62-year-old freed Thursday after wrongly spending 23 years behind bars for murder of Darla Thurrott

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For more than 36 years, Tim Rees has been considered the most heinous of criminals — a child killer.

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The 62-year-old emerged Thursday from the downtown Toronto courthouse into the wintry sunshine, that yoke of shame finally lifted after the Crown withdrew the murder charge against him.

Rees spent 23 years behind bars in some of the toughest prisons in the country, knowing there was a target on his back after he was convicted of strangling 10-year-old Darla Thurrott in her bed. He never stopped insisting that he didn’t do it, even when an admission would have allowed him earlier parole.

“I feel good that it’s finally over. It’s been a very long, hard battle,” an overwhelmed Rees told reporters gathered around him. “It should be a happy day, but it’s really not because I’m still sad over Darla’s death and there’s no justice for her.”

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