Man wrongfully convicted for murder has died
Walter Gillespie spent a decade behind bars after wrongful conviction
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One of two Saint John men wrongfully convicted for a murder four decades ago, and acquitted earlier this year, has died.
Walter Gillespie died at his home in Saint John on Friday at 80 years of age, according to Innocence Canada, the organization which led the legal battle to exonerate Gillespie and his friend Robert Mailman for their 1984 murder convictions. The organization’s co-president Ron Dalton confirmed news of his death to Brunswick News by email on Sunday.
Mailman and Gillespie spent more than a decade behind bars after they were convicted of killing George Leeman, whose beaten and partially burned body was found by a jogger in Rockwood Park in November 1983. They received full parole in 2000.
After the pair maintained their innocence for 40 years, federal Justice Minister Arif Virani quashed the pair’s convictions in December and ordered a new trial, stating there was a “reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.”
Virani’s move followed several unsuccessful appeals and a failed effort to get the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the case.
At a retrial in January, the Crown didn’t present any evidence in support of the charges against Mailman and Gillespie, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year. After the acquittal, Gillespie told reporters outside the courthouse he didn’t expect that day would come before thanking supporters while fighting back tears.
The provincial government reached compensation settlement agreements in March with Gillespie and Mailman. No details on the agreements were made public.
The provincial government was then asked to review the case. Saint John Police Force Chief Robert Bruce has ordered a review of the case, pledging in January to “conduct a comprehensive review of the involvement of the Saint John Police in this matter.” Bruce also wrote to the provincial Department of Justice and Public Safety “requesting their cooperation in providing a complete copy of their report regarding this occurrence.”
– With files from Barbara Simpson
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