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Erin Walsh is dying. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six to eight months to live … more than eight months ago. His wish is that he’ll be exonerated in the 1975 murder of Melvin “Chi Chi” Peters before death catches up with him.

In 2005, Walsh took advantage of access to information laws in New Brunswick, Canada to get a look at his original case file. There he found a number of documents never disclosed to his defense attorneys. Among them were statements from rail workers corroborating Walsh’s claim that he pleaded for their help shortly before the shooting, and police notes on an overheard conversation between two of Peter’s friends conspiring to put the blame for the shooting on Walsh.

While the Crown has conceded that a miscarriage of justice took place, they have not yet completely exonerated Walsh. A hearing is scheduled for March 14 during which both sides will present arguments. Hopefully that won’t be too late for Walsh to get his wish.

In December 2007, Robert Pickton, one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers, was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to the maximum punishment of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. For the 58 year-old pig farmer, that’s akin to a death sentence.

However, neither the prosecution nor the defense was happy with the outcome of that 11-month trial.

The prosecution argued the evidence supported a conviction for first-degree murder, while the defense argued the evidence didn’t support a conviction at all. Both sides are appealing.

Now British Columbia Attorney-General Wally Oppal says that if the appeal succeeds and Pickton is granted a new trial, he’ll be tried on all 26 original charges. If the appeal fails, Pickton will not be tried on the remaining 20 charges. Families of the 20 victims for whom Pickton has not yet faced trial are outraged that they may not get their day in court.

Mr. Justice Gross has sentenced Steve Wright to a whole life term without the prospect of parole. Under British law, this means Wright will never be released.

Wright is now being questioned in the deaths of other women, including Suzy Lamplugh who once worked with Wright on the luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2. Lamplugh went missing in July, 1986 at the same time that Wright was on shore leave from the QE2. Although her body was never found, Lamplugh was declared dead in 1994.

Mark Dixie will be jailed for 34 years for the rape and murder — although not necessarily in that order — of teen model Sally Anne Bowman. Dixie stabbed the teen seven times, bit her cheek, breast, and neck, and then had sex with her on the street outside her home in Croydon, south London.

This isn’t Dixie’s only crime. The thirty-seven year-old has a history of previous convictions for sex attacks starting when he was sixteen. Police believe he may have past victims in Australia, Spain, and Holland.

Forty-nine year-old forklift driver Steve Wright has been convicted for the murders of five prostitutes — Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls — in the town of Ipswich, Suffolk, England.

Wright admitted having sex with four of the victims, which he says explains why his DNA was found on their bodies. But he could not explain why blood from two of the women was found on his jacket, or why fibers from his clothing, furniture, and cars were found on all five victims.

Family of some of the victims are calling for the death penalty, but that may have to wait while police investigate four other murders and disappearances going back to 1992.

Natalie Pearman, Kelly Pratt, Michelle Bettles, and Mandy Duncan all either disappeared or were found murdered in the 10 years from 1992 to 2002. All were working as prostitutes at the time, and all either knew steve Wright or frequented areas where he worked.

Criminologist Professor David Wilson observed that it’s unusual for someone in their late forties to just start killing. “Serial murder is usually a young man’s business.”