Odelia Quewezance speaks to media outside the Court of King’s Bench in Yorkton, Sask., Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. A Saskatchewan judge is set to deliver his decision on whether to give bail to Quewezance and her sister Nerissa Quewezance. The two women have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell
YORKTON, Sask. – A Saskatchewan judge has granted bail to two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions.
Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 stabbing death of 70-year-old Saskatchewan farmer Anthony Dolff near Kamsack.
Defence lawyers asked for the Indigenous sisters to get a conditional release while their case is undergoing a federal conviction review.
The federal Justice Department started the review last year, saying there may be a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice.
The Crown prosecutor argued that even if there were issues with the police investigation, there was still enough evidence to show the sisters were involved in the killing.
James Lockyer, the sisters’ lawyer, has said the women are victims of racism in the justice system and false confessions.
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