Mailman and Gillespie victims of police 'tunnel vision,' Saint John chief says

Mia Urquhart · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 1:43 PM EST | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Saint John constabulary had "tunnel vision" during their probe of the 1983 execution of George Leeman, according to a year-long reappraisal of the case. 

Once investigators focused connected Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie, they "looked for grounds that would enactment their case," Chief Robert Bruce said astatine a quality league connected Friday. 

Mailman and Gillespie were convicted of second-degree execution successful 1984 and fixed beingness sentences. Both were yet paroled. Gillespie died past April and Mailman, who has terminal cancer, is unwell successful hospital.

In January 2024, aft a tribunal ruled the 2 men had been victims of a miscarriage of justice, Bruce announced a reappraisal of the archetypal constabulary investigation. 

On Friday, arsenic helium released a summary of that review, Bruce said officers made mistakes and for that helium expressed "profound regret" to those progressive "that these events unfolded arsenic they did."

Investigator Allen Farrah, a retired RCMP officer, said successful the summary, "The nonaccomplishment of this probe is mostly attributed to constabulary passageway vision." 

Detectives "relied heavy connected a witnesser whose practice and statements were inconsistent and lacked corroboration," Farrah said. 

"Today, specified outcomes are little apt owed to important changes successful Law, rigorous policies governing instrumentality enforcement practices, accrued checks and balances, and the arm's-length narration betwixt constabulary and the Crown." 

Bruce said galore of the shortcomings of the archetypal constabulary probe tin beryllium blamed connected "historical factors nary longer contiguous successful modern-day policing practices," and there was nary "malicious intent to railroad people" connected the portion of the officers. 

"They followed a enactment that they were following. Was it the best? No. Did they marque mistakes? Yes. But determination was nary sick intent. So determination would beryllium nary criminality to that," Bruce said.

Applying today's policing standards, however, is simply a antithetic story. He said determination would "absolutely" beryllium consequences for a constabulary serviceman who conducted an probe similar the 1 into Leeman's death.  

One of the standards that has changed since the aboriginal '90s governs disclosure of grounds to the defence. 

In the Leeman case, an eyewitness was paid by police, and that accusation was ne'er fixed to the defence teams. 

Court documents noted that Saint John constabulary had fixed a full of $1,800 — successful summation to edifice and relocation costs — to a 16-year-old who testified successful 1984 that helium had witnessed Leeman's murder.

The witness, John Loeman Jr., aboriginal recanted his communicative to his ain lawyer, to a journalist, successful 2 letters and to a national Justice Department lawyer looking into Mailman and Gillespie's lawsuit successful 1998.

Case closed 

As acold arsenic the archetypal execution probe goes, Bruce said that lawsuit is closed. They're not inactive looking for a killer. 

He said 1 idiosyncratic pleaded blameworthy to manslaughter successful 1984. 

"We're not opening that lawsuit up," said Bruce. "We consciousness it's complete.

Janet Shatford pleaded blameworthy to a lesser complaint of manslaughter successful speech for her grounds against Mailman and Gillespie.

Bruce said the eyewitness "provided accusation that brought those 3 radical to our attention. Miss Shatford, Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Mailman. Before that, they weren't adjacent considered suspects."

Bruce said the full lawsuit was based connected "an independent witnesser whose communicative was inconsistent and we couldn't get the collaborating evidence."

With modern-day policing standards, Bruce said that would ne'er happen.

"It's precise uncommon that 1 azygous eyewitness would transportation the value that it did backmost successful those days."