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Commission
of Inquiry Into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard
(page 4)
Honourable Mr. Justice Edward
P. MacCallum, Commissioner
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Pre-inquiry
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to give inquiry another $700,000
Justice
minister granted standing at Milgaard inquiry
Janet French, The StarPhoenix, March 07, 2005
Federal Justice Minister Irwin
Cotler has been granted standing at the David Milgaard inquiry
by the judge who is looking into Milgaard's wrongful murder conviction.
The Department of Justice applied
to Justice Edward MacCallum for standing on Friday, after several
inquiry witnesses made reference to a Eugene Williams. Williams
worked in the unit that investigated Milgaard's applications
to the justice minister for a review of his first-degree murder
conviction.
"As a result of that testimony
being given about a working unit that advised the federal minister
of justice, the federal minister of justice would like to be
represented at the inquiry," said Stephen McLachlin, a Saskatoon-based
lawyer for the Department of Justice.
Milgaard spent 23 years in
prison for the 1969 murder of Gail Miller. He was released in
1992 and exonerated through DNA evidence in 1997. Serial rapist
Larry Fisher was convicted of the crime in 1999. The inquiry
is looking into the Miller death investigation, Milgaard's wrongful
conviction and the actions of justice officials in the years
afterwards.
Milgaard applied twice to Kim
Campbell, federal justice minister at the time, for a review
of his murder conviction under Section 690 of the Criminal Code,
McLachlin said. Williams worked in the unit that investigated
Section 690 applications and, during his review, interviewed
many people who had some knowledge of Milgaard or the crime.
The federal Justice Department
hadn't expected that process would come under scrutiny and therefore
didn't initially apply for standing at the inquiry, McLachlin
said. The justice minister wants to be represented in the same
way as the other organizations under scrutiny, he said.
"The commissioner (MacCallum)
would like to know everything about the whole history, so he
is allowing questions about how the witnesses were treated by
the unit that investigated the two applications that Mr. Milgaard
made in the late '80s and (early) '90s," McLachlin said.
"It's a whole different judicial process that's coming under
scrutiny."
MacCallum is expected to announce
Cotler has been granted standing today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Milgaard acted out mock
stabbing on pillow:
former friend
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
February 16, 2005
A former friend of David Milgaard's
told the Milgaard inquiry he remembers being at a Regina motel
room when Milgaard acted out a mock stabbing on a pillow, but
other people who gave police statements at the time did not support
his claim of being present at the event.
The inquiry is looking into
the police investigation of the January 1969 rape and murder
of nursing assistant Gail Miller, Milgaard's wrongful conviction
and the actions of justice authorities in the years afterwards.
Milgaard spent 23 years in prison before he was released in 1992.
DNA evidence proved his innocence in 1997 and was used to convict
serial rapist Larry Fisher in 1999.
Milgaard became a suspect in
the crime after his friend Albert Cadrain told police Milgaard
had blood on his clothes the morning of the murder. They and
two other teens then went on a week-long road trip to Alberta.
Fisher rented the basement of the Cadrain house on Avenue O South,
about two blocks from where Miller's body was found. Albert Cadrain
died in 1995. Three Regina teens testified at Milgaard's trial
that he enacted the murder at a motel room party in May, 1969.
Robert Harris, now 52, was
16 in 1969. He told the inquiry Tuesday he couldn't understand
why the police never contacted him about what he saw in the motel
that night, but did contact his buddies who had been there with
him.
Harris remembers being at the
Parklane Motel in May or June of 1969, where Milgaard was in
bed with one or both of two teenage girls who were there. Harris
remembers George Lapchuk and Craig Melnyk being there, too.
Someone made a joking accusation
at Milgaard about the Miller murder after they saw a news item
about it on television. Milgaard responded by straddling a pillow,
making a stabbing motion toward it and saying something to the
effect of, "Yeah, I killed her." Harris said he never
believed Milgaard really meant it.
Upon further questioning by
lawyers and a review of court transcripts, the inquiry heard
that Harris had been at the motel earlier on the day in question,
when only Milgaard and the girls, Ute Frank and Debbie Hall,
were there. Harris left and sometime that day encountered Lapchuk
and Melnyk. He told them where Milgaard was and they went to
the motel without Harris.
On Jan. 18, 1970, the day before
Milgaard's trial was set to begin, Ronald Wilson told police
he had learned of the mock pillow stabbing incident. Wilson was
one of the group who was with Milgaard the day of the murder,
went on the Alberta road trip and testified against him at the
trial.
Saskatoon police went to Regina
on Jan. 19, 1970, and obtained statements from Melnyk, Lapchuk
and Frank. All three described the mock pillow stabbing. None
said Harris was there.
Harris recalls riding in the
back seat of a car with Lapchuk and Melnyk in the front seat
as they returned to Regina after Lapchuk and Melnyk testified
about the motel incident at the trial in Saskatoon. Harris was
not involved in the conversation and didn't know exactly what
the other two had told the court.
Harris couldn't explain why
he wouldn't have asked more questions or why he didn't go to
authorities to say he'd been at the motel and didn't believe
Milgaard was serious. He acknowledged, after the review of the
record, that police probably didn't contact him for a statement
because nobody said he was there. Albert Cadrain's brother, Dennis
Cadrain, told the inquiry Monday he thinks Albert was mentally
ill when he testified against Milgaard. Dennis said he told his
mother before Albert testified at the preliminary hearing that
Albert had spoken of seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary standing
on a snake with Milgaard's face.
Authorities should have helped
Albert but instead they used him, Dennis Cadrain said.
Under cross examination Tuesday,
Dennis Cadrain acknowledged that his mother was an intelligent,
educated woman, who taught kindergarten, read the paper and was
involved in her children's lives. Albert Cadrain's ex-wife, Barbara
Cadrain, told the inquiry her husband spoke highly of detective
Eddy Karst who interrogated him before he gave a statement implicating
David Milgaard in the murder.
However, she also said Albert
told her the police treated him badly when they interrogated
him. They used hot lights and intimidated him.
Barbara Cadrain believed Albert
when he first told her about having seen blood on Milgaard's
clothing, but over the years she stopped believing the story
because of his erratic mood changes and other outlandish stories.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Milgaard's 'I killed
her' comment just a joke: witness
CBC, Feb 16 2005
SASKATOON - The David Milgaard inquiry has heard
some doubt cast on more key evidence from his 1970 murder trial.
During the trial, four people came forward with a disturbing
story about a party at a Regina motel the night before Milgaard's
arrest.
They said that when a news
story came on about the murder of 20-year-old nursing assistant
Gail Miller, Milgaard's friends started teasing him, knowing
he was a suspect at the time.
They testified that in response
to the teasing Milgaard grabbed a pillow, held it between his
legs and made stabbing motions saying "Yeah, I killed her".
The so-called reenactment was important evidence against Milgaard,
who was convicted and spent 23 years behind bars for a crime
he didn't commit.
But now the inquiry into Milgaard's
wrongful conviction has heard a different version of the party
story.
Bob Harris was at the party
and while he confirmed Milgaard said words to the effect of "Yeah,
I killed her," he said he saw his actions as a goofy joke
rather than an admission to murder.
"I do believe it was just
an act," Harris said. "I don't believe for a minute
it was an actual reenactment of the crime."
Ask why he believed that, Harris
answered: "'Cause I knew David better than that."
Harris said no one in the room
at the time seemed to believe Milgaard.
Harris never spoke to anyone
about his version of events for more than 20 years.
Asked why he didn't come forward
on his own, Harris said he was just scared.
Earlier in the inquiry, the
commission heard doubt case on another key piece of evidence
that put police on the trail of Milgaard allegations he
had blood on his clothes the morning of the murder.
The inquiry began last month
and is expected to run for a year.
Milgaard friend makes
new confession allegation
Melnyk's story alleges Milgaard admitted to murder while stoned
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
February 17, 2005
A brand new allegation about
David Milgaard confessing to murder came out at the Milgaard
inquiry Wednesday.
The revelation was met with
skepticism by lawyers for Milgaard and his mother, Joyce Milgaard.
Milgaard was 16 in 1969 when
he was charged with killing Saskatoon nursing assistant Gail
Miller while passing through Saskatoon on a road trip.
He was convicted after the
friends who had travelled with him gave damning testimony about
his activities the day of the murder. That evidence was bolstered
by three other teens, who had partied with Milgaard a few months
later and said he had used a pillow to re-enact a stabbing, while
saying he had killed Miller. Milgaard spent 23 years in prison
before the Supreme Court ordered his release in 1992. DNA was
used to exonerate him in 1997 and was used to convict serial
rapist Larry Fisher of the crime in 1999.
The commission of inquiry is
looking into the Miller death investigation, Milgaard's wrongful
conviction and the actions taken by justice officials in the
years following the conviction.
Craig Melnyk is one of three
people who testified at Milgaard's 1970 trial that he had seen
Milgaard pretend to stab a pillow while saying that he had "killed
her" or had "stabbed her 14 times."
Melnyk gave several impassioned,
exasperated statements, saying he wished he had never given any
information about the incident, and discussing the stress he
has suffered by having his story called into question over the
years.
Since the trial, Melnyk has
repeated the original, motel room story to RCMP, to the Supreme
Court in 1992 and to a Regina newspaper reporter, but Melnyk
never disclosed, until now, that Milgaard had earlier made a
spontaneous admission, while he was in a car with Melnyk and
the other two teens who testified about the motel room re-enactment.
Melnyk said he withheld the
car incident because he was a "young criminal" at the
time and he didn't want to tell the police anything. Over the
years, he continued to withhold the story because he just wanted
to put the Milgaard matter behind him, he said Wednesday.
Melnyk said that at some point,
probably before the motel incident, he was in a car with Milgaard,
their friend, George Lapchuk, and a girl, Ute Frank. They were
all stoned on mescaline, Melnyk recalled.
Milgaard, who was under suspicion
for the Miller murder at the time, ripped off his shirt, jumped
into the back seat and "stated something like, 'I killed
her,' " Melnyk said.
Milgaard had a "very aggressive"
facial expression when he said it and used a forceful tone of
voice, Melnyk said.
Lapchuk and Melnyk were "freaked
out," and got out of the car. They looked at the stars while
Milgaard and Frank stayed in the car and had sex, Melnyk said.
Melnyk acknowledged that he
never told authorities about either incident until the eve of
Milgaard's trial. At the time, Melnyk was awaiting trial for
armed robbery. He said he was never offered any incentive to
tell the story and never received any favour as a result of his
testimony.
He and another man were convicted
of the robbery sometime after the Milgaard conviction. Melnyk
was sentenced to six months while the other man got 21/2 years.
A newspaper article about it indicated Melnyk received an inordinately
lenient sentence.
Melnyk said Wednesday he never
committed the robbery and was wrongly convicted.
Melnyk, who was a member of
the Regina Apollo motorcycle club, was also charged with first-degree
murder in 1986, along with a fellow Apollo member. Melnyk testified
for the defence in his co-accused's trial. The charge against
him was stayed.
Saskatoon police heard about
the motel room incident from Ron Wilson on the day before Milgaard's
trial began on Monday, Jan. 19, 1970. Wilson was one of the travelling
companions who was with Milgaard the day of the murder. Wilson,
Melnyk and Milgaard all knew each other.
Saskatoon detective Eddy Karst
went to Regina on the Monday and obtained statements about the
motel incident from Melnyk, Lapchuk and Frank. Melnyk said the
three of them did not discuss what they'd told police.
It was a coincidence that Lapchuk
and Frank withheld the story about the admission in the car,
just as he had done, Melnyk said. It was also a coincidence that
the three people in the car with Milgaard also happened to be
present in the motel when Milgaard pretended to stab a pillow
after Lapchuk bugged him about the murder, Melnyk said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
More than one mystery
within Milgaard case
Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenix,
February 17, 2005
The central mystery in the
Milgaard inquiry, of course, is how an innocent man came to spend
23 years in prison for a sex murder he did not commit. Within
this context, however, are a host of other mysteries large and
small.
For instance:
Among the key witnesses testifying
against David Milgaard at his trial in 1970 was his friend Craig
Melnyk. He said he'd been at a party in a Regina hotel room when
Milgaard confessed to and re-enacted the murder. He further testified
that he believed Milgaard to be capable of murder.
Melnyk gave more or less the
same account Wednesday at the inquiry. The mystery is why he'd
have implicated his friend. By Melnyk's own account, he was at
the time "a little criminal." For someone in that circle
to help police convict a friend was to be labelled a rat. This,
he understated, "wasn't the thing to do." And yet that's
exactly what he did.
Melnyk was approached by Saskatoon
police after they learned second-hand of the re-enactment. He
could easily have said he didn't know what they were talking
about, as criminals typically do. He could have helped his friend
by minimizing the incident. He could have refused even to talk
to police. Instead, he provided them with damning evidence that
helped clinch Milgaard's conviction.
Melnyk was at the time facing
charges in Regina for armed robbery. He was later convicted and
sentenced to six months, reportedly the lightest sentence ever
imposed on an armed robber. It seems unlikely, however, that
this was a reward for testifying against Milgaard. The prosecutor
in Melnyk's armed robbery case was seeking a longer sentence.
Rather, it was the judge who was inexplicably lenient. But a
judge almost certainly would not have been party to any deal.
Melnyk's explanation for informing
on Milgaard is less than convincing. He told the inquiry that
he'd initially mentioned the murder re-enactment to another friend.
By the time he was questioned by police, the cat was out of the
bag. But why did he help shake even more cats out of the bag?
It's a mystery.
HERE'S ANOTHER mystery, this
one regarding the police investigation. It was more than a month
after the murder that Milgaard became a suspect. That's when
police learned that he'd been in the vicinity of the crime scene
the morning of the murder. The mystery is why police didn't learn
of this sooner.
Milgaard and two companions
that morning visited the Cadrain home on 19th Street and Avenue
O, just a little more than a block away from where Gail Miller
was raped and stabbed to death. There, they arranged a tow for
their broken-down car, unloaded some luggage and enjoyed a leisurely
breakfast, among other things. This was at the time a stable,
working-class, residential neighbourhood. You'd think a door-to-door
police canvass would have turned up someone who remembered these
hippie-type strangers with car problems.
You'd think someone at the
Cadrains, or one of their neighbours, would have mentioned this
when asked if they'd seen anything unusual that morning. And
yet there is no indication that the police canvass turned up
anything useful.
Ironically, one of the people
who was canvassed was Linda Fisher, wife of Larry Fisher, the
serial rapist later convicted of the crime. By incredible co-incidence,
the Fishers were then renting a basement suite in the Cadrain
home. Linda, who then knew nothing of her husband's crimes, was
unable to help. Larry was also questioned by police as he waited
for the bus. It figures that he had nothing useful to offer.
But why didn't anyone else notice the Milgaard group?
As the days and weeks went
by with the monstrous crime remaining unsolved, you'd think police
would have canvassed the neighbourhood repeatedly. Still, they
turned up nothing. It was almost as if Milgaard and his companions
were invisible.
This is not to suggest police
weren't busy. Reports indicate they were investigating no fewer
than 200 possible suspects. Neither Milgaard nor Fisher was among
them.
HERE'S A THIRD MYSTERY, this
one involving Albert Cadrain, the key witness against Milgaard.
In 1992, Cadrain was summoned
to Ottawa to testify at Milgaard's hearing before the Supreme
Court. On that trip, Cadrain's suitcase was apparently lost by
Air Canada. It was returned to him sometime after he returned
home.
Nothing mysterious about that.
Airlines lose and return bags all the time. In this case, however,
Cadrain's luggage contained detailed, handwritten notes he'd
made to refresh his memory for his court appearance. They were
still in his bag when it was returned to him. Later, however,
copies of those notes somehow ended up in the hands of the RCMP.
This isn't something they mention
at the lost luggage counter.
The mystery might be resolved
when the officer who had the notes is called to testify before
the inquiry. Other mysteries will likely prove more stubborn.
- les.macpherson@TheSP.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
-
-
- Supposed confession
sarcastic, inquiry hears
Milgaard's actions 'twisted' by others: woman's testimony
-
- Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
February 18, 2005
One of the teenage girls present
in a motel room the night David Milgaard is said to have re-enacted
the murder of Gail Miller said she had no idea until years later
that Milgaard's activities at the motel that night had been used
to help convict him.
Deborah Hall, now 52, told
the Milgaard inquiry Thursday she thought Milgaard was being
sarcastic when he responded to a question about the murder by
saying he had done it, while punching a pillow to fluff it up.
The Milgaard inquiry is looking
into the 1969 investigation into Miller's death, Milgaard's wrongful
conviction and actions of justice authorities in the years afterwards.
Milgaard spent 23 years in prison before he was released in 1992.
DNA was used to prove his innocence in 1997 and to convict serial
rapist Larry Fisher of the crime in 1999.
Hall said one of her hairdressing
clients in 1981 was a journalist, Chris O'Brien, who recognized
her name from Milgaard's trial transcripts. O'Brien interviewed
Hall and the two of them compared the trial transcripts with
Hall's memory of the incident.
Two boys who had been at the
motel room party in May 1969, Craig Melnyk and George Lapchuk,
had testified against Milgaard, saying he pretended to stab a
pillow while saying that he had killed Saskatoon nursing assistant
Gail Miller.
Melnyk and Lapchuk told the
court in January 1970 that Hall and her girlfriend, Ute Frank,
were also there that night. Hall, then 15, had run away from
home in the summer of 1969 and had gone to Montreal, where she
did not hear about the trial.
Hall told O'Brien she was shocked
that others had interpreted Milgaard's remarks as a serious confession
because she thought Milgaard was being sarcastic when he made
the statements.
Milgaard was fluffing up and
punching a pillow when Lapchuk kidded him about killing Miller
after the television news showed an item about it. That pillow-softening
action was "twisted" by Lapchuk and Melnyk, Hall said.
About five years later, Milgaard's
lawyer, David Asper, contacted Hall to make a statement about
what she had seen. Hall testified at the Supreme Court on Milgaard's
behalf in 1991.
Although Hall did not think
Milgaard had really murdered someone, she was not impressed with
his character.
She and Frank were acquainted
with him when they met up at a downtown Regina park and accepted
his invitation to party in his hotel room. On the way there,
Milgaard ripped off a boy who gave Milgaard money to buy drugs
for him, Hall said. Milgaard bought the drugs but instead of
giving them to the boy, he shared them with the girls. Hall thought
the capsules they took were synthetic THC. Hall said Asper told
her years later that Milgaard had actually given the girls horse
tranquillizers.
Sometime after they arrived
at the motel, Lapchuk and Melnyk also showed up. Hall remembers
Robert Harris arriving at some point, too. Harris's presence
has been the subject of debate because at the 1970 trial no one
ever mentioned him being there. Witnesses only included Harris
years afterwards. Harris has said he was there but was not contacted
by authorities at the time.
Hall said she remembers Milgaard
injecting Harris with the drug from the capsule.
Milgaard and Frank had sex
in the bed while the other teens were present. At one point,
Milgaard, who was naked, came and sat on Hall's lap and invited
her to join him and Frank in bed. Hall said she declined.
She said Thursday Milgaard
took advantage of Frank while she was stoned, which, along with
the drug rip-off, made her distrust him.
A couple of weeks later, Frank
told Hall that Milgaard had been arrested for a rape and murder.
Hall recalls that she replied with a sarcastic comment that she
was sure it was true. Hall thought the remark was gossip and
didn't realize the murder in question was the same incident the
boys had been joking about in the motel room.
The inquiry resumes on Monday.
Transcripts of and documents used at the inquiry are available
on its website, at www.milgaardinquiry.ca.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Milgaard witness offers
different version of events
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
February 22, 2005
The memory of the current witness
at the Milgaard inquiry has produced some dramatically different
recollections from those of other people who were present at
the same event.
Ute Frank's recollection has
also expanded since 1970, when, as a troubled 17-year-old, she
gave Saskatoon police her first statement about a motel room
party where David Milgaard is said to have pretended to stab
a pillow while saying that he "killed her."
Frank acknowledged lying or
telling incomplete versions of events at various times over the
years.
She is the only one of five
or six people present in a Regina motel room in May 1969 who
says that after the television news showed an item about the
January 1969 murder in Saskatoon of nursing assistant Gail Miller,
Milgaard threw himself repeatedly against the walls until his
face was covered in blood and that he grabbed a syringe and stabbed
a pillow with it, while declaring he had "killed the bitch."
Asked why, when interviewed
by a federal justice official in 1991, she omitted an allegation
that Milgaard threatened to kill her if she told what she'd seen,
Frank responded: "What difference did it make by that time?"
Milgaard, who was 16 at the
time of Miller's death, spent 23 years in prison before being
released in 1992 at the direction of the Supreme Court. He was
proven innocent with DNA evidence in 1997. The DNA tests were
used to convict serial rapist Larry Fisher of the crime in 1999.
The inquiry is looking into
the Miller death investigation, Milgaard's wrongful conviction
and actions of justice officials in the years afterwards.
Frank also told the inquiry
Monday there were 15 to 20 people present when the strange behaviour
occurred and that most of them left while it was happening because
they were afraid it would draw attention and police to their
drug party.
She claimed Milgaard became
angry afterwards, placed a chair under the motel room door handle
and prevented the three remaining teens from leaving. She also
said Milgaard threatened to kill her, Craig Melnyk and George
Lapchuk if they ever spoke of what they had heard.
That version of events did
not emerge until 24 years after the event. By then, she had given
statements to police and the prosecutor in 1969, to the RCMP,
a federal justice employee and had testified at the Supreme Court
of Canada.
When asked why she didn't include
those details in earlier versions, Frank said she was terrified
in 1970.
By the time of the 1991 Supreme
Court hearing, Frank said, "I thought what was the point?
He was in prison already. Who cares?"
Melnyk and Deborah Hall, who
were there, and Robert Harris, who may have been there, have
already testified Milgaard made a stabbing motion on a pillow
and gave different versions of his exact words.
None said Milgaard threw himself
against walls. No one else said there was a syringe involved
in the mock pillow stabbing.
Harris and Hall said nobody
in the room took Milgaard seriously, while Frank and two others
have said they knew Milgaard had been questioned by the police
about the Miller murder and believed that he was stating fact.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
- Testimony tarnishes
Milgaard
lawyer: Stories of youthful indiscretions blacken reputation
a second time
-
- Betty Ann Adam of The StarPhoenix,
February 23, 2005
David Milgaard's name is being
tarnished all over again as lawyers review negative statements
about him pertaining to the crime for which he was wrongfully
convicted, the lawyer for his mother charged Tuesday during the
Milgaard inquiry
"David Milgaard was a
victim of the criminal justice system," said lawyer James
Lockyer.
Lockyer said Joyce Milgaard
worked for years fighting for her son's reputation and was successful
in using DNA evidence to prove his innocence.
It is unfair to Milgaard to
have his reputation blackened again, Lockyer said.
"You don't have to hear
a revictimization of the victim," said Lockyer, adding one
of the inquiry's tasks is to find out how the teenager was wrongfully
convicted of murder.
The inquiry is looking into
the police investigation of the January 1969 rape and murder
of Saskatoon nursing assistant Gail Miller, Milgaard's wrongful
conviction and the actions taken by justice officials in the
years afterwards.
A series of coincidences led
Saskatoon police to the 16-year-old hippy: Milgaard was travelling
through Saskatoon the morning of Miller's death; he and two other
teens had driven around the neighbourhood where Miller was murdered;
they got stuck in a snowy alley near the alley where Miller's
body was found; the teens visited the Pleasant Hill residence
of 17-year-old Albert Cadrain, whose parents just happened to
be renting the basement to the real killer, Larry Fisher.
At the time, no one knew that
Fisher had recently sexually assaulted two women in the neighbourhood.
Milgaard was convicted of killing
Miller after his friends gave damning evidence against him. That
was bolstered by evidence from another group of teens who said
he had, later that year, re-enacted the murder in a Regina motel
room.
Milgaard spent 23 years in
prison before the Supreme Court ordered his release in 1992.
DNA evidence proved his innocence in 1997 and was used to convict
Fisher in 1999.
On Tuesday, Lockyer took issue
with questions posed by lawyer Aaron Fox, who represents former
Saskatoon police detective Eddy Karst. Fox was reviewing details
of a March 1969 statement made by one of Milgaard's former girlfriends,
Sharon Williams.
Williams had written an 11-page
statement on her experiences with Milgaard in the year she had
known him. Williams had run away with Milgaard, used drugs with
him and had sex with him.
Lockyer said Joyce Milgaard
has also found it difficult to listen to the statements about
her son that have been made by other witnesses at the inquiry.
Fox argued that Milgaard's
guilt or innocence is not at issue during the inquiry. Instead,
the inquiry must find out how he was wrongfully convicted.
"What information did
police base their actions upon? Were the witnesses credible?"
Fox asked.
"You can't say David Milgaard
is off limits."
Inquiry commissioner Justice
Edward MacCallum agreed there should be no gratuitous attacks
on character.
He also made a slip of the
tongue, saying he is charged with finding out if Milgaard was
wrongfully convicted. Lockyer noted for MacCallum that there
is no doubt of the wrongful conviction.
MacCallum also said he regrets
that people, probably including police and prosecutors, will
be embarrassed by some parts of the evidence.
"That's just too bad.
We're searching after the truth and we'll go where the evidence
leads us," MacCallum said.
Lawyer Catherine Knox, who
represents former Crown prosecutor T.D.R. Caldwell, said she
should be allowed to examine all of the evidence against Milgaard
so it will make its way onto the public record through the media,
since many members of the public do not have access to computer
records about the case.
As a prosecutor, Caldwell would
have referred to police statements to help him evaluate whether
the accused could possibly have committed the act, Knox said.
MacCallum will rule today on
how much negative information about Milgaard's youth lawyers
will be allowed to draw out.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
- Witness stuck to story
until death
Teen claimed to see Milgaard re-enact murder
-
- Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
February 24, 2005
One of the teens who said David
Milgaard re-enacted a murder in a Regina motel room stuck with
his story until his death in 2004.
George Lapchuk was one of four
teens who were with Milgaard at a motel room party about four
months after Saskatoon nursing assistant Gail Miller was raped
and murdered in Saskatoon in January 1969.
The inquiry into Milgaard's
wrongful conviction listened Wednesday to portions of the statements
Lapchuk made at Milgaard's January 1970 trial and several other
interviews over the years.
He never backed away from his
claim that he saw Milgaard straddle a pillow, pretend to stab
it and say he had "killed her."
Other witnesses who were present
have said they thought Milgaard was being sarcastic because two
of his friends, who knew he had been questioned by police, had
been bothering him with accusing questions about the murder.
The statements entered Thursday
included two recorded conversations between Lapchuk and Milgaard's
mother, Joyce Milgaard, in 1981, when she had begun making public
statements about the possibility of a miscarriage of justice
in her son's case.
Lapchuk told Joyce Milgaard
he believed David had committed the murder but he was willing
to hear her out. He said he was mystified about the reactions
of other witnesses Joyce Milgaard was trying to talk to. Some
were meeting to discuss the matter, but refused absolutely to
talk with Lapchuk or Milgaard.
Lapchuk died from natural causes.
Milgaard's former girlfriend,
Sharon Williams, testified Tuesday and Wednesday. She said Milgaard
and three friends, Ron Wilson, Albert Cadrain and Nicole John,
visited her in St. Albert, Alta., in early February 1969.
She said she didn't notice
anything unusual about Milgaard's behaviour during the day and
night she spent with him.
Albert Cadrain's friend, Leonard
Gorgchuk, supported parts of a story Cadrain told investigators
about their trip to Regina a week before Miller was murdered.
Gorgchuk smiled as he listened
to his now-deceased friend's voice on a 14-year-old tape recording
in which Cadrain recounts how the two of them used to eat peanut
butter sandwiches and drink tea while they played chess all night.
Gorgchuk acknowledged they smoked tea leaves a couple of times,
hoping to get a marijuana high.
He said Cadrain was honest
and quiet. He never saw any sign of the mental illness that Cadrain
was later diagnosed with.
Also on Wednesday, commissioner
Justice Edward MacCallum ruled that lawyers must justify the
relevance of evidence that attacks a person's character before
MacCallum will allow it to be read out at the hearings.
The ruling came after lawyers
for the Milgaards complained Tuesday that lawyers for police
and justice officials were unfairly focusing on statements that
made unsubstantiated, negative comments about David Milgaard.
Counsel for police and justice
officials argued they needed to demonstrate, for the public record,
what evidence police relied upon in 1969 to justify their suspicions
about Milgaard.
MacCallum said Wednesday if
lawyers can demonstrate the relevance of their examination, he
will allow the questions. MacCallum will have use of entire documents,
regardless of which portions are highlighted by counsel.
The ruling does not prevent
public access to any of the information MacCallum won't allow:
all of the documents referred to will be posted on the inquiry's
website, www.milgaardinquiry.ca.
Milgaard spent 23 years in
prison for the murder.
He was released in 1992 and
exonerated through DNA evidence in 1997. Serial rapist Larry
Fisher was convicted of the crime in 1999.
The inquiry is looking into
the Miller death investigation, Milgaard's wrongful conviction
and actions of justice officials in the years afterwards.
The inquiry has adjourned for
a regularly scheduled break. It will resume March 7 in Saskatoon.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. 
