Hello, Willie.
I know you’re reading this, because it’s all about you.
Just like the trial.
After four years of working on your story, after sitting in that courtroom for months on end, watching you through bullet-proof glass, I know you far better than I’d like to.
For these four years, you have been an unwelcome guest in my world.
You have strewn my dreams with carnage, gruesome castoffs from your world of suffering, dismemberment and death.
I dream of killing. I dream of watching people die.
Once, I even dreamed of you.
We were in a room together. I don’t know why. And, in my nightmare, I was overcome by fear, not that you’d suddenly attack me – I’m bigger and smarter than you – but that I would fall asleep, and would wake to feel your strange, monkey fingers around my neck.
I felt, for the first time, what every female who is familiar with your case felt from the very outset: the fear every woman lives with everyday, of crossing paths with someone like you.
A remorseless killer.
I do not hold you responsible. You are a biological aberration, an obscenity of nature.
Remember the story you told that undercover cop in jail, that you killed 49 people? I do.
Sometimes, sitting through those endless hours of testimony about which DNA swab was used on which wall in your slaughterhouse, and which sock was found in which bag in your filthy trailer, I used to think about killing you.
It wasn’t that I actually wanted to, or even thought you deserved it. I would sit and examine the courtroom security procedures in place for your protection, and my mind would wander. I figured that, if I sat in the gallery seat closest to the doorway for the courtroom, I could rush through the door when a witness went in, before one of the burly, ever-vigilant sheriffs could grab me.
I would have been in front of you in a flash, my hands around your throat, squeezing. The sheriffs in the courtroom didn’t carry guns, but I concluded that those who did, in the gallery, would be through the door as I began to throttle you. Friendly as they were, they were serious about their job, and I have no doubt they would have shot me before your life expired.
It was fun to think about, though.
I remember thinking once, after some particularly gruesome evidence came before the court, that it was interesting that this stuff didn’t seem to disturb my mind. Then I got up at a break, and realized I felt nauseous almost to the point of vomiting.
I never cried, except for once, on the day you were sentenced, when the Crown read a statement from Brenda Wolfe’s mother. She’d written that if all the tears she’d shed made a path to heaven, she would walk along it and bring her daughter home.
You might not remember that part.
I have to admit there was a lot of laughter, too. We all got a kick out of your attachment to your late horse, Goldie, especially when we found out that, when you’d taken her head to the taxidermist, you rode the bus.
I hope you’re not upset they wouldn’t let you have Goldie’s head in your jail cell. Institutional authorities can be so cruel.
I’m not supposed to talk about the plasticine figurines some of us made during the trial, but I can tell you I have my version of your pig-butchering buddy Pat Casanova sitting on my desk. You’d get a chuckle out of how his thumb is covering up that cancer-surgery hole in his throat. I can send it to you if you want. I’m not that attached to it.
You’re more clever than you look, I’ll give you that. You knew enough to prey on people who wouldn’t be immediately missed, women of such low social status that the police wouldn’t pay attention when they started to vanish. And you even let some go free, so they could tell people Willie Pickton wasn’t the reason so many women were going away and never coming back.
You got sloppy at the end, you admitted that. When the police came to your farm, they found a little snapshot of your process.
Heads, hands and feet in buckets. A jawbone in the pig manure. You had it all down to a routine, didn’t you?
And what you didn’t dispose of at the farm went to the rendering plant. That driver from the plant testified that he’d pick up barrels of burnt-black chunks of meat from your farm.
Did you just pour gas into barrels of human remains and set them on fire, so the pieces of people wouldn’t look like pieces of people?
You will be remembered as an awful human being, worse than worthless.
Still, you have one shot at redemption, Willie, one chance to be seen in a different light.
You can come clean.
Forget about any appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
You need to tell the world what you did, and why.
You can go down in history as a nasty bit of human trash.
Or you can have the last word, and be forever remembered as a terrible monster who, in the end, did the right thing. It would be – almost – heroic.
Do you have the courage, Willie? Do you have the strength?
Maybe.
Do you have the humanity?
I don’t think so.
© 2009 The National Post Company. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
In December Robert Pickton was convicted of murdering Mona Wilson, Sereena Abotsway, Andrea Joesbury, Georgina Papin, Brenda Wolfe, and Marnie Frey. Only six of the twenty six women he’s been charged with killing.
Twenty other families are still waiting for a trial to determine what happened to their daughters.
B.C.’s attorney general has said if Pickton’s convictions on the six counts stand, a trial would not go ahead for the remaining 20 charges.
Well his conviction stands. So now what?
Snip
In a two-to-one decision, the B.C. Appeal Court rejected claims by Pickton’s lawyers that the trial judge made numerous significant errors when reading instructions to the jury.
“In my opinion, there was no procedural error,” wrote Justice Richard Low in a 71-page decision on the appeal of Pickton’s conviction on six charges of second-degree murder.
In a second ruling, this one on a Crown appeal, the judges were unanimous in agreeing that if another trial comes about through a possible Supreme Court referral, then such a second trial could be on six or 26 counts of first-degree murder.
Though convicted of six counts of second-degree murder, Pickton has also been charged with 20 other counts of first-degree murder but he has not been tried on them.
“I am persuaded that the Crown’s position on this issue is sound,” said Chief Justice Lance Finch.
The judges also left the door open for the Crown to drop a second trial, if Pickton loses at the high court.
“If Mr. Pickton remains convicted of second-degree murder on those six counts after all appeals are concluded, there would be no useful purpose in a retrial on those same offences as charges of first-degree murder,” Finch said.
WTEVERLOVIN’F?
Sure, theres no need to retrial the guyt on the six women he’s been convicted of murdering. But what about the long promised second trial? At the moment it seems the only option to get a full and fair trial to determine who is responsible for a 20 year murder spree against 26 women in BC is to go to the supreme court, overturn the only conviction against the guy so far, a conviction everyone agrees is just, and start over.
I do not have high hopes that any higher court could possibly overturn this mans conviction. He’s guilty, the jury of his peers found him guilty, the forensic evidence agrees he’s guilty. So far the expert judges agree the presiding judge’s instructions to the jury were fair and correct… so whats the point in overturning this first conviction?
No matter what the legelease being slung like slick strands of spaghetti may sound like, the bottom line is this:
The case should never have been split into two trials. In seven years, however many millions of dollars spent, of man hours logged, of tears spilt, of horror leaked we are right back at the drawing table, less six places.
The solution is simple, possibly not cost effective and certainly not popular with the powers that be, BUT the second trial needs to go on. Stop wasting precious time with all this finagaling between judiciaries, and do what the courts are supposed to do try the suspect, determine his guilt and proceed from there.
WTF? Okay I was expecting MJ to kick any day after seeing a bloated picture of him on the telly not so long ago. I knew Farrah was fighting a horrible battle against cancer, and knew her time was limited. But both of them, today? Ed McMahon, David Carradine, Michael Jackson and now Farrah Fawcett.
What a crappy month.
RIP Sweet and Fierce Farrah.
Is survived by his three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.
Preliminary reports suggest he died of heart failure, an autopsy is expected tomorrow.
I stumbled by this lil’ beauty during one of my recent walks.
It’s sad but true: here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled.
They are trapped in lives of misery—often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay. We’re working to stop human trafficking—not only because of the personal and psychological toll it takes on society, but also because it facilitates the illegal movement of immigrants across borders and provides a ready source of income for organized crime groups and even terrorists.
Vancouver Police are hoping members of the public can help them find a missing 29- year old man.
Constable Jana McGuinness says Daniel Hughes was last seen Friday morning around 8:15 am.
He apparenlty went for a bike ride and never came home.
He’s described as 6′2, 180 pounds with, blue/green eyes, short brown hair, and some facial stubble.
He was thought to be wearing light brown knee length shorts with dark brown squares on it, biking shoes and a brown shirt.
His bike is black and yellow with racing handlebars on it.
Anyone who might know where he is, should contact police right away.
EDITED TO ADD:
For more information, indepth discussion, maps, links anything to do with the search for Daniel Hughes HERE
Nearly two months after Victoria “Tori” Stafford was last seen, the town of Woodstock is holding a public memorial for the eight-year-old girl.
Police are continuing to search for evidence in her disappearance but have warned her parents that her small body may never be found.
Hundreds are expected to attend the service, which will be held at Calvary Pentecostal Church at 1pm. The church can hold 1000 people, but it’s anticipated that many more will fill the parking lot and lawn to remember the little girl.
“Mind you, it’s still not over for us, but we kind of want to do (this) to say thank you to everybody and remember Victoria for who she was,” dad Rodney Stafford outlined on Friday.
Her mother, father and older brother Daryn will be speaking at the event.
Family members all say Victoria and Daryn, 11, were “two peas in a pod” and that she would always follow him around. Whenever Tori was crying, protective Daryn would try to comfort her – even if he was the reason why she was crying.
“She never liked fighting with her brother,” Stafford says.
“Every time he got mad at her she felt like she was losing her best friend.”
Terri-Lynne McClintic, 19, and Michael Rafferty, 28, are charged with first-degree murder.
With files from The Canadian Press
(AP Photo/Ric Francis)
I’m reeling from the news, Bill is Dead. His lifeless body was found hanging by a maid in the Bangkok hotel he was staying at.
The cord used was from the curtains in his room. Police reports are calling this a suicide. (Updated info)
Perhaps I am too cynical but I can’t wrap my head around this. The thought of D.C. hanging himself is just too difficult for me to accept. He was in Bangkok filming his latest movie, Stretch. The man featured in over 100 movies, won four golden globes and became an icon of mystical and martial arts, the world over. Back in 2004, he addressed his hard living, boozing and drugged out past saying he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.
“I didn’t like the way I looked, for one thing. You’re kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger.”
“You’re probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions,” Carradine said. “Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.
“It’s time to do nothing but look forward.”
Carradine was 72.
RIP.
A man gets tazed, mocks the cops, and gets away in the end.
Police advise this man he’s under arrest due to a warrant out for him. Man asks what’s the charge? Police say “it doesn’t matter.”
I ask is that legal? Don’t you have to be read your rights prior to being arrested? Don’t people have the right to know what the charges against them are?
Whatever, dude calls upon the angels, Yahweh , the compassion of the universe for favor. Guess what? The cops tasered him and at that moment dude gets away! Ahhh the power of prayer.
Somewhat reminiscent of Dymond Milburn’s arrest. Head lines Screamed: Horrific: 12-Year Old Girl Beaten By Police for ‘Resisting Arrest’
Closer to home is Willow Kinloch’s arrest and the subsequent payment to her by the police $60,000.00. Now a public inquiry has been demanded to examine whether the officers abused authority and neglected their duties.
Related Post Heavy Hands and Hard Times
Sasquatch music festival 2009 – Guy starts dance party
Music by Santigold, (my next album to pick up) Check her out at Myspace, or Youtube!
I got to be Unstoppable
I got to be Unstoppable
Ey ey ey ey
You don’t lie
Ey ey ey ey
You don’t lie
0-0-7 Mission and it’s just one day
I marked my position then I ran away
Got these boots made for walking and some pepper spray
My two guns in my pocket cuz it’s brick today
I said hey Mrs. Parker
Can I get your spot
The block too hot
No parking spots
The joker cops they ticket take my cash
The boys on the block
Got eyes for my ass
Chorus
Last stop Franklin smell it makes me sick
Got my street vision on I don’t see shit
And still I stay fresh I spend the top dollar
Cuz on my block the knockoffs are fiyah
Meet me at the J where they got the Domino game locked
Boy cross the street with tight pants .. your hipster ass on down to the Beacon
I fly right past him, don’t take my mask off
Chorus
I got the talk
The beats and bass
Give me one I’ll take it
Make you lose your place,
Tell me I-I-I can play
So I speed up the pace
I break it break it you can’t stop me
In this ra-race
Chorus
Relentless advocate is one of many voices calling for end to prostitution
Trisha Baptie, a former sex worker, is fighting to bring an end to prostitution and sex slavery.
Photograph by: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Sun
Trisha Baptie’s life story reads like the template of many who end up in Vancouver’s sex trade — addiction, foster care, sexual abuse and the eventual slide from the higher end hooker strolls into the Downtown Eastside.
At 18, she was on “the whore tour,” making the resort round of Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon before landing back in Vancouver. By 21 and past her prime, Baptie was on the most dangerous corners in the city and was once taken to Willie Pickton’s farm by a “date.” She knew some of the women Pickton murdered.
In total, she spent 15 years working indoors and outdoors in licensed and unlicensed parts of the sex business.
After addictions treatment and leaving the street, Baptie sat through Pickton’s trial in 2007 as a citizen journalist, reporting on what she heard, saw and felt.
“It was a year-long funeral,” she says. “These were my friends and now there I was sitting there looking at pictures with markers showing where all of their DNA was found on the walls and on lipsticks. I’ll never forget the first day when we finally learned where the body parts were found . . . the hands in the buckets.
“It makes you say a prayer of gratitude.”
Now 35, Baptie is one of the fiercest, most articulate and credible voices calling for abolition of prostitution and sex slavery.
She and many others want Canada to follow the example set by Sweden and Norway. But that’s not going to happen; at least not in time for next year’s Olympics. Meantime, they plan to do what they can to dampen demand in a city that already has an international reputation as a sex-tourism destination and more than 100 “missing” women.
Baptie is part of a campaign called “Buying Sex Is Not A Sport” aimed at discouraging pimps from stocking up on prostituted women, girls and men before 2010 and discouraging Olympic visitors from buying their services.
“Let’s say welcome to our city, our women are not for sale,” she says. “I’d love to have Vanoc say that this is not a sex-tourism destination and our women are not for sale.”
The campaign is just one of several being waged by groups ranging from radical feminist organizations to conservative church groups, who want part of Vancouver’s Olympic legacy to be an end to an old sporting tradition. That tradition is a surge in demand for sexual services wherever large, international sporting events take place.
The B.C. government’s office to combat trafficking in persons is also involved. It’s co-sponsoring a public awareness campaign with the Salvation Army that highlights the link between human trafficking and prostitution. But its message, “The Truth Isn’t Sexy,” pales next to the bluntness of the British government’s campaign.
Launched last summer — four years ahead of the London Summer Games — its “blue blindfold campaign” has posters with messages like: “Walk In A Punter [a client], Walk Out A Rapist.”
The intent of the “Buying Sex Is Not A Sport” campaign is to interfere with the sex trade and put the focus on the men who buy sex.
“If you ask most prostituted women, we can tell you that men know we do not want to be there,” says Baptie. “Usually, the very first thing men make us say is, ‘Tell me how much you like it.’
“Under any other circumstances it would have been rape, would have been sexual assault with a weapon. But because of the money, none of that was the case.”
If prostitution isn’t violence against women, Baptie questions why safety tips for Australian prostitutes include: “If you have to defend yourself, do it with the intention of hurting,” and don’t use a topical anesthetic for penetrative sex because it will mask any new injury and could numb the client’s penis.
Baptie wants the debate to be reframed and the men using prostitutes to be forced into it.
“Maybe if we stop the argument of whether women want to be prostituted and stopped pitting current prostitutes against former prostitutes, outdoor prostitute against indoor prostitute, drug addict against Gucci addict; if we stop that argument, the real question can be asked,” Baptie says.
“Do we, as a society, want men to be able to purchase sexual access to a woman’s body?”
So far, the federal and provincial governments are staying well clear of that question. Vanoc won’t talk about it at all.
dbramham@vancouversun.com
“(Journalists) should be enterprising to the extent possible, and not rely solely on authorities as sources,” she said. “Local bloggers and Web sites are being used increasingly to bypass biases of news media and these could be good resources.”-Pat Reavy, a Deseret News reporter
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BYU NewsNet |
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Father wonders if son’s disappearance related to others in B.C.
By James Keller – 1 day ago
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Bryan Braumberger left a friend’s house on an ordinary Thursday night in the spring of 2007, heading for his home in Burnaby, B.C., on his way to the warehouse where he worked.
The 18-year-old never made it home, and there has been no trace of Braumberger since his car was found abandoned with the lights on in a New Westminster parking the next day, June 1.
Braumberger was among the first in a string of young men to vanish from B.C.’s Lower Mainland over the past two years, and his father Ron, preparing to mark the anniversary of his son’s disappearance, says police and the public need to consider the possibility the disappearances are related.
“There was an awful lot of young people that went missing around that time,” says Ron Braumberger.
“I don’t know if it’s connected or what. Look how long it took them to connect the missing women down in (Vancouver’s Downtown) Eastside. So who knows.” read more…
Sadly, a missing persons investigation regarding two young men from BC has turned into a homicide investigation.
See Hazel’s Page: Missing Men, Canada’s Growing List
Jason Hewlett
Kamloops, B.C. — The Canadian Press, Thursday, May. 28, 2009 10:24PM EDT
RCMP are investigating a double killing after two bodies were found in a shallow grave on a rural property north of Kamloops, B.C.
The bodies were found early Wednesday evening after police cordoned off the property at Knouff Lake, about 400 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, and the discovery appears to have turned what had been a month-long missing persons case into a homicide investigation.
RCMP have not yet identified the two victims but were led to the property while searching for missing roommates Damien Marks, 31, and Kenneth Yaretz, 24. The two were last seen April 17.
“We are right in the midst of a homicide investigation and we have to protect the integrity of that investigation,” Constable Cheryl Bush told reporters during a press conference Thursday morning.
“Obviously, the rules have all changed with this investigation.”
A team of at least 20 investigators had been searching the eight-hectare property in connection with the disappearance.
All Constable Bush would say Thursday was that two bodies had been discovered and autopsies will be performed. She wouldn’t comment on the gender of the victims.
Police executed a search warrant at the site Monday and spent the week conducting a grid search of the land and taking aerial photographs from a helicopter.
Constable Bush said investigators will continue to gather evidence from the scene and could be on the site for days.
“They are dealing with a crime scene and treating it as such,” she said.
Constable Bush said there is no evidence at this time to suggest the deaths are linked to gang activity.
One person has been taken into custody but the charges against him are unrelated to the homicide investigation.
Marks’ father, Robert, said police informed him of the discovery, but he declined to comment further.
In an interview shortly after the men disappeared, Robert said they were heading to Knouff Lake to collect Mr. Yaretz’s belongings when they were last seen.
At one point the worried father conducted his own search, saying it was unusual for his son to leave his dog unattended.
