deadmonton - the trial of michael white - april 17th, 2007

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Liana White, 29, was stabbed to death July 12th, 2005.


Michael White, 29, was found guilty of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.


<< january 11th, 2007 | the michael white trial | july 12th, 2007 >>
remembering liana white | the real michael white | the Vegreville Observer article



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630 CHED Radio broke the story that high-profile defence lawyer Hersh Wolch was seeking to represent Michael White through his appeal process.


Wolch (pictured below left) is best known for his work for David Milgaard and Steven Truscott.


In 1970, 16-year-old Milgaard was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1969 murder of 20-year-old Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. After 23 years in prison, the Supreme Court of Canada set aside his conviction.


Five years later Milgaard was cleared by DNA evidence and awarded $10 million. Larry Fisher was eventually found guilty of the rape and stabbing death of Miller.


Wolch is also part of a legal team acting for Steven Truscott, convicted in 1959 of killing 12-year-old Lynne Harper, a schoolmate.


Truscott was 14 when he was sentenced to hang, but that was later commuted to life in prison. He was paroled in 1969 and his case helped spur Canada to abolish the death penalty. Truscott appealed his conviction to the Ontario Court of Appeal, and a decision was expected early in 2007.


Michael White's mother, Carol Forbes, was elated to hear that Wolch had taken the case.


"I thought maybe he's too high-profile for this, but he said he was quite interested in the case ... he said he would take it under Legal Aid," Forbes told Canadian Press.


In speaking with 630 CHED News, Wolch said he was very interested in the White case and was waiting for word from Legal Aid to determine if his fees would be covered.


That decision was expected to come within a few days.


White, currently held at the Edmonton Institution, had always maintained that he did not kill his pregnant wife Liana.



The case continued July 12th, 2007