It’s two weeks today since a Nova Scotia court unsealed documents that help explain why Glen Assoun spent 17 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit. The documents pertain to both the Halifax Regional Police’s initial Halifax police investigation into the 1995 murder of Brenda Way, and to a later RCMP re-investigation […]
The Assoun wrongful conviction: the McNeil connection
Morning File, Monday, July 8, 2019
News 1. Northern Pulp Mill’s missing environmental data “If Premier Stephen McNeil is wavering on the Northern Pulp / Paper Excellence file, entertaining notions on amending the Boat Harbour Act so that effluent from the Pictou County pulp mill can continue to flow into the lagoon after January 31, 2020, he would do well to […]
The Halifax police department has a crisis of legitimacy
Morning File, Monday, June 17, 2019
News 1. The Halifax police department has a crisis of legitimacy Is there an unusually large number of Halifax cops who are crooks? I suspect there is an institutional culture that looks the other way and avoids confronting official misconduct, and that institutional culture therefore actually encourages even more misconduct. But of course it’s a […]
Documenting police “malfeasance” in Glen Assoun’s wrongful conviction
Morning File, Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Yesterday, Glen Assoun’s lawyer Phil Campbell filed a brief with the Supreme Court in response to a media application to unseal court documents related to his wrongful conviction. The media coalition consists of the Halifax Examiner, the CBC, and the Canadian Press. Campbell’s brief wants a partial publication ban to be placed on three people […]
“A tale of enormous suffering”
After 16 and a half years in prison and four and a half years under strict parole conditions, Glen Assoun is finally exonerated for a crime he did not commit, the tragic murder of Brenda Way. In fact, Halifax police had evidence that would have freed Assoun long ago — evidence that points to Way's actual killer — and in an act of "police misconduct" did not turn that evidence over to Assoun.
Takeaways from this story: • after spending 16 and a half years in prison and four and a half years on strict parole conditions, Glen Assoun is exonerated of the 1995 murder of Brenda Way; • Assoun’s lawyers say Halifax police failed to turn evidence over to Assoun that would have cleared him of the […]
Evidently, it’s elementary, they want us all gone eventually
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. People keep telling me I look exhausted, and I thought, after the trial, I’ll take some time off. Nas’ song “If I Ruled the World” was repeating in my head. “We’ll walk right up to the sun, hand in hand.” Things seemed to be going well, for once. […]
DEAD WRONG
A BOTCHED POLICE INVESTIGATION AND A PROBABLE WRONGFUL CONVICTION SHED LIGHT ON THE MURDERS OF DOZENS OF WOMEN IN NOVA SCOTIA.
Editor’s note: the DEAD WRONG homepage has links to previous articles, the cast of characters, extras, and commentary. Part 3: If Glen Assoun Didn’t Kill Brenda Way, Who Did? This article contains graphic accounts of violence and sexual violence that will disturb some readers. Three months after the jury convicted Glen Assoun of the murder of Brenda Way, […]