Wrongfully convicted N.B. man has mixed feelings since exoneration

Robert Mailman, 76, was exonerated on Jan. 4 of a 1983 murder for which he and his friend Walter Gillespie served lengthy prison terms.

Robert Mailman has a problem he never thought he'd have. He has to buy Christmas presents this year.

The 76-year-old was exonerated on Jan. 4 of a 1983 murder for which he and his friend Walter Gillespie served lengthy prison terms. At the time, his legal team said he had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and been given only months to live.

Nearly a year after New Brunswick Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Tracey DeWare proclaimed him and Gillespie innocent, Mailman continues to defy death. But he says he has been robbed of the joys of life and in some ways feels he's still behind bars.

DeWare's ruling came after federal Justice Minister Arif Virani ordered a new trial on Dec. 22, 2023, saying evidence had surfaced that called into question "the overall fairness" of the process that led to the convictions.

In February, the two men reached an undisclosed settlement with the New Brunswick government, but less than two months later, Gillespie died at the age of 80.

It was Mailman who thought he wouldn't make it through the year after doctors delivered what he calls a "death sentence" in November 2023. "I spent 18 years in prison, 24 years on very strict parole, and I was exonerated," he said last week in an interview in his apartment in Saint John, N.B. "I came home ... and was put on death row."

There are signs in the one-bedroom apartment that he is gravely ill and is preparing for death. His refrigerator is filled with high-calorie vanilla-flavoured supplements, along with diluted fruit juice, the only nourishment he can tolerate. On a table in the hallway is a large white envelope with the words "Funeral Arrangements." He also has an urn picked out for his ashes.