Police search for Julie McLeod's body near Nicola Lake, 1993. (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Gerald Klassen

Kamloops man who claims he was wrongfully convicted of murder petitions BC Supreme Court for new trial

Nov 7, 2025 | 3:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — A Kamloops man who spent 26 years in prison for a murder he claims he didn’t commit has filed a BC Supreme Court petition asking for a new trial.

Gerald Klassen was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1993 killing of Julie McLeod. Her body was found at a rest stop off Highway 5A near Nicola Lake.

In 1995, Klassen was sentenced to life in prison and wound up serving 26 years behind bars. He maintained his innocence, but his appeal was dismissed in 1997 and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his case. Klassen was released on bail in 2020.

Two years after his release, then-federal Justice Minister David Lametti ordered a new trial in B.C. Supreme Court. At the time, Lametti said the identification of new information led him to believe it was reasonable to conclude a miscarriage of justice had occurred in Klassen’s conviction.

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Instead of taking the case back to trial, the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) opted to stay charges against Klassen in 2023. In an email to CFJC Today last month, a BCPS spokesperson said there remain no plans to bring the case back to the courts.

Ontario-based advocacy organization Miscarriage of Justice Canada (MJC) says that decision was unconstitutional and has robbed Klassen of the chance to clear his name.

Klassen has now made a so-called mandamus application to BC Supreme Court, seeking it to order Attorney General Niki Sharma to hold a new trial.

“The Minister of Justice concluded that Mr. Klassen was likely wrongfully convicted,” said Greg Rodin, Klassen’s lawyer. “That determination carries legal weight. The Attorney General cannot override it by simply entering a stay. Our application for mandamus asks the Court to affirm that the rule of law applies equally to the Crown.”

“If provincial governments can ignore the federal minister’s findings, then every future exoneration is at risk of being silenced before it even reaches a courtroom,” added MJC Chair Gary Botting. “This is precisely why federal participation is being sought on the constitutional question raised by this case.”

CFJC Today has sent Sharma’s office a request for comment but has yet to hear back.