Wrongfully convicted people who received compensation
$10-million
David Milgaard: convicted in 1969, at the age of 16, in the murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison before his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1992. DNA evidence helped catch Ms. Miller’s real killer, Larry Fisher, who was convicted in 1999.
$6.5-million
Steven Truscott.was convicted her murder aged 14 in a 15-day trial and sentenced to hang, becoming the youngest Canadian inmate on death row. His sentence was commuted to life in prison four months later, and he spent the next 10 years in jail before being released on parole at the age of 24.
On Aug. 28, 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Truscott, and the Ontario attorney general apologized for the “miscarriage of justice” and the 48 years Truscott lived with the stigma of being labelled a rapist and murderer. On Monday (8th July 2008), the province announced it was paying Truscott $6.5 million to compensate him for all he endured.
$2.3-million
Thomas Sophonow: spent nearly four years in prison after being wrongfully convicted in the 1981 killing of 16-year-old doughnut shop clerk Barbara Stoppel in Winnipeg. Mr. Sophonow was cleared in 2000 after three trials.
$2-million
Randy Druken: convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend in Newfoundland. He spent almost six years in prison before he was granted an appeal. The Crown stayed the charges after a jailhouse informant recanted his testimony.
$1.5-million
Donald Marshall: convicted in 1971 of murdering Sandy Seale. The Nova Scotia man spent nearly 19 years in prison before being exonerated by a royal commission report in 1990. Compensated with a lifetime pension.
$1.3-million
Greg Parsons: convicted in 1994 of killing his mother. He served six weeks before he was granted bail pending appeal. The Newfoundland man was later exonerated by DNA evidence and formally acquitted in 1998. Province gave him an apology and $1.3-million.
$1.2-million
Guy Paul Morin: was tried twice for the 1984 killing of nine-year-old Christine Jessop north of Toronto. Acquitted in 1986, he was convicted at retrial in 1992 and imprisoned. Mr. Morin was exonerated in 1995 on the strength of DNA evidence.
$750,000
Ronald Dalton: convicted in 1989 of strangling his wife, Brenda. The Newfoundland government agreed to pay $750,000 in compensation. Mr. Dalton spent more than eight years in prison but was later acquitted on appeal.
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