Loss and freedom intertwined for two New Brunswick men cleared of 1983 murder

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — It has been one week since a judge in New Brunswick cleared Walter Gillespie of a murder charge that hung over him for half his 80 years. But as he looked around his dark, cramped apartment in Saint John, N.B., this week, Gillespie said he still feels caged by the legal battle that came to define his life.

“It just looks like another jail cell,” Gillespie said with a chuckle, his eyes sweeping over brown cardboard boxes stacked in a corner and a few clothes hung on pegs by the entrance. “Just look at it. Everything’s just crowded. You can’t move in there.”