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Steven Truscott
(2001)
Judge appointed!
CBC Toronto radio Metro Morning's
featured interview for Friday, Jan. 25, 2002: James
Lockyer :
Steven Truscott (shown with
with Rubin "Hurricane" Carter) is hoping to get a new
trial and he's pinning those hopes on a review of his case by
Judge Fred Kaufman. Yesterday, Ottawa appointed the former court
of appeal judge to make recommendations to the minister of justice.
Truscott was 14 when he was
sentenced to death for the murder and rape of 12 year old Lynne
Harper, in Clinton. That was over 40 years ago. His death sentence
was commutted, and spent 10 years in prison before being released.
He has always maintained his
innocence. James Lockyer is Stephen Truscott's lawyer. We have
him on the line: (see link to radio interview at top of this
story)
Truscott to Get Review
42 Years After Becoming Youngest Death-Row Inmate
OTTAWA (AP, Jan. 25, 2002)
-- Steven Truscott, who faced the gallows at age 14, will have
his notorious rape and murder conviction reviewed 42 years after
the fact.
And the former judge appointed
to the task is the same one who scathingly dissected police and
prosecution tactics in the wrongful conviction of Guy Paul Morin.
The federal justice minister
announced Thursday that Truscott's case will be reviewed by Fred
Kaufman under Section 690 of the Criminal Code.
The section is not an appeal
process, but rather permits the airing of new information or
evidence not available at trial.
In the Truscott case, that
amounts to an alarming 700-page legal brief that says fresh investigations
and police evidence buried for more than 35 years clearly exonerates
him.
Truscott was convicted through
a combination of police tunnel vision, shoddy science and a massive
suppression of evidence, the brief says.
Truscott's conviction for the
murder-rape of 12-year-old Lynne Harper in Clinton, Ontario in
1959, is widely perceived as one of Canada's worst miscarriages
of justice. However, the quiet millwright from Guelph, Ontario,
has never been exonerated.
Possible outcomes include a
referral to the Ontario Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court
of Canada, which turned down an appeal of Truscott's case in
1969 - the same year he was quietly released from prison.
Cauchon could also seek a pardon
for Truscott from cabinet, or he could order a new trial.
injusticebusters wish Steven Truscott justice and luck
with his application for exoneration, filed Nov. 29, 2001
While the Fifth Estate was
bringing Truscott's name back into public attention he has been
preparing a 690 application to the Supreme Court to finally clear
his name. Such applications are rarely allowed and of those which
have been heard, David Milgaard is the only one to succeed. Clearly
the the fact that Joyce Milgaard had kept the public informed
of the events during those last terrible years in prison aided
his successful application. We hope that Steven Truscott will
receive a similar fair hearing and the fact that police destroyed
crucial evidence will not give the court an excuse to deny him
complete vindication.
The Police and Crown Prosecutors
have got away with such illegal tactics far too often. Clearing
Truscott's name and offering him a substantial award might dissuade
the current crop of cops and crown from carryng on this ignoble
tradition.
Review of Julian
Sher's book: Until You Are Dead: Steven Truscott's Long Ride
Into History.
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In 1965, as a young Trotskyist activist
in Toronto and one of the few with a car, Ross Dowson asked me
to drive Isabel Labordais to several speaking engagements in
Toronto where she was promoting her book and her cause -- the
innocence of Steven Truscott. I was completely convinced. Since
I was (am) only three years older than Truscott, I found the
idea that he had already spent five years in prison impossible
to contemplate. Thirty-five years later, it is wonderful to see
this blurry memory emerge as a dignified, even noble person who
has raised a family and is now reclaiming his original plea of
innocence. The fifth estate has done this story up proud. Press
the logo below to discover most of the important details unearthed
by the CBC about this incredible injustice perpetrated by Canada
upon a 14 year old boy.-Sheila Steele
Traci Bell,
on behalf of the Truscott family, has started an online
petition
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Steven
Truscott: Clearing his name
It is not surprising that this
page has been visited many times by people interested in seeing
injustices set right. We hope you will look at the other stories
we are publicising on this site.
We will keep this site up to
date with news as Truscott finds his way back to the life he
deserves -- a respected citizen innocent of a murder he served
10 years for.
The jury foreman told the media
he stands by the original verdict. We have also receuved a thoughtful
letter from a visitor who feels Truscott was guilty and presents
his reasons why
Only through a complete airing
of these views can the truth emerge. Perhaps the missing DNA
evidence will also show up. One thing is certain: The Crown's
case should have, at the very least, raised reasonable doubt.
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Linden MacIntyreand fifth estate
brought this story back into the national conscience.
This picture of Lynne Harper's
grave was sent to injusticebusters
Truscott wants murder
conviction set aside
By TANYA HO-- The Canadian
Press, Tuesday, May. 23, 2000
TORONTO (CP) -- Steven Truscott,
who escaped the death penalty but spent a decade in jail for
murder, says it's time to finally clear his name in a case that
has haunted Canada's justice system for 41 years.
Truscott, who has always maintained
his innocence, appeared Tuesday before the nation's television
cameras to personally detail the next phase of a campaign to
have his 1959 conviction set aside.
"I am innocent now, as
I was in '59," said Truscott, who at age 55 appears to have
bolstered his cause by attracting the support of the Association
in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted.
Appearing calm and confident,
Truscott says the association will complete an "exhaustive"
review of his case before applying to have his conviction examined
under a section of the Criminal Code that allows reviews in cases
where appeals have been exhausted.
As a 14-year-old boy in 1959,
Truscott was convicted of the slaying of his 12-year-old classmate,
Lynne Harper.
Truscott had given Harper a
bike ride down a quiet country road. Soon afterward, her partially
clad body was found in a wooded lot beside an air force base
near Clinton, Ont., where Truscott's father was stationed.
The boy became the youngest
person to receive the death sentence. But as he awaited hanging,
then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker privately denounced Truscott's
trial and sentence.
The death sentence was eventually
commuted to life in prison, and after 10 years in jail, Truscott
was released on parole.
Now a 55-year-old millwright,
he has spent the last 30 years living under the alias Steven
Bowers in the small southwestern Ontario city of Guelph.
"My name was Steven Truscott
before I started," he said Tuesday. "It was changed
due to conditions of parole. Now, is the time to take my own
name back for myself and my family."
After years out of the spotlight,
Truscott's case attracted attention again in March after a documentary
broadcast by CBC-TV's 5th Estate suggested an air force sergeant,
who died 25 years ago, was overlooked as a suspect in Harper's
murder.
The documentary said police
neglected to investigate Sgt. Alexander Kalichuk, a known pedophile
who was stationed in a nearby southwestern Ontario air base.
Now the Association in Defence
of the Wrongfully Convicted says pathologists investigating the
murder narrowed the time of Harper's death, leaving the impression
that no one else had time to kill her.
Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, the
association's executive director, said it's imperative to clear
the names of the innocent.
"Sometimes you have to
go back and correct the mistakes that were made in the past,"
said Carter, who himself was wrongly convicted of murder.
"Mistakes were made out
of fear, overzealousness . . . because of the public's hue and
cry for a terrible crime to be solved."
In the Commons, Peter MacKay,
Conservative House leader, called on Justice Minister Anne McLellan
to establish an independent inquiry to review the Truscott case
and "finally provide some closure and fairness."
McLellan suggested she would
wait for Truscott's lawyers to file their formal request before
deciding what to do next.
"I have not heard, I have
not received anything, either official or unofficial from Mr.
Truscott's counsel," she said.
"As soon as I do I will
act upon it in a timely fashion."
Truscott said Tuesday he is
not resentful, despite what he considers decades of injustice.
"I'm not bitter,"
said Truscott.
"I've moved on with my
life. My wife and I raised my family. I was always taught to
look on things positively."
Max Haine's column which was the only
information on the internet until the fifth estate show
From Del
Grimm Re: Steven Truscott
Hi! I have read and followed
the Steven Truscott case for many years. After reading Isabel's
book I was thoroughly convinced that Steven was innocent. What
ever happened to 'beyond a reasonable doubt' or did the military
really need to protect it's own. When (not it) Steven is cleared
I would like to hear how the jury that convicted him feels...all
those years!!!
Keep up the good work. This
is the first time I have been on this page and found it very
interesting and informative. Also, very maddening at some of
the stuff that's going on.
From
Pat Longmore, April, 2000,
Re: The Steven Truscott Case
I found your site while doing
a search for info on the Truscott case.
I have read, I think, every
book and article ever written about this. I first heard of the
case in 1966 when I first came to Canada and was living in Clinton
Ontario, where the rape and murder occurred. I was only 14 then,
but I have always believed in Steven's innocence in this case,
and for some reason I always asked myself...WHY DIDN'T THEY INTERROGATE
MILITARY PEOPLE? I was so positive that perhaps a member of the
military had committed the crime, and the blame was put on a
14 year old boy, because it was just too convenient for them
to do so, and now it seems that maybe this was the case..
I spent 22 years in the Canadian
military, and I have seen and heard all kinds of stories....moreso
now that I am retired, as I, as a female, never had any direct
problems with harassement while in the military. I do know that
there was and still is a lot of cover-up in certain cases, and
the military does not like to get involved.
Unfortunately I missed the
episode of the Fifth Estate coverage of this case, but I have
read the information online about it. It seems just too incredible
that they KNEW about a known sex offender/pedophile by the name
of Alexander Kalichuk, yet no one ever thought to interrogate
this person? I know that with all the technology today, that
they can exhume the bodies of Kalichuk and Harper, and do a DNA
testing to link him to her murder. Let's hope they do this, and
they do it soon. How convenient that so much evidence has gone
missing in the past 40 years.
My opinion is that this turned
out to be a fight of rank...Steven's father was an NCO, Lynn's
father was an Officer. Steven was just too convenient a target
for their sick form of justice. There is was no evidence to tie
Steven to this case at all. The area where Lynn's body was found,
the condition of her body, the height of the tree branches that
were torn off. Hell, even the stakes that marked the site were
apparently moved around, by person's unknown. A 14 year old boy
who committed rape and murder, yet showed no signs of being out
of breath, sweating, scratched, upset...........this was a case
of "let's find the last person seen with her, and convict
him"
As Steven himself said in the
transcripts of the Fifth Estate show.....he is not a free man,
he is a convicted killer....convicted of a crime he did not commit.
I hope justice is done, and
Steven can live as the free man he should have been 40 years
ago.
injusticebusters
reiterate that publication does not mean endorsement of signed
views of others. It is important to know what critics are saying
so that we can answer them. We trust Judge Kaufman will see that
these have been answered.
From : Dave
Butler . . .No, I don't have access to anything concerning
Truscott that isn't already in the public record.
When I say the Fifth Estate
was one-sided, I was not referring to its right to advocate a
particular point of view and to argue on its behalf. Of course
there is nothing wrong with that. What I object to is the apparently
deliberate falsification of facts in order to bolster their case.
Here are some examples:
1. On the morning after Lynne
Harper's disappearance, her father, frantic with worry, came
to the Truscotts' home to ask if anyone had seen her. In the
Fifth Estate account Truscott told Lynne's father he had seen
her get into a car on Highway 8. In fact, by Truscott's own sworn
admission, he said no such thing until he had been arrested two
days later. Why would he have withheld such a crucial piece of
information from her father? And why, after Lynne was found dead,
would he not tell his parents, his teachers, his classmates?
Isn't it obvious that he didn't relate this story because he
hadn't yet concocted it?
2. Anyone who has ever checked
for themselves knows it is absolutely impossible to see the color
of a licence plate on cars passing by by on Highway 8 from Truscott's
claimed vantage point. As for being able to discern not only
the make and model but the trim level (Belaire) of a car from
that distance, perhaps Superman might be able to do it. Certainly
Truscott couldn't. He was lying.
3. A half-dozen people testified
that they saw Truscott and Lynne on the road together near the
bush where she was found murdered. Some testified that they spoke
to him. All, according to Truscott's testimony, were lying. Why
his friends and acquaintance and their parents should all suddenly
conspire to frame him he has never been able to explain.
4. Jocelynne Godette testified
that Truscott had earlier that day attempted to lure her into
the same bush where Lynne Harper was later murdered. The Fifth
Estate tried to attack her credibility, but apparently made no
attempt to interview her, or her father, who overheard the conversation.
5. The Fifth Estate tried to
pin the blame on Sgt. Kalichuk, conveniently skipping over the
fact that he had been transferred out of Clinton two years earlier,
that he never owned a car similar to the one Truscott claimed
Lynne got into and that he was very likely on duty at RCAF station
Aylmer at the time of the murder. (Even the Fifth Estate was
embarrased by this one; a week later they admitted that Kalichuk
had never owned a 1959 Chevrolet.)
6. The Fifth Estate never mentioned
the footprint at the murder scene that matched Truscott's shoes,
or that he had tried to trade the shoes away to his brother 30
minutes after he was seen with Lynne Harper. Nor did they interview
his brother.
There are numerous other examples.
But most telling is the clumsy way the program dealt with Truscott's
appearance before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1966. Truscott
was extremely vague and evasive in his testimony, and was caught
in numerous lies. His explanation: "I didn't have time to
do my homework." What preparation is necessary to tell the
truth?
These are facts, supported
by sworn testimony, often by Truscott himself. They are not products
of the "rumor mill" or "the human imagination."
That is a description more accurately applied to the numerous
attempts over the years to prove Truscott innocent, including
the Fifth Estate program.
Whether the police continue
to believe David Milgaard guilty despite scientific evidence
to the contrary is immaterial to Truscott, except to underline
the fact that people tend to believe what they want to believe.
Nowhere is that more obvious than in the Truscott case.
From:
Glenn Lockhart Subject:
Dave Butler
Hi!
Found your website interesting,
especially in regard to the Truscott case. Had to reply to a
point made by Dave Butler in his submission. To quote Mr. Butler:
2. Anyone who has ever checked
for themselves knows it is absolutely impossible to see the color
of a licence plate on cars passing by by on Highway 8 from Truscott's
claimed vantage point. As for being able to discern not only
the make and model but the trim level (Belaire) of a car from
that distance, perhaps Superman might be able to do it. Certainly
Truscott couldn't. He was lying.
Well, actually, Mr. Butler,
it is easy to tell the differences between all three series of
1959 Chevrolet passenger cars, if one knows how, even from a
distance.
Truscott said he *knew* cars,
and actually, at the time, most boys interested in cars could
easily tell the difference between different makes and models.
Cars were vastly different in those days, not like the similar-looking
vehicles we have today. Today, it is hard to tell the difference
between a Ford and a Chevy (which should look easily different)
let alone tell the difference between a Chevy and a Pontiac (which
come from the same manufacturer, and share many of their body
parts).
Truscott has said on numerous
occasions that the car in question had "cat's eye"
taillights, which unmistakably identifies a 1959 Chevrolet. No
other vehicle EVER had what you would call "cat's eye"
taillights.
Note also that for the 1959
model year, all General Motors cars were vastly different from
the 1958 models--they were longer and lower, and not as boxy
looking as the previous year, in fact, they were downright sleek
in comparison (to try to understand the difference without aid
of pictures, think of the difference between 1996 and '97 Chevy
Cavaliers, that is, if you can picture them in your mind at all,
and it's not easy since they are so similar to the offerings
from Ford and Chrysler.
As to the difference between
different Chevrolet models, this again is very easy to do. In
1959, Chevrolet had three lines: the Biscayne, the Bel-Air, and
the Impala.
The Biscayne was the lowest-level
Chev, and was very basic...perhaps a better description would
be that it was the "Plain Jane" of the line. Biscaynes
lacked the majority of the things we take for granted when we
buy a base-line car today: the Biscayne usually had no radio
(that was extra), and forget about such things as floor mats
(ditto), or power steering and power brakes...this was all extra.
Little wonder that most taxi companies and police departments
ordered Biscaynes for their fleets; there was a lot of room in
them to mount *their* radios and other equipment. Oh, one other
thing I didn't mention...Biscaynes had no side chrome to speak
of.
The mid-line car was the Bel-Air,
and typically, it was a "family car" type of vehicle,
and most sold in their four-door sedan body style. Usually, the
Bel-Air had most of the things we expect in a car without them
costing extra, but some things couldn't be bought on them, such
as fuel injection, a tachometer, and things we usually think
of as being on a performance car or sports car. While the Bel-Air
did carry side chrome, it didn't carry an abundance of it.
At this point, I should mention
a word about Chevy rooflines. There were two different types
of roofs available on Chevrolets in 1959 and 1960. The first
type was known as the "slantback", because it slanted
down to the rear deck from about the area behind the back seat,
the effect somewhat comparable to what used to be called a "torpedo
back". The second type was the flat roof, which was just
as its name suggests--it was totally flat, all the way to the
back, with a rear window that wrapped around the corners of it.
The slantback was found on the Biscaynes and the cheaper Bel-Airs;
the more expensive Bel-Airs and all Impalas had the flat roof.
In addition, the Impala had
more of everything: options, accessories, power components (windshield
wipers, steering, brakes, air conditioning if you wanted)...and
chrome. '59 Imapalas were just dripping with chrome, all the
way around the car. Where the Bel-Airs had quite modest side
chrome, on the Impala the corresponding parts were usually much
wider. One piece in particular on the Impala that the Bel Air
didn't have outlined the taillights.
So, let's look at the salient
facts in 1959 Chevy identification:
- 1. Sloping roof, no chrome
= Biscayne
- 2. Sloping roof, chrome =
Bel-Air
- 3. Flat roof, modest chrome
= Bel-Air
- 4. Flat roof, excessive chrome
= Impala
It's really quite simple once
you know the facts, isn't it? See, you don't have to be Superman...you
just have to *know* cars!
As to the colour of a license
plate, as I recall, Truscott said he thought he saw something
orange or yellow, and that it could have been a licence plate,
or might have been a bumpersticker. I would suggest that something
either orange or yellow on a chrome bumper on a grey car would
jump out at you--it would be easily noticable from two blocks
away with an unobstructed view with the sun shining. Again, you
wouldn't have to be Superman to see it!
____________
injusticebusters
are proud to be part
of the world inhabited by Steven Truscott and we wish him and
his family well.
David
Milgaard : Totally
vindicated everywhere but Saskatoon where the cover-ups continue
| From
the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law | Visit
Jurist | for a whole list
of famous
trials
| or chronological prepared by Dr. Linder
| Inherit
the wind
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
