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02 September 2004 - 13:55 Inspired by the Tragically Hip's song "Wheat Kings", I felt compelled to learn a little more about a certain David Milgaard, wrongfully convicted of a murder he didn't commit. Victim of happenstance, circumstance and a justice system which would not admit it's wrongdoings. For some reason this guy's story never made it to the UK, and if it did it was as an incidental 4th page in the regional monthlies. It asked so many questions that I felt absolutely absorbed by the story, wondering how this would affect a man - not just his life, but his outlook and psyche. He was 17 when he was convicted and 39 when he was released. He'd tried to escape twice, once having been shot in th back, and had tried to commit suicide several times. He COULD have been freed a few years earlier if, as his mother put it, "He had said the right things - "I did it" and "I'm sorry". He would have been paroled and freed as a murder convict. He didn't. He fought. And now he's free - has been for 10 years or so. He had to learn how do banking and drive a car, adjust to waking up in bed and looking for a job, applying for a SIN number, maybe even getting a passport. He was given $10,000,000 in compensation from the provincial and federal government, and took a vacation in Florida or somewhere hot. I wonder if that was something that David Milgaard had dreamt about in prison. How do you trust any form of authority at all, ever? Turns out the guy who lived in the basement of David Milgaard's friend's house (the only reason he was in Saskatoon that -42 degree morning) did it and watched Milgaard lose the best years of his life disappear. He had confessed to 3 other rapes in the area, and conveniantly left that one out. How does a person (even a murdering rapist) let that happen? He had confessed to the others, how much worse for him could it get? This story eats me up. How many other David Milgaards are there?
My life is rated NC-17. What is your life rated? |