File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Gerald Klassen

Advocacy group demands new trial for Kamloops man who spent 26 years in prison

Oct 15, 2025 | 9:16 AM

KAMLOOPS — An Ontario-based group that advocates for wrongly convicted individuals is rallying support for a Kamloops man who spent 26 years in prison.

In a news release, Miscarriage of Justice Canada (MJC) is urging the B.C. government to respect the Department of Justice Canada’s order for a new trial in the case of Gerald Klassen.

In 1995, Klassen was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1993 killing of Julie McLeod and sentenced to life in prison. McLeod’s body was found at a rest stop along Highway 5A near Nicola Lake.

Julie McLeod’s body was found at a rest stop along Highway 5A near Nicola Lake in 1993 (Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

Klassen was released on bail in December 2020, decades after the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in 1997. The Supreme Court of Canada also declined to hear his case.

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David Lametti, federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General at the time, announced in 2022 that he had ordered a new trial for Klassen in B.C. Supreme Court.

“The minister’s decision that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred is the result of the identification of new information that was not before the courts at the time of Mr. Klassen’s trial or appeal,” the department states in a news release issued March 29, 2022. “It is not a decision about the guilt or innocence of the applicant, but rather a decision to return the matter to the courts where the relevant legal issues may be determined according to the law.”

The Crown opted for a stay of proceedings on Klassen’s murder charge in 2023.

MJC says by ending Klassen’s case without an acquittal, he’ll be denied full compensation for spending 26 years behind bars.

“A stay of proceedings in these circumstances is an abuse of prosecutorial discretion,” said MJC executive director Myles Frederick McLellan. “The minister’s referral must be honoured; otherwise, the integrity of the entire review process is undermined.”

Along with proceeding with a new trial, MJC is calling on the province to engage with Klassen and his lawyers in good-faith discussions on compensation and affirm its commitment to fairness and transparency in miscarriage of justice review processes.

CFJC Today has contacted the office of Attorney General Niki Sharma for comment.