Russell Woodhouse, who died in 2011, was one of four young men wrongfully convicted in the 1973 murder of Ting Fong Chan. While three others have been exonerated, Russell's case remains unresolved. Now, his family awaits a decision from Canada's justice minister on a posthumous application for clemency, a rare occurrence in Canadian justice.
For more than 50 years, Russell Woodhouse has been considered a convicted killer. Now, there is one final step before his name can be cleared, as his family awaits a decision in his case from Canada’s justice minister — more than a decade after his death. Clarence Woodhouse was jubilant, walking out onto the steps of Winnipeg's law courts with his family last fall.
Decades after he was convicted in a 1973 murder he always said he didn't commit, a judge had finally said the words he'd waited so long to hear: 'You are innocent.' It was nice to be free after all those years, Clarence thought at the time. But months later, he's thinking about his brother Russell — and how he never got to hear those same words. 'He was innocent too,' Clarence, now 73, said in an interview at his Winnipeg home. 'I'd be happy to clear his name.' Russell Woodhouse, who died of cancer in 2011, and his brother Clarence were among four young men from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba's Interlake area convicted in the 1973 killing of Ting Fong Chan. The 40-year-old father of two was stabbed and beaten to death near a downtown Winnipeg construction site as he walked home after his shift one night at the Beachcomber restaurant. Clarence still remembers what happened next: the arrests and interrogations of the four young men, who ranged in age from 17 to 21, according to newspaper coverage at the time, the police brutality and manufactured confessions. He knows how their trial ended, with a jury convicting all four — three of murder, one of manslaughter — in the death of a man they'd never met. It took decades, but one by one, three were exonerated. First came Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse, whose names were cleared before a courtroom that erupted into cheers in July 2023. Then came Clarence's October exoneration, where Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal apologized for a case he described as being 'infected' by systemic racism. 'It's nice to be free,' Clarence Woodhouse says after exoneration for 1973 Winnipeg murder he didn't commit But more than half a century after his trial, Russell Woodhouse remains the only one who hasn't been declared innocent — yet. Now, his family is awaiting a decision from Canada’s justice minister following a review of his manslaughter conviction. According to one of the lawyers pushing for Russell's exoneration, it's the first time that's happened for a person who has died. 'It's unheard of in Canada,' said James Lockyer, founding director of Innocence Canada, the non-profit organization behind the exonerations of the men convicted in Chan's murder and dozens of other cases across the country. 'There's never been a ministerial review involving an applicant who's deceased, at least not that I know of.' For more than 50 years, Russell Woodhouse has been considered a convicted killer. Now, there is one final step before his name can be cleared, as his family awaits a decision in his case from Canada’s justice minister – more than a decade after his death. Still, Lockyer said it's hard not to be hopeful the justice minister will see the miscarriage of justice he did when Innocence Canada filed an application on Russell's behalf in September 2023 — and he's hoping for an answer soon. 'It's so, so obvious,' Lockyer said in an interview. 'I can't conceive of anyone, any minister, suggesting otherwise.' Innocence Canada lawyer James Lockyer says he's confident the justice minister will determine there was likely a miscarriage of justice in Russell Woodhouse's case — but they're still waiting for a decision. (Doug Husby/CBC) A spokesperson for the justice department said a posthumous application challenging Russell's conviction is ongoing, but did not provide further details. The potential exoneration would be perhaps the final update in a case where early calls for justice for the men were ignored, where everything from the police investigation to the trial was marred by racism — and where even having their names cleared hasn't been enough to mark an end to a painful chapter in the lives of the men's families. Back in the late 1970s, he had just become the chief of his community — the same one the young men were from, then called the Fairford reserve — when he got involved in efforts to draw attention to the possibility the men had been sent to prison for something they didn't do. Who killed Ting Fong Chan? Over 50 years later, Winnipeg police review case that led to wrongful convictions With a small group of supporters researching the case, Thompson pored over court transcripts
Wrongful Conviction Exoneration Justice System Racial Injustice Posthumous Clemency
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