David Milgaard (July 7, 1952 – May 15, 2022) was a Canadian man who was

wrongfully convicted A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. In ...

for the 1969 rape and murder of

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ca ...

student Gail Miller in Saskatoon and imprisoned for 23 years. He was eventually released and exonerated. Up until his death, he lived in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Terri ...

and was employed as a community support worker. Milgaard was also a public speaker who advocated for the wrongfully convicted and for all prisoners' rights.

Arrest, trial and exoneration

In January 1969, 16-year-old Milgaard and his friends Ron Wilson and Nichol John embarked on a trip across Canada. The three were in Saskatoon visiting their friend Albert Cadrain when a 20-year-old nursing student, Gail Miller, was found dead on a snowbank in the vicinity of the Cadrain home. Under pressure to solve a crime that had generated significant publicity, police focused their attention on Milgaard, Wilson and John. In an attempt to clear his name and assist the investigation, Milgaard turned himself in to police in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

. Police sent him back to Saskatoon, where he was charged with Miller's murder. David's friends John and Wilson were coerced by police into giving

false confession A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interroga ...

s. Cadrain also gave a false confession and later testified that he had seen Milgaard return the night of Miller's murder in blood-stained clothing. Wilson and John told police they had been with him the entire day and that they believed him to be innocent, but changed their stories after police threatened them with prosecution if they did not cooperate. With Cadrain, John and Wilson's testimony, Milgaard was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison on January 31, 1970, exactly a year after Miller's murder. In 1971, Milgaard's appeal was rejected by the

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (SKCA) is a Canadian appellate court. Jurisdiction and structure The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is the highest court in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. There are 8 official judicial positions, incl ...

, and the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear his appeal. Milgaard later wrote of the hardships he faced in prison, where he was raped and later attempted suicide.

Exoneration

Milgaard's lawyers and his mother Joyce worked for many years on clearing his name. A formal application for appeal was completed in 1988, but was not considered until 1991 when the federal government submitted a

reference question In Canadian law, a reference question or reference case (formally called abstract review) is a submission by the federal or a provincial government to the courts asking for an advisory opinion on a major legal issue. Typically the question concer ...

to the Supreme Court of Canada, which recommended Milgaard's conviction be set aside.

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female p ...

, the federal minister of justice at the time, ordered that pursuant to section 690 of the

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

a new trial be held on the murder charge against Milgaard. However, the government of Saskatchewan announced it would not do so, instead entering a

stay of proceedings Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a t ...

in the case against Milgaard, releasing him from prison on April 16, 1992. On July 18, 1997, a DNA laboratory in the United Kingdom released a report confirming that semen samples on the victim's clothing did not originate from Milgaard, effectively exonerating Milgaard of the crime. On May 17, 1999, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced that a settlement had been reached with Milgaard, and that he would be paid C$10 million compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages and legal fees.

Inquiry

On September 30, 2003, the Saskatchewan government announced a royal commission would investigate Milgaard's wrongful conviction. On February 20, 2004, Justice Edward P. MacCallum was announced as the commissioner. On September 26, 2008, the Saskatchewan Minister of Justice, Don Morgan, released the findings of the Milgaard inquiry. Among its recommendations were a call for the federal government to create an independent body to review allegations of wrongful conviction. The report noted that if such a body had existed, Milgaard might have been released from jail years earlier than he actually was. Linda Fisher, ex-wife of Larry Fisher, visited the Saskatoon police department in 1980. She told the police that she believed her former husband had likely killed Miller. The Saskatoon police department did not follow up on her statement. The inquiry report released by MacCallum states:

ile MacCallum noted that Milgaard's family members mounted a formidable public awareness campaign, their efforts also created tension and resentment within the police and the Crown's office.

Real killer

The DNA evidence that exonerated Milgaard led police to Larry Earl Fisher (August 21, 1949 – June 10, 2015), who was renting the basement of the Cadrain family home in January 1969. Fisher was

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be quest ...

ed on July 25, 1997, in Calgary and

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is cons ...

of Miller's murder on November 22, 1999. Fisher, who had previously served a total of 23 years for numerous rapes committed in

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, was handed a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan unanimously denied the

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

of his conviction in September 2003. Fisher was eligible for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

on multiple occasions, but opted not to have his case heard by the National Parole Board. He died on June 10, 2015, at the Pacific Institution in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, adjacent to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With an estimated population of 153,524 people it is the largest municipality in the province outside metro ...

Life after release

After his release, Milgaard married his partner Cristina. Together, they had two children, a son and a daughter. As of January 2020, Milgaard was living in

Cochrane, Alberta Cochrane ( ) is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. The town is located west of the Calgary city limits along Highway 1A. Cochrane is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, and with a population of 32,199 ...

. In 2021 he posted several videos on his YouTube channel 'Project Milgaard'. He had recently been appointed to the Independent Review Board Working Group, an entity whose creation was ordered by Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 20 ...

in December 2019. A news item stated that "he has helped in the fight for the creation of a review board for cases of wrongful conviction". Milgaard became ill on May 14, 2022. A resident of

, he was taken to a hospital in Calgary where he later died at the age of 69 from complications of pneumonia.

In popular culture

The Milgaard case has been the subject of two movies: the 1992 documentary ''The David Milgaard Story'', directed by

Vic Sarin Victor Sarin (born 1945) is an Indian-born Canadian/United States, American film Film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. His work as a cinematographer includes ''Partition (2007 film), Partition'', ''Margaret's Museum' ...

, and the 1999 docudrama '' Milgaard'', directed by Stephen Williams and starring

Ian Tracey Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

. The song "Wheat Kings" by

the Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

(from their 1992 album ''

Fully Completely ''Fully Completely'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. The album was released in October 1992 and produced by Chris Tsangarides. The album produced six singles: " Locked in the Trunk of a Car", " Fifty Mission ...

'') contains references to the story. Canadian artist David Collier described the Milgaard case in

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

form in his 2000 book ''Surviving Saskatoon''.

References

External links

*
CBC.ca Indepth: Timeline of David Milgaard story

CBC Digital Archives: The Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milgaard, David 1952 births 2022 deaths Milgaard, David Deaths from pneumonia in Alberta Overturned convictions in Canada People from Winnipeg People wrongfully convicted of murder People wrongfully convicted of rape