Sep 17, 1999
Mar 1, 2019
Nova Scotia
17 years
Glen Assoun
Glen Assoun was convicted in 1999 of murdering his ex-girlfriend Brenda Way, whose body was found in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1995. There were no eyewitnesses or forensic evidence, yet Glen was sentenced to life based on jailhouse informant testimony and other unreliable witnesses. Representing himself for much of the trial, Glen maintained his innocence throughout 17 years in prison. In 2019, after a Ministerial Review revealed destroyed RCMP files and serious flaws in the case, the Crown withdrew all charges. Glen’s exoneration exposed systemic failures and one of Canada’s most troubling miscarriages of justice.
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The journey
to justice
In 1993, Glen Assoun met Brenda Way, and they began their tumultuous relationship.
November 12
Brenda Way was found brutally murdered behind a parking lot in Dartmouth Nova Scotia. There was no physical evidence, and although police initially suspected Glen, he had an alibi the night he was murdered, spending time with friends nowhere near the crime scene.
April 5
Glen arrested and charged with 1st degree murder.
September 17
Glen convicted of 2nd degree murder.
December 17
Glen sentenced to life without parole for 18.5 years.
Glen obtained appeal counsel.
April 20
Glen’s appeal rejected by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
April 18
Innocence Canada lawyers submitted a 696.1 application.
October 23
Bail is granted for Glen.
March 1
All charges against Glen are dropped.
In a Halifax, Nova Scotia courtroom on March 1, 2019, Justice James L. Chipman of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia spoke the words that Glen Assoun had prayed for, dreamed of and fought for, for twenty-one painful and challenging years. For seventeen of those years he was incarcerated in some of the worst prisons in Canada, survived two heart attacks and suffered countless human rights violations. Five of those years Glen waited for the Criminal Convictions Review Group (CCRG) to do their work and for the Federal Justice Minister to make a decision concerning a s.696.1 application based on fresh evidence that was submitted on his behalf by Innocence Canada lawyers in 2013. Those years were grueling, extremely stressful and heartbreaking for Glen, his family and supporters.
But Glen never gave up, despite the personal cost.
Glen is grateful to Innocence Canada lawyers Jerome Kennedy, Sean MacDonald, Phil Campbell and James Lockyer for staying the course and for their hard work, expertise and dedication to seeing an innocent man vindicated. They also never gave up in spite of the countless roadblocks barricading the way to achieving the goal of Glen’s freedom and exoneration.
Justice Chipman had these words to say after he formally acquitted Glen:
“Glen Eugene Assoun, during all of this time, you steadfastly maintained your innocence. And with the support of your lawyers, your friends and your family, you kept the faith with remarkable dignity and determination you presented before this court on several occasions, and at times since I first met you on November 24, 2014. You are to be commended for your courage and your resilience. You are a free man. I sincerely wish you every success.”