In recent years the wrongful convictions of Donald Marshall, David Milgaard, and Guy Paul Morin have captured newspaper headlines across the country. In No Claim to Mercy, journalist Derek Finkle examines the justice system responsible for their incarceration by detailing the case of another man who claims he is innocent but still lingers behind bars.

In March 1992, Robert Baltovich was convicted of the 1990 murder of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain.

Using a mix of narrative, excerpts from Bain’s diary, excerpts from Baltovich’s prison writings, press clippings, court transcripts, and the findings of a private investigator, Finkle reconstructs in painstaking detail the two-year process that led to Baltovich’s conviction.

This is not the story of a sensational crime. The people involved are very ordinary, and very suburban. The details of their lives can be very mundane. The evidence is mostly circumstantial; no body was ever found. But due to the lack of the proverbial smoking gun, each detail can potentially prove Baltovich’s guilt or innocence.

Finkle builds the case chronologically, introducing the facts as they would have been discovered by the key players. As he does this, he also paints a portrait of the characters involved. Slowly, the framework of the crime – every fact, every personality, every nuance – unfolds.

The reader forms theories, makes judgments, weighs evidence. By leading us through the legal process, Finkle allows us to judge for ourselves the actions of the defence team, the police, and the media. Frankly, nobody comes out shining. The final blow comes after the trial. We discover through the work of a private detective that there were leads and witnesses the police knew about but did not pursue. Ultimately, Finkle points the way to whom he contends is the most likely culprit: the Scarborough Rapist, aka Paul Bernardo.

In the end, Baltovich’s guilt or innocence is not resolved, but there is reasonable doubt. More importantly, perhaps, is that we can no longer ask ourselves how innocent people end up in jail for crimes they didn’t commit. We know how.