Canadian crimes
Michael Newton
LAURIE VOLLMERHAUSEN
Stratford woman died of three stab wounds to chest
Anne Kelly
Kitchener Waterloo RECORD
July 20, 2000
STRATFORD -- A knife plunged into her aorta caused Laurie Vollmershausen to
bleed to death, Stratford police confirmed Wednesday. Insp. John Hagarty
released results of an autopsy that showed the Stratford mother of two had
three stab wounds to her chest area, including the aorta, the body's main
artery. He said the murder weapon was a knife with a seven-inch blade and
was recovered from the scene of Sunday's attack, the Elm Street home
Vollershausen shared with her common-law husband, Joseph Willemsen.
Self-inflicted injuries suffered by Willemsen, whom police found inside the
home,
were from the same weapon, Hagarty said. He also revealed the accused is on
a suicide watch in jail where he is being held on a charge of first-degree
murder. Under heavy police guard, the accused sat with his head bowed and
his hand over his eyes for much of his second appearance in Stratford
Provincial Court of Justice Wednesday. Police say he continues to see a
specialist for his injuries. His forearm has muscle, tendon and nerve
damage and he has a stab wound to his upper thigh.
Justice Kathryn McKerlie agreed to put over the case until next Thursday
because Willemsen had yet to speak to anyone about hiring a lawyer. The
53-year-old cement finisher met briefly with duty counsel Richard Linley
after his brief appearance and asked him to contact a lawyer on his behalf.
"He's very sad and upset, of course,'' Linley said in an interview. "He
was somewhat withdrawn. But he seems to have a positive grip on reality.''
Willemsen has yet to request a bail hearing, which would have to be held in
Superior Court of Justice. Meanwhile at Dura Automotive Systems Inc.,
where Vollmershausen had worked on the line for 17 years, grief counsellors
were being brought in Wednesday to speak with co-workers on her shift.
"Everybody's very much in shock,'' said Kim Marshall, a union president at
the plant, which has about 400 employees. Marshall said she expects a
large number of workers will attend Friday's funeral for Vollmershausen,
who she said was very well-liked. "She had a great personality -- always
willing to help and very bubbly.''
At the request of employees, Stratford Mayor Dave Hunt agreed to release
information Wednesday on a trust fund arranged by Dura workers for the
couple's daughters, Ashley, 10 and Crystal, 8. The girls witnessed some of
the violence before being ordered out of the house by their father, police
say. Donations will be accepted at the St. Willibrord Community Credit
Union Ltd., 391 Huron St., Stratford (271-4883) or the W.G. Young Funeral
Home, 430 Huron St., (271-7411). Hunt said Vollmershausen's father was a
long-standing city employee who recently retired from the public works
department.
The city hall flag will fly at half-mast on Friday, the day of the victim's
funeral "as a symbol of community sadness and outrage at this violent
tragedy,'' says a press release. In an interview, Hunt said reaction in
Stratford, which hasn't had a murder since 1993, is like one would expect
in any other community. "It's a tragedy no matter where it happens,'' he
said.
***********
WOMEN'S SHELTERS SWAMPED WITH CALLS
Women's shelters swamped
Domestic disputes ending in deaths spark flood of
calls to safe havens
Barbara Aggerholm
RECORD
July 20, 2000
First, they mourned. Then, they were inundated with calls from anxious
women in abusive relationships. Now, women's shelters are
demanding help to stop the killing. In the wake of recent murders of women
in Stratford, Kitchener and Pickering, women's shelters across Ontario are
trying to cope with call after call from women who fear their lives and
their children's lives may also be in
jeopardy at home. "Crisis lines are overwhelmed and many shelters are
full,'' said Eileen Morrow, co-ordinator of the Ontario Association of
Interval and Transition Houses, an advocacy group representing 63 emergency
shelters in the province. "Women are scared and wanting support.'' At the
same time, crisis workers are agonizing over what must be done to stop what
a Stratford women's shelter calls an "epidemic of domestic killings of
women and their children.'' "I think we're feeling stunned,'' said Mary
Kalau,
co-ordinator of volunteer, outreach and children's services at Kitchener's
Anselma House.
"You feel impotent . . . . You feel a need to do something and you're not
even sure what to do.'' The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition
Houses, together with groups representing immigrants, rape crisis
coalitions, aboriginal women and others, is
meeting next week to discuss how to push for change. "We need to contribute
to design action around putting a stop to this,'' Morrow
said. But shelters aren't the only ones that need to be raising the alarm.
Community members, also, should be making it known that domestic violence
is abhorrent and that more money, energy and commitment are needed to stop
it, Kalau said. She wonders what would happen if residents got as publicly
outraged about domestic violence as they did recently about a no-smoking
bylaw in Waterloo Region.
The recent murders have sparked no protests, no line-ups at meetings to
talk to politicians, no pages and pages of letters to the editor, Kalau
said. People need to be shown that violence touches us all, she said. In
interviews this week, area shelters said they are struggling to manage with
fewer staff, fewer resources and fewer programs than they had before
provincial funding cuts about five years ago.
Not enough beds
They don't have enough beds to house all the women who need their immediate
help, they said, let alone the money to reach out to women who won't dial a
phone for help. "We're not able to do the community awareness we used to
do,'' said Linda Theijsmeijer, executive director of the Emily Murphy
Centre in Stratford.
Emily Murphy Centre, a "second-stage'' shelter, lost $110,000 a year in
government funding for counselling and support services in 1996.
Fund-raising and the United Way now try to help fill the gap, she said.
Theijsmeijer said the shelter was more involved in public education in
schools, at sororities, with counselling agencies, police, at senior
citizens' homes, before government cutbacks.
"We were the experts in family violence and we took it to the community.
Now we can't do that,'' she said. "How many more women will have to die
before someone stands up and says 'enough is enough' and puts the funding
in place?" Barbara Delisle, executive director of Women's Crisis Services
of Cambridge and North Dumfries, said a large percentage of abused women
aren't seeking help from police, the judicial system or shelter services.
The Cambridge Co-ordinating Committee on Family Violence Prevention just
completed a detailed protocol and training to help the community respond to
family violence, she said.
The objectives are to identify violence early, protect children who witness
family violence and educate people about its harmful effects. At a press
conference Wednesday, Optimism Place, the crisis women's shelter in
Stratford, issued a "call to action to address the killing of women in
Ontario.'' Black ribbons and signs that read Not One More Woman were posted
outside the shelter. "We believe that immediate action on these measures
that we are recommending would drastically reduce the number of deaths of
women and children, both now and in the future,'' Optimism Place executive
director Anne
McDonnell said. Law-and-order solutions don't go far enough, "particularly
in light of the fact that many women do not choose to involve the police
and the courts in their situations.''
Among the 14 points Optimism Place is calling to be implemented are: more
provincial money to hire staff and increase the number of beds at women's
shelters; more money for school-based anti-violence programs delivered by
shelter staff; funding for supervised access programs so that children can
visit fathers safely without putting mothers at risk. The shelter wants
every municipality to endorse a policy of zero tolerance for the abuse of
women. Employers and unions need to adopt anti-violence policies. A central
registry of abusers of women should be set up, it said.
Day of mourning proposed
Lastly, crisis workers are proposing a national day of mourning and a
national monument in memory of victims of domestic violence.
If she could, Morrow would also allocate more money to educate people about
the warning signs of abuse. She'd increase money for subsidized housing and
social assistance, since some women stay in -- or return to -- abusive
spouses because they can't feed their children. Lori Penner Prier,
supervisor of the Rural Women's Shelter program in Wellington County --
which has also received more calls from concerned women this week -- agrees
that more funding is needed. "But money is not going to solve the problem
and stop it,'' she said. Domestic abuse is an issue of power and control.
Some abusers feel "if he can't have her, nobody can,'' she said.
"How are we raising our men to have this kind of attitude? We haven't
raised men . . . and women to understand that violence is not the answer to
getting what we want.''
***********
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EDITORIAL TORONTO STAR
Domestic violence is the most difficult of issues for the justice system.
There is a growing body of evidence - royal commissions, inquest juries and
learned research - that domestic violence cannot be dealt with by
traditional means. The front pages give the same message, telling a
repeated tale of ignored restraining orders.
Has all this attention made a difference in how cases are conducted in the
court? Madame Justice Lesley Baldwin of the Ontario Court of Justice says
it hasn't. ``I have observed no noticeable change in the manner in which
counsel are approaching these difficult cases in the criminal courts in
which I preside,''she wrote to Attorney General Jim Flaherty. Baldwin's
letter endorsed the idea of a summit that would bring together
representatives from Ontario's 54 court regions to deal with the issue.
Flaherty should support this. He should attend. The courts need a better
understanding of what's at stake in these cases and how to break the cycle
of violence that too often leads through the courts to murder and suicide.
The government needs a better understanding, too.
************
PROF HENRY MAKOW WIFE WON'T TESTIFY
Friday, July 21, 2000
Charge dropped Ex-wife can't be located
By BRENDAN O'HALLARN, Winnipeg Sun
An assault charge against former University of Winnipeg English
literature professor Henry Makow has been dropped, because the
complainant -- Makow's ex-wife -- couldn't be located to testify.
Crown attorney George DeMoissac ordered a stay of proceedings
yesterday against Makow. It's believed the alleged victim has
returned to the Philippines. But the academic said his ex-wife, whom he
wouldn't name, told the authorities she didn't wish to proceed with the
charge against him.
'BROUGHT BY THE CROWN'
"The charge was brought by the Crown, even though my ex-wife
didn't want it," he said. Makow's controversial views on women and
minorities prompted seven of his students to write a letter of complaint to
administration earlier this year, alleging improper conduct. The university
did not renew his contract for next year, but claims it wasn't because of
the complaints. "There was no expectation he would come back. He was simply
hired to teach two courses," U of W president Constance Rooke said in April.
FILED COMPLAINT
In May, Makow filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights
Commission, alleging the U of W discriminated against him for his
political beliefs. He declined to comment on the Human Rights complaint,
pending lawsuits or the assault charge. "You'll have to read about it in my
book. I've written a book about this whole situation," he said. A full-time
professor at the university between 1982 and 1984, Makow created the
popular board game Scruples, which asks players to describe how they would
respond to difficult ethical
situations.
*************
MURDERED WIFE, CHILDREN - VIDEOTAPE
Friday, July 21, 2000 Tape targets killer instinct
Con offers video help
By AP
DOVER, N.H. -- In 1991, James Colbert strangled his estranged
wife, then suffocated his three young daughters and tucked them
into their beds. Police found him the next day, teetering on the edge of a
Boston bridge. Colbert pleaded insanity at the time and laid blame for the
murders on his troubled childhood. Now he blames himself. Serving four
consecutive life sentences, he is one of three convicted killers in New
Hampshire appearing in a video created to discourage domestic violence
before it escalates to murder.
"There was no reason for them to die," Colbert says repeatedly in
the video. "If anybody should have died, it should have been me."
WARNING
Since February, police in Dover have shown the 10-minute videotape to
everyone arrested on domestic violence charges. So far, more than two dozen
men and women have watched three killers offer this simple advice: Don't
end up like us. Colbert was interviewed for the video last September, eight
years to the week after he killed his estranged wife, Mary Jayne, and
daughters -- 21/2-year-old Emily, 11/2-year-old Elise and 10-week-old
Patricia -- at their home in Concord. In a recent telephone interview from
the state prison in Concord, Colbert said he didn't remember much about the
murders, but he described a series of setbacks leading to that night. He
had been
through a messy divorce, had lost his job and was watching his
second marriage unravel fast. "We were going through hard times. I was
mentally drained, but I'm not saying those are excuses," he said. "I can't
blame the booze. The booze didn't make me do what I did."
'GET HELP'
In the video, he urges viewers to get counselling. "Stay away from your
family. Get help. Until you get help, don't go near your family. Get your
head screwed on right," he says. "If you go the way I did, there's no
turning back." The video grew out of an unlikely partnership between Dover
police and the U.S. Secret Service, the agency that protects presidents.
*************
JOHN LUKA 15 DAYS JAIL ASSAULT WIFE, DAUGHTER
Assaulted wife, daughter, man gets 15 days in jail
Dianne Wood
Kitchener RECORD
July 20, 2000
A Mannheim man convicted of assaulting his wife and daughter was sent to
jail for 15 days Wednesday by a judge concerned about the recent spate of
domestic assaults and murders of women in Ontario.
"We've just gone through, in this province, a series of nasty events,''
including a "high profile murder,'' said Justice Don Downie, He was
referring to the killing Sunday of Stratford's Laurie Lynn Vollmershausen
and the July 6 murder-suicide that claimed the lives of six members of
Kitchener's Luft family. The judge said 40-year-old John Luka of Mannheim
needs to learn to "go for a walk around the block'' when he is angry,
instead of hitting family members. Luka pleaded guilty to assaulting his
wife by pushing a pillow in her face and hitting her in the eye and cheek
on June 14 during an argument about his children cutting the grass. He also
pleaded guilty to hitting his 15-year-old daughter in the leg with
barbecue tongs a month earlier because he thought she had something to do
with her brother's bird dying.
The daughter told police that her father then asked her two younger
brothers if she deserved to be hit more, and they said no. Luka also
pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer with intent to resist arrest.
Kitchener's Ontario court heard that when police were called to the house
after his wife's assault, Luka refused to go and had to be forced to the
ground by two officers. Crown counsel Denise Dwyer said the incident
revealed Luka's bad temper. But the judge told Luka that violence often
escalates from one blow the first time
to two or more punches the second time. When families are under stress,
it's often the women who are assaulted, he said. Courts, he said, should
intervene at early stages in domestic-abuse cases to
"introduce a code of behaviour that's more gentle.''
Downie also put Luka, a self-employed floor installer, on 18 months
probation and recommended counselling for anger management. Luka's wife
and daughter wrote letters to court in which they said Luka's behaviour was
unusual. They asked that he be allowed to come home. They said they made
him realize his behaviour -- described by his daughter as "European-style
discipline'' -- was not appropriate in Canada. Luka came from Romania 25
years ago. Luka will be allowed to serve his sentence intermittently on
weekends. However, Downie refused a Crown request that Luka be forced to
give a sample of his blood to the RCMP's national DNA data bank. Assistant
Crown attorney Denise Dwyer had argued it would be in the public
interest since Luka's charges involved domestic assaults.
But Downie said the charges were laid before the legislation came into
effect on June 30 allowing police to take DNA samples for people convicted
of serious crimes. He noted Luka's only record is for unlawfully helping a
visitor to violate the Immigration Act in 1986.
************
GERALD HICKEY
Friday, July 21, 2000
From a past horror, a name resurfaces
By HEATHER BIRD
Toronto Sun
Had the family of Stella Murphy not been such decent people,
Gerald Hickey would not be alive to face sex assault charges
today. Instead, he would have been ripped limb from limb on that awful day
in 1990 when he knelt beside Murphy's casket to pray.
What Hickey didn't know on that day when the whole town of
Lorne turned out to mourn the elderly woman is that everybody in
her family already knew what he had done. They knew because
they had been told by the police that the 29-year-old man was
responsible for the slaying of their gentle 72-year-old mother. And
the police knew because the drunken Hickey had left a host of
telltale evidence behind.
Sylvia Murphy Dey's official business with Gerald Hickey is now
over and done with. Designated a "victim" by the National Parole
Board, she was entitled to know of Hickey's every move while he
was incarcerated for killing her mother. And so, until late last year, she
was faithfully informed of Gerald Hickey's progress behind
bars. Although he had been charged with second-degree murder in
Murphy's death, for some reason, which Dey still cannot understand all
these years later, a jury returned a verdict of manslaughter.
At the time of her death, Stella Murphy was using a walker or a
wheelchair to get around. A neighbour found her semi-nude body in a pool of
blood. There were three major wounds to her face and head; countless
bruises to her body and a chunk of hair had been pulled from her scalp. The
experts later concluded that chunks bitten out of her breasts occurred as
she was dying or already dead.
There was other evidence of a protracted struggle. Her eyeglasses
were found smashed on the kitchen floor while her bra, with
straps broken, was twisted around her waist. Her pink top was
pulled up over her head from the front and was wrapped around
her shoulders. A few days after she died, her pants were discovered nearby
and the murder weapon -- an axe -- was pulled from the river. Her underwear
have never been found.
At trial, it was Mr. Hickey's defence that Mrs. Murphy, his lifelong
next-door neighbour, had asked him to pick up some beer for her on the
night that she died. He claimed she made sexual advances after he arrived
with the alcohol and that the injuries were inflicted as he attempted to
stave her off. He was forced to bite her breast, he said, while she had him
pinned in a headlock. Her death occurred during a struggle over an axe
where she tumbled and fatally struck her head on a dresser.
A jury found Hickey -- who was drinking himself that night --
guilty of manslaughter and a judge later sentenced him to nine
years in prison. Thanks mainly to an inability to stop using alcohol
while on parole, he served every single day. When Hickey was released, he
returned to the house in Lorne (pop. 1,200) where he grew up but soon
started to travel around the country. It was only a few months ago that
Sylvia Dey learned her mother's killer had floated into the Toronto area.
She toyed with calling the police. "But I didn't want them to think I was
stalking him, or harassing him." He hadn't been on her mind at all when
she turned on the
television Wednesday night. She knew that an elderly woman had
been attacked in the city's west-end and was, at first, relieved to
learn an arrest had been made. That relief turned to shock when
she heard the name. "I couldn't believe it," she said yesterday. "I thought
'it can't be him, there must be 100 Gerald Hickeys." She tried to phone
CITY-TV after the newscast but only got recordings. Unable to sleep all
night, she got through to The Sun's police desk around 6 a.m. and they
confirmed what the mother of two already partly knew: It was the same
Gerald Hickey.
She spent the morning on the phone, alerting her many siblings
who still live in New Brunswick. And then she talked to the police
who told her about Hickey's scheduled court appearance for a
bail hearing next week. She plans to attend, along with her
husband, Gary, just as she faithfully attended every day of
Hickey's 1990 trial. She also called the victim liaison officer at
Dorchester prison. It was in November, when Hickey was finally released,
that she last spoke to the man. His sentence is finished, he said, we won't
be speaking again. Oh yes we will, she replied, although she couldn't say
why. She called him yesterday too. But she didn't get through.
**********
MAN 'DISGUISED' AS PREGNANT WOMAN, ROBBERY TRY
Friday, July 21, 2000
Unusual suspect
By IAN WILSON, CALGARY SUN
Disguising himself as a pregnant woman failed to deliver a
Calgary culprit any cash in a day-time heist. Wearing yellow cork-type
heels, a blue scarf, a straw hat and a black maternity dress with small
white print on it, the would-be bank robber walked into a southwest bank at
3:15 p.m. Wednesday. After entering the Canada Trust, at 5627 Signal Hill
Centre S.W., the suspect then passed a note to the teller demanding money.
"There was also a weapon indicated, but nothing was seen," said Insp. Pete
Jackson.
Despite his demands, the culprit was forced to abort the robbery
and flee the bank prematurely. "We don't know why he left," said Jackson.
"We don't know if he lost his nerve or what."
Witnesses last saw the suspect sprinting through the parking lot.
Anyone with information is asked to call the robbery unit at
206-8787 or Crime Stoppers at 262-8477.
***********
NURSE SUES FOR COSTS, SEX CHANGE OPERATION
Friday, July 21, 2000
Suit launched for sex changes
By CP
QUEBEC -- Nurse Michelle Gauthier says she's launching a class-action
lawsuit against Quebec medicare for the cost of sex-change operations.
Gauthier said yesterday the suit is on behalf of one thousand Quebecers
whose plans for publicly financed sex-change
operations were rejected by medicare. They went instead to private clinics,
where costs can run from $120,000 to $450,000, compared with $950 paid to a
surgical team working in a hospital. Gauthier, a transsexual, said the
Quebec Health Insurance Board paid the cost of only five sex-change
operations performed since last January in hospitals. Gauthier said the
difference between the five accepted and those who were refused lies in
"the outside pressure applied to the board to get satisfaction."
She said some people went through all the therapeutical stages only
to be refused an operation "on the pretext that the board had no
doctor available or that it doesn't pay for this kind of operation."
Under a board directive, sex-change operations are insured
provided that they're recommended by a department head who is in
charge of transsexual medical services at two Montreal hospitals.
*************
BONNIE CAELIN NORMAN, MURDER CHARGE
Friday, July 21, 2000
Wife charged after party turns deadly
By PETER SMITH, CALGARY SUN
A woman has been charged with murder after her husband was
discovered stabbed in the chest in a Lethbridge home during a
party. Robert Lorenz's grieving step-sister, Sara, said last night she was
saddened by his death. "I just wish I had had a chance to say goodbye to
him," she said. Sara said her 26-year-old step-brother was a truck driver
and father of two sons. Robert and his wife, who lives in Picture Butte,
travelled Wednesday to Lethbridge, where they visited a bar and later went
to a friend's home for a party. Seven people, who had earlier been
drinking in the bar, returned to the home to continue their party when it
turned violent, said Lethbridge city police Staff. Sgt. Colin Catonio.
Police were called to the home at 11:15 p.m., after someone called about a
stabbing. "A man was lying on the floor in the home with a stab wound to
the chest," said Catonio. Robert was taken by ambulance to the Lethbridge
Regional Hospital and died later from his stab wound.
His wife, Bonnie Caelin Norman of Picture Butte, who was charged with
second-degree murder, appeared briefly in court yesterday.
*************
ANCASTER ARSONS: LOOK FOR THE TEACHER(S) PEDOPHILIA
Arsonists strike again at Hamilton-area school
HAMILTON - Arsonists have set fires at the same Ancaster elementary school
for the second time in three months. A pile of debris set on fire near the
wood railing staircase at Grange Elementary School on Woodworth Drive is
the 25th unsolved arson in Ancaster since February and the eighth arson at
a school. Hamilton-Wentworth police said cleaners found a small pile of
charred debris at the rear of a portable on Monday. Damage was minimal. A
brush fire was started at the same school on April 1. Police were called
Tuesday and are collecting samples and taking photographs to compare with
eight other arsons at Ancaster schools, including a $500,000 blaze at
Ancaster Senior Public School in April and two fires at Ancaster High on
Jerseyville Road. Detective Constable Bob Male said police are anxious to
talk to anyone with information about the rash of arsons and vandalism that
has plagued Ancaster this year.
''We have a file box full of the names of people we have spoken to,'' said
Male. ''We need the public's help.'' Meanwhile, Ancaster residents are
planning to form a neighbourhood watch after a
series of disturbing and threatening graffiti were spray-painted on homes
July 8. Several residents on Golf Links Road also found address signs on
their front lawns had been smashed and two tires on a car were slashed last
weekend. A meeting to launch the neighbourhood watch is planned for July
27. Male said there is nothing to suggest the arsons and the vandalism are
linked, but he
is working with the detective investigating the vandalism. Police are also
probing whether the graffiti - which included crude sexual comments - is
the work of a gang.
Several fires were deliberately set within hours of one another. One
culprit set fire to a Christmas ornament, another hit lawn signs, and three
cars have been set on fire. Anyone with information is urged to call
Crimestoppers at 1-8000-222-TIPS or 522-8477.
*************
PEPPER SPRAY IS TORTURE
Pepper spray is torture, expert says
Michelle Cook Vancouver Sun; with files from Canadian Press
July 20 2000
The use of pepper spray by Canadian police officers is often nothing short
of torture, toxicology expert Joe Cummins said Wednesday.
The cases of two Montreal-area men who died this week shortly after they
were sprayed by police highlight the health dangers of pepper, which often
go ignored, Cummins told investigators.
On the other side of the debate, however, are police who insist the
practice remains one of the safest alternatives to a gun in
volatile situations and medical experts who say there's no evidence to
suggest pepper spray causes death. RCMP Staff Sergeant Hugh Stewart, a
pepper spray expert who earned the nickname "Sergeant Pepper for using the
substance on demonstrators at the 1997 APEC Summit in Vancouver, disagrees
with the toxicologist's findings.
"I've been exposed to pepper spray over 50 times, and it is not torturous
in any way, shape or form. It is certainly uncomfortable, it is
debilitating for many people, and it stops resistive behavior but it is not
torturous," Stewart said.
Cummins, a recently retired genetics professor at the University of Western
Ontario in London who has studied the effects of cayenne pepper, said it's
physical effects can be deadly. "It should be treated as police torture,"
he said, adding it's a human-rights
issue that should be considered internationally.
Diabetics and asthmatics are among those most at risk of having an adverse,
sometimes fatal, reaction to a blast of pepper, said Cummins. One of the
Montreal-area men who died had asthma.
Garth Mullins, an APEC demonstrator who was doused with pepper spray
on the UBC campus during APEC agrees with Cummins' findings.
"It's an incredibly dangerous thing to be using," Mullins said.
"It is potentially lethal on human beings, especially anybody with heart or
respiratory illnesses. And police don't know who they're hosing down when
they use it." Mullins said he and other APEC demonstrators have been
fighting, through the APEC inquiry hearings, to get the use of pepper spray
suspended until more research and discussion can be done on it and when it
is and isn't appropriate to use it. Mullins also thinks police should be
getting more serious
training on using chemical substances like pepper spray.
The spray's primary impact is on the body's nervous system, which can
suffer damage from a high dose of pepper. When an individual is sprayed in
a confined space, such as a prison cell, or repeatedly, the effects can be
more severe. Cummins said police must do more to ensure people who are
sprayed get immediate medical attention.
Montreal police and their provincial counterparts continued their
investigation Wednesday into the two separate incidents this week involving
pepper spray.
Sebastien McNicoll, 26, died in hospital Tuesday hours after he was subdued
by police with pepper spray. Police said McNicoll, who had a lengthy
criminal record, was already severely injured with severe cuts on his arms
and head before officers arrived at the scene of a residential break-in.
On Sunday, 43-year-old Luc Aubert died of an apparent heart attack as four
police officers used pepper spray in their attempts to subdue him. Police
were called after Aubert, an asthmatic, went into a violent fit in an
apartment. A coroner's report, which will determine what role, if any, the
pepper played in the men's deaths, likely won't be completed for several
weeks. While police would not comment on the specifics of the cases,
spokesman Commander Pierre Brochet said the number of injuries associated
with pepper spray remain extremely low.
Staff Sergeant Stewart said there have been no documented cases where
pepper spray has caused a person's death. He disagrees that the substance
is dangerous enough that it should only be used as a last resort. "It has
no long term effect. The effects are gone within 45 minutes. The person
does not sustain any permanent injuries. It is much gentler on a person
than an impact weapon," Stewart explained. "It should be used in the proper
form and at the proper time to deal with resistant behavior and prevent
further injury to the police officer, the public and the person himself."
Others argue pepper spray should be elevated to one of the last forms of
force used by police. "It should be only one step before a firearm," said
Manseau, spokesman for the police watchdog group Mouvement Action Justice.
His group wants an inquest into the deaths. "We have to break the myth that
it's not dangerous."
In Ontario, chief coroner Dr. James Young recently reviewed several cases
involving pepper spray and people who have died following an altercation
with police. In no case was pepper spray determined to be the cause of
death. Instead, it was concluded that most people died of heart attacks
linked to a condition known as excited delirium. Someone in this state --
which can be triggered by cocaine, other drugs, and psychiatric disorders
-- often becomes incredibly strong, violent and almost impossible to subdue.
Some police departments in Canada now have other options when
confronted with a volatile situation.
Police in Ottawa and Victoria are among those using Tasers -- electronic
guns that can shoot 50,000-volt charges as far as six metres, leaving
people unable to move but free of pain. The Tasers are being tested in
several locations in the Lower Mainland.
PEPPER SPRAY
Saturday, July 22, 2000 It works, 'cause it hurts
Cops say pepper spray better than spraying lead
By NICOLE BERGOT, EDMONTON SUN
Critics call it deadly but city cops say blasting painful pepper
spray at combative crooks is better than pumping them full of
lead. "There's no doubt it hurts - it causes the involuntary closing of the
eyes, the mucus and all the rest of it, but we're not torturing people,"
said acting Sgt. Gary Cook from the Edmonton police service training
section safety unit. "It's 45 minutes of intense pain, but it is a viable
alternative to shooting somebody - you cannot call a bullet back." Cook
was responding to claims by Montreal toxicology expert Joe Cummins that
police pepper spray is nothing short of torture. Cummins cited two
Montreal-area men who recently died after being sprayed by police. A
coroner's report determining the exact cause of the deaths is expected next
month. Pepper spray has never directly caused any deaths, although it has
contributed to the deaths of people with pre-existing medical conditions.
"I've been sprayed and there have been more than 1,200
members sprayed and there has never been a problem," said Cook. "Whether
they can directly link those two deaths is to be determined."
Cook said officer presence, verbal direction and physical force
are all considered before officers reach for their pepper spray,
batons and firearms. "We're not going around spraying people
indiscriminately; it's just another tool to assist us dealing with
assaultive people. If we didn't use force, anarchy would reign."
But given the choice, Cook would rather be zapped by another
tool police are now testing - Tasers that use electric currents to
stun volatile culprits. "Personally, I would rather be Tasered. Once the
power is off the pain isn't there." Sixteen of the $500 guns were deployed
to Edmonton's four police divisions in January.
Cops will recommend by the end of the year that up to 50 of the
weapons be issued in 2001. But pepper spray - used by EPS since 1992 -
won't be pulled any time soon, said Cook. "If we do go with Tasers, we will
still carry pepper spray. One doesn't replace the other."
*********
BLOODY DR NEALE
charges against doctor barred in Canada
KEVIN WARD
LONDON (CP) - All but one of the charges against a gynecologist barred from
working in Canada were found to be proven Thursday by a British
disciplinary body. The committee of the General Medical Council found that
Dr. Richard Neale had botched operations, failed to get proper consent from
his patients before performing surgical procedures and lied about his
qualifications. The hearing now enters a second phase to determine whether
the proven charges constituted serious professional misconduct. Neale, 52,
offered no comment when he left the hearing. He has denied providing his
patients with sub-standard care and lying about his qualifications. He
admitted some facts of the case but none of the major charges against him.
Neale was cleared of behaving in an unprofessional manner toward a patient
in March 1995. It was the only charge among 35 facts or allegations not
found against him by the committee. The charges involve 12 former patients,
none of whom have been identified by the medical council. In the next
phase, the six-member disciplinary body will listen to arguments from
prosecution and defence lawyers. The committee has the authority to decide
on punishment, including revoking the licence to practise medicine, if
serious professional misconduct is found to have occurred. Under British
law, a doctor whose licence is revoked must wait at least five years before
reapplying. He would be allowed to reapply twice. If refused
both times, the applicant would lose his licence for good.
The charges against Neale stem from surgery performed in Britain over a
10-year period ending in 1996. The facts found proven include failing to
provide proper counselling to patients, damaging organs during operations,
misleading other doctors about the treatment provided and performing
inappropriate procedures.
Neale was also found to have lied to a patient about the length of time it
would take to have an operation done under Britain's National Health
Service, to encourage her to have the treatment done privately at a greater
cost. "It's come 14 years too late, but it's great news," said Graham
Maloney, a patients' rights advocate who has advised a support group
created for the complainants. "We wish the GMC had acted when he was struck
off in Canada." Neale's licence was revoked in 1985 in Ontario following
the death of a patient during child birth. Neale's record in Canada was not
part of the
charges against him in Britain. Canadian authorities say they informed the
General Medical Council that Neale had been stripped of his licence in
1985. The council has no record of the notification. It is possible that
the council reviewed the case and decided not to take action, then
destroyed the records from Canada after a three-year period. Maloney said
the council needs to change its procedures when it is informed of
wrongdoing by doctors in other jurisdictions. "It doesn't serve the 21st
century," he said. "They've been guarding patients from the truth and
protecting bad doctors." The council has been widely criticized in recent
months for failing to protect patients after a series of high-profile
embarrassments. Another physician, Dr. Harold Shipman, was convicted in
January of murdering 15 female patients during his 25-year medical career.
Neale's British licence was suspended last September by the council pending
the outcome of the charges against him. He worked in North Yorkshire. Kathy
Tanner of Oshawa sat through the start of the hearing in memory of her
mother, Geraldine Krawchuck, whose death after she was given a banned drug
to induce labour prompted Ontario to revoke Neale's licence. The College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario also found that Neale had altered
medical records regarding the use of the drug. Neale worked in Oshawa
after his operating privileges were restricted at a hospital in Prince
George, B.C., following a series of surgical mishaps. The charges against
Neale in Britain were slimmed down as the hearing progressed over the last
six weeks. Originally, the complaints involved 14 women. The council
looked at 62 complaints before proceeding with those that it believed it
could successfully prosecute.
*********
SASKATCHEWAN #1 CRIME PROVINCE
Sask. No. 1 crime province
1999 drop of 2.5 per cent only half that of rest of country: Statistics
Canada
By Leslie Perreaux Saskatoon Star Phoenix
July 21 2000
Murders hit a 30-year low and the overall crime rate dropped substantially,
but Saskatchewan was still the crime leader among Canadian provinces in
1999. The crime rate dropped by 2.5 per cent in Saskatchewan, but the drop
was half of what was recorded in the rest of the country, according to a
Statistics Canada survey released Tuesday. Saskatchewan recorded 12,155
criminal incidents per 100,000 population. The national crime rate was
7,733 per 100,000. Crime decreased by more than seven per cent in Ontario
and Quebec to lead the country. The national homicide rate continued a
downward trend which began in the 1970s, with 536 violent deaths reported
to police in 1999. The number decreased by 30 from 1998.
In Saskatchewan, homicides fell from 33 in 1998 to 13 in 1999.
The Saskatchewan government and opposition tried to spin the numbers in
opposite directions Tuesday. The Saskatchewan Party said the government has
been soft on crime and has made the province the
national leader in crime rates. The NDP, however, said the reduced overall
crime rate proves government programs are working.
Rick Linden, a criminologist from the University of Manitoba, said
demographics, poverty rates and other factors have more to do with the
crime statistics than government action or inaction.
"The main thing is the provinces, like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with the
highest proportion of low-income aboriginal people tend to have high crime
rates," Linden said. Overall crime rates have been declining for nearly two
decades across the country because baby boomers are aging, Linden said.
It's the same demographic spurt that caused crime rates to soar in the
1960s and early 1970s, when baby boomers entered the 15-to-24 age group,
the age where most criminals do most of their work. Crime rates are
declining less quickly in
Saskatchewan because of the mini baby boom which continues among aboriginal
people, he said. "Aboriginal people have higher birth rates and continue to
have a large number of young people. It's
the population of younger folks that gets into the most trouble," he said.
But aging doesn't account for all of the decrease, Linden said. Higher
employment rates also assist declining crime, although some property crimes
such as vehicle theft actually increase during good times, Linden said.
"There's more of them around to steal," he pointed out. "There is such a
convergence of factors that lead to crime trends, it's difficult to tease
them out." Once again, Regina recorded the highest crime rate of all
Canadian cities. Regina had 15,191 crimes per 100,000 people, 3,200 more
than Victoria, the second-placed city. Saskatoon is third on the list with
11,640 incidents.
Linden said some academics suggest that Western cities have higher crime
rates than more established Eastern cities because populations in the West
are more transient. "It's like port cities from the olden days. That might
explain crime in Vancouver or Calgary, but I don't think it works for
Winnipeg and Saskatoon where populations are more stable," Linden said.
Staff Sgt. Al Sather of the Saskatoon police said the nature of violent
crime, which declined by five per
cent in Saskatoon, is still more troubling than the statistical analysis.
"It's the level of violence. We're seeing things like
home invasions that we rarely saw before. We're seeing more and more crimes
that result in serious injuries."
Saskatoon is fourth on the list of cities in the area of property crimes
but suffered a two per cent increase. Sather said the department is trying
to crack down on property crimes, but the force is still concerned with the
number of repeat offenders who commit
break-ins. Sather and Linden both said the public should not
attach too much importance to the decline in homicide statistics which was
recorded in Saskatoon (from seven in 1998 to four in 1999) and
Saskatchewan. Because of the relatively small population, trends
cannot really be relied upon from one year to the next, they said.
"It's good news, but not really statistically significant," Linden said.
******* BLACK & BLUE & SS TOO ******
# SIU LONDON COP BEATING
Friday, July 21, 2000
SIU probing injury to man during arrest
By BRODIE FENLON, London Free Press
The province's Special Investigation's Unit is probing an arrest in London
four days ago that left a 52-year-old Londoner in serious condition in
hospital. It occurred just after 1 a.m. Monday near Adelaide and Oxford
streets. Neither police nor the SIU would describe the nature of the
injuries. Two uniformed officers, whose names haven't been made public,
made the arrest. "They had stopped him and during that stop, a struggle
ensued," SIU spokesperson Gail Scala said yesterday. "He was injured at
that time." Deputy Chief Brian Collins said: "The gentleman was being
arrested and
collapsed and was taken to hospital. In accordance with the mandate, we
notified the SIU. Other than that, I can't comment."
According to a news release issued by police Monday, the unidentified man
was stopped for a "Highway Traffic Act investigation" involving the bicycle
he was riding. The release says the man struggled during the arrest and
"sustained an injury which required him to be transported to hospital for
treatment." The two officers involved in the arrest are still working and
have not been
disciplined, Collins said. The injured man was listed in serious condition
yesterday at London Health Sciences Centre, Scala said.
"We're looking for eyewitnesses to this incident." Scala said. Anyone with
information is asked to call Gareth Jones at 1-800-787-8529. The SIU probes
civilian deaths or injuries involving police and has the power to lay
criminal charges against officers. Earlier this month, the agency cleared
London police of any blame in last
month's shooting of a man in an armed standoff.
# PENETANGUISHENE WANTS SUPERJAIL
Friday, July 21, 2000 Town speaks: Give us big jail
Penetang polled
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU Toronto Sun
An Ontario government-commissioned poll shows Penetanguishene residents
favour a publicly run superjail, says Liberal MPP Dave Levac. The ministry
of correctional services commissioned polls in March and April to gauge
public reaction to a new superjail to be run by a private-sector operator.
Levac said the taxpayer-funded poll shows most residents prefer a
government-run institution and suggested the government attempted to hide
poll results from residents.
56% IN FAVOUR
"They should have mailed it to each household," Levac said. But Rui Brum, a
spokesman for Corrections Minister Rob Sampson, said the poll was released
publicly a number of weeks ago. Brum said the poll shows that 56% of the
800 people questioned favoured the jail, even privately run, while 36% were
opposed. Most people in favour of the superjail believe it will create
jobs,the poll found. Residents who opposed the facility did so mainly
because they thought it should be government-run or would be too dangerous.
# ONTARIO HANDS OVER DETENTION CENTRE TO PRIVATE SECTOR
Private firm to operate detention centre
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Even as an internal poll suggests there's strong opposition to the private
sector running one of its jails, the Ontario government has quietly handed
over another facility to a for-profit operator.
The province signed a $3.4-million deal this week with Casatta Ltd. of
Kitchener to manage York Detention Centre in downtown Toronto, a jail for
young offenders aged 12 to 15. All of the current government-paid employees
have indicated they don't want to work
for the newly privatized facility, meaning Casatta will have to build its
staff from scratch. Opposition and union critics said they fear a drop in
standards under the new management that could endanger inmates and
residents of the neighbourhood. "Here we have a lot of volatile, vulnerable
kids in the inner city of Toronto and the bottom line is going to be
profit," said Bob Eaton, a spokesman for the Ontario Public Service
Employees Union. "I think it's a fairly clear indication the government
isn't going to be waylaid from its attempt to privatize the jail system."
But the province defended the decision, noting that Casatta already
operates other
types of youth facilities for the province. "They have a track record, they
have a history with this ministry and they have been
doing a very good job," said Dan Miles, spokesman for John Baird, the
Social Services Minister.
Casatta runs open-custody young offender centres in Guelph, Cambridge,
Burlington and Toronto and a Children's Aid Society group home for girls in
Toronto, Mr. Miles said. Meanwhile, a Corrections Ministry poll suggests
that 56% of people in the Penetanguishene area on Georgian Bay favour the
new super jail being built there. But 70% would prefer that it be run by
the government, not the private sector, indicates the poll, obtained by the
Opposition Liberal party. The province should change its plans and put the
new, 1,200-bed facility in government hands, said Dave Levac, the Liberal
corrections critic. But a spokesman for the Corrections Ministry said
people have nothing to worry about because any new private operator must
adhere to strict safety standards set out by the
province.
Michael Newton
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
Local woman awarded $95Gs in sex abuse suit
By SAM PAZZANO, Sun News
TORONTO -- An Ottawa-area woman who endured eight years of "disturbing"
sexual abuse by her father has been awarded $95,000 in damages from a
lawsuit. Her father, 76, who cannot be named because it would identify the
victim, was sentenced in the mid-'90s to 42 months for sexual crimes
against his daughter and another girl. He was released in November 1998.
The woman, 48, was physically, psychologically and sexually abused, Mr.
Justice Kenneth Binks wrote in his decision.
'DISTURBING EFFECTS'
"Notwithstanding the trauma she suffered over many years, she
was capable of working effectively in difficult jobs. In fact, she had no
trouble in her personal career (but) she obviously suffered for many years
the disturbing effects of sexual abuse." Binks awarded the woman $75,000 in
general damages and $20,000 in punitive and aggravated damages against her
father. From the age of five, the judge said, the girl was beaten, kicked
and belted and "lived in terror." She ran away from home at age 15 to live
with her mother's family in Petawawa. Her tormentor vowed to kill her if
she disclosed "their little secret" and often beat her mother to back up
his threats, the judge said. The woman broke her silence before Christmas
1993, calling the local police.
Her two elder brothers, now aged 53 and 50, tried to protect their younger
sister when they were 12 and 10 years old, but couldn't stop the abuse.
Their mother, who died last year, separated and later divorced the man. The
father fought the lawsuit, partly on the grounds the suit wasn't launched
within a reasonable time period.
The judge ruled she never understood the causal connection
between her injuries and his actions until she underwent therapy.
*********
BLOODY DR NEALE
Colleagues, patients defend disgraced gynecologist
Seeking lighter sentence: Neale described as professional, competent,
caring
Kevin Ward National Post
LONDON - A discredited gynecologist yesterday received some strong support
from former patients and colleagues in testimony to a medical committee
hearing final appeals for him to keep his licence.
They said they had complete confidence in the professionalism and ability
exhibited by Richard Neale, who faces being struck from the British medical
register. A former operating theatre scrub nurse who worked with Neale said
she was so confident in his ability that she went to him for medical
attention and had surgery done by him.
"He was always very caring. He was always very aware that he had to do his
very best for the patient on the table," said Patricia Richardson, who
worked with him at the Friarage Hospital in Northerallerton, Yorkshire.
"Certainly the Richard I know has a very high regard not just for health,
but for life as well."
The committee of the General Medical Council concluded last week that over
a 10-year period ending in 1996, he bungled operations on 10 women. It also
found that he failed to get proper consent from two other patients before
performing surgical procedures and
that he lied about his qualifications. The committee, which held 19 days of
hearings, ended its work yesterday without announcing a final decision.
Neale, 54, barred from working in Canada since 1985 after the death of a
patient in Oshawa, wants the committee to allow him to practise again after
taking retraining that has been offered by two professors at Leeds
University. Doctors found guilty of serious professional misconduct face a
minimum five-year ban.
After five years they can reapply to get their licences back, but lose
their licences for good if an appeal is denied twice.
Neale's lawyer, Malcolm Fortune, said his client expects to be found guilty
of serious professional misconduct and is aware he might not be able to
make his living from medicine for some time. But Mr. Fortune told the
committee Neale hopes it will allow him to be retrained and go back to work
under any conditions it sees fit.
Dr. Nicholas Taylor, one of those who spoke on Neale's behalf yesterday,
said he had complete confidence in Neale's ability and decided in 1993 with
his wife, who works as a midwife, to ask him to deliver their second child.
"We both felt he was the best person
around," he told the committee. Dr. Taylor did some of his training under
Neale in 1989 and was impressed. "I thought he was a very professional and
competent doctor," he said. "The first thing that struck me about him was
his ability as a surgeon." Mary Jones said Neale diagnosed her ovarian
cancer and performed emergency surgery
on her in 1990 after she had initially been misdiagnosed by another doctor.
"My family and myself believe he saved my life," she said.
Neale's case is a sore point for the General Medical Council, which is
already accused of not doing enough to protect patients in a series of
high-profile cases involving incompetent or negligent doctors. The council
maintains that because its records from that time were destroyed, it cannot
say why it let Neale work in Britain after he lost his licence in Canada.
Medical authorities in Canada said they notified their British counterpart
that Neale had
been removed from their registry in 1985 for using an unapproved drug to
induce labour in one of his patients. Last week, Neale said he gave the
drug to Geraldine Krawchuk in 1981 because he mistakenly believed
permission had been obtained to use it. Neale's explanation was never heard
by Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons because he had moved back
to Britain and had no representation at the hearing that stripped him of
his licence. Ms. Krawchuk, 40, died about 90 minutes after giving birth.
Neale used prostaglandin after he had already given her oxytocin. Expert
evidence given at the hearing into his case in Ontario indicated that the
two drugs should not be used together. A coroner's investigation also
concluded Neale altered Ms. Krawchuk's drug chart, writing in a lower dose
for the amount of prostaglandin he had used. Dr. Neale worked in Oshawa
after losing his operating privileges in 1979 in Prince George,
B.C., following complaints about the amount of blood his patients lost in
surgery.
*********
GERALD MCGRATH (71) PEDOPHILE, BOY SCOUT LEADER,
PREYING ON KIDS WHILE OUT ON BAIL
Tuesday, July 25, 2000 Pedophile casts web east
By DONNA CASEY, Ottawa Sun
A convicted pedophile free on bail until his September sentencing
has been picked up in New Brunswick for sexually preying on young children
during camping trips. Gerald McGrath, 71, pleaded guilty in a Saint John
courtroom yesterday to two breaches of probation, which forbade him from
associating with children under 16 without the supervision of an adult.
The former Ottawa Boy Scout leader has been free on bail since July 1999
when he was charged with sexually abusing a boy in his troop over an
11-year period starting in 1953. He pleaded guilty in
June to one count of indecent assault on the 12-year-old boy.
McGrath's latest brush with the law was no surprise to his now
59-year-old victim. "He doesn't change. Why would he? It works. I could
probably tell you what words he used," said the retired father of three.
"To leave court a month ago and get caught breaching your
probation just smacks of arrogance," he said, describing McGrath
as "a full-time pedophile" who has a history of preying on broken
families and vulnerable young boys.
Saint John police are looking at laying other sex-related charges
against McGrath, who befriended a single mother with four children.
A suspicious neighbour alerted police to McGrath, who was taking
the children on weekend camping trips alone. "Authorities there believe he
was grooming these kids for sexual purposes," said regional Sgt. Dave Shea
of the sexual assault and child abuse section.
*********
STANLEY GRAY (46) LIFE SENTENCE, BEAT WIFE TO DEATH
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
Hubby gets life for fatal assault
By JOHN SCHMIED, Toronto Sun
BRAMPTON -- A man who beat his wife with a lead pipe so severely he
liquefied her body fat was sentenced yesterday to life in jail for
second-degree murder. Stanley Charles Gray, 46, must serve at least 12
years in prison before applying for parole in the May 3, 1999, killing of
Abigail Manu-Acheampong, 31.
A pathologist testified it was the worst beating he'd seen in his 28-year
career.
"(My sentence must be a) denunciation of domestic violence," Madam Justice
Linda Templeton said while sentencing Gray, who stared at the floor of the
prisoner's box during the judge's 20-minute ruling.
SECOND-DEGREE
Gray, who was charged with first-degree murder after his arrest
on the day of the killing, was found guilty of second-degree
murder by a jury July 7, following a six-week trial. He pleaded guilty to
manslaughter at the start of the trial, but Crown attorney Paul Taylor
rejected the plea. Court heard Gray sponsored Manu-Acheampong from his
native Ghana in 1996 and the pair wed that year in a pre-arranged marriage.
Gray tried to control his wife's every move, then became suspicious of her
fidelity when he found old letters she had exchanged with a previous
boyfriend, court heard. Manu-Acheampong conspired with her brother's friend
to write her a love letter, which she let Gray find, in the hopes of making
him jealous, court heard. On May 3, 1999, the couple argued in their
Westminster Pl. apartment -- in the Rathburn-Tomken Rds. area of
Mississauga -- and he hit her 20 to 30 times with a metre-long gas pipe.
The woman's uncle, Kwabena Djan, said "justice was served" by the sentence
and praised both Peel Police and the Crown attorney's office "for the good
work that they did."
*********
MIKE MAILLY, WIFE MICHELLE MURDERED
Tuesday, July 25, 2000 DJ questioned in death
Hubby in custody after boy, 5, finds mom's body in home
By NATHALIE TREPANIER and LISA LISLE, Ottawa Sun
A 36-YEAR-OLD Ottawa DJ was in police custody overnight after his
28-year-old wife's body was found yesterday morning by their five-year-old
son. Mike Mailly, who was booted from the family home Saturday morning, was
brought into police headquarters yesterday afternoon for questioning in the
suspicious death of his wife Michelle at her Murray St. home. Although
police haven't yet ruled her death to be the region's seventh homicide of
the year, Mailly remained in custody while investigators awaited autopsy
results.
The young mother's bruised body showed no visible cause of death,
but police were hoping her husband could shed some light on how
and when she died. "The death is still suspicious," Det. Bruce Pirt said
after speaking to neighbours and family members of the victim.
Mailly, who just released a dance CD, was brought in without
incident and was co-operative with police last night. The five-year-old boy
who found his mother's body is now staying with his grandmother.
DEVOTED
"She loved all three of her children," said Michelle Mailly's mother, Marie
Ash. "They were all her life." Mailly also had two other children from a
first marriage who live with their father.
Ash said she told her grandson his mother had gone to heaven. Not
long after, he went to the balcony, screaming "mommy, mommy."
"Why are you yelling?" Ash asked her grandson. "I'm talking to mommy," he
replied. Neighbour Connie Trepanier said the victim's son phoned his
grandmother yesterday morning, complaining something was wrong with his
mother. Police and an ambulance arrived at the 365 Murray St. residence
around noon and declared the woman dead at
the scene. Michelle Mailly had been staying at her mother's home most of
the weekend and did not return to her Murray St. home until Sunday night --
the same night police she believed she died. Trepanier said her friend had
been in and out of the hospital all
weekend after suffering bruises and a concussion on Friday.
Neighbours yesterday said they heard a couple fighting all week.
Cops would not comment on those allegations.
*********
RENEE JOYNSON'S FRIEND AFRAID SHE IS NEXT
'Petrified' she's next
Friend of slain woman says man sought by police
threatened to kill them both
Jennifer Kennedy, The St Catharines Standard
Renee Joynson's best friend is "petrified" that she's next on the suspected
killer's list. "I know that if it wasn't Renee, it was going to be me,"
Candida White, 25, said Monday afternoon, three days after Joynson, 23, was
found shot to death in the garage of her north St. Catharines home. "He
thinks me and Renee have destroyed his life," said White.
Lee Hemphill, the 29-year-old St. Catharines man wanted in a Canadawide
warrant for first-degree murder, believed the two young St. Catharines
women had published indecent pictures of him on the Internet, said White.
The photos never existed, she said. The three were "good friends," White
said. Two years ago, she and Hemphill dated for about a month.
Nevertheless, he blamed them for the rumour about the online pictures. Then
he threatened to kill them.
"Pretty much his exact words were that he was going to ruin our lives and
that he's capable of killing somebody," said White, regarding a
conversation they had this spring. White said she and Joynson didn't take
his threats seriously. Hemphill's paranoia began in April when his
co-workers at TRW, where he's worked as a heavy
press technician for eight years, started "harassing" him incessantly about
the non-existent Internet photos, said White.
His co-workers were always bugging him about something, she said, and this
time it was about the fictional, lewd online photos.
Hemphill started getting "paranoid" about these photos, no matter how many
times White reassured him they didn't exist. He never went online to try
and find the alleged photos, said White, adding that she doubts he knows
how to search the Internet since he doesn't own a computer. "This Internet
thing made him insane," said Janet Mann, a good friend of both White and
Joynson. "He had it set in his mind that Candi (White) and Ren (Joynson)
did something to him."
White believes Hemphill thought they put the pictures of him online because
she had access to her brother's computer and because they were his only
friends. On May 14, Hemphill showed up at Joynson's house and threatened
her with a BB gun. Because it was only a BB gun, Joynson "wasn't scared at
the time," White said. She didn't think police would be able to do anything
about it, so she didn't report it. But, after that first threat, "we
totally cut him out of our lives. "He got really upset about that. He was
angry because we shut him out of our lives," said White. He didn't have
many friends and he acted like he had a crush on White, say friends. He was
always asking questions about her. Nevertheless, the two women remained
adamant that they didn't want to talk to him. That was when
he started "stalking both me and Renee."
He was seen at White's place of work and Joynson's work over the next
while, but he didn't communicate with them until White's birthday on May
20, when he called to wish her a happy birthday
and apologize for the BB gun incident. She still didn't want to see him.
"I knew he had a little bit of a violent side to him," said White, "but not
actually murder."
She said that she knew Hemphill owned some guns and liked going to shooting
ranges. He came from a "nice family." White dropped by Joynson's house
Friday night to see if she wanted to grab a movie. They hadn't talked for a
couple of days, which was strange since the best friends talked almost
every day. But when she pulled around the corner of her friend's street,
White saw a cluster of police cars around Joynson's driveway. The friend
who found Joynson's body was still there, crying. Joynson was found in the
garage. She was still wearing her Zehrs uniform, with part of her sweater
pulled over her head, said White. She had been shot in the heart.
Friends say they are convinced it happened Wednesday night, that her
assailant was waiting in her house for her to come home from work at 8 p.m.
Since then, White's been "hiding out" and doesn't want anyone to know
where. "I'm scared for my life right now and I'm hiding out and nobody
knows where I am," said White. Niagara Regional Police have been to her
apartment and combed it for any trace of the suspect, said White, but found
nothing. "I'm very concerned for my friend's safety," said Kate Beavan, 25.
"She's concerned for her safety." "I was never scared of Lee, but now I'm
petrified that he's coming for me," said White.
Friends say they are convinced Hemphill remains in the Niagara region. He
was seen in Port Dalhousie by a friend on Thursday.
White says she has received phone calls in which someone hangs up without
saying a word.
Joynson 'considered us her family'
Four close friends say they consider it an honour to carry
Renee's casket at funeral Wednesday
Karena Walter and Jennifer Kennedy, Standard Staff
The Standard
Renee Joynson loved nothing more than to hang out with her circle of
close-knit girlfriends. Through backyard gab-fests, camping trips, true
loves and tragedies, the "girls" were a constant source of family and
support. Five friends -- the Close Connection. They chatted on the phone,
went to clubs, listened to music, stayed at home on starlit nights. They
talked about everything and anything. She called them Janet, Kate, Alicia
and Candi. They called her Ren.
On Wednesday, they will be at her side once again as they carry her
casket with, they say, "honour." "She considered us her family," said
Janet Mann, 35, of St. Catharines. "We would be honoured to carry Renee."
The young woman was found Friday, shot to death at her home at 30
Harbour Heights Dr. in north St. Catharines. As police continued Monday to
look for a suspect in Niagara's latest homicide, friends and family
prepared for 23-year-old Joynson's visitation services today. She will be
buried Wednesday at Pleasantview Memorial Gardens in Fonthill with her four
best friends serving as pallbearers.
"We are all better people for having known Renee," said friend Kate
Beavan, 25, of Thorold. "She was a real sweety," said her aunt, Charlotte
Joynson of St. Catharines. "She was well, well liked by her friends."
Joynson, an only child, was born in Toronto but moved to St. Catharines
when she was a toddler. When her parents divorced, she lived with her
mother for a time, but moved back with her dad about 10 years ago. She and
her father shared the north St. Catharines home where Joynson had her own
apartment in the basement. She went to Lakeport Secondary School and
transferred to Governor Simcoe Secondary School for her last year,
graduating in 1997. For the past few years, she had worked at Zehrs on
Geneva Street.
Candida White, 25, a friend, said she was devoted to her father and
acted as his caregiver when he became ill. He died in May and she
was just starting to move on, her friends say, though she continued to live
alone in the home. She always looked on the bright side of things and was
trying to be responsible in taking care of the house she inherited from her
father, friends said. "She was just starting to learn what life was all
about," Mann said. Her boyfriend, Dennis Janovicek, said she was pretty
brave, adding she missed her father but acted strong around others. He said
Joynson, a caring and compassionate person, will be missed by her friends
who care deeply about her. "Every time she looked at me, she made me
smile," Janovicek said. "But I think generally she made all her friends
happy. I never saw her angry." Outgoing and seemingly carefree, one of her
favourite things was music, whether it be from well-known groups like the
Smashing Pumpkins or a local band. She was
supposed to go to an upcoming concert in Barrie. "She was very, very
special," her boyfriend said. "You don't realize it until they're gone."
Joynson also had a close relationship with her St. Catharines grandmother,
whom she visited several times a week.
"Her grandma meant the world to her," Mann said. "Her grandma was her
life." Nina Little, the grandmother, said with tears in her eyes Monday
that Joynson was always trying to make her laugh, by doing a jig or drawing
funny pictures. "She could be funny. Gentle. She loved pets. She was a very
caring person," Little said.
"She was a nice little girl. We all loved her."
Their last conversation was over a lawnmower that Joynson wanted to borrow.
When her van broke down, Little said she kept phoning Joynson to let her
know she couldn't deliver it. There was no
answer. "I can hardly believe it, still," she said. "It's too much to bear.
It's very shocking." The man who allegedly shot Joynson had threatened her
once before and friends say he was stalking
her. Her boyfriend Janovicek pleaded that other women not take threats
lightly. "If you feel that you're in any danger, make sure you contact
police," he said. "I wish she would have reported it right away," her
grandmother said. "But she thought she could
handle it." Police arrived at the Harbour Heights home at 8:43 p.m. Friday
after a friend discovered the body. Police will not say how she was shot or
release the time of death. Her friends say she was still in her Zehrs
uniform when she was found. She had been putting her bike away in the
garage. A Canadawide warrant for first-degree murder was issued for
29-year-old Lee Hemphill of Cypress Street, St. Catharines. Niagara
Regional Police have posted his photo on their Internet site and circulated
it to media outlets Sunday.
"He could be anywhere," said Acting Sergeant Richard Brouwer. "He may be
armed and he is dangerous." Defence lawyer George Walker has been retained
by Hemphill's parents. Calls to several Hemphill family members resulted in
hang-ups Monday. Police believe Hemphill was born and raised in St.
Catharines. He was not known to police.
Brouwer said Hemphill's family was contacted and were helpful.
Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 688-4111, ext.
4299. Hemphill was described as white, 6-foot-6, 230 pounds with brown
hair. He may be driving a silver, four-door 1997 Chrysler
Intrepid with licence 976 ZEH. Friends want to mourn, but say it's
difficult until Hemphill is apprehended. Meanwhile, they'll remember
Joynson as "one of God's angels." "I love Renee with all my heart," Mann
said. "Friends," said White, "are forever."
Suspect 'could be anywhere'
NRP following many leads in search for Lee Hemphill
Karena Walter, Jennifer Kennedy and Bill Currie, Standard Staff
The Standard July 26
Niagara Regional Police don't know if Lee Hemphill is still in the area,
the province, the country -- or even if he is still alive.
"We're still desperately looking for this fellow," said Acting Sergeant
Richard Brouwer. "He could be anywhere. There's nothing we're ruling out."
The major crime unit is seeking the public's help in tracking down the
29-year-old man believed to be Renee Joynson's killer. Joynson, 23, will be
buried today in Fonthill after a morning funeral in St. Catharines.
Officers spent Tuesday tracking leads, following up with witnesses and
interviewing people who knew Joynson or the suspect, Brouwer said. Hemphill
has been the subject of a Canada wide warrant since Sunday. The warrant
means police officers in every jurisdiction across the country were
notified about the man wanted for first-degree murder in St. Catharines.
Another 120 information bulletins about Hemphill were distributed to each
police division up to
Hamilton. Since police released a photo of Hemphill's profile to media
outlets on Sunday, tips have been coming in.
"The phones have been ringing steady in there," Brouwer said, but he didn't
know how many of the tips were fruitful as all are being followed up.
Police have increased the size of the team investigating the case since
Joynson was found shot to death in her Harbour Heights Drive home on
Friday. There are six main investigators and approximately 15 people
working on the case, some with little sleep, Brouwer estimated. "These
people are working their tails off," he said. "Mr. Hemphill is armed,
dangerous and he's out there. They are totally fixed on getting this guy."
Anyone who sees Hemphill or his vehicle is asked to contact police
immediately and should not try to approach him, Brouwer said.
While police will not speculate on a motive, friends of Joynson say they
believe they know why she was killed. Friends said co-workers at TRW in St.
Catharines bugged and teased Hemphill relentlessly.
It was the incessant "harassment" about indecent Internet photos of him
which caused Hemphill to snap, they said Monday. They speculated Hemphill
believed Joynson and another friend were responsible for posting the online
pictures that he never viewed and don't exist.
He blamed the two women for the teasing by his co-workers.
Many co-workers teased Hemphill, said the man who trained him for his job
at TRW Linkage and Suspension Systems more than five years ago. "We used to
call him Too Tall Jones," said the worker -- a comparison to the former
Dallas Cowboys football player Ed Jones.
His more than six-foot stature forced him to bend over into equipment he
was working on at the automotive parts plant.
But "everybody gets teased," the man said. "He was a good kid. Most of the
people liked him." The barber who cut Hemphill's hair for the past 20 years
said he was "a nice guy" who was "quiet." He's "always been a nice guy,"
Joe Venneri said. So nice in fact, that when told of the accusations
against Hemphill he was "shocked." "I never, never thought he could have
slain a woman," Venneri said. "It can't be true." A bartender at Seductions
in Niagara Falls said she remembers Lee Hemphill as "Bud man," her nickname
for him because he would sit at the bar alone and drink Budweiser beer. The
woman, who didn't give her name, said she'd just seen him last week but he
hasn't been around since. Joynson was found just before 9 p.m. on Friday in
the garage of her home at 30 Harbour Heights Dr. She died of a gunshot
wound but police are not saying where she was shot or how many times.
Hemphill, of Cyress Street in St. Catharines, is described as 6-foot-6, 230
pounds with brown hair. He may be driving a silver Chrysler Intrepid with
licence plate 976 ZEH.
**********
DAVID HANRAHAN (21) SHOT AT RIVAL
Man, 21, jailed 18 months for shooting spree in Hespeler
Mirko Petricevic
RECORD STAFF
July 25, 2000
A man who shot at his girlfriend's ex-lover while chasing him through
downtown Hespeler in May has been hit with an 18-month jail sentence. David
Hanrahan, 21, pleaded guilty in Cambridge court on Monday to possessing a
weapon dangerous to the public peace.
But the Crown dropped an attempted murder charge because it was obvious
Hanrahan wanted to just scare Aaron Fisher during the late afternoon public
fracas. Hanrahan, who has some hunting and shooting experience, didn't hit
Fisher with any of the seven shots he fired despite standing less than two
metres away.
The melee on May 11 started after Fisher visited his former girlfriend
Amber Craig, who lived next to Hanrahan, despite a court order banning
Fisher from seeing her or their two-year-old son.
After a brief argument in which Fisher repeatedly called Craig a "slut,"
Hanrahan jumped into the fray, court was told. Fists started flying.
Hanrahan inflicted a bloody nose, sore jaw and swelling to
Fisher's head. Eventually, Hanrahan ran into his apartment and returned
with a .22 calibre rifle. Fisher stood and looked into Hanrahan's eyes,
assistant Crown attorney Steve Hamilton told the court. "Hit me! Hit me!"
Hamilton described Fisher as taunting.
But Hanrahan didn't shoot.
Fisher fled through an alley to Queen Street East where a man was taking
his 12-year-old daughter to karate lessons. Hanrahan followed and fired
shots from the semi-automatic rifle before Craig stepped in between the men
and begged Hanrahan to stop shooting. Hanrahan jumped into his car, threw
the rifle into the back seat and drove away. Police stopped him on Hespeler
Road, at Sheldon Drive, and found the rifle with one bullet in the chamber
and five rounds in the clip. Before being sentenced, Hanrahan apologized to
Fisher who wasn't in the courtroom. Justice Bruce Frazer accepted the
apology but scolded Hanrahan. "The apology may have been little comfort to
someone who may have been struck by the stray bullets," he said.
If a bullet had killed the little girl walking on the street, "an apology
wouldn't do anything to bring her back," he said.
"The risk you posed to others (was) substantial," he added.
So Frazer sentenced Hanrahan to 18 months in jail, but credited him the
customary five-months for 2 1/2 months Hanrahan has already spent in
custody. Frazer also ordered the maximum three-year probation term and
banned Hanrahan from possessing weapons for 15 years. He also ordered
Hanrahan not to contact Craig or Fisher.
Craig wasn't in the courtroom during the sentencing, but when reached at
her apartment, she said she was surprised at the length of the jail term.
"He does deserve jail time," she said. "But I don't agree with the length."
Jennifer MacMillan, a neighbour who witnessed the fight, said Hanrahan was
a shy neighbour who was not violent. "I'd never seen that side of him
before," MacMillan said about the outburst. "Something just overtook him."
*********
EDWARD HARTLING, RAPIST, CAPTURED IN HALIFAX
Tuesday, July 25, 2000 Cops bust sex suspect in Halifax
Wanted in local home invasions
By LISA LISLE, Ottawa Sun
AN OTTAWA mom slept a little easier last night after learning
the man accused of attacking her 17-year-old daughter was behind
bars. After a 2 1/2-week manhunt, Edward Joseph Hartling, 40, was in a
Halifax jail last night. "This is such a relief," the emotional teen said
late last night. "I was worried they were never going to catch him." The
girl's mom, who was sleeping with a baseball bat at her side when the Sun
contacted her, said she and her daughter had been virtual prisoners in
their east-end Ottawa home since the late-night attack earlier this month.
"We sleep with the windows locked," she said. "We're even afraid to open
them during the day. It's suffocating."
Hartling, who's wanted in Ottawa for two sexual assaults and break
and enters, was arrested without incident by Halifax police last
night. "It was based on information received by police," acting Staff Sgt.
Jill Skinner said, adding that Hartling was raised in the area.
CAREER CRIMINAL
Skinner said regional police were working closely with the Halifax
force and police in Sault Ste. Marie, where the career criminal was
charged in 1997 with sexual assault and sexual interference for an
alleged attack on a child under the age of 14. The Sault Ste. Marie sex
charges were dropped last October, but Hartling was scheduled to appear in
the northern Ontario city's courthouse the Monday after the Ottawa attacks
on outstanding charges of uttering death threats and breach of probation.
"This is pretty good news," Skinner said, adding police were also wondering
whether they'd ever find Hartling.
"We had a lot of leads but they never came to fruition," she said of
the dozens of tips, including a man who saw Hartling picking up a
stack of Sun newspapers featuring his mugshot on the front.
The teen was attacked by a man who broke into her Borthwick
Ave. apartment while she was home alone watching TV on July 4.
"He grabbed me by the throat and just started choking me," she said
the day after the attack. Her mother returned home and scared off the
attacker. Police dogs tracked the suspect for a while before losing the
trail. But three hours later, police believe the same man threatened a
56-year-old woman with a knife in her ground-floor Riverside Dr. apartment
before physically and sexually assaulting her. Fingerprints taken from both
scenes helped police link the two
sexual assaults. Two investigators are expected to fly to the Nova Scotia
today and bring their suspect back to Ottawa. Skinner expects Hartling back
in the nation's capital by tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Halifax, Ottawa police team to arrest rape suspect
By BRENDAN ELLIOTT -- The Halifax Daily News
Halifax and Ottawa police are slapping each other's backs after the two
forces worked in tandem to rein in a suspected sex offender.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued July 7, by Ottawa-Carleton Regional
Police, for the arrest of 40-year-old Edward Joseph Hartling, a man
accused of committing two sexual assaults in the capital city earlier this
month. Hartling, a Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., native, was picked up Monday by
Halifax Regional Police, after investigators found him holed up in a
downtown men's shelter. "Ottawa-Carleton Police sent us photos of this
individual, and told us they
had reason to believe he was in Halifax," said Halifax Regional Police
spokeswoman Judy Pal. Pal said local investigators took the photos to
various shelters and soup kitchens, and after recognizing Hartling, they
arrested him without incident. Police in Ottawa considered Hartling an
armed and violent sex offender when they made pleas to the Ottawa press
earlier this month.
"They did a bang-up job," Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police spokesman
Staff-Sgt. Syd Gravelle said of the effort of local investigators.
"We worked well together, there's no doubt about it," Pal countered.
Two women were assaulted in Ottawa within three hours of each other
overnight July 4. The first attack came around 10 p.m., after a man dressed
in black climbed through a girl's bedroom window in the city's east end.
Home alone, the 17-year-old victim had been watching television when she
heard someone breaking into her bedroom, Gravelle said. Face to face with
the intruder, the girl told him he could take anything he wanted. "I want
you," he reportedly said. Frightened, the girl backed away. Then he grabbed
her and started ripping her clothes. The attacker grabbed her by the throat
and started choking her. At that moment, the girl's mother came home,
startling the attacker, who ran off. Police were still searching for the
suspect when the second attack was reported. Around 1:15 a.m., he climbed
through a bedroom window of a
ground-floor apartment. A 56-year-old woman was asleep when the attacker,
pulled a knife, sexually assaulted her and beat her up.
Hartling will be charged with two counts of break and enter, sexual
assault, unlawful confinement, uttering threats, assault, and wearing a
disguise. He will return to Ottawa on Friday.
*********
Child victim of beating on the mend
Guelph boy, 5, expected to survive vicious attack
Janet Baine, Record Correspondent, and Kerry Thompson Record Staff, with
files from Torstar News Service
KITCHENER WATERLOO RECORD
July 25, 2000
GUELPH -- A five-year-old boy found with head injuries in a field Saturday
night remained in critical condition in a Hamilton hospital Monday after a
2 1/2-hour brain operation. The boy suffered a fractured skull, a deep cut
across his forehead and bruises to his body in a beating that has shocked
his family and the community.
He was transferred out of the intensive-care unit at McMaster University
Medical Centre in Hamilton late Monday, and is expected to survive his
injuries. He was conscious Monday, but heavily sedated.
"The doctors say he will probably be fine. We don't know,'' said his
worried grandfather. Meanwhile, a 15-year-old youth appeared in Guelph bail
court Monday, charged with attempted murder. He was remanded in custody
until Wednesday, when he will appear for another bail hearing. The Young
Offenders Act forbids publication of the names of both the suspect and the
injured boy. Three generations of the boy's family share one of several
limestone cottages that line one side of Eden Street, a quiet dead-end
street. Parents normally let their children gather and play outside
unsupervised. "Only people who live here come here, not strangers,'' said
the boy's
grandmother. "Inside, I can't believe something like that (attack). That is
so terrible," she said. "How can they do that to a child?"
The grandmother said she was pulling weeds in her garden Saturday evening
when a fire alarm went off at the apartment building.
"All the kids went to see what happened. The fire department was there.
(The boy) never came back,'' she said. "People in the neighbourhood try to
help. They were looking when he was lost.''
Guelph police received a missing-person report at about 7:40 p.m. Saturday
night and found the boy at 10:20 p.m., said Sgt. Russ Malcolmson. Police
found him in an area overgrown with brush east of Silvercreek Parkway,
about 100 metres from his home. He was semi-conscious when he was found.
"The boy was located in a secluded area that was not visible from the
street," he said. The boy's father and a police officer had passed the area
at least once in the
darkness without hearing or seeing the boy. By the time he was found, he
was screaming in pain. Police could not say how the boy sustained the
injuries, but Malcolmson said there were a number of items in the field
that could have been used to inflict the
boy's wounds. Those items have been sent for forensic testing.
No other injuries to the boy were reported. The suspect was found and
arrested on Silvercreek Parkway at 11:25 p.m. Saturday.
Neighbours said the suspect did not live in the area but had been seen
there recently. They said he is mentally disabled, but police could not
confirm this. Malcolmson said the victim and the accused are not related,
but they still don't know if the two knew each other. "We still need to
establish that," he said. Area residents have been shaken by the incident.
Monday afternoon only a stray bike and a toy dump truck remained in the
yard by the apartment building
where children used to play. "Normally today the kids would be outside
now,'' said Cindy Wongsuna, a resident of an Eden Street apartment
building. She said she is not allowing her two daughters to leave the
apartment. Her girls, ages eight and four, would play outside all day with
the neighbourhood kids, coming in only when they were hungry. She estimates
there were about 10 kids between three and 10 years old who lived in the
area and played well
together. "It's too bad, because there's not much for them to do inside the
apartment,'' she said.
*********
LAOTIAN REFUGEE, DRUG & PROSTITUTION RING, MINORS
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
Refugee jailed for role in sex-for-drugs ring
By BRENDAN O'HALLARN, Winnipeg Sun
A Laotian refugee who participated in a sex-for-drugs ring in
Winnipeg has been given a prison sentence. Crown attorney Kim Carswell said
Anong Tebpornsawatdee performed sex acts on many girls, including two as
young as 12. He also sold cocaine to the girls for cash. The encounters all
happened at his house, and went on for more than a year. "There are a
significant number of aggravating factors. The only fact in the accused's
favour is he does not have a record," Carswell said. Provincial court Judge
Robert Kopstein sentenced Tebpornsawatdee to five years in prison yesterday
for two counts of trafficking and five counts of juvenile prostitution.
But the judge said the 36-year-old, who pleaded guilty to the offences in
May, has had to endure "an absolutely horrible existence from the time he
was a small child.
"It is almost surprising and to his credit that he lived generally well
until he became involved in these activities." lawyer Mark Kantor said his
client was raised by his mother in Laos, working in the rice fields from
the time he was a child until the communists took over in 1973. When he was
14, he joined a resistance movement against the government. "The
experiences during that period of his life were horrific," Kantor said.
Tebpornsawatdee was with a group of 30 rebels attacked by government
forces, and was one of only a handful to escape, living for a month in the
jungle before making it back to his refugee camp in Thailand.
PLIED GIRLS
Tebpornsawatdee was sponsored to come to Canada 1990 by the
Archdiocese of St. Boniface, and was fitting in in his new country
before an allergic reaction forced him to leave his job at the
mushroom farm where he worked, Kantor said.
He moved downtown and befriended the men who ran the sex-for-drugs ring.
Tebpornsawatdee became the sixth man sentenced for his role in a group that
plied teenage Winnipeg girls with crack cocaine in
exchange for sex. Fourteen men were charged when the sex-for-drugs ring was
smashed in early 1999. A 15th man, Joselito Dy, is still wanted on a
Canada-wide warrant. Four accused have been committed to stand trial. The
first, Hernan Perez, will be in the Court of Queen's Bench in September.
Three more preliminary hearings are scheduled for the fall. Five accused
have pleaded guilty, receiving sentences ranging from a year to yesterday's
five-year term.
Saya Saysana pleaded guilty in June, and will be sentenced in
September. Charges against one accused were stayed.
*********
ROSEMARY WHITTAKER, CHARGED, STABBED MAN
Woman charged after man stabbed
Sudbury Star
A 49-year-old Hanmer woman is facing a charge of aggravated assault with a
weapon after a disturbance at Halfway Provincial Park northeast of Sudbury
off Highway 144. Ontario Provincial Police say a couple got into an
argument at the park Sunday afternoon.
The argument ended with the male being stabbed in the chest with a knife.
He was airlifted to Sudbury Regional Hospital where he was treated for a
non-life threatening injury. Charged was Rosemary Whittaker.
********
Michael Newton
FBI INVESTIGATING TERRY ARNOLD, MURDER BARBARA STOPPEL 1981
PEDOPHILE, SERIAL MURDERER
Thursday, July 27, 2000 FBI investigating Arnold
Stoppel suspect could be a serial killer
By BOB HOLLIDAY, Winnipeg Sun
Convicted killer Terry Arnold, already a prime suspect in the
deaths of three young women in Western Canada, is now suspected
of being a serial killer who is also responsible for several murders in the
United States, The Winnipeg Sun has learned. Investigators from Calgary
police and FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., met in Winnipeg last weekend
to share evidence with local homicide cops looking into the 1981 unsolved
murder of Barbara Stoppel, 16.
LIFE SENTENCE
Arnold, 38, is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for
25 years for the 1987 killing of B.C. runaway Christine Marie
Browne, 16, near Kelowna after she refused to have sex with him.
The FBI believe Arnold may have been involved in the deaths of
several young women in Florida during the 1980s and is also looking
at unsolved cases in Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, New York and
even Mexico. "It is unlikely he did not commit a crime while in the United
States," said a source. During the '80s, Arnold worked for a carnival which
travelled across North America. One of the stops was in Winnipeg during the
summer Stoppel worked at the Red River Exhibition.
Arnold is also the main suspect in the 1987 death of Calgary
teenager Denise Lapierre and the 1988 murder of Roberta Marie
Ferguson, who was last seen getting into a car Aug. 24 at a
campground near Chilliwack, B.C. Arnold lived near Stoppel's workplace at
the time she was killed, resided a block away from Lapierre when she was
murdered, and was seen with Browne in the days before her death. "There
are four young, pretty women dead and he knew them all," said a source.
During a 1998 B.C Supreme Court hearing, clinical psychologists described
Arnold as an "impulsive and a pathological liar who had poor behavioural
controls and exhibited a lack of empathy and remorse" and a "sexual
offender who has lied to others as he's a psychopath who relies on deceit."
In the early '90s, Arnold served 80 months for raping four girls aged 10,
11, 15 and 16.
Stoppel died six days after her beaten body was found Dec. 23,
1981 in the washroom of a Goulet Street doughnut shop. Last month, Winnipeg
police Chief Jack Ewatski cleared Thomas Sophonow of any involvement in
Stoppel's murder. Tried three times for second-degree murder, Sophonow was
convicted twice with one trial ending in a hung jury. Both convictions were
overturned on appeal.
Thursday, July 27, 2000 Now he's in maximum security
By BOB HOLLIDAY Winnipeg Sun
Since a joint investigation last month by The Sun and CKY-TV
News identified Terry Arnold as the suspect in the killing of
Barbara Stoppel and two other young women, he has been moved
from a minimum-security prison in Mission, B.C., to a nearby
maximum-security facility. On the advice of the prison's inmate committee
-- who told staff of death threats if Arnold was released into general
population -- the killer was segregated from other inmates and is locked in
his cell 23 1/2 hours a day.
"If you don't put him in seg, he's dead," an inmate on the committee
told staff.
Prior to transferring prisons, police raided Arnold's cell and seized
items, including his computer.
********
KEVIN TAYLOR (37) PEDOPHILE ABDUCTION, RAPE; 11 YEAR OLD GIRL
Thursday, July 27, 2000 Girl, 11, snatched from home
Police hunt mid-40s white male in sex assault near
farm north of city
By DAVID CARRIGG AND IAN MCDOUGALL, EDMONTON SUN
Mounties are hunting a pedophile who snatched an 11-year-old girl
from her rural home north of Edmonton, sexually attacked her and
dumped her in a nearby field. Morinville RCMP Const. Laurel Kading said
Mounties don't know yet whether the little girl was dragged or coerced out
of her home, northwest of St. Albert, but it happened between 10:30 a.m.
and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. "He drove her to a field about 10 kilometres away,
sexually assaulted her and abandoned her," Const. Kading said. The girl's
mom reported her missing at about noon. Morinville and St. Albert RCMP
began a search using a helicopter and police dogs. An alert was also put
out to members of the Sturgeon Rural Crime Watch.
At about 5 p.m. the girl walked into a farmyard. The farmer
immediately called police. "She was given medical assistance and an
examination and returned to her family," Const. Kading said.
Donald Bokenfohr, who farms northwest of St. Albert, belongs to
the local rural crime watch. "The community is shocked, this is not
normal," Bokenfohr said. "We got an alert and we had a look around where
we live, but we didn't see anything suspicious." Farmer Denis Brenneis said
his wife and grandmother started searching as soon as they got a call from
the RCMP. "We've never had a call for something like this, normally it's
just break and enters," Brenneis said. "We really want to get this guy."
Last night the Sturgeon victims services unit was working with the girl and
her family.
Karen Smith, executive director of the Sexual Assault Centre of
Edmonton, fears it could have been a predatory attack. "The fact that he
went onto her rural property makes me suspicious that he knew there was
going to be a kid at that home," she said.
"I wondered if the girl's attacker had been watching her home
before deciding to make his move." Const. Kading said Mounties had decided
not to release a composite picture of the attacker because it could alert
him. They describe him as a white male in his mid-40s with collar-length
brown hair and a green baseball cap and jacket.
He was driving a late-model grey or tan four-door car with red
interior, rust on the rear fender and a square-shaped front.
"We are not giving an exact location of the farm she was abducted
from," Const. Kading said. Sturgeon County Reeve Frank Schoenberger said
the area is mainly made up of farmhouses which can be up to a kilometre
away from each other. "I can't believe that this happened," Schoenberger
said. "Some poor young girl is going to have to live with this for the
rest of her life."
Sat. July 29, 2000 City man arrested in Morinville abduction
Suspect due in court Thursday
By DAVIS SHEREMATA, EDMONTON SUN
An Edmonton man has been arrested and charged in the abduction and sexual
assault of an 11-year-old girl. Edmonton police and Morinville RCMP
arrested the man yesterday. Word that an arrest had been made was a relief
to Morinville residents, who had been keeping their eyes peeled for a
suspect. "I have two daughters and one's 11. I've been worried the girl
(who was assaulted) may be one of her friends," said Diana Friestad, 35.
She didn't expect such a shocking crime to ever hit Morinville. "I grew up
in the city and I know what it's like there, that's why I live here. We
didn't want our kids growing up in the city. We love it here." Asked how
glad she was about the bust, Friestad said, "I guess that depends on
whether it's the person who did it or not."
Jessica Rosychuk is used to reading about such crimes happening in
big cities. "It's good news (that someone's been arrested)," said the
17-year-old. "Wow. It's pretty unbelievable. You don't think much about
this stuff happening in a place like this. It blew us away because we never
even lock our doors and now we were told to take special precautions." But
local resident Ruth Knight locked her doors before the crime happened. "I
think things like this happen anywhere," Knight said. "There's just too
many sick people in society." Police had been checking close to 100 tips
from the public and combing the countryside after the girl was taken from
her rural home northwest of St. Albert on Tuesday morning.
The girl was driven to a remote location and sexually assaulted.
About seven hours after she disappeared, she walked into the yard
of an area farmer who called police. A Rural Crime Watch telephone alert
message was sent out to area residents and a description of the suspect
circulated. Thursday morning, a CheckStop was set up by RCMP on Highway 37
in the area where the attack happened. Investigators also fed the suspect's
profile into a computer database to check matches with any other pedophile
attacks.
A victim services unit has been counselling the girl and her family
for the last two days. "The 11-year-old is showing herself to be a brave
young girl and is holding up well under the circumstances.
"She is relieved to be back with her family and friends," RCMP
Const. Laurel Kading said.
Kevin John Taylor, 37, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault,
sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching. He is to appear in
Morinville provincial court on Thursday.
********
GERALD MCGRATH (71) PEDOPHILE, MORE CHARGES
Thursday, July 27, 2000 Pedophile defies order, visits boys
By DONNA CASEY, Ottawa Sun
A CONVICTED Ottawa pedophile who's awaiting sentencing in
September took two 11-year-old boys golfing at a Saint John, N.B.,
country club, say area police. Gerald McGrath, 71, also took the young pair
ice skating and to the movies -- despite a probation order prohibiting the
former Boy Scout leader from unsupervised contact with children under the
age of 16. Saint John police issued an appeal earlier this week looking for
the two unnamed boys who figured in a DAY PLANNER FOUND in McGrath's car
when he was arrested last week. During several trips to New Brunswick, the
retired salesman had taken four teenaged brothers, ages 13 to 17, on
overnight camping trips.
11 YEARS OF ABUSE
McGrath was convicted in June in Ottawa of sexually abusing a
boy during an 11-year period starting in 1953 and has been free on
bail since July 1999. His sentencing is set for Sept. 28 in Ottawa.
Police say he was using an alias during his frequent trips to New
Brunswick, where his elderly mother resides. While initial interviews with
one 11-year-old boy uncovered no evidence of sexual wrongdoing, police are
suspicious of McGrath's motives for befriending the youngsters, who live in
the rural outskirts of Saint John. "There's nothing that would indicate
that he's going as far as any sexual behaviour, but we know he's violating
his probation order," said Cpl. Tim Belliveau of the RCMP's Westfield, N.B.,
detachment. "If he wasn't found out, you can only guess where it was
headed," Belliveau said, adding McGrath knew the kids for a few months.
Investigators are waiting to interview one of the boys, who is away on
vacation with his parents, before laying any charges against the long-time
sex offender. Social workers from the city's health and community services
have teamed up with police to interview children who may have come into
contact with McGrath.
BEHIND BARS
McGrath remains in a Saint John jail until Aug. 3 when he will be
sentenced for breaking his probation. Local police say he will face
more charges at that time.
********
RENEE JOYNSON
'She had a heart of gold'
Karena Walter, St Catharines Standard July 27
All of us have irritations in our lives, but Renee Joynson knew how to
transform them into pearls, her stepfather says. Her upbeat personality and
caring actions to match were remembered Wednesday by family members and
friends. More than 200 people filled the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints on Glenridge Avenue for
the 23-year-old's memorial service. Joynson was gunned down at her Harbour
Heights Drive home in St. Catharines last week. Her uncle, Maurice
Chartrand, who performed the eulogy, said he felt cheated by the senseless
act which took her life, a sentiment shared by those
gathered. They all wanted to grow old with her and see her legacy live on,
he said. "It's not right when two grandmothers and a mother
bury a daughter."
But Chartrand offered hope to friends and family with his belief that Renee
will be reunited with her father who died only weeks ago.
The two, by all accounts, had a close relationship. "He's holding her right
now in his arms," Chartrand said. Joynson, a graduate of Governor Simcoe
Secondary School, shared the north-end house with her father and worked
part-time at Zehrs on Geneva Street. The family was proud of Joynson,
Chartrand said, for her dedication to her father when he became ill. She
put off certain things in her life so that she could take care of him and
continued to keep the house in immaculate condition after he died. Joynson
developed qualities in her 23 years that most don't acquire in a lifetime,
stepfather Bob Clement said. She was a peacemaker who was instrumental in
bringing family members together, he said, and it
was obvious she was a good friend. The saying, "if you want a friend, you
have to be a friend" is one Joynson seems to have practised. "Renee has
many friends who know she loves them," Clement told those gathered in the
church, many of whom were her peers.
"She had a heart of gold. She'd do anything for you," said Carly Todd, a
friend of 15 years who was invited to speak at the service.
Todd said in an emotional tribute that Joynson was the most unique person
she had ever met and was outgoing and happy all the time.
Brian Hall, a counsellor in the Bishopric of St. David's ward, offered
words of comfort as he presided over the service. Although Joynson's life
was snuffed out while in her prime, there is a life
after this one, he told the gathering. "Renee is in a happier place now,"
he said, "and we will all be reunited with our loved ones when
our mission in this world is over." The funeral was followed by a graveside
ceremony at Pleasantview Memorial Gardens. Meanwhile, Niagara Regional
Police continue to search for Lee Hemphill, 29, of Cypress Drive who is
wanted for first-degree murder in Joynson's death. A Canadawide warrant
was issued on Sunday after Joynson's body was found in her garage Friday
night. The site has become one of remembrance as a pile of flowers grows
steadily in front of the Joynson home, still sealed off with police tape.
Investigators are following any leads that come in from the public.
********
Woman gets 7 years for stabbing lover
Victim a man who avoided confrontations
JANE GADD Globe and Mail
Toronto Courts Reporter
Thursday, July 27, 2000
Scrap-metal dealer Rick Gregory was nothing if not a romantic.
He courted Kimberley Stacey, a single mother of three, by sending flowers,
writing poems and playing love songs to her on his guitar.
He had her name tattooed on his chest. But three months after he met and
moved in with Ms. Stacey, she killed him with a single knife-thrust through
the heart, just above the tattoo. Yesterday, Ms. Stacey was sent to jail
for seven years for manslaughter by a
judge who scornfully rejected her claims that there was a dark side to the
relationship, and that Mr. Gregory died accidentally in an emotional
confrontation over the tattoo. "I thought her evidence was an insult to the
intelligence of the jury; I still do," Mr. Justice John O'Driscoll said.
Ms. Stacey, who will mark her 30th birthday in jail tomorrow, is no victim
but a bad-tempered woman who becomes
violent when she drinks, the judge said. Mr. Gregory, 33, was a passive man
who avoided confrontations and was described in court by one of his friends
as "a wimp." When a stone-faced Ms. Stacey was led out of court yesterday,
a storm of sobbing broke out in the rows occupied by half a dozen of her
friends throughout the three-week trial. "I love you, Kim," a woman shouted
before collapsing in hysterical weeping. Outside, three of Ms. Stacey's
friends approached reporters to say they did not believe she had killed Mr.
Gregory, that the death was indeed an accident as she said it was.
Ms. Stacey, who was originally charged with second-degree murder, testified
that she and Mr. Gregory had a passionate romance in the spring of 1998
that soon turned scary when he became obsessed.
The tattoo was the first warning, she said. She testified that she had
tried to cool off the relationship after he got it, but that he
kept pursuing her. On the night Mr. Gregory died, the two of them argued at
her apartment and he asked her for a knife so he could "scrape off" the
tattoo, she testified. The knife went into his chest when he grabbed her
wrist and pulled her toward him, she said.
But Judge O'Driscoll said the scenario did "nothing to raise any sympathy
flags" for her. "All it does is chill the blood in
your veins when you visualize the scene." A pathologist testified that Mr.
Gregory had 10 injuries, including blunt-force bruises probably caused by a
fist covered in rings.
********
STUDY MISLEADING SAYS SHELTER DIRECTOR
Spousal abuse study misleading: shelter director
Sask. has country's second-highest percentage of
women reporting abuse by partner
By James Parker Saskatoon Star Phoenix July 27
A new Statistics Canada survey on spousal abuse understates the problem for
women and overstates it for men, says the director of a shelter for female
victims of abuse and violence. "I don't dismiss that some men are the
victims of violence," Sharon Cunningham, director of Interval House, said
Wednesday. "But I'd like to see the documentation supporting the figures on
violence against men. From our perspective, we haven't done enough for
women and children. Many cases go unreported." Cunningham was commenting on
a Statistics Canada survey that indicated 1.2 million men and women faced
some form of violence in their marriage or common-law relationship during
the last five years. The report said nearly as many men as women
reported being victims of violence - 690,000 women compared to 549,000 men.
However, the survey showed the nature and consequences of spousal violence
were more severe for women. In Saskatchewan, 11 per cent of women reported
violence in their relationship, the same percentage as Alberta. Only Prince
Edward Island had a higher rate.
Eight per cent of Saskatchewan men said they were victims of spousal
violence. Cunningham said she believes a third of Canadian women experience
violence in their relationships. This number wouldn't be reflected in the
Statistics Canada survey because many women don't report incidents of
abuse, she said. "Those numbers are conservative. Many women suffer
physical, emotional and mental violence. But there are a certain type of
person who suffer abuse
we never hear about. They are the people who have money to go to hotels
(after an attack) and hire lawyers."
And Cunningham said there are women raised in abusive households who
believe spousal violence is just part of life. "There isn't enough being
done in our society to deal with this because we still have the problem. We
need to look at the curriculum in schools. And the
patriarchal system has to go. Battering isn't just about a slap. It's about
thinking, `If you don't do this, you're going to get it.' It's about the
threat, the power and the control."
Wally Roth, co-ordinator of a Saskatoon District Health program for men who
have attacked their spouses, said the Stats Canada figures on violence
against men may reflect a growing tendency of women to fight back against
their abusers. Roth said he believes some progress is being made in the
struggle to eliminate spousal violence. "What's changing is that it's
becoming more public.
Women are getting more support. And men are getting the message that it's
not the right thing to do." However, Cunningham said all citizens must take
ownership of the problem of violence against women and children. She said
this fact hit home for her after she witnessed a young woman beating her
child in a shopping mall.
Cunningham stepped in and asked the women to stop. She said people passing
by obviously thought it was inappropriate for her to intervene.
********
PRINCIPAL ABUSED WIFE; NON VIOLENCE POLICY SCHOOL
Thursday, July 27, 2000
Critics blast board for keeping assaulter at non-violent school
By PETER McLAUGHLIN -- The Halifax Daily News
A high school principal convicted of assaulting his wife will keep his job
at a school that recently pledged non-violence through the League of
Peaceful Schools. The decision to let Brian Dowling
return as principal at Annapolis West Educational Centre in Annapolis Royal
this September has upset some who believe it could undermine the
anti-violence message boards, teachers and parents have been trying to
instill in students for years.
In a province where many schools preach zero-tolerance, and where
kids are suspended for playing in snow, barred from playing touch
football and tag, and where even hallway hugs are outlawed, not
punishing an educator for spousal assault sends a mixed message to
students, critic say. The provincial teachers union, to which Dowling
belongs, has also declared it wants kids who commit
violent acts labelled as workplace hazards under the occupational health
and safety act.
`It doesn't look very good'
Robert Tumilty, a retired teacher who represents Annapolis Royal on
the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board, said a some people are upset.
"It's the idea that he's the leader of the school. It doesn't look very
good to be convicted to be assaulting your wife when you're trying to teach
non-violence in school,'' he said yesterday.
Dowling was convicted this spring of hitting his wife. He received a
conditional discharge last week in Digby provincial court. Board
superintendent James Gunn said the matter is being taken seriously,
but several factors influenced staff's decision to allow the veteran
teacher to keep his job. Dowling's positive record as a teacher and
principal over the past eight years, as well as the fact the assault, which
was not deemed severe, took place outside school hours and off school
property were mitigating factors, said the superintendent. Still, Dowling
will be under close watch. "I acknowledge his actions may affect his
performance on the job, but how it will affect that has to be determined,''
said Gunn.
********
KINGSTON PHYSIOTHERAPIST LOSES LICENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT
Clinic operator loses licence
Ann Lukits, Whig-Standard Staff Writer
A Kingston physiotherapist has been permanently suspended following
allegations of sexual abuse and unprofessional conduct by five former
female patients. Richard Holzschuh Sator, who operated a private
physiotherapy clinic from his Durham Street home, was removed from the
profession by the discipline committee of the College of Physiotherapists
of Ontario, the regulatory body for the province's 5,300 registered
physiotherapists. Holzschuh, who has since stopped using the name Sator,
did not contest the allegations, which covered the period 1995 to 1999.
In addition to sexual abuse, he was accused of failing to maintain
professional standards, disclosing confidential patient information,
performing procedures without consent, and verbal or physical abuse.
RESIGNED FROM COLLEGE
He was also accused of performing an act "inconsistent" with the 1991
Physiotherapy Act, the legislation governing the conduct of
physiotherapists in Ontario. Holzschuh voluntarily resigned his membership
in the Ontario college effective Dec. 17, 1999, and he agreed that "it
would be in everyone's interest not to have a contested hearing." Five days
later, on Dec. 22, 1999, he signed an "acknowledgement and undertaking" in
which he agreed never to apply for membership, licensing, registration or
similar status with the college or any other body as a physiotherapist. He
also acknowledged that the college would publish information about the
case, including his name, in its quarterly newsletter Communique. Details of
the agreement and the disciplinary hearing that led to Holzschuh's
resignation were subsequently published in the newsletter's current issue.
According to a case summary contained in the newsletter, the particulars of
the misconduct that led to Holzschuh's suspension included:
- Placing his erect genitals or genital area against the genitals or
genital area of the patient through clothing and engaging in a rocking
motion;
- Bringing his face close to the face of the patient while doing the above
and in at least one case, kissing or nuzzling the patient's neck area;
- Exposing and directly touching the breasts or breast area of the patient;
- Performing procedures through the rectum and vagina of the patient
without having the authority to perform these controlled acts;
- Making comments of a sexual nature to the patient;
- Engaging in this conduct without adequate clinical indications or
informed consent.
According to the newsletter, Holzschuh was required to reimburse the
college to a maximum of $20,000 for the cost of therapy and counselling for
the five former patients. The college extended this provision to include
the cost of counselling and therapy for a 24-year-old woman who had charged
Holzschuh six years earlier with sexual assault. At the time, he was
employed on contract at
Lennox and Addington County General Hospital in Napanee. A preliminary
hearing was held in March 1994, but the charge was later
dropped. The hospital suspended Holzschuh with pay while the charges
were before the courts. The hospital did not renew his contract when it
expired the following year.
Rod Hamilton, director of policy and communications for the college, said
the college formally investigated the 1994 sexual assault charge and
rendered a finding of "not guilty." Hamilton was unable to provide a record
of that hearing because the college is required by law to purge the details
of disciplinary hearings after six years. Reached at his home in Kingston,
Holzschuh declined to comment until he had sought legal advice. Yesterday,
he issued the following statement:
"With regard to the internal rectal and internal vaginal techniques, these
techniques can apparently be legally performed by physiotherapists in
Quebec. In recent years, instructors from Quebec have been teaching these
techniques in Ontario without realizing the differences in Quebec and
Ontario health laws. These techniques can be very beneficial in treating
chronic sacral (tailbone) pain and resolving urinary bladder incontinence.
DEFENCE "IMPOSSIBLE"
"It is unlawful for Ontario physiotherapists to perform these techniques
and they could be subject to a maximum fine of $35,000 plus a five-year
suspension per occurrence. Projected legal defense costs made it impossible
financially for me to defend myself. Because of these exposures and costs,
my desire to see these matters resolved without further formal proceedings,
and my acknowledgments and undertakings to the College, I therefore decided
to enter into the settlement agreement with the College and was hoping this
would bring a conclusion to this matter."
*******
PETER GAVIN JEHOVAH WITNESS "BIBLE TEACHER" PEDOPHILE
Judge throws book at former Bible teacher
By LINDA RICHARDSON, The Sault Star
A Sault Ste. Marie judge rejected a conditional sentence Tuesday for a
37-year-old man who sexually assaulted a teenage boy he was tutoring in
Bible studies. Instead, Peter Gavin, who is in a wheelchair as he awaits
hip replacement surgery, received an 18-month jail term. ``The victim is
living a real-life nightmare,'' said Ontario Court Justice Wayne Cohen,
describing the facts Gavin had pleaded guilty to as ``horrendous, ugly and
devastating.''
The sexual assaults, which occurred in 1989 when Gavin was the
now-23-year-old victim's Bible tutor at the Jehovah Witnesses Kingdom Hall,
had destroyed the teen's youth and trust and left him in a position where
he can't turn to his religion for comfort, the
judge said.
To the victim, Gavin was a person in authority and ``I must protect the
youth, elderly and infirm in this community,'' Cohen said.
Defence counsel Malcolm McLeod, who had asked the court to impose a
six-to-nine-month conditional sentence that his client could serve in the
community, said the jail term will be appealed. ``His health is very
fragile and the (corrections) system can't cope with him,'' McLeod said in
an interview.
"This case had conditional sentence written all over it,'' he said.
Gavin, who suffers from osteo-arthritis, was released from hospital last
week and is awaiting surgery to replace an artificial hip as well as
cataract surgery, his lawyer said. ``He is in constant pain and takes
medication to control that as well as antibiotics.''
The court heard earlier that a relationship had developed between Gavin and
the boy, who was having difficulties at home with his father. Gavin began
giving the youngster money, buying him clothes, picking him up at school
and helping him with his problems.
At first the victim, who can't be identified under a court order, thought
the gestures, coupled with Gavin putting his arm around him, were
father-like.
Later, Gavin started giving the teen alcohol and most of the incidents
occurred when the youngster was intoxicated and awoke to find Gavin
assaulting him. The first assault occurred in a hotel room after a ``hall
build'' in Sudbury, while others took
place in Gavin's home. The sexual abuse involved anal penetration and
fellatio. The boy, after realizing what was happening, said he had feared
he would be in a lot of trouble, since homosexuality is a
severe violation of Jehovah Witness law.
Gavin, the married father of three, appearedto be infatuated with the teen
and had suggested they run away together, the court heard.
In a victim impact statement, the young man said the sexual abuse, which
left him unable to trust people, later ruined his marriage and hurt his
relationship with his parents.. ``I trusted Peter Gavin and he used it to
hurt me,'' he said. He said he has never received an apology from Gavin and
he feels betrayed by the church because of the way he was treated after
revealing the incidents to church elders six years ago. ``I thought they'd
be there for me. They were people in authority and they betrayed my trust_
first Peter Gavin and then the elders.''
Assistant Crown attorney Bob Villeneuve, who had sought the 18-month jail
term, described the sentence as appropriate in light of what the court
heard in the victim impact statement.
********
COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKER GUILTY, FALSE ACCUSATION ASSAULT
Dangerous' woman guilty of mischief
Community outreach worker falsely accused men of assault
Jake Rupert
The Ottawa Citizen July 27
A woman portrayed by witnesses as an out-of-control community outreach
worker who abused her power was found guilty of falsely
accusing a former resident of the centre she ran with assaulting her
yesterday. Justice Jack Nadelle passed down the ruling after
hearing the two-day public mischief trial of Cathy Fordham, 29, who in the
summer of 1998 ran the Vanier Community Support Centre, a residential
program used by courts to keep people out of the
justice system. "I didn't find Ms. Fordham to be a believable or
credible witness," the judge said before convicting her. "She changed her
testimony. She cried at strategic moments. Other times, she was combative."
Ms. Fordham will be sentenced Sept. 29. There is
no minimum sentence for people convicted of public mischief.
The conviction brings to an end an almost unbelievable series of events. In
August 1998, Ms. Fordham went to police saying she'd been beaten by Alan
Kamen, a former resident of the centre. She said the beating took place at
the Grotto of Notre Dames de Lourdes, an outdoor church at the end of
Montfort Street, and that another former resident, Phil Francois, was
present. Mr. Kamen slapped, punched and kicked her, Ms. Fordham said.
Police began an investigation and pictures taken at the time, showed her to
be
bruised. Following this, the Citizen ran a story detailing her claims. A
month later, police investigating the complaint found both men had solid
alibis. Judge Nadelle found Mr. Kamen's to be airtight. Mr. Kamen, who was
ill that day, spent the evening sleeping in a bedroom at his mother's
house. A friend of Mr. Kamen's mother testified that she was outside the
room watching television until about 2 a.m and did not see Mr. Kamen leave
the room. Also, Mr. Kamen's mother had an alarm system that would notify
her if any window or door was open without a code, which Mr. Kamen did not
have.
Mr. Francois spent the evening in a hotel room with a registered nurse who
works at the Ottawa Hospital and volunteers at the community centre, and a
receipt from the hotel was entered as evidence. Further, Ms. Fordham missed
two appointments with the investigating officer to talk about the case and
missed an appointment to take a lie detector test later on. Both men agreed
to take the test, and Mr. Francois passed. However, Mr. Kamen could not
take the test because medication he was taking would confuse the results.
These factors contributed to the laying of charges against Ms. Fordham.
Yesterday, the judge called Ms. Fordham's explanations for missing these
appointments "flimsy."
Earlier in the trial, Phil Francois told Justice Nadelle that Ms. Fordham
was a manipulative, money grabbing, welfare cheat who abused her power over
the residents of the centre constantly. "She would regularly exclaim, 'I am
the law,'" Mr. Francois said on the
witness stand in May. He said Ms. Fordham assaulted people, and extorted
them by keeping portions of their welfare money under the threat of calling
in phoney breaches of court orders to their probation and police officers.
She backed this up by doing so several times. He said she once took him
drinking at a local bar, then threatened to tell his probation officer.
Another time, he said, she woke up residents of the house at 3 a.m. when
her cat disappeared. "(She said) you're all going to jail if I don't find
my cat," Mr. Francois said.
Before the alleged assault, both men had complained to officials that Ms.
Fordham was abusing her power. This was her motive to frame them, they
said. The day before the supposed assault took place, police accompanied
Mr. Francois to the house, which he had left about a month earlier, to pick
up his belongings. Mr. Kamen was with them. Ms. Fordham said the men were
abusive when they entered the house, but a police officer's notes say Ms.
Fordham became angry and abusive while the men gathered his stuff.
Yesterday, testifying in her defence, Ms. Fordham maintained that Mr. Kamen
beat her that night. Under questioning from her defence lawyer, Geraldine
Castle-Trudel, Ms. Fordham began crying while describing how she was
stalked by both men and beaten by Mr. Kamen at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 13,
1998, and how afterwards she slunk home, hiding in parks, schools and
driveways. On cross-examination, assistant Crown attorney Debbie Hanscom
hammered Ms. Fordham on why she didn't show up for the polygraph test.
"You made up an excuse for not going to the appointment because you knew
you'd fail it," Ms. Hanscom said.
"No," replied Ms. Fordham. "I'd do one right now if it was requested. I
didn't try to re-schedule it right away and (the officer) didn't either.
When I did, he said it wouldn't be needed. I didn't make this up, they
assaulted me." Then, during the cross examination yesterday, Ms. Fordham
-- for the first time in two years -- added that after the beating, Mr.
Kamen forced her to
perform fellatio on him. In his ruling, Judge Nadelle cited this new
"serious" allegation, which came out while her story was unravelling on the
witness stand, as further evidence of fabrication on her part. After the
conviction, Mr. Francois, who sat through the entire proceeding, was still
angry about the incident but relieved by the verdict.
"Somebody had to stop her," he said. "I'm just glad she's going to be
forced to stop what she was doing. This is not the first time she accused
people of things they didn't do -- and some of those people went to jail
because of what she said. "She is a very dangerous woman." This is not the
end of criminal charges against Ms. Fordham. In February this year, another
charge of public mischief was laid against her. In that case, she is
accused of laying a police complaint against Susan Priestly for
intimidation. Her next appearance on that charge is mid-August.
*********
ASKS FOR PEN TIME, NOT JAIL TIME
Thursday 27 July 2000
The pros know cons of jail time
JANE DAVENPORT
The Montreal Gazette
When Michel Girard asked a Quebec Court judge to increase his
nine-month sentence to two years so he could serve it in a federal
penitentiary, some people blinked. But those in the know about provincial
and federal correctional systems didn't bat an eye.
"I think if I were in his shoes, I'd do the same thing," Marie Beemans of
the Prisoners Rights Committee said yesterday.
The difference between penitentiary and jail comes down to far more
than semantics. Convicted criminals must serve sentences of more than two
years in federal penitentiaries. A sentence of up to two years less a day
lands them in provincial jail. And no one knows better than someone facing
time "inside" what a difference that day can make. "If you have a client
who is looking at approximately two years, he is better to have two plus
one (day) than two minus one," said Magali Lepage, a defence lawyer at the
Montreal law firm Hebert, Bourque and Downs. Girard said in Hull on Tuesday
that he wanted to serve his sentence for breaking and entering in the
federal system because services available there are better than those
provided in provincial jail.
And he's not the only one who thinks so, Beemans said. "With budget cuts,
there are a lot fewer programs, and a lot of professionals have been pulled
out of the provincial system," she said.
It is common knowledge that federal institutions offer better services than
provincial ones precisely because they are designed to detain people for
terms longer than two years, Lepage explained.
Such provincial prisons as the north-end Bordeaux jail have resources
including literacy programs, a library and counseling, Beemans added.
But most inmates don't stay long enough to take advantage of a more
complete roster of services even if they were available, she said. The
average length of a stay in provincial jail is 30 days.
"If you're in a federal penitentiary, there are programs for people who
have drug-abuse problems, there are anger-management programs,
there are domestic-violence programs and life-skill programs," Beemans
said. Most of the programs take from six to eight months to complete, she
said, far longer than most people would spend in a provincial jail. "You
can't get a high-school diploma in jail," Beemans said. But judges
shouldn't start handing out longer sentences so convicts get access to
resources that might help them get their lives back on track, she added.
Provincial-government spending on the correctional system has fluctuated in
the past decade, but it has dropped from $230.7 million in the 1992-93
fiscal year to $223.7 million in 1998-99.
Beemans said the government should be working to ensure increased
availability of programs - through community-based institutions such as
halfway houses - to convicts sentenced to less than two years. When
convicts ask to go to penitentiary, Beemans said, "it's because
the government is not investing enough in the community programs."
********* BLACK & BLUE & SS TOO *********
# GRAND PRAIRIE RCMP OFFICER; PEDOPHILE ASSAULTS ON BOYS
Thursday, July 27, 2000 Ex-Mountie faces five sex charges in
relation to boys
By Edmonton Sun
GRANDE PRAIRIE -- A former Mountie has been accused of sexual assault on
young boys while he was a cop. The ex-officer, who cannot be named under a
court-ordered publication ban, faces five sex-related charges. Four relate
to allegations of incidents which occurred while he was a member of the
local detachment. The attacks allegedly occurred between 1984 and 1999. The
46-year-old man appeared in Grande Prairie provincial court yesterday,
sitting alone in the court audience until called to appear and stood
quietly and without expression as the charges were read. He reserved his
plea until Aug. 9 and was released on a promise to appear.
All of the offences involve male victims who were between the
ages of eight and 19 at the time. Their names are also under a
publication ban. The accused was an RCMP constable for 11 years, begining
in 1978, when he was posted in High Prairie. In 1984, he transferred to
Grande Prairie where he worked until leaving the force in 1989. RCMP began
investigating the case last March.
# DURHAM COPS IGNORED WARNING; FATHER & SON KILLED BY DRUNK
Wednesday, July 26, 2000 Cops under fire!
Allegations they didn't respond
By JASON BOTCHFORD, SUN MEDIA
TORONTO -- Durham Police are investigating allegations that
cops never responded to a 911 call Sunday warning them a man
whose licence was suspended for impaired driving was drunk and
getting on to a highway. Less than an hour later, Robert Bonenfant, 39 -
who had been arrested in Oshawa Friday for drinking and driving - died in a
crash on Hwy. 12 that also killed a father and his son.
The need for an internal probe has shocked and incensed the family
of Donald Gainer, 49, and his son Brian, 11, who were killed on
their way home from a cottage when Bonenfant's truck swerved
onto the shoulder before slamming into the Gainer's minivan just
northeast of Toronto. "It's unbelievable ..." said Donald's brother John,
40. "Right now, I have grave concerns with the Durham police force."
Family friend Catherine Millson, 43, is recovering after being injured in
the crash. Donald's wife, Eva, 41, is in stable condition in hospital. The
probe was spurred by Catherine Caines, who filed a citizen's complaint
Monday alleging police neglect when no officers came to her Oshawa home
after two 911 calls.
Caines was Bonenfant's friend and had been helping him as he
coped with a divorce. Caines, 46, and Bonenfant's relatives in Sault Ste.
Marie, said the construction foreman had struggled with alcohol abuse but
was clean for two years. He began drinking again recently after his
marriage collapsed, she said. Before Bonenfant was arrested early Friday,
his wife, Caroline, had alerted police that he was drinking and driving.
Bonenfant was pulled over around the corner from their Oshawa home, his
driver's licence was suspended for 90 days and he was later released with
an Aug. 21 court date.
Thursday, July 27, 2000 Cop centre of probe
911 alerted to drunk driver before fatal crash
By JASON BOTCHFORD, TORONTO SUN
Durham police say their internal probe into a fatal crash will
focus on what happened with an Oshawa cop who was near a possible drunk
driver when a 911 caller warned police. The officer was on duty Sunday at
Oshawa's Beau Valley Public School for an hour when Cathy Caines told a 911
dispatcher that her friend, Robert Bonenfant, had been drinking and was
about to drive to Sault Ste. Marie.
HEAD-ON CRASH
Bonenfant, 39, died less than an hour later when he swerved his
truck into an oncoming minivan on Hwy. 12 north of Port Perry.
The head-on crash also killed Donald Gainer, 49, and his son,
Brian, 11. Gainer's wife, Eva, and friend, Catherine Millson, are in
stable condition. Caines has filed a complaint alleging police neglect
because no cops went to her home after two 911 calls, even though she could
see a police cruiser at the nearby school.
Police said Caines' first call was at 5:23 p.m. and a cruiser was
dispatched at 5:25 p.m. -- reportedly not the one at Beau Valley.
When Caines called 911 again at 5:28 p.m. and said Bonenfant
had just left, police decided against going to her home. "It was very
likely that (going to her home) would not have made a difference," said
Sgt. Jim Grimley. "It would always be better to
try and find the truck." Durham police said yesterday they weren't aware
the driver was Bonenfant, who had his licence suspended last Friday when he
was arrested for impaired driving. Grimley said an investigation will
concentrate on the whereabouts of the cruiser at the school after the 911
call and if other police could have been diverted. Police refused to say
why the officer was at the school, saying it's part of the coroner's review
of the case.
Durham police broadcast Bonenfant's truck and plates over radios but never
passed on the information to the OPP, who later received several calls
about a swerving truck. They were following Bonenfant when he crashed. "We
would normally contact the OPP if someone was heading south and toward
(Hwy.) 401 but (Bonenfant) was last seen going north," Grimley said. The
Durham police investigation is one of three into the collision. The OPP are
looking into the accident and are helping a coroner's probe.
CHIEF CORONER ON CASE
"The case certainly deserves serious consideration because of the
nature of the accident, the suspended licence, the possibility of
drinking and the police involvement," said James Young, Ontario's
chief coroner. Young said his office, along with Oshawa's regional coroner,
will pore over evidence and wait for Bonenfant's toxicology results before
making any decisions about an inquiry.
# CALGARY COP: DRUNK DRIVING MURDERS
Thursday, July 27, 2000 A dad's private thoughts of grief
By RICK BELL, CALGARY SUN
Wayne Kauffeldt, dad of 17 year-old Amy who was killed last
year by he-was-hammered-but-he-sure-looked-sober-to-us Const.
Brian Hanson, is a man who measures his every word. But even Wayne has his
limits. "In my private moments as a dad, I have all sorts of thoughts,"
says Wayne, outside the fatality inquiry into the collision killing Amy,
her friend Gareth Hackett and Hanson who drove the wrong way down Hwy. 22X
with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. "But I will keep
them private. I'm numb to all this now. And there is still the big
question. How could Brian Hanson be in his condition without anyone
knowing? Right now, we get a lot of I don't see and I didn't know." Wayne
hopes for the best. He believes in the system. "I wouldn't go so far as to
say there is lying. I wouldn't go that far," says the visibly heartbroken
dad who sits in the front row of court, pen and binder in hand, scribbling
notes and comforting wife Laura.
"But it is disappointing we cannot arrive at more definitive facts.
The answers are less than completely forthcoming. We've come up
a little short." We listen yesterday and find out that right after the
collision, the cops called in the traffic boys. The big boss of traffic is
out of town, so the police phone the acting staff sergeant, one Clive
Marsh, who, wouldn't you know it, just
happens to be the host of the party where Hanson had been three
sheets to the wind. Our Clive is on the stand, hands behind his back, and
he tells us he's a man who likes to be in control. He doesn't drink much, a
few beers and a couple glasses of vino at this party. Clive can still
drive. He is sober enough to tell Hanson wasn't lit up like a Christmas
tree. In fact, when he hears his buddy Brian is three times over the legal
limit he can't believe the numbers. Anyway, the police send a car to pick
Clive up. Clive meets with an inspector, who is also acting deputy chief of
police, and guess what? The inspector says it appears Clive has tippled his
share. He smells strongly of booze. His eyes are bloodshot, his speech
slurred. "I just went into shock," says Clive, of his attitude at the
accident. He is asked to explain how Hanson was three times the limit and
nobody spotted it. The question is ruled out of order. Clive later says:
"I'm not an expert on alcohol consumption." No kidding.
Police witnesses say fellow cop Clive talks of designated drivers.
Clive's answers on this matter are illuminating in their own way.
They include: "I don't recall" and later, "No sir, I don't recall" and
later again, "I don't recall" and, once more with feeling,"I don't recall."
Our Clive isn't done. He says everyone, including him, is a victim in all
of what happened. No one cries. Yes, Clive never manages to see Hanson's
truck even though he's right outside on the street after the party. Clive
is told to stay at arm's length from the investigation but manages to talk
to the other two cops who were at the party as well as Hanson's gal pal,
who was also at the funfest. They all know about the carnage before the
parents of the dead kids. The gal pal is even at the scene. "To a parent's
heart it's a violation, an insult. It's strange the others at the party
were notified so quickly. There's a question in my mind
what conversations took place. But I won't go there," says Wayne.
Yes, we see the box of Hanson's 15 Bud empties and the squashed
spent can of Kokanee found in Hanson's truck. We see Clive leave
the stand and go back to his duties.
"I don't know. I just continue to be sad," says dad Wayne. It is that kind
of day.
# DONATIONS TO TORONTO POLICE FORCE
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
A gift horse named Boots
By SCOT MAGNISH, Toronto Sun
Former police chief David Boothby is retired, but his devotion to
the force goes on. Just months after donating $25,000 to build a police
chapel, Boothby has offered $5,530 to the force's mounted unit to buy
another horse. Boothby, who retired in February and now fills his days
golfing and fishing, said both donations were to "give something back" to
the men and women he spent his career with.
But the horse has a "special significance." "I was never on the mounted
unit but I used to go down to the stables and ride every chance I got," he
said, adding his only stipulation is that the new horse be named "Boots."
Boothby is already the third-largest benefactor the force has had this
year. Nesbitt Burns made $277,827.67 in office space available to the force
and Crime Stoppers donated a $50,000 bus.
Michael Newton
JUDGE TO RULE ON CHILD PROSTITUTION LAW
Friday, July 28, 2000 Judge to rule on child hooker law
By PETER SMITH, CALGARY SUN
A Calgary judge is expected to rule today on whether Alberta's
controversial child prostitution law gives police too much power.
The law -- aimed at helping to eliminate prostitution among
juveniles -- gives police the power to take young girls off the
street and put them in safe houses for up to 72 hours. Since it was
introduced in February 1999, police have used the law in 343 cases,
including 70 in Calgary, all but two being young girls.
The legal challenge came from two 17-year-old girls taken off the
street in Calgary. Lawyers representing the girls argued that the law
violates the Charter of Rights, and oversteps the provincial powers. The
law enables police to keep girls off the streets for 72 hours without
charges, in the hopes they can be persuaded to leave the sex-trade. In the
legislation, the juvenile is referred to as a victim of sexual abuse rather
than as a prostitute. Supporters of the act see the locking up of the
juvenile for 72 hours as protecting them from both the johns who would
otherwise use them, and from pimps.
Saturday, July 29, 2000 CHILD SEX LAW TURFED
Can't incarcerate prostitutes for their own protection
By PETER SMITH, CALGARY SUN
Police can no longer lock up juvenile hookers for their own safety,
after a Calgary judge struck down the province's controversial child
prostitution law. Judge Karen Jordan ruled yesterday that locking up
juvenile prostitutes for 72 hours -- for their own protection -- violated
their charter rights. Striking down the law was described by its proponents
as a sad and black day for the province. Calgary Deputy Police Chief Rick
Hanson said it removed a
"crucial" tool in protecting children. The ruling also brought great
disappointment to Calgary Tory MLA Heather Forsyth, who championed the
legislation.
But the judge's decision was hailed as a victory by the lawyer representing
two teenaged girls who'd been locked up for 72 hours
and fought the law. "I feel this is a victory for young people who find
themselves victims of sexual abuse," said Bina Border, the girls' lawyer.
"These are victims of sexual abuse and we don't lock up victims."
The judge said the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution
Act, introduced in February, 1999, violated the charter rights of
children because three of its provisions lacked necessary
procedural safeguards. "I am satisfied the offending provisions in the act
cannot be justified in a free and democratic society," she said in her
24-page written judgment. Forsyth said, despite the law being struck down,
the province would continue to fight to protect children. She said she'd
discuss the province's next step with Premier Ralph Klein and the ministers
involved. "This is a sad day for the province," she said. "I have to say I
feel sorry for the children in this province -- I've taken hundreds of
calls,
including some this morning, from parents thanking us and others
begging for help." Forsyth said the premier strongly supported the
legislation and appealing the judge's ruling was one option that may be
considered when it's discussed Monday.
Children's Services Minister Iris Evans called it a dark day, saying she
was confident the province could retool the law, or introduce a new one.
Hanson said city police will be discussing the ruling with the justice
department to see how it will affect how they operate. "We view this act as
crucial for the protection and safety of children," he said. "This statute
allows police officers to intervene in cases of child sexual abuse."
Simonne Walsh of the Streets Team agency, which works to help
child prostitutes, said as a result of the ruling she was afraid for girls
on the street.
Sunday, July 30, 2000 A deadly profession
Judge likes spirit of child-hooker law
By PETER SMITH, CALGARY SUN
Child-hookers face death at the hands of pimps or johns, says
the same judge who struck down the province's law aimed at
saving the young girls. Judge Karen Jordan's 24-page ruling Friday
instantly took away the police powers of locking child-hookers up for three
days to protect them. But, despite her own ruling, the judge has told the
province she realizes the purpose behind what the controversial law was
trying to achieve is valid.
"There are valid reasons for trying to eliminate prostitution in
which children are involved," said Jordan in her ruling. "Prostitution is a
dangerous enterprise -- female participants,
whether children or adult, are subject to serious harm or even
death at the hands of both pimps and johns." Jordan also warned alcoholism
and drug addiction were widespread within the trade, and the risk of
sexually-transmitted disease was so high as to be a significant public
health risk. But Jordan ruled three provisions of the Protection of
Children Involved in Prostitution Act contravened the charter rights of the
very children it was trying to protect -- so the act had to go.
Premier Ralph Klein will be meeting tomorrow with Calgary MLA Heather
Forsyth, who championed the law, and the ministers involved to discuss how
the legislation could be revived. One option is for the province to appeal
the judge's ruling to higher courts.
But Liberal opposition critic Sue Olsen is urging the province not
to waste money with appeals. "The intent of this legislation is very sound
and so I would encourage the government to look at amending it in the fall
session as opposed to spending money to battle it in the courts again," she
said. "Let's make a law aligned with the Charter, a law we can work with."
Meanwhile, the two teenaged girls who started the controversy by
challenging the law when police locked them away in a safe house
for three days, have gone different ways, said their lawyer Bina
Border. One girl -- now 18 -- still lives in Calgary, but no longer has
anything to do with the sex-trade. "She is doing extremely well," said
Border. The other girl has apparently disappeared, and Border hasn't seen
or heard from her in weeks. City police took 70 young girls off the streets
for their own safety since February 1999, when the act was introduced.
Senior officers must now discuss how the police will react to the judge's
ruling with lawyers for the Justice Department
Sunday, July 30, 2000 Child hooker outrage
Mom says tossed-out Alberta law might've saved daughter's life
By NICOLE BERGOT and PETER SMITH, SUN MEDIA
An angry Lynn Karpetz says child prostitution legislation that
was struck down this week has to be resurrected to save kids
from the deadly fate that stole her daughter who began hooking at
16. "It's a bad move. Now there will be more girls lost in the shuffle,"
said Karpetz, who believes the legislation turfed Friday by a judge would
have saved the life of her daughter, Georgette Flint. Flint was 19 when
her half-naked body was found decomposed
near Elk Island Park Sept. 13, 1988. The exact cause of death
was never determined. But Judge Karen Jordan's 24-page ruling Friday
instantly took away police powers to lock up child hookers for up to 72
hours, take them to safe houses and charge johns with child abuse, said
Karpetz. The only ones to gain from the decision will be child predators.
"The drug dealers, the pimps, the johns will like it," she said.
City police and RCMP are also denouncing the ruling. Acting
police chief Bob Wasylyshen said the decision will hamper the
efforts of cops trying to protect children. "It will be back to square
one," Wasylyshen said. RCMP Const. Bruce Bracken called the decision a
step backwards. "It's too bad for those kids out there because as far as
I'm concerned it was intended to get them off the street and it was
working." Karen Smith, from Edmonton's Sexual Assault Centre, said she too
is "shocked and disappointed" by the decision. "The kids I've come in
contact with certainly say they feel it's helped and given them kind of a
breather to re-evaluate what's going on in their lives and make some
positive changes," she said. "The whole idea is to steer them away from
that kind of a life. And if it's not going to be profitable for the pimp,
he's not going to be interested in recruiting those kids ... now I'm sure
there are some johns who are saying, 'Great I can have my young
prostitute. It will be easier to get them again.' "
And, despite her own ruling, the judge has told the province she
realizes the purpose behind what the controversial law was trying
to achieve is valid. "Prostitution is a dangerous enterprise - female
participants, whether children or adult, are subject to serious harm or
even death at the hands of both pimps and johns," she said in her ruling.
snip
********
DISC PROGRAM
DISC program up and running
City residents concerned rights are being trammelled
By Staff - The Chronicle-Journal Thunder Bay 7/28
When Thunder Bay Police launched the Deter and Identify Sex Trade Consumers
(DISC) program, it became the 14th jurisdiction in Canada and the first in
Ontario to do so. But some people have concerns that police are
overstepping their authority in the plan to acquire personal information on
sex trade consumers and then send a Dear John letter to their home.
On the streets of Thunder Bay, opinion is split on whether it’s right
that the police take this step. "That's not a good thing," said Perry
Neumann when the plan was explained to him in light of the fact only
soliciting for a prostitute is a crime. "This is a free country is it not?"
he added. "I don't feel this is right." Neumann pointed out that he has
friends who are police officers and he respects the work they do. Others
felt the same way.
"My immediate reaction is it's sort of an invasion of privacy," Monika
Cornec said. "It's an absolute violation of privacy, that's all, isn't it?"
She wondered how police would determine who were availing themselves of a
prostitute without it becoming form of discrimination.
Shandy Treble, a Saskatchewan resident currently working in the region,
said there were prostitutes working in a neighbourhood he lived in and he
understands the problems they can bring to the streets. Still, he gave this
plan a thumbs down. "I don't like it," he said. "You can nail someone for
the wrong reason."
As civil liberty advocates have suggested, he feels the problem can be
eliminated by allowing prostitutes to set up shop in a designated area
where this activity can occur between consenting adults. But the activity
being what it is, others applaud the move to put pressure on those who
prowl the streets and tie up traffic looking for such services. "I think
that's a good idea. It will work," Ryan Classen said. However, he conceded
that sending a letter to someone's house could lead to a lot of problems if
the wrong person saw its contents. In a way, that might be a good thing,
though, said Kasia Krapic. "I would want to know if my husband was out
doing that," she said with a laugh.
The concern about having been with a prostitute and possibly contracting a
disease such as AIDS means a man's partner needs to be informed, she said.
But she prefers to see stringent requirements placed on police before they
take this step, which could cause emotional upheaval in a family.
Other people who spoke with The Chronicle-Journal suggested this was an
infringement of basic human rights. Also, they said the so-called world's
oldest profession wasn't going to go away and society should try to find
ways to make it less visible and offensive to local residents.
By Staff - The Chronicle-Journal
July 28, 2000
The new computer software called DISC — Deter and Identify Sex Trade
Consumers has been in operation for about six weeks. And what are the
results so far?
Const. Ken Lewis, the Simpson Street neighbourhood police officer using the
program, says police have got a few names of men that have been caught
consorting with prostitutes. And have police caught a man a second time and
sent a letter to his house?
"No. Not yet," Lewis said. "It hasn't been long enough to be sending
letters out to anybody."
Lewis cautioned that police have very stringent rules about how they
determine someone is trying to solicit a prostitute. Usually, if a man has
a good explanation for what he's doing, there isn't a problem. "If they're
not involved (in soliciting for sex), they're not entered in the system,"
Lewis said.
But how much of a problem is prostitution in Thunder Bay? Police statistics
show a significant decline in the number of prostitution-related charges
laid, from 33 in 1994 to 13 in 97 to none in 1998.
"That could be for any number of reasons," police spokesman Andy Weiler
said of the trend. "But I don't know why 98 was zero."
Statistics for 1999 were unavailable.
From the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS.
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom
of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
'Dear John' letters may go out to those consorting with sex workers
By Julio Gomes - The Chronicle-Journal
July 28, 2000
Thunder Bay Police have launched a new program to cut down on the nuisance
associated with the presence of prostitutes on city streets. But social
advocates say the effort is morally reprehensible and a violation of civil
liberties. The program, called Deter and Identify Sex Trade Consumers
(DISC), was developed by Vancouver vice squad officers to monitor and track
who's selling sex and who is buying it. In Thunder Bay, the DISC program is
being overseen by Const. Ken Lewis, the Simpson Street neighbourhood police
officer. It calls for police to keep a database of people involved in the
sex trade and those who frequent prostitutes.
Because prostitutes tend to move around a lot, DISC allows police to track
their movements from city to city, Lewis said. As well, it can be used in
major crime investigations, such as murder or assault. However, a
significant aspect of the program is that when a sex trade consumer is
spotted for the second time in the company of a prostitute, a letter is
sent to the person's residence stating they have been observed and
identified as being in an area frequented by prostitutes. "I constantly get
complaints of people being down here unnecessarily," Lewis said, adding
that often young woman not involved in the sex trade are hassled by
individuals driving through the area. "Hopefully it will decrease the
unwanted traffic involved in the sex trade and make the community a safer
place."
But others are opposed to this program. In Vancouver, where it was
introduced two years ago, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
has filed a formal complaint with the province's Information and Privacy
Commissioner. John Westwood, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive
director, has prepared a detailed position paper on the issue. He concedes
police have the legal authority to stop a car on the grounds they believe a
crime is being committed, and he does not oppose the use of information in
a major investigation. But sending a letter out and the resulting level of
potential exposure and stigma for a man caught consorting with a prostitute
amounts to an invasion of privacy, he says.
As well, sending a letter to his house and having the wife and kids read it
could be devastating on the marriage and the man's social life. Westwood
says that by undertaking this program, police have assumed powers arguably
not given them by law. Such a scheme, he contends, violates civil
liberties. To eliminate the nuisance problem associated with street
prostitution, he says prostitutes should be allowed to ply their trade in a
place that ensures privacy. "The cities and municipalities should be
regulating street prostitution in the same way they regulate massage
parlours and escort agencies," Westwood told The Chronicle-Journal. "They
should regulate it like any other business."
********
DAYCARE OPERATORS CHARGED, SEXUAL ASSAULT TEEN BOYS
Daycare couple charged
Barbara McLintock, The Vancouver Province July 28
VICTORIA -- A couple who used to operate a daycare have been charged with
sexual abuse of two teenage boys. Teresa Basil and her husband Gilbert
also face charges of breaching a court order stipulating that they stay
away from one of the boys and from the
staff of a group home where the two boys were supposed to live.
The couple at one point made inquiries about becoming foster parents for
one of the teens.
The children and families ministry nixed that idea. Officials said they
were concerned because the boy, who had problems of his own, was regularly
in the same home as the preschoolers attending the daycare. Concerns about
the couple's home were first raised in the fall of 1997. Group-home staff
were worried about the large amounts of time some of their teenagers were
spending at the couple's nearby residence -- and some of the stories they
told on their return.
When daycare licensing officers learned the troubled teen, and others, were
regularly in the home, a licence hearing was held in December 1997. It
heard that social workers had concluded the couple were "a bad influence"
on the teenagers. According to the judgment at the licensing hearing, a
social worker specifically warned the couple about the potential dangers of
mixing the
troubled teen with the preschool children -- but the couple continued to
allow him to virtually live in their home.
In February 1998, regional medical health officer Dr. Richard Stanwick
cancelled the daycare licence, describing the couple's decision to allow
the teenager to remain after the warning as "unacceptable (and)
reprehensible." Several months later, the ministry applied for the
no-contact court order which was granted by Provincial Court Judge Judith
Kay in January 1999. The current charges allege Teresa Basil sexually
abused the boy before his
14th birthday, between August and November 1997.
She and her husband are charged with sexually exploiting the boy, after his
14th birthday, from November 1997 to November 1999.
They are also charged with sexually exploiting another boy over the age of
14 from May 1997 through September 1997. Both are also charged with
breaching the no-contact order between January
1999 and December 1999. Both have elected trial by judge and jury and have
been released on bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for
December.
********
SWAT TEAM CALLED IN, CAS WANTED 2 YEAR OLD
Friday, July 28, 2000
YOUR CITY By Ottawa Sun Staff
TACTICAL TEAM CALLED IN TO TAKE TODDLER INTO CAS CARE
A police tactical squad was called to a west-end apartment yesterday after
a mother refused to give up her young son to Children's Aid Society
workers. The workers arrived to take the two-year-old boy at 11:30 a.m. but
were denied access to the apartment by his aunt, who called the boy's
mother at work. When the mother arrived she took the child into a bedroom
and refused to come out. Officers were able to negotiate the handover of
the boy at about 3 p.m. Police said the tactical team was called as a
precaution.
********
TWO TAIWANESE SISTERS STABBED, ONE MURDERED
Friday, July 28, 2000 Black van spotted at murder scene
Intruder stabs 2 Taiwanese sisters in basement flat
By BRIAN GRAY, Toronto Sun
Neighbours of two "pleasant, innocent-looking" teenage sisters
who were stabbed early yesterday morning are wondering
whether a van parked behind their building is the key to solving
the mystery. When Jackie Stephens' boyfriend drove her home from work at
2:30 a.m. Thursday, a black van was parked in her spot in the
Sheppard-Bayview Aves. neighbourhood. When her roommate, Jesse Novoa,
arrived home about an hour later police had surrounded the building to the
east. The next morning the pair noticed a screen had been knocked off the
window of their basement apartment and notified police, Novoa, 20, said.
Later, he said, they noticed their VCR, Sony Playstation and a Sony Discman
were also missing.
"Nothing ever happens around here," said Stephens, 22,. "But
now I'm moving to the Yukon." Stephens said she slept through the horror
going on only metres away. And Dave Logan, 41, a third-floor resident in
the girls' building who described himself as a light sleeper usually
disturbed by neighbours' loud voices, said he hadn't heard anything either.
He said he had seen the sisters and the people they were staying with but
never spoke with them.
"They were very pleasant, kind of innocent-looking. They struck
me as not being street-wise," he said.
July 29, 2000 Parents here with stabbed daughter
Police hope she can ID sister's killer
By GEORGE CHRISTOPOULOS and IAN ROBERTSON -- Toronto Sun
The parents of a murdered Taiwanese teen had a tearful reunion
last night with her 14-year-old sister who survived a savage knife
attack. Homicide detectives rushed Teresa Wu's parents to her
Sunnybrook hospital bedside after they landed at Pearson airport
about 7:30 p.m. A Taiwanese official confirmed Teresa was able to speak
with her visibly upset parents late last night as community members kept a
vigil outside her hospital room. The schoolgirl, who is believed to have
made a desperate phone call after the murderous rampage in their home, may
hold the key to identifying her attacker and killer of Tina, 18, early
Thursday. The parents' meeting with their surviving daughter was "too
emotional," so police postponed attempts to interview Teresa until today,
Toronto Police homicide Det. Gary Giroux said. Giroux said Teresa, a month
shy of her 15th birthday, "is still in a great deal of pain" from multiple
stab wounds, but was upgraded yesterday to fair condition and moved out of
intensive care.
Giroux said police are hoping the presence of her parents "might
ease the shock" and help Teresa describe what happened to her
and Tina in the attack two days ago in their basement apartment
on Sheppard Ave. E. Tina was fatally stabbed several times by an intruder
who broke in about 3 a.m. through a ground-level window of their flat near
Bayview Ave. "I'm hoping she's going to tell me if this was a sexual
assault motivation or if it was a break and enter gone bad ... we just
don't know at this time," Giroux said earlier.
He said police have no clear indication of what provoked the
attacks but are confident the recovering girl will lead them in the
right direction. Police have no motive or suspect descriptions.
Police said they have not determined whether the girls were
sexually assaulted, but the sex assault squad was called in after
Teresa told a guardian that a sex assault had taken place.
Although Giroux wouldn't say a deadly rapist is on the loose, he
warned of the dangers of leaving basement or first-floor windows
open. Officers were called to the building after a girl, most likely
Teresa, alerted an aunt by phone. Giroux refused to reveal what was said
during the frantic call made moments after the stabbings. He said the
attacks were so violent there "is no doubt" the killer left with blood on
his clothing. "This is one of the most violent criminal scenes that I've
ever attended," Giroux told reporters, including a news crew from Taiwan.
STAYING WITH AUNT
Giroux said both girls arrived in Canada July 1 to study English
for the summer and were scheduled to return home at the end of
August. They were staying with an aunt, Sen Hu, a five-year
tenant. "They were traditional Taiwanese girls ... brought up in a strict
environment and were very study-oriented," Giroux said.
Kirk Lin, executive director of Taiwanese Canadian Services
Association of Ontario, said community members have gathered
to pray for teens. Tina was studying at the University of Toronto while
Teresa was enrolled at the Hansa Language Centre, studying English since
July 12. Antonio Chen, director general of the Taipei economic and cultural
office in Toronto, broke the terrible news to the girls' father. He said
the man's first reaction was disbelief. "Toronto is such a safe city, how
can it happen? How can it happen to these two girls?" Chen quoted the dad
as saying. The information director for Chen's office said the murders
rocked Taiwanese perceptions of Canada. "We think this city is safe, it's
clean," David Lee said. "This really brings us a big shock." -- Files by
Rob Granatstein, Alan Findlay and Kevin Masterman
********
JOHN PETER SPITZNER (56) SHOT BY RCMP, CHASING WIFE WITH RIFLE
Friday, July 28, 2000 ARMED MAN GUNNED DOWN
Mountie opens fire as woman flees suspect
By NICOLE BERGOT, EDMONTON SUN
A man with a shotgun chasing a terrified woman was gunned down early
yesterday by a Mountie who hit him with four shots. "He had to shoot to try
and immobilize the person," said RCMP Insp. Peter Wlodarczak. "The member
reacted immediately to a volatile situation. Life was in peril." The armed
man was pursuing the woman outside an opulent
Sherwood Park home when the Mountie opened fire. The man is recovering from
wounds to his buttocks and upper legs in the Royal Alexandra Hospital after
the 1 a.m. incident.
Sherwood Park RCMP have charged a 56-year-old man with the attempted murder
of his wife. One of the couple's two daughters, aged 17 and 20, is believed
to have made the frantic 911 call reporting an out-of-control family fight
involving a gun inside the home at 170 Roseburn Estates three kilometres
south of Sherwood Park at 1:13 a.m., said police. A 10-year RCMP veteran
pulled up to neighbour Maria Keirstead's driveway when the woman burst from
the house with
the man in pursuit, said Wlodarczak. The officer pushed the woman aside,
shouting at her to take cover in a bush as the man fired the shotgun once,
apparently oblivious to the cop's presence, he said.
The Mountie ordered the man to drop the gun at least four times
before firing. "We don't want to hurt anybody but under the circumstances
we had to use force," said Wlodarczak. Mounties carry 9-mm Smith and Wesson
pistols with clips that hold 15 rounds.
The officer may have fired up to eight shots, said neighbours.
Wlodarczak would not say how many shots were fired. He said the officer
rushed to the side of the downed man and seized the shotgun just as three
backup units arrived. The woman, the couple's 13-year-old son and their
daughters were not physically harmed. Yesterday afternoon the family
returned to the house to collect personal items before leaving to stay with
friends. RCMP will investigate, but Wlodarczak has made his call. "After
viewing the scene, hearing the circumstances and knowing what happened, I
have no doubt whatsoever the investigation will prove he was totally
justified ...." The officer will likely be back on duty in the next week.
Neighbour Keirstead expressed dismay at the violence in the
secluded, upscale neighbourhood. "I heard gunfire, a bit of talking ...
it's just strange, very, very strange," she said. Resident Mary Schneider
said the rich aren't immune from domestic violence.
"It surprises me but I know that when people get stressed out
things like this can happen to anybody, regardless of their income
level," she said, adding she's just glad nobody "was caught in the
crossfire. "Oh, those poor kids. It must be so hard on them, especially at
that age. "They're going to be so embarrassed." ??
John Peter Spitzner, 56, has been charged with attempted murder and several
weapons offences are pending.
Saturday, July 29, 2000
Friends, neighbours shocked after assessor shot by cops
By NICOLE BERGOT, EDMONTON SUN
A well-to-do real estate assessor gunned down by police after an
alleged attempted murder of his wife is known to colleagues as a
friendly man and solid citizen. John Peter Spitzner, 56, was charged after
a Sherwood Park RCMP officer responding to a 1 a.m. domestic dispute on
Thursday opened fire on a man chasing his wife with a loaded shotgun. The
man was struck four times in the buttocks and upper legs after firing one
shot as he pursued his wife up a neighbour's winding driveway, ignoring the
cop's demands that he drop his weapon. Rick Lemieux, who works with
realtor Judy Spitzner in the Sherwood Park ReMax office, was stunned to
hear about the shooting yesterday. "I'm surprised, shocked. I've known John
for 25 years and I find he's always been a very stable individual," said
Lemieux. "I think he's got a strong character and Judy seems to be a nice
person."
The couple's three children - two daughters, aged 17 and 20, and a
13-year-old son - were not harmed in the melee at their posh 170
Roseburn Estates acreage home, about three kilometres south of
Sherwood Park. The couple have lived in the two-storey brick bungalow for
over a decade. Judy started working as a realtor a year ago. Fellow real
estate appraiser Jim Wall said Spitzner is as
level-headed as they come.
"I've known him over the years in business and I used to see him
once in a while, like at Costco. He's a good fella to talk to; a very
reasonable guy. You just wouldn't picture him doing that."
Spitzner remains in stable condition in Edmonton's Royal Alexandra
Hospital. He has asked for a lawyer and will face a judge on Aug. 2 from
his hospital bed, said Sherwood Park RCMP Insp. Peter Wlodarczak. Several
weapons charges are pending.
********
TERRY ARNOLD SERIAL MURDERER, PEDOPHILE
Friday, July 28, 2000 Picture brings back bad memories
Murderer suspected in death of former city woman's sister
By DAVIS SHEREMATA, EDMONTON SUN
Seeing the face of convicted killer Terry Arnold in yesterday's
Sun brought back a lot of bad memories for former Edmontonian
Carol Ferguson. Arnold - suspected in several murders in the U.S. - is also
the main suspect in the 1988 murder of Ferguson's sister, Roberta Marie. "I
was quite upset when I read it," said the 41-year-old Ferguson yesterday.
She had to take a day off work when she saw Arnold's picture in the
newspaper last month. "I pray every day that we can lay this case to rest."
Ferguson said Roberta lived with her in Edmonton after their mother fell
ill in 1982, but moved in with a sister living in Surrey, B.C., to finish
high school. Roberta was 19 when she was last seen getting into a car Aug.
24, 1988, at a campground near Chilliwack, B.C.
Arnold, 38, is serving a life sentence for the 1987 killing of
16-year-old Christine Browne, near Kelowna, B.C. He's also a
suspect in the 1981 unsolved murder of 16-year-old Barbara
Stoppel and the 1987 death of Calgary teen Denise Lapierre.
Ferguson still holds out hope that her little sister is alive.
"There's no evidence that she's dead. After so many years, you'd
think she would be," said Ferguson, who now lives in Fairview,
558 km northwest of Edmonton. "But there are also people who have gone
missing for 10 or 20 years and shown up ... This is my sister we're talking
about. "I can go on living day to day, but you can never put it aside -
not until you have her remains and can bury her, so we can say goodbye."
City police will speak to investigators and try to establish if Arnold was
ever in Edmonton and compare that time to any unsolved homicides, said
police spokesman Wes Bellmore. "It's a routine thing that has not yet
begun," Bellmore said. "He's in custody. He's not going anywhere."
**********
# TORONTO COPS NOT DOING ENOUGH: RAPE VICTIM
Friday, July 28, 2000 Police don't do enough: Rape victim
By ZEN RURYK AND SCOT MAGNISH, CITY HALL BUREAU toronto Sun
Toronto Police have failed to take enough action to protect
women from violence and abuse, a group of counsellors and
academics charged yesterday. "The fact that the police have disengaged is
why we are here," said Jane Doe, who sued police in 1998 for failing to
inform her about a serial rapist who sexually assaulted her in 1986. "The
bigger question is what are we doing as a community about the fact the
chief of police, an employee of the city, has disengaged and is not
listening to what the entire community is stating loudly and clearly and
has been doing historically?" asked Doe. She said dozens of recommendations
needed to improve the way police deal with crimes of violence against
females have not been implemented.
Fantino said: "I just categorically discount that we would not or
did not or are not doing anything about these issues." The recommendations
stem from five inquests and reports, including a review of how police dealt
with Doe. She said the city-ordered report into her case made 57
recommendations, but only a couple were implemented. Doe said the force has
extended hours of operation for the sex assault squad and boosted the
number of officers, but none of the new ones got the training recommended
in the report.
#######
# MILITARY MAN: PLOT TO KILL ESTRANGED WIFE
Man's trial for murder plot set
Halifax Daily News July 29
A Halifax man goes to trial next spring on charges of plotting to kill his
estranged wife. Clement Poulin of 733B Herring Cove Rd. is accused of
counselling James Carey between June 18 and 26 to murder his wife Mary
Jane. Poulin, a 37-year-old steward with CFB Halifax, was released on an
undertaking in June to stay away from Mary Jane. His trial begins April 23,
2001, and is expected to last three days.
# EX DIVISION 52 COP NOW OWNER OF STRIP CLUB
July 29, 2000 Ex-cop loves the daily grind
By JOE WARMINGTON -- Toronto Sun
The lights are dim and dozens of beautiful women dance closely
throughout the packed Yonge St. establishment. "It depends on the girl,"
says one guy on how "good" a dance you'll get. "You've got to watch and
rate them yourself." The key words are "no grinding and no touching." And
if you are wondering if there's a cop at this strip club paying attention,
you don't have to look any further than the front door. As patrons of the
Brass Rail already know, at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds you won't miss Dan
Markovic, who just a month ago was a 52 Division cop. But as of his
retirement June 30 after 23 years he became part owner and manager of the
famous club, which had prostitution charges thrown out this year.
Kind of a strange career change for a former morality squad cop. "It's a
little different," jokes the former World Strongman competitor. "But I am a
people person, I used to run a Golden
Griddle."
He's got a great sense of humour and for such a big guy he seems
gentle. "He's nice but he's real tough," quips dancer Brandi, who
said seven strippers were kicked out this week. "I will not tolerate (bad
behaviour) and they know it," says Dan, who once saved Margaret Thatcher
from an attacker. Those seven were allowing their breasts to be touched.
Standing nearby, his former drug squad partner Ed Blaha laughs. When Dan
told him of his plans he said he didn't think it was such a good idea.
However, he said, if anyone can make it work, it's Dan. "He was
a good cop, one of the best," says Ed, adding nothing "illegal" will occur
because he'll watch everyone "like a hawk." And, you get the impression,
he'd have an idea of how to put you in a headlock.
********
JEFFREY SCOTT LEWIS, FREED ON BAIL
Friday, July 28, 2000 Man wanted in sex-slave case freed
By SUN MEDIA
WINNIPEG -- A man wanted in the United States in a case
involving sex-slave allegations and a body dug up near a mobile
home, was freed from jail yesterday. Jeffrey Scott Lewis, a former resident
of Belleville, Ont., is wanted in South Dakota on a charge of harbouring an
illegal alien, Robert Lee Warner, originally of Guelph, Ont. Warner's body
was found just west of Rowena, S.D., in April 1997. Lewis's wife, Barbara,
49, is serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to the harbouring
charge. Lewis fled the country upon learning of her arrest. Earlier this
week in Winnipeg, Crown prosecutor David Frayer said he wouldn't pursue
extradition proceedings against Lewis. U.S. authorities failed to provide
enough information to warrant extradition on the charges, Frayer said.
Justice Kenneth Hanssen then freed Lewis, who had been in custody for nine
months in a Winnipeg jail after being arrested on the South Dakota warrant.
At Barbara Lewis's sentencing hearing, a witness described Warner as a
virtual sex-slave of the older woman, saying he was forced to perform
sexual acts with her and with men, sometimes in front of other family
members. Warner, 30 at the time of his death and a former son-in-law of the
Lewises, was living illegally in the country and working under a false name.
He had been deported from the United States after a criminal
conviction in New York and returned to the U.S. around 1994.
His body had been buried for a year when it was discovered. No
cause of death was determined, though Barbara Lewis said she
believed he died of AIDS.
Lewis is still wanted in South Dakota. Assistant U.S. attorney Bob Mandel
said authorities there may file a second extradition
application. He said he wasn't sure why Manitoba justice officials
turned down the extradition request. "We need to figure out if there's
anything we need to do to meet the standard for extradition. Because
apparently we don't." Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds said his client knows
the matter may not be over. "I'm quite hopeful this will be the end of this
... the judge said the evidence under which extradition was sought was not
very strong."
mediadumb
teachers and when caught ABSOLUTELY nothing is done to punish these
teacher offenders. Nothing is done by the police (district attorney) or
the school administrators!
The New York City School System Is a Protective Haven For Child
Rapists!!!!!!
(and an extreme danger to all children)!.
Lady Taker
So you have a big, fat ol' opinion that you just felt like dropping into a
newsgroup with no explaination or back-up and you chose our newsgroup to do it
in? How lucky we feel.
Volfie -> I always knew that stuff didn't roll uphill but I didn't realize we
were the Mariana trench
Hownow
<glc...@aol.com> wrote:
> Michael quoted the Calgary Sun:
> >A Calgary judge is expected to rule today >on whether Alberta's
> >controversial child prostitution law gives >police too much power.
> >The law -- aimed at helping to eliminate >prostitution among
> >juveniles -- gives police the power to take >young girls off the
> >street and put them in safe houses for up >to 72 hours.
>
> Something to keep in mind whenever you read any Canadian crime story not
> fitting Canada's image as "safe Canada" is that Canada's population is smaller
> than that of California, almost all white, and spread across a nation far
> larger than the U.S.
> Alberta - the site of the child-hooker law dispute - is a rural province,
> sort of a northern North Dakota, not a northern NYC.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not sure just how old this Calgary Sun story is but last week (on
Friday) a Calgary judge knocked down the law, ruling it
unconstitutional, partly because Alberta was making law above the
federal criminal code.
And to your point about these Canadian Crime stories.
They seem to have come from a source that's involved heavily in abuse
of women and domestic violence - that's what most all of the yarns seem
to be about.
Canadian crime is much more varied - about the same as in the U.S.
And as to Alberta being somewhat like North Dakota. Not quite. The
discovery and development of one of the world's major oil pools puts it
more comparable to a smaller Texas. Very rich province. It has two
major cities, and Calgary hosted a Winter Olympics a few years back.
I'd think more Denver.
- hm
GLC1173
>controversial child prostitution law gives >police too much power.
>The law -- aimed at helping to eliminate >prostitution among
>juveniles -- gives police the power to take >young girls off the
>street and put them in safe houses for up >to 72 hours.
Something to keep in mind whenever you read any Canadian crime story not
fitting Canada's image as "safe Canada" is that Canada's population is smaller
than that of California, almost all white, and spread across a nation far
larger than the U.S.
Alberta - the site of the child-hooker law dispute - is a rural province,
sort of a northern North Dakota, not a northern NYC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<B>Dissident news - plus immigration, gun rights, nationwide weather
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NEON NAPPI
From: "Dog3" <do...@mindspring.com>
"Lady Taker" <vol...@aol.comBV12> wrote in message
news:20000731104843...@ng-fb1.aol.com...
/I don't want to hear nothing about raping in a NYC school without some back
/up proof. Barbara, you out there? This mother needs some reassurance!
/Michael
A couple of years ago a little girl, I think a second or third grader, was
sodomized by a school mate in the goddam playground. She reported it to the
teacher who gave her a tooth brush.
Enuf said.
Barbara
Ross Driedger
"GLC1173" <glc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000731222522...@ng-me1.aol.com...
> Michael quoted the Calgary Sun:
> >controversial child prostitution law gives >police too much power.
> >The law -- aimed at helping to eliminate >prostitution among
> >juveniles -- gives police the power to take >young girls off the
> >street and put them in safe houses for up >to 72 hours.
>
not
> fitting Canada's image as "safe Canada" is that Canada's population is
smaller
> than that of California, almost all white,
<snarf> Yeah...right....
We may have more caucasians that the US, but this is totally inaccurate....
> and spread across a nation far larger than the US
90% of the population lives withing 100km of the US border. Our density in
that southern strip is comparable with much of the US.
> Alberta - the site of the child-hooker law dispute - is a rural
province,
> sort of a northern North Dakota, not a northern NYC.
No, not a 'Northern NYC", but a fair sized city of about 750,000.
ND it certainly isn't. BTW, we don't live in igloos or use dog-sleds
regularily, either.
--
Ross Driedger
Ro...@SPAMMENOTlart.com
"Deja's complete archives report a total of "about 6,400 messages" posted by
me on all subjects since 1997, of which "about 5,500" address Idiot Kenny in
some fashion."
Michael Newton tries to tell the world he is not really obsessed in
news:389684...@worldnet.att.net
GLC1173
>And as to Alberta being somewhat like >North Dakota. Not quite. The
>discovery and development of one of the >world's major oil pools puts it
>more comparable to a smaller Texas. >Very rich province. It has two
>major cities, and Calgary hosted a Winter >Olympics a few years back.
>I'd think more Denver.
It's not like Denver at all.
What percentage of Calgary's residents are from the two main
high-violent-crime groups - blacks or Hispanics? (For that matter, since you
compare Alberta to Texas, what percentage of each is dirt-poor illegals from
Mexico?)
Demographics drive crime in both Texas and Denver. What's Canada's excuse?
GLC1173
>> Something to keep in mind whenever >>you read any Canadian crime story
>>not
>> fitting Canada's image as "safe Canada" >>is that Canada's population is
>>smaller
>> than that of California, almost all white,
and replied:
>We may have more caucasians that the >US, but this is totally inaccurate....
California <I>statewide</i> is 69% European-American, but its notoriously
high-crime major cities are dominated by nonwhite minorities - overwhelmingly
black and Mexican, the groups accountable for the vast majority of violent and
drug-pushing crime.
Anyplace like that in Canada? Is even Ontario 26% Hispanic like California
is?
>> and spread across a nation far larger >>than the US
>90% of the population lives withing 100km >of the US border. Our density in
>that southern strip is comparable with >much of the US.
"Much of the U.S." isn't densely populated at all.
I live in Alamance County, North Carolina; population here is 124,000 in a
200-square-mile county. And this isn't a "rural" county by my state's
standards.
>> Alberta - the site of the child-hooker >>law dispute - is a rural
>>province,
>> sort of a northern North Dakota, not a >>northern NYC.
>No, not a 'Northern NYC", but a fair sized >city of about 750,000.
More realistically, Alberta is probably more like Minnesota than any other
U.S. state - with Minnesota being mostly rural and almost exclusively
European-American, with one really big city (Minneapolis/St. Paul area,
population about 600,000).
>BTW, we don't live in igloos or use >dog-sleds
>regularily, either.
We're not that naive just because we're American.
Ross Driedger
> Ross quoted me:
> >> Something to keep in mind whenever >>you read any Canadian crime
story
> >>not
> >> fitting Canada's image as "safe Canada" >>is that Canada's population
is
> >>smaller
> >> than that of California, almost all white,
>
> and replied:
> >We may have more caucasians that the >US, but this is totally
inaccurate....
>
> California <I>statewide</i> is 69% European-American, but its
notoriously
> high-crime major cities are dominated by nonwhite minorities -
overwhelmingly
> black and Mexican, the groups accountable for the vast majority of violent
and
> drug-pushing crime.
> Anyplace like that in Canada? Is even Ontario 26% Hispanic like
California
> is?
<snarf> Walking through many of the streets of Toronto, a caucasian can
feel like a visible minority. We have one of the largest 'Chinatowns' in
North America (second only to San Fransisco, at one point) and the Chinese
community has grown since the return of Hong Kong to the People's Republic.
Toronto has a sizable community from the Carribean and another from the
India/Pakistan/Afghanistan area.
As for non-English caucasian communities, We have a large Jewish section,
Russian is more likely to be spoken than English in the parks in my area and
if all those of Italian heritage within 50 miles of the CN Tower were
brought together in one city, it would be the 4th largest city in Italy.
The popular urban myth is to blame crime on the Russian Mob, the Mafia, the
Tongs, Jamiacan posses, biker gangs (mostly from European descent, but they
are '1%ers').
As for the West, there are more caucasians in the population, but there are
sizable Chinese and Aboriginal communities. There are an inordinate number
of Aboriginals and Metis in the correctional system. Many of the teen
hookers that were being targeted by Alberta's law are aboriginal.
Your rather quaint view of Canada seems to be based more on the South Park
movie than reality.
We do not have a sizeable Hispanic community, but from Tiajuna, Los Angeles
is a lot closer than Winnipeg (and warmer, too).
> >> and spread across a nation far larger >>than the US
>
> >90% of the population lives withing 100km >of the US border. Our density
in
> >that southern strip is comparable with >much of the US.
>
> "Much of the U.S." isn't densely populated at all.
> I live in Alamance County, North Carolina; population here is 124,000
in a
> 200-square-mile county. And this isn't a "rural" county by my state's
> standards.
This is comparable to parts of Canada...and, while I find it hard to
believe, I am told there are sections of Toronto and Vancouver where the
population density rivals Hong Kong's.
> >> Alberta - the site of the child-hooker >>law dispute - is a rural
> >>province,
> >> sort of a northern North Dakota, not a >>northern NYC.
>
> >No, not a 'Northern NYC", but a fair sized >city of about 750,000.
>
> More realistically, Alberta is probably more like Minnesota than any
other
> U.S. state - with Minnesota being mostly rural and almost exclusively
> European-American, with one really big city (Minneapolis/St. Paul area,
> population about 600,000).
Hmmm... first a parallel with North Dakota and then a quick change to one
with Minnesota. Would it be safe to say that you have never been out there?
As one who has been to those States, I'd say there is a great danger in
trying to express what Alberta is like by drawing these kinds of parallels,
just as it is inaccurate to tell people what Montana is like by trying draw
a parallel with Ohio.
Please, come up for a visit sometime. It will clear up some confusion and
misconceptions you are having about your northern neighbour. We, generally,
are quite polite and the Mounties don't mind posing with you in a photo.
You also stand much less chance of being murdered, too, as Toronto
(population over 3 million) averages a little over one murder a week. As
well, our crime rate is dropping in spite of our gun control laws.
The majority of Alberta's residents are urban dwellers...the only place in
Canada where rural population exceeds the urban is in the Maritimes (go to
Maine and turn north).
> >BTW, we don't live in igloos or use >dog-sleds
> >regularily, either.
>
> We're not that naive just because we're American.
...and bring your sense of humour, too.
GLC1173
>We may have more caucasians that the >US, but this is totally
>inaccurate....
quoted me:
>> California statewide is 69% >>European-American, but its
>>notoriously
>> high-crime major cities are dominated >>by nonwhite minorities -
>>overwhelmingly
>> black and Mexican, the groups >>accountable for the vast majority of
>>violent
>>and
>> drug-pushing crime.
>> Anyplace like that in Canada? Is >>even Ontario 26% Hispanic like
>>California
>> is?
and replied:
>Walking through many of the streets of >Toronto, a caucasian can
>feel like a visible minority. We have one >of the largest 'Chinatowns' in
>North America (second only to San >Fransisco, at one point) and the Chinese
>community has grown since the return of >Hong Kong to the People's Republic.
>Toronto has a sizable community from the >Carribean and another from the
>India/Pakistan/Afghanistan area.
>As for non-English caucasian >communities, We have a large Jewish >section,
>Russian is more likely to be spoken than >English in the parks in my area and
>if all those of Italian heritage within 50 >miles of the CN Tower were
>brought together in one city, it would be >the 4th largest city in Italy.
How the hell do you define "Caucasian?"
"European-American" means any American whose ancestors came from Europe -
meaning including Italians and Jews.
>We do not have a sizeable Hispanic >community, but from Tiajuna, Los Angeles
>is a lot closer than Winnipeg (and warmer, >too).
You just named two major reasons why street crime is lower in your country
than in mine:
1) You have a buffer zone called the
United States isolating you from
any nearby Third World nation.
2) At least in the prairie provinces, the
climate is cold enough to make
being a street wino untenable.
>> More realistically, Alberta is probably >>more like Minnesota than any
>>other
>> U.S. state - with Minnesota being >>mostly rural and almost exclusively
>> European-American, with one really big >>city (Minneapolis/St. Paul area,
>> population about 600,000).
>Hmmm... first a parallel with North Dakota >and then a quick change to one
>with Minnesota. Would it be safe to say >that you have never been out there?
Lived in Indiana for two years (West Lafayette).
Ross Driedger
> Ross wrote:
> How the hell do you define "Caucasian?"
> "European-American" means any American whose ancestors came from
Europe -
> meaning including Italians and Jews.
...and they have all been pinpointed as the scapegoats for crime. If it
wasn't the Hispanics or the Afro-Americans, it would be someone else that is
pointed at as the source of America's ills: Jews, Italians, Russians,
whatever. The urban mythology points at some minority and screams: "There
is something wrong, here and it's their fault!" Don't believe me? Find an
established society or empire that didn't have some aspect of that. It
happens in Germany, we call it 'The Holocaust"; it happens in Africa, we
call it genocide; it happens in our cities, we call it...what?
To give you a little comfort, we have our own scapegoats in Canada:
Aboriginals, 'Visible' minorities.
> >We do not have a sizeable Hispanic >community, but from Tiajuna, Los
Angeles
> >is a lot closer than Winnipeg (and warmer, >too).
>
> You just named two major reasons why street crime is lower in your
country
> than in mine:
> 1) You have a buffer zone called the
> United States isolating you from
> any nearby Third World nation.
Oh, I see you have issues here; thanks for letting me know what axes you are
grinding.
Free Clue: crime is commited by criminals and they come in all races, ages
and both sexes. I suspect that poor criminals are naturally targetted by LE
because they are less mobile and easier to find and they are targetted by
courts becasue they can't hire the kind of lawyer that can make for a long,
drawn-out trial.
Another Free Clue: People will tend to steal if they find themselves
(whether by their own doing or not) economically disadvantaged. You want to
stop this "Hispanic Problem"? Take a portion of what is spent on pursuing,
arresting, procescuting and incarcerating these "mean, nasty bastards" and
use it to help Mexico build its economy and infrastructure.
Honestly, I think some Americans are so much into the competitive spirit
that they hold the belief that they can only 'win' if other countries
'lose'. How much would your country benefit if Mexico flourished
economically allowing those who seek what they consider a better life as an
illegal immigrant, to remain home and build a stable economic future there?
I think the benefits to the US would be substantial and not the least of
these would be the drop in dealling with illegals crossing the border.
But then, you would have to find another scapegoat....
> 2) At least in the prairie provinces, the
> climate is cold enough to make
> being a street wino untenable.
Again, spoken like someone who has never been there. Street people live on
the street in winter, too. I will grant you that many find away to
Vancouver where the climate is moderate, but there are those who master the
'art' of surviving on the street in winter.
> >Hmmm... first a parallel with North Dakota >and then a quick change to
one
> >with Minnesota. Would it be safe to say >that you have never been out
there?
Indiana... never been there, but I'm willing to bet that it doesn't make
you an expert on crime in Western Canada.
Why is crime less in Canada that in the US? I don't know, but I do know
that a right to bear arms and the highest incarceration rate in the world of
its own citizens (ironic, for the "Land of the Free") does not make the
streets safer; in fact, I'm convinced it exacerbates the problem of street
crime.
debby
corruption. Debby S.<sarg...@injersey.com>
Ross Driedger
"debby" <sarg...@injersey.com> wrote in message
news:398B6A1F...@injersey.com...
> First before you can build Mexico's economy you must get rid of all the
> corruption. Debby S.<sarg...@injersey.com>
Really? Were the economies of the the G7 (or 8) countries built without
corruption? It is not a Good Thing (tm), but one cannot expect to a) remove
all the corruption and then b) (after a) is complete) build an economy.