Truscotts happy to fade from view

These days they are waiting for happier things.

“For 11 years all we had to look forward to was court dates and decisions from judges,” Marlene said with a laugh during an interview at the couple’s home this week. “Now we have a baby and a wedding to look forward to.”

The couple’s youngest son, Devon, will be married next June, a few months after the Truscotts’ fourth grandchild is due to arrive.

“We have nice things to look forward to now,” Marlene said.

Earlier this month, Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley announced Steven Truscott would receive $6.5 million in compensation for the wrongful conviction that put him, at age 14, in prison for the murder of 12-year-old schoolmate Lynne Harper. Marlene was also awarded $100,000.

Lynne was with Truscott the last time she was seen alive, near Clifton, northwest of Stratford, on June 9, 1959. Her body was found two days later and on Sept. 30, 1959, Truscott was convicted by a jury following a flawed trial, and sentenced to death by hanging.

Amid public furor over the planned execution of a child, prime minister John Diefenbaker and his cabinet commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in 1960. Truscott was paroled in 1969 and began living under an assumed name.

In 1997, Truscott approached lawyer James Lockyer and asked for help in clearing his name. In 2002, the federal government announced a review of the case, and in 2004, justice minister Irwin Cotler asked the Ontario Court of Appeal to review the conviction.

Last August, the appeal court acquitted Truscott, paving the way for the compensation.

In their first interview since the compensation was announced – the last interview the Truscotts say they will probably ever give – the couple said they’ve had trouble adjusting to a slower pace.

“When you spend so many years fighting and one day it’s suddenly over, it just takes some time to get used to it,” Steven said. “For the last 10, 11 years we’ve sort of lived day to day because you never knew what was coming. It’s difficult for us to plan six months or a year down the road.

“It’s a shock to the system to just suddenly have the whole thing be over.”

The couple have been making some plans, but do not want to publicly talk about what they’ll do with the compensation money.

Last August, after the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Truscott, then attorney general Michael Bryant announced the province had retained retired judge Sydney Robins to advise on compensation.

“Right from the start this was not about money,” Steven Truscott said this week. “It was about clearing my name and that happened last August. It was the government that raised the compensation issue.”

After fighting so long, the couple are looking forward to spending more time with their expanding family.

“I think we’d like to go out like Johnny Carson,” Marlene said, referring to the long-time Tonight Show host. “We’ll do this last (interview) and then just try to fade away.”