Wilson still on the stand

Firstly, I would like to announce the publication of my new book called D'Amour Road. It's all about a woman who goes missing in Ottawa and it combines several themes, including violence against women, the ever present possibility of wrongful convictions, and the sanctity of female friendships. The story is ENTIRELY fictional. However, it is based loosely around the tragic death and disappearance of Louise Ellis, who was a member of my Milgaard group. If you would like to read more about D'Amour Road, please visit my other blog at www.damourroad.blogspot.com .

Now, back to business. Ron Wilson continued to testify this week. Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, queried Wilson about the whereabouts of the car that the threesome had been driving on the bitterly cold morning when Gail Miller was killed. After he'd been pressured by the police, Ron said that the car had been stuck for almost 15 minutes on the ice. This information was critical because it gave David a period of time in order for him to have left Ron and Nichol to have committed the crime (It is arguable that 15 minutes would have been enough time, particularly given the fact that it was 40 below zero that day, so that there was no way that a man could have raped a woman outdoors. David would have had to leave the car, find Gail Miller, drag her into a sheltered area, sexually assault her, and viciously stab her upteen times. Then he would have had to compose himself and find his way back to the car.)

Wolch argued that in order for the stuck car story to be accurate, the vehicle would have been stuck in the middle of 20th Street at Avenue O or Avenue N during morning rush hour. But according to CBC News, the police advertised asking anyone who had seen the car at that location to contact them. Nobody did.

Surprising news from the Inquiry revealed that a large amount of time was spent investigating Wilson's bank account to see if he had received any large sums of cash, and a federal prosecutor wrote a memo implying that Milgaard supporters may have pressured Ron Wilson to retract his testimony. There was no evidence for this. At one point, the RCMP had a theory that Wilson may have been the killer. Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean that they're not out to get you! No wonder Wilson was scared.

The RCMP also investigated Joyce Milgaard's activities and motives. This is really laughable to anyone who knows Joyce as well as I do. She is a confirmed Christian Scientist who would be no more likely to threaten and bribe someone than she would be to shoot him! However, back in 1981, Joyce offered a $10,000 reward for any information having to do with the arrest and conviction of her son. Apparently, the constables needed to be absolutely certain that Mrs. Milgaard was not trying to tamper with the investigation. Sorry, guys but LMAO!

Surely, the precious time that was spent looking into the innocuous actions of a distraught mother could have been put to better use. For example, someone could have been entering data about David into a central database. Yes, I know that much of the information that was collected about David over the years occurred before the big technology revolution. But the article that Joyce sent me this morning by Betty Ann Adams of the Star Phoenix said that there are now over 300,000 pages of info related to Milgaard that need to be put into a central file. Adams said that one complete Milgaard file would require 500 binders! Providing copies to the 12 parties that have been granted standing in the Inquiry, and to the Commissioner and the Commissioners Counsel would warrant 7000 binders!

I guess the Inquiry folks aren't going to have much spare time at night to kick back and watch CSI or Canadian Idol. Please, is there anyone who has the time to actually read that file?? The abundance of material notwithstanding, all of the pertinent information about David Milgaard, Canada's worst victim of a wrongful conviction, should definitely be entered into a central computer database.

Sigrid Macdonald. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.