BRODIE FENLON
Toronto Sun
HAMILTON The family of a slain cabby and the man tried twice for his murder have launched a $6.1 million lawsuit against Hamilton police for allegedly withholding key evidence at his trials.
Gary Staples, of Dunnville, was originally found guilty in the 1969 murder of Gerald Burke, 24, who was shot to death in his cab. Now 56, he spent nearly two years in prison before he was acquitted at a second trial in 1972. Yesterday, Staples, Burke’s two adult sons and their spouses called for a new investigation and a police apology.
"For 30 years I’ve been trying to prove my innocence and this new evidence…meant a great deal to me. It was the smoking gun," Staples said.
A police memo unearthed last year by law students working to clear Staples’ name shows police withheld evidence because it didn’t agree with their murder theory, the families claim.
In a 1972 memo titled "The damned Salisburys," the lead investigator said he excluded two eyewitness accounts because they were "immaterial and irrelevant and would so confuse a jury that they would acquit just because of the confusion," according to the Osgoode Hall law students who transcribed the note.
The witnesses, Wayne and Mary Jane Salisbury, told police they saw three men in their late teens or early 20s run away from the cab the night of the
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murder, the students said. Staples was convicted largely on the false testimony of a former girlfriend, who took the stand in exchange for leniency on robbery charges she faced, the lawsuit claims. Police dropped their active investigation after Staples was acquitted.
"Gary Staples, he didn’t murder my father," an emotional Robert Denison said. "Somebody did. I’d like to know who."
Hamilton police Deputy Chief Bruce Elwood said the file would be reviewed after other priority cases are settled. "Back 32 years ago, police did not have to disclose parts of their investigation they didn’t feel relevant." Elwood said.
Chief Ken Robertson, in a published report yesterday, said he’d look at the case but noted, "I don’t take too much interest in cases that are 31 years old."
That drew the ire of the families’ lawyer, Sean Dewart. "How dare he tell, among others, (Burke’s sons) Bob and Darrin that he doesn’t have much interest in finding out who killed their dad," Dewart said.
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