David Milgaard

David was 16 years old when, in 1970, he was tried for the 1969 rape and murder of Saskatoon nursing student, Gail Miller. He was convicted of first-degree murder. David spent over twenty-three years imprisoned until, after a Supreme Court ruling in 1992, he was released but he lived in limbo neither being declared guilty or innocent. Great investigative work was conducted by Paul Henderson, a private investigator from Centurion Ministries, an advocacy group based in New Jersey. Mr. Henderson uncovered the depth of the police corruption and the coercion of teenage witnesses. In 1997, twenty-seven years after his conviction, DNA results showed that David Milgaard did not kill or rape Ms. Miller but that a known serial rapist did. David’s late mother, Joyce, became renowned for her advocacy on his behalf. David’s conviction was largely due to police corruption, the coerced testimony of witnesses and junk science. David’s case was the subject of a public inquiry into how and why an innocent man was convicted. David was eventually compensated. Following in his mother’s footsteps he has become an advocate for other wrongly convicted individuals.