The Inquiry Resumes

The Milgaard Inquiry resumed this week; it had been on hold after Ron Wilson became ill last week. Wilson was back on the stand yesterday and today. He said that he had a much easier time convincing the police to believe him when he tried to implicate Milgaard in the murder than he did when he retracted his statements in 1990.

According to Betty Ann Adam of the Star Phoenix, Ron did not claim to be bullied by the police as a 17-year-old. On the contrary, he remembered the police as being "friendly". However, they supplied him with numerous details about Gail Miller's murder that he would not have otherwise known and "suggested repeatedly that his copious drug use must have caused him to blank out memories about the day of the murder".

Wilson was a key witness in the original Milgaard trial where he stated that David had confessed to murdering Gail Miller. His recantation opened the door for the Milgaards and their lawyers to send David's case to the federal Justice Department for review, and ultimately on to the Supreme Court.