First Nations men wrongfully convicted in 1973 Winnipeg murder sue over 'cruel and unusual treatment'

Two First Nations men who were recently acquitted for the 1973 murder of a Winnipeg man are now taking all three levels of government to court, saying police officers and a Crown prosecutor colluded against them to give false evidence during the trial that led to decades in prison for the men.

Allan Woodhouse, 68, and Brian Anderson, 69, are both members of Pinaymootang First Nation in northern Manitoba who received life sentences in 1974, after the fatal stabbing of Winnipeg restaurant worker Ting Fong Chan the year before.

Anderson was released on parole in 1987 and Woodhouse in 1990, but they weren't acquitted by a Manitoba Court of King's Bench judge until last year, shortly after then federal justice minister David Lametti ordered a new trial for the two men.

During the hearing last year where the men were acquitted, Manitoba Prosecution Service executive director Michele Jules told court that the men were wrongfully convicted and their confessions were "entirely manufactured by police detectives."

Systemic racism played heavily in both men's convictions, she said.

In two statements of claim filed at the Manitoba Court of King's Bench on Tuesday, Anderson and Woodhouse are suing the federal and provincial attorneys general, the City of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba for damages that include pain and suffering, and the loss of their reputations, enjoyment of life and developmental experiences. 

"The conduct of the defendants was high-handed, outrageous, scandalous, reckless, entirely without care or consideration" of Anderson and Woodhouse's rights, and "exploited" their vulnerability as young Indigenous men, the suits say.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. Statements of defence have not yet been filed.

The lawsuits accuse Winnipeg police officers of coercing Anderson, Woodhouse and two others — Clarence Woodhouse and Russell Woodhouse — into signing false confessions to Chan's murder, after two teams of officers interrogated them using "violence, threats, racial slurs and other racialized abuse."

Clarence Woodhouse, who was also found guilty of Chan's murder in 1974, was granted bail by a Manitoba judge last October, while his conviction is reviewed.

His brother, Russell Woodhouse, was also found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years behind bars in connection with the killing. He died several years ago.

According to the lawsuits, police officers coerced confessions from  Anderson and Allan Woodhouse by claiming they had evidence to prove their involvement in the homicide, such as witness statements.

The suits say those confessions were the only evidence used by a jury to convict them in March 1974 in the killing of Chan, a 40-year-old chef and father of two who was beaten and stabbed to death near a downtown construction site on July 17, 1973.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal rejected both of their requests to overturn the convictions later in 1974.