The David Milgaard Case
Early in the morning of January 31, 1969, David Milgaard, then 16 years old, Nichol John and Ronald Wilson drove from Regina to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In Saskatoon, sometime before 7:00 a.m. on that morning they stopped a woman walking by their car to ask for directions. Shortly after that the car became stuck, Wilson and Milgaard got out of the car and walked away in different directions to seek assistance. Wilson returned to the car before Milgaard.
Sometime that morning, Gail Miller, 20, a nurse’s aide, was robbed, sexually assaulted and murdered and her body later found in a Saskatoon snow bank.
Although both at the time and throughout his ordeal, David Milgaard denied any involvement in the murder, his testimony did confirm a number of other details.
At some point during the trip from Regina to Saskatoon, Milgaard had broken into a building.
He admitted that when they stopped the pedestrian to ask for directions that he looked at her with a view to possibly robbing her. Other evidence indicates that Gail Miller’s purse was taken by somebody and thrown in a garbage can. Milgaard confirmed that a compact or makeup bag was found in the Wilson car after they left Saskatoon. It had not been there earlier. When Nichol John inquired about it, David Milgaard seized it and threw it out of the car and could not give any explanation for his actions.
Milgaard also told his counsel that he may have had a knife in his possession when he arrived in Saskatoon.
Albert Cadrain, whom the group had picked up in Saskatoon, testified that he saw blood on the pants and shirt of Milgaard when Milgaard changed his clothes at the Cadrain house.
In mid-1969 David Milgaard was arrested and charged with Gail Miller’s murder.
On January 31, 1970, following a trial by judge and jury, the accused was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 1971, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction. Also in 1971, the accused application for leave to appeal his conviction to the Supreme Court of Canada was dismissed.
While in prison, Milgaard was sexually assaulted and tried to commit suicide. In 1973, Milgaard escaped from Stony Mountain Penitentiary, north of Winnipeg. He was later returned to prison.
In 1980, he did not return to prison after being released on day pass. He was shot while being recaptured 77 days later.
In December 1988, David Milgaard’s lawyers applied to have the case reopened. Also in 1988, his lawyers made an unsuccessful attempt to get DNA testing done.
On February 27, 1991, Kim Campbell, then Federal Justice Minister, turned down the request to reopen the case.
In August 1991 Milgaard’s lawyers tried again to have the case reopened.
On November 29, 1991, Campbell directed the Supreme Court to review Milgaard’s conviction on the basis that there was widespread concern whether there was a miscarriage of justice in David Milgaard’s conviction and that it was in the public interest that the matter should be inquired into.
In 1992 there was another unsuccessful attempt to get DNA testing done.
On April 14, 1992 the Supreme Court found that:
- It is believed Milgaard had had the benefit of a fair trial in January, 1970;
- It had not been presented with any valid evidence that the police had acted improperly in the investigation or in their interviews with any of the witnesses;
- Nor was there evidence that there had been inadequate disclosure in accordance with the practice prevailing at the time;
- Milgaard was represented by able and experienced counsel;
- No error in law or procedure had been established;
- At the conclusion of the trial, there was ample evidence upon which the jury, which had been properly instructed, could return a verdict of guilty.
- Fresh evidence "placed before us which is reasonably capable of belief and which taken together with the evidence adduced [brought out] at the trial could reasonably be expected to have affected the verdict. We will therefore be advising the [justice] Minister to quash the conviction and direct a new trial."
The "fresh evidence" included the fact that a key witness against Milgaard at the trial, Ronald Wilson, changed his testimony. Additional evidence suggested Milgaard’s alleged confession might not have taken place. And more importantly, there was evidence concerning sexual assaults committed by Larry Fisher that came to light in October 1970, when Fisher made a confession.
David Milgaard was freed in 1992 when the Saskatchewan government decided not to try him again. He was not formally acquitted. On July 18, 1997, Milgaard’s lawyers announced that DNA tests proved Milgaard did not kill Miller. That day he received an apology from Saskatchewan for his wrongful conviction.
On July 25, 1997, Larry Fisher was arrested in Calgary for the rape and murder of Gail Miller. His trial began in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, on October 12, 1999. Larry Fisher was found guilty of the murder of Gail Miller on November 22, 1999.