David Milgaard spent almost 23 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit.

Twenty-year-old nursing assistant Gail Miller was murdered on a cold January night in Saskatchewan in 1969. 

If you google Milgaard's name, hundreds of stories will pop up. He is no stranger to the media and has been in the public spotlight for more than half a century. 

He was released from prison back in 1992 and has been living here in Cochrane for the past seven years.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Milgaard this week, and talk about his experience in prison, his release, and how he's doing now. 

Milgaard started the interview off with a quick rundown of his fascinating story that started back in 1969. 

"I was wrongfully convicted of a terrible murder that took place in Saskatoon, SK many, many years ago. And my mother just fought everyone and anyone to eventually get me out of prison."

"I went inside prison when I was 16-years-old, and I spent almost 23-years there. Eventually, she actually mobilized the country and got a lot of people on our side, and they released me."

Joyce Milgaard worked tirelessly for decades to help free her son. 

Milgaard says when he finally got out of jail, he didn't get an apology, let alone any admittance of guilt from those responsible for locking him up. 

"It was a rather lousy situation. They didn't say David Milgaard's not guilty. The Supreme Court let me go. But, we persevered and we went and got some DNA people from England, and had them do a test to show that I was completely innocent."

"The test came back and not only did it show that I was innocent, we found out who was responsible for the crime. That person ended up in prison, and actually died there."

Larry Fisher was arrested in 1997 and was then convicted of first-degree murder in Miller's death in 1999. He died in jail in 2015. 

Milgaard says he spends his time now sharing his story, and helping others who were wrongfully convicted.

"The thing that keeps me busy now is I talk across the country, mostly at universities and also at conferences and stuff. I try to tell young people that are moving toward becoming a service to others, inside the justice community, in relation to justice issues and perspectives, how important it is for them to, first of all, be responsible, not to do any wrong. And, second of all, to keep that passion up they need to have there to help others and make a difference in people's lives."  

He says he spent years, locked in a jail cell, trying to tell his story to the world. 

"I was just a young man inside a penitentiary, and the first thing I wanted to do was tell the whole world my story. I ended up getting a typewriter and I was typing inside the prison where everybody was open front cells, cages, and people could hear me and everybody was so upset at this young guy trying to type all night, and I'm lucky I'm still alive here to talk to you, today!"

Milgaard says spending much of your youth and early adult-life behind bars has taken a toll on his mental health. 

"I struggle. I struggle on a weekly basis just to get my kids to school. Make sure that they're doing something that is worthwhile with their lives."

Milgaard is co-parenting his two children with his wife. Robert is 14 and Julia is 12. 

He's very open with his kids about his story.                  

"They know my story quite well. My son has actually heard me talk to high school students here in Cochrane, and made me feel like a million dollars. After I talked, he said, 'Dad, I really appreciated your talk today'. I asked why did you like it, and he said it was loud, and it was important about things that make a difference, and that made me feel really good."

Milgaard will be sharing more of his story and taking questions from the audience tomorrow night starting at 7 p.m. at the Texas Gate.

It's part of an event put on by Elevate Cochrane.

You can listen to the entire interview with Milgaard below.