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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
4 |
Year Crime: |
1990 |
Year Convicted: |
1992 |
Year Cleared: |
1994 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Canada |
County or Region of Crime: |
Manitoba |
City of Crime: |
Roseisle |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Timothy Houlahan.was co-defendant of Kyle Unger. Wrongly convicted in 1992 of the June 1990 murder of 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier at an outdoor Manitoba music festival. The 19-year-old Kyle Unger or the 17-year-old Timothy Houlahan did not know each other and had never met before the night of the concert, but prosecutors alleged they conspired to sexually assault and murder Grenier. A "Mr. Big" sting where RCMP officers posed as violent Mafia-like criminals was used to obtain Kyle Unger's confession in which he implicated Houlahan. Unger and Houlahan were convicted based on Unger's confession, the testimony of a jailhouse informant who claimed that Unger confessed, and testimony from a prosecution's expert that Unger was likely the source of a strand of hair recovered from the crime scene. Unger and Houlahan were sentenced to life in prison. In 1994 Houlahan's conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered, After his release on bail Houlahan committed suicide. In 2005 DNA testing of the hair strand excluded Unger as the source. Based on the new evidence Unger was released on bail in November 2005, pending review of his conviction by Canada's Justice Minister. On March 11, 2009 Canada's federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ordered that Unger be granted a new trial if a review of his conviction deemed a trial was warranted. On October 23, 2009 Manitoba assistant deputy attorney general Don Slough announced that the Crown has no physical evidence linking Unger to the murder and will not retry him. Also on October 23, 2009 Crown Manitoba Associate Chief Justice Glenn Joyal formally acquitted Unger of first-degree murder. It was also announced on October 23, 2009, by Manitoba Provincial Justice Minister Dave Chomiak that there will be no offer of compensation for the 14 years Kyle Unger spent in prison because he his false "confession" played a role in his conviction, and that there would be no inquiry into his wrongful conviction." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Erroneous expert testimony concerning a hair strand recovered from the crime scene, a jailhouse informant who testified that Unger confessed, and Unger's confession." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"In 1994 Houlahan's conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered, After his release on bail he committed suicide." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
17 |
Age When Released: |
21 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Manitoba teen's family troubled by review, by Michelle Macafee, Cnews, March 16, 2004" |
Information Location 1: |
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/2004/03/16/384446-cp.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Justice Minister orders new trial, Globe and Mail (Toronto), March 11, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090311.wtrial0311/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090311.wtrial0311 |
Information Source 3: |
"Police made evidence fit the crime in convicting Kyle Unger says lawyer, CBC News, March 11, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/03/11/manitoba-kyle-unger-new-trial-murder.html?ref=rss |
Information Source 4: |
"No compensation, By Dean Pritchard (staff writer), Winnipeg Sun, October 24, 2009" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2009/10/24/11511701-sun.html |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org