Ontario man to be exonerated in wife’s death after 45 years

TORONTO – An Ontario man convicted of killing his wife 45 years ago is hoping he can officially clear his name today.

John Salmon, 75, was convicted of manslaughter in the 1970 death of Maxine Ditchfield, and served four years before being paroled.

Salmon’s trial heard that Ditchfield had died from a severe beating, but Salmon maintained her injuries came from a series of falls.

The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted hired three pathologists to re-examine the evidence.

They concluded that Ditchfield had indeed fallen multiple times after suffering a stroke.

The new evidence allowed Salmon to have his case re-opened after all these years and ask for an official acquittal in the death.