A Kamloops man who spent 26 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction is now free.
Prosecutors opted not to retry a Kamloops man who served 26 years following a murder conviction in 1995 because the forensic evidence tendered at his trial is now considered “inconclusive” and “insufficient.”
Gerald Klassen’s charge was quietly stayed Friday by prosecutors.
BC Prosecution Service spokesman Dan McLaughlin said the Crown had three independent forensic pathologists review the evidence before deciding not to retry Klassen. The pathologists were retained as part of a review of Klassen's file initiated by the UBC Innocence Project.
“These three reports, in addition to the one in Mr. Klassen’s application, support the conclusion that the forensic evidence that was tendered at trial must now be regarded as inconclusive and, therefore, insufficient on its own to support a conviction for any offence,” he said in a statement provided to Castanet Kamloops.
McLaughlin said prosecutors determined “the charge against Mr. Klassen no longer meets the standards required pursuant to the Crown policy manual to proceed with a prosecution.”
He had been waiting since last year to hear whether he would be tried again for the murder of a woman found dead off Highway 5A near Merritt in 1993.
In March of 1995, Klassen was convicted by a B.C. Supreme Court jury in Kamloops of one count of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Julie Delores McLeod, a 22-year-old Merritt woman, was found dead at a Nicola Lake rest stop in December 1993. During the trial, a forensic pathologist testified McLeod had likely died as the result of a severe beating — testimony that has since been called into question.
Klassen, now 61 years old, has maintained his innocence. He said he had consensual sex with McLeod, after which they got into an argument. Klassen said he pushed her away, causing her to fall and hit her head on the boat ramp.
According to Klassen, McLeod was very much alive and yelling at him when he left her at the rest stop.
McLeod was found dead, partially submerged in the lake.
Klassen started working with the UBC Innocence Project in 2009. In 2018, lawyers and UBC law students filed an application under a section of the Criminal Code of Canada that allows the federal minister of justice to review and overturn criminal convictions in extraordinary cases that are deemed “likely” to represent a miscarriage of justice.
The following year, the Innocence Project team heard a preliminary decision which indicated the ministry would look into the case.
Independent pathology reports prepared in 2020 showed McLeod’s death was likely not the result of intentional force. Klassen was granted bail in September of that year.
Last year, Federal Justice Minister David Lametti ruled Klassen’s case represents a “likely” miscarriage of justice and ordered a new trial.
Last summer, UBC Innocence Project director Tamara Levy told Castanet Kamloops she was surprised it was taking prosecutors so long to decide what to do.
“There’s no evidence to proceed on and there’s no public interest given that he already served the time. So I am just really perplexed as to why it’s taking so long for the Crown to sort of come to terms with that,” Levy said.
Klassen has been living in the Kamloops area since last summer.
