Daughter of wrongfully convicted N.S. man says grief grows without probe of police

CBC

26-05-2025

The daughter of a wrongfully convicted Nova Scotia man says burying her father next month will renew her intense grief — especially if a criminal investigation into his case remains stalled.
Amanda Huckle says when her father Glen Assoun died about two years ago, she felt the accumulated injustice of the almost 17 years he spent in a federal prison for a crime he was found not guilty of committing.
"As his life left his body, it's like all his pain just sat in the palm of our hands and we're left to carry this," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
In March 2019, a Nova Scotia court acquitted Assoun in the 1995 killing of his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Lee Way.
During the years in prison and the five years living under strict bail conditions, Assoun developed debilitating heart illnesses and suffered from mental illnesses. He only received a compensation settlement from the federal and provincial governments about two years before he died at the age of 67.
Huckle said the family is frustrated that a police oversight body hasn't started a formal probe into whether RCMP officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence relevant to Assoun's case.
She said it would help if the investigation is launched before the Christian interment ceremony takes place in June.
"Not having this investigation occurring intensifies the grief because we feel this injustice ... we're feeling it for him," she said.
'I'll believe it when I see it'
The daughter said she appreciates recent comments from Erin Nauss, the director of Nova Scotia's police oversight body — the Serious Incident Response Team — that the case is "a priority" and that the agency hopes to make an announcement in the "near future."
However, she said she's heard similar comments repeatedly over the past five years, since a former Liberal cabinet minister first asked in the fall of 2020 that the police oversight agency carry out a probe of potential criminal wrongdoing involving the RCMP and Halifax police.
"I'll believe it when I see it. It feels like false hopes and nothing ever happens," she said.
In March 2021, the Nova Scotia police watchdog announced that to ensure transparency, its counterpart in British Columbia had agreed to take the case.
But on Nov. 30, 2023, Nova Scotia's agency announced the B.C. watchdog had dropped the case due to a heavy workload. Since then, Nauss has reached out to multiple police oversight bodies and has struggled to find one that will take the case.
Recently, Nauss indicated that she is in talks with another provincial oversight body to take over the investigation. "This is an important matter and one I am taking seriously," she wrote in an email Thursday. "I empathize with the concerns mentioned and understand the time that has passed is frustrating."
Premier Tim Houston, asked Tuesday if he would involve his office in helping arrange the probe, said he'll await the decision of another province considering taking it on. "I will respect the decision of the [other provincial] government on that situation. I know they're focused on that and so I'll respect that decision," he said.
Huckle, who is now a police officer experienced in investigations, said she's concerned about the passage of time, as it can reduce the chance to collect evidence, and memories of potential witnesses can fade. "The older people get we always have the risk that they won't still be alive to provide evidence or even be held accountable," she said.
The continued delays in having an investigation start also has the effect of constantly reopening old wounds, she said.
While the wider public may be starting to forget about Assoun's wrongful conviction, the matter remains fresh for Huckle. "I think about this every single day .... We don't have answers. We want answers. Why did this happen to my dad? Why?" she said.
Sean MacDonald, Assoun's former lawyer, has said if a criminal probe into police actions in Assoun's case went forward it would be a watershed moment, as it would raise the bar for police conduct and create a level of accountability that hasn't existed in prior wrongful convictions.
The issue of police accountability in wrongful convictions remains front and centre, including in the case of Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie.
The two men were cleared 2023 in a 1983 murder in Saint John, N.B., after serving lengthy prison terms. In March, the Saint John Police Force released a summary of an independent review which found that tunnel vision occurred in the case, but the police chief said the officers involved wouldn't face consequences as there was no malicious intent.
Huckle said if the announcement doesn't come before her father's burial ceremony, she won't give up. The next milestone will be this September, five years after the province asked the Serious Incident Response Team to take on the case.
"I would hope that... someone has taken on this investigation by then. Do I have faith that will happen? No, I don't," she said.