1967
Dangerfield enters the field of criminal prosecuting in Winnipeg.

December 23, 1981
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. 16-year-old waitress Barbara Stoppel is found unconscious at the Ideal Donut Shop in Winnipeg, a synthetic twine wrapped tightly twice around her neck and knotted.

December 29, 1981
Barbara Stoppel dies from her injuries in hospital when she is taken off life support.

March 12, 1982
Vancouver hotel doorman Thomas Sophonow is arrested for Stoppel's murder.

October 18, 1982
29-year-old Sophonow's first trial begins. The Crown Prosecutor is George Dangerfield.

November 6, 1982
The jury in Sophonow's trial are unable to reach a unanimous verdict. A mistrial is declared.

February 21, 1983
Thomas Sophonow's second trial begins. Again the Crown Prosecutor is George Dangerfield. Greg Brodsky appears for the defence.

March 17, 1983
Sophonow is convicted of first-degree murder in his second trial.

March 13, 1984
The Manitoba Court of Appeal orders a new trial for Sophonow.

February 4, 1985
Sophonow's third and final trial begins. This time the Crown Prosecutor is Stu Whitley. Appearing for the Defence is once again Greg Brodsky.

March 16, 1985
Sophonow is convicted again of first-degree murder.

December 12, 1985
After spending nearly four years in prison, Thomas Sophonow is a free man. The Manitoba Court of Appeal had agreed that there should be new a trial, but because by now he'd spent 45 months in custody the Court had directed an acquittal.

September 14, 1986
Hair stylist Frank Ostrowski is arrested at his Winnipeg home where police find 11oz of cocaine and $50,000 in a floor safe.

September 24, 1986
Late at night, Robert Dunkley and Luis Correia force their way into police informant Robert Nieman’s girlfriend's apartment in Winnipeg and await his arrival. When Nieman enters he is shot several times.

September 25, 1986
That afternoon 36-year-old Ostrowski is arrested for arranging Nieman's shooting. It is the theory of the police that Ostrowski had arranged for the contract-type murder because he thought it was Nieman who had tipped them off to the whereabouts of his floor safe.

October 21, 1986
23-year-old Robert Nieman dies from his injuries.

March 13, 1987
Frank Ostrowski's murder trial begins with George Dangerfield prosecuting.

May 23, 1987
Jury convicts 37-year-old Ostrowski of first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

June 23, 1990
19-year-old Kyle Wayne Unger, 17-year-old Timothy Houlahan, and 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier attend a rock music festival at Roseisle ski resort in Manitoba.

June 24, 1990
Grenier is brutally raped and murdered early in the morning.

September 30, 1990
Perry Harder's badly decomposed body is found in an open pit along the rail line. Harder had been shot in the chest with a .22-calibre rifle.

October 23, 1990
32-year-old James Patrick Driskell is arrested for the murder of Harder.

December 11, 1990
The Crown stays the murder charge against Kyle Unger at preliminary hearings.

June 3, 1991
James Driskell's trial begins. The Crown Prosecutor is George Dangerfield.

June 14, 1991
After two days of deliberations, the jury returns a guilty verdict against Driskell. He is sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

June 22, 1991
20-year-old Unger "confesses" to undercover RCMP officers during a "Mr. Big" operation.

June 25, 1991
Unger is re-arrested and re-charged with the Grenier murder.

November 17, 1991
The Supreme Court delineates in the Stinchcombe case. The legal parameters of full and complete defence, as guaranteed by section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It eliminates the legal uncertainty surrounding the disclosure of evidence by the Crown. The Court unanimously affirms the Crown has a duty to reveal its evidence to the defence in order that the accused can mount a full and complete defence.

January 20, 1992
The joint trial of Kyle Unger and Timothy Houlahan begins. Both plead not guilty. George Dangerfied is the Crown Prosecutor.

February 28, 1992
Both Unger and Houlahan are convicted of first-degree murder. Unger is sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years.

1994
21-year-old Timothy Houlahan's appeal to the Manitoba Court of Appeal is allowed, but he commits suicide while out on bail.

1996
George Dangerfield retires from the Justice Department and goes into private practice.

June 8, 2000
Following a reinvestigation of the case, the Winnipeg Police Service announces Thomas Sophonow is not responsible for Barbara Stoppel's 1981 murder and that a new suspect has been found. The Manitoba Justice Minister apologizes to Sophonow and announces the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry.

November 7, 2000
Testimony begins in The Inquiry Regarding Thomas Sophonow.

September 2001
Commissioner Peter Cory releases results of the Sophonow Inquiry:

Mrs. Peasgood gave a statement that she arrived home from the Canadian Tire garage about 8:30 p.m. Ordinarily, it would only take her some 10 minutes from the Canadian Tire garage to her home. Mr. Dangerfield was aware of her statement and he agreed that he looked at it. He agreed that the statement should have been in the possession of Defence Counsel. He recognized its significance because, if Mrs. Peasgood arrived home at 8:30, Thomas Sophonow could not have been the killer.

There are worrisome aspects of the evidence pertaining to the Christmas stocking. For example, it is apparent that Mr. Dangerfield knew of the stocking when he cross-examined Nurse Abrey. He agreed that the information which he possessed should have been disclosed to the Defence.

July 16, 2002
Premier Gary Doer announces an agreement to pay Sophonow $2.6 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction.

November 25, 2003
James Driskell is released on bail because of evidence that he did not receive a fair trial. This, after spending more than 13 years in prison.

March 3, 2005
The Federal Justice Minister quashes Driskell's 1991 murder conviction. Manitoba Justice announces a stay of proceedings but won't concede Driskell is innocent or even wrongly convicted.

The Manitoba Attorney General strikes a commission of inquiry to review the Driskell prosecution.

November 24, 2005
Kyle Unger is released after nearly 14 years in prison following a ruling by Manitoba Queen's Bench that he should be released while a review of his conviction is pending.

July 24, 2006
The Driskell Inquiry hearings begin.

February 15, 2007
The Driskell Inquiry Report is made public:

Failure to disclose the "arrangement" not to prosecute [Crown witness] Zanidean with respect to the Swift Currrent arson…

…Dangerfield should have made further inquiries of the police, and/or Miller, about the status of the Swift Current arson and the negotiations with Kovnats and Zanidean so that he was in a position to make full disclosure to Brodsky.

Failure to correct any misleading or inaccurate evidence given by Zanidean at trial:

…Dangerfield and Lawlor had sufficient information to at least give rise to concerns as to whether Zanidean was being truthful about his motivations and about favourable considerations that were being discussed or were already granted. …Once that cross-examination took place and Zanidean’s evidence appeared to be misleading, it was incumbent on them to make further inquiries of the WPS and specifically to inquire of Miller about the negotiations and arrangements with Kovnats and Zanidean.

Manitoba's Attorney General promises the adoption of the recommendation for external reviews of similar cases prosecuted by George Dangerfield where a claim of wrongful conviction is made and agrees to pay the legal fees for AIDWYC (Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted) to represent anyone whose case is reviewed.

March 20, 2007
Driskell's civil suit begins seeking $20 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction. He is eventually awarded $4 million.

March 11, 2009
Federal Justice Minister quashes Kyle Unger's conviction and orders a new trial upon the completion of a review of his conviction.

October 23, 2009
Kyle Unger is formally acquitted of his 1992 first-degree murder conviction.

Manitoba assistant deputy attorney general Don Slough announces the Crown has no physical evidence linking Unger to the murder and will not retry him.

Manitoba's Justice Minister announces that external legal advice says Unger is not entitled to compensation because of his "confession" during the Mr. Big operation.

December 18, 2009
60-year-old Frank Ostrowski is released on bail after spending 23 years in prison, while the Federal Justice department reviews his case as a possible wrongful conviction.