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Who is Steven Truscott and what happened?

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Who is Steven Truscott and what happened?

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The picture below shows an innocent young 14 year old Steven Truscott that was wrongfully convicted for murdering his classmate, 12 year old Lynne Harper. It all started back on June 9th, 1959, when Steven decided to give his classmate, Lynne a ride to her house on his bicycle. Once Steven had dropped her off at the intersection of the County Road and Highway 8, he then proceeded to go his way. Later that evening Lynne's father had reported her missing. Fast forward 2 days later, sexually assaulted and strangled to death, her body was found in a nearby wooded area. One of the main reasons why Steven was found guilty was because he had been the last suspect to see her alive.

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Although Steven Truscott was only 14 years old, he was still ordered to stand trial as an adult. Since Steven was the last person seen with Lynne Harper before she died, he was seen as the main suspect in the policemen and prosecutors eyes from the very beginning. During the trial, the Crown’s failure to disclose the unofficial versions of Dr. Penistan’s autopsy report in 1959, caused the defense counsel and jury members to miss crucial information. Even though there is actual evidence of people saying one thing in their initial statement and then saying something else later on, during the trial, it was never brought up. After 15 days of jury trial, looking at the statements and the little evidence they had, the jury found Steven guilty of murder and rape. Since this was back in 1959, the Criminal Code required that a death sentence be imposed for murder and the judge sentenced Steven to death by being hung. Later the  Governor General ordered that Steven's initial sentence, of death was to be changed to life imprisonment. Down below is an article describing the details on why he was wrongfully convicted.

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A third factor leading to Steven's wrongful conviction was the limited scientific knowledge available at the time. Scientific advancements in the intervening 45 years - most notably, a deeper understanding of the numerous factors that could affect the rate at which the stomach empties - shed light on problems with the Crown's case that were not evident at the time of Steven's trial.

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On January 20th, 1960, Steven appealed his conviction to the Ontario Court of Appeal but the Court dismissed it. He then tried to apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for his leave to appeal his conviction but on February 24th, 1960, the court dismissed is application. In 1966, the Supreme Court were requested to determine whether it would have upheld Steven’s conviction if it had allowed him to appeal the trial court’s decision but on May 4, 1967, the Court came to the conclusion that it would have dismissed the appeal leaving Steven with no further options. In the updated video linked below about the wrongful conviction, the video goes into detail about Steven's many appeals and how they were all rejected.

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In 2001, 30 years after Stevens release, Innocence Canada submitted an application for Ministerial Review of his conviction. Because of this application, the federal Minister of Justice got a retired Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, to do a thorough investigation on the conviction. During a three-week hearing, a five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal, Innocence Canada Counsel along with Steven took a look at the some new evidence. The new evidence consisted of a more thorough look at Lynne's autopsy reports and Steven's medical reports. Upon reviewing the documents, it was frightening that the Court of Appeal was only provided with one version of Lynne's autopsy report instead of the two unofficial versions. While reviewing the two unofficial versions, they realized specific details that would prove Steven not guilty of committing the crimes. The link below describes perfectly the specific details of evidence that arose.

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Steven Truscott Case | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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History, politics, arts, science & more: the Canadian Encyclopedia is your reference on Canada. Articles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public.

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The link below describes briefly about the compensation that Steven Truscott received. Steven was compensated with $6.5 million, given to him by the Ontario government for suffering a "miscarriage of justice". Although Steven and his family were grateful for the money, they all agreed that no amount of money will ever make up for their father and husband missing out on 10 years of his life.

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Steven Truscott's $6.5 Million Award for Wrongful Conviction

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The Trial of Steven Truscott by Isabel LeBourdais:

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The Trial of Steven Truscott by Isabel LeBourdais:

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In 1966, Isabel LeBourdais, published a book, pictured down below, that brought Steven’s case to the attention of the public.

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After being incarcerated for 10 years, Steven was released at the age of 24 on October 21, 1969. He then moved to Guelph, Ontario changed his name, and because of a trade he had learned while in prison he started working as a millwright. Fast forward to October 1970, he then got married to his wife, Marlene and they had 3 children together, whom are pictured below.

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The Fifth Estate: Steven Truscott - His Word Against History

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The Fifth Estate: Steven Truscott - His Word Against History

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After trying to stay private under an alias name for more than 40 years, Steven Truscott decided to give an interview on CBC's hit television show, The Fifth Estate. Linked below is Steven's episode:

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It was a hot, muggy evening in 1959 when 14-year-old Steven Truscott gave his schoolmate Lynn Harper a ride on his bicycle near an air force base outside Clinton, Ontario.
Two days later, the girl's body was found in a wooded grove near the town. She had been raped and strangled.

After a trial that lasted only 15 days, Truscott was convicted of murder and sentenced to be hanged, becoming Canada's youngest death-row inmate. His death sentence was commuted, but the schoolboy spent a decade in prison before being paroled in 1969.

The case of Steven Truscott was the most famous chid criminal case in Canadian judicial history, but Truscott himself disappeared into an anonymous existence, living under an assumed name and shunning all publicity for three decades.

Then, in a 2000 episode of the fifth estate, Steven Truscott broke his 40-year silence for the first time, coming forward to maintain his innocence.

The fifth estate's investigation highlighted serious problems with the forensic evidence and showed that police were too hasty in laying charges, ignoring vital testimony of certain key witnesses and not allowing for the possibility of other potential suspects.

Following the documentary and a book on the case, Truscott, his family and supporters launched a campaign, with help from lawyers from the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, to get the federal justice minister to re-open the case.

On Aug 28, 2007 - 48 years later his original trial - the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously overturned Truscott's conviction, declaring the case "a miscarriage of justice" that "must be quashed".
The Ontario Government awarded him $6.5 million in compensation for his ordeal.

Truscott now lives in Guelph with his wife of more than four decades, Marlene, who was instrumental in the legal effort to bring about his acquittal.

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Steven Truscott - His Word Against History - Episodes - The Fifth Estate

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Perhaps the most legendary wrongful conviction in Canadian history, the fifth estate tells the story of Steven Truscott - who broke his 40-year silence and revealed his identity to tell his story and find justice.