Mixed emotions for exonerated N.B. man [Video]

Robert Mailman has a problem he never thought he’d have. He has to buy Christmas presents this year.

The 76-year-old was exonerated on Jan. 4 of a 1983 murder for which he and his friend Walter Gillespie served lengthy prison terms. At the time, his legal team said he had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and been given only months to live.

Nearly a year after New Brunswick Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Tracey DeWare proclaimed him and Gillespie innocent, Mailman continues to defy death. But he says he has been robbed of the joys of life and in some ways feels he’s still behind bars.

DeWare’s ruling came after federal Justice Minister Arif Virani ordered a new trial on Dec. 22, 2023, saying evidence had surfaced that called into question “the overall fairness” of the process that led to the convictions.

In February, the two men reached an undisclosed settlement with the New Brunswick government, but less …