David Milgaard

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Milgaard's mugshot

David Milgaard (born 1954) is a Canadian who was wrongfully convicted for the murder and rape of nursing assistant Gail Miller. His case received international attention and today is a staple of high school and university legal studies.

In 1969, Milgaard along with two friends, Ron Wilson and Nichol John, decided on a whim to take a road trip across the Canadian prairies, a trip which involved some drug use and petty theft. Ron Wilson would later testify against Milgaard, claiming among other things, that Milgaard had stolen a flashlight from a grain elevator outside Aylesbury, Saskatchewan.

While the friends were in Saskatoon, a 20 year old nursing student, Gail Miller was found dead on a snowbank. At the time Milgaard and his friends were stopping to pick up a casual friend Albert Cadrain, whose family was renting out their basement to Larry Fisher, an ex-con who would later be found guilty of the crime.

Tipped off by Cadrain, who admitted he was mostly interested in the $2000 reward for information, British Columbia police arrested Milgaard in May of 1969 and sent him back to Saskatchewan where he was charged with Miller's murder. Cadrain testified that he had seen Milgaard return the night of Miller's murder in blood-stained clothing, and claimed that the teenage Milgaard was also a secret Mafia member who was plotting to have witnesses assassinated. His grip on reality however was less than secure, and he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital several months later after claiming he was the Son of God.

Both Ron and Nichol were also called to testify against him. They had originally told police that they had been with Milgaard the entire day and that they believed him to be innocent, but they changed their stories for the court. Ron later recanted his testimony claiming that he had been told he was personally under suspicion and wanted to alleviate the pressure on himself.

Milgaard was sentenced to life in prison, on January 31, 1970, at the age of 16 — exactly a year after Miller's murder.

He appealed his innocence several times, but was blocked both by bureaucracy and by a justice system unreceptive to those who were not willing to admit their guilt, considered a sign of lack of remorse. His formal application was completed in 1988, but was not considered until 1991 after a Liberal MP, Lloyd Axworthy addressed the Parliament: "...I wish to speak of a travesty of justice. I speak of the plight of David Milgaard who has spent the last twenty-one years of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. Yet for the last two years, the Department of Justice has been sitting on an application to reopen his case…. But rather than review these conclusive reports, rather than appreciate the agony and trauma of the Milgaard family, the Minister of Justice refuses to act."

Parliament acted, and rejected Milgaard's application for a Conviction Review. In her 1996 autobiography Time and Chance, former Prime Minister (and then Justice Minister) Kim Campbell devotes an entire chapter to Milgaard. In this she claims that one of the main reasons for the delay in acting on the request to reopen his case was due to the fact that Milgaard's lawyers continually added new documentation to the file, which slowed the process in regard to when she could begin the process.

The federal government submitted a reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada, which recommended that Milgaard's conviction be quashed. Subsequently a new trial was held. Milgaard's lawyer for this new trial was Hersh Wolch. He was finally cleared of the crime on July 18, 1997, by DNA evidence. On July 25, 1997, Larry Fisher was arrested for the murder and rape of Ms. Miller. On May 17, 1999, Milgaard was compensated CA$10 million by the Canadian government.

On September 30, 2003, a Royal Commission began investigating Milgaard's wrongful conviction. It was headed by Justice Edward P. MacCallum, with Douglas Hodson as commission counsel.

[edit] Timeline

Jan. 31, 1969 Body of nursing aide Gail Miller, 20, found in a Saskatoon snowbank. Milgaard is travelling through Saskatoon the morning the body is found.

May 30, 1969 Milgaard, 16, is arrested and charged with murder.

Jan. 31, 1970 Saskatchewan Court convicts Milgaard of murdering Miller; He is sentenced to life in prison.

Jan. 31, 1971 Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rejects Milgaard's appeal.

Nov. 15, 1971 Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear Milgaard's appeal.

Dec. 28, 1988 Milgaard's lawyers apply to have the case reopened.

May 14, 1990 Federal Justice Minister Kim Campbell brushes past Milgaard's mother Joyce, who tries to hand her a report from a Vancouver forensic pathologist that could clear Milgaard. Campbell says it could jeopardize any future review if she sees the report.

Feb. 27, 1991 Campbell turns down Milgaard's request to review his case.

Aug. 14, 1991 Milgaard's lawyers file second application to Minister of Justice to have the case reopened.

Nov. 29, 1991 Campbell directs the Supreme Court to review Milgaard's conviction.

April 14, 1992 Top court says Milgaard should have new trial. He is freed after Saskatchewan decides not to prosecute him again. He is not formally acquitted.

July 18, 1997 Milgaard's team announces that more sophisticated DNA tests in Britain prove Milgaard did not commit Miller's murder. That same day, Milgaard receives apology from the Saskatchewan government for his wrongful conviction.

July 25, 1997 Larry Fisher arrested in Calgary for the rape and murder of Gail Miller.

May 17, 1999 Milgaard and his family receive $10 million compensation package from federal government.

Oct. 12, 1999 Fisher's trial opens in Yorkton, Sask. His lawyer successfully argued to have the trial moved from Saskatoon to avoid potential juror bias.

Nov. 22, 1999 Larry Fisher convicted of rape and murder of Gail Miller.

Jan. 4, 2000 Fisher sentenced to life in prison; parole eligibility to be decided by National Parole Board.

April 15, 2003 Saskatchewan Court of Appeal hears Fisher's case for a new trial.

Sept. 29, 2003 Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismisses Fisher's appeal of his first-degree murder conviction.

Sept. 30, 2003 The Saskatchewan government announces inquiry into how Milgaard was wrongly convicted for the murder of Gail Miller.

Aug. 26, 2004 The Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear Fisher's appeal. The decision clears the way for the inquiry to proceed sometime in 2005.

Jan. 17, 2005 The public inquiry into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard opens in Saskatoon. Mr. Justice Edward MacCallum is expected to hear from more than 100 witnesses – including David Milgaard and Larry Fisher – over the course of a year . A list of high profile potential witnesses includes former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell and former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow.

April 20, 2005: The first phase of the Milgaard inquiry ends. During 41 days of testimony the inquiry hears from nearly 50 witnesses, all of whom were involved in the 1969 investigation of Gail Miller's murder. The commission also heard from a number of women who were sexually assaulted by Larry Fisher in the months before and after Miller's murder.

Nov. 21, 2005: David Milgaard agrees to testify at his wrongful conviction inquiry if the judge finds he is medically fit. Commission counsel appeared before Justice Edward MacCallum to inform him of talks with Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch. Wolch initially wanted Milgaard excused from testifying for medical reasons. They decide Milgaard's testimony will be necessary to some parts of the inquiry.

Jan. 16, 2006 David Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, asks the court if his client can testify in writing. Milgaard said last year the thought of testifying made him physically ill and he wouldn't do it, which infuriated inquiry judge Edward McCallum.

Jan. 27, 2006 A private investigator says there's circumstantial evidence that Milgaard was the victim of a police coverup. Paul Henderson, who investigates wrongful convictions for a U.S.-based organization, says he got a retraction from a key Crown witness. Henderson said the witness admitted that police threatened to charge him with the murder if he didn't implicate Milgaard.

Feb. 7, 2006 The original defence lawyer at Milgaard's trial, Calvin Tallis, tells the Saskatoon-based inquiry that his client would not have been a good witness because he had a drug history and had been in trouble with the law.

Feb. 8, 2006 The judge rules that Milgaard must testify but may do so on videotape and all lawyers have agreed. The judge's decision was made to reduce the stress of the event for Milgaard.

Feb. 11, 2006 Milgaard's defence lawyer criticizes a judge's decision regarding the questioning of a star witness for the prosecution at his client's murder trial. Nichol John's testimony was a crucial element at Milgaard's original trial.

Feb. 20, 2006 David Asper, the lawyer who represented Milgaard for years while Milgaard fought to be released from prison, says he wants funding and official standing at the Saskatoon inquiry into Milgaard's wrongful conviction. Asper is scheduled to testify at the inquiry. Standing would allow him to participate in the proceedings and cross-examine witnesses.

Feb. 22, 2006 David Asper, who helped Milgaard get out of prison will have limited standing at the inquiry and be allowed to have his own lawyer present. This means his lawyer can cross-examine witnesses during a portion of the inquiry - but he won't receive public money to cover his costs.

March 2, 2006 Media baron David Asper is granted funding for some of the legal expenses he incurred while appearing at the inquiry looking into Milgaard's wrongful conviction. The public hearing is adjourned until April 17.

April 24, 2006 Milgaard's videotaped testimony is played at the inquiry into his wrongful conviction. The tape shows Milgaard trying to recall the events that led to his conviction. He says his memory is cloudy, though, from years spent in prison. He says he began to doubt his own innocence after being misdiagnosed with so many different psychological problems while in prison.

May 2, 2006 Joyce Milgaard abruptly leaves the inquiry after her son's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, is denied the right to be the final questioner of Paul Henderson. The various lawyers involved in the inquiry argued about who should be allowed to question Henderson last. Justice Edward MacCallum eventually ruled against David Milgaard's lawyer and gave the right to a lawyer for the Saskatoon Police Service. Joyce Milgaard complains to reporters outside the courtroom, saying the ruling was unfair to her son.

May 3, 2006 Joyce Milgaard's lawyer apologizes to the judge for her client's comments to the press about the unfairness of the inquiry. Justice MacCullum says, "She has been warned before that if she wishes to be a part of the inquiry as a party with standing, she is not to subvert it by going out in the hall and casting broadsides against the work of the commission. That is her right to do so as a private citizen, and if she wishes to persist in that, she will do so as a private citizen, and not as a party with standing."

The Milgaard inquiry is set to reconvene on May 8, 2006, when Joyce Milgaard is scheduled to take the stand.

May 8, 2006 Joyce Milgaard tells the inquiry she began her fight to free her son with the assumption that the police "twisted the facts into what they were not to put him behind bars." She says she regrets not starting sooner to prove David Milgaard's innocence.

Aug. 28, 2006 The Milgaard inquiry resumes public sessions, and expects to hear from key government and RCMP witnesses before wrapping up in September 2006. The commission of the inquiry is to find out why David Milgaard was wrongfully convicted of a 1969 rape and murder, and spent 23 years in prison before being exonerated.

Dec. 11, 2006 Final oral submissions are to be heard in the inquiry in Saskatoon into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard.

[edit] Media

Milgaard's case has been the subject of two movies: the documentary "The David Milgaard Story" (1992), directed by Vic Sarin, and the docudrama "Milgaard" (1999), directed by Stephen Williams and starring Ian Tracey.

The Tragically Hip's song "Wheat Kings" (from their 1992 album Fully Completely) is about Milgaard.