M. Boisvenu obtient une rencontre

Claude Plante
La Tribune
Sherbrooke

Le père de Julie Boisvenu, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu vient de franchir une étape de plus vers la formation d'une Association de parents de victimes d'actes criminels au Québec.

Avec d'autres pères d'enfants qui ont été assaillis par des criminels, il rencontrera le ministre de la Justice, Jacques Dupuis.La rencontre est prévue pour lundi prochain.M. Boisvenu doit être accompagné entre autres de Marcel Bolduc, père d'Isabelle, jeune femme de Sherbrooke qui a aussi été tuée par des criminels.Rappelons que Hugo Bernier, 30 ans, a été reconnu coupable d'avoir enlevé, séquestré, agressé sexuellement puis tué froidement Julie Boisvenu en juin 2002 à Sherbrooke.

A meeting with the justice minister is very big. This new association includes some high profile Quebec victims. In addition to M. Bolducand Boisvenu, there are the parents of Julie Surprenant, myself ,Chantel Dube and members of RIVCO (victims from the biker wars)

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 05, 2004

After years in the shadows, and motivated by the actions of Pierre Boisvenu, Marcel Bolduc - the father of Isabelle Bolduc, who was murdered in Sherbrooke in 1996 - has decided to come forward and advocate for victims rights.

Marcel Bolduc reprend du service
Evelyne Leblanc
La Tribune
Sherbrooke

Le verdict dans le procès d'Hugo Bernier, reconnu coupable du meurtre au premier degré de Julie Boisvenu, a convaincu Marcel Bolduc de reprendre du service pour la cause des victimes d'acte criminel et du resserrement du système de libérations conditionnelles.

"Je constate qu'il y a toujours, après huit ans, les mêmes lacunes dans le système des libérations conditionnelles et dans l'encadrement des détenus qui obtiennent une telle liberté. J'avais pris du recul depuis quelques années, mais j'ai choisi de ne plus rater une occasion de m'impliquer dans ces dossiers pour améliorer notre système", explique M. Bolduc.

Il y a huit ans, sa fille Isabelle payait de sa vie les lacunes du système de remise en liberté conditionnelle. Enlevée, séquestrée, agressée sexuellement puis battue à mort, elle avait été retrouvée sans vie dans un champ de Fleurimont, non loin du chemin Duplessis, à l'été 1996. 

Ses agresseurs étaient, tout comme Hugo Bernier, en probation pour des crimes dont ils avaient été reconnus coupables.

It is my understanding that Marcel Bolduc will be joining Pierre Boisvenu in a meeting on November 15th with Quebec's minister of justice.

ancy Saint Pierre, your fifteen minutes are up

And to think I shed a tear over all of this

It was Mom's fault: Julie
'This isn't about settling a score'. Townships teen who vanished for 3 years tells her side of story in new book

SIDHARTHA BANERJEE and ANN CARROLL
The Gazette

Friday, October 29, 2004

A bitter Julie Bureau lashed out at her mother yesterday as the principal person who drove her into exile in Beauceville for three years.

The trouble between mother and daughter will be one of the issues Bureau will address as the 17-year-old prepares to release her book, La Vraie Julie Bureau (The Real Julie Bureau), on Sunday. Bureau called her mother a controlling woman and a source of psychological harassment in her life.

Reached yesterday at her home in Milan, Bureau's mother, Francine Poulin, said she is not happy with what's she's read of the book thus far.

But Poulin said she forgives her daughter for painting her parents - Poulin especially - in a bad light.

"We see that she is very unhappy," Poulin said. "She doesn't realize what she is doing."

Poulin hopes eventually for a reconciliation.

"When I last talked to Julie in mid-August, she said we wanted to control her life," Poulin said.

"I told her, 'You are so negative, and can only see the dark side of things. In a few years, when you see the good in life, we will talk again.' "

Bureau was 14 when she disappeared in September 2001 from a Coaticook restaurant. She ended up in Beauceville, about 60 kilometres from the family home in Milan, where she moved in with Jean-Paul Bernard, 38.

Bureau said she feels rejected by her parents and nothing has changed since she left. Bureau said that in interviews, her mother would profess how much she loves her but then would take a much more harsh tone when they met.

"I don't understand ... if you love your children, you don't just tell the cameras," Bureau said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"This isn't about settling a score," Bureau insisted during a press conference yesterday, sitting side by side with Bernard, the man who took her in for three years.

"I had to free myself. It feels good. It's not a battle. I'm happy that (the book) was my therapy."

The book gives few details of what Bureau was doing in the three years she was living in Beauceviile under the name Nancy Saint Pierre. It does say she was working and living a normal existence until her discovery last July.

Bureau and Bernard, who says he knew nothing about Bureau's real identity until this summer, are not romantically involved, both have said.

Bernard, the man dubbed the Good Samaritan in this case, will have a book published on his own life early next year by the same author, Andre Mathieu.

Despite the fact she was wary of the media attention given to her case, Bureau says she felt the book was necessary to help turn a page in her life.

While she said money was furthest from her mind when she agreed to the deal, she hasn't ruled out making a movie about her life, either.

"It is my book. I'm the one who decided to do it. No one forced me to write this."

IVAC

IVAC
Indemnisation des victimes d'actes criminels

October 12, 2004

File: Theresa Marie Allore
Date of Event: November 3, 1978

Re: Acknowledgement of receipt

Mr. Allore

I am in receipt of your September 28th 2004 e-mail.

Each and every time we spoke with the investigator we did receive full cooperation and all the available pertinent answers to our questions. So, the "problem" (and there is no problem) is certainly not in relation to communication. The point is that there is a pending investigation by the Surete du Quebec in relation to your sister's death. I do understand from what the investigators told us that the pending investigation and the results (if there are some results) will enable us to decide if your sister was indeed "murdered". The applicable rule of evidence at this place is "proponderance of probabilities".

In other words, it means that the criterias for the application of the (Quebec) Crime Victims Compensation Act are not met at this moment. Otherwise, I would have already made a decision. You do understand that the delays have nothing to do with the limits (the financial limits) of the program.

Your's Truly,

Andre Beaulieu, Lawyer
514-906-3019, poste 2050

-----------------------------------------------
October 19, 2004

Mr. Beaulieu:

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 12, 2004. May I ask, when you say, that in my sister's case "the criterias for the application of the Quebec Crime Victims Compensation Act are not met at this moment"...

Just what are those criterias that I need to have fulfilled? Or, in other words, what are the criteria for being considered a victim under this Act?

The coroner determined my sister's death to be "mort violente de nature indetermine"...

The coroner noted there were "marks of strangulation on her neck"

What does it take for an IVAC lawyer to consider my sister a victim of a crime?

Yours,

John Allore

Jacques P. Dupuis
Ministère de la Justice
Palais de justice de Montréal
1, rue Notre-Dame Est
11e étage, Bureau 11.39
Montréal (Québec) H2Y1B6

October 14, 2004

M. Dupuis:

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is John Allore. Twenty-six years ago my sister was murdered in Quebec while a student at Champlain college in Lennoxville. Over the past two years I have become a victims advocate for families touched by homicide.

The purpose of my writing you is to introduce you to CAVA, a new national victims advocacy group and to ask you to please help in providing financial support to get Quebec victims to attend CAVA's first annual conference to be held this December in Richmond, British Columbia.

CAVA is the Canadian Association for Victim Assistance / Association Canadienne aide aux victmes (CAVA - ACAV), a newly formed national non-profit charitable organization which will act as an umbrella information, resource and advocacy service for Canadian victim assistance organizations, advocates, professionals and the general public. Further information is available at our website,www.infocava.ca .

In organizing our conference we are thankful for the financial support provided by Justice Canada. Unfortunately, they were not able to give us any financial assistance for travel. We are asking that your office provide that assistance in the form of $3,000 that will be used specifically to cover the costs for air travel and accommodations for Quebec victims. I must stress that none of this money will be used by myself; I no longer live in Quebec, and at this time I am able to provide for my own needs.

It is important for Quebec to have a presence at this, our first national conference; more necessary that Quebec victims have the ability to express their questions and needs at a national level. I hope you will be able to help us to this end.

I will be in Quebec the week of October 25th through the 29th attending l'Association quebecoise Plaidoyer-Victimes colloque in Montreal. It would be a privilege for me if at that time we might arrange to meet to discuss this matter at greater length.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and I hope to hear from you soon.

Respectfully,

AGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

September 27th, 2004

Mr. John Allore
Carrboro, NC

File of: Theresa Marie Allore
Date of Event: 1978-11-03

Sir,

I aknowledge receipt of your September a6th 2004 e-mail.

No decision has been made yet. In this case, as I told you before, I need to wait for more complete information from the Surete du Quebec before making a decision.

I really do not know when I will be able to finalize the study of your claim.

Yours Truly,

Andre Beaulieu
Lawyer
Legal Department
Direction de l'IVAC
1-800-561-4822

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

September 28th, 2004

M. Beaulieu:

I received your fax about my sister's case (120-192-927). You say you are waiting for information from the Surete. This is a rather passive position. Can you contact them and get them to move forward please. When I last spoke with Norman Kelly of
the SQ he told me he had given you all the information you require, so obviously there are some communication problems here.

It is insufficient for you to tell me you cannot tell me when you can finalize my claim. I have been waiting since January 2004 (actually, I have been waiting longer than this: 26 years).

This is a cut and dried situation. She was murdered, she was burried. You asked for an estimate of the funeral expenses, I gave them to you. I am talking about $600 in compensation; a modest sum, this really should not tax the limits of your legal resources.

Please act on this matter with more urgency, you are truly testing my patience in this matter.

Sincerely,

John Allore

Surprise, surprise... he had kiddie-porn on his hard-drive.

DALZELL FACES NEW CHARGES

BY EREN TATARAGASI AND RYAN C. TUCK
STAFF WRITERS
Daily Tarheel
September 24, 2004

Andrew Douglas Dalzell was scheduled to make his first court appearance
Thursday at the Orange County District Court in Hillsborough.

But Dalzell, who is charged with one count of second-degree murder in the
1997 disappearance of Deborah Leigh Key, did not appear in court.

A Carrboro police arrest report for Thursday shows that Dalzell was
being placed under arrest at noon, the same time he was scheduled to appear in
Hillsborough.

According to reports, Dalzell was arrested Thursday and charged with
six counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor - a felony
crime.

District Attorney Carl Fox said charges of third-degree sexual
exploitation stem from "possessing visual representations of minors engaging in
sexual acts."

Dalzell was placed under arrest at the Orange County Jail, where he was
already being held, and placed under a $20,000 secured bond.

According to Carrboro police reports, the warrant on charges of sexual
exploitation was issued Tuesday.

Dalzell was already being held under a secured bond of $70,000 on a
charge of second-degree murder in relation to Key's disappearance Dec. 1,
1997.

He was arrested Sept. 9 at a residence in Stanley.

Police had executed a warrant to search his Royal Park apartment Sept.
2 in Carrboro after his name surfaced in connection with charges of larceny by
an employee.

Investigators said the property seized Sept. 2 was critical in his
arrest but have refused to comment to its exact nature.

Dalzell had been the primary suspect in Key's disappearance and
presumed death since the last time she was seen.

Dalzell and Key were seen together outside Sticks & Stones, a
now-defunct pool hall in downtown Carrboro, after it closed the morning of Dec.
1, according to court affidavits.
Police searched Dalzell's car April 3,
1998, but could not find enough evidence to charge him in Key's disappearance
until Sept. 9.

Fox said Thursday was administrative probable cause day, which allowed
defendants not wishing to plead guilty to miss their first appearance.

Dalzell has yet to make a plea, Fox said. The date of his first
appearance is now set for Oct. 7.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2004

Crap, I new I shouldn't have agreed to this...

Man's 'Bad Dream House' brings peace, gives purpose 

By BETH VELLIQUETTE : The Herald-Sun
Sep 18, 2004 : 7:56 pm ET 

CARRBORO -- John Allore calls his old home the "Bad Dream House," but in a strange way the house that gave him nightmares also gave him a new purpose in life. 

Although he works in Durham as the city's treasury manager and lives in Carrboro with his family, Allore is a well-known victim's advocate in Canada. He speaks to groups there about his experiences with the Bad Dream House and how it served as a catalyst for him to return to Canada and investigate the 1978 disappearance and death of his sister, Theresa, in Quebec. 

Allore also will be on a panel at the Unicorn Bereavement Center in Hillsborough next month during a workshop for professionals who work with people who have lost someone to homicide. 

A tall, congenial man, with a sometimes wicked sense of humor, Allore enjoys his other life in Canada, where he's known as a feisty advocate who isn't afraid to take on the police establishment. In the Chapel Hill area, people are more likely to know him as the managing director and an actor with the Deep Dish Theater company at University Mall. 

Allore, who was raised in Quebec, married a Chapel Hill woman and after moving around the country for a number of years, they returned to the area and bought the house west of Carrboro in April of 2000. As Allore wrote in his blog, baddreamhouse.blogspot.com, it was a creepy house when he and his wife first went to look at it. Yet the house that made them fear every sound and wake from deep sleep with their hearts pounding, eventually would change Allore's life, and in a way bring him peace. 

When they first saw it, the walls were covered with drawings of fantasized nude women, and all types of weapons hung on the walls. The floor was covered with old pizza boxes, cigarette packs and butts and crushed soft drink cans. There were knife marks in the floor, in the walls and on the doors inside the house, and when they went to look at the house before they bought it, they discovered someone was sleeping there. They found out later that someone was Andrew Douglas Dalzell. 

On Sept. 10, Dalzell was charged with the second-degree murder of Deborah Leigh Key, who was last seen in downtown Carrboro on the morning of Dec. 1, 1997. 

But back in 2000, when Allore and his wife were looking for a fixer-upper to buy, they didn't know that "the lump" they saw sleeping during their afternoon visit to the house was the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of woman. 

They bought the house in a neighborhood off Hatch Road, and began cleaning it and fixing it up. 

A call from the police 

Four weeks after they moved in, the Carrboro police called and asked if they could come out to the house to look for a dead body. 

"There are times when you realize life is trying to tell you something," Allore wrote in his blog. "This was one of those times." 

Allore and his family allowed police to look around the house, and two weeks later the cops brought a cadaver dog to search the grounds. "Joining them for the proceedings were various patrol officers, the county sheriff's department, a big fat agent from the State Bureau of Investigation, a team of forensic technicians and the gang from Pee Wee's Septic Tank Service," Allore wrote in his blog. 

The dog searched the grounds, and Pee Wee and the gang sucked everything out of the septic tank but they didn't find any evidence in the tank. Then suddenly the dog began to scratch in the dirt in the crawl space under the house. 

Officers dug in the dirt, and it soon became obvious nothing had been buried there, but they suspected that maybe a body had been there before being moved. 

The officers, the forensic team, the dog and the gang from Pee Wee's left. But that was the beginning of nightmares for Allore and his family. "I dreamed about rotting corpses all the time," he wrote in the blog. "I couldn't stop thinking about it." 

Allore couldn't stop thinking about Deborah Key, either. "I became very obsessed with Deborah Key and her murder," he said. "I was the last one to really figure out what was going on. It was my wife who suggested, 'Don't you think you should be doing something with your kin rather than somebody you don't even know?'" 

The irony is that Allore became obsessed with Key when the real mystery in his life was what happened to his own sister, Theresa, who went missing from her college in Quebec on Nov. 3, 1978. Her body was found face down in a cold creek near the school on April 13, 1979. 

The police then, Allore said, did little to investigate the circumstances of her disappearance or her death. They told Allore's family that she probably died from a drug overdose. Allore was 14 years old at the time. 

Once Allore's wife suggested he should direct his energies to finding out about his own sister, Allore contacted an old high school friend, Patricia Pearson, who had become an accomplished crime writer. Allore simply wanted to find out what the police knew about his sister's disappearance and death. He was surprised to discover there wasn't much to find out. 

Five months of investigation 

The police in the area had done a miserable job of investigation, and no one seemed to care very much that a 19-year-old woman had been missing and later found dead. 

Allore and Pearson went to work, even though the police didn't cooperate with them or initially allow them to have access to the case file. 

It took them five months of investigation, but Allore and Pearson came to believe that Theresa had been killed by a serial killer. They discovered that two other young women had been missing and later found dead in the same general area of Quebec within a 19-month period. They also came up with the names of two possible suspects. 

At the conclusion of their investigation, Pearson wrote a long article that appeared in August 2002 in The National Post, Canada's national newspaper. The article gave a detailed description of their search for what really happened to Theresa. 

Finally in November 2002, the police in Quebec announced they would launch a full investigation into the death of Theresa Allore. No charges have been filed against anyone in the case. 

Her brother, however, has turned his battle to victim's rights and the rights of their families. He heard about a symposium sponsored by the Canadian Department of Justice called "Moving Forward, Lessons Learned from the Victims of Crime." 

The forum was to be held on Nov. 3, 2003, the 25th anniversary of his sister's death. "I had to get in on that," he said. 

But when he called up to ask if he could participate, he was told it was not open to victims. 

That just didn't sit right with Allore, so he and another man whose daughter had been murdered in Canada went to the conference anyway and staged a protest outside, which received media attention. 

"From that I made the inner circle of victim advocates in Canada," he said. 

Last June, Allore spoke at a conference sponsored by Police Victim Services of British Columbia and made a presentation called, "25 Good Things Revealed Probing the Death of My Sister."

In December, he'll return to Vancouver and present at the Canadian Association for Victim Assistance, a group and conference he helped organize. This time, real victims will have a voice, Allore said. 

Families of victims want answers, support and help from professionals trained to deal with their unique problems, he explained. In many cases, that support is provided by volunteers who may be sympathetic but just don't have the proper training. 

Allore would like to see to see a system in which professionals are accredited to provide services for victims and their families. "We can empower those people at that level or victims will continue to be bottom feeders in the legal justice system," Allore said. "They already don't have a voice in the justice system. We should give them the tools to find answers." 

As he revisited the death of his own sister in recent years, he found that he needed a little help. Carrboro Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison recommended he visit the Unicorn Bereavement Center in Hillsborough. 

He did, and got to know Linda Jordan, manager of the center. Now he's agreed to speak at an Oct. 18 workshop there called, "The Worst has Happened; What Now? Working with clients who have lost someone to homicide." 

The workshop is designed to provide clinicians with understanding and insight for working with people who are not only experiencing grief but also the trauma associated with murder. 

Now when Allore looks back at the scary house he once owned west of Carrboro, he sees it in a different light. "That whole episode did me a great service," he said. 

For more information about Allore's work, go to his Web site and read his blogs at: www.whokilledtheresa.com.

Folks... enough already... The title, "Bad Dream House" was intended to be funny. It's a joke? The Simpsons first Treehouse of Horror was called Bad Dream House? Git-it?

Wouldn't surprise me one little bit

Military probes links between soldiers, biker gangs

Last Updated Mon, 30 Aug 2004 20:03:00 EDT 

MONTREAL - The Canadian military has launched a series of investigations into possible links between members of the armed forces and biker gangs such as Hells Angels. 

Military police confirmed reports on Monday that a number of probes have been carried out, including one sparked by the theft of eight pairs of night vision goggles from CFB Valcartier near Quebec City last year. 

Biker experts say criminal gangs have been trying to recruit soldiers because of their special training with explosives, guns and other equipment. 

A former investigator with the Quebec provincial police said the force has been talking with military police since at least 1998 about connections between soldiers and biker gangs after names started popping up during investigations. 

"There's some guys who do their service with the military police or do their training with the special force who've been hired or were on the program with the Hells Angels," Guy Ouellette said. 

Military police admit they're concerned about the linkages because many soldiers have training on a variety of weapons systems and also have access to the equipment. 

However, spokesman Capt. Mark Giles said cases of military personnel having unsavoury links are rare. 

"In many cases it may just simply be a bumper sticker or other things that indicate there may be some sympathies in that direction," Giles said, adding that when situations do cause concern they're closely monitored. 

The military said it can't prohibit soldiers from associating with bikers because doing so would infringe on their civil rights.

Sssssslllllloooooowwwww Justice

It took 10-years to dismiss this guy? What's wrong with this picture?

Court upholds firing of SQ officer
Police ethics commission ruling stands. SWAT-team member used excessive force, including putting gun in suspect's mouth
 
ALLISON HANES
The Gazette

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

A Quebec Court judge upheld last month the firing of a Surete du Quebec SWAT-team member for striking a handcuffed suspect in the face and placing a loaded service revolver in his mouth while making an arrest in 1994.

After a lengthy disciplinary hearing, the police ethics commission found Cpl. Bernard Bourgouin guilty of using disproportionate force in 2002 and stripped him of his badge in 2003.

Bourgouin appealed the conviction and the sanction, but last month a court judge ruled that the ethics commission's ruling was supported by the evidence and that the punishment meted out was reasonable.

"Dismissal is the most severe sanction set out in the law governing police," Quebec Court Judge Armando Aznar wrote. "At the same time, the ethical violation the appellant was found guilty of is extremely serious."

During the course of a police raid in St. Etienne de Bolton on June 2, 1994, Normand Beaulieu was apprehended by an officer he later identified as Bourgouin.

After being handcuffed, Beaulieu said he was told to "shut his mouth." He said he was dealt a blow to the face, with a closed fist or a pistol, that fractured his cheekbone.

The arresting officer then took out his gun and placed its barrel in Beaulieu's mouth - supposedly in the name of extracting information on where other suspects were hiding.

The ethics commission ruled nothing justified this extreme use of force against Beaulieu, who was slightly built, handcuffed at the time, and not posing a threat to the arresting officer.

But Bourgouin appealed on grounds that it took the better part of a decade for the wheels of justice to churn out a decision, including nearly two years from the date of the incident for Beaulieu and the lawyer he hired to finger him and lodge a formal complaint.

Bourgouin contested Beaulieu's ability to identify him as the assailant. He also questioned why the ethics panel believed the complainant's word over that of several SQ officers who offered testimony that exonerated him.

But Aznar pointed out that the arbiters based their ruling on the fact that Beaulieu told a fairly consistent story, while the officers who testified drew memory blanks, claimed not to have seen anything and were only co-

operative with their accused colleague's lawyer.

Bourgouin could still appeal the latest decision to a higher court.

I'm a steamroller baby...

So, what exactly is Irwin Cotler doing with the placement of two supreme court justices? Would a little debate on their appointment be oh so bad? This is Canada, right? The land of fairness? Not the land of totalitarianism? 

(no wonder I left this place.)

p.s. thank you, Jacques Dupuis for attempting to insert yourself in the process, as you should.

Tories blast 'sham' review of judges
Nominees should appear in person, Tory justice critic argues

CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - To hear Justice Minister Irwin Cotler tell it, his two choices to sit on Canada's top court can pretty much walk on water. And no one disagreed with him. 

The first-ever committee to review Supreme Court candidates aired no qualms today about Ontario Court of Appeal Justices Rosalie Abella and Louise Charron. 

In fact, the all-party advisory panel of seven MPs and two legal experts asked few questions about the judges themselves. 

Instead, opposition members on the interim panel spent much of a three-hour session venting frustration about the process. 

The interim committee has no veto power, did not see a short list of candidates before selections were made, and will issue a non-binding report on Friday. The appointments must then be made official by the prime minister any time after that. 

Conservative members had to settle for grilling Cotler after the Liberals nixed their request to quiz candidates in person. 

Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay called the process "a sham" that breaks Prime Minister Paul Martin's promise to open the high-court selection system. 

`It's a joke," MacKay said after the hearing. "It's window dressing. It's lip service. It's just running it by us for some form of credibility that doesn't exist." 

Cotler said he wasn't about to risk judicial integrity by exposing high-court candidates to such queries as "When did you stop beating your wife?" 

MacKay called the comment "insulting" and said MPs never intended to turn the screenings into a political free-for-all. 

Still, much of Wednesday's hearing was a mix of grandstanding and partisan clashes. 

MacKay and Conservative justice critic Vic Toews lambasted Cotler for giving the panel 24 hours' notice, a three-hour televised hearing and just two days to report on the candidates. Abella and Charron weren't announced as nominees until Tuesday. 

Cotler, on the other hand, spent eight months researching potential nominees, consulting with judges and lawyers, and reviewing rulings. 

Toews called it a "rubber stamp" process that strips Canadians of their right to know their most powerful jurists. 

He called it "astounding" that the candidates were not even asked if they would appear before the committee. 

Cotler fired back that all parties agreed that only the justice minister would take questions on a contender's intellect, demeanour, racial awareness and other attributes. 

New Democrat MP Joe Comartin reminded Cotler that the Liberals weren't willing to negotiate on that point. 

MacKay called the hearing a pointless review of a done deal. Conservatives had little choice but to accept a lousy process and fight for future changes, he said. 

Cotler himself all but confirmed its irrelevance. 

It would take a lot to change his mind about Abella and Charron, he told the panel. 

"Only if you can provide any clear, authoritative evidence that would disqualify a person from serving." 

Both nominees are "outstanding," Cotler repeatedly said. 

The government tried to broaden public scrutiny of top-court appointments while protecting judicial independence, he said. 

Even before the hearing began, Toews noted that Abella and Charron are both known for judgments supporting same-sex rights. 

The nine-member Supreme Court will hold a milestone hearing in October on Liberal efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. Toews suggested a political connection. 

"It is clear for everyone to see that this is part of the prime minister's agenda" to allow gay weddings, he said. 

Cotler insisted that merit was his prime consideration when whittling down top candidates. 

He also dismissed suggestions from some quarters that Abella, a renowned defender of human rights, is soft on crime. 

"This has no basis in fact," Cotler said, citing a review of her judgments. 

He also torpedoed the idea that Abella may be the court's next great dissenter. Of 313 judgments since 1994, Abella dissented in 31 - or 10 per cent of cases, he said. 

Cotler also rejected a Quebec request for the federal government to choose from a list provided by the province to fill future vacancies from Quebec. 

In a letter sent Aug. 6 to Cotler, Quebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier asked for "formal participation" by Quebec in the process. 

"We insist that we are part of the decisions," they wrote. 

But Cotler said selecting from a list provided by the province would infringe on the federal government's constitutional right to name justices.

ravo Cyberpresse, vous etes le meilleur cyber-journal en Canada

Week after week Quebec's Cyberpresse - which publishes Montreal's La Presse and Sherbrooke's La Tribune, among others - scoops every other newspaper in Canada. Looking for breaking news in Canada? Go towww.cyberpresse.ca. There you will find current news long before it breaks in the other English Canadian newspaper publications. Go there now and you will find a report from today's events at the Canadian Police Chief's conference being held in Vancouver in which the RCMP warns Canadians that the world has become sufficiently dangerous and complex to the point where the police cannot assure the safety of its citizens. 

For the rest of you Canadians that never bother to learn French (your loss), guess you'll have to wait for the morning papers...

Selon les chefs de police du Canada

Le monde devenu un endroit dangereux
Presse Canadienne
Vancouver

Le terrorisme et la menace croissante représentée par le crime organisé ont fait du Canada et du monde un endroit où il est devenu plus dangereux de vivre, a déclaré mercredi le dirigeant de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC).

«À mon avis, le monde est aujourd'hui un endroit beaucoup plus dangereux et ce pour plusieurs raisons, a dit le commissaire de la GRC Guiliano Zaccardelli lors d'une conférence de presse qui s'est déroulée au terme du congrès annuel de l'Association canadienne des chefs de police. 

Le crime organisé dispose maintenant de moyens beaucoup plus raffinés qu'il y a une génération, et cela doit être ajouté à la menace d'attentats terroristes et aux événements du 11 septembre 2001. 

«Je crois que le monde n'est plus aussi sûr que lorsque nous étions de jeunes policiers», a-t-il affirmé. 

M. Zaccardelli et d'autres dirigeants de services de police ont participé à cette conférence de presse pour souligner certaines des discussions qui se sont déroulées durant ce 99e congrès annuel des chefs de police. 

Même s'il croit que le Canada continue d'être un des endroits «relativement» sécuritaires dans le monde, il ne s'est pas dit rassuré pour autant, soutenant que «les menaces potentielles ont augmenté considérablement». 

Edgar McLeod, président de l'association et chef du service régional de police de Cap Breton, en Nouvelle-Écosse, a posé la question et donné la réponse. 

«Est-ce que les Canadiens sont plus en sécurité que lorsque j'ai commencé ma carrière?, a-t-il demandé. La réponse est non.» 

Mais selon lui, ce n'est pas seulement un problème pour les policiers. 

«Nous avons tous une responsabilité ici, a-t-il dit. Les citoyens doivent s'engager dans leurs quartiers et leurs communautés.»

Gone Fishing

There is an interesting story in La Tribune this morning about the father of Julie Boisvenu, Pierre Boisvenu's plans not to attend the trial of Hugo Bernier, which begins in Montreal next month. Instead, M. Boisvenu intends to leave the Province on a fishing trip.

Now I've been talking to Pierre and don't for a minute think he's decided to relax and get complacent. He had a meeting with the Quebec Minister of Justice this week, Jacques Dupuis, and I can tell you that Pierre's plans for the reform of victims services in Quebec are ambitious and just what the Province needs to knock it out of its slumber.

Here is the Tribune story:

Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu n'assistera pas au procès

Isabelle Pion
La Tribune
Sherbrooke

À un peu plus de deux semaines du procès du présumé meurtrier de sa fille Julie, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu n'entend pas y assister. Deux amis travaillant pour deux firmes d'avocats à Montréal ont plutôt offert leur soutien à la famille.

Rappelons que le procès d'Hugo Bernier, accusé du meurtre de Julie Boisvenu en juin 2002, débutera le 8 septembre prochain. À la suite d'un jugement rendu par le juge Paul-Marcel Bellavance, le procès a été déplacé à Montréal. La nouvelle avait semé la consternation chez la famille Boisvenu. Avec ce changement de venue, l'avocat Marc Vaillancourt, qui devait représenter la famille pour la tenir au courant du processus, ne pouvait plus être présent.

"On a des offres d'amis criminalistes dans deux firmes d'avocats différentes. Ils nous ont offert de supporter la famille durant le procès et ils vont nous conseiller sur les suites à prendre", explique M. Boisvenu en soulignant qu'il a bien l'intention de partir à la pêche quelque temps, question de décompresser.

Leurs amis s'attarderont notamment au travail qui a été fait en matière de libérations conditionnelles. Dans le passé, celui-ci n'avait pas exclu d'intenter des poursuites civiles contre le ministère de la Justice. Interrogé sur cette question, il répond: "La question que l'on se pose, c'est est-ce que Julie serait vivante si des personnes avaient fait une meilleure job? Est-ce qu'il y a des gens qui ont une responsabilité en plus du meurtrier?"

Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu et sa conjointe veulent "limiter au maximum" leur présence en cour. Il croit qu'ils devront possiblement s'y rendre pour le prononcé de la sentence. De plus, comme le permet le code criminel aux proches de victime, ils pourraient faire un témoignage avant que le jury délibère. M. Boisvenu précise qu'il étudie encore cette possibilité.

The Policy Centre for Victims Issues

The Policy Centre for Victims Issues was created in 2000 by the Justice Department of Canada. For the past 4 1/2 years it has been a vital resourse for victims wishing to unlock the mysteries of the Canadian criminal justice system from the victim's perspective.

The Centre's mandate is as follows:

• make victims more aware of their role in the criminal justice system and the laws, services and assistance applicable to them;
• increase overall awareness about the needs of victims of crime and effective approaches in Canada and internationally
• improve the ability of the Department of Justice to develop laws and policy that take into consideration the perspectives of victims.

The Policy Centre was initiated by a grant from the Government of Canada in the amount of $25 million allocated over a five year period. In March 2005, the funding for the Policy Centre will end unless individuals interested in victim-related initiatives designed to improve support to victims of crime speak out in support of this program.

I urge all of you to write to the Policy Centre and show your support for this vital institution at:

webadmin@justice.gc.ca

aura Murray

Well this is interesting. The father of Maura Murray has filed for, and been denied access to information concerning his daughter's missing persons investigation by the New Hampshire State police.It's horrific enough when a parent has to cope with the disappearance of a family member. But when you have to go to such lengths because you don't trust the investigative process? 

That sucks.
  

Father Denied Access

State, Haverhill Police Won't Release Murray Information

By GARY E. LINDSLEY
Saturday July 24, 2004
   
HAVERHILL NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshire State Police and Haverhill police are refusing to release information regarding a February accident involving a Massachusetts woman and her subsequent disappearance.

Maura Murray, a 22-year-old University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student, was involved in a minor one-car accident on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., the night of Feb. 9.

Her father, Fred, filed Freedom of Information Act requests with state police and Haverhill police to obtain information about the accident and the investigation into Maura's disappearance.

His requests were denied by both state police and Haverhill police.

Murray received a letter dated June 29 from Brian Hester, a lieutenant with the state police Special Investigation Unit.

In the letter, Hester said, "A determination has been made these files are investigative in nature, the release of requested reports, logs and data information would be a disclosure constituting an unwarranted invasion of privacy under RSA 91-A:5 IV."

"The release and disclosure at this time could interfere with an ongoing investigation," Hester continued in his letter. "See Lodge v. Knowlton, 118 NH 574 (1978). Therefore, your request at this time is denied."

Gary J. Wood, an attorney representing the Haverhill Police Department, used the same reasoning and court case to decline providing Murray with the information surrounding his daughter's accident and subsequent disappearance.

The Lodge vs. Knowlton case involved a case filed in New Hampshire Supreme Court by Bruce Lodge against Col. Harold Knowlton of the New Hampshire State Police.

Lodge had attempted to obtain an accident report regarding an accident involving a police chief while operating his cruiser.

In conclusion, the court determined the six-prong test of 5 U.S.C. 552 (b) (7) provided a good standard to effectuate the balance of interests required by RSA CH. 91-A with regard to police investigatory files.

One of the elements of the six-prong test involves invasion of privacy.

The court also suggested a new hearing be held.

Hester, when contacted Friday morning, declined to comment and referred questions to David Ruhoff of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

Ruhoff at first said he could not make any comments in any official capacity.

He then relented when told state police said he would be the one to discuss the freedom of information act request refusal.

Ruhoff did say because it's an ongoing investigation, even the accident report cannot be released.

Wood was not available for comment.

As for Murray, he does not understand why authorities won't release any information about his daughter, if her case is not being investigated as a criminal case.

State police have continually stated they consider it a missing person's case.

So, Murray does not understand why they won't release information about her case as well as the police reports regarding her accident.

He wonders whose privacy state police and police are worried about violating.

"What's so criminal about an accident report, if it's (being classified as) a missing person's case?" Murray asked. "They are denying me information which may help me."

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2004

Psst! It's Julie Bureau!

The girl, who can't be named by order of the Youth Protection Service in Quebec...

Oh please! As if we don't know who you're talking about.

Found Quebec girl reunites with family

MONTREAL - A teenage girl who had been missing until last weekend reunited with her parents and younger brother for the first time in three years on Thursday. 

The 17-year-old girl who was found on Sunday, spent six hours with her family in the presence of her lawyer. 

The girl, who can't be named by order of the Youth Protection Service in Quebec, will remain in the service's care until a hearing is held to appoint a legal guardian. 

The girl's father said the reunion was emotional. 

She was spotted Sunday at a flea market in a town about an hour's drive from her home. She had been living with a 38-year-old man since shortly after running away in September 2001. 

The man said he thought the girl was older than 14 when he met her, and said they had not been romantically involved. 

The girl didn't resist police when they approached her, but waited for four days before initiating the family reunion. 

Most missing children are runaways, but few go so long without contacting friends or family.

Ya' know, I'm gonna' engage in a little idle gossip here. It just so happens that the Surete du Quebec investigator in charge of the Bureau investigation is also the lead investigator in my sister's case. So, just last month we were talking about the Bureau case. Said Investigator told me that the Bureau family was holding out hope that after Julie's 18th birthday she would reveal herself and return to the community. Sounds like the family had an inkling all along that her disappearance had less to do with an abduction, and was more in line with a family conflict.

|

ncredible and Disturbing 

Teen found three years after disappearance

Challenge ahead for teen re-united with family 

MONTREAL - Canada's Missing Children's Network says it's a great relief that Julie Bureau has been found safe and sound.The return of the child could just be the beginning of a lot of work for the Bureau family—Missing Children's Network

The teenager disappeared three years ago while away at boarding school. There had been no trace of her until police found her on the weekend.

When Julie Bureau disappeared in September of 2001, nobody thought that she'd be away for so long.

The teen was away at boarding school in the town of Coaticook. She was last seen going for dinner with some friends at a McDonalds restaurant.

She was spotted this weekend in the town of Beauceville, Que.

Kathy Asimakopoulos of the Missing Children's Network says most runaways just do not stay away this long. 

"A lot of times they'll call home, they'll check in. If they don't call the parents they'll check in with their friends. It was different because she had not had that contact with her family," Asimakopoulos says.

Pina Arcamone, the director-general of the Missing Children's Network says 86 percent of runaways between 12 and 17 will come home after the first week.

Arcamone says they usually realize that their problems at home are not that bad once they've spent some time on the street.

In a case as peculiar as Bureau's, it may take some time for the family to re-acquaint, Arcamone suspects. 

"Sometimes the entire family needs to be referred for counselling so that they can learn to get re-acquainted, and this is the challenge now awaiting Julie's family as well," Arcamone says.

She says there are five teens in Quebec who have been missing for two and a half years. Arcamone says Julie's return is giving hope to these parents and others whose children are missing.

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2004

Hello? FBI? Three women have disappeared in a 100 mile radius... Can we get some help up here in New England?

Ligia Rae Collins - Woman Missing Since July 5th

Maura Murray - "there is no evidence to link two women in New Hampshire and Vermont."

Brianna Maitland- "This is pretty sloppy. For them to have told me they were treating this as a criminal investigation is a bunch of shit."


You know, in the case of Maura Murray, the Police - under the direction of State police commander Lt. John Scarinza - have called Maura everything except the sad victim she most certainly is. Maura was "depressed", she was "suicidal", she had "problems at home", she was a "runaway", she was involved in the world of "illegal drugs". Pathetic.

In a show of sad support, allow me to offer the family this comfort. 25-years ago the police blamed my sister for going awol. She was "depressed", she went off to "find herself", she was a "hitchhiker", she was involved in the world of "illegal drugs", She was "pregnant and ashamed", "a runaway", a "lesbian and ashamed".

In actual fact, she turned out to be a murder victim. Her body was found five months later, less than a mile from where she lived.

Common, law enforcement, do your job and find Maura Murray.

Maura Murray Disappearance

"If he goes with the suicide theory, that means nothing happened on his turf and during his watch," Murray said. "However, when you have a bad guy (involved), it's in (Scarinza's) back yard and he can't solve it."

All too familiar and really quite pathetic...

Maura Murray Family, Friends Say State Police Lied

Saturday July 3, 2004

Family and friends of a missing 22-year-old University of Massachusetts at Amherst nursing student say New Hampshire State Police are misinforming the public.

"You don't try to provide spin unless you are trying to cover something up," said Sharon Rausch, mother of Maura Murray's boyfriend, Billy Rausch of Fort Sill, Okla.

Murray has not been seen since she was involved in a minor one-car accident Feb. 9 on dark, and curvy Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H.

"They are a bunch of liars," Rausch said. "I am at the point the only people I am worried about offending are Billy and Fred."

Fred is Fred Murray, Maura's father.

Murray and Rausch are upset about comments made this week by New Hampshire State Police Troop F commander Lt. John Scarinza.

Scarinza pointed to a book by Nicholas Howe, "Not Without Peril," as a possible source of why Maura disappeared. The book was among items found in her car.

In the book, there are stories about tragedies and rescues in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, areas in which Maura and her father had hiked.

Scarinza has said Murray told police his daughter was suicidal.

However, the first mention of Maura being suicidal was in a press release issued by Haverhill Police Chief Jeff Williams two days after Maura's car accident and disappearance.

Murray says he never told police his daughter was suicidal.

"I want to set the record straight," he said. "Scarinza is using (Howe's book) to reinforce his suicide theory. It's nothing like that.

"Maura liked the book," he said. "She was making her way through it. The reason she liked the book was because she likes several different areas in the White Mountains. There are all kinds of landmarks. That's all it was."

Although he is upset about Scarinza's comments, Murray isn't surprised.

"If he goes with the suicide theory, that means nothing happened on his turf and during his watch," Murray said. "However, when you have a bad guy (involved), it's in (Scarinza's) back yard and he can't solve it."

"He's pushing it hard," he continued. "He's to the point he's making things up."

Rausch, equally upset with Scarinza's comments, says, "It's pretty pathetic that 41/2 months later, the state police want to secure the evidence."

She says it's comparable to the state police not searching for Maura until 36 hours after she disappeared.

"They never did a forensics study," Rausch said. "And Lt. Scarinza is providing a lot of misinformation to the public - including that she ran away to a new life; she froze to death; she committed suicide."

"When I lay awake at night," she continued, "I wonder how well Lt. Scarinza is sleeping."

And Rausch is adamant when she says she never told Scarinza about "Not Without Peril."

"That angers me because this is just another thing that is a lie," she said. "Why didn't he ask me what that meant?"

Rausch was referring to Maura saying the book was her favorite.

"She told me (the White Mountains are) a favorite place she likes to go," she said, adding Maura told her, ÔAnd most of all it's my favorite place on earth.'"

Scarinza could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

THURSDAY, JULY 01, 2004

The Honourable Irwin Cotler
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

July 1, 2004

Dear Minister Cotler:

I am writing to you to seek clarification on the issue of the retention of evidence in criminal cases in Canada. Specifically, I would like to know what the laws, policies, or procedures are for safely retaining physical evidence in Canada at the Federal, Provincial, regional and municipal level. Are these standards (if they even exist) set by individual police units, or are they mandated by law at a higher authority?

This is an issue that is very personal to me. Allow me to share a story. Recently I was speaking with an investigator with the Surete du Quebec. This investigator is currently in charge of the investigation into the murder of my sister, Theresa Allore; a case that has long gone cold, her death occurred over 25-years ago. The investigator is a very good man, and he was relating to me what a shame it was that physical evidence from my sister’s case had been discarded less than five years after she died. Without that evidence, it was making it very difficult for the Surete to build a case against the individual we both believe was the offender in this crime. Again, this investigator related to me that the disposal of evidence was unfortunate, but we must move on and not dwell on that. We must find another approach, no matter how difficult, to catch the offender.

Minister Cotler, I agree with this investigator. I am not going to dwell on past mistakes. However, I would find it easier to move on if I had some assurance that such an unfortunate oversight could not possibly happen again. Unfortunately, in the past two years I have looked into the matter of evidence retention and nothing gives me confidence that there are today uniform procedures for keeping evidence.

On two occasions I have contacted the R.C.M.P. and asked them what their policy was. On both occasions the R.C.M.P. chose to ignore my request; they never returned my emails or phone calls. I have put the question to officers at the Surete du Quebec – good officers; they assured me that they would never dispose of evidence, but when pressed to come up with some documentation they were unable to do so. A matter as important as evidence retention should not be left to the quality of the individual; yes, they might be good officers, but the public has no assurance that the next person in charge of the file will be equally dedicated. These cold cases have a way of outlasting administrative staff, it is great to have police officers with character, but have their actions backed up with policy – as the old Russian proverb goes, Trust, But Verify.

This has not been the extent of my research. I have put the question of evidence retention to Vancouver’s Police Victim Services, Ontario’s Office for Victims of Crime, Manitoba’s Organization of Victim Advocates, the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime; no one has a clear idea what the laws, policies, procedures, rules are for properly keeping evidence in Canada. In the U.S. it seems that not a day passes that a cold case is solved because of a piece of evidence that was kept around for 30 to 40 years. Contrast this with the experience last year in Montreal where the urban police force threw away thousands of pieces of cold case evidence because the Montreal City Council claimed they didn’t have the storage space necessary to retain it.

So now I come to you Minister Colter. I call upon you to use your powers as both Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General to tell me in plain language; what are the laws, policies, or procedures for safely retaining physical evidence in Canada at the Federal, Provincial, regional and municipal level? Let me forewarn you; I will not appreciate it if I receive a list of names from you with instructions to hunt down this information for myself at all the various government levels. I consider that research your job, and the responsibility of your office. If I am stalled by such a maneuver, I will be forced to conclude that Canada’s Minister of Justice doesn’t know the laws, policies, and procedures governing evidence retention – a conclusion I am prepared to voice quite publicly. It may not be within your job description to keep track of such information, but I am asking you to help me and all victims to clarify these matters.

Thank you for the time and attention I know you will dedicate to this important issue.

I await your reply.

Sincerely,


John Allore
www.whokilledtheresa.blogspot.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2004

R.I.P. Julie Boisvenu

Julie Boisvenu was murdered two years ago today. I'm going to tell Julie's story again, because I believe there are lessons here that should never be forgotten.

In the early morning hours of June 23rd 2002 Julie was out celebrating with friends in downtown Sherbrooke, Quebec. The previous day she had received a promotion from her employer. At about 4:00 am Julie left the bar and was never seen alive again. Police found her Kia 4x4 a few blocks away. It had apparently knocked over a fire hydrant and been abandoned.

One week later Julie's decomposing body was found in a ditch near Bromptonville, just north of Sherbrooke. She was lying face down, partially nude in a drainage ditch. She had been raped, beaten and strangled to death.

Police spent the better part of the summer tracking down Julie's killer. The scope and dedication of the investigation was vast - in part due to the press my sister's case was receiving at the same time across Canada. Police didn't want to be embarrassed again.

In September 2002 Police arrested Hugo Bernier for the murder of Julie Boisvenu. What are known of Bernier's actions on the night of June 23 are enough to make you wonder why we have law enforcement in the first place, if they are so willing to give offenders the tools to practice their trade.

Prior to murdering Boisvenu, Bernier had been stopped twice that night in Sherbrooke by two different police squads. At 2:00 am, the 27-year-old Bernier was detained in downtown Sherbrooke for loitering. When officers approached him, Bernier ran. Police eventually caught him and Bernier produced a false ID. Then they let him go.

One hour later at 3:00 am Bernier was again stopped by a different squad, this time for loitering in a parking garage. Again they let him go.

Within an hour, Bernier would rape, beat senseless, and strangle the life out of Julie Boisvenu.

Bernier was no stranger to law enforcement; in fact, when he took Julie's life he should have been sequestered in a parole house. On August 18th 2000 Bernier was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for confining and sexually aggressing a young woman for over 4 hours. Benier should have served out that sentence, along with three years of parole.

When Boisvenu's body was found another prominent victim from the Townships threatened to take up the cause of the National Parole Board releasing dangerous offenders prematurely, should Boisvenu's case prove to involve parole issues. It did, and since then, Marcel Bolduc - the father of Isabelle Bolduc, a 22-year-old music student who was kidnapped, raped and fatally beaten with an iron pipe in 1996 by two parolees - has done just that. Currently myself, Marcel Bolduc, Julie's father, Pierre Boisvenu, and other prominent Canadian victims have been working together to form a National organization dedicated to victims rights. When the political dust settles after June 28th, I will be able to speak more on that. Until then, pray for a minority government so we can get some work done for victims in Canada.

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

Follow-up

Hugo Bernier is set to go to trail this September. The case will not be heard in Sherbrooke, but 100 miles away in Montreal. In the aftermath of the Bernier's arrest, police blundered again. In their enthusiasm over the investigation, police held a press conference in which they accidentally released information about the investigation that the judge thought could be construed as prejudicial to a jury pool. He then ruled to move proceedings to Montreal, the home turf of Bernier's legal team. Now the victims - the Boisvenus - must commute everyday to Montreal if they hope to be part of the proceedings. Pierre Boisvenu has appealed to IVAC for victim compensation to provide financial assistance to attend the trial, but IVAC turned him down. So far Mr. Boisvenu has been reimbursed exactly $600 to cover the cost of funeral expenses.

It goes without saying that I am a great admirer of Pierre Boisvenu. Always poised and charming, never self-pitying, he is a great public face and voice for victim advocacy.

Bob Beullac

I only learned recently that Robert Beullac died a year ago today of acute myelogenous leukemia. Bob was a private investigator hired by my father after my sister went missing, when my parents stopped getting sufficient answers about Theresa's disappearance from police and school officials. Bob was a giant of a man; he stood 6'5" and carried this huge gun harnessed under his armpit. He was trained as a lawyer and was often used by defense attorneys on cases involving ordinary citizens who had fallen to the wayside of the law - is it any wonder that Bob and the Surete du Quebec never got along.

After twenty-five years, my parents are still left with an understandable bitterness about the events and people that surrounded the disappearance and death of their daughter. But they always had a kind word for Bob. For years they would exchange Christmas cards. Bob would send newspaper clippings about crime in the Eastern Townships to my father. In turn my father would send back some article of interest that he had found, the words, "for your file" written in the upper corner. In time, this correspondence slowly faded.

In 2001, when I began my own investigation, Bob Beullac was one of the first people I called. It had been close to twenty-five years. Where the Quebec authorities struggled for weeks trying to locate my sister's police file, Bob found his file instantly. It was on the upper right corner of his desk. He told me he had never removed it from that place. 

Bob was generous with his time. He would go over the old case in phone conversations and emails. We discussed the old theories, and new ones. Soon, the exchanges began, just like with my father. We would send articles back and forth to each other: "FYI", or "Did you see this about Julie Boisvenu?". One day Bob wrote to tell me he was very sick and probably would not be able to write anymore; would I like all his old papers? Soon after a brown package arrived in the mail. In it, Bob's personal file on my sister's case, and a couple of crime almanacs from the '70s published by Allo Police. I never heard from him again.

Bob once told me that my sister, Theresa was killed three times. There was her physical death, then there was her second death when authorities disgraced her memory by providing such a poor investigation, and then her third death; when in 2002, the Surete du Quebec refused to acknowledge their past mistakes (an apology did eventually come - but much later). 

I will miss Bob Beullac. His presence was electric, his enthusiasm inspiring. He never condescended to me and my efforts, and with 40 years of investigative experience he had every right to. He was a good man.