Friday, March 31, 2006

54 Comments?

Here kids, have another open thread.

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Before My Time

70s 'Vampire Killer' dies
Convicted of horrific sex slayings in Montreal and Calgary

By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA

CALGARY -- The serial killer who terrorized the nation with the sex slayings of women in Montreal and Calgary more than 30 years ago is dead.

Wayne Boden, nicknamed the Vampire Killer because he had a penchant for biting the breasts of his victims, a practice that helped lead to his conviction, died in Kingston Penitentiary this week.

Correctional Service Canada attributed Boden's death to "natural causes" and said funeral arrangements were still being made. Boden was believed to be in his late 50s.

He was locked up in 1972 after four women in Montreal were raped and strangled between 1968 and 1970.

He confessed to three of the killings after Calgary teacher Elizabeth Porteous was found raped and strangled in 1971.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2006

Comfort Food

Western sandwich recipe courtesy of Blondine from Montreal:

1 egg
1 slice cooked ham, diced
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 sweet pepper, chopped
2 slices wheat bread
Mayonnaise, to taste

Into a frypan, scramble together egg, ham dices, chopped onion and chopped sweet pepper.
Toast wheat bread slices.
Spread bread slices with mayonnaise; spread one slice of bread with egg mixture.
Top with remaining slice of bread; serve immediately.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2006

I hate this blog...

I feel like it's sucking the life out of me.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2006

Finding Theresa

Ok, using Google Earth, "fly to" Compton, Quebec. Now use the navigator to go a little bit north and a little bit west. You should see "chemin de la station" running east to west from Compton. About 1/2 way across that road you should see a little stream-let that cuts an "n" like figure. That is where Theresa was found (1/2 way between Compton and Compton Station).

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FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006

Search Party

Sue, if are going forward with this I am in full support and will do what I can to help from here. A couple of points:

1. Yes, the chances of finding anything are slim to none, but it must be done. Because this will be one more thing that people did on there own that the police never bothered to do. It is important to show that we will go the distance where they will not. Find evidence is not the point; making an attempt is what is important.

2. When you get your dates together let me know: I believe the police must be invited to lead it or participate, if they decline that will be one more reason to criticize.

3. The media will definitely need to be made aware that a group of citizens is doing this, not the police.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006

Sightseeing

If any of you have access to Google Earth I can navigate you to the various dump sites.

Let me know...

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2006

Clothing - Chemin Giguere

If you were serious about conducting a search for Theresa's possible clothing remains, what I would do would be to contact Steve Mandigo and Sam Burnham - the hunters who originally discovered the clothing - and have him take you to the spot where he saw the clothes. 

This is not a bad idea - I think with the help of AFPAD we could get a lot of volunteers to show up.

UPDATE: to get there: from highway 112 take chemin des Peres south (boardering lac Memphremegog). Turn right on chemin Giguere. Go about 1/2 mile down the road to chemin McDonald (unmarked on right)

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Folded Clothes

You guys are working my nilly-nerve over this. I'm not sure where "folded" came from, I'd have to check my notes (it may be Patricia taking poetic license). But the point is really moot: the clothes where never found, so there is no way of knowing that they were definitely Theresa's.

two things stick in my craw:

1. that they coincidentally were found the weekend she disappeared.

2. That they were found within 100 yards or so of the Camirand dump site.

Now, why weren't they found again? I met with one of the hunters, Steve Mandingo - I believe in the fall of 2002 - on the edge of the forest where the he spotted the clothes. The reason they couldn't relocate them when they brought Hamel was because they attempted to enter the forest from the opposite direction (180 north on a different access road). Also it was raining badly that day (who knows how hard they tried).

One other thing: At this time Hamel is pushing the runaway lesbian theory, yet these hunters bring him within spitting distance of the Camirand site. I find it hard to believe he wasn't away of that previous murder. I find it hard to believe that at this point his mind to at least entertain the idea that Theresa might have been murdered (dump cop or someone not willing to rock the boat?)

Interesting that at this time Hamel had two daughters enrolled at Champlain: this was never disclosed at the time, I only recently learned of it.

Say, if you super sleuths really want to help me out here's what you'll do. Two years ago I begged SQ investigator Eric Latour to take me and a group back to this site and help us conduct a proper search for the remains of the clothing (I don't think they were moved, I think they were never found). Latour agreed, very reluctantly. So here's what you do: get yourselves together, contact Benoit Patenaude, get a metal detector, and comb that area for any remains (a button, a zipper, anything). The spring is a good time to do it.

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More notes:

Meeting with Gerry Cutting, Champlain College
Friday, March 15th, 2002


I entered the administration building and was directed to the Director of Student Services office, Melanie Cutting (one time married to Gerry, now divorced). I gave Melanie my list of requests, she said a lot of it would be difficult to track down. I said I wasn’t expecting it today, but if they could round up what they could it would be helpful.

After a few minutes, she said who I really needed to see was Gerry Cutting. She dialed his office, said it was very doubtful that he would be in, but would try. As luck would have it, he was in. She said, “there’s someone in my office you should see”. Within a minute Gerry Cutting walked in.

Gerry Cutting was now the Director General of Champlain. In 1978 he was teaching Psychology, and working as a councilor, when he was promoted to the Director of Student Services in the Fall of 1978. His manner was very at ease and relaxed, and he immediately made all three of us feel very comfortable. He said, “well I imagine you have some questions, so why don’t we just go to it.”. I asked him what he recalled at that time. His first comment was that both Dr. Matson, the then Campus Director, and Leo Hamel, the Lennoxville investigator had been very “disturbed” by the whole disappearance.

Cutting continued that Hamel was getting frustrated because the private investigator my father hired was inhibiting Hamel’s investigation, and that several of the students had felt intimidated by Beullac. He said later when the body was found, that the Surete discovered more in two weeks of investigation then they had uncovered five months prior. He went on to say that Hamel had always believed that Theresa was never in Compton, that she was picked up hitchhiking from Lennoxville to Compton and that that is when she went missing (In my Father’s notes Hamel has a hard time dealing with Sharon Buzzee’s statement that she talked with Theresa in King’s Hall at 9:00 pm. It didn’t fit his theory, and I thought it was a case of mistaken identity.). Later, when the body was found, Hamel admitted he was wrong.

I asked Cutting who was Mr. Peacock? (Long silence.) Stewart Peacock was the Director of Residence at Compton. He was new in the fall of 1978. He had an apartment at King’s. Cutting described him as quite inept. He was a former Headmaster of an elementary school. He had had no experience dealing with teenagers. In December of 1978 he was dismissed, having worked there less than four months. Jeanne Eddisford assumed his responsibilities in January of 1979.

I asked Gerry Cutting what he thought might have happened. He started by telling me that not long after Theresa’s body was found, there were a series of five brutal shotgun murders in Compton. A Compton family, the Poulots, were eventually arrested. They were tired up in drugs and organized crime, and Cutting thought that Theresa might have been involved with that. I then replied, “but there were no shotgun wounds on Mr. Sister’s body.”. Cutting glanced at his watch.

Cutting continued. He knew both Hamel and Gauldreault quite well. They had gone to school together. I asked him again what he thought might have happened. He said everyone felt it had happened in residence and that there were accomplices. I asked him what Gauldreault thought had happened. He said that they had talked not long after she was found and that Gauldreault believed it was a murder, and it happened in residence. I said, “a murder done by someone outside the school, or by someone inside the school”. He said, inside, and that Gauldrealt had two strong suspects. I asked if Gauldreault had ever mentioned any names. Cutting said, “No, he would never do that, but one of the suspects was a teacher.” Cutting said that I had to understand that it was a much more liberal time back then. The line between teacher and student often blurred. Teacher often came out to Compton, and some of them, if he recalled, would even teach some of their classes out there.

Cutting went on to say that the Surete felt certain it was, “a murder, we’ll never solve”. He said there strategy at the time was to wait. Wait and someone will talk. They never applied any pressure. They never did any follow up. They just waited. And nothing happened.

Before I left, Cutting asked if I had talked to Jeanne Eddisford. I said I was not intending to. Both Cutting and Melanie Cutting said I should talk to her. She was living in Montreal, and they would get her number for me. I said, “At the time she said that there were no drugs on campus”. Both of them just laughed. They said she would have been privy to a lot of information that at the time she would have felt pressured not to disclose. They said she was under a lot of pressure because she was new to the school and so young. I asked Cutting if he thought Jeanne Eddisford would be willing to change her statement. He replied, “yes”.

I left Lennoxville and headed for Compton. I went back to Gillard. I went back to the spot she was found. The idea of murder had never been in my realm of possibility. The idea that a teacher may have been involved was also something quite different. Also, I remembered my brother had told me that in 1978, Bill Matson was having an affair with the Assistant Residence Director, Jeanne Eddisford.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006

Plus Ca Change

Four years ago today I made my first trip to Sherbrooke to investigate Theresa's death. I thought you might like to take a look at my notes from that day, and what I was doing:


Notes on meeting with Robert Theoret, Surete de Quebec
Thursday, March 14th, 2002 / 8:15 am


I meet with Corp Robert Theoret of the Surete de Quebec in Sherbrooke, to go over the file on my sister’s case, Theresa Allore. He allows me to review the following documents:

1. The Lennoxville Police’s “Evenement” report, stating Theresa was missing as of November 3, 1978

2. A nine page report from Leo Hamel of the Lennoxville Police Department dated November 17, 1978

3. A statement to Hamel from Andre Allore, Compton student dated November 14, 1978

4. A statement to Hamel from Carolina Greenwood, Compton Student dated November 14, 1978

5. A statement to Hamel from Joanne Laurie, Compton Student dated November 14, 1978

6. A statement to Hamel from Josie Stepenhorst, Compton student dated November 1978

7. A page of Hamel’s note paper with the statement of Jacqueline Levfevre, November 12, 1978, in which she says she saw someone who looked like Theresa at a motel.

8. A page of Hamel’s note paper with the statement of Madelain Clowery dated November 12, 1978, an elderly women who says she picked up Theresa hitch hiking to Montreal the weekend of October 15th.

9. A statement to Hamel from Norman Drake dated January 1979, taken in Montreal. Drake new Theresa in Montreal.

10. The one page coroner’s report (which I already had from Dad)

11. Approximately 115 statement from students at Compton all the statements were taken in the three week period, April 17th through May 3rd; just after Theresa’s body was found on April 13th 1978.

Corp Theoret said there were some documents I could not seen. They include the following:

1. A picture of my sister’s body in the coaticook river

2. Corp Roch Gauldreault’s report, who was the investigating officer for the Surete after the body was found

3. A list of students at Compton

4. Any statements from Suspects.

He said I could not see the last item to, “respect the Canadian and the Quebec laws about access to information and protection of private life in Canada, and he made sign a letter saying I understood this.

I specifically mentioned that the reports from the Lennoxville police seemed “thin”; was he sure there was nothing else. He said he was sure.

I asked him if the file contained the 2 x-rays and eleven colored photographs that had been taken during the autopsy. The 11 photos had been taken at the request of Clause Payette of the Quebec Provincial Police. Theoret said he did not have these things.

I asked if he had the bra and panties that my sister was found in. Theoret said these would have been destroyed years ago; they would not have kept them. I asked why would they destroy evidence for a case that was still an unsolved crime. He said probably the Surete thought they were no longer useful, and that they can’t keep these things forever.

Over the course of the next 7 ½ hours I read all the information I was allowed to see and took generous notes. These were my thoughts at the end of that day:

Concerning the Lennoxville missing persons investigation, Hamel’s nine page report consisted mainly of activities he conducted while doing his investigation. He interviewed Mom and Dad. On November 16th he travels to the village of Austin to follow up on a tip from some hunters who say they found some clothing in the woods. When the hunters lead them there, the clothing is gone. That same day the travel further to the St. Benoit Abbey to see if Theresa’s there. They go on through Magog to the American / Canadian boarder and show officials Theresa’s picture: have they seen this person. Later, Hamel receives to phone tips from people saying they saw someone matching Theresa’s description (but speaking French) at motels. Curiously, he does not say which motels, nor does he follow up and go to these Motels.

Hamel’s statements of his activities corroborate with My Dad and Mom’s feelings at that time. The investigation was spending too much time off campus, they were looking everywhere except starting with the logical place: the last place she was seen: Compton. Further, there was an eye witness testimony from Sharon Buzzee who stated she saw Theresa on the stairs of King’s hall Compton at 9:00 pm, Friday, November 3rd, the night she disappeared. She even engaged in conversation with her. According to my Dad’s notes, Hamel didn’t believe this statement, and he tried to discredit it (she must be mistaken, it was someone else).

Hamel always clung to the hitch hiking theory. He believed the last place she was ever seen was at 6:00 pm in the dining hall at Lennoxville. Similarly, Dr. Matson, the Campus Director of Champlain College went to great lengths to suggest that Theresa was anywhere but at the Compton campus. He told my parents that Theresa was most likely a lesbian, and if found she would need treatment by court order if necessary (Nov 16, 1978). He told them he had an indication that Theresa had gone someplace where disturbed people go. His advice to my parents was, “go home and wait for something to happen”.

Hamel, too, introduced the lesbian theory. He suggested to my parents that he had received a lot of tips suggesting that Theresa was a lesbian. My Dad notes that both he and Mom thought that Hamel and Matson where trying to put them on the defensive, make them feel bad, distract them.

I would like to note that after reading the 115 statements (114 from students, 1 from the assistant director of residence) at Compton, there is no mention of lesbianism. They talk about drugs, they talk about students hitch hiking. They talk about her boyfriend, Vlad. That’s it.

At 3:30 pm I left the Surete. Corp Theoret invited me back the next day, if I had any questions. I told him I would must likely take him up on his offer.

Compton Resident Director, Jeanne Eddisford’s statement dated April 18th, 1979 is very puzzling. She begins by singing the praises of Theresa: she was very intelligent, she was always happy, she had good marks with an 85% average. She also states how helpful she was to my parents; she was the one who boxed up Theresa’s belongings and shipped them to my parents. She does not say a single thing about what went on the night Theresa disappeared. She was clearly present. She mentioned by Wendy Ford as having been in the TV room. Then for some reason, Jeanne Eddisford feels the need to make a disclaimer in her statement: There are no drugs on the Compton campus.

Yet, on Monday, February 12, 1979, there was a raid of the Compton campus and three students were arrested. The campus paper, the Touchtone in a February 22 article states, “The raid had been called by the Compton administration, Jeanne Eddisford, Director of Residence. The article goes on to say that students had complained of large amounts of drugs on the Compton campus.

So did Jeanne Eddisford mean there were no drugs as of April 18th, 1979? Her statement was supposed to be in relation to events of the previous Fall. And at that time, on the night of Friday, November 3rd, there were most certainly drugs on the Compton campus.

In his statement, student Dave Vick says on the night of November 3, 1978 he was in room 139 of Gillard House with students Brian Condon and Mark McKain. They took a hit of acid each and consumed some beer. Vick left, but then passed out on the lawn between Gillard and King’s Hall. A Resident Assistant, Allan brought him to the hospital where he spent the night. This story is corroborated in Mark McKain’s statement. However, student Glenn Kelly makes a statement that it is he who takes Vick to the hospital due to an acid overdoes. Further, Dan Gauthier states that, “I had a guy that we brought to the hospital because he was overdose.”. Gauthier does not say who he brought to the hospital. Finally, the school’s night watchman makes the following statement:

“I recall that at the beginning of November I drove a kid that had an hoverdose at the hospital in Sherbrooke. It was the morning of the 4th of November. I went off for two days after that. When I came back to work I had an argument about drug problems with Mr Peacock. He didn’t want to do nothing about it so I quit working there”.

Who is Mr. Peacock? I asked my brother but he couldn’t remember.

After calling my brother, I called my Lawyer contact in Laval, Tom Lavin. Mr. Lavin had advised me a year ago to see the file, but make notes of what they withheld from me; then we could always use legal procedures to get the remaining information they wouldn’t show me. I talk to his son, Dominique. He advised me to continue to be calm; don’t give away anything that may be coming in the form of a registered letter.

I met with Corp Theoret again on Friday morning, March 15th at 9:00 am. I asked him to again specify the documents I had not seen. He said again, the picture, Corp Gauldreault report, statements from suspects, and a list of students. I asked if he was sure I had all the information from Leo Hamel and the Lennoxville investigation. He said yes.

I asked him if he thought it unusual that of all the statements requested by the Lennoxville Police and the Surete, 99.99% of them were from students: No adults, no school administrators, no teachers. Corp Theoret admitted that this was strange.

I asked Theoret what was the present status of my sisters case. He said it is an unsolved crime. I implored him, ‘then why not attempt to solve it?’. He stated that in his office he has a lot of unsolved crimes, and he is too short staffed to deal with even his current log of cases.

I asked him who would have been Leo Hamel’s supervisor at the time of the disappearance. Theoret said Hamel would not of had one, he answered to no one. (his words).

The day before I had asked Theoret what I thought happened to my sister. He said she was picked up hitchhiking, and then dumped in the Coaticook. Today I asked him why he had said that. He replied he had only given a cursory look at the file and there was a lot of references to my sister hitchhiking.

{note: the day before, I had said to him that I felt that the combination of the students being left alone, so young and unsupervised, and the poor investigation by the Lennoxville police, probably lead to her death, and the inability to solve the crime. He did say very quietly that this probably had something to do with it}


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MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006

Ok, Ok, you didn't like that last post...

I needed a break already.

Back to the question I asked Anon: what do you make of the clothes?

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SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 2006

I would have made this instramental but the words got in the way

Over at Is That Legal Eric asks "what are the songs with staying power?"

XTC' Language in our Lungs is one of my favorites (and still listenable), but Eric must have a young readership over there. Talk of Peter Gabriel as a relic makes me uncomfortable (that's like asking if McCartney was in a band before Wings - ahem... the band is Genesis).


Pete with his former mates

And how 'bout Dream Academy's Life in a Northern Town; now there's a song that doesn't sound shackled in the 80s.

And you can be sure the next time I contemplate divorce I'll be listening to Geddy Lee's pearls of wisdom... 


Rush - Fully Loaded

Gotta' get back in Time

No, for a song to truly stand the test of time you need to reach waaayyy back in the vaults.

Songs like The Poppy Family's Where Evil Grows, O-o-h Child by The Five Stairsteps, and The Jaggerz, The Rapper (more cowbell) - these hold up.

Stinkers then and now include The Last Song by Edward Bear (what'd you expect from a band named after Winnie the Pooh)...

The New Seekers Look What They've Done To My Song...


You mean these guys didn't make it big? But they looked so hip?

Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone (nominated to The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall Of Shame for the world's most unnecessary key change) and The Original Caste' Mr Monday (from the band that brought us One Tin Soldier - don't get me started). Add to thatThunderclap Newman's Something in the Air, a song that's always heralded as the last glitter of 60s genius... who are they kidding? This song is one dog that lies there like a turd.

These songs never should have made the transition to digital.

Poor on the Velvetta Cheese..

Then there are hybrids - songs so bad they're good. Spandua Ballet's To Cut a Long Story Short I Lost My Mind comes to mind.


I have nothing to add here

Or how 'bout Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' ... or for that matter anything by Journey.


Big sweaty Steve Perry... Eric, this one's for you

But at heart I've always been a contrarian. So here's your chance to weigh in with your votes of songs that DO NOT stand the test of time.

I'll start you out:

I Hope The Russians Love Their Children Too - Sting (you say this is a hit song?)

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FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2006

I've been really ill (again). Nothing to do but watch tournament basketball (I don't like basketball).

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 08, 2006

"You can't do this to me, I'm an American!"

Watching Indiana Jones with the kids... Boy, Raiders of the Lost Arkis really weird in a post-911 world.

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Free Access to Stats Can Justice Statistics!

Go here: http://estat.statcan.ca.

Your user name is "ICCS", password is "estat".

Select "CANSIM" to see statistics on:

Justice 
Correctional services 
Courts 
Crimes and offences 
Legal aid 
Offenders 
Police services 
Victims

Le meme information est la aussi en francais.

(Don't say I never gave you nothin').

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I was considering releasing the book I worked on two years ago through regular posts on this site...

but a friend and fellow blogger (whose opinion I value tremendously) advises me not to. He says the story is still evolving and you never know what the future holds.

I'd love to release it if only to get all the information out there (there's a lot I haven't told). When I wrote it I was pretty angry (angrier than I am now? 'fraid so); I'm not that attached to the format or message anymore.

I'd like to write another book that would be quite different in approach. Basically I would write a chapter for chapter comparison of the justice system in Quebec / Canada in the 70s and the justice system now, using my sister's case and the Julie Boisvenu case as side-by-side studies.

But I think I'll secure an editor first before I write that one.

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Some Funny

College students start Alabama Church fires as a joke

Oh those college pranksters! They're just fulla' yuks!

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I've been avoiding Sue's question about the books and clothes because... 

I don't have any real answers.

The books

This issue is so complicated. I believe what you're asking is if her books were back in her room at Compton it proves she made it back to her residence. Easier said than done.

First, (and Anon will remember this) students had a locker on the Lennoxville campus where they could keep their books. When Theresa first disappeared there was "much ado" made about her books. Her locker was checked and it was found to be empty, but when it was checked again four days later all her books were there (specifically what books? I can't remember; I think her chemistry and physics text (she had had those classes on that last Friday, Nov. 3rd)).

Now a lot of time was wasted in interpreting what the missing books meant. Remember that at this time it was basically my parents who were doing the investigating; the police and school were of no help, it wasn't until the end of November that my parents called in an investigator, Robert Buellac. Long story short: Theresa's friends all shared each other's locker combinations. I simply think someone found the books or had the books and put them back in the locker; they didn't bring it up to anyone because they didn't want to be involved.

Did books arrive back at her room? I don't know. She had a paper due that week in Philosophy. So, you'd presume she at least brought those books back to residence. The problem is no one did a proper search of her room until the end of November (my parents would not have known what belonged and what didn't). Also, she had a roommate, and that complicates things. Robert Buellac kept the jacket cover from her philosophy text (a book on Zen), but I don't know if he got that from her locker or her room (Robert was a pretty smart guy, he would put two-and-two together if the book was in her room - Robert has since died).

So, it's very possible that whoever killed her disposed of her clothing as well as any books she was carrying.

The Clothes

There are several witness testimonies of her walking around the day she disappeared in blue cords, Chinese slippers, a beige sweater-coat, and a t-shirt (some say a David Bowie t-shirt, but I doubt this since I was just at my parents home and found both her David Bowie shirts in pristine condition in her drawer). She was found in her underwear. Her watch was on. The wallet, as you know, was found 10k away, her scarf was found in two pieces in the cornfield adjacent to where her body was. I believe she was wearing a gold chain around her neck and that was missing.

So what has never been found? The clothing, the chain, and possibly her books, possible a book bag or purse she might have been carrying.

Does that clear things up?

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I asked an old friend of Theresa's to tell me about their drug use back
"in the day"; what he wrote is basically as I remembered it:

well okay...let me think back....

All "drug use" that we did at the time was marijuana related...and specifically hashish (or "hash" as we called it - it was rolled with tobacco and made into a joint) None in our gang would actually go out and "buy" any or even carry it around in our possession (although I am sure they did at times) - it was usually someone at a party (one of the guys) that would pull out a joint and it would get lit up and passed around - we each would puff once or twice depending on the number of people. Over the course of an evening, more might be passed around over a few hours. At that rate, the most one would feel was a slight sense of relaxation, or what we called "a buzz" 

- why did we do "drugs" ?- well because alcohol was too difficult to get, carry around and had a bad stigma...drugs like grass and hash were "cool" There were "harder" drugs at that time (the next step up was mescaline which was more of a hallicinatory drug - I never tried it but I heard of others that did) I completely doubt that any of that gang ever did anything more than hash. Certainly not when I was around and I would have heard about it. 

Theresa really was not much of a 'smoker' in that sense - she liked her cigarettes...as a matter of fact Theresa did not really do things just to be "cool". It was more like someone would passsome around and it would come to you and you took a "toke". There were some students at PCHS that did it all day - walked around in a daze ...and they stunk of hash. No one really liked those people. But as I said, Theresa was more cautious about everything - she was not someone just to jump in and try something. 

I think I told you that she was the last of the gang to "sleep" with someone...and it was way past high school - when she was living in Pointe Claire in that appt building with the roommate - I don't remember the name but I do remember that night - Theresa confided in me...and told me all about it. 

The oppurtunity was always around but Theresa was not one to do something just because everyone else did.So when you say "drug use" it is I guess pretty light - its not as if we carried around drugs to keep ourselves in a cloud all day - it was only at night and at parties or get-togethers when there was other people that brought. I don't think Theresa EVER carried it around with her - she was too paranoid about things like that and being 'caught'. But as we all were 17, drinking started to become popular and sneaking into bars with fake id was the thing to do. We were at the Boulevard on Pierrrefonds Blvd when the police raided the place and caught people with fake ids....I was lucky and so were a few but Theresa was taken to the station and it was ironc because it was so close to her 18th birthday if I remember - even that night I think.

So thats about it - we were all very casual "users", not druggies or hooked on anything.

I remember that night when she was taken to the police station. That was a bad night.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 07, 2006

LA Stories

Yes, I have a few.

1. Remember that old dude in Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun video? I was in a play with him.

2. I was the personal assistant to Marty Panzer, lyricist to Barry Manilow (I could write a book about this one.)

3. My biggest coup? I produced and co-starred in a show called Last Call; about a fabled meeting between Jack Kennedy and Sam Giancana. Academy award winner, Phil Hoffman liked the show so much that he gave us $2,000 to extend the run.

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The Probable Impossible

Were the Ianieros the victims of a random act of violence? 

Get off! The more probable scenario is that two Canadian hit-women from Sudbury pulled off this contract killing.

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A reader asks...

"I am just wondering what is to gain by talking about Theresa being stoned in that last blog. After being exonerated from that notion of drug implication, and after such a fight to clear her name on that, that blog entry might make the reader surmise that there was a possibility of her being more involved and that she actually did overdose.

This approach of yours worries me..

Perhaps you were being sarcastic."


No I was not being sarcastic, provocative maybe, but not sarcastic. I thought carefully about whether to print that and decided to go for it.

It was wrong for society to paint Theresa as a degenerate. And it would be equally wrong for me to paint her as some sort of angel. She was a beautiful human being, and like all such creatures she was flawed, she made mistakes.

That picture makes me laugh because it's from her high school prom (I think Terry Demonte was her date) and she looks so angelic. But one day I looked at it a little more closely and I could see from her eyes she was a little bit wasted (a little pot? a little too much to drink at dinner? I don't know).

Theresa had a pretty rough adolescence. She dropped out of Vanier college and began working in a ski factory, then she worked in a bottle making factory. My parents and Theresa fought pretty harshly. She moved out on her own at 18:

1. She hitchhiked
2. She had an experimental relationship with drugs (she tried pot hash, maybe LSD)
3. She like Led Zeppelin IV (at that time it was seriously considered the devil's music)

Now... one day she got really fed up with herself and ask my mother if she would pay for tuition if she went back to school. To this my parents agreed. She straightened herself out. For the six weeks she was at Champlain she was pulling down straight As. Her boyfriend, Vlad was a health nut - he wouldn't have tolerated any over indulgence with drugs.

So to those who think authorities could drive a wedge in the truth by my childish utterance that Theresa might have been stoned at her high school graduation I say this:

1. Theresa was most likely hitchhiking the night she died, but not by choice.
2. She may have done drugs in her past, but not while at Champlain; and certainly not the night she died.
3. (I don't have anything to add about the Led Zeppelin thing)

This insistence to paint a "clean" picture of the victim is tantamount to saying "if you don't depict her as a saint then people will say she had it coming!"

And is that the case? Tell that to the missing women of B.C., I'm sure the Pickton jury will be all ears.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 04, 2006

Theresa

I love this photo for so many reasons...

1. She's using a Crown Royal bag as a purse.

2. This looks like a set-still from Carrie

3. Her silver arm band: I still have it. I use it as a photo holder on my desk.

4. Look at the eyes, she's so stoned!

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FRIDAY, MARCH 03, 2006

Daaaa... da da-da da-da da-da...


HEY!

da-da da-da da-da.

Da da-da da-da da-da


HEY!

Da-da da-da da-da.

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Switzerland reports four more bird flu cases 

I thought they were neutral?

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Le Buzz

So you know, there is some buzz, there is some movement, but I'm not really the one creating it this time. A few points:

I know AFPAD has gotten involved. A rep contacted my contact with the Surete du Quebec to ask them to take a look at some details that they may have overlooked. AFPAD is also preparing to strike at a higher, political level. BUT I WANT TO CAUTION EVERYONE...

I have been down this road too many times. If the argument is made that the SQ must refocus on the Theresa Allore investigation, that tactic will get nowhere fast. They will give it a little more attention for a few months, then ignore it all over again when no one is looking (is that not what has been going on for the last 4 years?).

What are needed are broader reforms and demands:

1. What is the SQ's solution for handling information provided by the public that gets dropped? How can they insure that tips, etc... get documented and communicated to the proper investigators? That this information is acted upon (surely investing in a province wide 411 call-centre is not out if the question (we have one here in Durham)?).

2. Communication with victims in cold-cases and unsolveds: A systemic change in police culture so that every investigator MUST contact family members on a periodic basis to give them updates on the case (even if that update is "nothing to report"). Believe me the emotional and psychological challenges of the victims' family having to contact the investigators is overwhelming. Don't let other families go through what we have gone through for the past 28 years.

3. Then there is an entire component about how shabbily the Quebec justice system - still - treats women who experience sexual violence, and I don't even know how to begin to address that problem (and indeed I am the wrong person to lead the charge; I can only point out the situation and provide support)

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THURSDAY, MARCH 02, 2006

Here is the other Pouliot information. Basically Ron Pouliot got a life sentence reduced, then he was denied parole:


November 10, 2000
Quebec man convicted in grisly double murder gets life sentence reduced

MONTREAL (CP) _ A man serving a life sentence for a grisly double murder got five years knocked off his sentence by a Quebec Superior Court jury onFriday.

Ronald Pouliot, 40, had sought early parole from prison after serving 16years of the 25-year sentence. Pouliot, three of his 12 siblings, and their father were charged after the slayings of four men near their Compton Station, Que., home in June 1994. The victims were killed after the Pouliots accused them of ransacking twofamily cottages. 

Witnesses said Jean-Luc Pouliot ordered his sons Mario, Serge, Ronald and Marc to round up the suspected vandals, who were tortured before being shot and dumped into a ravine.

Jean-Luc was sentenced to seven years as an accessory to murder after the fact and forcible confinement; Serge was acquitted of four counts of premeditated murder but sentenced to six years for kidnapping and forcible confinement. Marc got two years less a day for aggravated assault and forcible confinement and Mario was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder,won a new trial through the Supreme Court of Canada and then pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. 

Both Pouliot's lawyer and the Crown prosecutor said they were satisfied with Friday's decision. A psychologist had testified that Ronald Pouliot no longer posed a danger to society and Pouliot himself had said he had changed and wants to work with the elderly.(Montreal Gazette) 

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

November 11, 2000 Saturday 

FINAL EDITION
Jurors deny early parole to murderer
The Gazette

A Quebec Superior Court jury has decided that society isn't quite ready for Ronald Pouliot, an Eastern Townships man serving a life sentence for a double murder.

Pouliot, 40, had sought early parole from prison after serving more than 16 years, but the six female and six male jurors agreed unanimously yesterday that he should remain behind bars for at least another 42 months. "We're very satisfied," said Francois Bordeleau, one of two lawyers representing Pouliot. "We had estimated he would get 20 years and he got 20."

Canadian law calls for people guilty of first-degree murder to automatically serve 25 years before they become eligible for parole.

With yesterday's verdict, however, Bordeleau said his client will be in a position as of next June 27 to ask for unescorted parole and total freedom in 3 1/2 years.

Prosecutor Esthel Gravel, who this week reminded Justice Jean-Guy Boilard of the seriousness of Pouliot's crime, said the jury handed down "a good verdict with the evidence they were given."

A psychologist for the defence testified Wednesday that Pouliot no longer poses a risk to society.

Pouliot took the witness stand on Tuesday and claimed that he has changed his behaviour, plans to study and wants to care for the elderly.

Pouliot, three of his 12 siblings and their father were charged following the grisly slayings of four men near their Compton Station home in June 1994.

The victims were murdered after the Pouliots blamed them for ransacking two family cottages. The bodies were found in a ravine a few kilometres from the Pouliot home.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 01, 2006

My friends, I wish to point out to your something that is occurring here that is at once extraordinary and pathetic.

Extraordinary because what we have here is a group of individuals (predominately woman, in some cases woman who have been sexually assaulted) coming together in a forum - because we are fed up - to discuss, think about, stratagize how to solve a crime.

Pathetic because the mental effort we are putting forth, this amount of problem solving is exactly what our justice system should be doing.

(don't tell me that their efforts would be any more enlightening or efficient; I have sat around the table with our justice system; we are just as smart and a hell of a lot more dedicated.)

JJA