Huron Expositor, 2007-08-29, Page 13The Huron Expositor • August 29, 2007 Page 13
News
Stienburg took Truscott into his home after
Truscott served 10 years of his life sentence
From Page 3
that same feeling. It's hard to
believe that could happen in
Canada — even in 1959."
To Stienburg, Truscott seemed
reserved and somewhat shy in 1966.
Stienburg also remembers
Truscott's "big, broad smile," good
manners and pleasant demeanour.
Stienburg's introduction to
Truscott occurred shortly before
Truscott's Supreme Court reference,
whichfailed to overturn the convic-
tion. -Yet, the late Justice Emmett
Hall's belief that Truscott would
never have been convicted in a
Toronto courtroom stuck with
Stienburg.
I966 also marked the year author
Isabel LeBourdais released her
book, The Trial of Steven Truscott,
which once again drew attention to
Truscott's plight, as well as fed the
growing sentiment the teenager had
been wrongfully convicted.
"A lot of people felt he got the short
shrift," says Stienburg.
When it came time for the
National Parole Board to decide
what to do with Truscott after he'd
served 10 years of his life sentence,
parole board members were
stymied.
"It seemed cruel and unusual to
toss him into a halfway house," says
Stienburg, recalling how given
Truscott had spent many of his for-
mative years in an institution, there
was concern about "throwing him to
the wolves." Stienburg notes
Truscott's parents had divorced so
moving in with them was not an
option.
Plus, there was the realization the
media, not so much the national
newspapers but the local daily, The
Kingston Whig -Standard, would be
hounding Truscott.
So, after a board member asked
Stienburg whether he'd take in
Truscott, Stienburg talked to his
wife, who obliged.
It was an unusual move, says
Stienburg. He says it might've been
the first and last time such an
arrangement was made.
The Stienburgs welcomed
Truscott into their home, says
Stienburg, so he would "always
have a nest to come home to."
When Truscott was first released,
the Stienburgs spirited him off to
the family's cottage on Bob's Lake,
north of Kingston.
"We simply disappeared," says
Stienburg.
Unfortunately, not being winter-
ized, the cottage proved a little
chilly so the Stienburgs took
Truscott to grandma's house down
the road in Moscow, Ont., where
they had to break a basement win-
dow to gain entry. That Moscow
house is the same one the
Stienburgs live in today.
"Mainly, we wanted to
from the media," he says.
Stienburg also took Truscott to a
hockey game in Toronto on the
Saturday night after his release.
They watched the Toronto Maple
Leafs take on the St. Louis Blues at
Maple Leaf Gardens. No one spotted
either Stienburg or Truscott, though
Stienburg notes he arranged to
have their seats a few spaces apart
to avoid possible recognition.
"We had no problem at all," says
Stienburg, who adds the train ride
back was not quite as uneventful as
a few female students from Queen's
University tried to chat up Truscott.
"He's shy to start with," says
Stienburg.
After the initial media attention
subsided, the Stienburgs took
Truscott to their home in
Westbrook, a bedroom community
Steven
Truscott in 1966
outside of Kingston, which was then
home to about 400 or 500 people.
Stienburg had already given his
get away
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immediate neighbours the heads up
about Truscott's pending arrival.
None of them objected.
Indeed, says Stienburg, the com-
munity stayed mum as Truscott
lived at the Stienburg home for the
next seven months. Truscott attend-
ed church every Sunday with the
Stienburgs and everyone in the
community knew who he was.
"But, they didn't go to the media.
None of them," said Stienburg.
Later, Truscott moved to British
Columbia to live with his grandfa-
ther for awhile before getting home-
sick and choosing, with parole -
board approval, to return to Ontario
in the fall of 1970.
It was then he married his girl-
friend, Marlene, who had been one
of Truscott's most ardent supporters
since he was first charged at the age
of 14.
Stienburg officiated the wedding
ceremony at his Westbrook home.
For some time, Stienburg was
reluctant to contact the Truscotts
since he didn't want to give the
impression he was meddling, given
that he was still a representative of
See STIENBURG, Page 24
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