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Commission
of Inquiry Into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard
page one
Milgaard inquiry gets
off to a disappointing start > > 2
Day 1: Morning: Soft
soap and smoothtalking from commission counsel and police lawyer
set the stage for another useless enterprise
Saskatchewan
citizens want to know what went so terribly wrong 36 years ago
and they want some evidence that the system has been fixed. This
morning, we heard from Commission counsel Douglas C. Hodson and
Police counsel, Richard Elson. (Information is posted on the
inquiry
website.)
Hodson went
through a chronology of events outlining how the evidence will
be brought in. He used a Power Point production to a large screen
at the front of the room and the media was all hooked up with
moniters. He was able to higjlight paragraphs in documents to
which he referred All the technology in the world. Over 100 witnesses
will be called,many documents examined, blah, blah, blah.
The presentation
became interesting on page ten, May 29, 1993: David Milgaard
files a statement of claim in Court of Queen's Bench against
Serge Kujawa, Thomas David Roberts Caldwell, The City of Saskatoon,
Eddy Alexander Karst, Raymond William Mackie, and Charles Short.
Period. Then, on page 11: April 19, 1997: Saskatchewan Justice
Minister Nilson announces that the government of Saskatchewan
will enter into negotiations with David Milgaard for wrongful
conviction and that an inquiry will be held. Then, top of page
12: Saskatchewan Justice Minister Nilson announces that a settlement
has been reached in the David Milgaard matter and that compensation
will be paid in the amount of $10 million.
The presentation
does not disclose that Milgaard sued for malicious prosecution,
choosing instead the generic term "wrongful conviction"
throughout.
That was why
the government was prepared to settle out for such a princely
sum. Milgaard had a good case and the government did not want
to go to court and have the case heard by a proper trier of facts.
By settling, they felt free to go on claiming that they had never
been found liable for malicious prosecution, a claim they have
made over and over again --until December 29, 2003 when they
were found to have acted maliciously in prosecuting the Klassen/Kvello
families. (They are now appealing that ruling, promising Richard
Klassen last spring that they would expedite the appeal so that
Klassen could be done with it.. Instead, they have wilfully slowed
down the process by applying for intervenor status.)
So: the inquiry
counsel has told us that malice is not one of the elements it
intends to dig into.
Elson, speaking
on bahalf of the Saskatoon Police, was
emphatic in stating and restating Chief Sabo's desire to fully
cooperate with the Commission and to state that there had been
many changes in police procedures since 1969. He also spoke of
the 1991 Stinchcombe decision as being "a change in the
law." We point out again that the Stinchcombe ruling regarding
the Crown's obligation to disclose all material to the accused
was not a change in the law but a reiteration of principles already
established. The erosion of these principles built to such recklessness
that by 1991, a judge felt it necessary to spell out exactly
what the crown was expected to disclose: everything. Since Stinchcombe,
the Crown and Saskatoon police have continued to withhold important
information whenever they have thought they could get away with
it.
As we proceed through the 120
days which have been set aside for this inquiry, I hope we will
hear how the Saskatoon police and RCMP used ruses and lies to
keep from the Milgaard family information which would have been
crucial for David Milgaard as he set about to appeal in the early
days of his incarceration.
Meanwhile, we all know that
the government is continuing to act with malice and the Saskatoon
Police are far from cleaning up their act.--Sheila Steele,
January 17, 2005
Milgaard
inquiry opens
Police lawyer says don't judge force by today's standard
Betty Ann Adam, The
StarPhoenix, Tuesday, January 18, 2005
A judicial inquiry that will
explore 36 years of activity, involving up to 200 witnesses and
referring to 150,000 pages of documentary evidence, began Monday
in Saskatoon with testimony about a sociable young nursing assistant
whose 1969 murder led to Canada's longest imprisonment of a wrongfully
convicted man.
The commission of inquiry into
the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard heard the simple testimony
of two women who lived in the same rooming house on Avenue O
South as Gail Miller, but introductory remarks by commission
counsel Doug Hodson indicate the path through all the evidence
will be anything but straightforward.
Many of the witnesses have
participated in one way or another at various times throughout
the period covered by the inquiry, which begins examining events
three months before Miller's death with sexual assaults committed
by convicted murderer Larry Fisher, and continues to 2004, when
the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Fisher's request for leave
to appeal after he was convicted of killing Miller.
Between those points were the
murder, the investigation, Milgaard's trial and appeals, Fisher's
other crimes, investigations of those and his convictions. There
were Milgaard appeals to the federal justice minister, investigations
by advocates, a review by the Supreme Court, Milgaard's release
from prison, a two-year RCMP investigation into allegations of
police wrongdoing, DNA tests, a $10-million compensation package
for Milgaard and Fisher's trial, conviction and appeals.
The full picture of what happened
will emerge in bits and pieces, with some witnesses expected
to raise issues that will take months to be addressed by other
witnesses scheduled to testify in later phases of the hearing.
The inquiry is scheduled for
140 days during the next 12 months. So far, about 100 of a possible
200 witnesses are scheduled to be examined and cross-examined
by lawyers for the 10 parties with standing.
Milgaard has said he does not
intend to sit through the inquiry but he will be called as a
witness, probably in the spring. He was represented Monday by
his lawyer, Hersh Wolch. His mother, Joyce Milgaard, has said
she will attend most of the hearings but was not present Monday.
On Day 1 of the inquiry, commissioner
Justice Edward MacCallum learned that Miller was a popular and
independent young woman with a jealous boyfriend.
Witness Linda Markwart Brecelj,
who was a close friend of Miller's and who lived at the same
rooming house, said Miller, 20, had told her that while Miller
and her boyfriend had discussed marriage, they both saw other
people. The night before Miller was murdered, she invited Brecelj
and another resident of the rooming house, Betty Hundt, to a
birthday party another man was taking her to.
Early the next morning, another
female resident of the house, Adeline Nyczai Hall, saw Miller,
dressed in her white nurse's uniform and white stockings, having
a cigarette as she stood looking out the second-floor hallway
window. Outside, a dense ice fog shrouded the view in the -35
C temperature.
Lawyers for some of the 10
parties with standing posed questions that demonstrated their
clients' point of view.
Brian Beresh, who represents
Fisher, quizzed witnesses on whether police investigators followed
up on all possible leads.
Beresh asked Brecelj and Hall
if police asked for descriptions of three male friends who had
visited Miller in the weeks before her death or if they tried
to find out who might have made prank phone calls to Miller in
that time.
Beresh showed that residents
of the house had been known to have parties in the common room
and that the outside door of the house was not always locked.
He demonstrated that Miller might have been waiting for a ride
to work on the morning of her death rather than going to the
bus stop, thereby introducing the possibility of an unknown person
with a car who might have had contact with Miller that morning.
Police lawyer Richard Elson
showed that police may have saved certain questions for people
who knew Miller better. He ascertained that police did not try
to influence the two rooming house residents.
The Saskatoon Police Service
was the only party with standing to make opening remarks before
witnesses were called.
Elson said Chief Russ Sabo
and the police are committed to co-operating with the inquiry
and acting on any inadequacies or flaws in their processes which
may be revealed by it.
But Elson also pointed out
that there have been many changes in the 36 years since the original
death investigation and asked that police actions of 1969 not
be judged by today's standards.
There have been changes to
the organization, structure and operations of the force, and
forensic science has had a great impact on the way police investigate
homicides and sexual assaults. As well, the law has changed since
1969, with the advent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
the Young Offenders Act and the more recent Youth Criminal Justice
Act, changes in rules pertaining to Crown disclosure of evidence
to the defence and the repeal of vagrancy laws.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Milgaard inquiry promises
to leave little unturned
Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenix, January 18,
2005
Just two hours into the inquiry
into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard, and already,
city police were sounding like the accused.
Of course, there is no accused
in these proceedings. It's an inquiry, not a trial. That doesn't
mean it won't be an ordeal for the people who contributed to
Milgaard's wrongful conviction.
Foremost among them is the
Saskatoon Police Service. Still reeling from the Stonechild inquiry
and the Daryl Knight abandonment case before that, city police
find themselves yet again under the microscope. The accusation
in this case is unstated, at least officially, but police are
suspected not only of contributing to Milgaard's wrongful conviction,
but of subsequently covering it up. Likewise suspected is the
provincial Justice Department. It is to deal with these suspicions
that we're having this inquiry.
Of 10 different people and
groups allowed to participate, only the police chose to offer
an opening statement when the public hearing phase of the inquiry
began on Monday. Delivering the statement was police service
lawyer Richard Elson. He sounded more like a defence attorney,
laying a groundwork of pre-emptive excuses.
That was then, Elson said of
Milgaard's conviction 35 years ago. This is now. Much has changed,
he said. The law has changed, police practices and organizational
structure have changed, forensic science has changed, circumstances
have changed and so on. Whether police culture has changed, however,
is not so clear. Elson promised that police would co-operate
with the inquiry and accept its recommendations. That should
have gone without saying.
Not all of the mistakes happened
around the time of the murder. As recently as 1992, when Milgaard
was exonerated and the serial rapist Larry Fisher implicated
by DNA evidence, police still seemed unwilling even to consider
the notion that they were wrong. They thus allowed Fisher, the
real killer, to pack his truck and leave town. This in spite
of probability estimated at one in 400 million that DNA from
the crime scene belonged to someone else. Fisher was arrested
on the strength of that same evidence a week later by Calgary
police. It will be enlightening to hear Saskatoon police explain
why they let go a known serial rapist connected by DNA, among
other compelling evidence, to a notorious Saskatoon murder.
Elson is but one of at least
a dozen lawyers involved in this mammoth inquiry. Among them
are some of the best courtroom performers in the province. When
the rest of the witnesses have run this punishing gauntlet, not
too many nuggets of truth will remain unexposed.
Presiding over the gauntlet
is Mr. Justice Edward MacCallum. A judge of the Alberta Court
of Queen's Bench, MacCallum was brought in to ensure impartiality
in a case where Saskatchewan justice is under scrutiny. MacCallum
has been quiet so far, but, with all those high-power lawyers
to keep in line, this is not likely to last.
What MacCallum has revealed
so far is a nice turn of phrase in his written decisions. For
example, he was deeply unimpressed by claims that Fisher's reputation
might be damaged were he not represented at the inquiry.
"Given the savagery of
the Gail Miller murder and Fisher's notoriety as a violent sexual
offender, I feel compelled to observe that reputation is not
his most vulnerable asset."
Even so, MacCallum granted
standing to Fisher to be represented at the inquiry, with his
lawyer to be paid by Saskatchewan taxpayers. This would suggest
that MacCallum is not afraid to make an unpopular decision.
Fisher reportedly will be among
those called testify. It remains to be seen if he continues to
plead innocence, as he did at his trial, unconvincingly, or if
he owns up to his guilt, not only for murdering Miller but for
letting an innocent man, Milgaard, wrongfully serve 23 years
in prison for the crime.
Of witness heard Monday, there
were but two. Both were roommates of Miller, a pretty, young
nursing assistant. One of the two witnesses, Adeline Hall (then
Nyczai) was then the last known person to see Miller alive. She
reckons that she has since had to repeat her story to authorities
no fewer than 10 times, including five times under oath.
In the hours and days after
the murder, she was interviewed several times by city police.
She testified at Milgaard's preliminary hearing, then again at
his trial. When the case was re-opened in 1992, Hall was interviewed
by the RCMP. She later gave evidence at Fisher's preliminary
hearing, then again at his trial. More recently she was interviewed
by inquiry lawyers before appearing before the inquiry. That
makes 10 times, at least, that she's had to tell her sad story.
She hopes it was the last.
les.macpherson@TheSP.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Friends of Miller testify
at Milgaard inquiry
CBC Jan 18 2005
SASKATOON - Two women who lived in the same rooming
house as Gail Miller testified Monday about their memories of
the day the 20-year-old was murdered in 1969.
Their stories were heard on
the first day of the inquiry into the wrongful conviction of
David Milgaard.
The two women lived in the
same rooming house as the young nursing assistant. They testified
about Miller's habits and social life.
Both said Miller was responsible
about her job but enjoyed socializing.
The three had been to an all-night
birthday party the night before Miller was killed on Jan. 31,
1969.
While none of the women's testimony
is crucial to the case, at least some of the questioning was
aimed at the original police investigation the investigation
that led to Milgaard's wrongful conviction.
Adelaine Hall told the inquiry
that she was not told about a series of sexual assaults in the
neighbourhood until years later.
She said even when police were
investigating Miller's death, no one mentioned the attacks.
Larry Fisher was eventually
convicted of Miller's murder as well as the other sexual assaults
in the neighbourhood in the weeks before and after her death.
Under questioning by Fisher's
lawyer, Brain Beresh, Hall said police didn't follow up on much
of what she told them, including visitors Miller entertained.
Another witness, Linda Brecelj,
said after her first statement to police she did not hear anything
about Gail Miller's murder again until the RCMP began its review
of the case nearly 25 years later.
- The inquiry will hear from
more of Miller's neighbours Tuesday.
-
-
- Milgaard inquiry convenes
- About 100 witnesses
are expected at the wrongful murder conviction probe.
TIM COOK, CP, January 18,
2005
SASKATOON -- A generation after
David Milgaard was thrown behind bars for a murder he did not
commit, an inquiry into his wrongful conviction began yesterday
with a painstaking reconstruction of the victim's final hours.
Neither Milgaard nor his mother Joyce, who worked for years to
clear her son's name, were present as the first witnesses took
the stand at the hearing that is expected to be the definitive
word on the long and drawn-out saga.
Using police reports to verify
her accuracy, Adeline Hall told of seeing her roommate, Gail
Miller, shortly before she was found raped and stabbed to death
in an alley on the morning of Jan. 31, 1969.
"It was very, very cold,"
Hall testified. "It was about -35 or so fahrenheit. Visibility
was very poor . . . there was a lot of frost in the air.
"I was rushing down to
have my bath and I saw Gail standing at the end of the hallway
looking out onto Avenue O," Hall continued. "She was
looking out the window and having a cigarette."
Hall was asked about the rooming
house she lived in with Miller, 20, and several others and about
Miller's morning route to the bus stop.
Another roommate, Linda Brecelj,
recalled how investigators asked her about Miller's stormy relationship
with a male acquaintance at the time but she didn't think he
was a suspect.
"They did ask questions,
but it was about a lot of people," Brecelj testified.
The testimony was the first
at the inquiry that is expected to last about a year. Before
it's over, about 100 witnesses will have testified and more than
300,000 documents will have been examined.
The witness list includes Milgaard,
who spent 23 years in prison for Miller's murder, and Larry Fisher,
the serial rapist who was eventually convicted of the crime.
Former prime minister Brian
Mulroney and former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow are potential
witnesses when the inquiry begins to look at the fight to clear
Milgaard's name. Former federal justice minister Kim Campbell
may also appear.
There are 10 parties with the
right to ask questions of witnesses at the inquiry, including
the Saskatoon police department, the RCMP and Saskatchewan Justice.
"I urge patience from
the parties with standing, the media and the public," said
Justice Edward MacCallum, the inquiry commissioner. "Please
use restraint in speculating what the facts might be in the end."
Doug Hodson, the lawyer who
co-ordinated the inquiry, said it will not simply re-examine
facts brought to light.
"The commission's mandate
goes far beyond the events of 1969," said Hodson. "Although
the investigation and trial of 1969 and 1970 will be a significant
part of the inquiry and our logical starting point, the commission
will focus a considerable amount of its attention on what happened
in the 27 years following Mr. Milgaard's wrongful conviction."
It took Hodson most of the
morning to read out the chronology of the events that will be
examined.
Outside the hearing room, Milgaard's
lawyer, Hersh Wolch, said Milgaard won't likely attend most of
the inquiry.
"What is the purpose for
him reliving all of that?" Wolch said. "He's exceptionally
interested in it, obviously, but having to relive it I think
would have been very emotional for him."
Fisher's lawyer, Brian Beresh,
told reporters that his client still maintains his innocence
when it comes to Miller's murder.
"We still say they got
it wrong the second time," Beresh said. "That's Mr.
Fisher's position. He told me last week that he will go to his
grave denying any involvement in this."
Milgaard was a 16-year-old
hippie passing through Saskatoon on a road trip with friends
on the morning when Miller was murdered.
He was convicted a year later
on the strength of evidence by his friends, who implicated him
after hours of interviews with police.
There was also forensic evidence
loosely linked to Milgaard at the time through blood type. DNA
testing was not used then.
In 1992, the Supreme Court
set aside Milgaard's conviction after hearing evidence that suggested
Fisher may have been responsible for the murder.
In 1997, DNA analysis cleared
Milgaard's name and pointed to Fisher.
Fisher was convicted in 1999.
Plans for the inquiry started last year.
Milgaard inquiry
opens, to hear 100 witnesses
By GRAEME SMITH, Globe
and Mail, Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - Page A6
SASKATOON -- Fran Kelly didn't
know a murderer once lived in her basement. She often sits at
the kitchen table of her dowdy rental on a tough street in Saskatoon
and studies legal textbooks in hopes of finding work as a legal
assistant, and she remembers reading about the infamous wrongful
conviction of David Milgaard.
But the textbooks don't give
many details about how Mr. Milgaard ended up spending 23 years
in prison for a killing he didn't commit, and Ms. Kelly never
confirmed the rumours around her neighbourhood that at the time
of the crime, Larry Fisher, who murdered Gail Miller, lived in
the house where she lives now.
"Some people say, no that's
not true, Larry Fisher didn't live here," the 43-year-old
said, holding open the front door of her house, a little more
than a block from where Ms. Miller, a 20-year-old nursing assistant,
was found raped and stabbed to death in 1969.
"He did? Oh, that's wild.
It's kind of strange, knowing that."
Many more people will be surprised
by the evidence from the Milgaard inquiry, lawyers said yesterday
as hearings got under way. Mr. Milgaard's tale has been repeated
so many times that his name is synonymous with flaws in the justice
system, but those involved with the inquiry hinted that the whole
story has never been told.
"We will hear things that
may not have been brought out in earlier proceedings," said
Douglas Hodson, the commission's lawyer. "The purpose of
this is to get the entire story out, start to finish, in a public
forum. . . . We want to know everything."
Mr. Hodson didn't say much
about what might be revealed in the coming year as the Commission
of Inquiry into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard hears
about 100 witnesses and sifts through more than 320,000 pages
of documents.
But during his opening remarks,
as he was describing the chronology of nearly 100 events that
will be examined during the inquiry, he paused to read several
quotations from a letter that Kim Campbell, then justice minister,
sent to Mr. Milgaard's lawyer in February of 1991.
The letter rejects Mr. Milgaard's
request for a re-examination of his case.
Ms. Campbell wrote that she
understood the five reasons why Mr. Milgaard felt entitled to
government intervention -- new witnesses contradicting others,
new science discrediting the forensic evidence, a key witness
recanting, new evidence against an alternative suspect, and the
simple logic of whether Mr. Milgaard would have had enough time
to commit the crime -- but felt it wasn't enough to take action.
"There is no basis to
conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred here,"
Ms. Campbell wrote. "Accordingly, I am not prepared to refer
this case back to the courts."
It was only later, after public
outcry and a written statement from the victim's family in support
of Mr. Milgaard, that she referred the case to the Supreme Court.
Former federal or provincial
ministers might be called to testify, Mr. Hodson said, although
he hasn't decided whether that will be necessary.
"The first question is,
does that individual have evidence relevant to this commission?"
he said. "And if they do, I will consider calling them.
"I will have to consider
any issues that might arise because of their office, but I'm
not sure that will preclude anything. Like any other witness,
if they have evidence that's necessary for the commission to
hear, I will call them."
Neither Mr. Milgaard nor his
mother Joyce Milgaard attended the start of the inquiry. Mr.
Milgaard has received an apology and $10-million compensation,
but his lawyer, Hersh Wolch, said the 52-year-old still wants
an explanation for things such as Ms. Campbell's letter.
"When I hear the letter
Kim Campbell wrote turning us down, I get very emotional and
maybe angry," Mr. Wolch said. "Those memories all flood
back."
The inquiry hasn't revived
the same kind of bad feelings in the neighbourhood where Ms.
Miller's body was discovered. The alley where children found
her decades ago is littered with garbage: shopping bags, scrap
wood, a broken box-spring mattress. Graffiti promote the Crazy
Cree street gang and disparages the rival Indian Posse.
Ms. Kelly leaned against her
doorframe and shrugged.
"People are moving on
with their lives," she said.
Milgaard wrongful conviction inquiry begins
CTV.ca News Staff, Jan.
17 2005
Thirty-five years after David
Milgaard was wrongly convicted of murder, a public probe has
begun into what is considered one of the worst miscarriages of
justice in modern Canadian history.
As the Commission of Inquiry
got underway in Saskatoon, Sask. on Monday, Alberta Justice Edward
P. MacCallum began proceedings with an explanation of the scope
of his probe.
Charged with reviewing Milgaard's
wrongful conviction in the brutal 1969 murder of 20-year-old
nursing aide Gail Miller, MacCallum said his inquiry is not meant
to serve as another trial.
"I urge patience from
the parties with standing, from the media, and from the public,"
MacCallum said. "Please exercise restraint in speculating
what the facts might be in the end."
As for the facts surrounding
Miller's death, there is little that remains a mystery. On Jan.
31, 1969, Miller's lifeless, partially clad body was found in
an alley. She had been raped, and suffered 14 stab wounds to
her body and another 15 slashes to her throat.
Milgaard, who was a teenager
at the time, was convicted of the crimes and spent 23 years in
jail proclaiming his innocence. With his appeals denied, he even
made two attempts to escape prison.
But it wasn't until 1991 that
the tide turned for Milgaard, when media reports implicating
convicted Saskatoon serial rapist Larry Fisher in the crime prompted
then-justice minister Kim Campbell to request a Supreme Court
review of the case.
A year later, Milgaard was
freed when the top court overturned his conviction. Five years
later, DNA evidence was used to exonerate Milgaard. In 1999,
the Saskatchewan government gave Milgaard an apology and awarded
him $10 million compensation package -- the largest of its kind
in Canada.
Another two years later, a
jury convicted Fisher of the murder.
Now 52 years old, Milgaard
is expected to testify at the long-awaited inquiry, but his lawyer,
Hersh Wolch, says he won't be sitting through the entire proceedings.
"He squandered 23 years
of his life in prison, and he's not going to spend another year
reliving the horror," Wolch told The Globe and Mail.
Fisher has been granted standing
and funding for the first two of the year-long inquiry's four
phases.
Here's what the four-phase
inquiry entails:
· The first phase will rebuild the Miller murder, the
investigation and Milgaard's trial;
· The second will look at post-conviction information
and how the case was reopened;
· The third will focus on how police and the Justice Department
handled information that came out post-conviction; and
· The fourth will look at reasons why the system allowed
Milgaard's wrongful conviction to happen.
Wolch told The Globe
that final phase could provide some of the inquiry's most interesting
revelations.
"It's worth providing
answers about how an innocent man was found guilty while the
guilty man went free," he said. "And it was so difficult
to reopen this case, and why was that? How can that be changed
in the future?"
Ten parties, including the
Saskatoon police and the provincial Justice Department, have
standing at the inquiry.
James Lockyer, the lawyer representing
Joyce Milgaard at the hearings and a prominent crusader for the
wrongfully convicted, said, "It's such a ghastly case and
for that reason alone -- as a matter of conscience -- the country
has to see it examined top to bottom to see what went wrong and
how we can make sure it doesn't happen again.''
With files from The Canadian
Press
- WHO'S WHO IN MILLER
MURDER CASE
- The major players in
the Gail Miller murder case:
Gail Miller: A 20-year-old
nurse's aide. Her body found the morning of Jan. 31, 1969. Raped
and stabbed to death.
David Milgaard: A 16-year-old
hippie on road trip with two friends. Passed through Saskatoon
the morning Miller was murdered. Convicted of first-degree murder
in 1970 and spent 23 years in prison. Conviction overturned in
1992. Cleared by DNA evidence in 1997. Now 52. Has standing at
the inquiry.
Larry Fisher: A serial rapist.
Lived with his wife in basement apartment of the Saskatoon home
where Milgaard picked up a friend the morning Miller was murdered.
Convicted of Miller's murder in 1999. Currently behind bars.
Now 55. Has standing at the inquiry, but that is in question.
Albert Cadrain: Lived less
than two blocks from the crime scene. Was picked up by Milgaard
and friends the morning Miller was murdered. Went to police a
month later saying he saw blood on Milgaard's clothes. Years
later, admitted feeling pressured by police. Deceased.
Ron Wilson: On the road trip
with Milgaard. After numerous interviews with police, said he
saw Milgaard with a knife and blood on his clothes. Years later,
he recanted. Now 53.
Nichol John (Demyen): Also
on the road trip. After numerous interviews with police, said
she saw Milgaard stab a woman. But at trial said she could not
remember. Prosecutors were allowed to cross-examine her with
her statement to police. Now 52.
Craig Melnyk and George Lapchuck:
Came forward in the middle of Milgaard's trial to say they saw
Milgaard re-enact the murder with a pillow in a motel room in
May 1969. Melnyk is now 52. Lapchuck is deceased.
Deborah Hall: Also in the motel
room, but didn't testify at Milgaard's trial. Years later she
swore Milgaard's re-enactment was little more than a crude joke.
Now 52.
Eddie Karst: One of the lead
detectives on the case for Saskatoon city police. Has standing
at the inquiry.
T.D.R. "Bobs" Caldwell:
Crown prosecutor at Milgaard's original trial. Has standing at
the inquiry.
Serge Kujawa: Director of public
prosecutions during original trial. Was accused by Milgaard's
supporters of trying to hide Fisher's possible involvement in
the murder. Was cleared of any wrongdoing by an RCMP investigation.
Has standing at the inquiry.
Cal Tallis: Milgaard's original
lawyer. Didn't call Milgaard to testify at trial. Now sits as
a justice on the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
The Canadian Press
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Truth can never be
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