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Alberta watchdog will investigate N.S. police handling of wrongful murder conviction – New Brunswick


Alberta’s police watchdog will investigate whether Nova Scotia police committed a crime in a case that led to the wrongful murder conviction of a man who spent 17 years in prison.

Glen Assoun was convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Brenda Way in 1999, was acquitted in 2019, and died in 2023.

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The Nova Scotia government in 2020 asked the province’s police oversight body begin a formal probe into whether officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence relevant to Assoun’s case.

In March 2021, the Nova Scotia police watchdog announced that to ensure transparency its counterpart in British Columbia had agreed to take on the investigation.

But the B.C. watchdog dropped the case in 2023, saying its officers were too busy.

In a news release today, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says its members have the capacity to conduct the investigation.


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