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GRAHAM MEMO

In the spring of 1966, the Truscott case was again becoming controversial. A powerful book by Isabel LeBourdais challenged the fairness of the police work and the trial and gained widespread media attention. The Supreme Court was about to consider the Truscott case.

Harold Graham, the OPP inspector who would always be known as "the man who cracked the Truscott case", had now risen to the post of assistant commissioner and would eventually head the OPP.

In April of 1966, he and another senior police officer involved in the arrest of Truscott - Inspector H.M. Sayeau, met with top justice officials in the government to discuss.

The following memo reveals how concerned Graham and the officials were about any public perception of a "miscarriage of justice" and how the debate over the Truscott case might influence "the debate on capital punishment."

They decide there should be an "attack on the book" and that perhaps a "rebuttal could be accomplished by the appointment of a Royal Commission" ... a curious description of a Royal Commission which presumably has a mandate to find the truth and not necessarily provide a rebuttal for one side.

Read some excerpts from the memo.