Friday, December 31, 2004

Folks, if you need help, advice, guidance etc... I urge you to seek out good people and keep them in your council. Here are some of the good ones I've met this year who have helped (so many others):


1. Dr. John Butt, medical examiner, crash of Swiss Air 111

I heard Dr. John Butt speak powerfully in Vancouver on mass casualties and victims' trauma. I believe him when he says the only real victims are the dead and the physically injured. For the rest, the slow process of victimization begins after the traumatic event, and is preventable.

2. Dawn Kelly, Vancouver advocate, formerly with B.C. Police Victim Services

I met Dawn Kelly in Ottawa in November 2003. She is the person who invited me to participate in CAVA. Dawn gave me a focus and put me to work. Thanks Dawn.

3. Holly Desimone, rape survivor, grassroots advocate

Holly lives in Western Canada. I like Holly's advice to all of us who work with victims:

“be gentle to those who have been hurt and be kind to ourselves.”

Holly's also the first rape victim I have met who didn't make me feel stupid for not understanding what it's like to be raped. That's not as easy as it sounds, but she did it in a very fundamental way; she made it clear that our two experiences are different, but that we could work together and help each other by sharing information. Quite a trick.

4. Liz Quinlan, advocate

After her daughter was raped at the University of Saskatchewan, Liz started the Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CASA).

5. Linden & Judy Peterson, parents of Lindsey Nicholls, missing since August 1993.

I met the Petersons in British Columbia. They are advocating for the creation of Lindsey's Law to create a National Missing Persons DNA Databank. I really love their website; it's sleek and to-the-point.

6. Darlene Rempel, MOVA

We haven't talked much on this site about the Manitoba Organization for Victim Advocates, but we should. Nevermind that Manitoba is the only province with a functioning victims' bill of rights, or that their Minister of Justice, Gord Mackintosh is the envy of victims from all other provinces; the person that keeps all of this moving with a slow, willed determination is Darlene Rempel who started MOVA after the murder of her son.

7. Priscilla de Villiers - advocate, Toronto

Let me tell you a story about Priscilla. When I attended (in protest) the Policy Centre's - Justice Canada's - conference on "lessons learned from victims of crime", I was having a hard time finding a friendly port in this bureaucratic storm. I asked a friend (Senator Landon Godfrey, to be precise - I move in privileged circles) to guide me. She said, "see Priscilla de Villiers". So I approached Priscilla and, for the first time, I wasn't treated as persona-non-grata. Priscilla took me in and explained to me the ground rules of victim advocacy in Canada. She is a kind and loving person, generous with her time and knowledge, always willing to guide and explain the labyrinth of Canadian victims issues. And it is a shame that her pioneer efforts inCAVEAT are now dissolved, and that her continued work in victims advocacy through the Ontario Office for Victims of Crime are also defunct. My hope for the new year is that Priscilla finds renewed energy in CAVA and will continue her mission. We need her.


8. Steve Sullivan, Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime

Ya, ya, ya... Steve's a lawyer and most of his job involves lobbying for legislative reform in Ottawa - someone has to do it. Steve's website atCRCVC is a great resource. I have met so many victims who, when I ask them, who was the first person that helped you in your cause, they say: Steve Sullivan.

9. Irwin Waller, Professor of criminology, University of Ottawa

Waller is the father of modern victimology in Canada (he worked in the Trudeau government for god's sake!). Waller has a simple (yet daunting) blueprint for the future of victims' rights in Canada. It goes something like this:

a. Legislate the creation of a fully funded federal office of victims of crime (like they have in the States).

b. Attach to it a permanent advisory committee.

c. Create an institute for unified policing programs.

d. After a, b, and c; make the priority victim reform (let's get a working bill of rights like they have in Europe).

e. Champion prevention, that is... Reduce the number of victims.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

8. Pierre Hugues Boisvenu - Advocate, Quebec

Do I really have to mention again my profound admiration for Pierre Boisvenu? His new organization, L'association des familles de personnes assassinées ou disparues now has its website up and running: www.afpad.ca

9. Arlene Gaudreault, Directrice, L'Association quebecoise Plaidoyer-Victimes

Yes it's true that I knocked the Plaidoyer earlier in the year for being an empty organization. But I did this in part because I was ignorant (I have to stop learning this lesson), and partly because I wanted to see if they would respond to the provocation. And they did. The Plaidoyer put on a great victim conference in Montreal in October. Arlene crossed the language barrier and invited me to speak; she took a risk not knowing what I would say or do (actually, Pierre-Hugues vouched for me.) Arlene is warm and kind, and a pioneer in the victim movement in Quebec, following in the path of Micheline Baril

10. Jo-Anne Wemmers, Professor, University of Montreal

An academic, but we need her. Jo-Anne Wemmers is one of the few people in Canada doing actual useful research in the areas of how victims respond to the process of victimization. A protege of Irvin Waller, she is extremely knowledgeable of the comparative justice systems in the United States, Canada and Europe. Her book,Introduction a la victimologie is a must read for those wishing to know the history of victimology in Canada (yes, it's in French - common, learn the language already!)

11. Lola R., Quebec

I cannot tell you Lola's real name. But she is kind and caring, and very courageous. Lola has greatly influenced my life. And I wish her peace this coming year. Lola, tu es dans mon coeur.

12. Deborah Spungen, victim advocate, U.S.A.

Spungen is the mother of Nancy Spungen (yes, that Nancy). She is formerly with NOVA and the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia. I met Spungen because I was trying to get her to speak at an engagement in North Carolina. She is smart and very funny. Her book, Homicide: The Hidden Victims changed my life.

13. Carmen Gill - Director, Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research
I only met Carmen recently, she is new to the centre. I mention her, and Muriel McQueen because it is one of the few organizations in the Maritimes (New Brunswick) I am familiar with (and Carmen came all the way to Vancouver to be involved!).

the other being...

The Beauséjour Family Crisis and Resource Centre in Shediac, New Brunswick whose director is Eva Leblanc. If folks have more info on good people doing good work in Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland let me know.

Where possible, I have included contact links where you can go and seek out these good people. So get out there and do good.

Happy New Year to you all,

John Allore

---------------

UPDATE: Steve Sullivan wrote to inform me that he is definitely NOT a lawyer (my mistake).

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

I FINALLY GOT A RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE!

Remember when I wrote Minister Cotler back in July about evidence retention in criminal cases? (take my word for it, I did)

Well six months later he wrote back (actually I received this about a month ago; I've just been too disheartened to post it):

The Honourable Irwin Cotler
Bigshotsville, Canada
Bla-bla-bla

November 29, 2004

John Allore
Nowheresville, U.S.A.

Dear Mr. Allore:

Thank you for your correspondence concerning the retention of physical evidence in criminal cases. I regret the delay in responding.

I recognize that your concerns arise from the criminal investigation into the death of your sister Theresa. While this sad event happened some years ago, it must still be a matter of deep personal loss, and I would first like to express my sincere sympathies.

I note your steadfast commitment to obtaining answers concerning your sister's death. As Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I am unable to comment regarding individual cases or particular criminal investigations, but I hope that answers and a resolution of this matter may still be possible, despite the passage of years.

The specific question you have raised concerns standards for the retention of evidence in criminal cases and, in particular, whether this is a matter of legislation or whether this is a matter of procedure within individual police forces. There do exist a number of provisions in federal laws, such as the Criminal Code and the Seized Property Management Act, that govern the collection and retention of certain types of physical evidence. The matter raised by you, however, is, at the federal level, largely a matter of police procedure. I note that you remain interested in the particular procedures within the RCMP. Since the RCMP falls under the responsibility of my colleague the Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, I have taken the liberty of forwarding to her a copy of your correspondence as she may be able to provide additional information in this regard.

Thank you again for writing.

Yours sincerely,

Irwin Cotler

That's it? It took them six months to pass the buck?

You know, it's a little like that scene in A Christmas Story where the kid waits months to get a secret decoder ring, only to find the secret message is DRINK YOUR OVALTENE.

Well, guess I'll wait another six months for McLellan to respond: great, I'll wait a whole year to have them say, "Dear Mr. Allore... we don't know the answer to your question".

I must say, this is the first letter from a bureaucrat in which they acknowledged Theresa and managed to spell her name right (we must take our victories where we find them).

Friday, December 24, 2004

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah... it's time for Gravy's Quebec Weird Crime Round-up

The Montreal Mirror
The year in weird crime
by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Those who threaten our peaceful ways with their lewd, deviant behaviour get their comeuppance not only in front of the judge's gavel, but also in this paper. For in the people's court of these pages, the miscreant actions are also unmasked, revealed and scrutinized. Those who dare read the Mirror's annual round-up of crime in Quebec be warned: this is not recommended for the easily outraged or those trying to digest a meal.


Celebrity poops on rug! 
Ageing vedette Michèle Richard has launched no shortage of outrageous controversy and this year found her at her most inspired. Richard's annual episode took place in September, when she was informed that her dogs were forbidden in her hotel room. She howled in protest, police came and she was handcuffed and taken to a cell - but not before leaving a steamy piece of excrement on the floor of the hotel room. Her lawyer later explained: "Stress caused a physical reaction of a sort that a material didn't reach its destination and her panties suffered a trauma." She denied speculation that the brouhaha was a carefully staged event to promote her new CD.


They seduce horses don't they?
Denis Audette, 70, was caught having intercourse with a horse in March 2001. "I'm doing nothing wrong," he told the animal's owner when caught pants-down. The owner caught him doing it again and again, a dozen times in total over the next couple of years. Audette's pièce-de-résistance was possibly the moment he was caught performing cunnilingus on one horse while manually stimulating another. On July 19 cops decided they had enough evidence to try Audette. He was found guilty and given a suspended sentence.


Growl for the camera
An American F-1 fan snappin' tourist pix on Crescent inadvertently shot a pic with Jeffrey Sénat, 24, and Mitch Pierre-Louis, 18, in the background. The duo allegedly pulled their car over and beat the shutterbug savagely before stabbing him in the neck twice. Usually unreliable drunken onlookers shucked their traditional ways and jumped the transgressors, holding them until cops came. The baddies were charged with attempted murder.


Apache Trudeau scores the murderer, pedophile and informant trifecta
Yves "Apache" Trudeau, 58, apparently unsatisfied with the mere title of being the most prolific hit man in Canadian history with 43 notches in his belt, added "homosexual pedophile" to his résumé after repeatedly having sex with a teenage boy unaware of his villainous past. Trudeau had served a mere seven years in prison from 1986 to 1993, a result of having turned informant. He has been on welfare since 2002, around the time he took to being anally serviced by the lad. Trudeau pled mercy to the court, noting that fellow inmates aren't crazy about either informants or pedophiles, of which he is now officially both, as well as a mass murderer, of course. He was given four years.


Slipped her mind
Men don't usually complain of being raped by women, with one exception - the addict being treated at a special therapy centre in Sherbrooke who ended up snuggling with a fellow addict named Chantal Blanchette, 35. After coupling, Blanchette mentioned to him that she's had AIDS for 10 years. According to law you've got to disclose such a fact prior to copulation. The plaintiff, named Alain, also later learned that Blanchette is a transsexual. Blanchette pled guilty to aggravated assault and will be sentenced in January.


Another bum-pinching menace to society
Léo Pelletier, 54, caressed the backsides of four women on Cartier Avenue in Quebec City, a deed that merited six months in the cooler. A judge deemed the Agriculture Ministry economist's misdeed more serious because he made the mistake of including a minor among the recipients of the Benny Hill handshake and was also caught drunk driving while awaiting trial. The judge speculated that Pelletier was suffering from "toucherisme" as a result of psychological trauma caused by his prostate cancer.


Prison rape is nothing compared to fights over the remote
When convicted cocaine dealer Gregory Papadakis tried changing the channel in a Gatineau prison, fellow inmate Denis Philion disagreed with the choice of station. He pushed Papadakis down, injuring him. This all happened on Dec. 31, 1991, but after years bouncing around courts, a judge finally decided that Philion would have to pony up $60,000 to the victim of the TV remote fracas.


And they called it puppy love
When chef Mehmet Yildrim, 42, saw a hot 83-year-old woman at the restaurant he worked at last March, he went into seduction mode. Yildrim flattered the old lady's appearance, put his hand on her thigh and got her phone number. The Turkish-born cook is said to have later visited the wrinkly octogenarian at her Thetford Mines home, where he felt up her apparently ageless body for about an hour. When he returned for more grandmotherly lovin' the next day, the woman complained and had him arrested on charges of sexual assault. He faces more court appearances next year.


Not enough pepper in the pepper spray
In April, Jeremiah Thomas, serving a murder sentence at Donnacona prison, stabbed fellow inmate Saalim Speede to death. Prison guards nearby had tried to stop the attack by dousing the aggressor with pepper spray, which they later acknowledge didn't even slow him down. Prison officials were left pondering their recipe for pepper spray.


I confess. I did it. What's the crime again?
Quebec City police were high-fiving each other for getting Simon Marshall to confess to a series of sexual assaults, for which he served 62 months, even though the victims failed to identify him as the attacker. In prison, he was thrice denied parole, as he was deemed a danger to the public. Authorities started feeling a little sheepish when he walked through the door this summer and confessed to demanding a BJ at knifepoint in Place Laurier - even after DNA evidence proved he didn't commit the act. Now authorities are wondering if the simpleminded man's real problem is confessing to crimes he hears about on TV.


Duelling vibrator cat fight
Sex shop owner Huguette Tremblay of La Clé du Plaisir in Beauport accepted a misdelivered packaged destined to a competitor containing 70 vibrators, costing $1,082. When she passed them on to their proper owner, Veronique Fuchs's Love Boutique, the package was 20 plastic penises short. Trémblay was convicted of fraud for nabbing the dildos but given an unconditional discharge.


No sickos here
Remember Daniel Cormier, 53, the anti-Gay Games preacher who ran for mayor in 2001? In March the proselytizing zealot was charged with sexing up an 11-year-old girl, whom he referred to as his "wife." It was one of a series of child-loving misdeeds he is alleged to have committed between 1993 and 2002. The former Wisdom Party mayoral candidate was accused of taking advantage of youth he met in his work with downtown homeless and street youth. His trial continues next year.


Babysitter must eat poo-poo
A 28-year-old mother in St-Anne-de-Beaupré was sentenced to two years less a day for visiting her babysitter with a friend and beating him and forcing him to eat his own excrement and drink his own urine. The mother was angry that the babysitting 18-year-old boy, considered slightly retarded, had allegedly sexually assaulted her seven- and three-year-olds. The duo detained the boy for over an hour and threatened to detach his penis. The boy faces charges of sexual assault on the minors.


Man-child court
A 34-year-old Terrebonne father of three was tried as a minor after a cold case squad linked him to the murder of Paul-Emile Bértrand, 56, in a botched robbery on Beaubien in October 1986. Investigators found DNA evidence that pointed to the textile worker, whose name is withheld as he was a minor at the time of the crime. The man is the first adult to be tried in Quebec youth court. He pled guilty to involuntary homicide and was sentenced to two years less a day, served in the community.


Home renovations cost more these days
Pierre Saintonge, 55 and Marc Denicolai, 47, were doing repairs on the house of an 81-year-old woman in Vieux Longueuil, who paid them in cash for their work. The men worked a gruelling two hours a day for seven months and charged her half-a-million for their labours, which started in March 2002. They were busted this year: Saintonge got five years in prison, Denicolai two years less a day. Both were ordered to pay back the dough.


Something to do in St-Eustache
In early October, Jonathan Bonneau, 20, of St-Eustache, was charged with building three bombs with butane, air purifier, propane, etc. and popping one in the dumpster behind the local Dollarama. Police say he then put one in a Saturn and then an SUV, leaving $60,000 of damage in his wake. Another bomb failed to blow and cops say they quickly lifted his fingerprints off the tape holding that one together.


Breaking up is hard to do
Annie Simard, 31, a Boisbriand mother of two, was dumped by her boyfriend Gilles Ravel, 35. The couple had been lovers for 12 years. Police say she went to his house, knocked him out with a Mickey Finn and, as he was falling asleep from the spiked cocktail, strangled him with a rope. But Ravel didn't quite succumb, and indeed recovered enough to call 911. Simard was charged with attempted murder the next day.


The naughty schoolteacher
Former Lachute city council candidate Louis Laurin, a private school teacher, was sentenced to three years for turning a 14-year-old into his mistress. Although his wife was seen participating in some of the videos, the court let her off, mainly because of her "passive" role. The couple separated, and the once-praised schoolteacher declared bankruptcy.


A lame business plan
When Steve Parizeault lost a leg in a train mishap, he was compensated with enough cash to buy an apartment building for his mom and cars for his brothers. He also had enough loot to start his own business as a crack cocaine dealer. It wasn't a great career choice, as the Rough Riders Gang in LaSalle warned him repeatedly that he was encroaching on their turf. On January 17, the one-legged dealer was gunned down. Alleged gang member Daryl Griffith, 18, was charged with the murder.


Shopaholic mother turns fraud artist
Quebec City's Lise Giguère, scored a windfall with compensation cash when cop hubby Jacques was killed by a crooked colleague Serge Lefebvre in 1985. Giguère promptly became a spendaholic. After the cash ran out, she got a job at Robert Bury construction supplies, whom she bilked for $966,500 by manipulating the payroll before being nailed this year. Before getting two years, she told the judge that she blamed her employer for their poor surveillance of her work, and was trying to compensate for her children's lack of a father with heaps of consumer goods.


Some wet dream
At a trial in Hull, a 49-year-old man argued that he wasn't guilty of molesting a 14-year-old girl in March 2002 because he did it while sleepwalking. It didn't work. He was found guilty but is appealing.


I SAID I LIKE MY STEAK RARE!!!!
Sophie Lévesque and Christian Dussault of Val-Bélair invited Stéphane Laroche to dinner in August. Police say that Laroche, for reasons unclear, entered and committed the social faux pas of attempting to kill his hosts with a knife. Both survived the bad table manners and Laroche was charged with attempted murder.


Valentine's surprise
Tak Fu Deer bunked on the top and his sister Lai-Wah, 51, bunked on the bottom in their Rosemont apartment until the day she irritated him by accusing him of mooching food. He strangled her on Valentine's Day. Deer left her dead in bed until she was found by relatives several days later, her face apparently having been nibbled at by rats running rampant in the home. He was brought into the Pinel Institute for long-term psychiatric evaluation.


Finally a store that welcomes shoplifters! 
Maria Milagros Pardes Pinedo, 33, and Kelly Aliago Castro, 24, were busted at 6442 St-Laurent for allegedly running a store that specialized in shoplifted clothing. They had 2,000 articles worth $250,000. Their thievin' suppliers weren't caught.


Love knows no bounds
A 14-year-old from Donnacona was found guilty in August of smacking her sleeping stepfather on the head with a skillet and then stabbing him to death. She was upset because he agreed with her mom that she shouldn't continue dating her 20-year-old boyfriend.


He could always try tunnelling out of prison
Celebrity criminal Marcel Talon, best known for his attempt to tunnel into the Bank of Montreal in 1993, believed he had won immunity for past crimes. This led him to confess to two bombing murders in his autobiography. It was such a hit that it was made into the movie Le Dernier tunnel. Unfortunately prosecutors didn't consider him as immune as he considered himself. His confessed crimes led them to formally charge him with murder this year.


A backside to be admired from a distance
MC Mario, who was recently found guilty of sexual assault after a February 2002 smoochfest in St-Jérôme, explained that he was only accused because one of the victims was offended when he mistakenly assumed she was a prostitute. In an interview with Photo Police prior to the verdict, Mario had expressed mixed feelings about his accuser. "She's got quite a personality, but she's also got an amazing bum."

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

A sobering list of 768 women and children murdered in Quebec since the "Montreal Massacre" at L'Ecole Polytechnique on December 6th, 1989...

15 ans après l’attentat terroriste de l’École Polytechnique… la violence sexiste continue

768 DES FEMMES ET ENFANTS TUÉES PAR DES HOMMES EN TANT QU’HOMMES OU PAR DES INCONNUS, AU QUÉBEC SEULEMENT, DEPUIS LE 6 DÉCEMBRE 1989

*Italiques: Enfants et jeunes (172) Caractères gras: les 14 femmes abattues par un masculiniste à l’École Polytechnique de Montréal, le 6 décembre 1989

Ada Burns, Aïda El-Tomi, Agnes McCormick-McKenzie, Ai Ny Cai, Albina Arbour Cloutier, Alex Maheux-Royer, Alexandra McBride, Alexandre Blanchette, Alexandre Riendeau, Alice Benoît, Alice Lépine-Reeves, Alicia Moses, Aline Dubé, Aline Robidoux, Aline Taylor-Francoeur, Aloma Potvin, Alonzo Ortiz, Amanda Huard, Ana Maria Solinas Norbaak, Anastasia Siméon, Andréa Gagné, Andrée Gagné, Andrée Halpin, Andréanne Tremblay, Andrée Guénette, Angel Laskaris, Angela Moreau, Anita Lelièvre, Ann Lyons, Ann Tuyet Nguen, Anna Marden, Anna Yarnold, Anna-Maria Codina-Leva, Anne Brissette, Anne Laurin, Anne-Lisa Cefali, Anne-Marie Edward, Anne-Marie Lemay, Anne-Marie Morin, Anne-Marie Sharpe, Annette Wilson, Annick Babin, Annick Gravel, Annie Dominique-Normandin, Annie Lapointe, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Anthony Lefebvre-Richer, Antoinette Asselin, Antonia Cantin, Ashley Pluviose, Audrey Danjou-Chrétien, Audrey Dubé, Audrey-Ève Charron, Audrey Martin, Audrey Paquet, Aurélie Grimoux, Aurore Tremblay (2), Aylin Olana-Garcia, Barbara Daigneault, Barbara Erhardt, Barbara Maria Kluznick, Bee-Leei Meng, Béatrice De Montigny, Béatrice Lavoie, Béatrice Thibodeau, Benoît Marceau, Bercuhi Leylekoglu, Berta Dimidjan, Berthe Hardy-Blanchette, Bianca Caron, Binh-Khieu-Thanh Tran, Bitha Mengo Munsi, Blandine Simoneau-Girard, Bonnie Dagenais, Born Samphorn, Brejnev Lee Maynard, Brigitte Gagné, Brigitte St-Germain, Calliope Vournous, Carmel Louisjeune, Carmen Lagueux, Carmie Jeannot, Carmina Rivas, Carole Bienvenue, Carole Blanchette, Carole Boisvert, Carole Lachapelle, Carole Lirette, Carole Martin, Carole Rajotte, Carolle Deschamps, Caroline Guimond, Caroline Landry, Caroline Laniel, Caroline Poulin, Caroline Veilleux, Carrie Dolores Mancuso, Carrie-Ann Larocque, Catherine Dansereau, Catherine Morin,Cathy Brooks, Cathy Caretta, Cécile Clément, Cécile Roy, Cédric Alexandre-Scott, Cédric Bourgeois-Cadieux, Céline Fréchette, Céline Lemieux-Letendre, Céline Letellier, Céline Pearson, Céline Saint-Amant, Chantal Brière, Chantal Brochu, Chantal Coutu, Chantal Lavoie, Chantal Tremblay, Chantale Gervais, Charlene McFarlane, Charles Gagné, Charles Tremblay, Chien Chin Wong, Christian Girard, Christiane Asselin, Christiane Boucher, Christiane Maurice, Christina Deladurantaye, Christina Mitriou, Christina Palasanu, Christine Baillargeon, Christine Dallaire-Labelle, Christine De Grandmont, Christine Deslauriers, Christine Dubé, Christine Leclerc, Christine Lessard, Christine Speich, Christine Tremblay, Christophe-Emmanuel Robinson, Chrystelle Lavigne-Gagnon, Cindy Bouchard, Cindy Faucher, Claire Lafrenière, Claire Ouellet-Bourgault, Claire Samson, Claude Ferron, Claude Julien, Claude Lecours, Claudette Archambault-Perron, Claudette Frenière, Claudette Servant, Claudia De Montigny, Claudia Drouin, Claudine Breault, Claudine Caron, Clothilde d’Auteuil-Quimper, Colette Harnois, Colette Julien, Colette Rondeau, Cristobalina Vasquez, Cynthia Crichlow, Daniel Desrochers, Danielle André, Danielle Boucher, Danielle Dufour, Danielle Falardeau, Danielle Guilbault, Danielle Laplante, Danielle Provost, Danny Deschamps, Dany Fleurant, David Guillet, David Prieur-Santerre, Deborah Ann Rothmann, Deilia Tautu, Delima Kopeau, Denise Charron, Denise Duquette, Denise Martel, Denise Rybicki, Diana Tautu, Diane Bergeron, Diane Couture, Diane Durand, Diane Francis, Diane Gélinas, Diane Labelle, Diane Latour, Diane Lavigne, Diane Massicotte, Diane Paquette, Diane Tremblay, Dolores Lijoi, Dominique Papineau, Dominique Tremblay, Donald Desruisseaux, Donna Norris, Dora Psyrris, Dorine Mallette, Dylan Lebel, Elaine Cormier, Éliane Hervieux, Elisapi Assepa, Elise Leboeuf, Elizabeth Bernachez-Larocque, Elizabeth Fuller, Emilia Thomas, Émilie Thinel, Emma Reda di Girolano, Emmanuella Corso, Éric Arpin, Éric Beauvais, Éric Labonne, Estelle Letendre, Esther Conserve, Eva Paradis, Ève St-Onge, Evette Brown-Alliman, Fabian Mitchell, Fanny Kingstone, Fatima Kama, Florence Bouchard, France Bazinet, France Cossette, France Beauregard, France Lacharité, France Legault, France Pelletier, France Roy (2), France Saint-Germain, Francine Gouin, Francine Lacroix, Francine Lefebvre, Francine Turcotte-Bérard, Francine Valois, Francine Villeneuve, Francis Boucher, François Mongrain, François Wistaff, Françoise Barnes-Carrière, Françoise Beaulieu, Françoise Beaulne, Françoise Lirette, Frankz Anatole, Gaétane Saint-Pierre, Gemma Dessureault, Geneviève Bergeron, Geneviève Dubois, Geneviève Prieur-Santerre, Georges-Éric Lohier, Georgette Forget, Germaine Charbonneau, Germaine Désilets, Germaine Hebert, Gertrude Paquin, Ghislaine Dubé, Ghislaine Gagnon, Ghislaine Poirier, Gilberte Desalliers, Ginette Boucher, Ginette Dufresne, Ginette Gaudette, Ginette Gauthier, Ginette Lamirande-Grenon, Ginette Legault, Ginette Rivard, Ginette Roger, Ginette Vincent, Gisèle Côté, Guylaine Fortin, Guylaine Gent, Guylaine Leblond, Guylaine Potvin, Hanh Nguyen, Helen Bauer, Hélène Colgan, Hélène Dufresne, Hélène Farman, Hélène Hurtubise, Hélène Langlais, Hélène Morneau, Hélène Plante, Hélène Verreault, Hend El-Tomi, Hermeline Leblanc-Bourdages, Hilary Erhardt, Hortensia Diaz, Huguette Boulanger, Huguette Demers-Paradis, Huguette-Marie Brideau, Ian Lambert-Tourangeau, Ida Rudy Kramer, Immaculée-Barbara Pierre, Innocent Kastar, Isabelle Bacon, Isabelle Bolduc, Isabelle Brouillette-Venne, Isabelle Champoux, Isabelle Denis, Isabelle Lotz, Isabelle Rolin, Isabelle Villeneuve, Ivy Roberts, Jacinthe Dufour, Jacqueline Bernard, Jacqueline Dansereau, Jacqueline Fortin, Jacqueline Lecors, Jadwiga Lorynski, Jae Woo Hu, Jane Grefford, Janet Kuchinski, Janette Daigneault, Janie Lefebvre, Jasmine Mathews, Jayshri Patel, Jea In Hu, Jean-Anthony Richer, Jean-Christophe Roy, Jean-Francois Leclerc, Jean-Francois Lessard, Jean-François Parenteau, Jean-Marc Harper, Jean-Philippe Rossignol, Jean-Vanel Prévost, Jeanet Grenier-Lajoie, Jeanie Poucachie, Jeanne Bouchard, Jeanne Francoeur, Jeanne d’Arc Alarie-Ouellet, Jeanne-Lolita Cameron, Jeannelle Dumont, Jeannette Fradette-Fréchette, Jeannette Lamoureux, Jeannine Boissonneault-Durand, Jeannine Gagnon, Jeannine Marineau, Jenny Lenner, Jérôme Fréchette-Vachon, Jérôme Leclerc, Jérôme Langlois, Jessica Charbonneau, Jessica Chiasson-Huard, Jessica Grimard, Jessica Lemire-Gagnon, Jessica Sylvain, Joan Williams, Joanna Simolenska-Powada, Joanne Beaudoin, Joanne Cloutier, Joanne Foessi, Joanne Murray, Joanne Salvatore, Jocelyn Toope, Jocelyne Bourbonnais-Delorme, Jocelyne Lemay, Jocelyne Montreuil, Jocelyne Parent, Jocelyne Plante, Jocelyne Poirier, Joëlle Delage, Joëlle Tremblay, Johanne Bonhomme, Johanne Chalut, Johanne Godbout, Johanne Guay, Johanne Patenaude, Johanne Plante, Johanne Renaud, Johanne Saint-Éloi, Johanne Valade, John Feurer Pellerin, Joleil Campeau, Jonathan Beaudin, Jonathan Brodeur, Jonathan Couture, Jonathan Gilbert, Josée Jobidon, Josée Johnston, Josée Mathieu, Josée Matte, Josée Olsen, Josée Paquin, Josée Pitre, Josée Siracusa, Josée Tremblay, Joséphine Sberna, Joséphine Petitpas, Josette Duchesne, Josette Therriault, Josiane Jeannot, Joyce Bond, Judy Clark, Judy O’Reilly, Julie Beauvais, Julie Boisvenu, Julie Gendron, Julie Labonne, Julie Marcil, Justin Bauer, Justin Langlois, Juthlande Pierre, Kamalmatie Mulidhar-Janack, Karen Margaret Ann Lewis, Karine Gaudreault, Karina Janveau, Karine Hamel, Karine Pagé, Karyn Hicks, Kathryn Hannan, Kathy Rioux, Katti Blouin, Kevin Stringer, Kelly Ann Drummond, Kelly-Lynn Fitzpatrick, Kim Parent, Kristina Blain, Lai “Josephine” Wah, Laorina Adriansen, Laurette Jarry, Laurette Roy, Laurin Lirette, Laurie Fréchette, Leila Arbaoui, Leila El-Tomi, Léonie Hanscom-Dubé, Lijuan Wang, Liliane De Montigny, Lina Charron, Lina Stinziani, Linda Borden, Linda Condo, Linda Lafrance, Line Laforce, Lise Beaudoin, Lise Bélisle, Lise Bourgeois, Lise Brisebois, Lise Cossette, Lise Desmarais, Lise Hardy, Lise Laporte, Lise Papineau, Lise Phaneuf, Lise Raymond, Lise Roberge-Beaudoin, Lise Verreault-Bélanger, Lisette Boucher, Lorraine Bourgeois, Lorraine Keogh, Lorraine Pelletier, Louana Charles, Louise Campbell, Louise Chaput, Louise De Prater, Louise Dubreuil, Louise Ellis, Louise Fleury, Louise Héroux, Louise Gagnon, Louise Lessard-Piché, Louise Macenat, Louise Pageau, Louise Plante-Ouellet, Louise Prieur-Santerre, Louise Ruel, Louiselle Caron, Louisette Laflamme, Lucette Boily, Lucette Mageau-Casey, Lucie Brousseau, Lucie Castonguay, Lucie Dionne, Lucie Gélinas, Lucille Gignac-Gélinas, Lucille Morin, Ludovic Giasson, Luis Antonio Ortiz, Lyane Breault, Lydia Enaruiluk, Lyne Saint-Onge, Lyne Villeneuve, Lynn Labonté, Manon Dubé, Manon Hamel, Manon Leblanc, Manon Lécuyer, Manon Paquin, Manon Trottier, Manuel Pouw, Marc Falardeau, Marc-Alexandre Chartrand, Margaret Anglin, Marguerite Boka, Marguerite Landry, Marguerite Montreuil, Marguerite Paris-Beauregard, Maria Gallo-Dubé, Maria Susette Lamos, Marie Bourdeau, Marie Clermont-Bazzarelli, Marie Lemay, Marie-Anne Bouffard, Marie-Berthe Marcotte, Marie-Chantale Desjardins, Marie-Claude Côté, Marie-Claire Pothier, Marie-Eve Larivière, Marie-France Foucault, Marie-Ghislaine Charles, Marie-Hélène Dubé, Marie-Jimcia Augustin, Marie-Josée Champagne, Marie-Paule Foucault, Marie-Paule Gagné, Marie-Pier Gauthier, Marie-Pier Joly, Marielle Michaud, Marielle Villeneuve, Mariette Giroux, Mariette Lacombe, Marilu Ortiz, Marlene Hogue, Marthe Beaulieu, Martine Auger, Martine Lefebvre, Martine Scotto, Marwan Harb, Mary Begg, Mary Glenn, Maryse Charron, Maryse Côté, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Maryse Levac, Matthew Collins, Matthieu McDonald, Maud Bélair, Maud Haviernick, Maxime Ayotte-McPhee, Maxime Raymond, Maxime Giasson Saint-Hilaire, Mélanie Cabay, Mélanie Messier, Melina Laskaris, Mélissa Williski, Mercedes Castellanos, Mercedez Boudu, Michael Paquette, Michael-Stéphane Jolin, Michel Perreault, Michèle Bernard, Michèle Blais, Michèle Richard, Micheline-Ange Charest, Micheline Bond, Micheline Cuerrier, Micheline Denis, Micheline Dufault, Micheline Grégoire-Denis, Micheline Lacharité, Micheline Lapierre, Micheline Leblanc, Micheline Sévigny, Michelle Rhéaume,Mikael McDonald, Mikaela Tautu, Milia Abrar, Mina Brascoupé-Jérôme, Ming Hung Ha, Minnie Kenuajuak, Mireille Bélanger, Mireille Bruneau, Moïra Fortin, Monique Gaudreau, Monique Gravel, Monique Saint-Germain, Monique Stocker, Monique Woods, Mylène Marceau, Myriam Chrétien, Myriam Valois, Nadège Châtelain, Nadia Fera Panarello, Nadia Marion, Nancy Guimond, Nancy Lebreux, Nancy Martins, Nancy Ouellette, Nancy Potvin, Nancy West, Natacha Desbiens, Natacha Genovesi, Natalia Masiak, Natasha Alexandre-Scott, Nathalie Beauregard, Nathalie Boutin, Nathalie Champigny, Nathalie Chassy, Nathalie Côté, Nathalie Croteau, Nathalie Dallaire, Nathalie Dumont, Nathalie Jolicoeur, Nathalie Lévesque, Nathalie Rouleau, Nazia Chahen, Nelly Bobishe, Nicky Robinson, Nicolas Maloney, Nicole Abi-Natted, Nicole Bloomer, Nicole Desgagnés, Nicole Dubuc, Nicole François, Nicole Lacombe Rocheleau, Nicole Morrissette, Nicole Sassoon, Nicole Tremblay, Nora Guité-Bujold, Nuran Demirel Keser, Odette Dugas, Odette Pinard, Olivette Dupont-Baril, Pascal Poulin, Pascale Lemaire, Pascale Thomas, Patricia Shandroo, Paula Laviolette, Pauline Berthiaume-Bouthillette, Pauline Boulet-Bellegarde, Pauline Bourrelle, Pauline Duval, Pauline Saint-Vincent, Pearl Lamarre-Rushford, Pierre-Luc Michaud, Pierre-Luc Rioux, Pierrette Charrette, Pierrette Faucher, Pierrette Garceau, Pierrette Pelletier, Pierrette Plouffe-Guénette, Pierrette Vaillancourt-Péladeau, Priscilla Décarie-Rondeau, Rachel Marcoux, Raymonde Poulin-Lapointe, Reine Lauzière-Pagé, René Lauzon, Rhéa Landry-Carufel, Rita Houde-Marchand, Rita Tookalook, Roberte Ménard-Dunn, Rollande Asselin-Beaucage, Rollande Vincent-Rinfret, Rosa del Carmen Yanez Cartagena, Rose Daigle, Rose Kaitak, Rose Lagacé, Rose-Anne Blackned, Rosilda Houle, Roxan Charbonneau, Ruby Ann Poucachiche, Sacha Vallée, Samara Foucault, Samuel Desormeaux, Samuel Shawn, Samuel Thompson, Sandra Gaudet, Santino d'Intino, Sarah Dutil-Coculuzzi, Sarah Gagnon, Scott MacCormack, Sébastien Fugues, Seneca Lapointe, Shade Durand, Shanmatie Dookie, Shaun Birch, Sidney Normandin, Skyler Hallock-Marchand, Solange Bérubé-Guay, Solange Lelièvre, Sonia Pelletier, Sonia Raymond, Sophie Champagne, Sophie Gervais, Stéphane Dion, Stéphane Guimond, Stéphane Houle, Stéphanie Ladouceur, Stephanie Pierpaolie, Steve Trudel, Steven Sirois, Steven Valentine, Sun Ok Hu, Suzanne Bédard, Suzanne Bergeron, Suzanne Chiquelho, Suzanne Grondin, Suzanne Jodoin, Suzanne Lecours, Sylvia Branco, Sylvie Boucher, Sylvie Chauvin, Sylvie Cyr, Sylvie Lefebvre, Sylvie Mireault, Sylvie Richard, Sylvie Saint-Onge, Sylvie Samson, Sylvie Théorêt, Sylvie Tétreault, Sylvie Viau, Talin Leylekoglu, Tamara Shaikh, Tanya Buschman, Tanya Melzer, Tanya Pinette, Tara Manning, Teresinha Ng, Theresa Shanahan Litzak, Theresa Luca, Thérèse Brière, Thérèse Gélinas, Thérèse Labelle, Thérèse Riel, Thong Van Luangduangsuthidej, Tina Diaz, Tina Laposta, Tobbie Turbide, Tommy St-Germain, Travis Paris, Tricia Shelen Pillingy, Tsao Chih Pan, Tung Than Nueng, Valérie Aubin, Véronique Lalonde, Vicky Michaud, Vicky Parent, Vicky Paquet, Vicky Roy, Victoire Cossette, Victoria Debes Ghazal, Victor Lemay, Virginia Pacuraru, Viviane Simoneau, Wesley Bauer, Widad El-Tomi, Wildrine Julien, William Lavallée, Yanne Cornu-Poirier, Yolande Perron, Youlia Ermenlieva, Yvette Charbonneau-Bonneau, Yvette Groleau-Gariépy, Yvette Latulippe, Yvette Martin-Chouinard, Yvonne Arseneault, Yvonne Bédard, Yvonne Duchesne, Yvrose Guilloux et Zacharie Hallé, au 6 décembre 2004.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Have you heard of Lindsey Nicholls?



Lindsey Nicholls disappeared from Comox Valley, British Columbia over eleven years ago. Her mother, Judy Peterson is advocating for the creation of a national missing persons DNA data bank. You may be surprised to learn that such a tool currently exists in the U.S. (CODIS), but not in Canada.

Judy's proposed legislation (Bill C-441, called Lindsey's Law) would allow for the collection of DNA from missing persons or their close relatives for the purpose of cross-referencing DNA from crime scenes and unidentified human remains. This legislation will provide answers for grieving families, justice for the victims and put violent criminals behind bars.

What Judy is asking Canadians to do is really quite simple. Please take the time to write a letter to Canada's Minister of Public Safety And Emergency Preparedness, Anne McLellan (McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca) and tell her you support the creation of a national missing person and unidentified human remains DNA databank. Judy even has a sample letter all ready for you to fill out on her website.

For those of you who are technologically challenged, her is my letter (feel free to cut and paste):
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Hon. Anne McLellan, PC, MP
Minister of Public Safety
And Emergency Preparedness
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister McLellan,

I received a letter last week from Justice Minister Cotler informing me that you would be helping me in the future on my request for the procedures governing evidence retention in Canada. I thank you for your assistance in that matter and I look forward to your response.

My letter today is regarding another matter. As I’m sure you are aware, in 1978 my sister, Theresa Allore went missing for a period of five months. In the spring of 1979 she was found murdered in a ditch in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

I am writing to let you know that I fully support the creation of a national missing person and unidentified human remains DNA databank. Specifically, I would also ask that these two indices to be linked to the Crime Scene Index in order to identify victims and serial offenders.

This legislation is fully supported by victim’s groups, missing children organizations, RCMP and the Federal Provincial Territorial Ministers. The need is urgent and families of missing persons – such as the Petersons in British Columbia and the Surprenants in Quebec - have waited far too long. I know all too well the deep need to have family members returned home, and the importance of having justice administered, no matter how long the pursuit for justice may last.

As Minister of Public Safety, you have a responsibility to make this happen. Every day is painful for the families of the missing. They deserve the comfort of knowing that if their loved one is ever found, they will know.

I look forward to learning your plan to get this in place for the benefit of all Canadians.

Yours truly,

John Allore
Chapel Hill, NC
(Canadian citizen)
----------------------------------------------------------------
For more information on Judy Peterson and her efforts, please visit her website, http://www.lindseyslaw.com/ .

Friday, December 17, 2004

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2004

Well done, Hutch

Chief defends use of deceit

By Beth Velliquette : The Herald-Sun
bvelliquette@heraldsun.com
Dec 16, 2004 : 10:59 pm ET

CARRBORO -- Carrboro Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison on Thursday defended the tactics her officers used to obtain a confession from a man accused of a 1997 murder, saying that police are allowed to use deceit to get someone to confess to a crime.

"Courts have established that police offers are allowed to use deception in their jobs," Hutchison said in her first interview since The Herald-Sun reported the trick police used on Andrew Douglas Dalzell. "It is something that is used as a matter of routine in police work."


Carrboro Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison

Hutchison said she believes the fake warrant and fake letter her officers used pricked Dalzell's conscience, prompting him to confess to killing Deborah Leigh Key.

"In my opinion, his guilty conscience spun out of control, and it worked on him," Hutchison said. "That guilty conscience caused him to confess what he had done in 1997."

Carrboro officers arrested Dalzell on Sept. 9 in Stanley, about 150 miles west of Orange County, on relatively minor property-crime charges. But they didn't tell him the real reason he was under arrest or read him his rights. Instead, during the three-hour drive back to Carrboro the officers made Dalzell think they'd already filed first-degree murder charges against him and that District Attorney Carl Fox was vowing to seek the death penalty unless he immediately cooperated.

Dalzell then told police he strangled Key and took her body to Wilmington and put it in a trash bin, according to two Carrboro officers. Dalzell, 28, and Key, who was then 35, were seen together outside a bar in downtown Carrboro on Dec. 1, 1997. Key has not been seen since.
Officers continued talking to Dalzell -- whether they "interrogated" him is a matter of debate -- at the Carrboro Police Department before finally telling him he could remain silent and have an attorney present, his so-called Miranda rights. Dalzell then signed a waiver of his rights and wrote out a confession, at one point even using a computer to compose it, according to police.
Later that day, police obtained a real warrant charging Dalzell with second-degree murder.
Dalzell's attorney, Orange-Chatham Public Defender James Williams, has questioned the ruse and filed a motion to suppress the statements his client made to police.

A judge heard testimony from the officers and Dalzell's mother during a hearing in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday. Judge Wade Barber did not make a decision and has continued the hearing until Jan. 10.

Hutchison had previously declined to talk about what her officers did to obtain the confession, but on Thursday she said she was willing to discuss the issue because Barber had already heard their testimony.

Carrboro investigators had been working to find out what happened to Key for seven years, and Dalzell was always the prime suspect, she said.

When they obtained the warrants to arrest him for allegedly stealing items from Hungate's, a store at University Mall, the officers saw it as an opportunity to try to find out what happened to Key, she said.

"We knew it was a long shot," she said. "We did arrest him on legitimate charges. We had every right to arrest him. We created the perception that he was being arrested for murder."

Lt. John Lau testified Wednesday that he came up with the idea of making a fake warrant that said Dalzell was being charged with first-degree murder and a fake letter purportedly from Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox. The letter said Fox would definitely seek the death penalty against Dalzell unless he immediately told investigators where Key's body was.

Lau testified that he consulted Fox about his plan, and Hutchison said that she believed that everyone was comfortable with it.

On Thursday, Fox agreed that he had talked to Lau and knew that Lau was going to trick Dalzell into believing he was being charged with murder. Fox, however, said he did not know specifically that Lau planned to make the fake warrant and the fake letter. But Fox has already acknowledged giving the officers a piece of his office stationery for their plan.

Steve Stewart, Carrboro's town manager, stood behind Carrboro's Police Department and said Fox was aware of what the officers planned to do.

"Without going into detail, please be assured that our Police Department used methods in this murder investigation that were appropriate and within the bounds of existing law," Stewart said in a written statement.

"Further, the Orange County District Attorney's Office was involved through all phases of this investigation," Stewart said. "I have also discussed this matter with our town attorney, who is also comfortable with the methodology used in this investigation."

On Wednesday, Cpl. Seth Everett testified that when the officers and Dalzell stopped at a gas station on their trip back from Stanley, Dalzell began crying and said he didn't want to die.
Everett testified that he encouraged Dalzell to tell the truth. Dalzell then blurted out that he didn't mean to do it and that he had taken her to Wilmington and put her in a Dumpster.
Hutchison said she's used deceit herself in police work.

For example, Hutchison said that when she was a young officer, she worked as an undercover drug officer in Orange and Chatham counties.

"In doing that I assumed a different name and different personality, someone other than Carolyn Hutchison," she said. "The state provided me a driver's license with a different name on it, a different date of birth, and a false address from out of town.

"It helped me establish my ruse, my identity, as a young student from out of town who lived in this area," she said. "I wore spiky hair in a rattail, and I looked the part of a young, punky college student."

Some of the people who sold her drugs were convicted and sent to prison, she said.

"I think there is a parallel between that sort of deception and the deception we used in this particular case," she said. "The parallel is I created a personality and presented that personality ... to convince drug dealers to want to sell me drugs."

Hutchison said she used fake documents, like the fake driver's license, and no one ever questioned the use of those techniques in her and other officers' undercover drug work.

The chief also said her officers were not required to give Dalzell his Miranda rights before they actually did because they did not interrogate Dalzell or ask him questions about Key's murder until after they read him his rights.

Before that, Dalzell made what authorities call "a spontaneous utterance," she said.

"A 'spontaneous utterance' is not the product of interrogation or interview," Hutchison said. "It's something someone offers before they have been questioned, and that's what happened in this situation."

The officers weren't required to give Dalzell his Miranda rights as they rode back to Carrboro, she said. "We had no intention of interrogating him in that vehicle, and we didn't," she said.

Thursday, December 2, 2004

This from the Surete du Quebec's website:

Interesting that they are now searching for Brianna Maitland in Quebec

Jeune Américaine recherchée



Les policiers du BRE Estrie, en collaboration avec les policiers du Vermont, sont à la recherche de Brianna Maitland, une jeune Américaine de 17 ans portée disparue depuis le 19 mars 2004. Elle a été vue la dernière fois vers minuit, soit au moment où elle quittait son travail à l’auberge Le Black Lantern Inn à Montgomery, en bordure de la frontière québécoise. Sa voiture, une Oldsmobile 88 quatre portes 1985 de couleur verte, a été retrouvée à Montgomery.

Description physique

Race : blanche
Yeux : noisette
Cheveux : châtain brun
Taille : 1,6 m
Poids : entre 47 et 50 kg

Elle porte un petit anneau à la narine gauche et a une cicatrice au front près du sourcil.

Tout renseignement sur les allées et venues de cette jeune femme peut être communiqué au service de police de l’État du Vermont au (802) 524-5993.