TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006
Highway of Tears justice inquiry demanded
If an inquiry is good enough for B.C. (see below) then Quebec should have the same thing for Camirand, Dube, Allore and all those women assaulted from 77' through 81'.
It is absurd that I am carrying out "interviews" with Anonymous who may have shared the same fate as Theresa - Where are the Quebec police?
Calgary Sun
February 27, 2006
VANCOUVER -- The native-women's group that organized a memorial in Ottawa on Saturday to draw attention to B.C.'s so-called Highway of Tears killings has thrown its voice behind a call for a public inquiry into the eight unsolved murders.
"What we want is a national inquiry into this issue," says Beverley Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.
"We also need to see resources put in to communities to address the issue of violence against aboriginal women -- and for the police to take this very seriously."
Eight women have been found dead along the highway, which stretches from Prince Rupert in B.C.'s northwest to Edmonton.
"All of the victims (who went missing along Hwy. 16) were aboriginal women except for one," Jacobs said.
Jacobs' call for an inquiry comes on the heels of comments by Jagrup Brar, public-safety critic for the provincial NDP.
He called on the provincial government to address safety concerns along the highway.
Jacobs said the discovery of the body of Aielah Saric-Auger on Feb. 9 on Highway 16 has fueled fears a serial killer maybe working the highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George.
If an inquiry is good enough for B.C. (see below) then Quebec should have the same thing for Camirand, Dube, Allore and all those women assaulted from 77' through 81'.
It is absurd that I am carrying out "interviews" with Anonymous who may have shared the same fate as Theresa - Where are the Quebec police?
Calgary Sun
February 27, 2006
VANCOUVER -- The native-women's group that organized a memorial in Ottawa on Saturday to draw attention to B.C.'s so-called Highway of Tears killings has thrown its voice behind a call for a public inquiry into the eight unsolved murders.
"What we want is a national inquiry into this issue," says Beverley Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.
"We also need to see resources put in to communities to address the issue of violence against aboriginal women -- and for the police to take this very seriously."
Eight women have been found dead along the highway, which stretches from Prince Rupert in B.C.'s northwest to Edmonton.
"All of the victims (who went missing along Hwy. 16) were aboriginal women except for one," Jacobs said.
Jacobs' call for an inquiry comes on the heels of comments by Jagrup Brar, public-safety critic for the provincial NDP.
He called on the provincial government to address safety concerns along the highway.
Jacobs said the discovery of the body of Aielah Saric-Auger on Feb. 9 on Highway 16 has fueled fears a serial killer maybe working the highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George.
As you can tell I'm really diggin' this Lexis Nexis thing. I've always wanted to use it for research but couldn't afford a subscription. But recently I put two-and-two together and realized I get it for free as a student at NC State.
Now take a look at this little gem I mined from way back in 1985:
The Toronto Star
October 31, 1985, Thursday
FINAL
Third brother sentenced for four murders
MONTREAL (CP) - A third brother has been convicted of the first-degree murders of four people at point-blank range in revenge for vandalism at a cottage in the Eastern Townships.
Mario Pouliot, 20, was sentenced to four non-concurrent life terms for the murders of the victims, who were tossed into a ditch in the rural community of Compton Station in June, 1984, after being shot with a hunting rifle.
Pouliot must serve a minimum of 25 years in jail before he is eligible for parole, Mr. Justice Benjamin Greenberg ruled yesterday.
Pouliot was the leader of the crime which also involved his brothers - Serge, Marc and Ronald - their father Jean-Luc and family friend Andre Maheu, the jury was told.
All but Serge Pouliot have been sentenced to varying prison terms for the murders.
I had heard rumors of the Pouliot family for years but could never find anything to substantiate their existence.
Get this...
When I met current Director General of Champlain College, Gerry Cutting back on March 15th, 2002 to discuss my sister's death, Gerry speculated that Theresa might have been messed up "in the Pouliot affair".
Gerry's rationale?
Theresa was involved "in the drug world" / the Pouliots were drug dealers.
She lived in Compton / the Pouliots lived at Compton Station.
Ergo, she was done in by the Pouliots... these things have a way of taking care of themselves.
Gerald Cutting
If you want to email this idiot here's his address:
gcutting@abacom.com
Better yet, give him a call: (819) 564-3600 ext. 613
Now take a look at this little gem I mined from way back in 1985:
The Toronto Star
October 31, 1985, Thursday
FINAL
Third brother sentenced for four murders
MONTREAL (CP) - A third brother has been convicted of the first-degree murders of four people at point-blank range in revenge for vandalism at a cottage in the Eastern Townships.
Mario Pouliot, 20, was sentenced to four non-concurrent life terms for the murders of the victims, who were tossed into a ditch in the rural community of Compton Station in June, 1984, after being shot with a hunting rifle.
Pouliot must serve a minimum of 25 years in jail before he is eligible for parole, Mr. Justice Benjamin Greenberg ruled yesterday.
Pouliot was the leader of the crime which also involved his brothers - Serge, Marc and Ronald - their father Jean-Luc and family friend Andre Maheu, the jury was told.
All but Serge Pouliot have been sentenced to varying prison terms for the murders.
I had heard rumors of the Pouliot family for years but could never find anything to substantiate their existence.
Get this...
When I met current Director General of Champlain College, Gerry Cutting back on March 15th, 2002 to discuss my sister's death, Gerry speculated that Theresa might have been messed up "in the Pouliot affair".
Gerry's rationale?
Theresa was involved "in the drug world" / the Pouliots were drug dealers.
She lived in Compton / the Pouliots lived at Compton Station.
Ergo, she was done in by the Pouliots... these things have a way of taking care of themselves.
Gerald Cutting
If you want to email this idiot here's his address:
gcutting@abacom.com
Better yet, give him a call: (819) 564-3600 ext. 613
More Lexis..
Are you getting all this?
Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada)
June 29, 1994, Wednesday,
HEADLINE: Profile of a Predator:
A surviving victim of Luc Gregoire says his hands were deadly weapons
BYLINE: CHRISTINA MUNGAN AND BOB BEATYBODY
Luc Yoland Gregoire is a predator. He is a lonely, haunted man who couldn't stand to be alone. A man who thought his mother didn't love him and who told a woman he viciously raped that he raped others before her.
For his former victim, that painful and terrifying moment in 1980 is still very much alive. "He didn't need weapons - his hands were weapons," says Nicole Couture, now 46, in French from her Quebec home.
From Couture's account - and forensic evidence on the rape of Lailanie Silva in Calgary - a pattern to Gregoire's attacks has emerged.
He apparently preferred to crush his victims' throats with his bare hands and then rape them -- before or after they were dead.In Lailanie Silva's case, a forensic pathologist told court it was impossible to tell if Silva was raped before or after death because the two events occurred so close together.
Both women were violently beaten and raped late at night in vehicles. Unlike Silva, Couture lived to describe her attacker.
In early February 1980, Couture, a mother of four, went out to a nightclub with seven female friends.
After Couture left the club on her own, Gregoire jumped her from behind and pushed her inside her car in a parkade. He punched her in the face over and over, "as if in a panic," she says.
Then, he put his powerful hands around her throat and started strangling her. Hoping to save her own life, she eventually stopped struggling and pretended to be dead.
He started to rape her viciously. It was then she spoke to him."He said he had a grudge against women because his mother hadn't loved him," Couture recalls. "(He said) he wasn't physically attractive and he had problems having normal relations with women, so it was necessary for him to be violent."
She agreed to co-operate to survive. "Then he did things to me I don't want to talk about . . . I was in a terrible state, I was bleeding everywhere."When she told him she had four children, the youngest then one year old, he agreed that children needed their mother alive.
He then said he was upset because he'd been kicked out of the military and that he'd raped four or five other women since his discharge. While he promised not to rape again, Couture says she knew he would, "by his way of talking, his incredible rage, his frustration.
"Two weeks after raping Couture, Gregoire was arrested in the same parkade, police say. He was sentenced in May 1981 to two years in jail for forcible confinement and indecent assault.
When Couture heard of the Silva murder, she hoped this time he'd be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. He destroyed years of her life, she adds, noting within a year of the rape she divorced her husband, whom she found "totally unhelpful."
Couture has no doubt that Gregoire wasn't normal. "I saw him as a person, a sick person. His suffering, in a way, was greater than mine."Gregoire's brother agreed. "I think maybe he had a psychiatric problem," says Christian Gregoire, who also denies his brother raped anyone.
Their mother still calls Luc a good son, who visited her last year because she couldn't afford the ticket to Calgary."He was cute as a little boy," Claire Gregoire, 70, says from Sherbrooke, Que.
She notes that he joined the First Canadian Airborne in 1976 at age 17, but denies that her son was discharged four years later for drug use, saying he left by choice.When asked whether she knew about the Silva murder, she hung up the phone.
But Gregoire's past did haunt his mother. In a January 1993, letter to Gregoire, his mother wrote: "I hope you do not bring me any more misery to my heart."Gregoire was a lonely fellow Quebecer needing a decent home to live in, recall Tony and Deborah Alaous, former Quebecers who took pity on him.He stayed with them for about one year. Tony says Gregoire drank a lot and that "he was like a lost puppy," always following them around.
He loved their two cats and dog and often took the dog with him to keep him company. He had no long-term male friends or girlfriends and would often go out drinking at strip clubs.
He had tattoos all over his arms, legs and back and all he would say about his four years with the Canadian Airborne Regiment, the army's elite commando shock-troop, was that he enjoyed parachute jumping."He always said he could never afford a girlfriend . . . I thought he was a quiet, sensitive man. We had no idea what a monster he was," says Deborah, who herself was a rape victim.
When homicide detectives told them about Silva's sex slaying, Deborah suffered nightmares and couldn't take a shower for one month unless her husband was in the house."We just feel completely betrayed," Deborah says.
Are you getting all this?
Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada)
June 29, 1994, Wednesday,
HEADLINE: Profile of a Predator:
A surviving victim of Luc Gregoire says his hands were deadly weapons
BYLINE: CHRISTINA MUNGAN AND BOB BEATYBODY
Luc Yoland Gregoire is a predator. He is a lonely, haunted man who couldn't stand to be alone. A man who thought his mother didn't love him and who told a woman he viciously raped that he raped others before her.
For his former victim, that painful and terrifying moment in 1980 is still very much alive. "He didn't need weapons - his hands were weapons," says Nicole Couture, now 46, in French from her Quebec home.
From Couture's account - and forensic evidence on the rape of Lailanie Silva in Calgary - a pattern to Gregoire's attacks has emerged.
He apparently preferred to crush his victims' throats with his bare hands and then rape them -- before or after they were dead.In Lailanie Silva's case, a forensic pathologist told court it was impossible to tell if Silva was raped before or after death because the two events occurred so close together.
Both women were violently beaten and raped late at night in vehicles. Unlike Silva, Couture lived to describe her attacker.
In early February 1980, Couture, a mother of four, went out to a nightclub with seven female friends.
After Couture left the club on her own, Gregoire jumped her from behind and pushed her inside her car in a parkade. He punched her in the face over and over, "as if in a panic," she says.
Then, he put his powerful hands around her throat and started strangling her. Hoping to save her own life, she eventually stopped struggling and pretended to be dead.
He started to rape her viciously. It was then she spoke to him."He said he had a grudge against women because his mother hadn't loved him," Couture recalls. "(He said) he wasn't physically attractive and he had problems having normal relations with women, so it was necessary for him to be violent."
She agreed to co-operate to survive. "Then he did things to me I don't want to talk about . . . I was in a terrible state, I was bleeding everywhere."When she told him she had four children, the youngest then one year old, he agreed that children needed their mother alive.
He then said he was upset because he'd been kicked out of the military and that he'd raped four or five other women since his discharge. While he promised not to rape again, Couture says she knew he would, "by his way of talking, his incredible rage, his frustration.
"Two weeks after raping Couture, Gregoire was arrested in the same parkade, police say. He was sentenced in May 1981 to two years in jail for forcible confinement and indecent assault.
When Couture heard of the Silva murder, she hoped this time he'd be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. He destroyed years of her life, she adds, noting within a year of the rape she divorced her husband, whom she found "totally unhelpful."
Couture has no doubt that Gregoire wasn't normal. "I saw him as a person, a sick person. His suffering, in a way, was greater than mine."Gregoire's brother agreed. "I think maybe he had a psychiatric problem," says Christian Gregoire, who also denies his brother raped anyone.
Their mother still calls Luc a good son, who visited her last year because she couldn't afford the ticket to Calgary."He was cute as a little boy," Claire Gregoire, 70, says from Sherbrooke, Que.
She notes that he joined the First Canadian Airborne in 1976 at age 17, but denies that her son was discharged four years later for drug use, saying he left by choice.When asked whether she knew about the Silva murder, she hung up the phone.
But Gregoire's past did haunt his mother. In a January 1993, letter to Gregoire, his mother wrote: "I hope you do not bring me any more misery to my heart."Gregoire was a lonely fellow Quebecer needing a decent home to live in, recall Tony and Deborah Alaous, former Quebecers who took pity on him.He stayed with them for about one year. Tony says Gregoire drank a lot and that "he was like a lost puppy," always following them around.
He loved their two cats and dog and often took the dog with him to keep him company. He had no long-term male friends or girlfriends and would often go out drinking at strip clubs.
He had tattoos all over his arms, legs and back and all he would say about his four years with the Canadian Airborne Regiment, the army's elite commando shock-troop, was that he enjoyed parachute jumping."He always said he could never afford a girlfriend . . . I thought he was a quiet, sensitive man. We had no idea what a monster he was," says Deborah, who herself was a rape victim.
When homicide detectives told them about Silva's sex slaying, Deborah suffered nightmares and couldn't take a shower for one month unless her husband was in the house."We just feel completely betrayed," Deborah says.
The Power of Lexis Nexis
read this one closely my friends
HEADLINE: Crime victims sue Ottawa: Allege negligence
SOURCE: Southam News
BYLINE: JANICE TIBBETTS
DATELINE: OTTAWA
February 28, 2002
Victims of prisoners who committed crimes while on parole or under federal supervision - including brutal murders - have filed lawsuits against Ottawa seeking almost $100 million in damages in the last 12 years.
The figure is revealed in federal documents that also show that the number and size of the lawsuits have climbed steadily, with two-thirds launched in the last six years.
Victims and their families have filed 35 civil suits against the Correctional Service of Canada, the National Parole Board and the Attorney-General of Canada since 1988, mainly alleging the government and parole officials were negligent in their premature release of dangerous criminals.
Many of the families, and victims who survived their ordeals, have sought compensation for grisly crimes that have been among the most highly publicized in Canada.
The lawsuits vary widely in amount, ranging from a low of $1,000 from a man whose property was damaged to $16 million from the family of the late Sylvain Leduc.
The Vanier, Ont., teen was abducted and tortured by three gang members, including John Richardson, who was released from prison after serving two-thirds of his sentence, despite reports and assessments that he would almost certainly re-offend.
Leduc's grandmother, Theresa McCuaig, said the family is suing to send a message "big time" to all of the federal officials involved in Richardson's release in 1995, just seven weeks before her grandson was murdered.
Other claims against the federal government include:- The family of Lailaine Silva, a Calgary 7-Eleven clerk who was raped and strangled by a prisoner unlawfully on parole, is seeking $809,000. Silva was 22 when she was abducted from the store in 1993 by Luc Gregoire, a violent offender who should have been in jail at the time for violating parole for a 1986 armed robbery conviction.
- The family of Isabelle Bolduc - a 22-year-old music student from Sherbrooke who was kidnapped, raped, beaten with an iron pipe and murdered in 1996 by two parolees - has filed a $2-million lawsuit.-
John Weedmark, of Nepean, Ont., filed a suit three years ago for $8.1 million. Weedmark was a senior Nortel Networks executive who suffered brain damage when he was attacked by a robber on day parole while shopping in Kingston, Ont.-
The biggest claim is from a family, identified only as McConkey, seeking $31 million for "assault and battery causing bodily injury" by paroled prisoners
read this one closely my friends
HEADLINE: Crime victims sue Ottawa: Allege negligence
SOURCE: Southam News
BYLINE: JANICE TIBBETTS
DATELINE: OTTAWA
February 28, 2002
Victims of prisoners who committed crimes while on parole or under federal supervision - including brutal murders - have filed lawsuits against Ottawa seeking almost $100 million in damages in the last 12 years.
The figure is revealed in federal documents that also show that the number and size of the lawsuits have climbed steadily, with two-thirds launched in the last six years.
Victims and their families have filed 35 civil suits against the Correctional Service of Canada, the National Parole Board and the Attorney-General of Canada since 1988, mainly alleging the government and parole officials were negligent in their premature release of dangerous criminals.
Many of the families, and victims who survived their ordeals, have sought compensation for grisly crimes that have been among the most highly publicized in Canada.
The lawsuits vary widely in amount, ranging from a low of $1,000 from a man whose property was damaged to $16 million from the family of the late Sylvain Leduc.
The Vanier, Ont., teen was abducted and tortured by three gang members, including John Richardson, who was released from prison after serving two-thirds of his sentence, despite reports and assessments that he would almost certainly re-offend.
Leduc's grandmother, Theresa McCuaig, said the family is suing to send a message "big time" to all of the federal officials involved in Richardson's release in 1995, just seven weeks before her grandson was murdered.
Other claims against the federal government include:- The family of Lailaine Silva, a Calgary 7-Eleven clerk who was raped and strangled by a prisoner unlawfully on parole, is seeking $809,000. Silva was 22 when she was abducted from the store in 1993 by Luc Gregoire, a violent offender who should have been in jail at the time for violating parole for a 1986 armed robbery conviction.
- The family of Isabelle Bolduc - a 22-year-old music student from Sherbrooke who was kidnapped, raped, beaten with an iron pipe and murdered in 1996 by two parolees - has filed a $2-million lawsuit.-
John Weedmark, of Nepean, Ont., filed a suit three years ago for $8.1 million. Weedmark was a senior Nortel Networks executive who suffered brain damage when he was attacked by a robber on day parole while shopping in Kingston, Ont.-
The biggest claim is from a family, identified only as McConkey, seeking $31 million for "assault and battery causing bodily injury" by paroled prisoners
Alors, voila une photo de Theresa (peut-etre en 1977?) que j'ai decouvert chez moi.
(oui, c'est moi avec le baton)
(oui, c'est moi avec le baton)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2006
Tied in Knotts
Forget Barney Fife (though I liked Mr. Furley), Darrin McGavin died!
Kolchak? The Night Stalker?
Now get this, The Washington Post does his obit, but neglects to mention his best role...
The dad in A Christmas Story? Hello?
Pathetic.
Forget Barney Fife (though I liked Mr. Furley), Darrin McGavin died!
Kolchak? The Night Stalker?
Now get this, The Washington Post does his obit, but neglects to mention his best role...
The dad in A Christmas Story? Hello?
Pathetic.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2006
I was asked to fill in some holes:
Aqualung:
Sometimes I write for my own amusement and that sometimes involves things my sister would have found funny. In this case, Aqualung is an album and song by Jethro Tull, and it happened to be one of the last xmas presents Theresa gave to me. Aqualung tells the story of a child molester (or at least child oogler) who sits on park benches eyeing young girls. So I saw the Turcotte article and posted it with a headline comparing him to Aqualung.
Turcotte:
I found his case interesting as more evidence of the litany of abuse that has gone on in the Sherbrooke community for close to 30 years (here's this kiddie-diddler who operated for 27 years and was never caught? Sherbrooke has a population of about, what... 200,000?)
Manitoba:
Hmm... This one's tricky to answer. I can't name suspects outright (or I won't, or I'm scared of legal repercussions) I think what you're basically asking is "who was the guy who went out west?" The short answer is, "I don't know". But here's what I speculate: He was short, he was french, he served in the military. He assaulted and choked Nicole Couture in a Sherbrooke parking garage in 1981. And, I believe, it is very possible he was the guy who chased the girl through the apple orchard on Mcdonald rd. in the fall of 1978. He is also the guy I refer to as suspect #1 on this post:
http://whokilledtheresa.blogspot.com/2006/02/case-updates-ok-this-is-as-polite-as-i.html
He went out west to Alberta and did something for which he is now serving 25 years in Archenbault. That's sort of all I can give you, but if you're a good detective I think you can figure it out using Google.
Aqualung:
Sometimes I write for my own amusement and that sometimes involves things my sister would have found funny. In this case, Aqualung is an album and song by Jethro Tull, and it happened to be one of the last xmas presents Theresa gave to me. Aqualung tells the story of a child molester (or at least child oogler) who sits on park benches eyeing young girls. So I saw the Turcotte article and posted it with a headline comparing him to Aqualung.
Turcotte:
I found his case interesting as more evidence of the litany of abuse that has gone on in the Sherbrooke community for close to 30 years (here's this kiddie-diddler who operated for 27 years and was never caught? Sherbrooke has a population of about, what... 200,000?)
Manitoba:
Hmm... This one's tricky to answer. I can't name suspects outright (or I won't, or I'm scared of legal repercussions) I think what you're basically asking is "who was the guy who went out west?" The short answer is, "I don't know". But here's what I speculate: He was short, he was french, he served in the military. He assaulted and choked Nicole Couture in a Sherbrooke parking garage in 1981. And, I believe, it is very possible he was the guy who chased the girl through the apple orchard on Mcdonald rd. in the fall of 1978. He is also the guy I refer to as suspect #1 on this post:
http://whokilledtheresa.blogspot.com/2006/02/case-updates-ok-this-is-as-polite-as-i.html
He went out west to Alberta and did something for which he is now serving 25 years in Archenbault. That's sort of all I can give you, but if you're a good detective I think you can figure it out using Google.
Keeping you informed
Hi John,
I read both your lettrer..it is ashame that SQ did such a bad job in Theresa case...but before sending a comunitqué de presse..I prefer sending a lettre to xxxxxxxx about your complain...
What do you think?
Pierre
------------------
Pierre,
Je pense toujour que votre conseil est le meilleur conseil.
Ok, do that.
Pierre, un autre chose:
I am less concerned about my personal problems in all this (I cannot tell the police they can no longer investigate: I know that's silly). Also, I DON'T think Theresa's case can be solved; I'm not looking for that.
But the way the Surete treat people then and today is appauling. They need systemic change. They cannot say they have proper channels of communication and then refuse to return phone calls from citizens who want to provide assistance. How many times must this happen? I believe it happens constantly. They have no respect for women as assault victims, as victims of rape... they have no respect for women. Period. They didn't then, and they don't now.
This must not continue. If there is one battle left I feel is worth fighting for it is that.
Thank you again for your help my friend.
John A
Hi John,
I read both your lettrer..it is ashame that SQ did such a bad job in Theresa case...but before sending a comunitqué de presse..I prefer sending a lettre to xxxxxxxx about your complain...
What do you think?
Pierre
------------------
Pierre,
Je pense toujour que votre conseil est le meilleur conseil.
Ok, do that.
Pierre, un autre chose:
I am less concerned about my personal problems in all this (I cannot tell the police they can no longer investigate: I know that's silly). Also, I DON'T think Theresa's case can be solved; I'm not looking for that.
But the way the Surete treat people then and today is appauling. They need systemic change. They cannot say they have proper channels of communication and then refuse to return phone calls from citizens who want to provide assistance. How many times must this happen? I believe it happens constantly. They have no respect for women as assault victims, as victims of rape... they have no respect for women. Period. They didn't then, and they don't now.
This must not continue. If there is one battle left I feel is worth fighting for it is that.
Thank you again for your help my friend.
John A
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2006
I wrote this some time ago. It's about other sexual assaults in the Eastern Townships from 1977 to 1980
Women
In late fall of 2002, I started a web site. Whokilledtheresa.com was set up under the auspice of funneling information that might help solve the crime, but it was really about filtering out all the lunatic emails I was receiving. People were coming to me with support, to be sure, but there were also a lot of strange people out there with pet theories.
“Why were all the girls found on Good Friday?”
They weren’t; Camirand was found on a plane old, any day Friday.
"The suspicion that Theresa was moved to the location is hyperbole, the supposition that she ran and collapsed at the location is credible.”
Ya, Thanks for that.
“I, along with Nationalist Party of Canada’s Leader, Don Andrews, would like to offer our support… “
Thanks, I think I’ll pass.
“Your sister would be so proud!”
Actually she was probably throwing up someplace. After quietly resting for twenty-three years, I’d exhumed her, and propped her up in cyberspace. The site had “updates” and “links” and a “photo album”. Overnight I’d turned into John Walsh.
Despite my misgivings, slowly some good information started to come in - stories that when weaved together began to paint of picture of the level of violence women were living under in the Sherbrooke area in the late seventies. One of the first people to contact me was Caroline Rowell. Rowell had been a writer with the Bishop’s college paper, The Campus, in 1978. At that time, there had been a series of sexual assaults on campus. Rowell had covered these stories. She had been one of the only journalists in the area to repeatedly warn that there was a growing problem of sexual violence against women. For the most part, the mainstream papers like the French Tribune and the English Sherbrooke Record ignored the situation. After speaking with her, Rowell found some of her old writings in her attic, and sent them to me.
The trouble in Lennoxville had started long before the night of November 3rd, 1978. As early as January ‘78, Carolyn Rowell had reported of three separate incidents of sexual and verbal assaults on women. The Lennoxville police force failed to take the situation seriously. When then police chief, Kasimir Kryslak, justified the police’s inaction by arguing that in the five years since he had been police chief there had only been one reported incident of sexual assault, Rowell did some quick research and discovered that at least eight rapes had occurred in Lennoxville in the course of that one year. Many of the attacks had been quite severe. One student was dragged to the ground and beaten on the head with a board.
In February of 1978, the Champlain student paper, the Touchstone, picked up the story. Girls were being molested by a short man in jeans and a green parka. Other women described a different short man – a man with a beard and black hair. Girls had complained to officials both at Champlain College and Bishops’s University. They had also made reports with the police. The girls were scared to walk home at night. Many classes didn’t end until after dark. Lights that were supposed to illuminate the campus had burnt out. Students were scared and anxious. The police and the schools did nothing. The Bishop’s University nurse commented that the situation had, “all been blown out of proportion.” A Champlain councilor, Melanie Cutting, tried to justify the School’s lack of response by commenting that one of the stories had been fabricated.* By this time, former police chief, Kasimir Kryslak, was fired by the town of Lennoxville, but his replacement, Leo Hamel, did nothing to improve the situation. Concerning the attacks, Hamel commented to the Touchstone newspaper, “everyone was making a mountain out of a molehill.”
For the remainder of the year the hysteria quieted down on the University campus. Then by the fall of 1978, reports of a sexual predator reemerged. . In early October 1978, a short man in a ski mask harassed a female student in an empty campus hallway. Then two weeks later on October 30th, a girl was walking to the University at night when she was confronted by a naked man standing by a tree. “I’m certainly not going to walk after dark anymore. I was scared half to death”, she said. Chief Hamel brushed off the incident, commenting that such things were to be expected at a university where so many women congregated. In her editorial in the Campus on November 3rd, 1978, Carolyn Rowell sounded off again, protesting that authorities were not taking the situation seriously. Rowell chided Chief Hamel for his comments, and reminded students that it was he who made the comment the previous year that sexual assaults on campus were “a molehill”. Rowell further complained that the campus lighting that had been broken the previous winter still had not been fixed. The campus was neither safe nor secure, and women were being forced to walk about late at night in the dark.
In addition to the articles she kept from her years at Bishop’s University, Carolyn Rowell also remembered the names of some women who had suffered attacks. One woman, Rowell recalled, was attacked while jogging by a man who tried to force her into his car. Another girl, had suffered a large gash to her head when she jumped from a moving car driven by a would-be attacker. Rowell also related her own encounter with a possible predator.
One afternoon she was hitchhiking between Sherbrooke and Lennoxville when a guy in a beat-up car stopped to pick her up. Rowell got in, and they were headed down the road when suddenly the guy turned two or three times quickly onto some side streets. Alarmed, Rowell asked where he was going. He replied - in French - that he had to go someplace to check on something. The man pulled into a vacant lot and stopped. He then turned to her and stared. The man said nothing. Rowell did nothing - she was determined to stare him down. After a minute, the man started the car and drove her out to the main road. Rowell asked that he let her out at the corner. The man stopped the car. She moved to open the door, but couldn’t. The man turned to her and said smiling, “you can’t get out. I have to open the door for you from the outside.” He did so, and then sped away. Rowell was left to ponder how close she had come to putting her life in jeopardy.
I tracked down one of the other women Carolyn Rowell had mentioned to me. Woman A was now living out West. Her assault occurred in October 1980, two years after my sister’s disappearance. At the time she was a student at Bishop’s, but living near North Hatley. Also, she was a brunette, but not short, she stood 5’10”. One afternoon she was out jogging on route 143. Recall that route 143 is the same main road that leads south out of Lennoxville. It is the road to get to Massawippi, where Manon Dube’s body was found. Woman A was jogging down the highway. She was at a point about one mile south of MacDonald road – the road where Theresa’s red wallet was found – when a man jumped out from behind some bushes and attacked her. The man darted out and, grabbed Woman A by the neck. He then repeatedly beat her on the side of her head with his other hand. Woman A was fit. She had recently run a marathon. She took self-defense classes. She commented that this training did her no good. She felt helpless. He seemed experienced at this kind of thing. “A professional”, she suggested. Woman A fought back. She scratched his face and bloodied him. She was amazed that motorists were passing by, but no one was stopping. Finally, the man overpowered her. Before passing out, Woman A spied a big gold car behind the bushes where the man had come from.
When she regained consciousness, Woman A found she was lying prostrate on the back seat of the gold car. She was bleeding badly. She had been stripped down to her bra and panties. The man was looming over her, preparing to rape her. When she opened her eyes, the man began beating her about the head again. Woman A believed she was about to die. She cried out, “God save me!” At this point the man stopped. He dragged her out of the car, dressed her, and let her go. Out on the road, two women stopped their car and drove her to the hospital. Doctors later stated that it was a miracle she was still alive; she had been beaten so badly.
Woman A eventually recovered from her injuries. When she got better, she was determined to track down her attacker. She created a composite drawing of the man. Her brother posted the drawing throughout Lennoxville and Sherbrooke. Unlike some victims, Woman A was not intimidated, and wanted to find the man and prosecute. Buoyed by her determination, police were initially motivated to find her attacker. The investigator assigned to her case, Detective Fillion, confided to Woman A that there had been a “wave” of such incidents in the area. Woman A remembered some details of her assailant. The man spoke French; he might have worn black army boots. When police checked the bushes where Woman A was attacked, they found a large tool - maybe an ice pick or a file. Over time, the investigation lost momentum. Police were never able to track down her attacker. A year after the incident, a reporter from the Sherbrooke Record confided to Woman A that there was a rumor going around town that the police chief’s son was a sex offender, and my have been the one responsible for her attack. Slowly, Woman A became convinced that the incident was swept under the rug for “political” reasons.
Woman A had no difficulty talking to me about what had happened to her. I expected her to struggle with her account, but she was calm and possessed. I apologized for being intrusive. Her only comment was that she wanted to help. Woman A stated matter-of-factly that the assault changed her life. She felt that God had intervened when she cried out to him. Afterward she became a devote Christian.
Woman A had read our story in the National Post. She remarked, “the way you described the encounter with the girl in the apple orchard: that’s it.” That was how the guy attacked her. Two weeks after talking with Woman A I was able to track down Detective Fillion, the man who had investigated Woman A’s attack. I asked him to comment on his remark about the “wave” of attacks that had been reported against Township women. Fillion stated that he was now retired. He didn’t remember much from his police days. Besides, he said, Roch Gaudreault was in charge back then. If I had questions, it would be best to communicate with him. It appeared that all roads led to Roch.
Carolyn Rowell had mentioned a second Bishop’s student, Woman B. Woman B was the victim who had suffered a gash to the head when she jumped from a moving car she had been forced into. Both myself and Rowell attempted to contact Woman B on several occasions. She never returned our calls or emails. Apparently, she did not wish to talk about the event. All that is known is that she was attacked sometime in 1978.
Another email came through the website. A woman wrote to tell me the anonymous story of “Woman C”. Woman C was a Champlain student who had been violently raped in the fall of 1978. . When I tracked her down and asked for her to speak with me, Woman C was like Woman B. She did not wish to revisit the event. The memory of it haunted her. When I told her who I was, and what I was doing, she agreed to talk.
In the fall of 1978, Woman C was a first year student at Champlain. She was living in off campus housing on chemin Bel-Horizon, just up the street from the Champlain / Bishop’s campus and the Lion pub. One day her roommate brought home a young man she had picked up in a bar. “J.R.” – as he was known - liked the girls’ apartment and decided to invite himself to stay. JR turned out to be a brutal, violent man. For three weeks he virtually held Woman C hostage. He began to rape her at will. Woman C went to the police. She told them what was happening. The police explained that if she pressed charges, J.R. would be placed in jail - but there was still a possibility he would be out on bail. Other than this, the police said there was little they could do. In fear that if she prosecuted, JR might return and inflict far worse treatment, Woman C did nothing. “There was the police’s way, or my way, and my way was the alive way.”, she said. Defeated, Woman C went home and the rapes continued.
One day J.R. brought home a revolver and raped her at gunpoint. Later, J.R. confided to her that the gun had been used in a local murder. He said he had to get rid of it. JR forced her to accompany him to the Sherbrooke prison where he conferred with a prisoner about the gun. The prisoner advised J.R. to dump the gun in the river. To the best of Woman C’s knowledge, that’s exactly what JR did.
After three weeks, J.R. lost interest in Woman C. He stopped coming around to the Bel-Horizon apartment. Woman C said to me she had lived in fear all her life, wondering what had ever become of J.R. His real name was XXX XXXXXX. She knew this because one day she dared to rifle through his wallet and saw his driver’s license. JR stood for junior. Woman C said that she wanted to help because she knew that other women had suffered. Maybe her coming forward could make a positive change.
Another former student - this time a Bishop’s alumni - also informed me of harassment problems in 1978. She too lived in an apartment on Bel-Horizon. A man used to stalk the hallways late at night whispering, “Here, Kitty, Kitty.” She rented her apartment from a Bishop’s professor. The professor used to make excuses to come and check her heating system. She could always tell when he had been there because her panty drawer was disheveled. She lodged a complaint, and the School asked the professor to stop.
More emails. A woman named Woman D wrote about an incident that happened to her in August of 1980. Woman D was followed to a Caisse Populaire at the corner of Union and Belvedere. The same Caisse Populaire where Manon Dube had been playing when she disappeared on the night of January 27, 1978. The man ran after Woman D. In French, he offered her a lift. Woman D stated that she was not interested, and moved on. Later the man cut her off in his car. He exited the car and stood in her way, ordering her to get in the car. She refused. He began shouting expletives, demanding her to get in the car. She was defiant, and yelled back. The man turned red with rage, clenching his fists. She thought he looked like he was about to punch her. A crowd gathered. Seeing the people, the man backed down. As he drove away, Woman D noticed a baby seat in the back of his car. Seven years later, Woman D’s sister-in-law had a similar encounter with what she believed was the same man. Again, the man was French. He had a baby seat in the back of his car. This time, the sister-in-law took down the license plate number. She kept the number on a piece of paper in a drawer for over fifteen years.
Finally, there is the story of Woman E. Woman E’s brother contacted me after reading the story in the National Post. In the summer of 1977 - months after Louise Camirand had died - Woman E stood hitchhiking at the corner of Portland and Jacques Cartier. The location was one block North of the corner where Camirand was last seen by the convenience store owner. It was the middle of the day - twelve noon – when a car stopped to pick her up. The man driving was short and French. He said he was an electrician. Before taking Woman E to her destination – the Carrefour shopping mall – he explained he needed to stop somewhere to do something. The man headed off course, toward the north edge of town. On Beckett Street, he pulled in beside a small electrical house and stopped. The man got out of the car and said he needed to retrieve something from the trunk. Confused and apprehensive, Woman E remained seated and lit a cigarette. She could hear him in the truck, rummaging through what sounded like a toolbox. Suddenly he came at her through the driver’s door brandishing a very large screwdriver. Panicked, Woman E stuck the cigarette in his face and kicked him in the groin. She jumped over him, ran out to the street and flagged down a passing milk truck. Woman E reported the incident to the police and gave a detailed statement. She referred to her attacker, then and now, as “military stupid”. He looked like he might have served in the army. She stated that the incident related in the National Post - about the women chased on MacDonald road through the apple orchard - sounded like the same man that attacked her.
When you put all the stories together, the chronology went as follows:
1. March 1977, 9:30 p.m. Louise Camirand goes missing at the corner of King Street and Jacques Cartier. Body found face down in snow near Austin. Car used to transport her to location. A tool of some sort is inserted in her vagina, mutilating her. Strangled with a “military bootlace”. Possibly her own bootlace. Police investigation.
2. Summer 1977, 12:00 noon. Woman E is picked up at the corner of Portland and Jacques Cartier, one block north of King. Driven to a remote location by a Short, French man, described as “military stupid”. Man attacks her in the car with a large screwdriver. Woman E reports incident to police.
3. 1978. Woman B is forced into a car. She suffers a gash when she jumps from the moving car. Details unknown.
4. January 1978. Reports of sexual assaults on the Bishop’s / Champlain campus. Reported to Police.
5. January 1978. 7:30 p.m. Manon Dube disappears from the area of the Caisse Populaire at the corner of Union and Belvedere. Body found faced down in stream near Massiwippi, off route 143. Cause of death unknown. Car used to transport her to location. Police investigation.
6. February 1978. More reports of assaults on college campus. Short man in jeans and green parka sited. Reported to the police.
7. Spring 1978. Daytime. Carolyn Rowell is picked up somewhere on Belvedere. She is driven to a remote location. Man lets her go. Rowell does not report the incident.
8. October 1978. Woman C is raped over a series of weeks in her apartment on Bel-Horizon. Attacker uses gun alleged have been used in a murder. Bel-horizon runs between Belvedere and route 143. She reports the assaults to the police.
9. October 1978. Evening. The daughter of M. & Mrs. XXXXX is chased through an apple orchard on MacDonald road. MacDonald turns into Belvedere, and connects with route 143. The attacker has a vehicle. He is described as short. The girl files a police report. The man is brought in for questioning.
10. October 1978. Assault in a Bishop’s / Champlain facility. Short man in a ski mask sited.
11. October 1978. Another assault on the School campus. Man tries to jump woman at night. Reported to police.
12. November 1978. 7:30 p.m. Theresa Allore may have been hitchhiking at the corner of Bel-Horizon and route 143. Later alleged to have been seen in Compton facility at 9:00 p.m. Body found face down in brook outside Compton. Car used to transport body to location. Cause of death unknown; most likely strangled. Police investigation.
13. November 1978. Theresa Allore’s red wallet most likely tossed shortly after her death on MacDonald road, a short distance from where girl was chased near apple orchard.
14. August 1980. 12:00 noon. Woman D is almost forced into a car near the Caisse Populaire at Union and Belvedere. Man has dark hair. Drives a car with a baby seat in the back. Years later, sister-in-law has similar encounter with man with a baby seat in the car. Sister-in-law takes down license plate. Incidents not reported.
15. October 1980. Afternoon. Woman A is attacked by man on route 143, one mile south of MacDonald road. She is placed in the back seat of a gold car. Man is French, might have worn black military boots. Woman A draws sketch. Police find a tool, a file or an ice pick in the bushes.
16. Winter, 1981. After midnight. Nicole Couture is attacked in a downtown Sherbrooke parking garage. Her attacker, xxx xxxxxxxxx, uses his hands and attempts to choke her. xxxxxxxxx confides to her that he has raped 4 or 5 women previous to Couture. xxxxxxxxx is French. He is a short man with dark hair. He was recently kicked out of the military. He sometimes worked in construction as a roofer. At the time he was 21 and possibly still living with his mother in a home along the Magog river, just across the Jacques Cartier bridge where Louise Camirand was last seen.
A single person is not responsible for all of these events. For instance, xxx xxxxxxxxx could not have been the man who attacked Woman D’s sister-in-law in 1987; by that time xxxxxxxx was already out west. As well, the baby seat in the back of the car is a common tactic used by many predators to lure their victims into a false sense of security; even Guy Croteau is alleged to have used this ploy. The gun used by JR against Woman C - if JR’s story was to be believed - was possibly used in the shootings of Raymond Grimard and Manon Bergeron, the two victims who found south of Lennoxville in July of 1978. These shootings were virtually the only two recorded in the Townships in 1978. Recall that Ferdinand Laplante and Jean Charland later stood trial and were convicted of these crimes, although Bob Buellac maintained they were incident.
However, some of these incidents were undoubtedly related. The trick is figuring out which ones match up. More to the point, this chronology is the result of responses to one story in the National Post. The National Post is English; and not widely read in Quebec. Most of the victims who came forward to me were English-speaking women. There is a whole sector of the population in the Townships who have probably not come forward, because they are unaware of the investigation. Also, many people don’t report sex assaults. As the Minister of Justice said in 1977, the then reported number of 228 rapes in the province could easily be doubled, to account for those that went undocumented. In light of this, these 16 events are probably just the tip of the ice-burg. The magnitude of related predatory cases in the Sherbrooke area from 1977 and 1981 is quite likely staggering.
Again, as early as the first of 1978, students at Champlain College and Bishop’s university were aware of the problem, and voiced their concerns to the police, school authorities, and to the Eastern Townships public in accounts in local newspapers. The majority of these incidents were documented, and on file with the police. Contrary to former Champlain administrator, Tom Cavanagh’s protestations, violence was definitely on the “radar screen”. The Eastern Townships community did nothing. This wasn’t making a mountain out of a molehill. The mountain was in plain sight.
On September 19th, the day after police announced they would not reinvestigate the cases, former police chief, Leo Hamel used the web site to contact me. I later spoke with him on the phone. He wanted me to know how sorry he was. However, he took no responsibility for what had happened. He blamed everybody but himself. The town didn’t fund the department. He had to pay for expenses out of pocket. It was really Roch Gaudreault’s investigation. Hamel stated that his health was failing. He was about to undergo triple-bypass surgery, and the impeding operation had prompted his contacting me. He expressed that now, he would help in any way he could. After our conversation, I emailed him on several occasions with questions. I never heard from him again.
I never received much assistance from the political organizations I had lobbied with either. On appeal, The Ministere de la Securite Publique had sided with the Surete du Quebec on my request to gain access to my sister’s file. On the question of police conduct, The Ministere referred me to the Commissaire Deotologue Policier in my bid to lodge a formal complaint against the Surete du Quebec. The Commissaire was like Internal Affairs for the Surete du Quebec. When I petitioned the Commissaire with a complaint against the Quebec police force, I was told that the Commissaire’s mandate was to watch-dog the ethics of police work, not to monitor the quality of police investigations. For complaints about “quality”, the Commissaire referred me right back to the Ministere de la Securite Publique. This finger pointing went back and forth until both institutions finally admitted that in the Province of Quebec, there really wasn’t such a thing as quality control of police organizations. The police were free to conduct as poor an investigation as the public would tolerate.
I did eventually hear back from the Governor General of Canada, the right honorable Adrianne Clarkson – or rather her secretary. She wanted me to know how moved she and the Governor General were by the story, and she offered the following advice: Contact the Minister of Justice: Thirty dollars would buy me a half hour of time to talk with a government lawyer.
Jean Charest, the leader of the opposition party in Quebec, did contact me, at my home in North Carolina. Mr. Charest was plain spoken. He made no promises: he would do what he could to use his influence to gain me access to my sister’s file. I respected him for his candor and his honesty. At least he had the decency to return my phone calls.
On October 5th, Radio Canada aired their profile of the three murders of Louise Camirand, Manon Dube and Theresa Allore on the French television news magazine, Justice. The show was a simple presentation. Offspring of Louise Camirand, Manon Dube and Theresa Allore (myself) were interviewed about the crimes. In addition, the show presented information about the attack of the girl on MacDonald road.
Three murders and one attack. But by now the investigation had grown to include twelve additional incidents; four of these were rapes or attacks of haunting brutality.
When the show ended, Justice host, Simon Derivage, interviewed a media representative from the Surete Du Quebec. Jean Finet once again presented the Surete du Quebec’s position - no new information had come forward to justify a reinvestigation. Finet also implied that the girl on MacDonald road’s alleged encounter was not to be taken seriously; the police had in their possession the original report filed by the girl from the incident; Finet suggested she was making a mountain out of a molehill. The show concluded quietly, and for a brief time it seemed as if the matter was closed.
Patricia Pearson had begun her article in the National Post by making the astute observation that, for the casual observer, unsolved mysteries were like a parlor game. For the majority of Canadians who read the series of articles on my sister over the course of those three days in August, that’s exactly what this was. Summer reading for their vacation at the cottage. Fodder for water cooler discussions. Something to give us pause for thought, to hug our children a little longer and more often, and then get on with our lives. When summer ended, Theresa Allore got put away again – stored on the shelf in the cedar closet along side Ramoli and the cribbage board.
My big sister Theresa, my brother Andre and me at our cottage in Peterborough
For me, it’s a little different. It’s not a game, it’s kind of an addiction. I feel like I’ve experienced a very long run at the slots. I walk out of the casino, spy the sun breaking over the purple sky, and decide to go back inside and give it one more try. From the moment I got on that first plane back to Canada, I knew it would be this way. That is probably why I was so reluctant to make the trip in the first place. Once you start, you can’t stop. You come so far, then you hit a wall. You think about stopping. You’ve done enough. You’ve done your best. She got her picture in the paper. What could be a finer tribute? I have higher expectations, for her and me. For twenty-three years Theresa lay face down in the water. Maybe I helped. Maybe I dragged her out of that pond. But I’ll not leave her lying at the side of the road. I can do better.
It’s hard. There are days when I really don’t wish to think about Theresa Allore. I’ll be walking my daughter to school. It’s a nice day. It feels like summer, though it’s fall. I’ll be holding her hand and she’ll turn to me and say something like “was your school like this when you were a little boy, Daddy?” That’ll be it. I’ll be off somewhere else. Theresa can be a real pain in the ass this way. She’ll impose on your thoughts at the most inopportune of moments. She’s always been like that.
* It eventually turned out that one student did in fact make up a story about having been sexually assaulted. However, one false report was no reason to discount all of the alleged attacks.
Women
In late fall of 2002, I started a web site. Whokilledtheresa.com was set up under the auspice of funneling information that might help solve the crime, but it was really about filtering out all the lunatic emails I was receiving. People were coming to me with support, to be sure, but there were also a lot of strange people out there with pet theories.
“Why were all the girls found on Good Friday?”
They weren’t; Camirand was found on a plane old, any day Friday.
"The suspicion that Theresa was moved to the location is hyperbole, the supposition that she ran and collapsed at the location is credible.”
Ya, Thanks for that.
“I, along with Nationalist Party of Canada’s Leader, Don Andrews, would like to offer our support… “
Thanks, I think I’ll pass.
“Your sister would be so proud!”
Actually she was probably throwing up someplace. After quietly resting for twenty-three years, I’d exhumed her, and propped her up in cyberspace. The site had “updates” and “links” and a “photo album”. Overnight I’d turned into John Walsh.
Despite my misgivings, slowly some good information started to come in - stories that when weaved together began to paint of picture of the level of violence women were living under in the Sherbrooke area in the late seventies. One of the first people to contact me was Caroline Rowell. Rowell had been a writer with the Bishop’s college paper, The Campus, in 1978. At that time, there had been a series of sexual assaults on campus. Rowell had covered these stories. She had been one of the only journalists in the area to repeatedly warn that there was a growing problem of sexual violence against women. For the most part, the mainstream papers like the French Tribune and the English Sherbrooke Record ignored the situation. After speaking with her, Rowell found some of her old writings in her attic, and sent them to me.
The trouble in Lennoxville had started long before the night of November 3rd, 1978. As early as January ‘78, Carolyn Rowell had reported of three separate incidents of sexual and verbal assaults on women. The Lennoxville police force failed to take the situation seriously. When then police chief, Kasimir Kryslak, justified the police’s inaction by arguing that in the five years since he had been police chief there had only been one reported incident of sexual assault, Rowell did some quick research and discovered that at least eight rapes had occurred in Lennoxville in the course of that one year. Many of the attacks had been quite severe. One student was dragged to the ground and beaten on the head with a board.
In February of 1978, the Champlain student paper, the Touchstone, picked up the story. Girls were being molested by a short man in jeans and a green parka. Other women described a different short man – a man with a beard and black hair. Girls had complained to officials both at Champlain College and Bishops’s University. They had also made reports with the police. The girls were scared to walk home at night. Many classes didn’t end until after dark. Lights that were supposed to illuminate the campus had burnt out. Students were scared and anxious. The police and the schools did nothing. The Bishop’s University nurse commented that the situation had, “all been blown out of proportion.” A Champlain councilor, Melanie Cutting, tried to justify the School’s lack of response by commenting that one of the stories had been fabricated.* By this time, former police chief, Kasimir Kryslak, was fired by the town of Lennoxville, but his replacement, Leo Hamel, did nothing to improve the situation. Concerning the attacks, Hamel commented to the Touchstone newspaper, “everyone was making a mountain out of a molehill.”
For the remainder of the year the hysteria quieted down on the University campus. Then by the fall of 1978, reports of a sexual predator reemerged. . In early October 1978, a short man in a ski mask harassed a female student in an empty campus hallway. Then two weeks later on October 30th, a girl was walking to the University at night when she was confronted by a naked man standing by a tree. “I’m certainly not going to walk after dark anymore. I was scared half to death”, she said. Chief Hamel brushed off the incident, commenting that such things were to be expected at a university where so many women congregated. In her editorial in the Campus on November 3rd, 1978, Carolyn Rowell sounded off again, protesting that authorities were not taking the situation seriously. Rowell chided Chief Hamel for his comments, and reminded students that it was he who made the comment the previous year that sexual assaults on campus were “a molehill”. Rowell further complained that the campus lighting that had been broken the previous winter still had not been fixed. The campus was neither safe nor secure, and women were being forced to walk about late at night in the dark.
In addition to the articles she kept from her years at Bishop’s University, Carolyn Rowell also remembered the names of some women who had suffered attacks. One woman, Rowell recalled, was attacked while jogging by a man who tried to force her into his car. Another girl, had suffered a large gash to her head when she jumped from a moving car driven by a would-be attacker. Rowell also related her own encounter with a possible predator.
One afternoon she was hitchhiking between Sherbrooke and Lennoxville when a guy in a beat-up car stopped to pick her up. Rowell got in, and they were headed down the road when suddenly the guy turned two or three times quickly onto some side streets. Alarmed, Rowell asked where he was going. He replied - in French - that he had to go someplace to check on something. The man pulled into a vacant lot and stopped. He then turned to her and stared. The man said nothing. Rowell did nothing - she was determined to stare him down. After a minute, the man started the car and drove her out to the main road. Rowell asked that he let her out at the corner. The man stopped the car. She moved to open the door, but couldn’t. The man turned to her and said smiling, “you can’t get out. I have to open the door for you from the outside.” He did so, and then sped away. Rowell was left to ponder how close she had come to putting her life in jeopardy.
I tracked down one of the other women Carolyn Rowell had mentioned to me. Woman A was now living out West. Her assault occurred in October 1980, two years after my sister’s disappearance. At the time she was a student at Bishop’s, but living near North Hatley. Also, she was a brunette, but not short, she stood 5’10”. One afternoon she was out jogging on route 143. Recall that route 143 is the same main road that leads south out of Lennoxville. It is the road to get to Massawippi, where Manon Dube’s body was found. Woman A was jogging down the highway. She was at a point about one mile south of MacDonald road – the road where Theresa’s red wallet was found – when a man jumped out from behind some bushes and attacked her. The man darted out and, grabbed Woman A by the neck. He then repeatedly beat her on the side of her head with his other hand. Woman A was fit. She had recently run a marathon. She took self-defense classes. She commented that this training did her no good. She felt helpless. He seemed experienced at this kind of thing. “A professional”, she suggested. Woman A fought back. She scratched his face and bloodied him. She was amazed that motorists were passing by, but no one was stopping. Finally, the man overpowered her. Before passing out, Woman A spied a big gold car behind the bushes where the man had come from.
When she regained consciousness, Woman A found she was lying prostrate on the back seat of the gold car. She was bleeding badly. She had been stripped down to her bra and panties. The man was looming over her, preparing to rape her. When she opened her eyes, the man began beating her about the head again. Woman A believed she was about to die. She cried out, “God save me!” At this point the man stopped. He dragged her out of the car, dressed her, and let her go. Out on the road, two women stopped their car and drove her to the hospital. Doctors later stated that it was a miracle she was still alive; she had been beaten so badly.
Woman A eventually recovered from her injuries. When she got better, she was determined to track down her attacker. She created a composite drawing of the man. Her brother posted the drawing throughout Lennoxville and Sherbrooke. Unlike some victims, Woman A was not intimidated, and wanted to find the man and prosecute. Buoyed by her determination, police were initially motivated to find her attacker. The investigator assigned to her case, Detective Fillion, confided to Woman A that there had been a “wave” of such incidents in the area. Woman A remembered some details of her assailant. The man spoke French; he might have worn black army boots. When police checked the bushes where Woman A was attacked, they found a large tool - maybe an ice pick or a file. Over time, the investigation lost momentum. Police were never able to track down her attacker. A year after the incident, a reporter from the Sherbrooke Record confided to Woman A that there was a rumor going around town that the police chief’s son was a sex offender, and my have been the one responsible for her attack. Slowly, Woman A became convinced that the incident was swept under the rug for “political” reasons.
Woman A had no difficulty talking to me about what had happened to her. I expected her to struggle with her account, but she was calm and possessed. I apologized for being intrusive. Her only comment was that she wanted to help. Woman A stated matter-of-factly that the assault changed her life. She felt that God had intervened when she cried out to him. Afterward she became a devote Christian.
Woman A had read our story in the National Post. She remarked, “the way you described the encounter with the girl in the apple orchard: that’s it.” That was how the guy attacked her. Two weeks after talking with Woman A I was able to track down Detective Fillion, the man who had investigated Woman A’s attack. I asked him to comment on his remark about the “wave” of attacks that had been reported against Township women. Fillion stated that he was now retired. He didn’t remember much from his police days. Besides, he said, Roch Gaudreault was in charge back then. If I had questions, it would be best to communicate with him. It appeared that all roads led to Roch.
Carolyn Rowell had mentioned a second Bishop’s student, Woman B. Woman B was the victim who had suffered a gash to the head when she jumped from a moving car she had been forced into. Both myself and Rowell attempted to contact Woman B on several occasions. She never returned our calls or emails. Apparently, she did not wish to talk about the event. All that is known is that she was attacked sometime in 1978.
Another email came through the website. A woman wrote to tell me the anonymous story of “Woman C”. Woman C was a Champlain student who had been violently raped in the fall of 1978. . When I tracked her down and asked for her to speak with me, Woman C was like Woman B. She did not wish to revisit the event. The memory of it haunted her. When I told her who I was, and what I was doing, she agreed to talk.
In the fall of 1978, Woman C was a first year student at Champlain. She was living in off campus housing on chemin Bel-Horizon, just up the street from the Champlain / Bishop’s campus and the Lion pub. One day her roommate brought home a young man she had picked up in a bar. “J.R.” – as he was known - liked the girls’ apartment and decided to invite himself to stay. JR turned out to be a brutal, violent man. For three weeks he virtually held Woman C hostage. He began to rape her at will. Woman C went to the police. She told them what was happening. The police explained that if she pressed charges, J.R. would be placed in jail - but there was still a possibility he would be out on bail. Other than this, the police said there was little they could do. In fear that if she prosecuted, JR might return and inflict far worse treatment, Woman C did nothing. “There was the police’s way, or my way, and my way was the alive way.”, she said. Defeated, Woman C went home and the rapes continued.
One day J.R. brought home a revolver and raped her at gunpoint. Later, J.R. confided to her that the gun had been used in a local murder. He said he had to get rid of it. JR forced her to accompany him to the Sherbrooke prison where he conferred with a prisoner about the gun. The prisoner advised J.R. to dump the gun in the river. To the best of Woman C’s knowledge, that’s exactly what JR did.
After three weeks, J.R. lost interest in Woman C. He stopped coming around to the Bel-Horizon apartment. Woman C said to me she had lived in fear all her life, wondering what had ever become of J.R. His real name was XXX XXXXXX. She knew this because one day she dared to rifle through his wallet and saw his driver’s license. JR stood for junior. Woman C said that she wanted to help because she knew that other women had suffered. Maybe her coming forward could make a positive change.
Another former student - this time a Bishop’s alumni - also informed me of harassment problems in 1978. She too lived in an apartment on Bel-Horizon. A man used to stalk the hallways late at night whispering, “Here, Kitty, Kitty.” She rented her apartment from a Bishop’s professor. The professor used to make excuses to come and check her heating system. She could always tell when he had been there because her panty drawer was disheveled. She lodged a complaint, and the School asked the professor to stop.
More emails. A woman named Woman D wrote about an incident that happened to her in August of 1980. Woman D was followed to a Caisse Populaire at the corner of Union and Belvedere. The same Caisse Populaire where Manon Dube had been playing when she disappeared on the night of January 27, 1978. The man ran after Woman D. In French, he offered her a lift. Woman D stated that she was not interested, and moved on. Later the man cut her off in his car. He exited the car and stood in her way, ordering her to get in the car. She refused. He began shouting expletives, demanding her to get in the car. She was defiant, and yelled back. The man turned red with rage, clenching his fists. She thought he looked like he was about to punch her. A crowd gathered. Seeing the people, the man backed down. As he drove away, Woman D noticed a baby seat in the back of his car. Seven years later, Woman D’s sister-in-law had a similar encounter with what she believed was the same man. Again, the man was French. He had a baby seat in the back of his car. This time, the sister-in-law took down the license plate number. She kept the number on a piece of paper in a drawer for over fifteen years.
Finally, there is the story of Woman E. Woman E’s brother contacted me after reading the story in the National Post. In the summer of 1977 - months after Louise Camirand had died - Woman E stood hitchhiking at the corner of Portland and Jacques Cartier. The location was one block North of the corner where Camirand was last seen by the convenience store owner. It was the middle of the day - twelve noon – when a car stopped to pick her up. The man driving was short and French. He said he was an electrician. Before taking Woman E to her destination – the Carrefour shopping mall – he explained he needed to stop somewhere to do something. The man headed off course, toward the north edge of town. On Beckett Street, he pulled in beside a small electrical house and stopped. The man got out of the car and said he needed to retrieve something from the trunk. Confused and apprehensive, Woman E remained seated and lit a cigarette. She could hear him in the truck, rummaging through what sounded like a toolbox. Suddenly he came at her through the driver’s door brandishing a very large screwdriver. Panicked, Woman E stuck the cigarette in his face and kicked him in the groin. She jumped over him, ran out to the street and flagged down a passing milk truck. Woman E reported the incident to the police and gave a detailed statement. She referred to her attacker, then and now, as “military stupid”. He looked like he might have served in the army. She stated that the incident related in the National Post - about the women chased on MacDonald road through the apple orchard - sounded like the same man that attacked her.
When you put all the stories together, the chronology went as follows:
1. March 1977, 9:30 p.m. Louise Camirand goes missing at the corner of King Street and Jacques Cartier. Body found face down in snow near Austin. Car used to transport her to location. A tool of some sort is inserted in her vagina, mutilating her. Strangled with a “military bootlace”. Possibly her own bootlace. Police investigation.
2. Summer 1977, 12:00 noon. Woman E is picked up at the corner of Portland and Jacques Cartier, one block north of King. Driven to a remote location by a Short, French man, described as “military stupid”. Man attacks her in the car with a large screwdriver. Woman E reports incident to police.
3. 1978. Woman B is forced into a car. She suffers a gash when she jumps from the moving car. Details unknown.
4. January 1978. Reports of sexual assaults on the Bishop’s / Champlain campus. Reported to Police.
5. January 1978. 7:30 p.m. Manon Dube disappears from the area of the Caisse Populaire at the corner of Union and Belvedere. Body found faced down in stream near Massiwippi, off route 143. Cause of death unknown. Car used to transport her to location. Police investigation.
6. February 1978. More reports of assaults on college campus. Short man in jeans and green parka sited. Reported to the police.
7. Spring 1978. Daytime. Carolyn Rowell is picked up somewhere on Belvedere. She is driven to a remote location. Man lets her go. Rowell does not report the incident.
8. October 1978. Woman C is raped over a series of weeks in her apartment on Bel-Horizon. Attacker uses gun alleged have been used in a murder. Bel-horizon runs between Belvedere and route 143. She reports the assaults to the police.
9. October 1978. Evening. The daughter of M. & Mrs. XXXXX is chased through an apple orchard on MacDonald road. MacDonald turns into Belvedere, and connects with route 143. The attacker has a vehicle. He is described as short. The girl files a police report. The man is brought in for questioning.
10. October 1978. Assault in a Bishop’s / Champlain facility. Short man in a ski mask sited.
11. October 1978. Another assault on the School campus. Man tries to jump woman at night. Reported to police.
12. November 1978. 7:30 p.m. Theresa Allore may have been hitchhiking at the corner of Bel-Horizon and route 143. Later alleged to have been seen in Compton facility at 9:00 p.m. Body found face down in brook outside Compton. Car used to transport body to location. Cause of death unknown; most likely strangled. Police investigation.
13. November 1978. Theresa Allore’s red wallet most likely tossed shortly after her death on MacDonald road, a short distance from where girl was chased near apple orchard.
14. August 1980. 12:00 noon. Woman D is almost forced into a car near the Caisse Populaire at Union and Belvedere. Man has dark hair. Drives a car with a baby seat in the back. Years later, sister-in-law has similar encounter with man with a baby seat in the car. Sister-in-law takes down license plate. Incidents not reported.
15. October 1980. Afternoon. Woman A is attacked by man on route 143, one mile south of MacDonald road. She is placed in the back seat of a gold car. Man is French, might have worn black military boots. Woman A draws sketch. Police find a tool, a file or an ice pick in the bushes.
16. Winter, 1981. After midnight. Nicole Couture is attacked in a downtown Sherbrooke parking garage. Her attacker, xxx xxxxxxxxx, uses his hands and attempts to choke her. xxxxxxxxx confides to her that he has raped 4 or 5 women previous to Couture. xxxxxxxxx is French. He is a short man with dark hair. He was recently kicked out of the military. He sometimes worked in construction as a roofer. At the time he was 21 and possibly still living with his mother in a home along the Magog river, just across the Jacques Cartier bridge where Louise Camirand was last seen.
A single person is not responsible for all of these events. For instance, xxx xxxxxxxxx could not have been the man who attacked Woman D’s sister-in-law in 1987; by that time xxxxxxxx was already out west. As well, the baby seat in the back of the car is a common tactic used by many predators to lure their victims into a false sense of security; even Guy Croteau is alleged to have used this ploy. The gun used by JR against Woman C - if JR’s story was to be believed - was possibly used in the shootings of Raymond Grimard and Manon Bergeron, the two victims who found south of Lennoxville in July of 1978. These shootings were virtually the only two recorded in the Townships in 1978. Recall that Ferdinand Laplante and Jean Charland later stood trial and were convicted of these crimes, although Bob Buellac maintained they were incident.
However, some of these incidents were undoubtedly related. The trick is figuring out which ones match up. More to the point, this chronology is the result of responses to one story in the National Post. The National Post is English; and not widely read in Quebec. Most of the victims who came forward to me were English-speaking women. There is a whole sector of the population in the Townships who have probably not come forward, because they are unaware of the investigation. Also, many people don’t report sex assaults. As the Minister of Justice said in 1977, the then reported number of 228 rapes in the province could easily be doubled, to account for those that went undocumented. In light of this, these 16 events are probably just the tip of the ice-burg. The magnitude of related predatory cases in the Sherbrooke area from 1977 and 1981 is quite likely staggering.
Again, as early as the first of 1978, students at Champlain College and Bishop’s university were aware of the problem, and voiced their concerns to the police, school authorities, and to the Eastern Townships public in accounts in local newspapers. The majority of these incidents were documented, and on file with the police. Contrary to former Champlain administrator, Tom Cavanagh’s protestations, violence was definitely on the “radar screen”. The Eastern Townships community did nothing. This wasn’t making a mountain out of a molehill. The mountain was in plain sight.
On September 19th, the day after police announced they would not reinvestigate the cases, former police chief, Leo Hamel used the web site to contact me. I later spoke with him on the phone. He wanted me to know how sorry he was. However, he took no responsibility for what had happened. He blamed everybody but himself. The town didn’t fund the department. He had to pay for expenses out of pocket. It was really Roch Gaudreault’s investigation. Hamel stated that his health was failing. He was about to undergo triple-bypass surgery, and the impeding operation had prompted his contacting me. He expressed that now, he would help in any way he could. After our conversation, I emailed him on several occasions with questions. I never heard from him again.
I never received much assistance from the political organizations I had lobbied with either. On appeal, The Ministere de la Securite Publique had sided with the Surete du Quebec on my request to gain access to my sister’s file. On the question of police conduct, The Ministere referred me to the Commissaire Deotologue Policier in my bid to lodge a formal complaint against the Surete du Quebec. The Commissaire was like Internal Affairs for the Surete du Quebec. When I petitioned the Commissaire with a complaint against the Quebec police force, I was told that the Commissaire’s mandate was to watch-dog the ethics of police work, not to monitor the quality of police investigations. For complaints about “quality”, the Commissaire referred me right back to the Ministere de la Securite Publique. This finger pointing went back and forth until both institutions finally admitted that in the Province of Quebec, there really wasn’t such a thing as quality control of police organizations. The police were free to conduct as poor an investigation as the public would tolerate.
I did eventually hear back from the Governor General of Canada, the right honorable Adrianne Clarkson – or rather her secretary. She wanted me to know how moved she and the Governor General were by the story, and she offered the following advice: Contact the Minister of Justice: Thirty dollars would buy me a half hour of time to talk with a government lawyer.
Jean Charest, the leader of the opposition party in Quebec, did contact me, at my home in North Carolina. Mr. Charest was plain spoken. He made no promises: he would do what he could to use his influence to gain me access to my sister’s file. I respected him for his candor and his honesty. At least he had the decency to return my phone calls.
On October 5th, Radio Canada aired their profile of the three murders of Louise Camirand, Manon Dube and Theresa Allore on the French television news magazine, Justice. The show was a simple presentation. Offspring of Louise Camirand, Manon Dube and Theresa Allore (myself) were interviewed about the crimes. In addition, the show presented information about the attack of the girl on MacDonald road.
Three murders and one attack. But by now the investigation had grown to include twelve additional incidents; four of these were rapes or attacks of haunting brutality.
When the show ended, Justice host, Simon Derivage, interviewed a media representative from the Surete Du Quebec. Jean Finet once again presented the Surete du Quebec’s position - no new information had come forward to justify a reinvestigation. Finet also implied that the girl on MacDonald road’s alleged encounter was not to be taken seriously; the police had in their possession the original report filed by the girl from the incident; Finet suggested she was making a mountain out of a molehill. The show concluded quietly, and for a brief time it seemed as if the matter was closed.
Patricia Pearson had begun her article in the National Post by making the astute observation that, for the casual observer, unsolved mysteries were like a parlor game. For the majority of Canadians who read the series of articles on my sister over the course of those three days in August, that’s exactly what this was. Summer reading for their vacation at the cottage. Fodder for water cooler discussions. Something to give us pause for thought, to hug our children a little longer and more often, and then get on with our lives. When summer ended, Theresa Allore got put away again – stored on the shelf in the cedar closet along side Ramoli and the cribbage board.
My big sister Theresa, my brother Andre and me at our cottage in Peterborough
For me, it’s a little different. It’s not a game, it’s kind of an addiction. I feel like I’ve experienced a very long run at the slots. I walk out of the casino, spy the sun breaking over the purple sky, and decide to go back inside and give it one more try. From the moment I got on that first plane back to Canada, I knew it would be this way. That is probably why I was so reluctant to make the trip in the first place. Once you start, you can’t stop. You come so far, then you hit a wall. You think about stopping. You’ve done enough. You’ve done your best. She got her picture in the paper. What could be a finer tribute? I have higher expectations, for her and me. For twenty-three years Theresa lay face down in the water. Maybe I helped. Maybe I dragged her out of that pond. But I’ll not leave her lying at the side of the road. I can do better.
It’s hard. There are days when I really don’t wish to think about Theresa Allore. I’ll be walking my daughter to school. It’s a nice day. It feels like summer, though it’s fall. I’ll be holding her hand and she’ll turn to me and say something like “was your school like this when you were a little boy, Daddy?” That’ll be it. I’ll be off somewhere else. Theresa can be a real pain in the ass this way. She’ll impose on your thoughts at the most inopportune of moments. She’s always been like that.
* It eventually turned out that one student did in fact make up a story about having been sexually assaulted. However, one false report was no reason to discount all of the alleged attacks.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006
Cowboy poetry and the light it shines
Soap Star Joe
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for something attractive to save
They say he rode in
On the back of a pickup
And he won't leave town
'til you remember his name
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for some lonely billboard to grace
They say he sprung from the skull of Athena
Think about your own head
And the headache he gave
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for action at a price he can pay
They say he's famous
But no one can prove it
Make him an offer just to see what he'll say
Check out the dashboard lights
Glowing all green and white
He feels safe in the dark
He wears his bluejeans tight
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for something attractive to save
They say he rode in
On the back of a pickup
And he won't leave town
'Til you remember his name
Check out the thinning hair
Check out the aftershave
Check out America
You're looking at it babe
Soap Star Joe
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for something attractive to save
They say he rode in
On the back of a pickup
And he won't leave town
'til you remember his name
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for some lonely billboard to grace
They say he sprung from the skull of Athena
Think about your own head
And the headache he gave
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for action at a price he can pay
They say he's famous
But no one can prove it
Make him an offer just to see what he'll say
Check out the dashboard lights
Glowing all green and white
He feels safe in the dark
He wears his bluejeans tight
He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for something attractive to save
They say he rode in
On the back of a pickup
And he won't leave town
'Til you remember his name
Check out the thinning hair
Check out the aftershave
Check out America
You're looking at it babe
Benoit Patenaude
Surete du Quebec
Service des enquetes sur les crimes contre la personne
1701 Parthenais
Montreal, Quebec
H2K 3S7
Benoit:
I would like you to call me . Yes, I am angry, but I will agree tobe polite and professional if you will answer some questions for me on behalf ofthe Surete du Quebec, and in regard to my sister's case file.
I have included the post that was left on my website at the end of this email. Itis regarding this post that I have questions. What this person describes is accurate in every way to information you and I havestudied for the last few years. The location of roads etc... from Lennoxville toCompton to King's Hall is correct. The manner of the pick-up from hitchhiking isconsitent with other reports we have from women who were assaulted from 1977 to 1979 in that area. The physical description of the assaulter (short, french) is consistent with other reports.
But here, for the first time, we have a woman - a student at Champlain College wholived at King's Hall Compton - travelling the same path as my sister, and being assaulted under circumstances that sound consistent to what I would expect to havehappened to Theresa in the fall of 1978.My question is this: It has been nearly two years and no one from the Quebec Police returned this woman's calls - why not? I checked the numbers: 819-821-5555 is theSherbrooke Municipal Police; 819-564-1212 is the number of the Surete du Quebec on King street in Sherbrooke - the same office that botched the original investigationon Theresa. Can you think of a reason why they might not wish to cooperate in your new investigation, why they might ignore returning such calls? (there have been many others - we both have discussed that - but this is the most galling example)
How to you expect to solve this case when people in your own police force are unwillingto assist in the investigation?
So here is where I stand. I have kept your confidence - the confidence of this investigation- for four years now. You have shown little signs of progress, in fact you have admitted to me that you no longer have the time to investigate. Fine. Since you can't handle this assignment, I will take it back. I will publish on my blog every detail I have about witnesses and suspects.
That won't jeapordize a non-existent case.
Let the newspapers and other media have the facts, perhaps they will be more efficientin coming up with answers about how my sister died 28 years ago.
Below, you may find the anonymous post, please call me so we may part ways in a civil manner.
Sincerely,
John Allore
john, this is my next step - it's not easy even after nearly 30 years (deep breath)in january 1977 i was hitch-hiking from sherbrooke to compton - (i was returningfrom xmas break with my family in cowansville by voyaguer bus which left me at thesherbrooke depot) - there was a huge blizzard and it was past midnight - i was pickedup by a nice man - he wished he could have driven me to compton but because of theblizzard he could get me as far as lennoxville, which is what he did, he told methat he felt bad leaving me there just outside of lennoxville, he had 2 daughtersmy about age (17) but he just had to get home to his family - he was over an hourlate - it was almost one a.m. ......
twenty minutes later the devil came along - because of the blizzard i was glad to get into a car but it i was aware that thisguy was not like the first - anyway he said that compton was a little out of hisway but he would take me - we basically drove in silence - just before the turnoffto king's hall, i indicated to "turn here" and he said "i know wherei'm going" - i was creeped out but i was playing cool - i didn't want this guy to know that i was sooo scared - (and here is where i have been trying to geta detailed map - i think i've blocked this corner from my memory) if i remember correctly the actual drive-way to king's hall sort of continues 'straight' from the road but there is a small road that continues to the right of the driveway -when we reached this intersection - i indicated "go up there" this is when he said "oh i know where you want to go but i want to show you a placedown this road" - this is where my angels came in - because of the blizzardhe could not drive very much further - he asked me to come sit closer - it was oneof those cars from the 70's that have one long front seat and up till now my suitcasehad been between us and my napsack on my lap - it had occured to me to open the door and run from the time he turned right, but the snow was very deep - he saidi owed him something for going out of his way - i movea little closer - then i realized he had unzipped and had his penis in his hand - i panicked but still was able to say "j'ai quinze ans - s'il vous plait monsieur,j'ai quinze ans" thinking that somehow fifteen was safe -- he grabbed me bythe back of my neck and forced me into oral sex - he ejaculated in my mouth and face - i could see that he was thinking about what to do next - he tried to advancethe car but that didn't work - then he shot into reverse - and back to forward -but the snow was too deep - then he reversed all the way back to the king's halldriveway - told me that if i told anyone he knew where to come find me then toldme to get out of the car -- i walked all the way up to the residence - put my stuffinto my room went to take a shower and told no one about this for 25 years -
wheni saw the last few minutes of the W-five episode april 2005 - i somehow thought that if i had said something at the time, this would not have happened to Theresa,but know i now that a reported rape (oral, at that) wouldn't have raised an eyebrow- i called the surete and told them i maybe had some information on a cold case that i had just seen on tv - they took my name and number and said that someone would get back to me - it's now february 2006 - after reading the information onTheresa's autopsy - that she had gagged - i felt that she had shared my rape/rapist- i had gagged too he was short - perhaps 30-35 - french speaking - blue car
that night in january 1977 when i hitch-hiked from sherbrooke to compton was thefirst time that i did so in that area and the last time ever, but i had rememberedreading in the student's handbook 'hitch-hiking dos and don'ts - it's ironic in a way - i was attending champlain lennoxville because i was a small-town girl anddidn't feel ready to be in the big city (i.e. montreal) and this happened. in may1978 i left compton/lennoxville without ever completing my DEC - i had never heardof louise camirand or manon dube or of any other attacks - i moved to montreal inmay 1978 and have never been threatened, let alone attacked or raped. now i am veryangry at champlain college for using us as guinea pig's for their compton experiment- i remember joe gallagher - i probably saw him a dozen times from september 1976- may l978 - my impression was that he thought of himself as a catch, a lady's man,a cool guy - i never thought of him as an 'overseer' - there is one particular momentthat has stayed with me to this day - i was doing laundry and was removing anotherstudent's clothes from the dryer when joe walked in and saw the clean clothes thati had removed and commented " yessir them there nicotine stains", i lookedto where he was looking and saw a pair of girl's underwear insideout on top of thepile, he just smiled and walked out of the laundry room - i stood there feeling shocked and somehow 'dirty' - he may have just been showing-off but i thought itwas inappropriate.
regarding what i wrote yesterday about having called the 'surete' i'm not quite sure if it was them or the 'police' but these are the two numbers i called on march13, 2004 - 819-564-1212 and 819-821-5555 - i believe that i only left my name andnumber with the second number.you mentionned that A&E cold case were interested in persuing Theresa's case,any news? i do watch from time to time and they are solving 30 year-old crimes becausesomeone had the sense to keep evidence - it's unthinkable that evidence would bethrown out in an unsolved murder case???
coincidently, i happened to be a petite brunette at the time, but i am sure, dueto blizzard conditions, i would have been wearing something on my head, as was manondube in her january 1978 abduction - i am not altogether sure that this guy was looking for a particular 'type' other than 'petite' because then he would definitelybe able to overpower us and when necessary carry a victim to another location (leasteffort) - your sister did not walk bare-foot and naked across cornstubble - manondube was not a hit-and-run and this guy was sick enough to play games of hide-andseek with the victim's belongings - i feel that if it had not been for that impassableroad he would have had the entire contents of a suitcase and napsack to taunt myfamily with - he definitely knew where he was driving.
Surete du Quebec
Service des enquetes sur les crimes contre la personne
1701 Parthenais
Montreal, Quebec
H2K 3S7
Benoit:
I would like you to call me . Yes, I am angry, but I will agree tobe polite and professional if you will answer some questions for me on behalf ofthe Surete du Quebec, and in regard to my sister's case file.
I have included the post that was left on my website at the end of this email. Itis regarding this post that I have questions. What this person describes is accurate in every way to information you and I havestudied for the last few years. The location of roads etc... from Lennoxville toCompton to King's Hall is correct. The manner of the pick-up from hitchhiking isconsitent with other reports we have from women who were assaulted from 1977 to 1979 in that area. The physical description of the assaulter (short, french) is consistent with other reports.
But here, for the first time, we have a woman - a student at Champlain College wholived at King's Hall Compton - travelling the same path as my sister, and being assaulted under circumstances that sound consistent to what I would expect to havehappened to Theresa in the fall of 1978.My question is this: It has been nearly two years and no one from the Quebec Police returned this woman's calls - why not? I checked the numbers: 819-821-5555 is theSherbrooke Municipal Police; 819-564-1212 is the number of the Surete du Quebec on King street in Sherbrooke - the same office that botched the original investigationon Theresa. Can you think of a reason why they might not wish to cooperate in your new investigation, why they might ignore returning such calls? (there have been many others - we both have discussed that - but this is the most galling example)
How to you expect to solve this case when people in your own police force are unwillingto assist in the investigation?
So here is where I stand. I have kept your confidence - the confidence of this investigation- for four years now. You have shown little signs of progress, in fact you have admitted to me that you no longer have the time to investigate. Fine. Since you can't handle this assignment, I will take it back. I will publish on my blog every detail I have about witnesses and suspects.
That won't jeapordize a non-existent case.
Let the newspapers and other media have the facts, perhaps they will be more efficientin coming up with answers about how my sister died 28 years ago.
Below, you may find the anonymous post, please call me so we may part ways in a civil manner.
Sincerely,
John Allore
john, this is my next step - it's not easy even after nearly 30 years (deep breath)in january 1977 i was hitch-hiking from sherbrooke to compton - (i was returningfrom xmas break with my family in cowansville by voyaguer bus which left me at thesherbrooke depot) - there was a huge blizzard and it was past midnight - i was pickedup by a nice man - he wished he could have driven me to compton but because of theblizzard he could get me as far as lennoxville, which is what he did, he told methat he felt bad leaving me there just outside of lennoxville, he had 2 daughtersmy about age (17) but he just had to get home to his family - he was over an hourlate - it was almost one a.m. ......
twenty minutes later the devil came along - because of the blizzard i was glad to get into a car but it i was aware that thisguy was not like the first - anyway he said that compton was a little out of hisway but he would take me - we basically drove in silence - just before the turnoffto king's hall, i indicated to "turn here" and he said "i know wherei'm going" - i was creeped out but i was playing cool - i didn't want this guy to know that i was sooo scared - (and here is where i have been trying to geta detailed map - i think i've blocked this corner from my memory) if i remember correctly the actual drive-way to king's hall sort of continues 'straight' from the road but there is a small road that continues to the right of the driveway -when we reached this intersection - i indicated "go up there" this is when he said "oh i know where you want to go but i want to show you a placedown this road" - this is where my angels came in - because of the blizzardhe could not drive very much further - he asked me to come sit closer - it was oneof those cars from the 70's that have one long front seat and up till now my suitcasehad been between us and my napsack on my lap - it had occured to me to open the door and run from the time he turned right, but the snow was very deep - he saidi owed him something for going out of his way - i movea little closer - then i realized he had unzipped and had his penis in his hand - i panicked but still was able to say "j'ai quinze ans - s'il vous plait monsieur,j'ai quinze ans" thinking that somehow fifteen was safe -- he grabbed me bythe back of my neck and forced me into oral sex - he ejaculated in my mouth and face - i could see that he was thinking about what to do next - he tried to advancethe car but that didn't work - then he shot into reverse - and back to forward -but the snow was too deep - then he reversed all the way back to the king's halldriveway - told me that if i told anyone he knew where to come find me then toldme to get out of the car -- i walked all the way up to the residence - put my stuffinto my room went to take a shower and told no one about this for 25 years -
wheni saw the last few minutes of the W-five episode april 2005 - i somehow thought that if i had said something at the time, this would not have happened to Theresa,but know i now that a reported rape (oral, at that) wouldn't have raised an eyebrow- i called the surete and told them i maybe had some information on a cold case that i had just seen on tv - they took my name and number and said that someone would get back to me - it's now february 2006 - after reading the information onTheresa's autopsy - that she had gagged - i felt that she had shared my rape/rapist- i had gagged too he was short - perhaps 30-35 - french speaking - blue car
that night in january 1977 when i hitch-hiked from sherbrooke to compton was thefirst time that i did so in that area and the last time ever, but i had rememberedreading in the student's handbook 'hitch-hiking dos and don'ts - it's ironic in a way - i was attending champlain lennoxville because i was a small-town girl anddidn't feel ready to be in the big city (i.e. montreal) and this happened. in may1978 i left compton/lennoxville without ever completing my DEC - i had never heardof louise camirand or manon dube or of any other attacks - i moved to montreal inmay 1978 and have never been threatened, let alone attacked or raped. now i am veryangry at champlain college for using us as guinea pig's for their compton experiment- i remember joe gallagher - i probably saw him a dozen times from september 1976- may l978 - my impression was that he thought of himself as a catch, a lady's man,a cool guy - i never thought of him as an 'overseer' - there is one particular momentthat has stayed with me to this day - i was doing laundry and was removing anotherstudent's clothes from the dryer when joe walked in and saw the clean clothes thati had removed and commented " yessir them there nicotine stains", i lookedto where he was looking and saw a pair of girl's underwear insideout on top of thepile, he just smiled and walked out of the laundry room - i stood there feeling shocked and somehow 'dirty' - he may have just been showing-off but i thought itwas inappropriate.
regarding what i wrote yesterday about having called the 'surete' i'm not quite sure if it was them or the 'police' but these are the two numbers i called on march13, 2004 - 819-564-1212 and 819-821-5555 - i believe that i only left my name andnumber with the second number.you mentionned that A&E cold case were interested in persuing Theresa's case,any news? i do watch from time to time and they are solving 30 year-old crimes becausesomeone had the sense to keep evidence - it's unthinkable that evidence would bethrown out in an unsolved murder case???
coincidently, i happened to be a petite brunette at the time, but i am sure, dueto blizzard conditions, i would have been wearing something on my head, as was manondube in her january 1978 abduction - i am not altogether sure that this guy was looking for a particular 'type' other than 'petite' because then he would definitelybe able to overpower us and when necessary carry a victim to another location (leasteffort) - your sister did not walk bare-foot and naked across cornstubble - manondube was not a hit-and-run and this guy was sick enough to play games of hide-andseek with the victim's belongings - i feel that if it had not been for that impassableroad he would have had the entire contents of a suitcase and napsack to taunt myfamily with - he definitely knew where he was driving.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2006
I.O.U.
I know I've promised a lot and not delivered.
I promised a list of rapes and homicides from 1977 thru 1980 in the Sherbrooke area.
I promised some photos (and I've got some great ones, just need to get my wife to teach me how to use the scanner). I've got family photos, photos of Theresa, my ancestors, etc... good ones of me thru all these struggles...
let me get to the weekend and I'll try to get these things on the site.
JJA
I know I've promised a lot and not delivered.
I promised a list of rapes and homicides from 1977 thru 1980 in the Sherbrooke area.
I promised some photos (and I've got some great ones, just need to get my wife to teach me how to use the scanner). I've got family photos, photos of Theresa, my ancestors, etc... good ones of me thru all these struggles...
let me get to the weekend and I'll try to get these things on the site.
JJA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
|I live for the Blog of Death.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2006
I hope everyone knows I was kidding about Gretsky. If he bet on hockey that is a different thing, but we are a long why from anyone accusing Wayne of that.
The media's attempts at making a story of this is shameful, after everything Wayne Gretsky has done for hockey, for Canada, and - yes - the U.S. (And don't confuse this with Pete Rose. Rose was a selfish, self-interested miscreant of humanity who never cared for anything but himself).
They don't release the transcript to Coaches Corner until the morning, but I can tell you that the people of Canada listen to Don Cherry, and what he said tonight on Hockey Night in Canada accurately reflects the sentiments of Canadiens:
"Go to Turin, win the gold and stick it in their ears"
You can get the transcript here in the morning:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/coach.html
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2006
Sort of Good News
Ok, I'm happy that Vic Toews is Canada's new Minister of Justice, butStockwell Day?
The new Minister of Public Safety on patrol over Canada's harbours
I got a letter once from someone from Day's posse offering their services on behalf of the injustices suffered by my family. I politely told them to piss-up-a-rope.
Ok, I'm happy that Vic Toews is Canada's new Minister of Justice, butStockwell Day?
The new Minister of Public Safety on patrol over Canada's harbours
I got a letter once from someone from Day's posse offering their services on behalf of the injustices suffered by my family. I politely told them to piss-up-a-rope.
What's This?
Could hockey's illegal gambling scandal lead us to The Great One himself?
Word that NHL players, lead by former league tough-guy Rick Tocchet, bet on sport games was bad enough, now they've dragged Wayne's wife, Janet Jones into the mess.
Tocchet and Jones discuss this week's gambling odds
Could hockey's illegal gambling scandal lead us to The Great One himself?
Word that NHL players, lead by former league tough-guy Rick Tocchet, bet on sport games was bad enough, now they've dragged Wayne's wife, Janet Jones into the mess.
Tocchet and Jones discuss this week's gambling odds
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2006
Maritime Missy has posted some questions and I am happy to provide some answers
"... It always does when the pot is stirred."
OK, Missy, this is an interesting choice of words, any particular reason why you chose to phrase it that way?
1. Have you developed a timeline that details the significant events in the investigation? (I have to keep backtracking to other posts/articles to compare dates and locations.)
Oh yes, in fact this was one of the first things submitted to Kim Rossmo when we asked for his assessment.
2. Do you have a map indicating the locations where all the women who have gone missing (and where their bodies were found) in the Sherbrooke area since 1978?
Yes. In fact last week - using Google Earth - I was going to post the exact long. and lat. coordinates (give me a little time).
3. Other than the fact that Manon Dube was found at the juncture of the road leading back from Compton, why do you think her death is connected? Her age seems out of place with Louise, Theresa and the guy whose daughter was attacked.
A number of reasons. Manon was very tall for her age. Also, between Louise and Theresa was a 19 month period, in a relatively low crime area. I admit that Manon would be the first I'd exclude, but I'd like to know what information the police have in order to exclude her outright.
What else... Manon's sister, Chantel, and I have met on several occasions. She too is agressive in wanting to solve her sister's death. We remain open about the possibilities; sometimes we think they're connected, sometimes not.
4. For some reason, I think the guy who did this was a hunter. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that your sister vanished in November, that the other Compton girl was attacked in October and Louise went missing in March. Those dates are all within hunting seasons. Also...hunters know the backwoods and roads VERY well. Is the Compton area prime hunting territory? Are there cabins back there?
You are on the money: yes, these are at the beginnings of hunting seasons. Cabins, etc... yes. Suspect #2 was a hunter who hunted in the states, and was hunting the weekend Theresa disappeared.
5. Is it possible that Louise Chaput, the 52-year-old hiker, who went missing in November 2001 be another victim? Even though she disappeared in New Hampshire, she would have taken a road from Sherbrooke/Compton to get there?
I doubt it. The rumor is that she may have been killed by a patient (Louise was a psychologist).
6. What are the other similarities between Louise Camirand, Theresa, and the others? Were they all brunettes?
Oh god, this would take forever... many similarities, of which Kim Rossmo analyzed them.
7. Maura Murray and Shari Roth have also gone missing in New Hamsphire. I know you've posted their stories in your blog. They seem like they could be victims of the same person...especially Shari...who was strangled in Bartlett, NH in August 1977--prior to Theresa's disappearance but just hours away--south of the border.
Ya, this is a big issue. police forces from Quebec and the U.S. States (New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont) don't communicate much. When I brought these case to all of their mutual attention I was basically told to "f*%&-off".
8. How convinced are you that a Canadian did it? For some reason, I think it could very well be an American who has a connection to your area. (Maybe a member of the military who hunts on weekends?)
I'm not convinced at all! Just because 50 people who have access to a computer say it's a Canadian doesn't make it so (survey).
9. Did your sister know Louise Camirand?
Not to my knowledge.
"... It always does when the pot is stirred."
OK, Missy, this is an interesting choice of words, any particular reason why you chose to phrase it that way?
1. Have you developed a timeline that details the significant events in the investigation? (I have to keep backtracking to other posts/articles to compare dates and locations.)
Oh yes, in fact this was one of the first things submitted to Kim Rossmo when we asked for his assessment.
2. Do you have a map indicating the locations where all the women who have gone missing (and where their bodies were found) in the Sherbrooke area since 1978?
Yes. In fact last week - using Google Earth - I was going to post the exact long. and lat. coordinates (give me a little time).
3. Other than the fact that Manon Dube was found at the juncture of the road leading back from Compton, why do you think her death is connected? Her age seems out of place with Louise, Theresa and the guy whose daughter was attacked.
A number of reasons. Manon was very tall for her age. Also, between Louise and Theresa was a 19 month period, in a relatively low crime area. I admit that Manon would be the first I'd exclude, but I'd like to know what information the police have in order to exclude her outright.
What else... Manon's sister, Chantel, and I have met on several occasions. She too is agressive in wanting to solve her sister's death. We remain open about the possibilities; sometimes we think they're connected, sometimes not.
4. For some reason, I think the guy who did this was a hunter. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that your sister vanished in November, that the other Compton girl was attacked in October and Louise went missing in March. Those dates are all within hunting seasons. Also...hunters know the backwoods and roads VERY well. Is the Compton area prime hunting territory? Are there cabins back there?
You are on the money: yes, these are at the beginnings of hunting seasons. Cabins, etc... yes. Suspect #2 was a hunter who hunted in the states, and was hunting the weekend Theresa disappeared.
5. Is it possible that Louise Chaput, the 52-year-old hiker, who went missing in November 2001 be another victim? Even though she disappeared in New Hampshire, she would have taken a road from Sherbrooke/Compton to get there?
I doubt it. The rumor is that she may have been killed by a patient (Louise was a psychologist).
6. What are the other similarities between Louise Camirand, Theresa, and the others? Were they all brunettes?
Oh god, this would take forever... many similarities, of which Kim Rossmo analyzed them.
7. Maura Murray and Shari Roth have also gone missing in New Hamsphire. I know you've posted their stories in your blog. They seem like they could be victims of the same person...especially Shari...who was strangled in Bartlett, NH in August 1977--prior to Theresa's disappearance but just hours away--south of the border.
Ya, this is a big issue. police forces from Quebec and the U.S. States (New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont) don't communicate much. When I brought these case to all of their mutual attention I was basically told to "f*%&-off".
8. How convinced are you that a Canadian did it? For some reason, I think it could very well be an American who has a connection to your area. (Maybe a member of the military who hunts on weekends?)
I'm not convinced at all! Just because 50 people who have access to a computer say it's a Canadian doesn't make it so (survey).
9. Did your sister know Louise Camirand?
Not to my knowledge.
Montreal road crews take 90 man hours to fix nine potholes
Citoyennes!... What you need is a Pothole Hotline!
Citoyennes!... What you need is a Pothole Hotline!
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2006
Maritime Missy and patterned killers
Missy, you must get away from this kind of thinking where everything happens in a patterned, evolving and logical sense. This is not the way people work; it's the way movies work.
So, as to someone who bludgeons, not following a path of strangulation. Take the case of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe was active from 1975 to 1981. He mainly used a hammer, but on a few occasions he strangled his victims. The same non-patterned behavior is true of Clifford Olsen.
Also, don't look for violence escalation; sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't.
Life doesn't fit a neat pattern.
Missy, you must get away from this kind of thinking where everything happens in a patterned, evolving and logical sense. This is not the way people work; it's the way movies work.
So, as to someone who bludgeons, not following a path of strangulation. Take the case of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe was active from 1975 to 1981. He mainly used a hammer, but on a few occasions he strangled his victims. The same non-patterned behavior is true of Clifford Olsen.
Also, don't look for violence escalation; sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't.
Life doesn't fit a neat pattern.
I've been away for a few days so give me a few days to respond to some questions I've been asked.
I was chairing a conference on economics and government investing.
Big Ben
The most amusing thing I learned was that new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke is a native of South Carolina and got his first job working at South of the Border.
(Carolina natives: if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will.)
I was chairing a conference on economics and government investing.
Big Ben
The most amusing thing I learned was that new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke is a native of South Carolina and got his first job working at South of the Border.
(Carolina natives: if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will.)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2006
My father and I have been talking bridges (he's an engineer).
Two of his favorites are:
The viaduc de Millau
Le pont Alexandre III in Paris
I like:
The Pontcysyllte aquaduct in Wales
Vebjørn Sand's Leonardo bridge (which I believe is in Norway)
Two of his favorites are:
The viaduc de Millau
Le pont Alexandre III in Paris
I like:
The Pontcysyllte aquaduct in Wales
Vebjørn Sand's Leonardo bridge (which I believe is in Norway)
One
If you missed Bono speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast (it was on C-Span) then you missed a special treat. This guy has grown from your typical passionate, yet misguided celebrity to one of the most eloquent, non divisive speakers I have heard (Tony Blair is one of my favorite speakers; Bono has become that good).
Bono on Justice:
From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There's much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.
And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.
Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.
And that's too bad.
Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.
But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.
6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality.
Bono on God:
A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it... I have a family, please look after them... I have this crazy idea...
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.
Get involved in what God is doing, because it's already blessed.
I like a guy who challenges our President but does not embarrass him (and, yes, hanging out with Jesse Helms: crazy like a fox).
Anyway, the full text of the speech is here.
If you wish to see Video of Bono's speech (Windows Media, direct link).
If you missed Bono speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast (it was on C-Span) then you missed a special treat. This guy has grown from your typical passionate, yet misguided celebrity to one of the most eloquent, non divisive speakers I have heard (Tony Blair is one of my favorite speakers; Bono has become that good).
Bono on Justice:
From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There's much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.
And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.
Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.
And that's too bad.
Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.
But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.
6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality.
Bono on God:
A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it... I have a family, please look after them... I have this crazy idea...
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.
Get involved in what God is doing, because it's already blessed.
I like a guy who challenges our President but does not embarrass him (and, yes, hanging out with Jesse Helms: crazy like a fox).
Anyway, the full text of the speech is here.
If you wish to see Video of Bono's speech (Windows Media, direct link).
Case Updates (cont)
Anonymous writes: "i'm just curious -- how will you KNOW when you've got the guy when all evidence, esp. DNA has been destroyed unless he confesses and might do just because of the infamy of the case?"
Very true Anonymous. Realistically, there is not much chance of catching someone, we are looking at a longshot here... someone is intensely interrogated by the police and they confess (not likely, but you never know).
It's hard to think of crimes being solved without DNA. Still DNA is a recent phenomena; we seemed to have done alright for close to 5,000 years.
Here's what I would hope for; that we are able to investigate someone down to the point where there is very little reasonable doubt that they committed this crime. Though justice would not be achieved because of lack of legal proof, it would be enough for me to simply know what happened.
Anonymous writes: "i'm just curious -- how will you KNOW when you've got the guy when all evidence, esp. DNA has been destroyed unless he confesses and might do just because of the infamy of the case?"
Very true Anonymous. Realistically, there is not much chance of catching someone, we are looking at a longshot here... someone is intensely interrogated by the police and they confess (not likely, but you never know).
It's hard to think of crimes being solved without DNA. Still DNA is a recent phenomena; we seemed to have done alright for close to 5,000 years.
Here's what I would hope for; that we are able to investigate someone down to the point where there is very little reasonable doubt that they committed this crime. Though justice would not be achieved because of lack of legal proof, it would be enough for me to simply know what happened.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2006
In St. Catherines of all places...
You'd think after 15 years the police would have gotten better at this type of thing:
Arrest doesn't slow police search for links between five deaths in Niagara
You'd think after 15 years the police would have gotten better at this type of thing:
Arrest doesn't slow police search for links between five deaths in Niagara
Water Cooler
I'm hearing scuttlebutt that on Monday when Prime Minister Harper announces his new cabinet, he will name Peter MacKay as Minister of Justice and Vic Toews as the new Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Good news.
I'm hearing scuttlebutt that on Monday when Prime Minister Harper announces his new cabinet, he will name Peter MacKay as Minister of Justice and Vic Toews as the new Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Good news.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2006
Case Updates
Ok, this is as polite as I can be... the Surete du Quebec and I are currently at odds. The police don't typically get information to act on. Usually it's me that gets tips (kooky or not, usually thru this site, and all of it is appreciated). I pass it on to the SQ to investigate. Currently they are claiming a "backlog" of work. Information I gave them three months ago they have not been able to act on.
Look... I work for the government; I know a bureaucratic excuse when I hear one.
So here, in very general terms, is a summary of some of the information I have passed on to the police in the last three years:
1. Patricia Pearson and I believed a federal inmate at Archenbault (currently serving a "life" sentence for murder) may have murdered Theresa. The SQ did a good job on this one. They talked to officers from other jurisdictions, attempted to plant "moles" in prison, confronted the suspect and interrogated him in a long session. Their determination is that he did not murder Theresa.
2. A guy from Sherbrooke had a a habit of taking family members to the site where Theresa's body was found. This guy also was known to have the occasional beer with the father of Louise Camirand (the bar was located within walking distance from where kids hitch-hiked from Champlain College to the residence at Compton). IN ADDITION... this guy worked with a local kid who turned up dead in the winter of 1979. He was last seen at the Bishop's / Champlain pub. His body was found in a snow bank on campus, within walking distance from where "the guy" lived. The cause of death was never determined, though police tried to paint it as drunkenness and exposure. The SQ talked to "the guy". In their estimation he didn't commit any murders.
3. There's "a guy" who was interviewed in 1978 in relation to Theresa's death. According to the SQ this guy has a "controlled alibi" (I don't know what that means). In 1979 he was working in social assistance. Two weeks after Theresa's body was found a co-worker commented to him, "gee, isn't that weird about that Theresa Allore girl". The guy immediately began to blugeon her with a hammer. The family of the co-worker is convinced "he did it". The police stick with the controlled alibi theory.
4. Another "guy": This guy is serving a life sentence in British Columbia for the murder of a 15-ish girl. In 1978 - 1980-ish this guy lived in Montreal, and frequently traveled through Lennoxville and Compton to vacation. He is a sexual predator. I have acquired this guys parole request sheets and passed them on to the SQ (in November). The SQ claims they haven't had time to follow up.
Is that enough information for you? Are we having fun yet?
"Are you not entertained?"
(no sympathy; this is a tremenous load off my chest)
Ok, this is as polite as I can be... the Surete du Quebec and I are currently at odds. The police don't typically get information to act on. Usually it's me that gets tips (kooky or not, usually thru this site, and all of it is appreciated). I pass it on to the SQ to investigate. Currently they are claiming a "backlog" of work. Information I gave them three months ago they have not been able to act on.
Look... I work for the government; I know a bureaucratic excuse when I hear one.
So here, in very general terms, is a summary of some of the information I have passed on to the police in the last three years:
1. Patricia Pearson and I believed a federal inmate at Archenbault (currently serving a "life" sentence for murder) may have murdered Theresa. The SQ did a good job on this one. They talked to officers from other jurisdictions, attempted to plant "moles" in prison, confronted the suspect and interrogated him in a long session. Their determination is that he did not murder Theresa.
2. A guy from Sherbrooke had a a habit of taking family members to the site where Theresa's body was found. This guy also was known to have the occasional beer with the father of Louise Camirand (the bar was located within walking distance from where kids hitch-hiked from Champlain College to the residence at Compton). IN ADDITION... this guy worked with a local kid who turned up dead in the winter of 1979. He was last seen at the Bishop's / Champlain pub. His body was found in a snow bank on campus, within walking distance from where "the guy" lived. The cause of death was never determined, though police tried to paint it as drunkenness and exposure. The SQ talked to "the guy". In their estimation he didn't commit any murders.
3. There's "a guy" who was interviewed in 1978 in relation to Theresa's death. According to the SQ this guy has a "controlled alibi" (I don't know what that means). In 1979 he was working in social assistance. Two weeks after Theresa's body was found a co-worker commented to him, "gee, isn't that weird about that Theresa Allore girl". The guy immediately began to blugeon her with a hammer. The family of the co-worker is convinced "he did it". The police stick with the controlled alibi theory.
4. Another "guy": This guy is serving a life sentence in British Columbia for the murder of a 15-ish girl. In 1978 - 1980-ish this guy lived in Montreal, and frequently traveled through Lennoxville and Compton to vacation. He is a sexual predator. I have acquired this guys parole request sheets and passed them on to the SQ (in November). The SQ claims they haven't had time to follow up.
Is that enough information for you? Are we having fun yet?
"Are you not entertained?"
(no sympathy; this is a tremenous load off my chest)
Stunning Achievement
Justice Minister to help victims' families
Last updated Feb 1 2006 02:59 PM EST
CBC News
Quebec justice minister, Yvon Marcoux, is promising to make changes to the law that compensates the victims of criminal acts.
Commenting on the recent murder of 17-year-old Brigitte Serre, Marcoux admitted the financial help that's currently available is simply insufficient.
The families of the victims of road accidents receive higher awards than the families of victims of criminal acts. The parents of Brigitte Serre will only receive $13,000 compensation. If she had been the struck by a car, her family would receive four times more, about $53,000.
Marcoux says the current system has been in place since 1972 and work is already being done to make revisions. He also plans to meet in early March with Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, who represents families of the victims of criminal acts.
Justice Minister to help victims' families
Last updated Feb 1 2006 02:59 PM EST
CBC News
Quebec justice minister, Yvon Marcoux, is promising to make changes to the law that compensates the victims of criminal acts.
Commenting on the recent murder of 17-year-old Brigitte Serre, Marcoux admitted the financial help that's currently available is simply insufficient.
The families of the victims of road accidents receive higher awards than the families of victims of criminal acts. The parents of Brigitte Serre will only receive $13,000 compensation. If she had been the struck by a car, her family would receive four times more, about $53,000.
Marcoux says the current system has been in place since 1972 and work is already being done to make revisions. He also plans to meet in early March with Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, who represents families of the victims of criminal acts.
The Who Killed Theresa survey
So here are the responses (there were 50) with my comments in blue:
Who KIlled Theresa?
64% of you believe a Canadian serial killer murdered Theresa.
American serial killer: 8.3%
Drifter: 8.3%
Rogue Cop: 4.2%
Champlain College teacher: 2.1%
And interestingly not one of you that a Champlain student did it.
Other culprits (12.5%): "Campus Director Bill Matson" (I like that one), "Her ex-boyfriend who moved out west" (only he moved before she was murdered, and I knew Vlad, trust me, he didn't do it.)
Who is most to blame for the faulty investigation?
Quebec Police: 70.8%
Champlain Administration: 12.5%
Nobody's Fault: 2.1%
Community: 0%
Other: 14.6% Those in the "other" category felt all were equally to blame.
Should federal authorities launch a public inquiry into the deaths of Manon Dube, Theresa Allore and Louise Camirand?
62% of you felt yes, the Quebec police need to be investigated.
Other: (12.5%): But here is my favorite response: "Hire an investigator to research [campus director] Bill Matson's life history" Good point, you know he was a former US Army intelligence officer.
Crime in Canada is:
Not as bad as the States: 54.2%
About the same as the States: 29.2%
Much worse than the States: 4.2%
Other: 12.5%: "not investagated to the same extent"
"Crime is worse being that the police protect property and businesses over life and liberty of the people who live there "
I am most concerned about:
Domestic Violence: 12.5%
Assault and Rape: 35.4%
Gun Violence: 10.4%
Random Violence: 20.8%
Other: 20.8%: I like this response: "for the love of god John. Can you decide which is worse? I can't. All hurt. "
How did you hear about Who Killed Theresa?
Friend: 6.1%
Search Engine: 28.6%
Referral: 22.4%
Newspaper: 16.3%
Other: 26.5%:
What is your area of interest?
Kind of a boring question, most of you said True Crime (geeks).
Where are you located?
North Carolina: 13.3%
Quebec: 24.4%
Ontario: 13.3%
B.C.: 2.2%
New York: 2.2%
Other: 44.4%: (Mainly all over the U.S. and Canada)
What do you like about this blog?
Updates on Theresa Allore case: 47.8% Ok, I'll give updates, but some of it is tricky... I can't name names. Should I just say, "Mr. X" and "Madame Y"?
Nobody was interested in too much else.
Comments (28.3%): Ok most of you liked it all. I like this comment:
" think this blog takes up way to much of you time, life and thoughts. You should be spending that time "living" instead of in front of a computer screen! " True enough, but I don't blog as much as you may think. I've got kids... I play, I go on bike rides and stuff. I saw a movie last week?
Future Directions:
You're split on biligual posts 30% want them, 30% don't.
44% say more photos is important. Do you mean family photos, or what?
No one gives a rats ass about audio blogging (well, one person did)
And no one really wants another survey.
So here are the responses (there were 50) with my comments in blue:
Who KIlled Theresa?
64% of you believe a Canadian serial killer murdered Theresa.
American serial killer: 8.3%
Drifter: 8.3%
Rogue Cop: 4.2%
Champlain College teacher: 2.1%
And interestingly not one of you that a Champlain student did it.
Other culprits (12.5%): "Campus Director Bill Matson" (I like that one), "Her ex-boyfriend who moved out west" (only he moved before she was murdered, and I knew Vlad, trust me, he didn't do it.)
Who is most to blame for the faulty investigation?
Quebec Police: 70.8%
Champlain Administration: 12.5%
Nobody's Fault: 2.1%
Community: 0%
Other: 14.6% Those in the "other" category felt all were equally to blame.
Should federal authorities launch a public inquiry into the deaths of Manon Dube, Theresa Allore and Louise Camirand?
62% of you felt yes, the Quebec police need to be investigated.
Other: (12.5%): But here is my favorite response: "Hire an investigator to research [campus director] Bill Matson's life history" Good point, you know he was a former US Army intelligence officer.
Crime in Canada is:
Not as bad as the States: 54.2%
About the same as the States: 29.2%
Much worse than the States: 4.2%
Other: 12.5%: "not investagated to the same extent"
"Crime is worse being that the police protect property and businesses over life and liberty of the people who live there "
I am most concerned about:
Domestic Violence: 12.5%
Assault and Rape: 35.4%
Gun Violence: 10.4%
Random Violence: 20.8%
Other: 20.8%: I like this response: "for the love of god John. Can you decide which is worse? I can't. All hurt. "
How did you hear about Who Killed Theresa?
Friend: 6.1%
Search Engine: 28.6%
Referral: 22.4%
Newspaper: 16.3%
Other: 26.5%:
What is your area of interest?
Kind of a boring question, most of you said True Crime (geeks).
Where are you located?
North Carolina: 13.3%
Quebec: 24.4%
Ontario: 13.3%
B.C.: 2.2%
New York: 2.2%
Other: 44.4%: (Mainly all over the U.S. and Canada)
What do you like about this blog?
Updates on Theresa Allore case: 47.8% Ok, I'll give updates, but some of it is tricky... I can't name names. Should I just say, "Mr. X" and "Madame Y"?
Nobody was interested in too much else.
Comments (28.3%): Ok most of you liked it all. I like this comment:
" think this blog takes up way to much of you time, life and thoughts. You should be spending that time "living" instead of in front of a computer screen! " True enough, but I don't blog as much as you may think. I've got kids... I play, I go on bike rides and stuff. I saw a movie last week?
Future Directions:
You're split on biligual posts 30% want them, 30% don't.
44% say more photos is important. Do you mean family photos, or what?
No one gives a rats ass about audio blogging (well, one person did)
And no one really wants another survey.
