{"id":9596,"date":"2021-09-21T17:34:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/?p=9596"},"modified":"2021-09-26T17:10:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T00:10:00","slug":"residential-school-to-prison-cell-private-investigator-says-the-facts-dont-add-up-in-a-murder-conviction-of-two-sask-sisters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/?p=9596","title":{"rendered":"Residential school to prison cell: Private investigator says the facts don&#8217;t add up in a murder conviction of two Sask. sisters."},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<strong>This article by Micahael Bramadat-Willcock &#8211; September 19, 2021, of the Prince Albert Daily Herald<\/strong><\/ul>\n<p>https:\/\/paherald.sk.ca\/2021\/09\/19\/residential-school-to-prison-cell-private-investigator-says-the-facts-dont-add-up-in-murder-conviction-of-two-sask-sisters\/<\/p>\n<p>*Warning: This story contains details that can be upsetting to readers*<\/p>\n<p>A private investigator is calling the conviction of two Saulteaux<br \/>\nsisters for the 1993 brutal murder of 70-year-old farmer Anthony Joseph<br \/>\nDolff a \u201cmiscarriage of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance both received sentences in 1994 for murder<br \/>\nbut say that they are innocent. Court records reviewed by the Herald<br \/>\nshow Dolff was stabbed 17 times, twice in the heart, at his farmhouse in<br \/>\nthe Kamsack area nearby Keeseekoose First Nation. His head was also<br \/>\nsmashed with a television.  <\/p>\n<p>Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Lametti. (Sebastiaan ter<br \/>\nBurg\/Creative Commons Global Summit)<\/p>\n<p>The Prince Albert Daily Herald spoke with Jolene Johnson, a private<br \/>\ninvestigator in Alberta who studied the case while Odelia was in<br \/>\nEdmonton, reviewed court transcripts and believes the sisters are innocent. <\/p>\n<p>Johnson called it a \u201cmiscarriage of justice\u201d saying although the sisters<br \/>\nhad told police that they killed Dolff they did so while under duress<br \/>\nand there was no physical evidence linking them to the murder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that the Minister of Justice David Lametti should immediately<br \/>\nsign a ministerial order, releasing Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance and<br \/>\nquashing their convictions in the Dolff murder case \u2014 because they were<br \/>\ninnocent,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything less than quashing their convictions is also a miscarriage of<br \/>\njustice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Odelia said she was at Dolff\u2019s farm with her sister Nerissa when they<br \/>\nfound an envelope containing a sum of money and took it. They left the<br \/>\nfarmhouse with Dolff at which point he realized that his money was<br \/>\nmissing and so they returned. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when Odelia said Dolff began assaulting her younger sister and<br \/>\ndemanding sex. Odelia said she pushed Dolff away as she was trying to<br \/>\nprotect her sister.<\/p>\n<p>Their cousin Jason Keshane claimed responsibility for the murder and<br \/>\nreiterated his guilt in a 2020 interview with APTN.<br \/>\n<https:\/\/www.aptnnews.ca\/featured\/aptn-investigates-a-life-sentence-part-1-wrongfully-convicted\/>  <\/p>\n<p>Odelia said she was in another room with Nerissa when Keshane, who was<br \/>\n14 years old at the time, killed Dolff. Narissa was 19 and Odelia was 21<br \/>\nat the time.<\/p>\n<p>Both women had also attended the residential school where Dolff worked. <\/p>\n<p>After their arrest police kept the sisters at the RCMP detachment in<br \/>\nKamsack despite a remand order for the women to be transferred to<br \/>\nPinegrove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert. <\/p>\n<p>A lawyer had advised police that the sisters did not want to make<br \/>\nstatements and were exercising their right to consult with a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said police kept them there anyway, \u201cbadgered\u201d them for<br \/>\nstatements and implied they could see their grandfather if they admitted<br \/>\nto the brutal crime. <\/p>\n<p>Kamsack RCMP detachment. (Screenshot from Google maps)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOdelia was under duress. It was indicated in the transcripts in the<br \/>\njudge\u2019s decision that just because they were given advice to exercise<br \/>\ncounsel \u2014 it was their choice to make statements. I would say the judge<br \/>\nerred in that in that decision,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey basically browbeat them. You have two young girls that really<br \/>\ndidn\u2019t know what to do. They\u2019re Indigenous\u2026 It was a given in that<br \/>\ncommunity that you do whatever (police) say because otherwise you can<br \/>\nend up dead. It was very common in that community and the fear was very<br \/>\nreal. They were saying what the RCMP wanted them to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Court transcripts show that there was also discussion around the<br \/>\naccused\u2019s ability to confess or accurately remember events at the time<br \/>\nas they had taken prescription medication mixed with alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson suspects the sisters were convicted in part because there had<br \/>\nbeen a series of crimes involving Indigenous minors in the area who<br \/>\nwould only serve partial sentences. <\/p>\n<p>So there was likely \u201cpressure\u201d on the police and courts to go after the<br \/>\ntwo adults instead of their cousin, she said. <\/p>\n<p>She said police did not conduct a proper investigation and were more<br \/>\ninterested in wrapping up the case than in finding out who really did it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a nutshell, there was no justice. The police didn\u2019t follow their own<br \/>\nmandate and they didn\u2019t care who was responsible, as long as somebody<br \/>\nwas held responsible. At the time there were three or four murders done<br \/>\nby groups of young Indigenous people,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were looking to pin it on an adult. Because it wouldn\u2019t have<br \/>\nlooked good to the community, to the white population, that they were<br \/>\ngoing after all these minors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they weren\u2019t concerned about getting the right person. They<br \/>\nwere only concerned about getting somebody, because you have a community<br \/>\nthat was in panic mode.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Johnson said the racially divided community where the murder happened<br \/>\ndidn\u2019t help and there were no Indigenous people on the jury.<\/p>\n<p>Kamsack is a town in the Assiniboine River Valley about 56 kilometres<br \/>\nnortheast of Yorkton. (Town of Kamsack\/Facebook)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it speaks volumes, because quite honestly, you have a lot of<br \/>\nracial motivated people in that community. For whatever reasons you had<br \/>\na lot of that going on there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur whole judicial system is supposed to be about providing an unbiased<br \/>\njury of your peers. They didn\u2019t have that in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said regardless of the sisters being Indigenous the facts of the<br \/>\ncase simply don\u2019t meet the standards for a murder conviction. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about being sympathetic because somebody is Indigenous.<br \/>\nRegardless of the heritage the fact is that these two are innocent \u2014<br \/>\nregardless of their skin colour. I think that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The body of the victim was moved by police \u2014 and no fingerprints or<br \/>\nblood samples found at the scene were linked to Odelia or Nerissa. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey took pictures that were super close up that did not accurately<br \/>\nreflect the crime scene. They contaminated the crime scene by moving<br \/>\nitems and the body,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe amount of evidence that was collected at the scene was extremely<br \/>\nminimal compared to what you would typically see at a crime scene of<br \/>\nsuch a horrific crime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s enough for reasonable doubt \u2014 which means these girls should never<br \/>\nhave been convicted. There was reasonable doubt all over this case.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>She said Keshane only spent around two hours on the stand and had<br \/>\nalready told the police that Odelia and Nerissa didn\u2019t do it. But she<br \/>\nsaid he was afraid to be tried in adult court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe took a plea bargain\u2026 and he walked away from it\u2026 The person that did<br \/>\nthis admitted to doing so at the very beginning and the police didn\u2019t<br \/>\nlisten,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n<p>Johnson said Dolff, although a victim of murder, had sexually assaulted<br \/>\nthe women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep in mind, the victim here is still a victim. Nobody should have<br \/>\never taken his life whatsoever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat being said, there should have also been a proper investigation<br \/>\nconducted.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Court of Queen\u2019s Bench in Yorkton where the sisters were tried and<br \/>\nconvicted of second-degree murder. (Photo courtesy Courthouses.co)<\/p>\n<p>Senator Kim Pate and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) vice-chief Kim<br \/>\nBeaudin pressured for the sisters\u2019 release at a press conference in May. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe same issues that give rise to women being disappeared and murdered<br \/>\nare the same issues that give rise to Indigenous women being the fastest<br \/>\ngrowing prison population in this country,\u201d Pate said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone else has confessed. Why there hasn\u2019t been a review of the case<br \/>\nis beyond me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two sisters were also present at the press conference and spoke<br \/>\nbriefly. Odelia has children and a partner waiting for her at home.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat the system took away from me is my spirit \u2014and to be free,\u201d Odelia<br \/>\nQuewezance said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI pray my sister Nerissa doesn\u2019t give up and my children don\u2019t give up<br \/>\non me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nerissa was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant at the time but has since<br \/>\nbeen apprehended in Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day is a struggle in jail,\u201d Nerissa Quewezance said. \u201c27 years is<br \/>\na hard time.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Beaudin called on Lametti to release the sisters \u201cin the spirit of<br \/>\nreconciliation\u201d so that they can be reunited with family and begin their<br \/>\nhealing journey. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey went from a residential school to a prison cell,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Department of Justice Canada spokesperson Melissa Gruber told the Prince<br \/>\nAlbert Daily Herald at the time that it would \u201cnot be appropriate for<br \/>\nthe Minister of Justice to comment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Government is committed to a fair and impartial criminal justice<br \/>\nsystem that respects the needs of victims while guarding against<br \/>\npotential miscarriages of justice,\u201d Gruber wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice pointed to progress on the justice file when<br \/>\nLametti appointed former judges Harry LaForme and Juanita<br \/>\nWestmoreland-Traor\u00e9 to lead consultations into an independent criminal<br \/>\ncase review commission in March.<\/p>\n<p>Pinegrove Correctional Centre. (Bradley Ruszkowski\/Daily Herald)<\/p>\n<p>Emails obtained by the Prince Albert Daily Herald show<br \/>\nWestmoreland-Traor\u00e9 and LaForme approached Parole Board of Canada<br \/>\nChairperson Jennifer Oades in August.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are writing the Parole Board to ask the Board to consider releasing<br \/>\nOdelia and Nerissa Quewezance, perhaps immediately,\u201d the consultants wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The former judges said that during recent roundtable consultations \u201cthe<br \/>\nwrongful conviction of these two sisters\u201d is a \u201ctheme that comes up time<br \/>\nand time again.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough this process it has been expressed to us that the public is<br \/>\naware of, and appalled by, what these sisters are experiencing here in<br \/>\nCanada; that they have been locked up for 28 years, have not seen each<br \/>\nother for most of that time and that the person responsible for the<br \/>\ncrime they were convicted of has confessed his guilt, served his<br \/>\nsentence, and has been released,\u201d the consultants wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore broadly we have heard of the terrible damage that wrongful<br \/>\nconvictions do to those who have been wrongfully convicted as well as to<br \/>\ntheir families and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oades responded, explaining that the Parole Board of Canada does not<br \/>\nhave legal authority to unilaterally release individuals from prison,<br \/>\n\u201cother than upon application for parole or at certain reviews in an<br \/>\noffender\u2019s sentence as prescribed by law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Parole Board of Canada told the Prince Albert Daily Herald on Friday<br \/>\nthat its position \u201cremains the same\u201d as that outlined in its response to<br \/>\nthe consultants.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice declined to comment after being shown the<br \/>\ncorrespondence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Department of Justice Canada is not able to comment on the<br \/>\nquestions related to parole, and we have no additional information to<br \/>\nprovide at this time,\u201d Gruber wrote. <\/p>\n<p>Johnson called on Lametti to issue an executive order for the release of<br \/>\nOdelia and Nerissa Quewezance before elections come to a close on Monday.<br \/>\n&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>\/A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available<br \/>\nto support survivors and those affected. You can access emotional and<br \/>\ncrisis support referral services by calling 1-866-925-4419.\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article by Micahael Bramadat-Willcock &#8211; September 19, 2021, of the Prince Albert Daily Herald https:\/\/paherald.sk.ca\/2021\/09\/19\/residential-school-to-prison-cell-private-investigator-says-the-facts-dont-add-up-in-murder-conviction-of-two-sask-sisters\/ *Warning: This story contains details that can be upsetting to readers* A private investigator is calling the conviction of two Saulteaux sisters for the 1993 brutal murder of 70-year-old farmer Anthony Joseph Dolff a \u201cmiscarriage of justice.\u201d Odelia and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-room"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/jail-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}