada's highest court has granted a new trial to a man convicted of two homicides because his wife told police he had confessed.

The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 margin, upheld a rule that dates back to the days when a husband and wife were considered legally a single person, CanWest News Service reported. The ruling upheld a British Columbia court decision.

David Couture was convicted in British Columbia of killing his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends. Their bodies were found buried in the Vancouver area in 1986.

In 1997, Darlene Couture told police her husband had admitted the crime to her. At the time, she and her husband had separated, but they were back together when he was tried and convicted in 2003.

Darlene Couture did not testify at the trial but a tape of her statement to police was put into evidence.

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