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David Milgaard - Wrongly Convicted and given a life sentence for a murder he didn’t commit — Transcript

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0:03[Applause]
0:05[Music]
0:08hello and welcome back to felony
0:10spectator if you haven't already
0:12subscribed please do so it will help
0:14support me and my channel i am your host
0:17heather on today's episode we're telling
0:19the story of david milgard and his
0:22wrongful conviction in the murder of
0:24gail miller
0:25david ended up spending 22 years in
0:28prison before he was released and it
0:30wasn't until dna testing was done in
0:321997
0:34that finally completely exonerated him
0:37and this totally isn't uncommon there
0:39have been a lot of people who have been
0:41released from prison and completely
0:43exonerated of one of the crimes that
0:45they were accused of committing
0:47there are lawyers who dedicate their
0:50entire careers to getting these types of
0:52people out of prison the justice system
0:54has its flaws and jurors aren't always
0:57the best at determining a reasonable
0:59doubt humans are very emotionally driven
1:02and that could cloud our judgment
1:05anyway let's get into this case we'll
1:07start with gail miller gail miller grew
1:10up in laura saskatchewan
1:12which is a small farming town with her
1:15eight siblings and this town was your
1:17typical small town not a lot for kids to
1:19do other than help out on the farm and
1:22when kids grow up they often just settle
1:24down and get married taking over the
1:26family farm and never leaving gail
1:28however wanted more out of life and
1:31staying in this small town just wasn't
1:33something that she saw herself doing
1:35gail's grandma would offer to pay for
1:37gail to go to saskatoon to study nursing
1:40as this was always her dream
1:42gail was very excited and looked forward
1:44to helping children and babies most of
1:46all gail would rent a room in saskatoon
1:49and enroll in a one-year program at the
1:51institute of kelsey campus the course
1:54was hard and really time consuming but
1:57she wasn't a partier and just really
1:59wanted to get a job helping kids being a
2:01nurse
2:02gail and some other students were sent
2:04to swift current union hospital for the
2:07practical portion of the program she
2:09would live in residence with some other
2:10women and just like at university she
2:13hardly went out and focused most of her
2:15time on her studies her big outings were
2:17going to the grocery store gail would
2:20eventually get a job on the children's
2:21ward of the saskatoon hospital and she
2:24was thrilled her dreams were coming true
2:28once she had enough money she wanted to
2:30move out of her rental room and find
2:32somewhere better to live and closer to
2:34the hospital
2:35gail
2:48to catch the bus
2:50then the morning of january 31st 1969
2:54vickie lynn and gail were to start work
2:56at 7 30 am
2:58gail unfortunately never showed up to
3:00that early morning shift it was
3:03extremely cold that morning and the
3:05weatherman had instructed anyone not to
3:08go outside and just to stay home that
3:10day the temperature was around minus 40
3:13celsius and a thick fog had rolled over
3:15into the city school wasn't cancelled
3:18though and many kids still walk to
3:19school despite the risk of frostbite
3:22around 8 35 a.m an 11 year old would be
3:26walking to school when she stumbled upon
3:28a body face down in the snow she also
3:31noticed that the snow around the body
3:33was trampled and there was red spots all
3:36over the place
3:37sadly this body would later be
3:39identified as gail miller the police who
3:42came to the scene noticed that gail had
3:44clearly been attacked her coat was
3:46unbuttoned her white nurse's uniform was
3:49pulled up above her waist and her white
3:51stockings had been pulled down there was
3:53blood and cuts all over her throat and
3:55stomach sadly she was only about a block
3:58away from her rooming home gail's friend
4:00vicky lynn had been called into the
4:02personnel office where detectives would
4:04ask vicki many questions involving gail
4:07like who her boyfriend was or anybody
4:09who was close in contact with gail
4:12unfortunately everyone who met gail all
4:14really liked her she had no known
4:16enemies she was pleasant easy to get
4:19along with and sometimes shy but never
4:21rude the town was obviously very
4:24heartbroken by this event a young
4:26nursing student found dead in an alley
4:28some information that wasn't immediately
4:30released to the public was that two
4:32other women who lived in the same
4:34neighborhood were also sexually attacked
4:36just months before
4:38both of these women were attacked at
4:40knifepoint and both dragged into an
4:43alley thankfully they survived their
4:45attacker unfortunately with these
4:47reports there wasn't much evidence
4:49either
4:50the same morning that gail was found
4:53linda fischer heard the radio telling
4:55listeners that a woman's body had been
4:57found down an alley just one and a half
5:00blocks from her home
5:01she was really surprised by this because
5:04it was so close to where she lived also
5:06that morning linda fisher and her
5:08husband larry had been fighting because
5:10he was out all night gallivanting larry
5:13was a 19 year old construction worker
5:16who often spent his evenings drinking at
5:18the bar it wasn't uncommon for him to
5:21come home in the early hours of the
5:22morning but this particular morning he
5:25failed to get up to go to work and this
5:27was unlike him
5:29linda was mad and started a fight with
5:31him about his lack of responsibility
5:34because she felt he should go back to
5:36work no matter what but instead he was
5:39sitting around in the living room with
5:40his weekend clothing on linda and larry
5:43lived in a basement apartment and right
5:45above them were her landlords the
5:47cauldrons the cauldrons had seven boys
5:50and two girls one of the boys albert
5:53henry caldrain aka shorty was awake
5:57early that morning as well his longtime
5:59friend david milgard had come knocking
6:02david milgard and his family moved to a
6:04small town in winnipeg in the mid-60s
6:08his parents joyce and lauren loved their
6:10four kids more than anything david was
6:13someone who loved cars he loved
6:15everything about cars but he also loved
6:17the freedom of having a car he loved
6:20adventure and being able to just get
6:22into his car drive away and experience
6:24the world he was also known for being a
6:27little bit of a show-off
6:29and this is mainly because he moved
6:31around a lot as a kid and it could have
6:33been his way of fitting in but this
6:34would be a problem especially when it
6:37involved david doing dumb and impulsive
6:39things his poor choices resulted in his
6:42parents becoming worried that there
6:44could be something wrong with david and
6:46they admitted him to a psychiatric
6:48center in yorktown saskatchewan the
6:51doctor there determined that there was
6:52actually nothing wrong with david he had
6:54no signs of psychotic behavior wasn't
6:57overly violent or sexual
6:59they said he was just a regular kid who
7:01perhaps was just a little rebellious in
7:04the summer of 68 when david was only 16
7:08david knew he had a gift for talking and
7:10applied for a sales license job so he
7:12could sell magazine subscriptions but
7:14this license took a long time to get
7:16approved david would start to get
7:18impatient and by the end of summer david
7:21and his friend ron decided to go on a
7:23road trip in ron's new car a 58 pontiac
7:27they'd also asked their friend nicole
7:29and nicole had just quit her waitressing
7:31job and dropped out of school so she had
7:33nothing better to do and a side note
7:35nicole and david were also friends with
7:38benefits you could say
7:40lastly david wanted to find his friend
7:42shorty and asked him if he wanted to go
7:44on a road trip with them ron and nicole
7:47didn't have an issue with that so they
7:48set out first to find shorty's house in
7:51saskatoon
7:52which they didn't have an address for
7:54the group had some issues leaving regina
7:57saskatchewan because the car had flat
7:59tires they also needed to get license
8:02plates and the car wouldn't start
8:04because the battery was dead the three
8:06of them also didn't have any money so
8:08david and ron would steal a battery and
8:10ended up getting holes in their clothes
8:12from spilling battery acid on themselves
8:15when they did finally leave town it was
8:17about 12 30 a.m on january 31st their
8:21first stop was to go and pick up david's
8:23friend shorty they arrived in saskatoon
8:26where shorty lived at about 5 30 a.m to
8:296 30 a.m the following morning david
8:32couldn't remember where shorty lived he
8:34knew it was beside a church but that's
8:36about it so they drove around the city
8:39for a while and at one point stopped to
8:41ask a woman for directions who was
8:43walking down the road
8:45this woman wasn't able to help so they
8:47just continued to drive looking for a
8:49church they would also stop at a
8:52traveler motel and david would ask the
8:54manager for directions the manager
8:57remembers david being kind and courteous
9:00he gave him a map but also noticed that
9:02david wasn't wearing any shoes and had
9:04entered wearing only his socks and this
9:07is important because it shows that the
9:08manager took note of what david was
9:10wearing and didn't notice any blood or
9:13anything else strange about what he was
9:15wearing david would later say that his
9:17feet were hot from the car's heater and
9:19he just ran through the snow to cool
9:21them off
9:22david got back in the car drove around
9:24some more but they were still unable to
9:26find shorty's house
9:28then they would come across a man whose
9:30car was stuck in the snow
9:32and it would be david that convinced his
9:34friends that they should stop and help
9:36this man
9:37ron didn't really want to because he was
9:39worried his car would get stuck as well
9:42but david was very convincing and they
9:44did end up stopping unfortunately they
9:47were unsuccessful in getting this man's
9:49car unstuck
9:50and sure enough ron's car would also get
9:53stuck in the snow walter the man who
9:55they tried to help offered the group to
9:58come inside his home and wait for a tow
10:00truck walter said david was polite and
10:02had told him about their planned road
10:04trip to edmonton the only thing he
10:07noticed was that david's pants were
10:08ripped but other than that everyone
10:11seemed normal
10:12david and his friends did eventually
10:14find shorty's house
10:16it was across the street from saint
10:18mary's church on 20th street and zero
10:20ave which also happened to be only 1.5
10:24blocks from where gail would be located
10:26and in the basement of the house was the
10:29apartment where linda and larry lived it
10:31was also around 9am at this point so
10:34gail's body would have already been
10:36discovered police were already
10:37investigating and the radio would be
10:39broadcasting the discovery
10:42linda and larry were probably fighting
10:44about larry missing work
10:46while at shorties david and ron changed
10:48out of their pants that had all the acid
10:50holes in them and the four of them
10:52discussed their road trip none of them
10:54were listening to the radio and none of
10:56them had any idea that a murder
10:58investigation was happening just down
11:00the road shorty had wanted his
11:02girlfriend and some other friends to
11:04come along too
11:05so the group would spend most of the day
11:07finding these people who ended up
11:09declining so ron david nicole and shorty
11:13would settle on the road around 4 30 pm
11:17the group did make it to alberta but
11:19ended up coming back around february 5th
11:22because they just had no money and no
11:24real plan
11:25not long after they returned shorty
11:27would be arrested with vagrancy and put
11:30in jail for a week now while he was
11:32detained investigators realized that he
11:35lived not far from the crime scene so
11:37they dragged shorty in for questioning
11:39regarding the murder of gail miller they
11:42apparently started hammering him with
11:43all sorts of questions and wanted to
11:45know why he was in such a hurry to leave
11:48town that morning at the time shorty
11:50said he hadn't even known of the murder
11:53and probably just told the real truth
11:55police let him go but they threatened
11:57that he might end up dead in an alley if
12:00he continued to walk the streets
12:02strangely two weeks later shorty
12:04voluntarily wanted to speak with
12:06authorities again and said that he had
12:08in fact seen david milgard at 9 00 am
12:12that morning of the murder with blood on
12:14his clothes
12:16shorty went on to say that that same day
12:18david had disposed of a woman's cosmetic
12:21case
12:22shorty coming forward with this new
12:24information also meant that he would
12:26later collect two thousand dollars in
12:28reward money
12:30why did shorty come back two weeks later
12:32apparently everything started to come
12:34back to him in pieces
12:36he first remembered the blood and then
12:38he remembered david was acting strangely
12:41he claims david also told shorty during
12:43their trip that he was a member of the
12:45mafia and david had suggested that they
12:48needed to wipe out nicole and ron
12:50because they quote knew too much
12:54police would need to interview the
12:55others ron was called in first
12:58ron spoke of the road trip the car
13:00battery situation driving around looking
13:03for shorty's house getting stuck and
13:05meeting walter and then arriving at
13:07shorty's around 9. when asked if david
13:09was ever out of his sight ron said no
13:12not for more than a few minutes here or
13:14there to go to the bathroom maybe but
13:16for the most part they were together
13:19nicole was also called in and her story
13:21basically matched ron's story she was
13:24asked to join the road trip and had
13:25nothing better to do so she went
13:28she was basically in the car the entire
13:30time and neither of them knew gail's
13:32murder and seemed surprised to learn by
13:35this time david had since moved to
13:37winnipeg to pursue that magazine sales
13:40job as his sales license finally got
13:42approved when he was questioned he too
13:45was surprised to learn about the murder
13:47and again his story was nearly identical
13:50to ron and nicole's
13:52david even allowed the police to go
13:54through his motel room where absolutely
13:56nothing was found to incriminate him the
13:59case was starting to go cold until an
14:02eight-year-old friend of one of shorty's
14:04siblings was walking to their home down
14:06zero avenue
14:08he would knock on shorty's door to ask
14:10if his brother would come outside but
14:12nobody was home so he would go to
14:14another friend's house kicking the snow
14:16as he went as he was doing this he would
14:19uncover a wallet just three doors down
14:22from shorty's home this wallet belonged
14:24to gail miller police would go door to
14:26door to ask if any of the residents saw
14:29anything suspicious that night and
14:31another neighbor said that she had
14:33picked up a blue tube with blood on it
14:35for some reason she had just tossed it
14:37in her backyard but she would retrieve
14:39it for the police
14:41police believed this was further proof
14:43that david had something more to this
14:45because he was at shorty's house and
14:47these items all were found nearby
14:50they didn't even question if david was
14:52wearing a toque at all that morning
14:54nor did they think that possibly someone
14:56else did it who was living in the
14:58vicinity
14:59like larry fisher who rented the
15:01basement apartment
15:03larry fisher and linda had married as
15:05teenagers when linda became pregnant
15:07with larry's baby when they were dating
15:10larry was very romantic and they got
15:12along really well
15:14but as soon as they got married and
15:15moved in together he began drinking
15:18almost every day and sometimes never
15:20coming home
15:21larry also wasn't happy to be a dad
15:24linda thinks it's because he wanted a
15:26boy and they had a girl larry was so
15:29bitter and angry that he eventually
15:31started physically abusing linda too one
15:34time he kicked her in the head while
15:35they were visiting her aunt linda was
15:38sick of larry and wanted to leave him
15:40she went as far as to pack a bag and
15:42wanted to move in with her family until
15:45they got into that heated argument the
15:47morning of the murder linda had been
15:49unable to find their paring knife that
15:51morning and used that as an insult
15:54during their fight saying to larry
15:57you probably took that knife and went
15:59and killed that girl with it
16:01and larry's reaction was shocking to
16:03linda which was very scary for her
16:05surprisingly he wasn't angry he didn't
16:08lash out at her and was actually quiet
16:11she remembers that it seemed as though
16:13all the blood had drained from his face
16:16and linda didn't think he actually
16:17killed gail she was just trying to
16:19insult him but she'd never forget that
16:21reaction he had what linda didn't know
16:24was that larry was a serial rapist
16:27his mo was to use a knife and threaten
16:30the woman he raped
16:32larry would attack women who were alone
16:34walking or sometimes getting off the bus
16:37and he'd attack them
16:39threatening to kill them if they didn't
16:41do what he said
16:42police had issued a warning to women not
16:45to walk alone because they didn't know
16:47who this person was
16:49the victims all complied to larry's
16:51threats and were let go after the
16:53assault even though some suspected that
16:55the serial rapist could be responsible
16:58for gail's murder because the attacks
17:00were strikingly similar the police
17:02didn't dig further into that theory
17:05instead police had their blinders on and
17:07zeroed in on david they would start to
17:10basically harass ron first because
17:12they needed another witness to back up
17:15shorty's statement
17:16so by bringing ron in for questioning
17:18over and over they were hoping to slowly
17:21break him down
17:23oftentimes they tried to make it seem
17:25like ron was the murderer and they were
17:26gonna get him on charges just to scare
17:29him
17:30some of these interviews lasted upwards
17:32of six hours
17:34ron would leave feeling confused and
17:36tired and scared that he was going to be
17:38pinned for the murder police showed him
17:41gail's blood-stained clothes the paring
17:43knife that was used and other crime
17:46scene photos that were really
17:47traumatizing to him he was only 17.
17:51ron was stressed out and was at the
17:53point that he would do just about
17:54anything to end the constant
17:56interrogations it said he also became a
17:58drug addict during this time just to
18:00deal with all the stress
18:02police did similar interviews with
18:04nicole
18:05she was scared of everything that was
18:07going on and mentally not able to handle
18:10what the police were putting her through
18:12ron and nicole both had learned
18:14information about the case that the
18:16public didn't know and eventually used
18:19that information when agreeing with
18:21police the story that was incriminating
18:23david ron had cracked first
18:26his version had them driving around
18:28looking for shorty's house and they saw
18:30the woman in the black coat walking down
18:32the road david rolled down the window to
18:34ask for directions and she wasn't
18:36helpful and this made david angry
18:40ron then drove a few blocks and tried to
18:42pull a u-turn but got stuck
18:45david and ron tried to push the car out
18:47but they couldn't they needed to go get
18:49help so david would start walking one
18:51way and ron searched the other way
18:54ron was unsuccessful in finding anyone
18:57so around 6 30 am he went back to the
19:00car where nicole was inside hysterical a
19:03few minutes later david came back saying
19:06quote i fixed her end quote other things
19:09that changed in his story was that he
19:11did in fact see blood on david's clothes
19:13before they changed at shorties and that
19:16david was acting differently
19:18not long after ron's confession nicole
19:21cracked two and her final statement was
19:23that she saw the paring knife david used
19:26and she saw him throw a cosmetic bag out
19:29the car window
19:31nicole would later say that she was on
19:32lsd for most of the entire year and
19:35doesn't actually remember much
19:37but she hated being harassed
19:40when she realized all she had to do was
19:42agree to what shorty had told police she
19:44did unfortunately she also added that
19:47she was afraid of david she implied that
19:49he would often coerce her into having
19:52sex with him even though she didn't
19:54really want to which made him sound
19:56really rapey whether that's true or not
19:59doesn't look good for david nicole's
20:01version of events largely matched what
20:03ron had said except that nicole said she
20:06waited in the car when david and ron
20:08walked off to get help where the car was
20:11stuck was right beside an alley and she
20:14claims she could see david down the
20:16alley with the woman in the black coat
20:18she then saw david reach with his right
20:21hand for his knife and stab the woman
20:24and things get fuzzy here she might have
20:26run away towards ron but she's not sure
20:29the next thing she remembers she's in
20:31the back of the car crying
20:32uncontrollably as they drive away the
20:35problem with nicole's statement is that
20:37david was left-handed the chances of him
20:40using his right hand to pull the knife
20:42out were pretty slim
20:44this information wouldn't be made public
20:46until after the trial years later after
20:49the statements from ron and nicole were
20:51signed david was arrested and the media
20:54really ate this up but anyone who knew
20:56david seemed very surprised especially
20:59his family the only other evidence the
21:02police had were some semen samples
21:05the area where gail was found was taped
21:07off for a while so police could melt the
21:10snow and try and find anything that
21:12could help them four days into the
21:14investigation police did locate two
21:16lumps of yellowish snow
21:19later analyzed and found to be semen
21:21even though it wasn't found until four
21:23days after gail was found police didn't
21:26question that it could possibly have
21:27been compromised
21:29during the trial lawyers tried to point
21:32out discrepancies like the siemens
21:34sample in the semen sample the lab found
21:37blood antigens from someone with type a
21:40blood
21:41david had type a but david is part of 20
21:44of the population that doesn't secrete
21:46blood antigens in his bodily fluids the
21:50crown convinced the jury that he must
21:52have secreted blood at some time
21:55possibly from a cut or an std except
21:58david wasn't injured he was healthy and
22:01free of any diseases but that wasn't
22:03enough to convince the jury during the
22:05trial shorty also made every effort to
22:07make david look like a dangerous person
22:10repeating the story of david working for
22:12the mafia and he added that at one point
22:15david had stopped a transport truck
22:17while they were on the side of the road
22:19when the truck pulled over david handed
22:21him a suspicious looking suitcase and
22:24the jury must have believed these wild
22:26accusations because the main points of
22:28the story largely resembled ron and
22:31nicole's david was convicted of the
22:33murder and sentenced to 35 years 35
22:37years is a sentence canada doesn't even
22:39give out anymore after david was in jail
22:42the rapes in shorties and larry's
22:44neighborhood continued
22:46three more victims came forward saying
22:48that they were abused one of his victims
22:51had gotten off the same bus that gail
22:53used to take home and was attacked by a
22:55man who dragged her into a secluded yard
22:59he hit her in the face and told her to
23:00be quiet or he'd snap her neck he then
23:03raped her and quickly ran away and
23:06police were stumped because the attacks
23:08all resembled the attack on gail but the
23:10man responsible for gail's murder was
23:13already behind bars and these women also
23:15survived so it must have just been
23:17someone else the rapes did temporarily
23:20stop because larry ended up moving away
23:22to winnipeg for a job linda stayed home
23:25in saskatoon so he moved in with some
23:27roommates larry's roommates in winnipeg
23:30would later remember that larry loved to
23:32drink and go out and party he also
23:35enjoyed being alone and would leave the
23:37house late at night coincidentally
23:40attacks on women in winnipeg would start
23:43while larry was living there with the
23:45same mo
23:46they were all dragged into an alley or
23:48vacant property like a field and were
23:51all held at knifepoint while in winnipeg
23:54larry had attacked mary pearson just
23:56after 1am
23:58while he was dragging mary off the
24:00sidewalk he dropped his paring knife and
24:02mary screamed loud enough to alert
24:05neighbors someone would call the police
24:07and larry would be arrested larry
24:10actually admitted to six attacks which
24:12included four in saskatoon unfortunately
24:15gail's murder wasn't one he admitted to
24:19so larry served a 10-year sentence for
24:21these crimes and was later released in
24:231980. meanwhile david wasn't doing well
24:26in prison he was often alone often
24:29rambling to himself and would be sent to
24:32the prison psychiatrist who never found
24:34anything wrong with him and would just
24:36send him back to general population
24:38there was a few suicide attempts too one
24:41where david tried to jump out a window
24:44another when he tried to swallow copper
24:46wire and he also tried to slit his wrist
24:49but nobody thought it was because life
24:51in prison was affecting his mental
24:52health especially an innocent man in
24:55prison and to make matters worse for
24:57himself david also escaped from prison
25:00one time in march of 1980 and another
25:02time in august of 1980 the second time
25:05he was granted a temporary leave of
25:07absence to attend his brother's birthday
25:10while at the barbecue he was left alone
25:12for no less than five minutes and he
25:15took that opportunity and ran david
25:17managed to travel all the way to
25:19downtown toronto and gave himself the
25:21name david mcadam and got a job he
25:25rented an apartment and tried to live
25:27life like a regular member of society
25:30then on november 8th david was finally
25:32identified and arrested after being shot
25:35in the bomb when police were incorrectly
25:37told that he was armed and dangerous
25:40david wasn't armed and there was no
25:42weapons in his apartment he truly just
25:44wanted to live life as an innocent man
25:47outside of prison throughout david's
25:49entire incarceration his mother never
25:51gave up on him
25:53she knew in her soul that david was
25:55innocent
25:56she agreed that david was a free spirit
25:58and had done drugs and could be
26:00manipulative
26:02but he was no killer she took out ten
26:04thousand dollars from her retirement
26:06savings to offer as a reward to find the
26:08real killer of gail miller
26:11and worked her butt off investigating
26:13every aspect of this case with the help
26:16of a freelance journalist they would
26:17track down ron and nicole and try and
26:20discuss their testimonies to get the
26:22truth during the time larry got out of
26:25prison after serving his 10-year
26:26sentence he went back home to north
26:29battleford saskatchewan and committed
26:31another attack on a 56-year-old woman
26:34who was walking home late at night like
26:37his other victims he dragged her out of
26:39sight and held a knife to her throat and
26:41raped her this time he also slit her
26:44throat stabbed her in the chest before
26:46attempting to suffocate her
26:48miraculously she lived after larry fled
26:52she managed to drag herself to the back
26:54door of a nearby neighbor's home for
26:56help being that larry was freshly
26:58released police immediately checked on
27:00larry and caught him in his mother's
27:02house washing blood off his boots larry
27:06would then get a new 10-year sentence
27:08for the attempted murder and rape of his
27:10latest victim media would start to get
27:13more and more interested in david's case
27:15and there were several programs that
27:17showcased david because things just
27:19didn't add up
27:21like how could he have raped a woman in
27:22minus 40 degree weather in deep snow
27:25without being covered in snow or wet
27:28there was also the time frame in which
27:30david had which seemed really short if
27:33he was only out of sight for 5 minutes
27:35or even 15 if we're being generous how
27:38did he go find the woman in the black
27:40coat rape her stab her dump her purse
27:43take her cosmetic bag get dressed and
27:46come back all in that time then they
27:48went to walter's house remember they
27:51pulled over to help walter out and he
27:53invited them into his home
27:55he didn't notice wet clothes or blood or
27:57anything he thought the group were all
27:59acting normal david tried to appeal his
28:01sentence every chance he could and also
28:04tried to apply for parole as well but
28:06his catch 22 was that he denied the
28:09offense
28:10in the parole board's eyes if you can't
28:12admit what you've done and you're not
28:15remorseful then you're not ready to be
28:17released even after the fact that david
28:19proved he could be a productive member
28:21of society when he escaped it didn't
28:24matter then one day while in his cell
28:26david watched a documentary on dna
28:28analysis he contacted his lawyers to see
28:31if they could test his dna against any
28:34evidence that was left at the old crime
28:36scene unfortunately there wasn't enough
28:38dna left on gail's close
28:40and it was too hard to say if any of the
28:43dna that was there would be unaltered or
28:46contaminated so the judge denied his
28:49request david's lawyers tried to argue
28:52that david didn't secrete antigens in
28:54his semen so any blood found in the
28:56yellow lumps of snow couldn't have come
28:58from david they also argued that those
29:01yellow lumps of snow were collected four
29:03days after gail was found after police
29:06trampled through the snow
29:07lastly back in 1969 when the samples
29:10were first taken testing was so
29:13inadequate that they couldn't tell the
29:15difference between a or a b blood
29:18so there was no solid proof that any of
29:21the samples were even david's it
29:23wouldn't be until 1991 when david's
29:26mother got the truth out of nicole and
29:28ron and persisted to try and get david
29:30out did the supreme court finally order
29:33a new trial the trial never actually
29:36happened though the judge ruled that
29:37there was enough reasonable doubt that
29:40david shouldn't have been convicted in
29:42the first place and he decided to
29:44release david instead of going through a
29:46whole new trial david's lawyers also
29:48presented new evidence that showed larry
29:51fisher could be responsible for gail
29:53williams murder mainly pointing out that
29:55he was responsible for other attacks on
29:58women in the neighborhood where gail
29:59lived now that david was released he
30:02pushed one last time for the dna
30:04evidence to be tested he just really
30:06wanted to clear his name and really
30:08thought he had nothing else to lose
30:11so in may of 1997 the courts finally
30:14agreed and they also ran the tests
30:16against ron
30:18as well as someone who had previously
30:20dated gail as well as larry fisher sure
30:23enough the test came back showing that
30:25it was not david seaman and he would be
30:27completely exonerated david said
30:30learning that was one of the happiest
30:32days of his life second to the birth of
30:34his twins
30:35he got to prove to the world that he
30:38wasn't a killer
30:39this dna evidence also led to the
30:42conviction of larry fisher for the
30:44murder of gail miller
30:46finally david would receive a letter of
30:48apology from the saskatchewan government
30:51and 10 million dollars even though david
30:54was exonerated he suffered well in
30:56prison
30:57assaulted physically and sexually on
31:00numerous occasions he tried to commit
31:02suicide several times and fell into a
31:04really deep depression
31:06he was not well at all while in prison
31:10sometimes in canada we joke that our
31:12prisoners have it easy but it really
31:14isn't true especially when you're
31:16innocent of the crimes you're accused of
31:18and that's gotta really be tough
31:20mentally david was emotionally damaged
31:22after he was released and his mother
31:24later said it took him a really long
31:26time to trust people again david did go
31:29on to get married and have two children
31:31but it was in helping others that he
31:33really felt human again he didn't hold a
31:35grudge and he just wanted to live life
31:37to the fullest with the time that he had
31:40david's lawyer who had become good
31:42friends with david had said that he was
31:44a very caring loving and gentle person
31:47david unfortunately passed away this
31:49past may of 2022 at the age of 69 to
31:53pneumonia my thoughts this case is so
31:56sad david's life was forever changed
31:59because police were pressured to solve
32:01this murder quickly and to have someone
32:03behind bars and i appreciate that there
32:06is urgency to solve a crime like gail's
32:08murder
32:09get the bad guy off the street get
32:11closure for the family give the
32:13community a sense of relief
32:15but it just meant that he had to spend
32:1822 years behind prison often when things
32:21aren't done quickly people also get
32:23angry about that too
32:25right now where i live a woman by the
32:27name of trina hunt was murdered and the
32:29family and public just want justice and
32:32all you hear is why is it taking so long
32:35why hasn't there been an arrest with
32:37that said rushing justice is not a good
32:40option especially when it involves
32:42police terrorizing witnesses into
32:44confessing things that never happened
32:46not only was david's life ruined but so
32:49was his friends rana nicole and even
32:51shorty they had to live with being
32:53harassed tormented going to court and
32:56convicting their friend who they knew
32:58deep down was innocent
33:00they suffered too now i could be wrong
33:03but could this be what's happening with
33:05adnan syed police will interview over
33:08and over feeding bits of information and
33:11theories as well as making threats and
33:13using scare tactics until they have what
33:16they need false confessions happen all
33:19the time
33:20so did jay get sucked into that with
33:22adnan the fact that witness statements
33:25in both cases consistently change to me
33:28is huge red flags for david he was
33:31monetarily compensated and did go on to
33:34living a normal life but so many years
33:36in prison surely ruined pieces of him
33:39larry fisher was also not held
33:41accountable for 22 years and continued
33:44to abuse women over and over what do you
33:47think of the errors made in this case
33:49did david get compensated fairly what
33:52are your thoughts i would love to know
33:54thanks again for joining me here at
33:55felony spectator and we will see you
33:58again soon
34:00[Music]

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