Ex-Mountie dismisses provincial inquiry in Assoun wrongful conviction

One of the first people to question whether Glen Assoun was really the man who murdered Brenda Way is speaking out.

Retired RCMP Const. Dave Moore was an analyst whose work suggested serial killer Michael McGray, or perhaps another man, were more likely suspects in Way's killing.

"Canadians need an explanation as to why this happened and can we prevent it from happening again," Moore said in a video statement emailed to CBC News.

Way's body was found behind an apartment building in north-end Dartmouth in November, 1995. She had been stabbed several times.

Assoun, her former boyfriend, was convicted of second-degree murder following a jury trial in 1997. He lost an appeal in 2006.

Assoun exonerated in March

It wasn't until this March that Assoun was exonerated.

In the interval between the conviction and unsuccessful appeal, Moore produced his analysis. But when he pressed to have his work forwarded to investigators on the Assoun file, he was transferred and his files were destroyed.

He has declined several interview requests, saying he has been inundated. He used the video to answer questions that have been posed to him since July 12, when files relating to Assoun's wrongful murder conviction were first made public.

"I would be in favour of a public inquiry if it were held in Ottawa, on neutral ground," Moore said. "But going back to the same people that were involved in the obstruction in the first place to me is a mistake."

Moore's position is at odds with one taken by federal Justice Minister David Lametti who, on a stopover in Halifax last Friday, said any decision on an inquiry in the Assoun case would be up to Nova Scotia officials.

The provincial Justice Department has had material that led to Assoun's exoneration in its possession since May. But provincial Justice Minister Mark Furey didn't start getting briefed on the file until last week because of a potential conflict of interest.

Furey was a senior RCMP officer in Nova Scotia when Moore was producing his analysis and Assoun's case was making its way through the courts. Furey was cleared of any conflict by the province's conflict of interest commissioner.

In a statement emailed to CBC late Wednesday, a government spokesperson said Furey is still studying the file.

Moore believes Assoun was 'collateral damage'

Moore said the failures in the handling of the Assoun file had as much to do with him as Assoun.

"I believe that Mr. Assoun was collateral damage in an effort to come after me for getting too close to an investigation that might reveal something other than what the Halifax Regional Police had already come up with."

Moore said rather than conducting an expensive provincial inquiry, the province would be better advised to implement all outstanding findings from previous inquiries, such as the one into the wrongful murder conviction of Mi'kmaw activist Donald Marshall Jr.

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