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The Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard Part 2 — Transcript

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0:00welcome back to part two of the murder
0:02of Gail Miller and the wrongful
0:04conviction of David Milgard if you
0:06haven't watched part one the link to
0:08that video will be in the description
0:09box below so where we last left off
0:12David Milgard had just been convicted of
0:15Gail Miller's murder the courtroom was
0:18apparently dead quiet except for a group
0:20of teenage girls who had been watching
0:22the trial for the last few days they
0:24began to cry but not for David it was
0:27because the trial was over they had told
0:30a reporter the night before quote
0:32there's no other excitement in the city
0:34when thinking back to that moment in
0:37time David's memory of his conviction
0:39was blurry quote I don't remember
0:43actually hearing them say guilty or not
0:46guilty I just heard a bunch of noises
0:48around me and kind of turned around
0:51I looked at my dad I never really saw my
0:55dad look anything but who he was strong
0:58at that point I looked and he didn't
1:00look very strong it scared me too and
1:04then I must have known that they had
1:06said guilty at the age of 17 David was
1:10then sentenced to life in prison his
1:13family was in shock they never thought
1:15for a second that he was guilty and
1:17shortly after David was convicted the
1:20Milgard family moved from langenberg to
1:22Winnipeg small town langenberg was just
1:25too tiny of a community and the Milgard
1:27family had been stained by the
1:29conviction but the family rallied around
1:31David after he was sent to Prince Albert
1:33Penitentiary and throughout it all they
1:36never gave up on his innocence Joyce
1:38Milgard knew her son wasn't an angel she
1:41knew about the petty crime and the drug
1:43use but she also knew that he wasn't a
1:46violent person and David wasted no time
1:49filing an appeal less than one week
1:51after he was sentenced quote I ended up
1:55getting a typewriter and I was typing
1:57inside the prison where everybody was
1:59open front cells cages and people could
2:03hear me and everybody was so upset at
2:05this young guy trying to type all night
2:08in a February 11 1971 article in the
2:11Saskatoon Star Phoenix it was reported
2:14that two people had applied for the two
2:16thousand dollar reward that was being
2:18offered by the Saskatoon Police
2:20Department however because an appeal had
2:23been launched by David there were
2:25questions about whether the reward would
2:27be paid now or until all appeals were
2:29exhausted David appealed his conviction
2:32at Saskatchewan's court of appeal and
2:35Cal Talus would once again be arguing
2:37his case and defending the Crown's
2:40verdict would be prosecutor Serge Kujawa
2:42Talus argued that the verdict was
2:45unreasonable and could not be supported
2:47by the evidence he also objected to two
2:50decisions made by Justice bence the
2:53first was allowing evidence regarding
2:55Ron Wilson's blood type and the second
2:57was the cross-examination of Nicole
3:00John's original statement in the
3:02presence of the jury Telus said that
3:05this was something that should have been
3:06done with the jury absence
3:08but on January 5th 1971 the Saskatchewan
3:12court of appeal announced its ruling
3:15that the jury was justified in finding
3:17David guilty and his appeal was denied
3:20meanwhile according to the Star Phoenix
3:22at least three people had quietly
3:25applied for the two thousand dollar
3:26reward being offered in April of 1971
3:30David's application for legal aid to
3:33appeal his conviction to the Supreme
3:34Court of Canada was rejected and on
3:38November 15 1971 the Supreme Court of
3:41Canada refused to hear milgard's appeal
3:44in the eyes of the law David Milgard was
3:47guilty and was to spend the rest of his
3:49life in prison two weeks after the
3:51appeals process was finalized prosecutor
3:54Bob Caldwell and a Saskatoon lawyer met
3:58to discuss who would get the reward
4:00money Ten Years Later it was discovered
4:02that Albert could rain or shorty claimed
4:05the two thousand dollar reward and the
4:08other two people who applied were never
4:10identified almost immediately opinions
4:13about the verdict were split and only
4:16two weeks after David Milgard was
4:18convicted and sent to prison the rapes
4:21and Saskatoon started up again on
4:24February 21st 1970 Cheryl Nelson an 18
4:28year old high school student was walking
4:30home from work
4:32she worked part-time at City Hospital in
4:35the cafeteria the same hospital where
4:37Gail Miller worked she also took the
4:40same bus that Gail Miller would take to
4:42work 20th Street well riding the bus she
4:46noticed a man wearing orange boots with
4:48long dirty hair sitting across the aisle
4:50from her she recognized him but couldn't
4:53remember where she saw him before when
4:56she got off the bus the man followed her
4:58and suddenly attacked her from behind
5:00and pulled her into a nearby yard where
5:03he sexually assaulted her and ran away
5:05immediately afterwards police were
5:08notified but Cheryl was unable to
5:10positively identify the suspect
5:13however one of the detectives made a
5:15comment that she remembered that this
5:18attack was similar to the Gail Miller
5:19case she thought this was a strange
5:22remark since the man who was responsible
5:24was in prison in the spring of 1970
5:27construction work around Saskatoon was
5:30drying up and masonry contractors
5:32successfully bid on a project in the
5:35city of Winnipeg Larry Fisher was
5:37offered an opportunity and jumped to the
5:39chance to go and his wife Linda was all
5:42for him going she was just happy that he
5:45was working and earning money on the
5:47evening of August 2nd 1970 Barbara
5:50Sullivan was in downtown Winnipeg
5:52heading home from a nursing course she
5:55boarded the last bus of the night which
5:57only took her as far as the University
5:59of Manitoba campus once she arrived at
6:03her stop she still had a while to walk
6:05home she was only one block away from
6:08her home when a man approached her
6:10asking for directions she told him she
6:13was unable to help him but when she
6:15continued to walk away from him he
6:17grabbed her from behind held a knife to
6:20her throat and covered her mouth she was
6:23sexually assaulted while he continued to
6:25hit her and then he made her lie on her
6:28stomach and tied her arms and legs
6:30together with her own clothes the tiny
6:33police force and Fort Jerry Manitoba
6:35wasn't sure how to handle these brutal
6:37attacks
6:38detective Lauren Huff who was with the
6:41force at the time said that in his 26
6:43years as a police officer he had seen
6:46all kinds of offenses but this one was
6:48hard to forget and Larry Fisher gave no
6:51indication that he was the one
6:53responsible he worked 40 hours a week
6:56minimum often putting in overtime on
6:59September 19th Mary Preston an 18 year
7:03old first-year Dentistry student took
7:05the bus downtown back home in South
7:08Winnipeg after an evening at the pub
7:10with friends she got off the bus about
7:13four blocks away from her home when a
7:16man came up from behind her and put his
7:18hand over her mouth she started to
7:20struggle and scream but this didn't stop
7:22him however he failed to notice that a
7:25neighbor close by had heard Preston
7:27screaming and called the police Larry
7:30Fisher had finally been caught in the
7:32act and right away he started confessing
7:35to the other rapes that had been taking
7:37place around Fort Jerry his wife Linda
7:40was in shock she was in denial and
7:43didn't want to admit that he was capable
7:45of doing what they were accusing him of
7:47but soon she learned that not only had
7:50he confessed to the assaults in Winnipeg
7:52but similar attacks in Saskatoon except
7:55the one on Gail Miller of course Fisher
7:58confessed to Saskatoon detectives to
8:00attacking Four Women in Saskatoon and
8:03during their interrogation there were no
8:06questions asked about Gail Miller's
8:08murder they never even considered him as
8:10a possibility as far as they were
8:12concerned the right man was in prison
8:14but police had more than enough cause to
8:17reopen the case based on what they just
8:19heard and in Gail Miller's case the
8:22trail of evidence led to Shorty's house
8:24it was the right house just the wrong
8:27person even Fisher's wife was convinced
8:30that Larry could be responsible for the
8:32murder when she had a chance to reflect
8:34on everything in a Manitoba Court in May
8:37of 1907 71 Larry Fisher would plead
8:41guilty to two charges of rape one charge
8:44of robbery and one possession of an
8:46offensive weapon he was sentenced to six
8:49and a half years to be served
8:51concurrently but strangely enough he was
8:54not sent back to Saskatoon to stand
8:56trial for the attacks that took place
8:58there fisher was sent to Regina instead
9:01where he pled guilty to all charges
9:03Serge Kujawa was the prosecutor on the
9:06case the same prosecutor who argued
9:09against David milgard's appeal less than
9:12a year before
9:13and there was no media present in court
9:16when Larry Fisher pleaded guilty in
9:18Regina and was quietly sentenced to 13
9:21years in prison that's not entirely true
9:24I did find this tiny little press blurb
9:27on page 12 of the Star Phoenix just
9:29below the obituaries where no one ever
9:32looks of course and it's incredibly
9:35vague it makes no mention of how many
9:38victims he attacked in Saskatoon or
9:40where the crimes were even committed
9:42David of course knew about none of this
9:45if he did he could have used this
9:48information for his appeals this would
9:51be the beginning of what David Milgard
9:53and his legal team felt were multiple
9:55cover-ups by police and prosecutors in a
9:592021 interview David would be quoted as
10:02saying I believe the prosecutor himself
10:05somehow really knew what was going on in
10:08this situation and more for his own
10:11self-preservation than anything else he
10:14decided to continue to suppress this
10:16information in 1992 the Canadian press
10:19would report that new evidence suggested
10:22former Saskatchewan Premier Roy romanow
10:25and Senior justice department
10:27bureaucrats knew that there were doubts
10:30about the Milgard conviction since 1971
10:33and at a press conference Joyce Milgard
10:36revealed to reporters that a former
10:39Saskatchewan justice department employee
10:41said he was there when David's file and
10:44Larry Fisher's file were taken together
10:46into a department meeting back in 1971.
10:50the secret meetings allegedly included
10:53Roy romanow who was Saskatchewan's
10:55Justice Minister back then and serge
10:58Kujawa the prosecutor who argued against
11:01David's appeal and who handled Fisher's
11:04rape conviction coincidentally enough
11:06gujawa later went on to work in
11:09romanow's government according to the
11:12leader Star news in a written Memo from
11:14kajawa to Premier Alan blackeney dated
11:17December 1971. he wrote that fisher had
11:21just confessed to the Saskatoon rapes
11:23and kajawa wanted to move forward with
11:26these charges as soon as possible this
11:29memo was written just weeks after
11:31Milgard had exhausted his last chance to
11:34appeal his conviction for Miller's
11:36murder milgard's attorney claimed that
11:38someone in the Saskatchewan government
11:40didn't want the public to be informed of
11:43Fisher's 1971 confession to the sexual
11:46assaults around Saskatoon because it
11:49would have raised questions about
11:50whether he was to blame for Miller's
11:52rape and murder it's important to note
11:55that Milgard wasn't in Saskatoon during
11:57the time that fisher was terrorizing the
11:59women of Saskatoon and while the police
12:02were keeping quiet about Larry Fisher
12:04they conveniently forgot to notify his
12:06four victims about his arrest they
12:09didn't find out that Larry Fisher had
12:11been arrested and convicted for their
12:13assault adults until 20 years later in
12:161991 after he was convicted Larry Fisher
12:20was sent to Prince Albert Penitentiary
12:22the same prison where David Milgard was
12:24being held
12:26talk about rubbing salt in the wound
12:28David's first two years behind bars were
12:30most likely the most challenging he was
12:33only 17 years old being held in a
12:35Maximum Security Prison on August 4th
12:381971 a prison psychiatrist report
12:42described Milgard as a quote frightened
12:45young inmate adding that he claims his
12:48innocence and doesn't appear to be the
12:50criminal type and a staff psychologist
12:52noticed that he had a strange
12:54relationship with the other inmates they
12:56either seemed to be amused by him or
12:59respected him eventually he would be
13:01subjected to a variety of attacks but
13:04held his own and stood up for himself
13:06his Defiance caused him to rack up 31
13:10institutional offenses during the first
13:1218 months of his sentence there were
13:15multiple suicide attempts as well one
13:18time he jumped out a second story window
13:20and in the fall of 1971 he swallowed
13:23some wires and required emergency
13:25surgery he even went on a hunger strike
13:28although he admits these were more cries
13:31for help than suicide attempts what he
13:33really wanted was to be transferred to
13:35Stony Mountain Institution near Winnipeg
13:38so he was closer to his family there was
13:40also a [ __ ] ton of wrongful diagnosis
13:43from prison psychiatrists one said he
13:46had antisocial personality disorder but
13:48he wasn't psychotic nor neurotic in 1972
13:52David was notified that he was being
13:54transferred but not to Stony Mountain
13:56Institution he would be moving to
13:59Dorchester Penitentiary on the east
14:01coast in New Brunswick Dorchester is not
14:05a nice place to say the least it's the
14:07second oldest prison in Canada and it's
14:09pretty creepy looking back in the 70s
14:12though it was especially violent and had
14:14numerous cases of stabbings and beatings
14:16actually it still sort of is in 2011
14:19former cult leader Roche theriot was
14:22murdered in his cell in Dorchester by
14:24another inmate while he was at
14:26Dorchester Milgard was often put into
14:28solitary confinement and the guards
14:31would entertain themselves by throwing
14:33tear gas into the cells in March of 1973
14:36David managed to escape from Dorchester
14:39he broke out with three other inmates 29
14:43year old Mitchell satell 29 year old
14:45William Harvey and 24 year old Douglas
14:48Francis herseg they escaped after
14:51holding a guard hostage for over an hour
14:53and stole the guard's Revolver They were
14:56only on the run for a day and the group
14:58held an elderly couple hostage in their
15:01Farmhouse before they were recaptured on
15:03the outskirts of Sackville New Brunswick
15:05they were found on a side Road near the
15:07trans-canada highway their truck had
15:09broken down and they fled into the woods
15:11but the dogs tracked them down Joyce
15:14Milgard wrote in her book A Mother's
15:16story three quote David told us the
15:19guards just stood there and let the dogs
15:21chew on them he said that afterward when
15:24they got back to the prison the guards
15:26beat him he said that he had been beaten
15:28before but never with such brutality
15:31along with the other inmates Milgard
15:34received another three years for the
15:36prison break and six years for armed
15:38robbery to run concurrently with his
15:40other sentence in 1976 he was finally
15:44approved to be transferred to Stoney
15:46Mountain Institution and by 1977 he was
15:49able to apply for day parole this would
15:52be the first of over 20 applications he
15:55would submit but the parole board
15:57wouldn't even consider him eligible
15:59until he admitted and atoned for his
16:02crimes which I guess makes sense if a
16:04person is guilty but it creates quite
16:07the conundrum if a person is wrongfully
16:09convicted the parole board had an
16:12incredibly arrogant attitude towards
16:14David's family as well telling them that
16:17their belief in his innocence was
16:19slowing down his process of his
16:21re-education Milgard was in a catch-22
16:25the parole board was holding his claims
16:27of Innocence against him and he would be
16:30denied day parole on October 5th 1977
16:33but he continued to move forward
16:36completing more training and prison
16:38programs and for the most part staying
16:41out of trouble
16:42however every time prison and parole
16:44officers opened his file they saw an
16:47assortment of conflicting psychiatric
16:49Assessments in some he was judged to be
16:52normal and then others he was bordering
16:55psychotic it's a spectrum that doesn't
16:57make any sense after being denied parole
17:00again in 1979 David had a small taste of
17:03freedom in 1980. on August 22nd 1980
17:07while on a temporary escorted pass for
17:10his brother's birthday David escaped
17:12again police across Canada were on the
17:16look for him and even the FBI was
17:18contacted he somehow made it from
17:20Winnipeg all the way to downtown Toronto
17:22he lived under the name David McAdam and
17:26even found a job selling encyclopedias
17:28over the telephone he alluded police for
17:31two and a half months until he was
17:32apprehended on November 8th they
17:35actually chased David through an alley
17:37and thought they saw him reaching for a
17:39gun so they shot him in the but just
17:43inches away from his spine and even
17:45though the officer had just shot an
17:47unarmed man in the back he was later
17:49cleared of any misconduct David's Escape
17:52as well as being shot by cops was his
17:55mother's Breaking Point Joyce Milgard
17:57realized she could no longer rely on
18:00pleading David's case to the parole
18:02board as this was going nowhere quote
18:05once David escaped that's when I really
18:08took on the role as investigator really
18:11at that point the whole family did there
18:14was no way they were going to let him
18:16out they were going to throw away the
18:18key once they got him back there the
18:21only way we were going to get David out
18:24is to find out who really did it she
18:27cashed out her retirement savings and on
18:29December 30th 1980 she announced that
18:32the family was offering a ten thousand
18:34dollar reward for anyone who had
18:36information that would exonerate David
18:38she publicized the offer all over
18:41Saskatoon she gave interviews and
18:44pleaded with the public to come forward
18:46if they had information about the murder
18:48she then ordered transcripts of David's
18:51preliminary hearing and trial and
18:53analyzed them carefully finding numerous
18:56errors and inconsistencies
18:58and came to the conclusion that the
19:01Crown's case was ridiculous
19:03the prosecution's case in a nutshell was
19:06that David had gotten his car stuck he
19:09then randomly raped and murdered a total
19:11stranger and then got the car working
19:13again and then drove several blocks
19:16where he went into a motel and acted
19:18completely normal and all of this
19:20occurred within a few minutes none of it
19:23made any sense the Milgard family in
19:26their heart always felt that David was
19:28innocent but the court transcripts
19:30proved to them that they were right and
19:32this made them more determined than ever
19:34to get him out the reward got the
19:37Public's attention but most of the leads
19:39went nowhere they were just people
19:41trying to make a quick Buck Joyce soon
19:44figured out that the case rested in the
19:46hands of those who testified at the
19:48trial against David she needed to find
19:51them and convince them to tell the truth
19:53she received help from a freelance
19:55journalist named Peter Carlyle Gorge
19:58when he learned more about the case he
20:01became convinced a huge Injustice had
20:03occurred quote in my view David Milgard
20:07is as much of a victim of a heinous
20:09crime as Gail Miller was the only
20:12difference is that the state not an
20:15individual was the perpetrator of the
20:17crime against him in 1981 Joyce and
20:20Peter Tracked Down Ron Wilson he was
20:23living in Regina Saskatchewan and agreed
20:25to talk to them although he acted
20:27uncomfortable he told them that in his
20:30first statement he gave to police David
20:33wasn't out of Wilson's sight for more
20:35than a few moments of the day the murder
20:37took place but by the time he was on the
20:40stand to testify at the trial Wilson
20:43claimed that David and Ron were part for
20:45around 20 minutes Ron said the police
20:48were pressuring him to change his
20:50statement and that 10 years later he
20:52didn't think that David was guilty
20:54Nicole John was a little harder to find
20:56than Ron she had gotten married and
20:59changed her last name and at first
21:01declined to speak with Joyce but later
21:04changed her mind as long as she could
21:06bring her lawyer to the meeting her
21:08memories of the events from 12 years ago
21:10were hazy she had no memory of seeing a
21:13knife on the trip to Saskatoon or seeing
21:16anything in the lane when the car got
21:18stuck she also didn't remember giving a
21:21witness statement for police or being
21:24held against her will in a jail cell for
21:26her interrogation Joyce was
21:29understandably frustrated by Nicole's
21:31lack of memory but this didn't stop her
21:33from moving forward and searched for
21:35anyone who might have information about
21:37the case she spoke with George lapchuk
21:40one of the Crown's last minute Witnesses
21:42who admitted he was on drugs the night
21:45that David supposedly reenacted the
21:47stabbing in the motel room he also
21:50admitted he was given a lighter sentence
21:52for the armed robbery charge shortly
21:54after he testified they also interviewed
21:57a woman named Deborah Hall who was also
22:00in the motel room that night but was
22:02never called to testify at trial well
22:04she said that Melnick and lapchuk's
22:06story was a lie and that David had joked
22:08about the news but didn't reenact a
22:11stabbing and finally Joyce was able to
22:14interview shorty who she soon found out
22:17was under intense pressure by police so
22:20much so that it really messed with his
22:22mind they also spoke with Shorty's
22:24younger brother Dennis and after doing
22:27so it became clear that shorty was
22:29mentally unstable and was terrified that
22:32Milgard would get out of jail and kill
22:34him so far Joyce's research had
22:37uncovered several issues with the
22:39Crown's case the timing of the murder
22:41didn't make any sense at all the star
22:44witness had zero credibility the police
22:46had obviously pressured Witnesses into
22:49changing their statement and the last
22:51minute Witnesses clearly lied and should
22:53have never been called in the first
22:55place meanwhile Saskatoon Police
22:58Department was getting a bit agitated
23:00with Joyce's snooping around the case as
23:03far as they were concerned was closed
23:05and the department started contacting
23:07original Witnesses and told them not to
23:10talk to Joyce or Peter come completely
23:12inappropriate behavior in a free country
23:15people can speak to whomever they choose
23:17eventually Joyce's efforts to exonerate
23:20David caught the attention of Howard
23:22Shannon who had worked with David at
23:25McLean Hunter and who believed in his
23:27innocence he offered to pay for
23:30high-profile Saskatchewan lawyer Tony
23:32Merchant who believed the police's
23:34Behavior with Rana Nicole was corrupt
23:37quote there was considerable reason to
23:40believe that they took these Witnesses
23:42and sweated the living heck out of them
23:44because the police were under tremendous
23:46pressure with their inability to solve
23:49this crime at this point they had
23:51uncovered a ton of inconsistencies but
23:54nothing to prove that Milgard didn't
23:56murder Gail Miller fresh evidence was
23:59needed in order for the courts to take
24:01up the case Tony Merchant realized that
24:04the best chance in reopening the case
24:06was getting original witnesses to tell
24:09the truth that the police pressured them
24:11into changing their statement but for
24:13this argument to work the witnesses
24:15would have to come forward and file a
24:17complaint and this wasn't going to
24:19happen anytime soon the parole board for
24:22the time being continued to deny David
24:24parole and they clearly weren't
24:27impressed by his attempted escape on
24:29January 6 1980 after serving two-thirds
24:33of his sentence Larry Fisher was
24:35released on mandatory supervision he
24:38moved back to North Battleford
24:39Saskatchewan where his mother lived and
24:42made no effort to contact Linda he was
24:45out for less than three months before he
24:47got into trouble again on March 31st
24:501980 Ellen Samuelson age 56 was walking
24:55home from work when Fisher jumped out
24:57from behind a hedge and grabbed her from
25:00behind held a knife to her throat and
25:02sexually assaulted her she was also
25:04gagged and he attempted to kill her by
25:07slicing her throat and suffocating her
25:09she ended up being rescued by a neighbor
25:12close by it didn't take very long for
25:14police to find their suspect Fisher was
25:17the only person in town who had served
25:19time for raping women in the past Larry
25:22was found in the basement of his
25:23mother's house washing the victim's
25:25blood off of his boots while searching
25:28the basement police also found some of
25:31the victim's clothing which he had
25:33hidden under the floorboards Ellen was
25:35appalled at how the Fisher case was
25:37handled quote I feel that it is
25:40outrageous and Despicable that the
25:43government would rather release fish
25:44sure without conducting a thorough and
25:47honest investigation into mounting
25:49evidence that he murdered Gail Miller as
25:52well as trying to murder me Fisher would
25:55end up being sentenced to another 10
25:57years for rape and attempted murder
25:59however this time Larry Fisher's crimes
26:03weren't ignored by the media but Gail
26:05Miller's murder had occurred so long ago
26:08that most people in the area had
26:10forgotten about it one individual though
26:13that hadn't forgotten about it was Linda
26:15Fisher Larry's ex-wife after she read
26:18about the attack in North Battleford she
26:20became convinced more than ever that
26:22Larry was responsible for Gail Miller's
26:25murder also in her mailbox was a flyer
26:28offering a ten thousand dollar reward to
26:30help exonerate David Milgard and her
26:33boyfriend encouraged her to go to the
26:35police station and tell them what she
26:37knew quote I gave the police a one-page
26:41statement listing the reasons I could
26:43think of why I fell David Milgard was
26:46innocent and Larry Fisher had committed
26:48the crime they didn't look at me as if I
26:50was lying they took it seriously I
26:53thought but it didn't seem like the
26:55police took her statement seriously at
26:57all and the police now knew about the
27:00ten thousand dollar reward that Joyce
27:02was offering and were offended by the
27:04accusation that they had put an innocent
27:06man in prison Saskatoon police didn't
27:09even bother to question Fisher about the
27:11allegations the case as far as they were
27:14concerned was closed after watching a
27:17documentary about DNA technology Milgard
27:21asked his lawyers to pursue this
27:22possibility if DNA still existed on Gail
27:26Miller's clothing it could reveal who
27:28the true killer was and fortunately all
27:31of the original exhibits from The milgar
27:33Trial were still available which is
27:35highly unusual after all legal appeals
27:38are exhausted the exhibits are usually
27:41destroyed apparently a court clerk
27:43working during guard's original trial
27:46was so convinced of his innocence that
27:49she ensured that this evidence was
27:50preserved a motion was made in the
27:53Saskatchewan Court of Queen's bench to
27:56release some of the key items to Dr
27:58James Farris who was head of forensic
28:01pathology at the University of British
28:03Columbia Ferris agreed to review the
28:06evidence free of charge samples were
28:09taken from Gail's underwear and girdle
28:11but unfortunately Ferris couldn't find
28:13enough DNA to run a thorough analysis so
28:16in Canada we don't really have clemency
28:19or pardoning laws like they do in
28:21America our premiers and our prime
28:24minister can't pardon prisoners for
28:26their crimes or reduce their sentences
28:28only the parole board of Canada can
28:31under the criminal records act under the
28:34criminal records act the parole board of
28:36Canada can issue Grant deny and revoke
28:39pardons the only other option is to
28:42apply to have the case heard by the
28:44Supreme Supreme Court of Canada or a
28:46direct appeal to the federal Minister of
28:48Justice to review the case but the only
28:51hope of convincing the Justice minister
28:53to even consider this was to come up
28:55with new evidence
28:56in 1989 a former member of the jury that
29:00convicted David Milgard in 1969 came
29:03forward saying he was mentally unstable
29:06at the time and not strong enough to
29:09pass judgment on milgard's guilt or
29:11innocence his name was Fernley Cooney a
29:14part-time janitor in Saskatoon coonley
29:17said he had a mental breakdown in 1962
29:20and between then in 1969 he was in and
29:24out of Mental Hospitals in 1970 while he
29:27was out of the hospital but put on
29:29medication he was informed he had been
29:32picked for jury duty at milgard's murder
29:34trial coonley said because he was
29:37embarrassed about his mental illness he
29:39never told anyone that he wasn't
29:41mentally competent to serve he
29:43originally felt that Milgard was
29:45innocent but the jurors that felt that
29:47Milgard was guilty pressured the others
29:49until he was the only one left
29:52supporting a not guilty verdict he
29:55eventually came to the pressure the but
29:57felt that if he was mentally well he
29:59would have been able to force a hung
30:01jury quote I shouldn't have been on that
30:04jury if it had happened when I was
30:06younger I wouldn't have let somebody
30:08persuade me at that time I could be
30:11persuaded in October 1989 Chief Joe
30:15penkala issued a press statement saying
30:18that he was not worried about the report
30:20that said evidence he gathered back in
30:231969 wrongfully convicted David Milgard
30:27and said that everything he did was
30:29truthful in November of 1989 after
30:32almost 20 years the federal justice
30:35department was seriously investigating
30:37milgard's claims of Innocence he had
30:40retained a new lawyer David asper who
30:43filed an application for retrial by 1990
30:46David milgard's application to the
30:49Federal Department of Justice was
30:51starting to get some attention in the
30:52media however in April of 1990 the
30:56justice department Department admitted
30:58to the Leader Post newspaper the David
31:00milgard's file had never come up for
31:02review even though his lawyers had
31:04submitted the application 14 months
31:07earlier in other words they were
31:09dragging their feet and within this
31:1114-month time period there had been a
31:13federal election and there was a new
31:15Justice Minister Kim Campbell in May of
31:181990 Joyce Milgard was done with the
31:21games that the government was playing
31:22and tried to hand some documents to Kim
31:25Campbell personally and I'll show a
31:27little clip of the video but it's just
31:29it's incredibly uncomfortable to watch
31:31Kim Campbell was just incredibly rude
31:35and the Canadian media happened to be
31:37there to capture the moment
31:41Joyce Milgard Paces anxiously she's
31:44waiting for federal Justice Minister Kim
31:46Campbell to give her a report she says
31:49may prove her son David's innocence I'm
31:52sorry it's Madam if you want your if you
31:53want your son to have a fair hearing
31:55don't approach me personally I'm sorry
31:58I'm sorry but I want her to have her son
32:00to have a hearing that will withstand
32:02scrutiny by the court comment on the
32:04substantive excuse me sorry
32:07sorry it's very important we cannot
32:10comment on the substance of the report
32:11thank you very much I tried I I all I
32:14wanted to do West letter have the ferris
32:18report what true department has had
32:19since 1988 and she claims she hasn't
32:22seen it Campbell later said quote The
32:25Minister's impartiality would have been
32:27jeopardized if she accepted the
32:29documents fair enough but she could have
32:32handled that moment with a little bit
32:33more grace Joyce Milgard also revealed
32:36in an interview that she had recently
32:38traveled to Saskatoon and she spoke with
32:41a person who gave a statement to police
32:43in 1980 naming a man she believed was
32:47the real murderer this individual was
32:49Linda Fisher and for over a decade
32:51Saskatoon police had done absolutely
32:54nothing with this information in May of
32:561990 as Larry Fisher was finally being
33:00investigated by the RCMP for Gail
33:02Miller's murder the Press learned that
33:05Larry had been questioned by police
33:07briefly four days after the murder took
33:10place however no one at the time
33:12realized the significance of this
33:14interview you supposedly and by now the
33:17justice department was furious with
33:19Joyce Milgard her lawyer told her that
33:22the department said that she was ruining
33:24the investigation and to that she said
33:27what investigation they've had this
33:29information since
33:311980. also in May of 1990 according to
33:34Manitoba's chief medical examiner Dr
33:37Peter Marcus Stein the two yellow spots
33:40found in the snow next to Gail Miller's
33:43body may have been dog urine not seamen
33:46the report stated that it is possible to
33:49mistake dog urine for human semen
33:51because male dog urine often contain
33:54semen in June of 1990 after stalling the
33:58case for almost a year and a half the
34:00justice department announced it had
34:02agreed to meet with the forensic
34:04Pathologists who disputed David
34:06milgard's conviction coincidentally on
34:09the same page of the Star Phoenix
34:11Saskatoon police chief Joe penkala who
34:14had remain remained silent about the
34:16Milgard case up until now issued a
34:19statement and basically tried to blame
34:21the media for the constant Milgard
34:23coverage
34:24quote my disappointment lies with the
34:27fact of the insensitivity of the media
34:29for the victims of a very heinous crime
34:32that occurred in 1969. penkala seems to
34:36have forgotten that one of the
34:37foundations of our justice system is
34:39that it operates publicly
34:41in June of 1990 Ron Wilson recanted his
34:45testimony and accused the police of
34:48misconduct no longer a scared teenager
34:51Wilson offered a statement saying
34:53pressure from the Saskatoon police
34:55investigators practically brainwashed
34:57him into incriminating Milgard suddenly
35:00the Department of Justice stopped
35:02dragging its heels and began taking it
35:04very seriously quote it was like a sweat
35:08session my mind was exhausted and I was
35:11mentally scrambled I remember it now
35:14being like brainwashing finally I began
35:17to implicate Milgard in the murder
35:18telling the police the things they
35:21wanted to hear I am now certain that I
35:23was manipulated by the police and to
35:25lying and later giving false testimony
35:28against Milgard by June of 1990 the
35:31Milgard case was about to become a media
35:33shitstorm Linda Fisher came forward to
35:36the media saying that she submitted a
35:39signed statement to the justice
35:40department
35:41in this statement she said she believed
35:44her husband Larry Fisher was responsible
35:46for the murder of Gail Miller
35:48the cat was out of the bag Canada was
35:51about to learn about Larry Fisher his
35:54past rape charges in Winnipeg and
35:56Saskatoon and that he lived in the
35:59basement of Shorty's house also in June
36:01of 1990 Albert cadrain also known as
36:04shorty broke his silence and submitted a
36:07signed statement to the justice
36:09department quote before I walked into
36:12that police station I was a happy normal
36:14kid my life has never been the same and
36:17it never will be they put me through
36:19hell and mental torture it finally
36:22reached the point where I couldn't stand
36:24the constant pressure threats and
36:27bullying anymore those detectives pushed
36:30me over the edge and I cracked shorty
36:33also said that he became paranoid during
36:35the investigation and that he remembers
36:38being interviewed between 15 to 20 times
36:41after the trial was over his brother
36:43encouraged him to commit himself to the
36:45psychiatric ward at University Hospital
36:48where where he was drugged for 24 hours
36:50a day and subjected to electric shock
36:53therapy in the meantime the justice
36:55department was still taking its sweet
36:57ass time on the case but Joyce Milgard
36:59wasn't in late August of 1990 it was
37:03announced that she was interviewed for
37:05the television show a current affair and
37:07it would be airing in a few weeks this
37:10was most likely really embarrassing for
37:12the Canadian government it's one thing
37:14for a Canadian news organization to
37:16investigate and to bring attention to a
37:19suspected wrongful conviction case but
37:21when Canada makes international news
37:23it's usually for all the wrong reasons
37:25and it tends to attract attention that
37:28the government would rather not deal
37:29with Joyce Milgard said she contacted
37:32the show because she was frustrated by
37:34the lack of Canadian television coverage
37:36there have been plenty of print stories
37:38up until this point but the CBC had not
37:41really aired anything outside of
37:43Winnipeg and on the east coast of the
37:45country no one knew anything about
37:47David's case she shows like The Fifth
37:49Estate or W5 had yet to cover the story
37:52in the 1990s the show a current affair
37:55was seen by about 25 million people in
37:59the U.S as well as being broadcasted in
38:02Europe and in Canada and to the producer
38:04of the show it was worth crossing the
38:06border to cover the story Saskatoon
38:09police chief Joe penkala was apparently
38:11too terrified to talk to a current
38:13affairs producers as he refused to be
38:15interviewed on camera by December of
38:171990 David's case was still lost in
38:21bureaucratic limbo it was reported that
38:23some senior officials in the Justice
38:26Department believed that the department
38:28lawyer Eugene Williams had purposely
38:31mishandled the investigation and was
38:34trying to rewrite his report before
38:36handing it to Justice Minister Kim
38:38Campbell milgard's lawyer said that
38:40concerns about Williams grew when he met
38:42with other Justice Department officials
38:44back in October of 1990 saying quote
38:47there is a very very clear bias against
38:50our client honestly I think this is the
38:53point where the justice department was
38:54secretly hoping that Joyce melgaard
38:56would just give up and go away but that
38:59wasn't going to happen in February of
39:021991 Justice Minister Kim Campbell
39:05refused to intervene in the murder
39:07conviction of David Milgard I don't
39:10think she was truly prepared for the
39:11blowback she was about to receive for
39:13this decision she is quoted as saying I
39:16have concluded there is no reason to
39:18believe a miscarriage of justice is
39:21likely to have occurred in this case oh
39:23how wrong she was
39:25she also acknowledged that it is quite
39:28coincidental that a man who would be
39:30convicted of more than one rape lived
39:33about a block away from Miller but there
39:35was no evidence to connect him with the
39:37slang David was understandably
39:39devastated by this decision a private
39:42detective Paul Henderson who spent more
39:45than a year on the case speculated that
39:47the only possible explanation for the
39:50refusal to reconsider the case is that
39:53the government doesn't want to admit its
39:55own mistakes that they have kept an
39:57innocent man in prison they don't want
39:59to admit they screwed up around this
40:02time Serge kajala who is the prosecutor
40:05during David's unsuccessful appeal
40:07started speaking with the media saying
40:10that what bothered him about the case
40:11was milgard's failure to take the stand
40:14in his own defense well sir he didn't
40:17take the stand because in Canada we have
40:19the right to remain silent on August 29
40:221991 the Globe and Mail paper reported
40:25that files that were important to the
40:28Milgard case had disappeared from the
40:31Saskatoon Police Department computerized
40:34record system a police source told the
40:37Globe and Mail quote something went on
40:39it's very bizarre it's something that
40:42just shouldn't happen for every detail
40:45like that to vanish somebody's tampered
40:47with the system for days the police were
40:50investigating the alleged disappearance
40:52of at least four files that concerned
40:55serial rapist Larry Fisher the missing
40:57files were the four sexual assaults that
41:00took place in Saskatoon three before
41:02Gail Miller's murder and one after
41:04milgard's conviction coincidence I think
41:07not the Globe and Mail also reported
41:10that a fifth file that involved another
41:13unsolved sexual assault was also missing
41:15she was attacked a few blocks away from
41:18where Gail Miller was killed sometime
41:20between August 16th and the 27th the
41:23files spontaneously disappeared that is
41:26not a coincidence and totally reeks up a
41:29cover-up in my opinion of course already
41:32the Saskatoon police are not looking too
41:35good and they just made things worse for
41:37themselves then in September it was
41:40announced that more police records were
41:42missing an access of information request
41:45made by Ron Wilson's lawyer revealed
41:48that results Iran's polygraph tests
41:50could not be located
41:52shortly after Joyce Milgard held a
41:55peaceful protest outside the hotel where
41:58prime minister Brian moroney was holding
42:00a speaking engagement she and other
42:02supporters held candles one for each
42:05year David had spent in prison prime
42:08minister mulrooney actually met with her
42:10and told her she was Courageous by
42:12October of 1991 public pressure was
42:16starting to mount on Justice Minister
42:17Kim Campbell milgard's lawyer had filed
42:20a second application citing new evidence
42:23plus there was the little conundrum of
42:26the missing police files that were
42:28looking more and more suspicious on
42:30October 1991 former police chief Joe
42:33pincola had a full-blown media meltdown
42:36saying that he had had it with the
42:38rumors and innuendos when it came to the
42:41Milgard case and in late October of 1991
42:44Milgard was quietly transferred to a
42:47minimum security Annex at Stony Mountain
42:50Penitentiary the Pearl board wouldn't
42:52move him up into this point because he
42:54refused to admit he was guilty which he
42:57wasn't but shortly after Joyce Milgard
42:59met with prime minister Brian moroney
43:01and a phone call came in from his office
43:04the parole board of Canada seemed to
43:06have a change of heart and approved the
43:09transfer however they once again denied
43:12parole the court of public opinion can
43:14be a powerful thing and Kim Campbell was
43:17starting to have second thoughts about
43:18not reviewing the Milgard case there was
43:21a constant media focus on this case as
43:24well as her boss Brian moroney publicly
43:26met with Joyce Milgard she was running
43:28out of excuses so in November of 1991
43:32Kim Campbell finally agreed to refer
43:35David milgard's case to the Supreme
43:37Court of Canada the case was literally
43:40fast tracked to the Supreme Court which
43:42never happens within a month it was
43:45being argued the former prosecutor for
43:47the Saskatchewan appeals court Serge
43:50kajawa who is now an end
43:52dpmla had some Choice words about the
43:55Supreme Court review apparently surge
43:58needed to educate himself about the
44:00Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
44:02which granted didn't exist back in 1969
44:05but was now the law of the land in 1991.
44:08he stated in the Winnipeg Sun quote it
44:12doesn't matter if Milgard is innocent
44:14I'm not primarily concerned with his
44:16guilt or innocence what I am concerned
44:19with is you and the lawyers are selling
44:22us down the river the whole judicial
44:24system is at issue it's worth more than
44:27just one person needless to say after
44:29issuing that horrific statement other
44:32members of the provincial government
44:33started distancing themselves from Mr
44:35Kujawa meanwhile Eddie Hurst who was a
44:38Saskatoon police detective on the
44:40Milgard case back in 1969 admitted to
44:44meeting with Larry Fisher after denying
44:46that he ever did in October of 1970 cars
44:50had traveled to Winnipeg to interview
44:51Fisher about four Saskatoon sexual
44:54assaults Fisher's confession to these
44:57four attacks as we know would
44:59mysteriously disappear suddenly from the
45:02computer system but that's not the only
45:04suspicious incident on top of this other
45:07police sources say that Eddie karst
45:09should have never been assigned the
45:11Fisher case at all because he was in the
45:13homicide division not the division that
45:16handles sexual assaults so who approved
45:19this who ordered him to go to Winnipeg
45:21and who else went with him I believed
45:24that Eddie karst and others on the
45:26Saskatoon police force knew almost from
45:28the beginning that Larry Fisher was the
45:30real killer and that was the reason for
45:33this highly unusual trip in January of
45:351992 the Supreme Court of Canada finally
45:39took up the David Milgard case it was
45:42highly publicized and the Supreme Court
45:44of Canada was kind of in Uncharted
45:46Territory they had never taken up a case
45:49this way before and in October 14 1992
45:53the Supreme Court of Canada overturned
45:56David milgard's conviction they said in
45:59the ruling that new evidence together
46:02with existing evidence quote could
46:05reasonably be expected to have affected
46:08the verdict however they also said that
46:11they were not satisfied Beyond A
46:13Reasonable Doubt the David Milgard was
46:15innocent of the murder of Gail Miller
46:17which meant the province of Saskatchewan
46:20had the option however unlikely to try
46:23him again the day after the Supreme
46:25Court of Canada's verdict Saskatchewan
46:28attorney general Bob Mitchell decided
46:30not to try David Milgard a second time
46:33David was finally free however his name
46:36wasn't cleared and reaction from the
46:39public was mixed he had tons of support
46:41but there were those who were afraid of
46:43him too Gail Miller's family was
46:46understandably devastated and their
46:48story had kind of been lost through this
46:50entire fiasco the day after the Supreme
46:53Court verdict they said they wanted a
46:55public inquiry into the case and there
46:58were still a ton of unanswered questions
47:00why did the Saskatoon police fail to
47:03pursue similarities between Larry
47:05Fisher's crimes and Miller's murder when
47:08they took the confession from Fisher
47:10nine months after milgard's conviction
47:12and milgard's defense lawyer caltelis
47:16didn't know at the time of the original
47:18trial that police were originally
47:20looking for connections between the
47:22unsolved rapes in Saskatoon and Miller's
47:25murder before they zeroed in on Milgard
47:27why didn't the crown or the police
47:29disclose this information to him why did
47:32the Saskatoon police department and the
47:34provincial justice department choose to
47:36issue a direct indictment against Fisher
47:39in Regina when he should have been sent
47:41back to Saskatoon to face charges there
47:43why were Fisher's victims never notified
47:46of his arrest or his conviction why was
47:49Fishers guilty pleased for the Saskatoon
47:51rapes delayed until after milgard's
47:53appeals were exhausted and then there's
47:55the issue of the supposed missing files
47:58after doing some digging milgard's
48:01lawyers uncovered that one of the files
48:03went missing as early as 1974.
48:06individually there may be some very
48:08simple answers to these questions but
48:10when added altogether the whole thing
48:12stinks of corruption from top to bottom
48:14in my opinion of course so David was now
48:18free but the Canadian government had no
48:21plans to compensate him for the 23 years
48:23they stole from him and refused to hold
48:26a public inquiry as far as
48:28Saskatchewan's Justice Minister Bob
48:30Mitchell was concerned there wasn't
48:32anything to inquire into as the Supreme
48:35Court ruling stated there was nothing
48:37improper with either the police
48:39investigation or the trial Bob Mitchell
48:42was also refusing to lay charges against
48:44Larry Fisher for Gail Miller's murder
48:46saying quote there's nothing more to be
48:49done with it it's something I think we
48:51should all just try to to put behind us
48:52and carry on with life that wasn't going
48:55to happen things were just getting
48:57warmed up completely unrelated to the
48:59case but still significant in May of
49:021995 Albert could drain or shorty was
49:06shot and killed by a hunter and Mission
49:08British Columbia who apparently mistook
49:11him for a bear the whole story sounds a
49:13little sketchy to be honest shorty was
49:16apparently checking on a marijuana crop
49:18and the hunter was only about 80 feet
49:21away when he was shot I mean it is a
49:23possibility but the whole marijuana
49:26thing factored in I don't know it just
49:28sounds a little weird in 1995 another
49:31man named gay pal Moran who was
49:34convicted for the murder of a little
49:35girl in Ontario and who had spent 10
49:38years in prison for the crime had just
49:40been cleared by DNA testing DNA tests
49:44had greatly improved since milgard's
49:46previous test in 1988 and 1992. he
49:49contacted maren's lawyer Jane James
49:52lockyer who would join David's legal
49:54team and negotiated with the federal
49:56justice department for DNA testing
49:58another two years would pass and then
50:01finally in May of 1997 the test would be
50:05conducted by the British forensic
50:07science services in England at the time
50:09it was believed to be the oldest
50:11evidence to undergo DNA testing in an
50:14attempt to exonerate a person convicted
50:16of a crime Larry Fisher's DNA was also
50:19tested and compared and on July 19 1997
50:2427 years after being convicted it was
50:27announced that DNA tests officially
50:30cleared Milgard not only that but the
50:32DNA sample conclusively matched Larry
50:35Fisher but the Saskatoon police were
50:37still reluctant to file charges against
50:39Larry Fisher saying that if the DNA
50:42results were released by David milgard's
50:44lawyers they would consider Larry Fisher
50:46as their Prime Suspect but in the
50:49meantime they had no plans to charge him
50:51and insisting that they don't have
50:53enough evidence to make an arrest Bob
50:55Caldwell and serge kajawa the two men
50:58who prosecuted David Milgard immediately
51:01issued a public apology for the failing
51:03of the system but they also maintained
51:06that they did nothing wrong but the
51:08apology in itself was just weird Bob
51:11Caldwell had gone way beyond the call of
51:14duty by sending the parole board
51:16detailed information over the years in
51:19an effort to convince the parole board
51:21not to release David and kajawa had made
51:24many inappropriate statements since
51:26David's release this wasn't really a
51:29heartfelt apology this was them trying
51:31to salvage their political careers the
51:34Saskatoon police however outright
51:36refused to make an apology or even admit
51:39they made a mistake instead the police
51:42chief just blamed press hysteria over
51:45the case and that the media was just
51:48stirring up controversy because the
51:50Saskatoon police refused to do their job
51:53and arrest Larry Fisher the RCMP took
51:56over the case and almost immediately
51:58issued a canada-wide warrant for his
52:00arrest Larry Fisher would be arrested in
52:03Late July 1997 in Calgary and charged
52:07with the 1969 murder of Gail Miller
52:10funny how the Saskatoon Police
52:12Department didn't think there was enough
52:13evidence to charge him but the RCMP did
52:16the Saskatchewan government finally
52:19agreed to hold a public inquiry and to
52:21compensate David for the 23 years he
52:24spent in prison they really didn't have
52:26a choice if they fought compensation
52:29they would lose and end up costing the
52:31taxpayers more money in 1999 David
52:34Milgard was given a 10 million dollar
52:36compensation package from the provincial
52:39and federal government it would take
52:41another two years before Larry Fisher
52:44was brought to trial for Gail Miller's
52:46murder but in November of 1999 Larry
52:49Fisher would be found guilty of her rape
52:52and murder and sends to life in prison
52:54it would take another four years for the
52:56Saskatchewan government to announce
52:58there would be a public inquiry into how
53:00Milgard was wrongfully convicted for
53:03Gail Miller's murder and another two
53:05years for the inquiry to begin
53:06apparently the Saskatchewan government
53:09wanted to wait until all of Larry
53:11Fisher's appeals were exhausted before
53:13launching the inquiry when the Supreme
53:15Court of Canada refused to hear Fisher's
53:18appeal the public inquiry of David
53:21milgard's wrongful conviction began in
53:23January 2005. the inquiry ran for two
53:27years it called 114 witnesses to testify
53:31and had more than 3 000 exhibits the
53:35entire inquiry contained over 300 000
53:38pages and produced over forty thousand
53:41pages of transcripts in terms of costs
53:43the public inquiry of David milgard's
53:46wrongful conviction caused the province
53:48of Saskatchewan 11.2 million dollars
53:51that's on top of the 10 million dollars
53:53they had to pay David in 2008 the
53:57inquiry report was released with 13
53:59recommendations to reform prosecution
54:02and policing in Canada among these
54:05recommendations was a suggestion that
54:07the federal government established an
54:10independent review commission to examine
54:12the claims of wrongful convictions quote
54:15the criminal justice system failed David
54:18Milgard and that he might have been
54:20released sooner had the police followed
54:22up on a tip they received in 1980. the
54:26inquiry though also absolved the police
54:28of any wrongdoing and said that the
54:31investigation was done in accordance
54:33with the standards of the day and in
54:35good faith quote tunnel vision
54:38negligence and misconduct may have been
54:41alleged but is not shown said the
54:43commissioner the inquiry recommended for
54:46the federal government to create an
54:48independent body to review allegations
54:50of wrongful conviction the report stated
54:53that if such a body had existed Milgard
54:56might have been released from prison
54:57years earlier David however believes the
55:00truth was intentionally being covered up
55:02and that the police and the prosecutors
55:04knew that he was innocent but
55:06intentionally kept quiet about it to
55:09save their careers and their reputation
55:11Milgard says he understands the pressure
55:13his friends were placed under by a
55:16police force desperate for a conviction
55:18he says he's forgiven them both quote
55:21Nicole John was kept inside a jail cell
55:24until she did what they wanted her to do
55:27Wilson was told that he was probably
55:29going to be charged with murder if he
55:31didn't do what they wanted him to do in
55:34the end none of the questions regarding
55:37the alleged Larry Fisher cover-up were
55:39ever answered the inquiry acknowledged a
55:42terrible Injustice had occurred but
55:44neither the police or the prosecutor
55:46were held responsible for what happened
55:48to David the government just kind of
55:51wanted this whole mess to go away Larry
55:53Fisher would eventually die in prison in
55:562015 at the age of 65. David in the
56:00meantime became an advocate for the
56:02wrongfully accused telling CTV News
56:05Winnipeg he hoped his presence would
56:07Inspire and encourage other wrongfully
56:10convicted people to never give up their
56:12fight to prove their innocence and
56:14regain their freedom in his later years
56:16Milgard helped raise awareness about
56:19wrongful convictions and demanded action
56:22on the way Canadian courts review
56:24convictions quote I think it's important
56:27for everybody not just lawyers but for
56:30the public itself to be aware that
56:32wrongful convictions are taking place
56:34and that these people are sitting right
56:36now behind bars and they're trying to
56:39get out the policies that are keeping
56:41them there need to be changed the
56:44wrongful conviction review process is
56:46failing us all miserably David would
56:49continue his advocacy work until May
56:51date of 2022 when sadly David passed
56:56away at the age of 69 from complications
56:59related to pneumonia and that brings me
57:01to the end of this very sad story David
57:04also had a YouTube channel if you'd like
57:06to know more about him I will link the
57:08Channel Down Below thank you so much for
57:10taking the time to hang out with me if
57:12you enjoyed this video please hit the
57:14like button I think I'm going to cover
57:16more of these wrongfully convicted cases
57:18while I was researching this one I
57:20discovered there were quite a few that
57:22have kind of been lost in history if you
57:24would like to support my channel you can
57:25go to buy me a coffee to donate the
57:28links to all my socials are also down
57:29below thank you so much for watching and
57:32I will see you next time

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