After fighting nearly 18 years to clear his name, Robert Baltovich has been found not guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain.

The verdict came Tuesday, moments after the Crown stunned a Toronto courtroom with the announcement that it would not bring any evidence or witnesses forward in the trial. Prosecutors also said they wouldn't make any submissions.

Robert Baltovich tells reporters in Toronto on Tuesday that he never expected a verdict would come so quickly in his trial.

(CBC) Ontario Superior Court Judge David McCombs, in response, told the jury the only possible verdict would be not guilty. After a few moments of private deliberations, the jury of six men and six women returned with the verdict.

The Crown had initially said it was going to call as many as 50 witnesses in the trial.

"I came here today expecting a six- to eight-week trial and in half an hour it was over," Baltovich told a crowd of reporters on the steps of the courthouse after the verdict was handed down.

"It's hard not to feel a little bit bitter because in some respects I feel there was a target on my back from Day 1, but the target's off now."

Bain, 22, disappeared as she made her way to the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus in the early evening of June 19, 1990. Her body was never found.

Baltovich, who was arrested and charged five months later, was convicted of second-degree murder on March 31, 1992. He was sentenced to life in prison and spent eight years in jail before being released on bail, pending an appeal.

In 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial.

'Their case died of a thousand cuts'
Throughout his long legal battle, Baltovich has always maintained his innocence.

His lawyer, James Lockyer, a prominent advocate for the wrongfully accused, has repeatedly said he suspects convicted sex killer Paul Bernardo was involved in Bain's disappearance. Bernardo confessed in 2005 to a series of rapes in Scarborough about the same time as Bain's disappearance.

"I think he [Bernardo] probably did it, and I think the evidence shows he probably did it," Lockyer told reporters Tuesday.

He said the Crown simply had no case against Baltovich.

"Their case died of a thousand cuts," he said. "The theory, the whole premise of their case, it just fell apart."