A pair of Saskatchewan sisters are receiving a new appeal more than three decades after their convictions in a murder case.
Announced Thursday, Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Sean Fraser ordered a new appeal in the case of Odelia and Neressa Quewezance.
In 1994, the two sisters were convicted of second-degree murder in connection to the 1993 death of 70-year-old Anthony Dolff of Kamsack, Sask. They were sentenced to life in prison.
In a statement to The Canadian Press, the sisters said they were encouraged by the decision.
“We have never stopped fighting,” Odelia said in the statement on behalf of her and her sibling.
“Thank you to all those who have kept the faith in us.”
According to Innocence Canada, an organization that fights for those it believes were wrongfully convicted, the Quewezance’s case was flagged by David Milgaard - who famously spent 23 years in prison for the 1969 murder of a Saskatoon nursing student before his conviction was overturned.
The pair, who were among Canada’s longest serving female inmates, maintained their innocence during their decades of incarceration.
In 2021, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) called for the immediate release of the two sisters after Jason Keshane, a man who was with them the day of the crime, admitted to being responsible for the killing.
Keshane, who was a youth when the crime was committed, was handed a four-year sentence for second-degree murder.
The sisters were granted a conditional release in 2023 but have since been returned to custody for breaching bail conditions.
The pair were in the process of a judicial review of their convictions on the basis of a miscarriage of justice.
In the announcement, Minister Fraser explained that an in-depth review of the case found reasonable grounds to conclude a miscarriage of justice did occur. This conclusion came as new information was identified.
As a result, the case will be returned to the courts for the new information to be considered.
“As Minister of Justice, I have the authority under the Criminal Code to order a new trial or appeal when new evidence shows a miscarriage of justice likely occurred,” Fraser said in the announcement.
“My decision does not decide guilt or innocence, as that will rest with the courts. Our responsibility is to make sure Canadians can trust their justice system, and that means, in rare cases, returning cases to the courts for new information to be considered.”
With files from The Canadian Press, Stacey Hein and Fruzsina De Cloedt
