Marlene (2022) Movie Script
1
[soft piano music]
[]
[ominous music]
[sigh]
[man 1] Keep an eye out.
[man 2] All right, let's check
over there.
Take a look at that.
Was your tempo
Not the same as mine
My heart beats
To a different time
Please don't try to
Change my point of view
[girl] Hey, Steven?
Hey, can you take
me to the highway?
I really want to see the ponies.
Okay, yeah. Let's go.
But when one window
Closes
Another opens
And she's got something
Electric inside
She's got something
That just won't subside
Now I know
What it means to feel alive
Now I know
It's okay
You just ain't right
No, no, no,
Ain't right
No
[ominous music]
[man] Found something, sir.
Check near the tree line.
Over here.
[dramatic music]
Over here!
Over here!
[music swells]
[Marlene's voice]
He took 12-year-old
Lynne Harper to the bushes,
dropped his bike,
and dragged her
over the barbed wire fence.
He knocked her out,
took off her panties,
leaving them there
in his haste,
and dragged her across
the bush to a clearing
where he strangled her with
her own shirt...
and raped her.
[siren]
Steven Murray Truscott,
you shall be taken
to the place of execution
and hanged by the neck
until you are dead.
Have you anything
to say for yourself?
"No, your honor."
[woman] No. No,
my son is innocent.
[indistinct prisoner voices
echoing]
[man's voice] What's it
like?
You're married to a convicted
rapist and murderer.
[Marlene's voice] You mean
a wrongfully convicted
boy of 14
who went out for a bike ride.
[man] Can you tell
the audience
why you are in darkness?
[Marlene]
I'm protecting my family.
Our children deserve
to grow up
without the shadow of their
father's conviction.
[man] Can you tell
us what it's been like...
Hiding?
You can't use your
real name, Truscott.
[Marlene] It's hard
to remain silent.
I've felt alone. Alone
for a very long time.
[man] But you agreed
to do this one interview.
[Marlene] I wanted to set
the record straight.
My husband is innocent.
[dramatic music]
[man on radio] ...summer,
thanks to a favorable ruling
by the IRS.
The split was contingent
on farmers certain tax ruling
without any tax liability
to either company
or their shareholders.
- [fanfare on radio]
- [woman] This is
a special report.
[woman 2] Good evening.
For almost 30 years,
David Milgaard was called
a killer.
In an instant today,
science cleared his name.
Milgaard swore he didn't
murder Gail Miller,
but still he spent
23 years in prison.
Supporters swore he
was innocent too,
but they couldn't prove it.
Now, DNA has.
And Milgaard's lawyers say
DNA has pointed the finger
right at someone else.
[woman 3] David will
be so happy about this
announcement.
The DNA testing absolutely
exonerated my son.
[woman 2] It was
with great emotion
that David Milgaard's mother,
Joyce, announced
her son's name
has finally been cleared
once and for all.
[plane engine whirring]
[Marlene's voice]
Steve always loved flying.
He said it was the
place that he felt free,
up there in the sky.
[deep breath] No bars.
How was it up there?
[Marlene chuckles]
- Looked beautiful.
- Yeah.
What are you smiling at?
I've been thinking...
maybe we should do the DNA
like David Milgaard.
Marlene, it's been so
many years.
He was in jail
for 23 years. It--
There are so many similarities
and it was a long
time for him too.
And his witnesses recanted.
But if there is DNA,
then-- then--
then it all goes away.
The kids are grown up now.
Leslie's getting married.
She's gonna
- have a family of her own.
- Devon's only 17.
He's almost 18!
He's almost 18.
And I can't let you go to your
grave a convicted murderer.
I won't.
Do it for the kids.
I don't want to do anything
that will hurt them.
But they will support you.
You know they will.
God, for once, just
do something for yourself.
You're never gonna know
unless you try.
What are you waiting for?
Can't wait for someone to walk
into the police and say
they did it,
'cause it's not gonna happen.
It's not gonna happen.
- You don't have--
- I'm scared, Marlene.
I know.
I know.
Let's go.
Yes, Julian Sher, please.
It's Marlene Bowers.
Well, he-- He has been hounding
me to do this story.
My husband's name
is Steven Truscott.
Tell him we're ready.
I do the research for the show.
Julian is the producer.
You and I will be
working closely.
Well, you'll have to get
used to me. I've a bit
of a photographic memory.
- Obsessed with details.
- Good. Then we'll get started.
I've ordered all
the police records and files
from the base,
any men that had
criminal records at the time
of Lynne's death.
Finally. They're looking
at somebody else.
Marlene, I need to say this:
We're journalists.
Our job is to find the truth.
- We're not here to prove
Steve innocent.
- My husband is innocent.
I want you to know that we'll
follow every thread of evidence,
turn over every rock,
but I can't promise you
you'll like what we turn up.
I'm not afraid of the truth.
Steve, if you want to prove your
innocence, you need a lawyer.
It's difficult in cases
like these.
Only four have ever gone
to trial.
[Marlene] You succeeded
with David Milgaard,
Guy Paul Morin.
Well, you seem to be
somewhat of a legend, James.
There was DNA. I was lucky.
If you give me permission
to reopen this case,
- there's no turning back.
- We won't be turning back.
If there is DNA,
I can guarantee a result.
That is the magic bullet.
[sigh] So another lawyer
with guarantees.
I want to be perfectly clear.
The killer would
have left behind DNA.
There's no way they didn't.
And if it's you...
it would be suicidal to go ahead
with this because I'll prove it
in no time.
It's the simplest thing
in the world.
Well, then...
we've got nothing
to worry about.
I have nothing to hide.
Let's go for it.
[gentle music]
Why?
Why?
Times have changed.
- We've been through
this before.
- They have DNA now, Dot.
- No.
- They didn't have that
back then.
The courts are never going
to give in.
You know that, Steven.
They didn't before.
- We want a new trial.
- A new trial?
Every time I had hope,
they knocked us down.
- Why bring everything up?
- Because it'll be different
this time.
- Steven is free now.
- No!
No.
He is not free.
And he never will be free
until his name is cleared.
[woman's voice] We want to order
all of the files under
the Access of Information Act.
Thousands of them
from the police,
witness statements,
the doctors, experts...
We'll need Steven
to sign for them.
And I want a copy of every
single piece of paper
that you order.
Those are Steve's papers.
He has a right to them.
Oh, I can't wait to get my
meat hooks into these.
Just over there.
[dramatic music]
Thank you.
[relieved chuckle]
[giggling]
[Marlene's voice] It's--
It's overwhelming, Theresa.
There's-- There's over 20,000
pieces of paper.
[Theresa] You were
a statistician. You know
how to do this.
Cross-reference everything.
Start at the beginning.
Okay. Thanks.
[calm music]
[Marlene's voice] Hm.
When did it all begin?
Steven was a half hour away,
and I didn't know it.
[young Marlene] I think
he's dreamy.
[indistinct]
- You have a crush on him.
- Do not! He's a dork.
People didn't talk about rape
and murder back then.
- [girl] You're lying.
- [indistinct]
I did feel a little guilty
about that.
While I was having the best
time of my life, Steve was...
Steve was in a cell,
waiting to be hanged.
[woman] You should read this,
Marlene.
It's an excerpt from a book
by this journalist,
Isabel LeBourdais.
This boy has been in jail
for seven years now.
Maybe later, Mom.
I have a date.
She said she started looking
into the case
because she was against
capital punishment.
- Then she realized
he's not guilty.
- He's late.
He was just 14 when he
was arrested. Your age.
Steven Truscott.
[vehicle approaches]
[vehicle passes]
[slow music]
[Marlene's voice]
I couldn't put it down.
Steve's story was
like a door opened, and--
and this crack of light
came in.
[vehicle approaches]
[horn honking]
[birds chirping]
[man] Did you read this?
Yes, what do you think
will happen?
Nothing.
- Well he's innocent.
- It's just not the right time.
Country's not ready for it.
Well, Isabel's book is sold out.
Can't wait to read it.
- [thunder cracks]
- [young Marlene's voice]
Steven was a 14-year-old boy,
like yours or mine.
Some man with a very
sick mind raped
and strangled the young girl
that night.
No one ever asked whether
Steven had the sickness
of the strangler
and the rapist.
Every witness, every clue,
every fact that did not
support a case against him
was overlooked or ignored.
Why?
[]
So there's... Clinton.
There's school.
The bridge.
And up to the highway.
Dawson's bush.
Over there.
That's where Lynne asked Steven
to give her a ride on his bike.
She told him she wanted
to hitchhike to see the men
with the ponies.
She was mad at her
mom that night.
She didn't want to go home.
[older Marlene's voice]
It was all there,
just like Isabel's book.
Just like I'd imagined.
Come on.
- [mom] Is it far?
- It's just up in these trees,
I think.
[ominous music]
She was naked except
for her undershirt.
Her socks beside her.
Turquoise shorts...
neatly folded.
Steve rode over the bridge
with Lynne towards the highway,
and she got into a car with
fins and a yellow mark.
[Lynne giggling]
Two child witnesses saw Steve
and Lynne ride over the bridge.
And then...
another child saw Steve
ride back alone.
The police didn't
believe any of them.
They said they were liars.
Police said you couldn't see
anything from here,
but you can see everything.
Isabel was right.
They lied.
Steven went back to the school
yard and talked to a group
of boys,
and he had no blood on him.
No scratches.
And he was home
babysitting by 8:05 p.m.
Why would a boy who had just
raped somebody
seem perfectly normal?
What's wrong?
I don't know... what's
wrong with me. I-- I've...
It just feels so real.
[older Marlene's voice]
I felt like I had been there
before.
Like everything that happened
in my life had led me
to that moment.
[cell door slams closed]
[slow music]
[keys jangling]
[weatherman on radio]
...tomorrow, more sunshine
and slightly warmer
temperatures,
with the winds from the south
at 17 miles per hour.
It's currently 47 degrees.
[announcer] And now
a CKCX special report.
[man] A decision
for Steven Truscott came
down today.
[static begins] His appeal
has been denied
by the Supreme Court.
[signal improves]
...eight to one against.
[more static]
...only one dissenting voice,
Justice Hall.
The judges decided
he had a fair trial.
[]
[phone ringing]
- [woman] Hello?
- Isabel?
Yes?
[Marlene's voice]
I'd like to help.
I have an idea.
[calm music]
[Isabel] They said I was
attacking the justice system,
the police,
the medical profession...
- Everything they hold sacred.
- I was a woman attacking
everything they held sacred.
I was also the first woman
to ever use the word "penis"
- on national television.
- [giggles]
I have 2,000 signatures.
I sent them
to Stanley Knowles, MP.
He's only one voice,
but he is on our side.
He'll fight for him.
Do you think...
Do you think they'll let
him go before his parole?
No.
No, I don't.
They don't want to release him.
- I'm sure of it.
- They're afraid of the truth.
We have to keep fighting.
[dog barks, birds chirp]
[water splashing]
[announcer] Member
of parliament, Mr. Knowles,
introduced a private member's
bill today
to call for the release
of Steven Truscott.
The solicitor general
silenced the debate,
saying the cabinet will
not consider parole
until he has served
a minimum of 10 years.
[older Marlene's voice]
I thought about him that
Christmas.
What... What was he eating
for-- for Christmas dinner?
He would have to spend
three more years in jail,
away from his family,
and I...
I couldn't help him.
[announcer] We interrupt this
program with an announcement.
Steven Truscott was
freed from prison today.
As a part of his parole,
he will have to live
under an assumed name
somewhere else.
[]
We need love
We need freedom
We need all the blossoms,
All the rays of the sun
We need love
We need freedom
[older Marlene's voice]
What began as an obsession
became...
a love story.
Steve was always there.
I just didn't know it yet.
We need freedom
We need freedom
- Is everything okay?
What's going on?
- Oh, Isabel called.
She's on her way
to Steven's lawyers,
about five minutes away.
I invited them for dinner.
Steven Truscott is...
coming here.
Mm. They'll be here
in about an hour.
[whispering] Oh, my god.
[gentle music]
[older Marlene's voice]
He looked like James Dean,
like a man stepping
out of a movie
that I had been watching
inside my head.
I remember thinking,
"oh my God,
"I went to the county road
and it was real,
"and now the real
Steven Truscott was
"coming to my house."
[deep breath]
It was destiny.
[Julian] I have over 60
questions,
but I want to start with you.
The love story.
- Hm.
- Ah.
Well, um, when I first met her,
- she was hiding in a closet.
- I was not.
I-- I was in a closet,
but I was not hiding.
- [mom] Hi.
- [Isabel] Hello.
- So nice to meet you in person.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hello, dear. I didn't see
you there.
- Hi.
- My husband. This is Isabel.
- It's Nice to finally meet you.
- This is Steven.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- Steven, nice to meet you.
- Hi.
- I can take your coat.
- Ah, thank you.
[sighs]
This is actually at sunset.
[gasp] Mm. This is your view?
- Out the window?
- This is the view,
right out the window.
- Look.
- This is, um,
sort of the backyard.
I'm gonna... drop something
off at my boyfriend's.
Do you want to come for a drive?
Sure.
What should I call you?
I can't use your
real name, can I?
Steven Johnson, say that.
It's too bad I have to move
to Vancouver.
My friend Pinky got a job
there and I'm quitting mine.
I'm going to Vancouver too.
To Rock Creek, to be
with my grandparents.
The parole board won't
let me stay in Ontario.
They don't want you here?
The press is behind you.
They want to silence you.
Here... is...
my number.
If-- If you want to call.
Sure.
[gentle music]
[Marlene] He, uh-- He had no
friends his own age
and he just was such a--
a lonely person.
I-- I wanted to, um...
I wanted to bring something
bright into his life.
[seagulls squawking]
[horn blowing]
[Marlene's voice] I remember
feeling very sorry for him.
And it seemed like he was
searching for something
in his...
In his life.
When did you notice
your feelings changed?
Well, uh, my dad come out. Um...
and, uh, he and Steve spent
a lot of time together,
which was nice because, uh,
Steve's dad wasn't able
to make the trip.
And, um...
I, just-- I just realized...
Um...
I felt differently.
I, uh... I felt more.
[Steven] I asked her on a date.
- And she said yes.
- No, I did not say yes.
I said "that would be nice."
- She said yes.
- [chuckles]
- Seven Seas, remember that?
- Yes, a seafood restaurant
in North Vancouver, just
over the Lions Gate Bridge.
I was, um...
I was living on Granville.
He wore a...
[laughing]
The boy wore a houndstooth
vest and a bow tie.
It was my grandfather's.
It looked like his
grandfather's.
- Oh, and then the pea.
- Oh, the pea.
This pea rolled off my
plate and onto the floor.
I had to stop it with my foot
and I was-- I was trying
so hard--
- I barely noticed.
- Dainty and all, and he--
You did notice.
I was looking
at you the whole time.
- She looked so beautiful.
- [chuckle]
- Don't! Just sit down!
- [chuckles] Nah.
You're gonna crash us.
- I think we should put
it in the pond.
- No, no. Do not!
- Seriously, Steven, stop it.
- [chuckles]
[gentle music]
[Marlene laughs, shrieks]
- [Marlene] Cut it out!
- You're getting good at this.
I love you.
I love you too.
I'm gonna go home
and I'm gonna get my stuff
and I'm gonna come right back.
- Will you?
- Yeah.
Okay.
[Marlene's voice]
I gave him my keys, and, uh,
he said he would be back
in an hour.
So I, uh...
I waited nervously for him.
I was afraid that, um,
he might change his mind.
[Steven's voice]
Not a chance.
But I did make her
wait a little bit,
- just enough to miss me.
- [Marlene chuckles]
I did.
I was nervous too.
You know, I might've seemed
like a cool customer,
- Mm.
- but my heart was
thumping pretty good.
I miss my family so much.
Yeah, I know.
So do I.
I hate the parole board.
Want to go home.
- You know that I can't go home.
You know that.
That was a condition
of my parole.
So we have to just keep hiding?
Living a lie?
A secret life?
What does it mean to not
be who you are?
Just ask them.
Just tell them we want
to go home.
They don't care what we want.
They don't care.
Beg them. They can't--
They can't tell you what
to do for the rest of your life.
Yes, they can.
[sigh] Uh...
Tell them...
I'm pregnant?
What?
[gentle music]
Tell them I'm pregnant.
We're gonna have a baby.
Hey.
Hey, look at me.
I just never thought that
I was gonna...
have that.
This is your family now.
Okay, this is your family.
Baby, I want my family home.
Okay.
His case nagged
at me constantly.
Every time I read
something small
about someone
escaping from jail,
all I could think
about was, uh...
- was Steve.
- You had to hide the truth?
Yeah.
We were imposters.
Living in hiding, moving
every time someone
found out that there was
a murderer living on the block.
Or the parole board called,
and...
To complain about something
Steve hadn't even done.
[child crying]
Hey, come here, it's okay.
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.
It's okay, it's okay.
I know. It's okay.
I know, I know.
[sigh] I know.
You know, for Steve,
he had been in prison
and now he was free.
But... for me,
I was free and...
now I was in prison.
[calm music]
[boy] Cool.
Here he comes again.
Everybody wave and say
- "Hi Dad!"
- [All] Hi, Dad!
[laughing]
[motorcycle approaches,
cuts engine]
[Steven sniffles, sighs]
- Aren't you cold?
- Tough.
Always the daredevil.
- It's-- You know it's
minus five.
- I felt that.
[both laugh]
Thank you. Mm.
We gotta tell them.
The kids.
- Marlene, it's not
the right time.
- Leslie's almost 12.
What if they think that I...
Leslie asked me why
her grandparents
have a different last name.
- Why Uncle Bill, Aunt Barb?
- And what did you say?
Well, I told her it's because
Grandma remarried.
Well, it's not a complete lie.
Not the whole truth, either.
Just don't want to hurt them.
Do you not think when
they find out that we lied,
that that's going to hurt
a hell of a lot more?
We'll tell them when they're 14.
If you were old enough
to hang...
then they're old enough to know
the truth about their father.
Okay.
[school bell rings]
[dramatic music]
[door opens, slams closed]
Honey?
You lied to me.
I know who you are.
- Leslie.
- I can explain.
What did you think I was
going to do, call the police?
Honey, we were trying
to protect you.
- It's my fault.
- Steven.
- It's my-
- Stop!
- My teacher brought
you up in class.
- [sigh]
He said you were a hero.
I want to tell my
class who you are, Dad.
I love you, Daddy.
I love you too.
The children found
out on their own. Um...
Devon found the tape that
I had done with Theresa,
and Ryan found out at school.
He begged his teacher not
to do the Truscott unit.
[Steven] And the teacher,
he asked, uh-- he asked why.
[Marlene] Ryan said,
"Because it bothers me."
[Steven] The teacher, he said,
"well it bothers me too."
[Marlene] That's when Ryan said,
"But it bothers me because
he's my dad."
- [knocking]
- [male voice] Mom?
[knocking]
I just kept saying
over and over and over,
the truth does not cease
to exist because it is hidden.
Jocelyn claimed that
Steven asked her
to go look for calves
in the bushes.
Jury thought he was a monster.
If not Lynne, then her.
Steven denied it.
I went back and I looked
at Jocelyn's original
police statement.
There was no mention of Steven
asking her to go look
for calves.
[woman] Did she forget?
Or did she make it up?
[ominous music]
[Marlene's voice]
The children used to say
if it wasn't on the trail,
I didn't know it.
I was on that tractor trail
morning, noon, and night.
[sigh] As if it held a secret
that only the tractor trail
could tell.
Mom?
Mom?
Prosecution told the jury
that there were bicycle
tire tracks in the bush.
By implication, Steven's.
But then by the police's
own report,
it says that the tracks
were dried up in the mud.
It hadn't rained in a month.
Police also noted that there
were fresh car tire tracks.
Sergeant wrote that it looked
like the car tried to back up
- and it had spun out.
- Mom.
Maybe you should take a break.
- Break? Why?
- This, all of this.
- It never ends.
You're not here.
- I'm right here.
Of course I'm here,
I'm your mother.
- What do you mean I'm not here?
- It's just...
Mom...
Leslie's having a baby.
- I know.
- And she's so excited,
and you don't even notice.
If it doesn't happen
on the trail, you don't see it.
[airplane flying overhead]
The trail was cold.
There's no DNA.
Presumed destroyed in 1992.
Consumed by fire.
Officers stayed until
everything was gone.
They burned the evidence.
Samples were sent to London
in '59, but...
it's all gone. All of it.
What a fire it must've been.
Without DNA, it will be more
difficult.
Only four cases have ever
made it to trial.
We cannot give up.
The truth has to come out.
The jury has to know that they
didn't get the full story,
that they withheld evidence.
Marlene, Steven has exhausted
all of his appeals.
We would have to make
a proposal
- to the justice minister
to reopen the case.
- Cripes!
What more do they want?
What we need... is new
and compelling evidence.
[slow music]
[sigh]
[clock ticking]
[yawning]
In the police files,
I found a bulletin that
was released that night
that said Lynne was
killed around 9:00 p.m.
Steven was home by
8:05 to babysit.
It was dark by 9:12.
I found a notebook belonging
to one of the officers
on the case.
In all of the notes he took
the night of the autopsy,
there was no time of death.
Why?
Because Dr. Penistan didn't
give him a time of death.
It's the only explanation.
If Penistan had determined
the time, he would have written
the note.
- Maybe it was an oversight.
- I don't think so.
These notes are too detailed.
There's no way a cop is going
to forget to write down
the time of death.
If indeed Penistan had come up
with an exact time during
the autopsy.
At the trial, Penistan said
that Lynne was killed
within the half hour
that she was with Steven.
- 7:15, 7:45.
- So when did he come
up with that time?
The time that pegged Steven?
And who made him
change his mind?
[dramatic music]
The night Lynne disappeared,
Bob Lawson and a friend
were heading down
to the river for a dip.
[crickets chirping]
And they saw a car parked
by the bush on his property.
Exactly like the car that
Steven had described.
And they think they saw
a young girl slumped down
in the front.
When the guy in the car
yelled at them,
they figured that they'd
interrupted some lovers,
so they took off.
But then that same guy came
barreling down the road at them
where they were swimming,
cursing and swearing
as he drove by.
After hearing about
Lynne's murder,
Bob Lawson reported all of this
to the guard house
on the military base.
- It-- It didn't come
out in the trial.
- Nope.
A car that night parked
in the bush where Lynne
was found.
Protect their own.
Isn't that the saying?
Keep digging.
[Marlene's voice]
Doris Truscott didn't
remember
if she'd washed his pants
or why there was a scratch
on them.
They noted her
poor housekeeping.
The jury noted Steven
was silent at the trial.
Remorseless, cold,
a cold blooded killer,
and it was
Doris Truscott's fault.
On his birthday,
the Truscotts showed Steven
his present.
A card, a birthday cake,
and a watch.
His father held it up
to show him.
No presents were allowed.
During the trial,
the Truscotts were moved
off the base,
300 miles away to Ottawa.
After the trial, Steven was
taken to Goderich Jail
to await his fate.
[Marlene's voice] The judge
declared he be kept
in isolation,
a five by six foot cell
with one window.
All that changed when his
older brother
climbed up the tree to wave
to him.
When the guards found out,
Steven was moved
to a cell with no windows.
His family was allowed to see
him for one hour a month.
They divided this
into two half hours.
[Marlene] Um...
- [Steven] I think
my luck's changing.
- I think...
[Marlene] I think you...
are about to lose for the...
third time?
- Well, if someone's counting.
- [laughing]
Steve, I need to ask
you something.
When you were...
Did you really believe...
that you would hang?
Yep.
[Marlene's voice]
The dam broke
the following spring.
As with most floods, it began
as just a trickle,
small crack in the silence.
Silence that had always been
part of our married life.
Never talk about it,
leave it in the darkness.
Don't hurt the family.
Can you tell me...
what it was like?
One day you're living
a normal life...
and the next you're in a cell
waiting to be hung.
It was like being dropped
in a foreign country
where no one knows English
and everyone speaks
a foreign language.
I just kept wondering,
"what's happening?"
Where's my parents?
I told them that my name
was Steven Truscott.
And they said, "You're not
going to need that here."
And they gave me a uniform...
and a number.
Told me to sew it on.
[indistinct prisoner chatter]
I remember they were
building something
on the other side of the prison.
All day, I could hear
the sound of banging.
[hammering]
[sawing]
And I thought they were
building my gallows.
And then...
Then, one day,
the sound stopped.
And I thought they
were coming to get me.
I could hear the sound
of the guard coming toward me.
[footsteps, jangling keys]
And I thought, "this is it."
They're gonna hang me.
I found out afterward
that they were just
doing some construction
outside the prison, but
no one told me that.
No one told me.
Oh!
I'm so sorry.
[both crying]
[Marlene's voice]
In the next period of time,
Steven Truscott will be seen
at some length
to try and understand
the fundamental motives
for his offense.
Perhaps Steven had
attempted to kiss Lynne,
and when she fought back,
he tried
to stop her from screaming,
accidentally strangling her.
I hereby authorize
you to carry out
any psychological assessments
deemed necessary.
Truth serum. Repressed memory.
LSD.
How was your swim?
Are you okay?
Marlene?
[Marlene sighs]
They never believed you.
They never believed you.
Not one of them.
I found a file.
Dr. Scott, Collins Bay.
He made my life a living hell.
LSD?
How many times?
- I don't remember.
- Steve!
Why?
Because my mum asked me to.
What?
I made a pact with the devil.
I don't understand.
What do you mean?
My mum wanted
me to get parole.
And she knew they
wouldn't give it to me
unless we did everything
the doctor wanted.
Oh, God. So I did it.
I'm sorry.
He signed your parole letter.
Didn't he?
What was it like?
The LSD?
It was like uh...
Like a long dream.
There are these lights.
- Lights?
- Yeah, these
flashing lights.
They were like lights
you've never seen before.
[Steven groans]
[slow music]
You know that I'm sorry?
Sorry about what?
Sorry that I made you relive
just one moment of it.
Don't be.
I would do it all again
if I knew you were waitin'
on the other side for me.
I love you.
You know that I love you?
That I do.
- I love you,
Steven Murray Truscott.
- Mm.
[Theresa] A week before Lynne
was murdered,
a man tried to lure
a girl into his car.
He promised her
new panties, and...
even showed her the pair
he had hidden under his seat.
The father reported it to the
police, but they let him go.
A few weeks later,
he was hospitalized
in a psychiatric ward
and the doctor noted that
he was traumatized by guilt.
He sold his car two weeks
after Lynne was killed.
Marlene, there were
other suspects.
The police never bothered
to look into anyone else...
- but Steven.
- Why?
Why were they going
after a 14 year old boy?
Wh-- The way Lynne was
f-- found,
[hesitating] so methodical...
like a sick ritual.
They should've been
looking for a predator.
Donna Dunkin claimed
she saw Philip Burns
and Richard Gellatly leave
the road at the same time,
Richard on a bike,
Philip on foot.
Richard said he saw
Steven and Lynne here.
Philip did not see them.
The prosecution said it's
because
Steven had already
taken Lynne into the bush,
- where he murdered her.
- Steven?
That's me.
I know.
I didn't know that boy.
I have to distance myself.
[Marlene] No one ever saw them
go onto that trail.
It's completely
circumstantial evidence.
So they had to prove
Steven was guilty
by who didn't see them
on the road that night.
If we can't get rid of Philip
not seeing them,
then we can't get
rid of the case.
He left school...
7:25 with Lynne.
He came...
By 7:30.
7:30. His mother confirmed it.
Donna Dunkin said she
saw them at seven,
no more than 10 feet apart.
Two other witnesses
put Philip's departure
around seven,
while Richard left on his
bike at 7:15 or 7:20.
Donna Dunkin was the only
witness who claimed that
they left together.
Philip dove into water,
dressed, walked home.
At the school yard, 7:25.
7:25 or 7:30, Steven and
Lynne start up the road,
passed Richard Gellatly,
7:25, 7:05, 7:15, 7:10, 7:15.
[Marlene's voices overlapping]
The times were wrong.
The times were wrong.
[Marlene] What if it was all
wrong?
What if it was
based on bad timing,
flawed logic, and poor
eyewitness accounts?
Philip didn't see Steven
and Lynne on a bike
because he left 20
minutes before Richard.
Philip didn't see them because
he was already at home.
I'm going to need to interview
you on camera.
Well, that's Steve's decision.
- Where would we do this
interview?
- Our studio.
I'd like to take you
back to the county road.
That's where your
whole life changed.
I just want the truth.
Okay, ready to roll?
And action.
[TV host] In a Goderich,
Ontario jail cell,
he awaited the hang man.
He was 14.
In 1959, when a 12-year-old
girl disappeared
- on a hot June evening,
- Turn up the volume.
An investigation lasting
less than two days,
and a trial of less than
two weeks,
sent a 14-year-old school boy
on his way to the gallows.
Steven Truscott's murder
trial was the most famous
and infamous child criminal
case in Canadian history.
His death sentence
was commuted,
but he spent 10 years
in prison.
Since his release, Truscott
has lived a secret life
under an assumed name,
shunning all publicity
until now.
Tonight, he breaks
that 40 year silence.
[Steven on TV]
It's important to me.
I know they got
the wrong person.
My kids are all grown up.
We've discussed it
as a family,
and we figured it was time
to come out.
[host] If Steven and Lynne
crossed the bridge,
he could not have killed her
in the bush.
[man] I saw both of them.
Well, couldn't see one
of them without the other,
but they were both--
They were riding double
on Steve's bike across
the river.
No doubt in your
mind about it?
There is absolutely
no doubt in my mind.
If your memory is sharp, then
Steven Truscott is innocent.
I don't know how anybody
could have come to any other
conclusion.
[man 2] I don't think there
is any medical or forensic
evidence
which clearly links
Steven Truscott
with Lynne Harper's death.
[host] The police
and the pathologist
at the time allot.
- Well... [clears throat]
- They told them that she
died sometime between
7:15 and 7:30 on the night
of June the 9th.
Under the best
of circumstances,
determination of time
of death of a dead body
may be very difficult,
if not impossible.
[host] Did you ever have any
doubt that, my gosh,
there's a dark side to my
father that I didn't
know about?
[Leslie] No. Never.
My dad is the most laid
back, relaxed person
I've ever met in my life.
And sure, everything
he went through with
all the time in jail
and that really molded
the wonderful person
that he's become.
[Devon] I just
couldn't imagine all
of my rights
being taken away from me.
People talk about heroes
all the time,
and "who do you admire?"
and "who is your hero,
in your life?"
And we don't have to go
anywhere but our house.
[host] ...why it's
so important for you guys
as a couple,
as a family, to keep
pursuing this?
Whether he did it
or not, he's scot-free.
He did his time.
He owes nothing to society.
He's not scot-free.
He goes to bed every night
as a convicted murderer
and he wakes up every morning
as a convicted murderer.
And why should he be?
Justice hasn't been done.
Not to the Harper family,
and not to my family.
It's all I want.
After 40 years, I don't
think that's too much to ask.
[Marlene's voice] It was
a strange feeling,
watching yourself.
Like looking in the mirror
and not recognizing
your own face.
But for me, it was
the beginning
of the vindication.
I could taste justice.
I just can't believe how--
how many there are.
[Marlene reading]
"Dear Marlene
and Steven Truscott,
"I live in France now, but while
visiting my family in Toronto,
"I managed to catch
the in-depth report on this
long ago,
"but not forgotten case
for many Canadians.
"I remember it like
it was only yesterday.
"We accused him
and threw him away,
"hoping that we would
never have to hear
"about this case again.
"What an injustice
we have done to your family.
"But like it or not,
Steven Truscott,
"you have become a Canadian
icon for young people.
"You do not have to
clear your name."
That's nice.
[James] Okay, so here's
what's been happening.
We made an application
to the minister of justice,
pursuant to section 690,
for relief against Steven's
conviction
on a charge of
first degree murder.
Now we made this
ministerial application
on the grounds of a miscarriage
of justice.
The justice minister,
Irwin Cotler,
appointed a justice,
Fred Kaufman,
to review the application.
And now the good news.
- They've reopened the case.
- Yes!
[gentle music]
In 1959, Steven Truscott
was charged with the murder
of 12-year-old Lynne Harper.
Today we have filed
a 700 page brief
to challenge that verdict.
The jury never got anything
like the full story.
And we have new evidence
that was never shown
at the time of the trial
or the appeal.
[reporters overlapping
with questions]
All I want them to say is
that they made a mistake.
I'm not asking for the world.
What they did was wrong.
Who is accountable for what
happened to my husband?
If he had been 16
instead of 14 in 1959,
he would not be
standing here today.
[announcer] Today, it was
announced Fred Kaufman
was appointed to look
at the Truscott case
to see whether there
was enough new evidence
to require another trial,
a hearing, or a pardon.
[Marlene's voice]
This was a very good day
for us,
for everyone who believed
in Steve's innocence.
Well?
Been asked to write a book.
A book?
- About what?
- Steven. You. Whole story.
What do you need?
They left from...
went over the bridge.
Found.
Somebody's lying.
This is a memo written
by Dr. Penistan in 1966,
as the Supreme Court was
about to hear Steven's case.
In the memo, he changed
the time of death.
- He said it could have been
much later.
- Much later?
Steve lost that appeal.
He spent another
three years in jail.
You need to hear this.
"The other unofficial version
of the autopsy report
"gives Lynne's time of death
as between 4:45 a.m.
"and 10:45 a.m. on June 10th.
In other words,
"if Lynne's death occurred
during either timeframes
that I had originally noted,
"then Steven could not
have been the killer."
It says it's an agonizing
reappraisal.
They didn't call Penistan
up during that appeal.
Called eight other
doctors, but not-- not him.
Penistan took this
to the police.
- What?
- They buried it.
They made sure the
Supreme Court never heard
that the doctor whose testimony
had so influenced the jury
had changed his mind.
They almost hung him for that!
[door slams]
Why would they do this to me?
It was a mad rush to justice.
- If that's justice, I don't
understand the word, Marlene.
Your case was a time bomb,
Steve.
The truth would have blown
the whole thing open.
- Why are you defending
them, Marlene?
- I am not defending them!
- I am not defending them!
- You're defending them,
Marlene!
God--
Steve, I'm sorry. [sniffles]
I'm going for a ride.
[door slams]
[whimpering]
[slow music]
- Mm. More chicken?
- No.
- You've heard nothing?
- No.
They're not going
to give Steven a fair trial.
Yes. Yes, they are.
We have more lawyers than
you can shake a stick at
and Steve and I are very
optimistic, aren't we?
- These things take time, Doris.
- Do they?
How long has it been since
the report went to Kaufman?
Two years?
- Three?
- Two.
Two years.
It's never going to end.
[slow music]
[Marlene's voice] Julian
called them my dark years,
the years of waiting.
Darkness so thick, I barely
saw my way out of it.
[sighs]
Steve!
Steve!
James called.
Kaufman finished his report.
He said you didn't
get a fair trial.
He says it's not enough
to demonstrate innocence,
so it's not a pardon.
More likely a miscarriage
of justice.
- [grunt]
- [laughing]
[Steven sighs heavily]
Oh.
Federal justice minister,
Irwin Cotler, has to review it.
And then we got to wait
for his ruling, but...
oh, I feel it, Steve.
We're going to get a new trial.
Thank you, Marlene.
Thank you.
[laughing]
[Marlene] We did it.
We did it.
I'm so excited,
I can't stand it.
Look at this cake.
- What time are people coming
over for the celebration?
- Five.
This is it, Steve.
I can feel it. This is--
This is what we've been
waiting for.
What time did the justice
minister say he would call?
- Oh, it should be any
minute now.
- [phone ringing]
It's a nice cake.
Hello, this is Steven.
Okay.
Thank you for calling.
Cotler wants to send it
to the court of appeal
for review.
[hesitating] The court--
For a review? I--
Uh-uh.
The same court that
betrayed you before?
No.
Uh, no
No, they-- They...
We told them we wanted
a new trial.
They knew-- They knew
we wanted a new trial.
He said it could take
three years.
No.
No, no, no.
I won't. No.
Can't!
[slow music]
- Excuse me.
- Over here!
- We're with the Herald.
- Excuse me.
[reporter] Can you tell us how
you feel?
- Please?
- [reporter 2] Please,
just a comment.
[reporter] Over here!
[reporters continue questioning]
[knocking on window]
[reporter 2] Mrs. Truscott,
please, just a few questions.
Well, that's it.
[plane engine overhead]
[announcer] ...yesterday,
and are 1100 for the event.
- [fanfare]
- [digital assistant]
Your news team is next.
Respected journalist
Isabel LeBourdais died
yesterday
at the age of 92.
She suffered
from Alzheimer's.
Ms. LeBourdais was best
known as the author
of the 1966 book, "The Trial
of Steven Truscott."
Ms. LeBourdais was seen
as a courageous crusader,
a woman ahead of her time,
who dared to say the justice
system was fallible.
[announcer] Fighting broke
out overnight between
rival factions along
the Israeli-Syrian border...
[slow music]
[door creaks]
[squeaking]
[imagined prison sounds]
[phantom thud]
[gasps]
[phantom hammering, sawing]
[phantom prisoner chatter]
James will call
us in the morning.
Press conference is at four.
I told my mum not to come.
It's a long drive from Ottawa,
and her heart's not good.
- And what if it doesn't
turn out well for us?
- It will.
Mac called.
Said he's praying for us.
That's nice.
You know what I see?
I see...
people all over the world...
standing up, raising their hands
for Steven Truscott.
I, uh...
I have a dream...
I've dreamt it for so long...
that when we arrive
for the announcement,
we put our hands up
in the victory sign
for all the world to see.
This time, we will win.
[phone ringing]
Hello, this is Steven.
Yep.
Thanks.
Steve!
What did they say?
Steve?
It's over.
I've been exonerated.
[laughing]
- I love you.
- I love you too, Marlene.
[lively music]
Isn't this great?
[crowd murmuring]
[crowd cheering]
[man] Way to go, Steven!
- [man] Congratulations!
- [woman] Congratulations!
[overlapping congratulations]
Excuse me.
[man] Great job, buddy!
Great job!
Excuse me.
[Marlene's voice]
I thought about walking
and walking
and never coming back.
People ask
"How did it happen?"
I was just carried away
on a wave like Steve.
One damn thing, that's all.
That's all I wanted
was that victory sign
for all the world to see.
[slow music]
[]
[James] Steven Truscott has been
on a 48 year journey,
more than any of us
could ever imagine.
A journey for truth and justice.
Out of the darkness,
and into the light.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you... Steven Truscott!
A freed man!
Marlene?
Would you please come join me?
[Marlene laughs]
[audience applauds]
[man] Way to go, Steven!
[triumphant music]
[gentle music]
[soft piano music]
[]
[ominous music]
[sigh]
[man 1] Keep an eye out.
[man 2] All right, let's check
over there.
Take a look at that.
Was your tempo
Not the same as mine
My heart beats
To a different time
Please don't try to
Change my point of view
[girl] Hey, Steven?
Hey, can you take
me to the highway?
I really want to see the ponies.
Okay, yeah. Let's go.
But when one window
Closes
Another opens
And she's got something
Electric inside
She's got something
That just won't subside
Now I know
What it means to feel alive
Now I know
It's okay
You just ain't right
No, no, no,
Ain't right
No
[ominous music]
[man] Found something, sir.
Check near the tree line.
Over here.
[dramatic music]
Over here!
Over here!
[music swells]
[Marlene's voice]
He took 12-year-old
Lynne Harper to the bushes,
dropped his bike,
and dragged her
over the barbed wire fence.
He knocked her out,
took off her panties,
leaving them there
in his haste,
and dragged her across
the bush to a clearing
where he strangled her with
her own shirt...
and raped her.
[siren]
Steven Murray Truscott,
you shall be taken
to the place of execution
and hanged by the neck
until you are dead.
Have you anything
to say for yourself?
"No, your honor."
[woman] No. No,
my son is innocent.
[indistinct prisoner voices
echoing]
[man's voice] What's it
like?
You're married to a convicted
rapist and murderer.
[Marlene's voice] You mean
a wrongfully convicted
boy of 14
who went out for a bike ride.
[man] Can you tell
the audience
why you are in darkness?
[Marlene]
I'm protecting my family.
Our children deserve
to grow up
without the shadow of their
father's conviction.
[man] Can you tell
us what it's been like...
Hiding?
You can't use your
real name, Truscott.
[Marlene] It's hard
to remain silent.
I've felt alone. Alone
for a very long time.
[man] But you agreed
to do this one interview.
[Marlene] I wanted to set
the record straight.
My husband is innocent.
[dramatic music]
[man on radio] ...summer,
thanks to a favorable ruling
by the IRS.
The split was contingent
on farmers certain tax ruling
without any tax liability
to either company
or their shareholders.
- [fanfare on radio]
- [woman] This is
a special report.
[woman 2] Good evening.
For almost 30 years,
David Milgaard was called
a killer.
In an instant today,
science cleared his name.
Milgaard swore he didn't
murder Gail Miller,
but still he spent
23 years in prison.
Supporters swore he
was innocent too,
but they couldn't prove it.
Now, DNA has.
And Milgaard's lawyers say
DNA has pointed the finger
right at someone else.
[woman 3] David will
be so happy about this
announcement.
The DNA testing absolutely
exonerated my son.
[woman 2] It was
with great emotion
that David Milgaard's mother,
Joyce, announced
her son's name
has finally been cleared
once and for all.
[plane engine whirring]
[Marlene's voice]
Steve always loved flying.
He said it was the
place that he felt free,
up there in the sky.
[deep breath] No bars.
How was it up there?
[Marlene chuckles]
- Looked beautiful.
- Yeah.
What are you smiling at?
I've been thinking...
maybe we should do the DNA
like David Milgaard.
Marlene, it's been so
many years.
He was in jail
for 23 years. It--
There are so many similarities
and it was a long
time for him too.
And his witnesses recanted.
But if there is DNA,
then-- then--
then it all goes away.
The kids are grown up now.
Leslie's getting married.
She's gonna
- have a family of her own.
- Devon's only 17.
He's almost 18!
He's almost 18.
And I can't let you go to your
grave a convicted murderer.
I won't.
Do it for the kids.
I don't want to do anything
that will hurt them.
But they will support you.
You know they will.
God, for once, just
do something for yourself.
You're never gonna know
unless you try.
What are you waiting for?
Can't wait for someone to walk
into the police and say
they did it,
'cause it's not gonna happen.
It's not gonna happen.
- You don't have--
- I'm scared, Marlene.
I know.
I know.
Let's go.
Yes, Julian Sher, please.
It's Marlene Bowers.
Well, he-- He has been hounding
me to do this story.
My husband's name
is Steven Truscott.
Tell him we're ready.
I do the research for the show.
Julian is the producer.
You and I will be
working closely.
Well, you'll have to get
used to me. I've a bit
of a photographic memory.
- Obsessed with details.
- Good. Then we'll get started.
I've ordered all
the police records and files
from the base,
any men that had
criminal records at the time
of Lynne's death.
Finally. They're looking
at somebody else.
Marlene, I need to say this:
We're journalists.
Our job is to find the truth.
- We're not here to prove
Steve innocent.
- My husband is innocent.
I want you to know that we'll
follow every thread of evidence,
turn over every rock,
but I can't promise you
you'll like what we turn up.
I'm not afraid of the truth.
Steve, if you want to prove your
innocence, you need a lawyer.
It's difficult in cases
like these.
Only four have ever gone
to trial.
[Marlene] You succeeded
with David Milgaard,
Guy Paul Morin.
Well, you seem to be
somewhat of a legend, James.
There was DNA. I was lucky.
If you give me permission
to reopen this case,
- there's no turning back.
- We won't be turning back.
If there is DNA,
I can guarantee a result.
That is the magic bullet.
[sigh] So another lawyer
with guarantees.
I want to be perfectly clear.
The killer would
have left behind DNA.
There's no way they didn't.
And if it's you...
it would be suicidal to go ahead
with this because I'll prove it
in no time.
It's the simplest thing
in the world.
Well, then...
we've got nothing
to worry about.
I have nothing to hide.
Let's go for it.
[gentle music]
Why?
Why?
Times have changed.
- We've been through
this before.
- They have DNA now, Dot.
- No.
- They didn't have that
back then.
The courts are never going
to give in.
You know that, Steven.
They didn't before.
- We want a new trial.
- A new trial?
Every time I had hope,
they knocked us down.
- Why bring everything up?
- Because it'll be different
this time.
- Steven is free now.
- No!
No.
He is not free.
And he never will be free
until his name is cleared.
[woman's voice] We want to order
all of the files under
the Access of Information Act.
Thousands of them
from the police,
witness statements,
the doctors, experts...
We'll need Steven
to sign for them.
And I want a copy of every
single piece of paper
that you order.
Those are Steve's papers.
He has a right to them.
Oh, I can't wait to get my
meat hooks into these.
Just over there.
[dramatic music]
Thank you.
[relieved chuckle]
[giggling]
[Marlene's voice] It's--
It's overwhelming, Theresa.
There's-- There's over 20,000
pieces of paper.
[Theresa] You were
a statistician. You know
how to do this.
Cross-reference everything.
Start at the beginning.
Okay. Thanks.
[calm music]
[Marlene's voice] Hm.
When did it all begin?
Steven was a half hour away,
and I didn't know it.
[young Marlene] I think
he's dreamy.
[indistinct]
- You have a crush on him.
- Do not! He's a dork.
People didn't talk about rape
and murder back then.
- [girl] You're lying.
- [indistinct]
I did feel a little guilty
about that.
While I was having the best
time of my life, Steve was...
Steve was in a cell,
waiting to be hanged.
[woman] You should read this,
Marlene.
It's an excerpt from a book
by this journalist,
Isabel LeBourdais.
This boy has been in jail
for seven years now.
Maybe later, Mom.
I have a date.
She said she started looking
into the case
because she was against
capital punishment.
- Then she realized
he's not guilty.
- He's late.
He was just 14 when he
was arrested. Your age.
Steven Truscott.
[vehicle approaches]
[vehicle passes]
[slow music]
[Marlene's voice]
I couldn't put it down.
Steve's story was
like a door opened, and--
and this crack of light
came in.
[vehicle approaches]
[horn honking]
[birds chirping]
[man] Did you read this?
Yes, what do you think
will happen?
Nothing.
- Well he's innocent.
- It's just not the right time.
Country's not ready for it.
Well, Isabel's book is sold out.
Can't wait to read it.
- [thunder cracks]
- [young Marlene's voice]
Steven was a 14-year-old boy,
like yours or mine.
Some man with a very
sick mind raped
and strangled the young girl
that night.
No one ever asked whether
Steven had the sickness
of the strangler
and the rapist.
Every witness, every clue,
every fact that did not
support a case against him
was overlooked or ignored.
Why?
[]
So there's... Clinton.
There's school.
The bridge.
And up to the highway.
Dawson's bush.
Over there.
That's where Lynne asked Steven
to give her a ride on his bike.
She told him she wanted
to hitchhike to see the men
with the ponies.
She was mad at her
mom that night.
She didn't want to go home.
[older Marlene's voice]
It was all there,
just like Isabel's book.
Just like I'd imagined.
Come on.
- [mom] Is it far?
- It's just up in these trees,
I think.
[ominous music]
She was naked except
for her undershirt.
Her socks beside her.
Turquoise shorts...
neatly folded.
Steve rode over the bridge
with Lynne towards the highway,
and she got into a car with
fins and a yellow mark.
[Lynne giggling]
Two child witnesses saw Steve
and Lynne ride over the bridge.
And then...
another child saw Steve
ride back alone.
The police didn't
believe any of them.
They said they were liars.
Police said you couldn't see
anything from here,
but you can see everything.
Isabel was right.
They lied.
Steven went back to the school
yard and talked to a group
of boys,
and he had no blood on him.
No scratches.
And he was home
babysitting by 8:05 p.m.
Why would a boy who had just
raped somebody
seem perfectly normal?
What's wrong?
I don't know... what's
wrong with me. I-- I've...
It just feels so real.
[older Marlene's voice]
I felt like I had been there
before.
Like everything that happened
in my life had led me
to that moment.
[cell door slams closed]
[slow music]
[keys jangling]
[weatherman on radio]
...tomorrow, more sunshine
and slightly warmer
temperatures,
with the winds from the south
at 17 miles per hour.
It's currently 47 degrees.
[announcer] And now
a CKCX special report.
[man] A decision
for Steven Truscott came
down today.
[static begins] His appeal
has been denied
by the Supreme Court.
[signal improves]
...eight to one against.
[more static]
...only one dissenting voice,
Justice Hall.
The judges decided
he had a fair trial.
[]
[phone ringing]
- [woman] Hello?
- Isabel?
Yes?
[Marlene's voice]
I'd like to help.
I have an idea.
[calm music]
[Isabel] They said I was
attacking the justice system,
the police,
the medical profession...
- Everything they hold sacred.
- I was a woman attacking
everything they held sacred.
I was also the first woman
to ever use the word "penis"
- on national television.
- [giggles]
I have 2,000 signatures.
I sent them
to Stanley Knowles, MP.
He's only one voice,
but he is on our side.
He'll fight for him.
Do you think...
Do you think they'll let
him go before his parole?
No.
No, I don't.
They don't want to release him.
- I'm sure of it.
- They're afraid of the truth.
We have to keep fighting.
[dog barks, birds chirp]
[water splashing]
[announcer] Member
of parliament, Mr. Knowles,
introduced a private member's
bill today
to call for the release
of Steven Truscott.
The solicitor general
silenced the debate,
saying the cabinet will
not consider parole
until he has served
a minimum of 10 years.
[older Marlene's voice]
I thought about him that
Christmas.
What... What was he eating
for-- for Christmas dinner?
He would have to spend
three more years in jail,
away from his family,
and I...
I couldn't help him.
[announcer] We interrupt this
program with an announcement.
Steven Truscott was
freed from prison today.
As a part of his parole,
he will have to live
under an assumed name
somewhere else.
[]
We need love
We need freedom
We need all the blossoms,
All the rays of the sun
We need love
We need freedom
[older Marlene's voice]
What began as an obsession
became...
a love story.
Steve was always there.
I just didn't know it yet.
We need freedom
We need freedom
- Is everything okay?
What's going on?
- Oh, Isabel called.
She's on her way
to Steven's lawyers,
about five minutes away.
I invited them for dinner.
Steven Truscott is...
coming here.
Mm. They'll be here
in about an hour.
[whispering] Oh, my god.
[gentle music]
[older Marlene's voice]
He looked like James Dean,
like a man stepping
out of a movie
that I had been watching
inside my head.
I remember thinking,
"oh my God,
"I went to the county road
and it was real,
"and now the real
Steven Truscott was
"coming to my house."
[deep breath]
It was destiny.
[Julian] I have over 60
questions,
but I want to start with you.
The love story.
- Hm.
- Ah.
Well, um, when I first met her,
- she was hiding in a closet.
- I was not.
I-- I was in a closet,
but I was not hiding.
- [mom] Hi.
- [Isabel] Hello.
- So nice to meet you in person.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hello, dear. I didn't see
you there.
- Hi.
- My husband. This is Isabel.
- It's Nice to finally meet you.
- This is Steven.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- Steven, nice to meet you.
- Hi.
- I can take your coat.
- Ah, thank you.
[sighs]
This is actually at sunset.
[gasp] Mm. This is your view?
- Out the window?
- This is the view,
right out the window.
- Look.
- This is, um,
sort of the backyard.
I'm gonna... drop something
off at my boyfriend's.
Do you want to come for a drive?
Sure.
What should I call you?
I can't use your
real name, can I?
Steven Johnson, say that.
It's too bad I have to move
to Vancouver.
My friend Pinky got a job
there and I'm quitting mine.
I'm going to Vancouver too.
To Rock Creek, to be
with my grandparents.
The parole board won't
let me stay in Ontario.
They don't want you here?
The press is behind you.
They want to silence you.
Here... is...
my number.
If-- If you want to call.
Sure.
[gentle music]
[Marlene] He, uh-- He had no
friends his own age
and he just was such a--
a lonely person.
I-- I wanted to, um...
I wanted to bring something
bright into his life.
[seagulls squawking]
[horn blowing]
[Marlene's voice] I remember
feeling very sorry for him.
And it seemed like he was
searching for something
in his...
In his life.
When did you notice
your feelings changed?
Well, uh, my dad come out. Um...
and, uh, he and Steve spent
a lot of time together,
which was nice because, uh,
Steve's dad wasn't able
to make the trip.
And, um...
I, just-- I just realized...
Um...
I felt differently.
I, uh... I felt more.
[Steven] I asked her on a date.
- And she said yes.
- No, I did not say yes.
I said "that would be nice."
- She said yes.
- [chuckles]
- Seven Seas, remember that?
- Yes, a seafood restaurant
in North Vancouver, just
over the Lions Gate Bridge.
I was, um...
I was living on Granville.
He wore a...
[laughing]
The boy wore a houndstooth
vest and a bow tie.
It was my grandfather's.
It looked like his
grandfather's.
- Oh, and then the pea.
- Oh, the pea.
This pea rolled off my
plate and onto the floor.
I had to stop it with my foot
and I was-- I was trying
so hard--
- I barely noticed.
- Dainty and all, and he--
You did notice.
I was looking
at you the whole time.
- She looked so beautiful.
- [chuckle]
- Don't! Just sit down!
- [chuckles] Nah.
You're gonna crash us.
- I think we should put
it in the pond.
- No, no. Do not!
- Seriously, Steven, stop it.
- [chuckles]
[gentle music]
[Marlene laughs, shrieks]
- [Marlene] Cut it out!
- You're getting good at this.
I love you.
I love you too.
I'm gonna go home
and I'm gonna get my stuff
and I'm gonna come right back.
- Will you?
- Yeah.
Okay.
[Marlene's voice]
I gave him my keys, and, uh,
he said he would be back
in an hour.
So I, uh...
I waited nervously for him.
I was afraid that, um,
he might change his mind.
[Steven's voice]
Not a chance.
But I did make her
wait a little bit,
- just enough to miss me.
- [Marlene chuckles]
I did.
I was nervous too.
You know, I might've seemed
like a cool customer,
- Mm.
- but my heart was
thumping pretty good.
I miss my family so much.
Yeah, I know.
So do I.
I hate the parole board.
Want to go home.
- You know that I can't go home.
You know that.
That was a condition
of my parole.
So we have to just keep hiding?
Living a lie?
A secret life?
What does it mean to not
be who you are?
Just ask them.
Just tell them we want
to go home.
They don't care what we want.
They don't care.
Beg them. They can't--
They can't tell you what
to do for the rest of your life.
Yes, they can.
[sigh] Uh...
Tell them...
I'm pregnant?
What?
[gentle music]
Tell them I'm pregnant.
We're gonna have a baby.
Hey.
Hey, look at me.
I just never thought that
I was gonna...
have that.
This is your family now.
Okay, this is your family.
Baby, I want my family home.
Okay.
His case nagged
at me constantly.
Every time I read
something small
about someone
escaping from jail,
all I could think
about was, uh...
- was Steve.
- You had to hide the truth?
Yeah.
We were imposters.
Living in hiding, moving
every time someone
found out that there was
a murderer living on the block.
Or the parole board called,
and...
To complain about something
Steve hadn't even done.
[child crying]
Hey, come here, it's okay.
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.
It's okay, it's okay.
I know. It's okay.
I know, I know.
[sigh] I know.
You know, for Steve,
he had been in prison
and now he was free.
But... for me,
I was free and...
now I was in prison.
[calm music]
[boy] Cool.
Here he comes again.
Everybody wave and say
- "Hi Dad!"
- [All] Hi, Dad!
[laughing]
[motorcycle approaches,
cuts engine]
[Steven sniffles, sighs]
- Aren't you cold?
- Tough.
Always the daredevil.
- It's-- You know it's
minus five.
- I felt that.
[both laugh]
Thank you. Mm.
We gotta tell them.
The kids.
- Marlene, it's not
the right time.
- Leslie's almost 12.
What if they think that I...
Leslie asked me why
her grandparents
have a different last name.
- Why Uncle Bill, Aunt Barb?
- And what did you say?
Well, I told her it's because
Grandma remarried.
Well, it's not a complete lie.
Not the whole truth, either.
Just don't want to hurt them.
Do you not think when
they find out that we lied,
that that's going to hurt
a hell of a lot more?
We'll tell them when they're 14.
If you were old enough
to hang...
then they're old enough to know
the truth about their father.
Okay.
[school bell rings]
[dramatic music]
[door opens, slams closed]
Honey?
You lied to me.
I know who you are.
- Leslie.
- I can explain.
What did you think I was
going to do, call the police?
Honey, we were trying
to protect you.
- It's my fault.
- Steven.
- It's my-
- Stop!
- My teacher brought
you up in class.
- [sigh]
He said you were a hero.
I want to tell my
class who you are, Dad.
I love you, Daddy.
I love you too.
The children found
out on their own. Um...
Devon found the tape that
I had done with Theresa,
and Ryan found out at school.
He begged his teacher not
to do the Truscott unit.
[Steven] And the teacher,
he asked, uh-- he asked why.
[Marlene] Ryan said,
"Because it bothers me."
[Steven] The teacher, he said,
"well it bothers me too."
[Marlene] That's when Ryan said,
"But it bothers me because
he's my dad."
- [knocking]
- [male voice] Mom?
[knocking]
I just kept saying
over and over and over,
the truth does not cease
to exist because it is hidden.
Jocelyn claimed that
Steven asked her
to go look for calves
in the bushes.
Jury thought he was a monster.
If not Lynne, then her.
Steven denied it.
I went back and I looked
at Jocelyn's original
police statement.
There was no mention of Steven
asking her to go look
for calves.
[woman] Did she forget?
Or did she make it up?
[ominous music]
[Marlene's voice]
The children used to say
if it wasn't on the trail,
I didn't know it.
I was on that tractor trail
morning, noon, and night.
[sigh] As if it held a secret
that only the tractor trail
could tell.
Mom?
Mom?
Prosecution told the jury
that there were bicycle
tire tracks in the bush.
By implication, Steven's.
But then by the police's
own report,
it says that the tracks
were dried up in the mud.
It hadn't rained in a month.
Police also noted that there
were fresh car tire tracks.
Sergeant wrote that it looked
like the car tried to back up
- and it had spun out.
- Mom.
Maybe you should take a break.
- Break? Why?
- This, all of this.
- It never ends.
You're not here.
- I'm right here.
Of course I'm here,
I'm your mother.
- What do you mean I'm not here?
- It's just...
Mom...
Leslie's having a baby.
- I know.
- And she's so excited,
and you don't even notice.
If it doesn't happen
on the trail, you don't see it.
[airplane flying overhead]
The trail was cold.
There's no DNA.
Presumed destroyed in 1992.
Consumed by fire.
Officers stayed until
everything was gone.
They burned the evidence.
Samples were sent to London
in '59, but...
it's all gone. All of it.
What a fire it must've been.
Without DNA, it will be more
difficult.
Only four cases have ever
made it to trial.
We cannot give up.
The truth has to come out.
The jury has to know that they
didn't get the full story,
that they withheld evidence.
Marlene, Steven has exhausted
all of his appeals.
We would have to make
a proposal
- to the justice minister
to reopen the case.
- Cripes!
What more do they want?
What we need... is new
and compelling evidence.
[slow music]
[sigh]
[clock ticking]
[yawning]
In the police files,
I found a bulletin that
was released that night
that said Lynne was
killed around 9:00 p.m.
Steven was home by
8:05 to babysit.
It was dark by 9:12.
I found a notebook belonging
to one of the officers
on the case.
In all of the notes he took
the night of the autopsy,
there was no time of death.
Why?
Because Dr. Penistan didn't
give him a time of death.
It's the only explanation.
If Penistan had determined
the time, he would have written
the note.
- Maybe it was an oversight.
- I don't think so.
These notes are too detailed.
There's no way a cop is going
to forget to write down
the time of death.
If indeed Penistan had come up
with an exact time during
the autopsy.
At the trial, Penistan said
that Lynne was killed
within the half hour
that she was with Steven.
- 7:15, 7:45.
- So when did he come
up with that time?
The time that pegged Steven?
And who made him
change his mind?
[dramatic music]
The night Lynne disappeared,
Bob Lawson and a friend
were heading down
to the river for a dip.
[crickets chirping]
And they saw a car parked
by the bush on his property.
Exactly like the car that
Steven had described.
And they think they saw
a young girl slumped down
in the front.
When the guy in the car
yelled at them,
they figured that they'd
interrupted some lovers,
so they took off.
But then that same guy came
barreling down the road at them
where they were swimming,
cursing and swearing
as he drove by.
After hearing about
Lynne's murder,
Bob Lawson reported all of this
to the guard house
on the military base.
- It-- It didn't come
out in the trial.
- Nope.
A car that night parked
in the bush where Lynne
was found.
Protect their own.
Isn't that the saying?
Keep digging.
[Marlene's voice]
Doris Truscott didn't
remember
if she'd washed his pants
or why there was a scratch
on them.
They noted her
poor housekeeping.
The jury noted Steven
was silent at the trial.
Remorseless, cold,
a cold blooded killer,
and it was
Doris Truscott's fault.
On his birthday,
the Truscotts showed Steven
his present.
A card, a birthday cake,
and a watch.
His father held it up
to show him.
No presents were allowed.
During the trial,
the Truscotts were moved
off the base,
300 miles away to Ottawa.
After the trial, Steven was
taken to Goderich Jail
to await his fate.
[Marlene's voice] The judge
declared he be kept
in isolation,
a five by six foot cell
with one window.
All that changed when his
older brother
climbed up the tree to wave
to him.
When the guards found out,
Steven was moved
to a cell with no windows.
His family was allowed to see
him for one hour a month.
They divided this
into two half hours.
[Marlene] Um...
- [Steven] I think
my luck's changing.
- I think...
[Marlene] I think you...
are about to lose for the...
third time?
- Well, if someone's counting.
- [laughing]
Steve, I need to ask
you something.
When you were...
Did you really believe...
that you would hang?
Yep.
[Marlene's voice]
The dam broke
the following spring.
As with most floods, it began
as just a trickle,
small crack in the silence.
Silence that had always been
part of our married life.
Never talk about it,
leave it in the darkness.
Don't hurt the family.
Can you tell me...
what it was like?
One day you're living
a normal life...
and the next you're in a cell
waiting to be hung.
It was like being dropped
in a foreign country
where no one knows English
and everyone speaks
a foreign language.
I just kept wondering,
"what's happening?"
Where's my parents?
I told them that my name
was Steven Truscott.
And they said, "You're not
going to need that here."
And they gave me a uniform...
and a number.
Told me to sew it on.
[indistinct prisoner chatter]
I remember they were
building something
on the other side of the prison.
All day, I could hear
the sound of banging.
[hammering]
[sawing]
And I thought they were
building my gallows.
And then...
Then, one day,
the sound stopped.
And I thought they
were coming to get me.
I could hear the sound
of the guard coming toward me.
[footsteps, jangling keys]
And I thought, "this is it."
They're gonna hang me.
I found out afterward
that they were just
doing some construction
outside the prison, but
no one told me that.
No one told me.
Oh!
I'm so sorry.
[both crying]
[Marlene's voice]
In the next period of time,
Steven Truscott will be seen
at some length
to try and understand
the fundamental motives
for his offense.
Perhaps Steven had
attempted to kiss Lynne,
and when she fought back,
he tried
to stop her from screaming,
accidentally strangling her.
I hereby authorize
you to carry out
any psychological assessments
deemed necessary.
Truth serum. Repressed memory.
LSD.
How was your swim?
Are you okay?
Marlene?
[Marlene sighs]
They never believed you.
They never believed you.
Not one of them.
I found a file.
Dr. Scott, Collins Bay.
He made my life a living hell.
LSD?
How many times?
- I don't remember.
- Steve!
Why?
Because my mum asked me to.
What?
I made a pact with the devil.
I don't understand.
What do you mean?
My mum wanted
me to get parole.
And she knew they
wouldn't give it to me
unless we did everything
the doctor wanted.
Oh, God. So I did it.
I'm sorry.
He signed your parole letter.
Didn't he?
What was it like?
The LSD?
It was like uh...
Like a long dream.
There are these lights.
- Lights?
- Yeah, these
flashing lights.
They were like lights
you've never seen before.
[Steven groans]
[slow music]
You know that I'm sorry?
Sorry about what?
Sorry that I made you relive
just one moment of it.
Don't be.
I would do it all again
if I knew you were waitin'
on the other side for me.
I love you.
You know that I love you?
That I do.
- I love you,
Steven Murray Truscott.
- Mm.
[Theresa] A week before Lynne
was murdered,
a man tried to lure
a girl into his car.
He promised her
new panties, and...
even showed her the pair
he had hidden under his seat.
The father reported it to the
police, but they let him go.
A few weeks later,
he was hospitalized
in a psychiatric ward
and the doctor noted that
he was traumatized by guilt.
He sold his car two weeks
after Lynne was killed.
Marlene, there were
other suspects.
The police never bothered
to look into anyone else...
- but Steven.
- Why?
Why were they going
after a 14 year old boy?
Wh-- The way Lynne was
f-- found,
[hesitating] so methodical...
like a sick ritual.
They should've been
looking for a predator.
Donna Dunkin claimed
she saw Philip Burns
and Richard Gellatly leave
the road at the same time,
Richard on a bike,
Philip on foot.
Richard said he saw
Steven and Lynne here.
Philip did not see them.
The prosecution said it's
because
Steven had already
taken Lynne into the bush,
- where he murdered her.
- Steven?
That's me.
I know.
I didn't know that boy.
I have to distance myself.
[Marlene] No one ever saw them
go onto that trail.
It's completely
circumstantial evidence.
So they had to prove
Steven was guilty
by who didn't see them
on the road that night.
If we can't get rid of Philip
not seeing them,
then we can't get
rid of the case.
He left school...
7:25 with Lynne.
He came...
By 7:30.
7:30. His mother confirmed it.
Donna Dunkin said she
saw them at seven,
no more than 10 feet apart.
Two other witnesses
put Philip's departure
around seven,
while Richard left on his
bike at 7:15 or 7:20.
Donna Dunkin was the only
witness who claimed that
they left together.
Philip dove into water,
dressed, walked home.
At the school yard, 7:25.
7:25 or 7:30, Steven and
Lynne start up the road,
passed Richard Gellatly,
7:25, 7:05, 7:15, 7:10, 7:15.
[Marlene's voices overlapping]
The times were wrong.
The times were wrong.
[Marlene] What if it was all
wrong?
What if it was
based on bad timing,
flawed logic, and poor
eyewitness accounts?
Philip didn't see Steven
and Lynne on a bike
because he left 20
minutes before Richard.
Philip didn't see them because
he was already at home.
I'm going to need to interview
you on camera.
Well, that's Steve's decision.
- Where would we do this
interview?
- Our studio.
I'd like to take you
back to the county road.
That's where your
whole life changed.
I just want the truth.
Okay, ready to roll?
And action.
[TV host] In a Goderich,
Ontario jail cell,
he awaited the hang man.
He was 14.
In 1959, when a 12-year-old
girl disappeared
- on a hot June evening,
- Turn up the volume.
An investigation lasting
less than two days,
and a trial of less than
two weeks,
sent a 14-year-old school boy
on his way to the gallows.
Steven Truscott's murder
trial was the most famous
and infamous child criminal
case in Canadian history.
His death sentence
was commuted,
but he spent 10 years
in prison.
Since his release, Truscott
has lived a secret life
under an assumed name,
shunning all publicity
until now.
Tonight, he breaks
that 40 year silence.
[Steven on TV]
It's important to me.
I know they got
the wrong person.
My kids are all grown up.
We've discussed it
as a family,
and we figured it was time
to come out.
[host] If Steven and Lynne
crossed the bridge,
he could not have killed her
in the bush.
[man] I saw both of them.
Well, couldn't see one
of them without the other,
but they were both--
They were riding double
on Steve's bike across
the river.
No doubt in your
mind about it?
There is absolutely
no doubt in my mind.
If your memory is sharp, then
Steven Truscott is innocent.
I don't know how anybody
could have come to any other
conclusion.
[man 2] I don't think there
is any medical or forensic
evidence
which clearly links
Steven Truscott
with Lynne Harper's death.
[host] The police
and the pathologist
at the time allot.
- Well... [clears throat]
- They told them that she
died sometime between
7:15 and 7:30 on the night
of June the 9th.
Under the best
of circumstances,
determination of time
of death of a dead body
may be very difficult,
if not impossible.
[host] Did you ever have any
doubt that, my gosh,
there's a dark side to my
father that I didn't
know about?
[Leslie] No. Never.
My dad is the most laid
back, relaxed person
I've ever met in my life.
And sure, everything
he went through with
all the time in jail
and that really molded
the wonderful person
that he's become.
[Devon] I just
couldn't imagine all
of my rights
being taken away from me.
People talk about heroes
all the time,
and "who do you admire?"
and "who is your hero,
in your life?"
And we don't have to go
anywhere but our house.
[host] ...why it's
so important for you guys
as a couple,
as a family, to keep
pursuing this?
Whether he did it
or not, he's scot-free.
He did his time.
He owes nothing to society.
He's not scot-free.
He goes to bed every night
as a convicted murderer
and he wakes up every morning
as a convicted murderer.
And why should he be?
Justice hasn't been done.
Not to the Harper family,
and not to my family.
It's all I want.
After 40 years, I don't
think that's too much to ask.
[Marlene's voice] It was
a strange feeling,
watching yourself.
Like looking in the mirror
and not recognizing
your own face.
But for me, it was
the beginning
of the vindication.
I could taste justice.
I just can't believe how--
how many there are.
[Marlene reading]
"Dear Marlene
and Steven Truscott,
"I live in France now, but while
visiting my family in Toronto,
"I managed to catch
the in-depth report on this
long ago,
"but not forgotten case
for many Canadians.
"I remember it like
it was only yesterday.
"We accused him
and threw him away,
"hoping that we would
never have to hear
"about this case again.
"What an injustice
we have done to your family.
"But like it or not,
Steven Truscott,
"you have become a Canadian
icon for young people.
"You do not have to
clear your name."
That's nice.
[James] Okay, so here's
what's been happening.
We made an application
to the minister of justice,
pursuant to section 690,
for relief against Steven's
conviction
on a charge of
first degree murder.
Now we made this
ministerial application
on the grounds of a miscarriage
of justice.
The justice minister,
Irwin Cotler,
appointed a justice,
Fred Kaufman,
to review the application.
And now the good news.
- They've reopened the case.
- Yes!
[gentle music]
In 1959, Steven Truscott
was charged with the murder
of 12-year-old Lynne Harper.
Today we have filed
a 700 page brief
to challenge that verdict.
The jury never got anything
like the full story.
And we have new evidence
that was never shown
at the time of the trial
or the appeal.
[reporters overlapping
with questions]
All I want them to say is
that they made a mistake.
I'm not asking for the world.
What they did was wrong.
Who is accountable for what
happened to my husband?
If he had been 16
instead of 14 in 1959,
he would not be
standing here today.
[announcer] Today, it was
announced Fred Kaufman
was appointed to look
at the Truscott case
to see whether there
was enough new evidence
to require another trial,
a hearing, or a pardon.
[Marlene's voice]
This was a very good day
for us,
for everyone who believed
in Steve's innocence.
Well?
Been asked to write a book.
A book?
- About what?
- Steven. You. Whole story.
What do you need?
They left from...
went over the bridge.
Found.
Somebody's lying.
This is a memo written
by Dr. Penistan in 1966,
as the Supreme Court was
about to hear Steven's case.
In the memo, he changed
the time of death.
- He said it could have been
much later.
- Much later?
Steve lost that appeal.
He spent another
three years in jail.
You need to hear this.
"The other unofficial version
of the autopsy report
"gives Lynne's time of death
as between 4:45 a.m.
"and 10:45 a.m. on June 10th.
In other words,
"if Lynne's death occurred
during either timeframes
that I had originally noted,
"then Steven could not
have been the killer."
It says it's an agonizing
reappraisal.
They didn't call Penistan
up during that appeal.
Called eight other
doctors, but not-- not him.
Penistan took this
to the police.
- What?
- They buried it.
They made sure the
Supreme Court never heard
that the doctor whose testimony
had so influenced the jury
had changed his mind.
They almost hung him for that!
[door slams]
Why would they do this to me?
It was a mad rush to justice.
- If that's justice, I don't
understand the word, Marlene.
Your case was a time bomb,
Steve.
The truth would have blown
the whole thing open.
- Why are you defending
them, Marlene?
- I am not defending them!
- I am not defending them!
- You're defending them,
Marlene!
God--
Steve, I'm sorry. [sniffles]
I'm going for a ride.
[door slams]
[whimpering]
[slow music]
- Mm. More chicken?
- No.
- You've heard nothing?
- No.
They're not going
to give Steven a fair trial.
Yes. Yes, they are.
We have more lawyers than
you can shake a stick at
and Steve and I are very
optimistic, aren't we?
- These things take time, Doris.
- Do they?
How long has it been since
the report went to Kaufman?
Two years?
- Three?
- Two.
Two years.
It's never going to end.
[slow music]
[Marlene's voice] Julian
called them my dark years,
the years of waiting.
Darkness so thick, I barely
saw my way out of it.
[sighs]
Steve!
Steve!
James called.
Kaufman finished his report.
He said you didn't
get a fair trial.
He says it's not enough
to demonstrate innocence,
so it's not a pardon.
More likely a miscarriage
of justice.
- [grunt]
- [laughing]
[Steven sighs heavily]
Oh.
Federal justice minister,
Irwin Cotler, has to review it.
And then we got to wait
for his ruling, but...
oh, I feel it, Steve.
We're going to get a new trial.
Thank you, Marlene.
Thank you.
[laughing]
[Marlene] We did it.
We did it.
I'm so excited,
I can't stand it.
Look at this cake.
- What time are people coming
over for the celebration?
- Five.
This is it, Steve.
I can feel it. This is--
This is what we've been
waiting for.
What time did the justice
minister say he would call?
- Oh, it should be any
minute now.
- [phone ringing]
It's a nice cake.
Hello, this is Steven.
Okay.
Thank you for calling.
Cotler wants to send it
to the court of appeal
for review.
[hesitating] The court--
For a review? I--
Uh-uh.
The same court that
betrayed you before?
No.
Uh, no
No, they-- They...
We told them we wanted
a new trial.
They knew-- They knew
we wanted a new trial.
He said it could take
three years.
No.
No, no, no.
I won't. No.
Can't!
[slow music]
- Excuse me.
- Over here!
- We're with the Herald.
- Excuse me.
[reporter] Can you tell us how
you feel?
- Please?
- [reporter 2] Please,
just a comment.
[reporter] Over here!
[reporters continue questioning]
[knocking on window]
[reporter 2] Mrs. Truscott,
please, just a few questions.
Well, that's it.
[plane engine overhead]
[announcer] ...yesterday,
and are 1100 for the event.
- [fanfare]
- [digital assistant]
Your news team is next.
Respected journalist
Isabel LeBourdais died
yesterday
at the age of 92.
She suffered
from Alzheimer's.
Ms. LeBourdais was best
known as the author
of the 1966 book, "The Trial
of Steven Truscott."
Ms. LeBourdais was seen
as a courageous crusader,
a woman ahead of her time,
who dared to say the justice
system was fallible.
[announcer] Fighting broke
out overnight between
rival factions along
the Israeli-Syrian border...
[slow music]
[door creaks]
[squeaking]
[imagined prison sounds]
[phantom thud]
[gasps]
[phantom hammering, sawing]
[phantom prisoner chatter]
James will call
us in the morning.
Press conference is at four.
I told my mum not to come.
It's a long drive from Ottawa,
and her heart's not good.
- And what if it doesn't
turn out well for us?
- It will.
Mac called.
Said he's praying for us.
That's nice.
You know what I see?
I see...
people all over the world...
standing up, raising their hands
for Steven Truscott.
I, uh...
I have a dream...
I've dreamt it for so long...
that when we arrive
for the announcement,
we put our hands up
in the victory sign
for all the world to see.
This time, we will win.
[phone ringing]
Hello, this is Steven.
Yep.
Thanks.
Steve!
What did they say?
Steve?
It's over.
I've been exonerated.
[laughing]
- I love you.
- I love you too, Marlene.
[lively music]
Isn't this great?
[crowd murmuring]
[crowd cheering]
[man] Way to go, Steven!
- [man] Congratulations!
- [woman] Congratulations!
[overlapping congratulations]
Excuse me.
[man] Great job, buddy!
Great job!
Excuse me.
[Marlene's voice]
I thought about walking
and walking
and never coming back.
People ask
"How did it happen?"
I was just carried away
on a wave like Steve.
One damn thing, that's all.
That's all I wanted
was that victory sign
for all the world to see.
[slow music]
[]
[James] Steven Truscott has been
on a 48 year journey,
more than any of us
could ever imagine.
A journey for truth and justice.
Out of the darkness,
and into the light.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you... Steven Truscott!
A freed man!
Marlene?
Would you please come join me?
[Marlene laughs]
[audience applauds]
[man] Way to go, Steven!
[triumphant music]
[gentle music]