Kabatoff article from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Tom2Tec
Man ejected from Fringe 'very ill'
The mother of a busker ejected from the Fringe Festival for posting
personal information of Fringe visitors online has appealed to the police
and doctors to have her son picked up because he is "very ill." Daryl
Shawn Kabatoff has recently posted angry Internet messages, saying he
wants local children to die and has revealed that he's trying to obtain
guns, the StarPhoenix has learned. He is now under police investigation,
said Insp. Jeff Bent, spokesperson for Saskatoon Police Service.
Kabatoff's posts, which are full of references to religion, sex and death,
contain the names, birthdays, descriptions and workplaces of dozens of
Saskatoon residents and their families, including in some instances their
deceased children. He obtained some of the information from children's
obituaries published in the StarPhoenix. The busker says in some posts
that he hopes the other children in the families die too. Kabatoff, who
sat on a Mexican blanket at the intersection of 11th Street and Broadway
during the Fringe, recently offered on a bulletin board to trade one of
his trademark numerological name analyses for a rifle or shotgun. In
another post, he says he is acquiring a firearms licence.
In response to the contents of Kabatoff's posts, obtained by the
StarPhoenix, Insp. Bent said: "(We) are going to assign some investigators
to this immediately . . . I appreciate your call because after the fact
people say, 'Why wasn't something done?' " The balding, pony-tailed
46-year-old man, who stood for mayor in 1982 and 1985, is a well-known
figure in Saskatoon's shopping malls and coffee shops.
Kabatoff is notorious in the Usenet community. One site calls him "one of
Usenet's most elusive and creepy psychopaths." Another user asks: "At this
stage, what can be done under law to stop him getting a gun from any
source?" Several Usenet members implore someone to alert Saskatoon police
to Kabatoff's posts seeking a firearm. A post dated June 15, 2004 from a
Daryl S. Kabatoff using a Shaw e-mail address and Saskatoon box number,
states that he is looking for: "A) a rifle for deer hunting this fall, B)
a shotgun for the early deer-hunting season, C) a .22-caliber (sic) rifle
for improving my shooting skills during the summer." The post, entitled
"Wanting firearm" and sent to the calgary.forsale newsgroup, continues:
"I'll offer you a trade . . . I will show you gorgeous harmony between
your name and birthday and numbers in the Bible . . . In exchange for your
unwanted firearm I'll provide you with a short essay that you will
treasure far more." The next day, June 16, the same post appeared on the
talk.politics.guns newsgroup, this time called "Trade for Gun." Kabatoff
says he's in the process of obtaining a gun licence. A June 2004 Usenet
post from him states: "I am in the process of applying for and obtaining a
license (sic) to acquire a rifle . . . for hunting animals and not people.
If somebody . . . trades a gun for my work before I obtain the license
(sic), that gun will be received by a friend who is legally allowed to
possess such . . . "
Kabatoff believes people's names are given to them by God and are
harmonized with their dates of birth. He says he can reveal this
relationship using mathematics and for years has asked passers-by to let
him analyse their names. An online search has revealed Kabatoff has posted
around 1,000 highly disturbing messages on Usenet sites since 2001....
Kabatoff's messages contain the personal details of scores of Saskatoon
residents, often teenage girls he refers to as "nubile sweeties" after
meeting them in the food court at Midtown Plaza, the Mall at Lawson
Heights, the Broadway Roastery and Starbucks.
Kabatoff's long and angry posts contain names, birthdays, physical
descriptions of people, where they work and the names and birthdays of
their family members. The details are freely given to Kabatoff by his
unsuspecting customers when he offers to analyse their names. His most
recent post, dated Aug. 8, names a 24-year-old woman he met on the first
day of this year's Fringe Festival. He refers to her and her friends as
"cheap, filthy assholes." Kabatoff also trawls through obituaries, mainly
in the StarPhoenix, looking for details of teenagers who have recently
died. He posts the information on bulletin boards along with his analysis
of the deceased's name, sometimes adding that he is glad the young person
has died and that he hopes the family loses their other children too. He
claims to attend the funerals of these teenagers so he can meet "nubile
sweeties" and eat free food. One of his posts reads: "(S)ince nubile
sweeties are found in greatest abundance at the funerals of high school
students, then it is the funerals of high school students that make the
very, very best funerals, especially if there is food . . . I stuff my
face (and my pockets) with all the good food and look at all the pretty
nubile sweeties and have the time of my life . . ." Kabatoff writes in a
post dated July 22 this year: "I was busking . . . at Five Corners on
Broadway Avenue. (Name withheld) stopped to provide stats . . . He said he
had no money for me . . . You people have absolutely zero respect for me .
. . I in turn have zero respect for you and so don't require your
permission to post these stats on the Usenet. Furthermore I am on my knees
and begging God to . . . terminate the lives of these children. If I find
any of these family members in the obituaries I will cheer with utter glee
. . . and I will post your stats again."
Kabatoff appears to keep an elaborate cross-referencing system on his
laptop computer of the families whose "stats" he obtains, so he can
compare the names with published obituaries. A recent post based on a
StarPhoenix obituary begins: "Oh dear. (Name withheld) hung herself in her
basement bedroom at her parent's home on (date withheld). Her brother
(name withheld) provided stats on May 9th 2002, he hangs around Broadway
Avenue, the street in Saskatoon with the poster poles shaped like penises.
I first met him about 10 years ago." The post ends with Kabatoff calling
the family and the rest of the community, "the God-damned shit of the
earth."
Some of Kabatoff's most disturbing posts are based on the obituaries of
children. Several of the families he has targeted lost their children at
birth. His posts mock the parents and their grief. A message dated July 6,
2004 to the parents of a deceased 14-year-old Saskatoon girl states: "I am
crying out to God against your family and am requesting that He . . .
terminates the lives of your other children . . . If I see any other (name
withheld) in the obituaries I will cheer with utter glee and post your
stats again." A post to the parents of a 15-year-old boy killed in an
accident reads: "Well now I shit on you, I rejoice in your loss of (name
withheld) and pray for the loss of (your daughter)." To the parents of
another young Saskatoon resident who died, Kabatoff writes: "What you
God-damned filthy assholes paid for (your son's) funeral could have
supported me overseas for months."
Kabatoff, who claims to have worked in the 1980s as a social worker in
Whitecourt, Alta., and says he has a degree in anthropology, was reported
to police during this year's Fringe Festival by a woman who gave him her
personal details before being warned by passers-by that Kabatoff would
post them. Nancy (not her real name) told the StarPhoenix: "This man is
preying on people. The public needs to be warned." After the StarPhoenix
ran a story Saturday about Nancy's experience, Kabatoff's Fringe busking
licence was withdrawn.
Readers wanting to check whether Kabatoff has posted their names can go to
www.google.com, enter his surname or his signature line "God gives you
your name," then click on "groups." Kabatoff himself moderates a newsgroup
at alt.dear.whitehouse.
In a telephone interview Monday, Kabatoff's mother, who asked not to be
named, sobbed as she begged doctors and the police for help. "He is not
being treated at all. The doctors say they can't force him . . . When he
is well, he is a likeable person (who) is so nice. But when he's ill, he's
very ill. He needs . . . the police or somebody to take him in for
treatment. "He did go to a hospital a number of times. He just absolutely
refuses the treatment. Shall I pack up and leave or put my head in the
sand or what, because I just can't take any of this anymore. I wish he
would just be picked up." She added that she does not believe her son is
dangerous. His mother says she has lived with this turmoil for years. She
asks for understanding. "Heaven help you and your children if they ever
have mental health problems," she said.
Attempts to reach Kabatoff for comment were unsuccessful.
(abridged & reordered)
Sarah Gibb
Special to The StarPhoenix
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
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