Case Summary
On December 16, 1993, the partially clothed body of Julie McLeod, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman, was found partly submerged next to a boat ramp on Nicola Lake, near Merritt, B.C.1 The following day, forensic pathologist Dr. James McNaughton performed an autopsy on McLeod’s remains. He concluded that she had died from “a combination of trauma to the head resulting from … assault, acute intoxication, and hypothermia.”2
McLeod was last seen alive on the evening of December 15, in the car of Gerald Klassen, a welder from Merritt.3 Klassen’s account of the evening was that he and McLeod drove up to the lake, drank some beer together, and then had consensual sex. Afterwards “an altercation . . . arose between them during the course of which he pushed her” away, and she fell and struck her head on the ramp.4 Klassen offered McLeod a ride home, but she refused, swearing at him.5 He returned to Merritt, arriving home by approximately 11:00 p.m.6 Klassen maintained that when he left, McLeod had been conscious and fully clothed.7
McNaughton’s opinion as to the cause of death did not align with Klassen’s account. In McNaughton’s view, McLeod’s head trauma “could not have resulted from a single blow caused by a fall on the boat ramp,” as opposed to an assault.8
Klassen was arrested and charged with first degree murder, on the theory that he had killed McLeod while sexually assaulting her.9 The prosecutor called McNaughton to testify at Klassen’s 1995 trial. Based on McNaughton’s evidence, the trial judge gave the jurors the instruction that McLeod’s head trauma had resulted from a beating: “There can be little question but that Ms. McLeod was physically assaulted, beaten, and suffered considerable injuries.”10 The jury found Klassen guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years.11
In 1997, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed Klassen’s appeal of his conviction.12 The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear a further appeal from Klassen.13 He remained in prison for the next 25 years and 10 months, having been denied parole “in large part because he … maintained his innocence” and thus “refused to participate in programs for sexual offenders.”14
In 2009, Klassen’s counsel obtained an expert opinion from Dr. John Butt, “a forensic pathologist with decades of experience.”15 Butt disagreed with McNaughton’s conclusion regarding McLeod’s cause of death. In his opinion, she had most likely sustained the head trauma “by accident as a result of a single blow due to a fall on the concrete” boat ramp.16
The Crown retained its own expert to reevaluate the forensic pathology evidence. This expert, and two further experts who subsequently gave opinions, largely agreed with Butt’s critique – albeit finding that “forensic science could not determine” a specific cause of death since “there were a number of possible factors” that could have played a role.17 All four experts agreed that McNaughton’s characterization of the injuries as “unequivocally [due] to intentional force . . . is certainly questionable.”18
In light of this fresh evidence, Klassen made an application to the Minister of Justice for his conviction to be reviewed.19 Klassen, then 60 years old, was granted bail in 2020 pending this review.20 Justice Wedge, who ordered Klassen’s release, made the following observations that apply in many Registry cases:
[Klassen] has been institutionalized for a quarter-century in a medium security facility…. [T]his state of affairs is [most likely] the result of the Catch-22 created by Corrections policies and those followed by the Parole Board: That is, an inmate who does not admit guilt … and therefore does not express remorse[,] is unlikely … to cascade down to minimum security, to be granted day parole, or be granted full parole. Mr. Klassen … has been a compliant, hard-working inmate … [yet] even after serving the mandatory 25 years for first degree murder, he has been denied full parole because he has consistently asserted his innocence. That, in my view, is a classic Catch-22.21
In her reasons, Justice Wedge also critiqued “the manner in which [McNaughton’s] opinion was expressed in his evidence at trial.”22 She found that his opinion had undergone evolution between his initial autopsy report, testimony at Klassen’s preliminary inquiry, trial testimony, and more recent position. In particular, Justice Wedge noted that McNaughton’s trial testimony was different from – and stronger than – his earlier statements: “[it] was essentially conclusive of the theory of intentional force as the cause of Ms. McLeod’s head trauma.”23 As a result, Klassen’s defence counsel could not fully prepare to “challenge [this] evidence … on which the trial judge’s instructions were based.”24
On April 1, 2022, Minister of Justice David Lemetti quashed Klassen’s conviction and ordered a new trial.25 In late April 2023, British Columbia prosecutors stayed Klassen's new trial, raising concerns that he would not receive a not guilty verdict.26