The case was circumstantial
The other woman seems to have had equal opportunity and more motive.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...an-axe-murder-trial-acquitted/article1168430/
...
"Ms. Puddicombe is set to stand trial beginning Monday. She too is charged with first-degree murder in Mr. Hoy's death."
...
"He was found bludgeoned to death by an axe in Ms. Puddicombe's bed in the Queensway apartment shared by the two accused.
The jury also heard that Ms. Puddicombe, now 36, was the sole beneficiary of Mr. Hoy's $238,200 life insurance policy and his pension proceeds, and that she had convinced Ms. Pechaluk that Mr. Hoy was a high-ranking member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, a killer and a drug dealer."
...
"In doing so they accepted Mr. Zaduk's contention that although his client had talked with friends about getting rid of Mr. Hoy, even in the last days before his death, she never went through with the plan.
The Crown's case against Ms. Pechaluk was almost entirely circumstantial. The gory crime scene yielded no physical evidence against her: no blood traces, no fingerprints, no DNA."
...