Kamloops Man's Wild Ride: 26 Years in the Clink, Now Suing Everyone 💀

The Deets

Okay, so boom. Back in '93, Julie McLeod was found dead near Merritt, B.C. Fast forward a bit, and Gerald Klassen gets pinned for the murder and thrown in the slammer in '95. He's been saying since day one he's innocent, but nobody was tryna hear it.

Now, after almost 26 years behind bars, some higher-ups are finally like, "Aight, maybe we messed up." Turns out, there were some sus things about the case, especially the pathologist's testimony, which apparently changed between the preliminary hearing and the actual trial. Like, that's a red flag, fam.

So, they order a new trial in 2022. But instead of letting Klassen clear his name in court, the B.C. prosecutors pulled a fast one and issued a stay of proceedings. Basically, they were like, "Nah, we ain't retrying him, but we ain't saying he's innocent either." Shady AF, right?

That's where this lawsuit comes in. Klassen is suing the RCMP, the B.C. Attorney General (including David Eby), the prosecutor, some cops, the pathologist, and a whole bunch of other people. He's claiming malicious prosecution, negligence, and a whole lotta violations of his rights.

He's asking for some serious dough for all the psychological damage, pain, suffering, and lost income he's endured. And honestly, after 26 years of being wrongly locked up, he kinda deserves it. This whole situation is a major L for everyone involved, except maybe the lawyers who are about to make bank.

The lawsuit alleges that the B.C. government denied him a full exoneration just to avoid embarrassment, which is cold, no cap. Klassen says he just wants to clear his name and move on with his life, but it's hard when you've got the stigma of a murder conviction hanging over your head. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned, fam!