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The justice system is not perfect and it makes mistakes. We are humans deciding on other human's lives. I was played with - without a doubt. But, I want you to take away the lessons from my life and ensure that you do not become the victim of the miscarriage of justice. Learn to speak out for yourself and die trying if you have to.

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I suppose the media was as excited as I was...

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I suppose the media was as excited as I was...

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A Question Still Remains...If I Didn't Kill Lynne Harper - WHO DID?

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A Question Still Remains...If I Didn't Kill Lynne Harper - WHO DID?

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Sgt. Alexander Kalichuk could have been a prime suspect at the time and he also fit the description of the crime. When a police detective contacted him, he felt that Kalichuk was capable of the rape and murder of a child.

In the 1980s, Kalichuk pleaded guilty to several sexual assaults and possession of child pornography. In fact, during a search of Kalichuk's house, police discovered a full volume of Truscott's court hearings before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1966 - 1967.

The following information baffled me because their is no reason as to why they had to over look Kalichuk with the murder of Lynne Harper.

Kalichuk was previous alcohols and psychiatric patient. People knew him as a man who had very strong sexual desires towards very young children. Kalichuk had attempted to kidnap and pick up a ten-year old girl just two weeks before Harper's disappearance. The method of kidnapping matched that of Harper's. He also fit the description of the man who had been spotted trying to pick up children in other rural areas.

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The Hasty Decision Making That Affected The Rest of My Life

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The Hasty Decision Making That Affected The Rest of My Life

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During an autopsy at a Clinton funeral home, Dr. John Penistan, the regional pathologist, made the most critical finding in my case. He claimed that by examining Lynne’s stomach contents — placing them in a jar and holding them up to a light bulb — he could tell that she died within two hours of eating dinner, pinpointing her time of death at between 7 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. on June 9, 1959.

This piece of evidence was devastating for me, because I recognized being with her at that time. At the 1959 trial, the Crown attorney told jurors that the evidence confirmed my crime.

But additional professionals voiced doubts at the time about the capability to use stomach contents to determine a person’s time of death and the methodology has been condemned.

During hearings in the case, the Ontario Court of Appeal was told that for nearly 40 years, that the evidence was enough to charge me. However, the federal government had notes and memos deep in its files pointing out that much of Penistan’s evidence was founded on “entirely and absolutely wrong” medical and scientific inferences.

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How They Allowed The Miscarriage of Justice

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How They Allowed The Miscarriage of Justice

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An investigation done by Fifth Estate, highlighted grave glitches with the forensic evidence and disclosed that police were too quick in laying charges, overlooking vital testimony of certain key witnesses and not permitting for the option of other potential suspects.

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August 28, 2007 - The Most Important Day of My Life

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August 28, 2007 - The Most Important Day of My Life

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On this date – 48 years after my first trial – the Ontario Court of Appeal consistently reversed my conviction, announcing the case “a miscarriage of justice” that “must be quashed”.

The Ontario Government awarded me $6.5 million in compensation for my suffering.

Now I live in Guelph with my wife, Marlene, to whom I have been married with for over four decades. She was active in the legal effort to bring about my acquittal.

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Steven Truscott - His Word Against History - the fifth estate

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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.

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My lawyers notified the attorney general’s ministry that I wanted my case to be reopened. All the evidence that might have been suitable for testing, however, had been destroyed. I decided instead to apply to the federal justice minister to have my case reviewed under Section 696.1 of the Criminal Code.

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I agreed to the same type of DNA testing that
September: Truscott agrees to the same type of DNA testing that liberated Guy Paul Morin and David Milgaard of their murder cases. But all of vital evidence that could have helped my case had been destroyed. Prominent attorney James Lockyer agreed to fight for my case. He was also the defense for Guy Paul Morin and cleared him of the wrongful conviction for the death of Christine Jessop in Queensville, Ont. in 1984.

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By now, I had spent ten years of my precious life in prison. However, I was released despite my life sentence. Officials encouraged me to take on a new identity and move to a place in Canada where no one would recognize me.

They asked me to give up the last thing I had left - my identity. After being stripped of all my values and self respect - it was a tragedy giving that up too. I settled in Guelph and happily married. My three children and wife, lived together in secrecy for the next twenty years.

They thought that they had done me a favor by letting me out. Did they not recognize the enduring presence of guilt in my mind. I had always gone by the truth - I did not commit the crime!

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I was forgotten! Forgotten by every newspaper headline! Thankfully, a journalist named Isabel LeBourdais brought some light to my story and questioned the case as well as the outcome. She published a book called: “The Trial of Steven Truscott”. It was the first piece of documentation that stood in my favor. The book provoked the Supreme Court to re-asses my case and open it once more. Even after contemplating my future, the group of justices (on a vote of 8-1) did not agree to give me a new trial.

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A lot of controversy took place regarding my serious sentence. In the end, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (who was a part of the Conservative government at the time), changed the sentence to a life in prison.
The four months I had spent in the death penalty row were probably the most nightmarish months of my life. Little did I know that there was more to come my way.

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The Tension to Find the "Slayer" Was Rising

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The Tension to Find the "Slayer" Was Rising

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December 8, 1959 - I Was Sentenced to Death By Hanging

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December 8, 1959 - I Was Sentenced to Death By Hanging

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Even though my lawyer prepared for months, the jury elected for my case found me guilty of the murder. No one considered how young I was when they sentenced me to death by hanging. My court case took place for a duration of only fifteen days.

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I was interrogated by community officers and I told them the truth. I was with Lynne, but she went her way and I went mine. However, I did see her climbing into an unknown car.
The pressure of the community, forced the officers to arrest me and officially charge me with murder the next day. I never lied or gave into the charges - I kept my innocence true and just.

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Young Kid Acting Out In Memory of My Case

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Young Kid Acting Out In Memory of My Case

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June 11, 1959 - The Point Where I Got Involved

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June 11, 1959 - The Point Where I Got Involved

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Two days of searching resulted in a very tragic discovery. Harper's body was found on a farm close to the location she was last seen. A post mortem revealed that she had been raped and strangled to death. I was last seen with Lynne because I had offered her a bike ride. She was my classmate and all I did was help her out.

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Lynne Harper (12 years old at the time) went for a walk and then disappeared from the air force base near Clinton, Ontario. Harper's parents and officer became worried after she had not returned home for some time.

A complete search was conducted for Lynne Harper - but no one found her. They thought she might have been lost in the countryside where there is nothing by bush in the surroundings. After much search - there was no clue of where she might be.

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...but the justice system changed my life forever

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...but the justice system changed my life forever

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Here I was, a fourteen-year-old boy - sentenced for a crime I did not commit.

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Here I was, a fourteen-year-old boy - sentenced for a crime I did not commit.

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A Canadian rock band named Blue Rodeo recorded a song, "Truscott", for their album: The Days in Between.

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Blue Rodeo - "The Days In Between" [Official Video]

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Official music video for Blue Rodeo's single, "The Days In Between", from their 1999 album, "The Days In Between" Listen to "The Days In Between" now at: http://smarturl.it/TheDaysInBetween Website: http://www.bluerodeo.com/home/

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I know why you are here. You want to know who I am and what I did. But I can tell you that the real story lies behind what I have gone through. Believe me, spending my teenage and early adult life in prison has changed my personality. After my wasted years, I don’t think I will believe in the justice system ever again. There is no justice in this world, and even still, I don’t blame Lynne Harper for anything that happened to me. Poor girl, this case has become an injustice to the memory of her murder and tragic death. Why? Because the real culprit was never caught. He is still out there – living his life on Earth or below it. Sometimes I wonder what law and order protect us from anyway. It couldn’t protect me from loosing my innocence at a vulnerable age. It couldn’t carry justice to a twelve-year-old girl. What were they thinking? Placing a fourteen-year-old boy behind bars. I was known as the youngest death-row inmate when I was initially sentenced to death. But instead, those scammers changed the sentence to a life in prison instead. They probably believed I didn’t deserve an easy way out. Here me out now, this is my chance to recite my story, exactly the way it took place, starting way back in 1959.

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I became the symbol of stolen justice at the young age of fouteen. 

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I became the symbol of stolen justice at the young age of fouteen. 