Details expected Friday on police probe into wrongful murder conviction of 2 N.B. men

Police in New Brunswick are expected to release long-awaited details today about an investigation into why two men spent years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit.

The Saint John Police Force says it will publicly release a summary of the report from the investigation later today.

Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie were convicted of a 1983 murder in Saint John, N.B., and exonerated in January 2024 after a court ruled they had been victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Innocence Canada, which led the fight to exonerate the men, has alleged that the convictions were the result of police tunnel vision, non-disclosure of important evidence, recantations by the Crown’s key witnesses, and a disregard for the men’s strong alibis.

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Gillespie spent 21 years in prison and died last April, months after he was exonerated.

Mailman, who spent 18 years in prison, turns 77 later this month, and he has said that the thing he wants most for his birthday is a copy of the police report.