Wrongfully Convicted Native Activist Donald Marshall Dies at 55

by Rob Walker | August 6, 2009 at 07:45 am

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Donald Marshall, the Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq who spent 11 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, died early Thursday morning.

Marshall spent his time in prison after being convicted at age 17 of murder in 1971, but was acquitted in 1983. He was also convicted in 1996 for catching and selling eels out of season. The arrest brought about a change in native fishing rights after the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a centuries-old treaty.

His sister, Roseanne Slyvester, said Marshall suffered from kidney failure, which she linked to anti-rejection drugs he had been taking following a double lung transplant six years ago.
"It was very peaceful," she said about his final moments in the intensive care unit, where he was surrounded by relatives. "I was holding his hand ... and I told him I loved him."