CP NewsAlert: Manitoba man acquitted 50 years after murder conviction

By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press on October 3, 2024.

Lawyer Jerome Kennedy, left to right, acquitted co-accused Brian Anderson, and Lawyer James Lockyer speak to the media in front of the Law Courts about the release hearing for Clarence Woodhouse in Winnipeg, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

WINNIPEG – A Manitoba man convicted of murder 50 years ago has been acquitted.

Clarence Woodhouse was found guilty in 1974 of fatally beating and stabbing a restaurant worker in downtown Winnipeg.

His lawyers say a confession Woodhouse supposedly made was in fluent English, although he primarily spoke Saulteaux.

The federal justice minister ordered a new trial earlier this year and today the Crown acknowledged the case was a miscarriage of justice.

Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench says systemic discrimination affected the police investigation and the prosecution of the case.

Two other men convicted in the killing, Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse, had their convictions quashed last year after a new trial was ordered and the Crown asked for an acquittal.

More coming.

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