Albert Cadrain went to the Saskatoon Police on March 2, 1969. He told them he believed that his friend David Milgaard had murdered Miller. Sixteen-year-old Milgaard was a shaggy-haired hippie who had dropped out of school and was caught up in the free-spirited era of the sixties and experimenting with drugs. He had left Regina at midnight on Thursday January 30, 1969, with friends Ronald Wilson and Nichol John. They were driving Wilson’s beat-up 1958 Pontiac to Saskatoon to pick up Cadrain before heading to Vancouver.
Milgaard, Wilson, and John arrived in Saskatoon at about 6:30 a.m. on January 31, 1969. Milgaard was the only one who had been to Cadrain’s house, but he didn’t have the address. All he could remember was that it was near St. Mary’s Church, which, as it turned out, was halfway between Cadrain’s and Miller’s houses and half a block from where Miller’s body was found two hours later. The trio stopped to ask a woman for directions, but she was unable to help. As they continued driving, the car got stuck in the snow. They couldn’t dislodge it, so John stayed with the car while Wilson and Milgaard went in opposite directions looking for help. When they returned, two men in a cream-coloured car helped push them out. Sometime between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Wilson, Milgaard, and John drove to the Trav-A-Leer Motel and asked the front desk manager, Robert Rasmussen, for directions. On their way to Cadrain’s, the Pontiac got stuck again, this time in an alley behind Sandra Danchuk’s vehicle. They waited with the Danchuks in their house for a tow truck between 7:30 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. The Danchuks didn’t see anything unusual about Milgaard or any blood on his clothes.
It was about 9:00 a.m. when the trio arrived at Cadrain’s house. The crotch of Milgaard’s pants had gotten ripped and they had holes from where battery acid had spilled. He and Wilson changed their clothes. Then Milgaard drove around the block by himself a couple of times. The car stalled again beside Cadrain’s house. Milgaard, Wilson, John, and Cadrain left Saskatoon for Edmonton later that day, once the car was repaired. While they were driving along the highway, John pulled a woman’s compact from the glove box of the car and asked to whom it belonged. Milgaard grabbed it and tossed it out the window. Milgaard later admitted that he had no idea where the bag came from or why he threw it out.
The group returned to Regina on February 6, 1969, when Wilson found out that his father was ill. The Regina Police picked up Cadrain the same day and charged him with vagrancy. When they learned that he lived in the same Saskatoon neighbourhood where Miller had been killed, and that he had left town that day, they asked him about the murder. He said he hadn’t heard about it. Cadrain learned the details of Miller’s death when he arrived home in Saskatoon on March 1, 1969, and his family told him about it. The police had no leads, but they were under pressure to solve the case and had posted a reward for information leading to the nursing assistant’s killer.
Cadrain went to the Saskatoon Police the next day. That is when he first claimed that he saw blood on Milgaard’s pants on January 31 and that his friend seemed to be in a hurry to leave town. Lieutenant Charles Short and Detective Eddie Karst questioned him and took his statement. During the two-hour interrogation, Cadrain told police that, on the day of the murder, Milgaard arrived unexpectedly at his house at about 9:05 a.m. and said they had to “leave town right away.” Cadrain told them that he saw blood on Milgaard’s shirt and pants before Milgaard changed his clothes and took Wilson’s car for a drive by himself. He also claimed Milgaard talked a lot about cleaning the car and that others in the car seemed to be afraid of him.
On March 3, Karst questioned Milgaard. He told the teenager that he was a suspect in Miller’s murder. Then he asked Milgaard to account for his whereabouts on January 31, 1969. Milgaard talked about stopping a woman in the street and going to a motel to get directions, getting stuck in an alley, and changing his clothes because of the battery acid on them. But he couldn’t remember at what time various activities happened. He was cooperative but vague. He didn’t know where his clothes were and they didn’t turn up during a police search. There were no marks or scratches on his body consistent with what one might expect to find after a recent struggle.
Milgaard also told police that he drove Wilson’s car around the block after reaching Cadrain’s house. “I like to drive I guess,” he replied when he was asked why he would do that after the car had just stalled. He explained that the reason he had been in a hurry to leave town was because he was excited about seeing his girlfriend in Edmonton. He admitted that he had taken drugs during the road trip, had received psychiatric treatment in Yorkton when he was thirteen years old, and that he tended to make impulsive decisions. He wasn’t sure if he had been alone at any time the morning of Miller’s murder. Karst asked Milgaard if he had a criminal record. He admitted that he had convictions for sexual immorality, trafficking, stolen cars, break and enter, escaping lawful custody, and that he had been deported from the United States.
Although Milgaard had not been convicted of a violent crime, Karst’s interest in him as a suspect in Miller’s murder grew. The teenager was in the vicinity at the time of the killing, he was driving in back alleys that morning, was at the Cadrain residence a block from where Miller’s body was found, he and his companions were under the influence of drugs, he had a criminal record, and Milgaard tried to clean Wilson’s car while it was being repaired. There also appeared to be gaps of time that were unaccounted for or that were vague. Milgaard denied there was blood on his clothing, but police couldn’t find the clothes in question to either prove or disprove that statement.
While Milgaard was being interviewed by Karst, Wilson was being questioned by RCMP Inspector J.A.B. Riddell. Wilson said that he, Milgaard, and John arrived in Saskatoon between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. They were driving around looking for Cadrain’s house when their car stalled and became stuck in an alley. After getting a boost to restart their vehicle, they found their way to Cadrain’s house. Wilson said that after they arrived, Milgaard changed his pants because of spilled battery acid and drove the car around the block. In his police statement, Wilson said that Milgaard was never out of his sight for more than a few minutes, except when he drove Wilson’s car around the block. He wasn’t aware of Milgaard owning a knife. Police searched Wilson’s car but didn’t find anything of interest nor did they see any bloodstains or find Milgaard’s clothes.
Nichol John was questioned more than a week later, on March 11. She told police that she arrived in Saskatoon with Wilson and Milgaard between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. They drove around looking for Cadrain’s house, stopped at a motel for a map and directions, got stuck in an alley, and then reached Cadrain’s home after daylight. Wilson changed his clothes because of spilled battery acid on them, while Milgaard put on a fresh pair of pants after the crotch of his other pants ripped. John didn’t see any blood on their clothing. She said the car broke down after Milgaard drove it around the block, but he and Wilson were never out of her sight for more than a minute or two.
Wilson and John, who were travelling with Milgaard at the time of Gail Miller’s murder, both told police their friend had no opportunity to commit the crime. Cadrain, whom they met up with later, was the only one to suggest that Milgaard was involved. Nonetheless, this didn’t allay the Saskatoon Police’s suspicions. A week later, on March 18, Karst and Short took Cadrain with them to Regina to conduct another interview with Wilson and John. They interviewed John and Cadrain together this time. John’s story began to change. She told police that she was afraid of Milgaard and believed he was dangerous. She also said that he had forced her to have sex several times. Saskatoon Police also interviewed Milgaard’s one-time girlfriend Sharon Williams in St. Albert. She had no information about the murder, but she provided an unflattering portrait of Milgaard. She talked of his criminal behaviour and his aggressive sexual behaviour toward her.
Then Gail Miller’s wallet was found buried in the snow near Cadrain’s house on April 4. Police speculated that Milgaard had tossed it there while he was driving around the neighbourhood. When John was interviewed a third time, on April 14, her story changed again. She insisted that Milgaard and Wilson hadn’t been out of her sight the day of the murder for more than a moment or two and she didn’t see any blood on Milgaard’s clothes. She did think he was capable of sexual assault and murder.
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