Tunnel vision of police blamed for wrongful murder conviction of 2 N.B. men [Video]

Police in New Brunswick say “tunnel vision” was the main shortfall of an investigation in the 1980s that led to the wrongful conviction of two men who spent years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit.

The Saint John Police Force released an independent review Friday, saying investigators at the time did not have the tools they have now.

“(Tunnel vision) refers to a narrow focus that distorts the interpretation of evidence,” Saint John police Chief Robert Bruce told a news conference. “It is not based on ill-intent, but does influence an objective assessment of the facts.”

Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie were convicted of a 1983 murder in Saint John and exonerated in January 2024 after a court ruled they had been victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Gillespie spent 21 years in prison. He died last April at age 80, months after he was exonerated. Mailman, who …