Officer admits he lied

Page 2

RCMP Sgt. Dan Zazulak, who was in charge of the Wilson Nepoose murder investigation, admitted to the court he lied at last year's inquiry into the case.

Nepoose claims he was framed for the 1986 murder of Marie Rose Desjarlais

and his conviction was false. Alberta's appeal court ordered a new trial after concluding his trial was unfair, but the provincial government decided to drop the charges. The Hobbema man was released from prison late in 1991.

Zazulak is on trial in Edmonton for perjury.

He crossed out the word "slimeball" written by a colleague in reference to Nepoose. He etched out the words "yeah!", which he had written in agreement with

that reference to Nepoose, two weeks before his testimony at the inquiry.

He lied on the witness stand in early September of 1991.

During his trial, Zazulak admitted he knew he was lying and said he had considered suicide as a way out. Instead, he talked his wife into saying she had altered the documents while he slept. He admitted his guilt a few days later and testified earlier evidence was a lie.

He claims he was mentally disturbed and acted out of panic, but he didn't intend to mislead the court.