Emotions run high after man exonerated
Court clears John Salmon, who was found guilty of killing woman 45 years ago
Two families stepped out of a Toronto Court of Appeal on Monday morning and choked back tears in the warm summer sun.
In the eyes of the court, the tragic narrative that had shaped their lives for the past 45 years, when John Salmon was convicted of killing his common-law wife, Maxine Ditchfield, had been rewritten.
But absolution for one clan opened old wounds for the other.
For Salmon, now a 75-year-old great-grandfather living on a farm in Coldwater, Ont., who has always maintained his innocence, the decision sparked quiet elation.
“I’m very happy. I’m feeling very good,” said Salmon, his hand interlocked with that of his current wife, Margaret Salmon. “I have no idea what to say.”
“Forty-five years is a long time,” offered his son Randy Salmon, his voice breaking. “It doesn’t only affect him. It affects his kids, his grandkids, his great-grandkids. We never probably got the love we deserved after this happened.”
Closure, however, eluded Ditchfield’s children, who were aged 8, 6 and 4 when their mother died. They say they remain unconvinced.
“We were young at the time, but we know what happened,” said Kirk McLean, Ditchfield’s youngest. “We know what we saw. We know what we lived through. Time has passed. The wounds will never heal. He knows what he did.”
In response to these allegations, Salmon, who has not talked to Ditchfield’s children since her death in Woodstock in 1970, said simply: “They’re wrong.”
In many respects, Monday’s court appearance was a formality to cement what the defence and the Crown had already agreed should take place.
Four medical experts have re-examined the evidence and concluded that Ditchfield was not a victim of homicide. Rather than being beaten to death following a night of heavy drinking, as the Crown had argued in 1971 based on the testimony of the Oxford County regional pathologist, they found Ditchfield’s fatal brain injuries were caused by a fall, which led to a stroke.
A Court of Appeal dismissed Salmon’s initial appeal in 1972. He was released on parole in 1974, after serving more than three years of a10-year sentence for manslaughter. He has been fighting for more than a decade to have the case reopened.
“We want to express this court’s great regret that as a result of unanimous and comprehensive medical evidence now before us, (we know that Salmon) was wrongfully convicted,” Justice James MacPherson told the court.
Crown lawyer Gregory Tweney also apologized to Salmon on behalf of the court “for the miscarriage of justice that occurred in this case and everything he has endured as a result.”
Regional pathologist Michael Dietrich testified in 1971 that Ditch- field’s fatal brain injuries were caused by a “terrific” blow or blows, likely caused by a fist, foot or heavy shoe.
Salmon has always denied this, maintaining that Ditchfield’s condition deteriorated after she fell while intoxicated — a view that is now strongly supported by the fresh evidence.
The precise moment of the fall that caused the stroke has not been pinpointed.
Salmon’s lawyer, James Lockyer, senior counsel for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, said, “It’s nice to see justice being done, even though it’s long past due.”
Lockyer said the reaction of Ditchfield’s children reveals “the problems that happen when that initial mistake is made by the pathologist.
“It doesn’t just set up a chain of events for the person that’s wrongly convicted. It sets up a chain of events for family members of the deceased,” Lockyer told reporters. “They get trapped into the same wrong conclusions. . . . In some cases, the family can’t get around it. Does it cast any blot over John Salmon’s acquittal today and his exoneration? Of course not.”
Lockyer said he will discuss with Salmon the possibility of fighting for financial compensation — something Salmon’s wife said the couple has “never thought about.”
“Right now, we just want peace,” she said.
Salmon’s son said he wishes the same for Ditchfield’s children.
“Hopefully they can move on with the rest of their lives just like my dad, his kids and their families can move on,” he said.
“It’s nice to see justice being done, even though it’s long past due.” JAMES LOCKYER JOHN SALMON’S LAWYER