PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "By the end of the interview, Raymer — who died in 1999 — later changed his story, saying he never saw Thurrott that night. At trial, he denied any involvement in the murder. The Toronto police homicide detective in charge of the case has denied claims from Rees’s lawyer, James Lockyer, that he concealed the taped interview. “Absolutely not, there was no reason to,” the former detective, Wayne Cotgreave, told Lockyer at a hearing last year. He said he first heard the recording in 2011 — long after Rees’s conviction. By the close of the hearing, the Crown conceded that the omission had led to a miscarriage of justice, and asked that the court quash the conviction."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "In court, Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly said Rees shouldn’t have spent one day in prison. The fact that the recording was not disclosed and was found in a box of tapes stored in the police chief’s office raises more questions than answers, Kelly noted. “That is for somebody else to decide what the result of that is.”Kelly then turned her eyes toward Rees and wished him luck. “It may be a monkey off your back, but I’m certain that it will remain in your mind for the rest of your life,” she said."
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QUOTES OF THE DAY: "Rees’s lawyer, James Lockyer, said the worst part is that Rees had to live with the conviction of killing a 10-year-old girl. “You can’t have self-respect because no one else is going to respect you,” he said after the hearing. “It’s crushing.” Asked whether he’ll launch a lawsuit, Rees said he hadn’t thought about that yet. “I was just waiting for this day.” You can’t put a price tag on 23 years of life behind bars “because you’ll never get it back,” Lockyer said. He’s no civil lawyer, he noted, but suggested Rees “deserves every penny he can get.” For now, Rees is taking one step at a time — he wants to try to live the rest of his life as best as he can. And Christmas? “I’ll be spending it with my dog,” Blitz.""
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STORY: "After 23 years in jail, Toronto man is exonerated in murder of 10-year-old Darla Thurrott. Crown will not pursue retrial," published by The Toronto Star (Reporters Abby O'Brien and Calvi Leon), on December 18, 2025. (Abby O’Brien is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. She previously worked at CTV News Toronto and on CP24’s digital team. She graduated from the University of Victoria in 2018. Calvi Leon covers breaking news);
SUB-HEADING: “The public interest in this proceeding no longer exists,” the Crown said.
GIST: "Prosecutors will not pursue a second trial against Timothy Rees after his 1990 conviction in the death of 10-year-old Darla Thurrott was quashed by Ontario’s top court in light of new evidence, thought to have been buried by police for years.
The years-long legal battle to clear Rees’ name ended in a downtown Toronto courtroom on Thursday, with a withdrawal of the first-degree murder charge laid against him more than 35 years ago.
Addressing a packed courtroom, Crown attorney Shane Hobson said that, considering the Court of Appeal’s recent decision to order a retrial, the passage of time since the prosecution and the many years the accused spent in custody, the Crown has determined “the public interest in this proceeding no longer exists.”
Outside the courthouse, Rees breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s been a very long, hard battle when it shouldn’t have been,” the 62-year-old told reporters. “I’m just glad it’s over.”
Thurrott’s remains were discovered by her mother inside the bedroom of her Etobicoke home on the morning of March 17, 1989.
With no signs of forced entry, police focused on those inside the home as potential suspects. Among them were James Raymer, the son of an Ontario Provincial Police officer who rented a room in the home, and Rees, a family friend who had stayed overnight following a night of partying at the residence.
Rees was 25 at the time. He had a criminal record and a history of substance abuse. Eventually, after two months and multiple police interviews, Rees told police that he’d choked Thurrott to death.
He’d later recant that confession, with defence lawyers arguing at his 1990 trial that he’d been “pressured” into giving false statements while in a vulnerable state — having not eaten or slept in days amid a drug and alcohol binge.
“Things were really bad” at the time, “so I just agreed to whatever I thought would let me be,” Rees said last month.
“That proved to be the biggest mistake of my life.”
Rees was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He served 23 years in custody; he was granted full parole in 2016.
In 2023, his case was sent to the Ontario Court of Appeal for a rare criminal conviction review after his lawyers uncovered a long-lost recording of an incriminating interview between a police officer and Raymer, the man who lived across from Thurrott’s bedroom. The tape — discovered in a box stored in the Toronto police chief’s office — was never disclosed to Rees’s defence lawyer in 1990.
‘I’ve been labelled a killer, and I’m not’: Court tosses Toronto man’s conviction in the 1989 murder of Darla Thurrott, 10
In the recorded conversation, Raymer, who was described in court documents as having physical and intellectual disabilities, admits that he made sexual advances toward Thurrott and would “have fun” with her late into the night.
And on the night she was killed, he said he went into her room to “kiss her goodnight.”
By the end of the interview, Raymer — who died in 1999 — later changed his story, saying he never saw Thurrott that night. At trial, he denied any involvement in the murder.
The Toronto police homicide detective in charge of the case has denied claims from Rees’s lawyer, James Lockyer, that he concealed the taped interview.
“Absolutely not, there was no reason to,” the former detective, Wayne Cotgreave, told Lockyer at a hearing last year. He said he first heard the recording in 2011 — long after Rees’s conviction.
By the close of the hearing, the Crown conceded that the omission had led to a miscarriage of justice, and asked that the court quash the conviction.
In November, the court ruled it would be unfair to Rees to drop the charge entirely, as a new trial could serve as a pathway to full acquittal.
Thurrott was the oldest of five children and the first grandchild in her family; she was described as a “very happy child” who was “well loved.”
In an email, the Thurrott family declined interviews, but emphasized that Darla’s story has been lost in the coverage of the case over the decades.
In court, Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly said Rees shouldn’t have spent one day in prison. The fact that the recording was not disclosed and was found in a box of tapes stored in the police chief’s office raises more questions than answers, Kelly noted. “That is for somebody else to decide what the result of that is.”
Kelly then turned her eyes toward Rees and wished him luck. “It may be a monkey off your back, but I’m certain that it will remain in your mind for the rest of your life,” she said.
Rees’s lawyer, James Lockyer, said the worst part is that Rees had to live with the conviction of killing a 10-year-old girl. “You can’t have self-respect because no one else is going to respect you,” he said after the hearing. “It’s crushing.”
Asked whether he’ll launch a lawsuit, Rees said he hadn’t thought about that yet. “I was just waiting for this day.”
You can’t put a price tag on 23 years of life behind bars “because you’ll never get it back,” Lockyer said.
He’s no civil lawyer, he noted, but suggested Rees “deserves every penny he can get.”
For now, Rees is taking one step at a time — he wants to try to live the rest of his life as best as he can.
And Christmas? “I’ll be spending it with my dog,” Blitz.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/745106079876382173
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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