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in my opinion i absolutely think all wrongfully convicted persons should receive compensation. I don't think any amount of money can give someone the years lost back but i do believe it can make the remaining years left a lot easier for them. while doing research for this assignment i learned that not everyone will get money or compensation. This surprised me the most, i don't think it is right that our justice system can take lives of others at no cost to them. our justice system is taking fathers,husbands,mothers and children away from their loved ones due to their errors and inability to find the real criminal responsible. i think i am most likely to remember that our justice system is flawed beyond belief and after learning this it has made me want to get into this field to help the innocent and bring justice to those who deserve it more than ever before.

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i believe there are many factors that lead to Romeo Phillions Wrongful conviction. Romeo's conviction started with a false confession he made but recanted almost immediately, and with no physical evidence it was one of the key things that led to his conviction. The detective who disclosed information about where Romeo was on the night of the murder also contributed because with a solid alibi they would not be able to place romeo at the scene that night. finally i think that a mistaken eye witness testimony was the third and final thing that led to his conviction.  The victim's wife Mildred falsely identified Romeo as the man that killed her husband that night.  Romeo attempted to get compensation for his conviction but was not successful.   other cases where wrongfully convicted people tried to get compensation were successful. The years of incarceration in some of these cases are around the same time Mr. Phillion was convicted. However, he has not been granted compensation ex Gratia due to the fact that he could not launch a civil claim for the very reason the Crown decided not to pursue a trial: the passage of time. Mr. Phillion’s case seems to fall into a gap just wide enough for the state to excuse itself from payment but too narrow for him to launch a civil suit.

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I am completing my case study on Romeo Phillion. On august 9th 1967, a firefighter name Leopold Ray was stabbed to death in Ottawa. When the police questioned his wife Mildred, she described the man that killed her husband. The Ottawa police then placed Romeo Phillion and his twin brother Donald Phillion in a police lineup. The police detained Donald but later discovered he was out of town at the time of the murder and was released on august 13th.  Romeo found himself at the police station being arrested on an unrelated charge, Mildred claimed Romeo looked like her husband’s killer but was not certain so he was also later released. On January 11,1972, Romeo Phillion found himself in the police station for armed robbery on a taxi driver. When police brought him in to question him about the event, although completely unrelated Romeo confessed to the murder of Leopold Ray. Romeo claims to of confessed only to impress a woman named Neil Miller. The crown built their case on three key pieces of evidence, Mildred’s identification of Romeo as the man who killed her husband, Romeos confession to the crime, which he had given freely and Romeo’s earlier confession to Neil. Although there was a lack in evidence he was found guilty and sentenced to life on November 7th 1972. Phillion was granted bail in 2003. The court found that it was never disclosed to the defense at the first trial that Romeo’s alibi was verified by the police, and he was out of town at the time the murder took place. Following the trail the court withdrew the murder charges against Phillion on his 71st birthday, April 29th 2010. Phillion died at the age of 76 as the longest serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction thrown out.

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Romeo went to court to have his charges dropped after he was released for bail in 2003. during this trial he discovered that Ottawa Police detective who investigated the case had confirmed Romeo was in Trenton Ontario at the time of the murder. On April 29th 2010, the court officially withdrew the murder charges against him.

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why we flip our wigs is an organization dedicated to helping people who have been wrongfully convicted. this organization helped romeo become a free man and since then romeo dedicated his time in helping the association with other cases until his passing in 2015.

(2:30 - end of video)

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the crown asked the top court to hear an appeal of a 2014 Ontario's court of appeal decision that allowed romeo's $14-million lawsuit to proceed. the court found that stopping Phillion from suing after he spent 31 years in prison was "manifestly unfair". Romeo maintained his innocence and never sought parole, insisting it would be an admission of guilt.

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A wrongfully convicted man who spent more than three decades in prison for the murder of an Ottawa firefighter before his conviction was quashed can sue police and prosecutors after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a Crown appeal.

The Crown had asked the top court to hear an appeal of a 2014 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that allowed Romeo Phillion's $14-million lawsuit to proceed. In that decision, the Court of Appeal found that barring Phillion from suing after he spent 31 years in prison was "manifestly unfair."

A Crown application for leave to appeal was dismissed Thursday with costs.

Phillion is the longest-serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction overturned. He was convicted in 1972 of second-degree murder in the death of Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy five years earlier. Phillion, who confessed to the crime and then quickly recanted, was sentenced to life in prison.

Phillion maintained his innocence and never sought parole, insisting it would be akin to an admission of guilt.

It wasn't until decades later that he learned the Ottawa police detective who investigated the case had verified an alibi that would have put him in Trenton, Ont., at the time of the killing.

The alibi - which police said was withheld because it was later discredited - had never been disclosed to Phillion's defence lawyer. Phillion asked for a review of his case.

The Ontario Court of Appeal found the jury might have reached a different verdict had his lawyer been able to explore the issue at trial. The appeal court overturned the conviction in 2009 and ordered a new trial, although it concluded there was no malice on the part of police or prosecutors.

The Crown later withdrew the murder charge, arguing too much time had passed to pursue another trial.

Phillion's lawsuit was initially blocked by a judge in the Ontario Superior Court, who ruled his lawsuit was an abuse of process because Ontario's Court of Appeal had already rejected suggestions of wrongdoing by those who prosecuted him and because too much time had passed for Ottawa police and the Crown to mount a proper defence.

But the Ontario Court of Appeal disagreed, ruling that Phillion - who is now in his mid-70s and suffering from emphysema - should at least have an opportunity to have his civil case heard by a jury.

"The fact that so much time has passed is no fault of (Phillion)," wrote Justice Kathryn Feldman on behalf of a panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges who heard the appeal.

"In my view, it would further bring the administration of justice into disrepute to grant a stay in these circumstances and deprive (Phillion) of any opportunity to seek redress for his conviction, when he did not have the opportunity to present a full defence at his trial."

Neither Phillion or his lawyer was willing to comment Thursday on the Supreme Court's decision.
aseymour@ottawacitizen.com Twitter.com/andrew_seymour

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Wrongfully-convicted Romeo Phillion can sue after 31 years in prison

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A wrongfully convicted man who spent more than three decades in prison for the murder of an Ottawa firefighter before his conviction was quashed can sue police and prosecutors after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a Crown appeal.

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When romeo was released on bail key evidence was discovered that had not been disclosed at his first trial back in 1972. If this evidence was released for the judge and jury to see i believe Romeo would never have been convicted of second degree murder.

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The justice system is not infallible. Romeo Phillion knew that better than most.

Wrongfully convicted of murder in 1972, he would spend almost 32 years in prison - a life robbed by the failure to acknowledge what is not so surprising today: that confessions can be false; that evidence is sometimes withheld; that the courts can get it wrong.

Phillion died Monday morning at the age of 76 in a Mississauga hospital, following a long illness. He was the longest-serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction thrown out.

What he wanted most in his years of freedom, he never received: a finding by the court that he was innocent of the 1967 stabbing death of Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy, an apology for the decades spent cut off from society and compensation from the government.

"I think it was a case that was worth a public inquiry," said lawyer James Lockyer, who represented Phillion in his push to have his conviction quashed.

"When you keep someone in jail for 31 and a half years, that is a quote-unquote mistake that requires more than just a courtroom dealing with it, because the courts don't get to the systemic issues involved."

Romeo Phillion poses for a photo with his sister Simonne Snowdon and brother Armand Phillion after being exonerated from a long standing murder conviction on March 5, 2009. (Tony Bock/Toronto Star)

Phillion was granted bail in 2003, shortly after a request was made for the justice minister to review his case.

By that point, the case had been taken on by the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), of which Lockyer is a co-founder.

"He would want to be remembered as a fighter, as a man who spent many years trying to fight on principle for what was right," said lawyer Alan Young, co-founder of the Innocence Project.

Romeo Phillion in a police mugshot from 1972, when he began serving a sentence for murder.

The government referred Phillion's case to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ordered a new trial - but not an acquittal - in 2009.

The court found that it was never disclosed to the defence at the first trial that police had verified Phillion's alibi, showing his innocence.

The police report confirming the alibi might never have surfaced, had a parole officer not shown it to Phillion in 1998, according to his biography on the AIDWYC website.

Romeo Phillion at his sister's home in Mississauga in 2003 along with his cat, Tiger, who was his companion for 2 1/2 years in prison. (Tobin Grimshaw/Toronto Star)

The Crown withdrew the murder charge against Phillion on his 71st birthday, April 29, 2010, arguing too much time had passed.

He would continue to fight after the charge was dropped.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada paved the way for his $14-million lawsuit against the Crown and police.

His civil lawyer, David Robins, said he'll be seeking instructions from Phillion's estate about continuing the lawsuit.

"I didn't do 32 years for nothing," Phillion told the Star when he first launched the lawsuit in 2012. "I lost my freedom. Somebody's got to pay for that."

Phillion was "never well treated by the system," said Lockyer.

He was convicted by a jury largely based on a confession he reportedly made to impress his lover, Neil Miller, and that he recanted almost immediately.

"I was so naïve, so stupid. I kick my butt for what I did," he would tell the Star years later. "I ruined my life, for a stupid thing."

Lockyer said he recalled the confession was because Phillion wanted his "15 minutes of fame."

"He was boasting in the cells to the police about how he had fooled their fellow officers, and was asking to see a newspaper so he could see his face on the front page," Lockyer said.

Phillion's trial lawyer, Arthur Cogan, told the Star that Phillion suffered from mental health issues, and would often tell stories that were difficult to verify.

"He told a number of things that were inconsistent, several places that he was at all at the same time," he said, adding Phillion did not take the stand on his advice. "It was very hard to determine which was correct."

Cogan said one lasting impact Phillion's case had on the criminal justice system is found in a Supreme Court ruling that concluded polygraph evidence could not be submitted to prove innocence.

Cogan had tried to have a lie-detector operator testify that Phillion's polygraph readings were consistent with his claims that he had falsely confessed.

Phillion maintained his innocence in prison, refusing to apply for parole because he believed it would be seen as an admission of guilt.

Lockyer said he believed Phillion's 12 years of freedom were happy ones.

He was a staunch supporter of AIDWYC, appearing in his scooter at many of their events, as well as in court when a wrongfully convicted individual was being released.

"He had friends he never had before and he had a sense of being someone, because people were really interested in meeting him and hearing him speak publicly," said Lockyer.

"It was remarkable how much everyone always liked him."

Phillion is survived by four sisters.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.

With files from Star staff and The Canadian Press

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Romeo Phillion, wrongfully imprisoned for 32 years, dies at 76 | The Star

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The justice system is not infallible. Romeo Phillion knew that better than most. Wrongfully convicted of murder in 1972, he would spend almost 32 years in prison - a life robbed by the failure to acknowledge what is not so surprising today: that confessions can be false; that evidence is sometimes withheld; that the courts can get it wrong.

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Although romeo was released from prison he did not feel like a free man. he was still looked at as a killer and he wanted to clear his name once and for all.

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A plan to manage one of the city's most precious natural areas is pitting some environmentalists against accessibility advocates as debate heats up over the future of the Medway Valley Heritage Forest.

Regarding the article (April 14). Tanya Park, councillor for Ward 13, announced she is going to run for the mayor's chair in London.

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A plan to manage one of the city's most precious natural areas is pitting some environmentalists against accessibility advocates as debate heats up over the future of the Medway Valley Heritage Forest. Regarding the article (April 14). Tanya Park, councillor for Ward 13, announced she is going to run for the mayor's chair in London.

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Romeo gave a false confession to impress his lover Neil Miller. Although romeo recanted his statement immediately he was charged and sentence to life with little to no evidence. romeo suffered from a mental illness, experts stated he suffers from antisocial personality disorder and that he has a propensity to lie and invent stories to make him feel important. i feel that this also played a big factor in Romeo seeking his moment of fame.

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Author: Sarah Harland-Logan
Introduction: The Unsolved Murder of Leopold Roy
The story of Romeo's wrongful conviction began on August 9, 1967, when a firefighter named Leopold Roy was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. His wife, Mildred, described the man to Ottawa Police officers, who then placed Romeo and his identical twin brother, Donald, in a police lineup. However, police learned that Donald had been out of town at the time that the murder was committed, so he was released. On August 13, however, Romeo was back in the police station, having been arrested on an unrelated charge. At this time Mildred observed him and said that, though she was not certain, she thought that Romeo resembled the man who had killed her husband. Since she could not make a positive identification, Romeo was released.[1]

The police did not make any headway in their investigation into Leopold's death for the next four-and-a-half years. During this period, Mildred identified three other men whom she believed resembled her husband's killer. Police eventually released all three of these suspects without laying any charges.[2]
Romeo's False Confession
On January 11, 1972, Romeo again found himself in trouble with the law. This time, he had been arrested for an armed robbery of a taxi driver. Although this matter was completely unrelated to Leopold's unsolved murder, in the end Romeo confessed to the murder, much to the surprise of Detective Huneault, the officer who interviewed him.[3] Romeo first asked Detective Huneault if Neil, Romeo's lover, had told him anything. When Detective Huneault played along and responded that Neil had said "a lot about the things you bragged about to him," Romeo suddenly confessed to murdering "the fireman." [4] He asked Detective Huneault to bring him a coffee so that they could talk about it.[5]

When Detective Huneault returned with the coffee, Romeo kept his side of the bargain. He explained that he had murdered Leopold many years ago, and said that he would make a full confession after being allowed to meet with Neil. The police allowed this meeting, and Romeo signed his confession shortly after.[6] Moreover, Neil informed the police that Romeo had made a similar confession to him four days prior to his arrest.[7] Romeo's reasons for making the false confession are complex and will be explored below. These deeply regrettable decisions would follow him for the rest of his life.
Romeo's Trial
Romeo's trial began on October 16, 1972. The Crown built its case on three key pieces of evidence:

(1) Mildred's identification of Romeo as the man who had killed her husband (notwithstanding the fact that she had also identified four other people as his killer);[8]

(2) Romeo's confession to the crime, which he had given freely;[9] and

(3) Romeo's earlier confession to Neil.[10]

Romeo's defence counsel argued that despite these confessions, his client was innocent. He led evidence from two experts who stated that Romeo suffered from antisocial personality disorder, and that he had a propensity "to lie and to invent stories to make him feel important." The experts believed Romeo's desire to feel important had prompted him to falsely confess to Leopold's murder.[11] Moreover, on the very night of his (false) confession, Romeo had recanted his confession to another police officer. He had explained that he was innocent, but he and Neil were collaborating on a scheme to send the police "on a wild goose chase" and enable them to collect the reward money from Neil's report of his false confession.[12] Romeo has consistently maintained that he is innocent from this recantation until the present time.[13]

Romeo's lawyer, Arthur Cogan, also pointed out that the police had lost many pieces of evidence that should have been presented in the case, including a hair sample taken from Romeo and fingernail scrapings, blood and hair samples taken from Leopold. He asked the jury to "look very carefully at the lack of a proper police investigation in arriving at their verdict."[14]

Despite these troubling features of the evidence, the jury found Romeo guilty on November 7, 1972, and he was sentenced him to life in prison with no parole eligibility for ten years.[15]
Romeo's Unsuccessful Attempts to Appeal his Conviction
Romeo attempted to appeal his conviction to the Ontario Court of Appeal, arguing among other things that due to the many problems with the police investigation, he had been deprived of the presumption of innocence to which all accused persons are entitled. He was unsuccessful and the Court dismissed his appeal on September 3, 1974.[16]

Romeo subsequently sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. On March 22, 1977, this appeal was dismissed as well.[17] After this appeal had failed, Romeo began writing letters of the Minister of Justice, stating that he had been out of town at the time of Leopold's murder and asking that his case be reopened, but no action was taken.[18] Romeo would spend the next 31 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.[19]
A Miscarriage of Justice
More than 20 years later, in 1998, Romeo's case took a surprising turn. His parole officer gave him an envelope containing police reports from his Corrections Canada file. One of these documents was a police investigation report that had been prepared on April 12, 1968 by prepared by the investigating officer, Detective McCombie. This report appeared to provide Romeo with an alibi: it indicated that Detective McCombie had spoken to a Trenton service station operator who confirmed that Romeo had been in Trenton between 12 and 1 p.m. on August 9 - the day of Leopold's murder - "therefore making it impossible for him to return to Ottawa by 2:45 p.m. at the time the murder was committed."[20] This possible alibi had never been raised in Romeo's trial. In fact, his lawyer specifically stated at trial that there was "no issue" with the fact that Romeo had been in Ottawa at the time of Leopold's death.[21]

Finally, Romeo had compelling evidence with which he could get his case reopened. He sent Detective McCombie's report to the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School. On May 15, 2003, the Innocence Project and AIDWYC submitted a s. 696.1 application for ministerial review to determine whether Romeo's conviction was a miscarriage of justice.[22] Romeo was awarded bail while the Minister of Justice considered the application, bringing an end to his 31 years spent in prison. Although Romeo could have applied for parole much earlier, he had refused to do so because he felt that that applying for parole would be tantamount to admitting that he had killed Leopold. Romeo continued to insist that he was innocent.[23]

On August 2, 2006, the Minister of Justice ordered that the Ontario Court of Appeal reopen Romeo's case.[24] The judges heard evidence to determine why Detective McCombie's 1968 report giving Romeo a verified alibi for the time of the murder had never been disclosed to his lawyer.[25]

In its decision, the majority of the Court concluded that the Crown had not intentionally pursued their case against him knowing that he was innocent. The majority found that there was a great deal of confusion surrounding whether and when the police learned further information that discredited this alibi. Detective McCombie testified that after submitting the April 12, 1968 report, he had retrieved tow records of Romeo's car showing that he could actually have made it back to Ottawa in time to have killed Leopold.[26] However, there was no evidence to confirm that Detective McCombie had in fact made this trip and found evidence that discredited the alibi. Justice Moldaver stated in his decision that "the tow records ... and the occurrence report that Detective McCombie claims to have prepared upon his return from Trenton - if these items in fact existed and were deposited there - had gone missing from the [police] property room by January 1972 when ... [Romeo] was charged" with Leopold's murder.[27] Justice Moldaver did not conclude that Detective McCombie was lying, given his distinguished career and sterling professional reputation.[28] However, he found the complete lack of documentation confirming Detective McCombie's supposed trip to Trenton to be "disturbing," though perhaps not particularly surprising, given the numerous other exhibits that the police had lost and could not locate for Romeo's trial.[29]

Regardless of what exactly happened in the sloppy police investigation, it was perfectly clear that the Crown prosecutor had a copy of the April 1968 report, which was never disclosed to Mr. Cogan, Romeo's lawyer.[30] As a result, Mr. Cogan was unable to use the report - which, as noted by Justice Moldaver, "would have been gold in his hands" - to cross-examine the officers about Romeo's alibi.[31] Therefore if Mr. Cogan had known about the report, Romeo's trial would likely have gone very differently, and Romeo probably would not have spent the following three decades in prison.[32]

The Court of Appeal overturned Romeo's conviction and ordered a new trial.[33] However, the Crown withdrew the murder charge against Romeo on April 29, 2010, since there was no reasonable chance that the new trial would result in his conviction.[34] Coincidentally, April 29 is Romeo's birthday: his name was finally cleared on the day he turned 71. After the charges were withdrawn, he told reporters that he "got an apology from the judge, which was a gift" that he was "not expecting."[35] "I'm 71 years old today," he explained, "but I feel like I'm 21."[36]
The Causes of Romeo's Wrongful Conviction
Numerous factors contributed to Romeo's wrongful conviction. First, Romeo made a false confession that he had murdered Leopold, and though he recanted the confession soon afterward, the damage had already been done. At first it is very difficult to see why Romeo would have chosen to put himself in such danger. However, the Court of Appeal heard testimony given by Dr. Gudjonsson, the world's foremost expert on the psychology of false confessions, which sheds light on this baffling decision.[37] Dr. Gudjonsson explained that voluntary false confessions are actually common in high profile cases such as Leopold's unsolved murder case, and can be motivated by many factors, including:

(1) "a desire for notoriety," fueled by "a pathological need to be infamous or draw attention to himself"(as described by the experts who testified at Romeo's trial);

(2) "an unconscious need to expiate guilt over unrelated transgressions";

(3) "an inability to distinguish fact from fantasy" (indeed, Neil testified that Romeo was someone "who lived in ... a world of fantasy"[38]);

(4) a desire to aid and protect someone else, typically the real criminal" (Romeo's lawyer later suggested that his confession was a "desperate bid" to protect Neil from other charges)[39]; and/or

(5) "revenge - either on someone who the confessor also implicates or on the police whose time is wasted by the false admission."[40] As noted above, Romeo stated during his recantation that he "wanted to get even" with the police "and send them on a wild goose chase."[41]

Dr. Gudjonsson also stated that Romeo did indeed suffer from antisocial personality disorder, as well as borderline personality disorder, and that interaction of these two conditions might have led to his making the false confession.

Perhaps increased knowledge regarding these conditions and/or access to mental health services for Romeo prior to his false confession might therefore have prevented this tragic chain of events from coming about. Unfortunately, our society still struggles to appropriately address the needs of Canadians who suffer from mental illness, both within and outside of the justice system.[42]

Another factor contributing to Romeo's wrongful conviction was the fact that the police investigation was plagued with an incredible degree of disorganization. Police officers frequently lost evidence and failed to keep records of their investigations.[43] These organizational failures intersected with the Crown's failure to disclose the crucial April 1968 report containing Romeo's alibi to his lawyer. Unlike in 1972, Crown prosecutors are now required to disclose every relevant document to the defence, including information that the Crown does not plan to use in court but that could be important to the defence.[44]

Finally, it seems likely that the jury in Romeo's trial put too much emphasis on Mildred's eyewitness testimony. Many people believe that this type of testimony is very credible but in fact, witnesses make confident - and incorrect - eyewitness identifications at an alarmingly high rate, and these problems grow worse as the time interval increases between crime and trial.[45] In fact, of the Innocence Project's first 225 exonerations of wrongly convicted persons in the US, 77% of the convictions had been based on mistaken eyewitness identification.[46]
Wounds that AIDWYC Cannot Heal
Due to his refusal to seek parole and accept responsibility for a crime that he did not commit, Romeo was the longest-serving Canadian inmate to have a murder conviction overturned.[47]

Moreover, Romeo's attempts to secure some compensation for these lost three decades came to a dead end in May 2013, when Superior Court Justice Eva Frank dismissed his $14-million lawsuit against the Attorney General of Ontario and two of the police officers who had investigated his case.[48]

Although it is unfortunate that Romeo chose to make a false confession, it must be remembered that his mental health difficulties almost certainly played a role in this decision. Regardless of the wisdom or ethics of his making the false confession, he certainly did not deserve to spend thirty-one years of his life atoning for it. As Romeo explained to reporters when asked to explain why he had made the false confession, "it was all a bad joke that cost him his life."[49]

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Author: Sarah Harland-Logan Introduction: The Unsolved Murder of Leopold Roy The story of Romeo's wrongful conviction began on August 9, 1967, when a firefighter named Leopold Roy was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. His wife, Mildred, described the man to Ottawa Police officers, who then placed Romeo and his identical twin brother, Donald, in a police lineup.

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On august 9th 1967, a firefighter name Leopold Ray was stabbed to death in Ottawa. When the police questioned his wife Mildred, she described the man that killed her husband. The Ottawa police then placed Romeo Phillion and his twin brother Donald Phillion in a police lineup. The police detained Donald but later discovered he was out of town at the time of the murder and was released on august 13th.  Romeo found himself at the police station being arrested on an unrelated charge, Mildred claimed Romeo looked like her husband’s killer but was not certain so he was also later released

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Phillion died at the age of 76 from chronic lung disease a day after he was admitted to the hospital as the longest serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction thrown out. For someone who went through what he did (over three decades in jail) he was not a bitter person. he was a young hearted person who enjoyed life.
Despite his health problems, the soft-spoken Phillion became active in supporting the fight against wrongful convictions. He attended association functions despite having to use a scooter and to carry oxygen with him.

"We are extremely grateful to him for his commitment to make a difference regardless of his personal challenges and losses," the association said.

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Phillion was granted bail in 2003, shortly after his request was made for the justice minister to review his case. The court found that it was never disclosed to the defense at the first trial that Romeo’s alibi was verified by the police, and he was out of town at the time the murder took place. Following the trail the court withdrew the murder charges against Phillion on his 71st birthday, April 29th 2010.

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. On January 11,1972, Romeo Phillion found himself in the police station again. When police brought him in to question him about the event, although completely unrelated Romeo confessed to the murder of Leopold Ray. Romeo claims to of confessed only to impress a woman named Neil Miller. Romeo’s trial began on October 16th 1972. The crown built their case on three key pieces of evidence, Mildred’s identification of Romeo as the man who killed her husband, Romeos confession to the crime, which he had given freely and Romeo’s earlier confession to Neil. Although there was a lack of evidence he was found guilty and sentenced to life on November 7th 1972.