CANADIANS GOOF YET AGAIN

A man convicted of a brutal 1990 murder of a teenage girl in Manitoba has been granted bail while the federal Justice Minister reviews his case. Kyle Unger, who has been in jail for more than 13 years, will be released under a ruling delivered yesterday by Madam Justice Holly Beard of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench. "There are very serious concerns that [he] may have been wrongfully convicted and . . . there is no reason to refuse to release Mr. Unger," Judge Beard said in her ruling. Mr. Unger and another man, Timothy Houlahan, were convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier at a rock music festival at a ski resort near Roseisle, southwest of Winnipeg, in June, 1990. Her body was found in a creek, brutally beaten, raped and strangled.

Mr. Houlahan's conviction was overturned after an appeal, but he committed suicide before he could be retried. Mr. Unger, who was 19 at the time of the slaying, has consistently proclaimed his innocence. Now Judge Beard has said he should be released pending the federal review because "there is . . . strong evidence that [Mr. Unger's] conviction may not be sustainable."

James Lockyer, the lawyer who argued for Mr. Unger's release, said yesterday that the ruling "is a very encouraging judgment." The conviction, he said, "is potentially a classic case of wrongful conviction for a horrid, brutal crime [where there was] a rush to judgment."

One of the main pieces of evidence tying Mr. Unger to the slaying of Ms. Grenier was a hair found on her body. A process known as hair microscopy suggested it was Mr. Unger's hair, but a DNA analysis conducted last year showed that was a mistake. The Crown also used testimony from a jailhouse informant, but that has now been discredited.

Third, Mr. Unger made a confession to undercover police officers who were posing as drug dealers in a sting operation set up to get him to talk. At his trial, however, Mr. Unger said that he lied about the killing to impress the men, because he thought if he looked tough they would give him a job.

Judge Beard noted in her ruling that some of the details of the killing that Mr. Unger gave to the undercover officers were wrong, and this raised questions about the validity of what he said. With the other two pieces of evidence now removed, "all that is left is the confession to the police . . .," the judge said, and that is "fraught with serious weaknesses."

Mr. Lockyer said his client will probably be released some time next week, after Judge Beard talks to the lawyers about terms and conditions for his bail. When he is released from a British Columbia prison, Mr. Unger wants to live with his parents in Merritt, B.C. A report on Mr. Unger's case by the Justice Department's criminal conviction review group is not expected to be ready until the end of the year. As a result, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler won't likely make a decision on what to do with the case until some time in 2006.

Report here


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