Truscotts travel to Brucefield
Wednesday, November 14
- Organization: Clinton News Record
Grades 7 and 8 students at Huron Centennial school were given an opportunity that news media can only jealously covet.
The Brucefield students rolled out the welcome mat to Steven and Marlene Truscott, Monday afternoon, for a session focusing on courage as part of the school’s virtue of the month. Students, unlike reporters, were also given the chance to pepper the couple with questions.
The Truscotts, who agreed to visit the school out of more than 200 such requests, did so, along with close family friend Karen Scruton, a longtime advocate of the couple. Though the couple notes their ties to the school go beyond that since some of the students of today are the grandchildren of their friends of yesteryear.
And, much to the Truscotts’ delight, one of the students on hand lives in the home that was once Steven’s. Indeed, she even has the bedroom that was once his when he was a 14-year-old boy embarking on a journey that would impact the rest of his life.
Win Wahrer, director of client services for the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC) which led the legal charge to clear Truscott’s name in connection with the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper near Vanastra, outlined the long saga of Truscott’s ordeal, beginning with a quick conviction in 1959 that culminated in a sentence to hang. Followed by appeals, a commutation of the death sentence, the Supreme Court reference, his 1969 parole and, eventually, the beginning of his appeal to overturn the conviction.
“Steven Truscott, at the age of 14, didn’t enlist in an army... but he was in a war,” says Wahrer, who credits author Isabel LeBourdais with “opening the floodgates” that started up the fight to overturn the conviction.
“On Aug. 28, 2007, Steven Truscott was vindicated,” says Wahrer. “He was cleared of the murder of Lynne Harper. And I can’t tell you what a day that was ... Steven Truscott finally won the war.”
Wahrer says Truscott’s saga proves “bad things can happen to good people.”
“If you believe something is wrong, stand up and be counted,” she says.
Next up, Steven agreed to field thoughtful and sometimes provocative questions from students, including several that hail from Vanastra.
“It’s been a long fight with many people who helped along the way,” Steven told students, echoing Wahrer’s belief that by getting involved, “you can make a difference.”
Before taking questions, he also gave thanks to Wahrer, his wife, Marlene, and “good friend, Karen Scruton” for their unyielding support prior to the quashing of his conviction in August.
The questions ranged from his career of choice, 37 years as a mechanical millwright, to how he met his wife, which was through author LeBourdais about 39 years ago.
Some students took the opportunity to ask him about his recollections of his last moments with Lynne.
“As far as the car, I can still see the car that picked Lynne Harper up,” said Steven in response to one student’s query as to the day she went missing on Highway 8.
That same student asked whether he had additional information that will assist police in their quest to find the person responsible for Lynne’s death. Steven said all of the available information is already in the hands of police.
“It’s up to them,” he says of whether the case will be reviewed.
Another student asked whether he has visited the spot where Lynne’s body was found in 1959. Steven says while he visits the area three of four times a year, including the Lawson’s farm where Lynne was found, “I haven’t been down to the bush. I’ve been past there.”
As for one student’s query as to whether he feels “guilty” for dropping Lynne off at the spot where she was reportedly abducted, Steven says no.
“It’s no different than you’d do to one of your classmates or friends. There is no guilt there at all,” he says, noting it was simply a favour and he couldn’t have guessed the outcome.
He was also asked whether his parents supported him while the trial was under way.
“There was never any doubt on my parents’ part,” he says, noting his mother, Doris, had the opportunity to witness his vindication, which he called “fantastic when the court finally overturned everything.”
Steven was also asked about the day he was sentenced to hang.
“You’re more terrified than anything,” he says. “It’s a long time before it really sinks in to the meaning of everything.
The moment he was sentenced to hang proved to be a “vivid,” one, he says, “It’s something you never forget. It’s really a shock to your whole system.”
Steven was also asked about his time in jail.
“It’s hard to even describe it,” he says, encouraging students to visit the Huron County Museum, which is the site where he was incarcerated. “To go in there and not know when or ever you’ll come out of there. It’s not a very pleasant thing.”
Steven was also asked whether he holds any ill will towards the jury that convicted him. He says the verdict would’ve been different if jurists had all of the evidence before them.
Ultimately, though it sometimes seemed hopeless, Steven credits his family and friends and a live day-by-day mantra as what pulled him through.
“A lot of it is having good family, good friends. These are the things that get you through,” he says.
As for what he felt he missed while incarcerated, he says the list is long, “just about everything you do from day to day, whether it’s going to the show, seeing your friends. When I got out, it was a real chance to meet people, to make friends.”
Thanks largely to his wife, Steven says the long process in overturning the conviction was an experience. He notes for one that a CBC Fifth Estate clip of him riding a bike down Front Road where everything took place “took hours of filming and ya, I haven’t ridden a bike since.”
Asked if he could go back and change anything, Steven answered, “I sure wouldn’t have been on a country road that night. I probably would’ve stayed in the house.”
Upon further reflection, he noted that if his life had been different he would never have met his wife or had the kids and grandchildren he has.
“There have been some very, very positive aspects afterwards,” he says. “We have met fantastic people all over the country.”
The Brucefield students rolled out the welcome mat to Steven and Marlene Truscott, Monday afternoon, for a session focusing on courage as part of the school’s virtue of the month. Students, unlike reporters, were also given the chance to pepper the couple with questions.
The Truscotts, who agreed to visit the school out of more than 200 such requests, did so, along with close family friend Karen Scruton, a longtime advocate of the couple. Though the couple notes their ties to the school go beyond that since some of the students of today are the grandchildren of their friends of yesteryear.
And, much to the Truscotts’ delight, one of the students on hand lives in the home that was once Steven’s. Indeed, she even has the bedroom that was once his when he was a 14-year-old boy embarking on a journey that would impact the rest of his life.
Win Wahrer, director of client services for the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC) which led the legal charge to clear Truscott’s name in connection with the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper near Vanastra, outlined the long saga of Truscott’s ordeal, beginning with a quick conviction in 1959 that culminated in a sentence to hang. Followed by appeals, a commutation of the death sentence, the Supreme Court reference, his 1969 parole and, eventually, the beginning of his appeal to overturn the conviction.
“Steven Truscott, at the age of 14, didn’t enlist in an army... but he was in a war,” says Wahrer, who credits author Isabel LeBourdais with “opening the floodgates” that started up the fight to overturn the conviction.
“On Aug. 28, 2007, Steven Truscott was vindicated,” says Wahrer. “He was cleared of the murder of Lynne Harper. And I can’t tell you what a day that was ... Steven Truscott finally won the war.”
Wahrer says Truscott’s saga proves “bad things can happen to good people.”
“If you believe something is wrong, stand up and be counted,” she says.
Next up, Steven agreed to field thoughtful and sometimes provocative questions from students, including several that hail from Vanastra.
“It’s been a long fight with many people who helped along the way,” Steven told students, echoing Wahrer’s belief that by getting involved, “you can make a difference.”
Before taking questions, he also gave thanks to Wahrer, his wife, Marlene, and “good friend, Karen Scruton” for their unyielding support prior to the quashing of his conviction in August.
The questions ranged from his career of choice, 37 years as a mechanical millwright, to how he met his wife, which was through author LeBourdais about 39 years ago.
Some students took the opportunity to ask him about his recollections of his last moments with Lynne.
“As far as the car, I can still see the car that picked Lynne Harper up,” said Steven in response to one student’s query as to the day she went missing on Highway 8.
That same student asked whether he had additional information that will assist police in their quest to find the person responsible for Lynne’s death. Steven said all of the available information is already in the hands of police.
“It’s up to them,” he says of whether the case will be reviewed.
Another student asked whether he has visited the spot where Lynne’s body was found in 1959. Steven says while he visits the area three of four times a year, including the Lawson’s farm where Lynne was found, “I haven’t been down to the bush. I’ve been past there.”
As for one student’s query as to whether he feels “guilty” for dropping Lynne off at the spot where she was reportedly abducted, Steven says no.
“It’s no different than you’d do to one of your classmates or friends. There is no guilt there at all,” he says, noting it was simply a favour and he couldn’t have guessed the outcome.
He was also asked whether his parents supported him while the trial was under way.
“There was never any doubt on my parents’ part,” he says, noting his mother, Doris, had the opportunity to witness his vindication, which he called “fantastic when the court finally overturned everything.”
Steven was also asked about the day he was sentenced to hang.
“You’re more terrified than anything,” he says. “It’s a long time before it really sinks in to the meaning of everything.
The moment he was sentenced to hang proved to be a “vivid,” one, he says, “It’s something you never forget. It’s really a shock to your whole system.”
Steven was also asked about his time in jail.
“It’s hard to even describe it,” he says, encouraging students to visit the Huron County Museum, which is the site where he was incarcerated. “To go in there and not know when or ever you’ll come out of there. It’s not a very pleasant thing.”
Steven was also asked whether he holds any ill will towards the jury that convicted him. He says the verdict would’ve been different if jurists had all of the evidence before them.
Ultimately, though it sometimes seemed hopeless, Steven credits his family and friends and a live day-by-day mantra as what pulled him through.
“A lot of it is having good family, good friends. These are the things that get you through,” he says.
As for what he felt he missed while incarcerated, he says the list is long, “just about everything you do from day to day, whether it’s going to the show, seeing your friends. When I got out, it was a real chance to meet people, to make friends.”
Thanks largely to his wife, Steven says the long process in overturning the conviction was an experience. He notes for one that a CBC Fifth Estate clip of him riding a bike down Front Road where everything took place “took hours of filming and ya, I haven’t ridden a bike since.”
Asked if he could go back and change anything, Steven answered, “I sure wouldn’t have been on a country road that night. I probably would’ve stayed in the house.”
Upon further reflection, he noted that if his life had been different he would never have met his wife or had the kids and grandchildren he has.
“There have been some very, very positive aspects afterwards,” he says. “We have met fantastic people all over the country.”
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