January 7, 2013 Thomas Sophonow Background Thomas sophonow has two siblings a brother and a sister. The brother Philip is the oldest and his sister Catherine the second oldest and Thomas being the youngest. His parents had divorced which made the mother responsible for taking care of the children. They became a poor family and he and his brother would steal fruits and vegetables for his family. Thomas was placed in foster homes and in juvenile detention facilities.
At one point in his life he was involved in a group called the Neo-Nazi party and then the Hare Krishna with the joining of these two groups he wanted to find a place for himself in society. Childhood Conviction Thomas has had a criminal record due to offences that were generally minor and none that had any aspect of violence. His last conviction was several years before his arrest of the charge of murder. He had been charged with a drug offence and these charges had been withdrawn. Relationship When Thomas was young he had a relationship with a woman and even fathered a child that he has never seen nor supported.
He was married to Nadine on June 19, 1978 and had a daughter named Kimberly. He and Nadine had separated and did not contribute to support of Kimberly. Thomas wanted to give Kimberly present that he got from Vancouver but could not make the arrangements that were satisfactory to both Nadine and him so he left the present with his brother and sister in-law. Work Record Thomas worked as a labourer at Ocean Cement for 4 to 6 months in 1972. He was a bouncer at the Smiling Buddha Cabaret in the mid 70’s and worked at Wagner Engineering in Vancouver from 1976 to 1978.
In 1980-1981 he worked at R&T landscaping with his brother in law which proved that he was good with his hands and liked what he did while landscaping and gardening. At his other jobs that were mentioned he advanced from floor sweeper to apprentice machinist at Versatile which means he has the ability to work at jobs which requires skill and training. Summary of the Case Barbara Stoppel was working at the Ideal Donut Shop when around 8: 30 in the evening twine has been placed around her neck in which then she was strangled. She had died a few days later at St. Boniface Hospital.
Sophonow was charged with the murder based on a jailhouse informant. After this Thomas underwent three trials. First trial was a mistrial as the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. At the second and third trials he had been convicted. Thomas was released from prison after 45 months of wrongful imprisonment. In 1998, the Winnipeg Police Service undertook a reinvestigation of the murder of Barbara Stoppel. On June 8th, 2000 Winnipeg police announced new evidence had been shown to clear Sophonow of the crime and the suspected had been identified. Innocence Proved by
Thomas’s innocence had been proven by the absence of evidence that caused his conviction to be reversed in 1985 by the Manitoba Court of Appeals that ordered his acquittal. Compensation On November 5th, 2001 the Manitoba Justice Minister released a report recommending he receive a payment of $2. 6 million Canadian. Work Cited http://forejustice. org/db/Sophonow–Thomas. html http://www. gov. mb. ca/justice/publications/sophonow/compensation/workrecord. html http://www. gov. mb. ca/justice/publications/sophonow/compensation/tsbackground. html http://www. cbc. ca/news/canada/story/2009/08/06/f-wrongfully-convicted. html#sophonow
