NANAIMO Convicted murderer Kelvin Kingsbury Purdy still tallies up the days as they pass him by, now 3,017 into his life sentence.

Purdy, 44, stabbed his estranged wife to death in a Nanaimo laneway on Dec. 12, 2003, and has been in custody ever since, although he has always professed his innocence.

Repeated attempts to have his second-degree murder conviction overturned culminated in the recent dismissal of his leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Yet Purdy, buoyed by prospective representation by a group of Toronto legal professionals distinguished for their work in wrongful conviction reversals, says he is moving forward to the final step in the appellate process, which is a review of his case by the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Such a review is not currently underway.

"They can overturn a decision, he can grant an exoneration, he can grant a new trial. It's kind of like the final say in the whole thing," said Purdy, reached by telephone last week at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, where he is imprisoned with no parole eligibility for another 11 years.

Denise Alanzo Purdy, Kelvin's 30-year-old wife from whom he had separated some months prior, was taking her usual route to the bus stop for work on the morning of the crime.

The young mother, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, worked at Nanaimo's Longlake Chateau where she tailored and shopped for the retirement facility's 123 residents and was praised for her constant smile, infinite patience and great humour.

At approximately 6:15 a.m., Denise was confronted by Purdy in a dark alley off of Lasalle Road in the north end of the city, the courts found.

As she tried to flee, the left-handed Purdy chased and began stabbing her, leaving many of the 21 fatal wounds on her left side, evidence at trial showed.

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Anatomy of a murder: Nanaimo’s Kelvin Purdy says he's not a killer