In shock: Odelia Quewezance thanks Creator as murder case sent back to Saskatchewan court

One of the sisters whose murder conviction from the ‘90s is now being sent back to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal says she’s “in shock” over the news. “I’m so blessed, and I want to thank the Creator,” Odelia Quewezance told APTN News in a call from the Pine Grove Correctional Centre where she’s been on remand for breaching conditions of her release. On Thursday, federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser ordered a new appeal in the lengthy criminal conviction case of Odelia and her sister who are from Keeseekoose First Nation in Saskatchewan. “After an in-depth review, the Minister found reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred to Odelia and Neressa Quewezance’s 1994 convictions,” said a statement from Fraser’s office. “This is the result of the identification of new information that was not before the courts at the time of their trial or appeal. The order returns the case to the courts for the new information to be considered.” A news release from Innocence Canada, the organization that has been working to free them, outlined what happened to the sisters. “On the night of Thursday, February 25, 1993, Anthony Joseph Dolff (70) invited two young Indigenous girls, Odelia (then 21) and Neressa (then 18), and their 15 year old cousin to his home in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, and provided them with alcohol. What happened thereafter led to Mr. Dolff’s death. The 15 year old cousin confessed to stabbing him due to events that occurred between Mr. Dolff and the two girls,” the release stated. “Odelia and Neressa were arrested that morning and charged with murder. They were held in the Kamsack RCMP Detachment for five days, despite a judge’s order that they be taken to a detention centre away from the Detachment. RCMP officers claimed that Odelia and Neressa confessed over five days of questioning to being involved in Mr. Dolff’s stabbing.” Anthony Joseph Dolff was murdered in his Kamsack-area farmhouse in Saskatchewan in 1993. Photo: APTN file In 1994, Odelia and Neressa were both convicted of murder in a Yorkton, Sask., court and sentenced to life imprisonment. “In 2020-2021, David Milgaard brought the sisters’ cases to Innocence Canada and asked us to intervene,” said a statement from lawyer James Lockyer. “We agreed that the convictions of the sisters constituted a grave miscarriage of justice and, on December 21, 2021, we filed an application with the Minister of Justice and urged him to find that the sisters were victims of a miscarriage of justice. We asked him to use his powers under the Criminal Code of Canada and send their cases to the Court of Appeal for a second appeal.” According to Justice Canada, “the decision to order a new appeal is not a decision about the guilt or innocence of the applicants. It is a decision to return the matter to the courts where the new relevant legal issues may be determined according to the law.” Lockyer said he doesn’t yet have a timeline for the new court proceedings. “That’s for the court. I think the first thing we’ll have to do is have a meeting with a member of the court and, and start talking about how this appeal is going to proceed,” Lockyer told APTN. “We got new evidence we’re going to have to put before the Court of Appeal that we already put before the minister, which obviously impressed the minister. “From our side, we’ll work as expeditiously as we can, but these things do take time. The minister’s decision took him almost five years. So, certainly (hope) the appeal is not going to take that long. The other thing is we’ll be bringing applications for bail to the Court of Appeal for both Neressa and Odelia, hopefully, in the near future. Let’s say within the month is the hope. “But as you can tell, they’re damaged, and we, need to set up a plan that will enable them to do well when they’re back in the community.” Lockyer said he’s been in contact with both sisters and Neressa “was pleased” with the news. She’s currently in custody at the Fraser Valley Institution in B.C. for breaching conditions of her release. “I also spoke to the authorities in the prison of Fraser Valley and she’s doing very well there,” Lockyer said. “They’ve sent me some records of how she’s doing and it’s really good to see that she’s doing extraordinarily well there at the moment. So that presages well for her release, but we’ve got to satisfy a judge of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that they should be released.” In making the announcement today, the justice minister said he has the authority under the Criminal Code to order “a new trial or appeal when new evidence shows a miscarriage of justice likely occurred. 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.” “This determination involves a close examination of any information submitted in support of the application, followed by an in-depth investigation. A key consideration is whether the application is supported by new matters of significance, such as new information that has surfaced since the trial and appeal.” The sister’s case has been before the justice department’s Criminal Conviction Review Group which conducts an investigation on behalf of the minister of Justice since 2022. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal had previously dismissed the sisters’ appeals in 1995. It also delayed responding to later requests for information, according to Sen. Kim Pate in 2021. The late David Milgaard appeared in an APTN News documentary about a potential wrongful comviction in 2020. Photo: APTN File Besides Innocence Canada and Pate, the sisters have had the support of high-profile advocates which included the late David Milgaard, retired justices Harry LaForme and Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré as well as Kim Beaudin, former vice president with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. Lockyer said it’s been a long wait for a decision from the minister. “…almost five years, but what the Minister has done today makes it all worthwhile. I am so happy for Odelia and Neressa.” The sisters, from Keeseekoose First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan were released from prison in March 2023 after serving decades for Dolff’s1993 murder. Both sisters have been back in custody after breaching their conditions. “Neressa was 18 when she was arrested and is now 52. I was 21 and am now 55. But we have never stopped fighting. Today’s announcement by the Minister is encouraging and now we will continue the fight in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. Thank you to all those who have kept the faith in us,” Odelia said. Continue Reading