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CASES IN ONTARIO
MISSING
Lee-Ann Chyoweth-Pawis
LEE-ANN CHYOWETH-PAWIS, aged 17 was last seen on June 19, 2005 while going to visit a friend in Midland. She never returned home. Lee-Ann is 5’ 6” (approx), has black dyed shoulder length hair, has hazel/green eyes, weighs 130 lbs. At the time of her disappearance, Lee-Ann was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Her right eyebrow is pierced and has a cherry mark on her right cheek.
Anyone with information is asked to contact: Midland Town Police Duty Sgt. or Constable Vince McCullough 1-705-526-2201
Source: Midland Police
Debbie Sloss-Clarke
Toronto Police basically did nothing about her death - part of the first paragraph of the police report reads:"The victim was a native Indian and is believed to have been born in Northern Ontario . . . what is known however is that the victim was an alcoholic and crack addict."
Debbie’s murder was never investigated beyond that point.
The police report is three pages long and defines Debbie's case as sudden death (natural causes) and gives alcohol/drug consumption as the cause. The report also lists July 31, 1997, two days after her body was found, as the day the police information was entered into the system and as the day the police last updated their investigation.
Debbie’s autopsy did not find a cause of death. A toxicology report dated Sept. 8, 1997 showed no drugs were detected in her system and the small amount of alcohol in her blood was likely a product of the advanced decomposition of her body. Yet, the police report was not opened again.
Mary Lou Smoke speaks of her childhood with her sister Debbie, who many believed was her twin, in glowing terms. It was a happy time in a life that turned tragic with violent men, alcohol and addiction, splintered family relationships. A deep sorrow etches Smoke's face when she talks about her sister's death.
Ms. Smoke never got that dreaded call from Toronto police. Despite Sloss's body being found in the room she rented under her own name and her health card and a government cheque made out to her being in that room, police never contacted Smoke or other family when Sloss's body was found. It was more than a week later that word of her death spread through the community of street people who knew her and eventually reached her family.
Ms.Smoke remembers getting the call from another sister. "I was cooking dinner for some people . . . it wouldn't sink in. At first, I just kept cooking. I couldn't believe it. How could my sister be dead? I believe she was probably killed by someone for as little as $25," she said. "That's what survival is like down there. That could have been the difference of life and death for someone."
A family healing circle, was held at the Hamilton Native Women's Shelter on March 13, 2004. Tobacco was offered to all family members and also to Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, who were the Elders at this gathering.
The circle started off with a couple of traditional songs and a smudging. This helped ease the worries that the family was facing and it allowed them to speak freely about Debbie's death. When discussions began by Laura, Debbie's daughter, it became immediately apparent that this discussion was going to be very healing for the family. As soon as it began, everyone started sharing information about her passing. Each o the family members were given the opportunity to describe when they had heard about Debbie's passing.
Laura said that she knew that something had happened to her Mom when she called and there was no answer. Previously, Debbie would call Laura back after the initial call. This time there was no answer and no one would say anything to her.
Debbie’s brother and daughter shared how she told them in the last year of her life that she wanted to quit using alcohol and drugs and regain her family. Her brother told her that she was not an outcast of the family. Laura said that Debbie was going back to her ex-husband. His only condition was that Debbie had to quit drinking. Debbie had been sober for 4 months prior to her death.
Dan and Mary Lou attended a number of meetings or Elders Gatherings in Toronto and this allowed them to see Debbie a fair bit.
Mary Lou recalls one incident that continues to bring laughter to her heart. Mary Lou and Dan were bringing Debbie to an Elders Gathering, and they gently reminded her that it was our custom for women to wear a skirt at these gatherings . Debbie arrived in a mini skirt and kept tugging at it all evening, attempting to make the skirt look longer. She laughed and told Debbie that she wasn't told to wear a Long Skirt!
Mary Lou said that Debbie wanted help with her addictions. She was getting counselling from the Elizabeth Fry Society. Mary Lou was proud that she was getting help because she said that it is hardest to admit that there is a problem and to seek help. Right up until her death, Debbie was starting to learn more about her traditions. Dan remembers that her spirit would pick up every time that she saw Dan and Mary Lou. Debbie knew she would be attending Elders Gatherings with them where she would be able to learn their teachings of wisdom. These teachings made Debbie feel good and made her realize that she did not need alcohol.
However, Debbie's addictions and the company that she kept played havoc in her life. Unfortunately for Debbie, there were no programs at the Friendship Centre to help her on her healing journey. Instead, the Council Fire had just opened their doors to street people when Debbie died. A lot of these street people were present at the feast in honour of Debbie. None of them knew anything about Debbie’s death but it was good for them to join Debbie's family and remember her.
Debbie’s murder remains UNSOLVED.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Toronto Police Department.
Source: Sloss-Smoke family
London Now.ca
Sylvia Gaudet
Ms. Gaudet lived alone at this location for many years. Many people frequented her apartment.
Police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying people who visited her apartment the evening prior to her death, or any other information that may help reveal the identify of her killer.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Jorge Lasso of the Investigative Services Division, Major Crimes Unit at 905-546-2458 or Hamilton Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS).
Case #05-102686.
Vivian Cada
VIVIAN CADA, aged 53 of Toronto - On Thursday, June 30, 2005, at 3 p.m., police responded to a call at an apartment at 285 Shuter Street. When officers arrived, they located the lifeless bodies of a man and a woman.
On Friday, July 1, 2005, autopsies were conducted on the bodies. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Toxicology and microscopy results are pending.
The bodies have been identified as Vivian Cada, 53, of Toronto and Douglas Doyle, 42, of Toronto. Anyone with information is asked to call 51 Division at 416-808-5100 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com.
MURDERED
JANE LOUISE SUTHERLAND Oct. 23, 1984. Jane, a Cree teenager, left her Northern Ontario reserve for Ottawa in the spring of 1982. Two and a half years later, her fully clothed body was found just after noon in Hull's Jacques Cartier Park, across the Ottawa River from Lowertown. She'd been dead two or three days. She'd been strangled and her skull crushed with repeated blows from a blunt instrument. A friend of Jane's told police the two had had a few beers that night at the Venezia Restaurant on Dalhousie Street. From there she left to walk to Hull. A drug addict, Ms. Sutherland supported her habit through prostitution.
UNSOLVED
Margaret Guylee
Her daughter, Carrie was only four when her mother disappeared saysshe still carries the pain caused by her mother's still unexplained disappearance. Margaret's case remains unsolved.
MURDERED
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SUSAN ASSLIN
, aged 19 brutally stabbed to death near Dryed in 1974. Susan was from Grassy
Narrows Reserve.
Any person having information regarding the person(s) responsible for the death of Susan ASSIN should immediately contact their nearest police agency or any Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122.
This reward will be apportioned as deemed just by the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services for the Province of Ontario and the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.
This reward expires June 30 th, 2006.
UNSOLVED.
MURDERED
SONYA CYWINK
SONYA NADINE MAE CYWINK , aged 31. On August 30, 1994, the lifeless body of Sonya Nadine Mae Cywink, an Ojibwe woman from Birch Island First Nation who had been living in London, was found at Southwold Prehistoric Earthworks near Iona, Ontario.
Sonya had disappeared five days earlier.
Her murderer has not been found.
Sonya had gone in the direction of the dark road that tangled her deeply in an unhealthy lifestyle, one that many travel and from which few return. Just before her death she had told her sister, Meg, "You see, I wasn't a bad person, I was a sick one."
Within that sickness came her demise. It is a sickness that many struggle with to find their way back to a spiritual, healthy balance. It is with an understanding heart and an open hand that many do find their way back, but many don't.
"Sonya was a flower that never got to bloom" , says sister Meg.
"But in her death she blossomed and her petals touched the hearts of many, bringing them together in a ceremony of healing.
On Saturday, August 29, 1998, Meg and her family, friends, and communities, gathered to unite at a Gathering to Honour Our Ancestors. The Releasing of the Spirit Ceremony was be held at Southwold Earthworks with many Spiritual Teachers and Elders .
Floyd Hand, a Lakota Spiritual Teacher and Elder from South Dakota, helped in compiling a "natural profile" of the murderer. In his profile, Floyd describes the murderer as a 28-30 year-old, well-dressed and clean-cut Caucasian male driving a medium blue and/or two-tone Dodge pickup. This person worked in a small to medium-sized manufacturing company in the administration section of the area west of Iona, Ontario. Following the murder, he resigned his position and moved to the west coast, possibly to the Alberta area. Floyd recently stated that the man is back in the London area and living with relatives as of June 1998. It is thought that Sonya knew her assailant.
A $35,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for Sonya's death. This reward expires in Dec, 2003.
The Ontario Provincial Police would urge that anyone with information regarding the person(s) responsible for the murder of Sonya CYWINK, immediately contact the Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122, the Elgin County Detachment at (519) 631-2920, your nearest Police Agency or Crimestoppers.
MURDERED
Elena Assam-Thunderbird
ELENA ASSAM-THUNDERBIRD , aged 17 believed in the good of all people, loved everyone she met and trusted instantly, despite a troubled and often painful youth.
She had a lot of friends and they all agreed with what her best friend said: "She made friends with everybody. She never met anyone who would want to harm her ... until now, I guess."
It was a young man she met over drinks with friends late Friday night, a man she would blindly trust to accompany her alone down a dark road to the bus stop, who is today behind bars and accused of viciously beating her over the head before throwing her into a swift creek to die.
The city's third homicide of the year was carried out with reckless abandon under the cover of darkness and woods near the Lebreton Flats early Saturday, police say.
Police said the killer used a blunt object, possibly a large rock, to repeatedly pummel the victim's head, as tourists slept a short distance away in tents at the LeBreton Flats campground. Police believe the assailant dumped her lifeless body into the water and fled, leaving behind a terrible scene on the creek's rocky shore.
Two kayakers called police later that morning when they saw all the blood. At the edge of the creek, which kayakers and canoeists use to launch into the Ottawa River, police found Elena's identification left amid the pools of blood. Officers found her clothing and backpack, covered in blood and littered around the same spot, a stone's throw from the Fleet Street pumping station in the shadow of Parliament Hill.
Nine hours later, a short distance downstream, police would find the girl's naked body, stuck in an underwater drainage tunnel near the mouth of the Ottawa River. The Ottawa police major crime and sex assault units joined to solve what a lead detective had earlier called "a mystery."
While the injuries to her head were severe and potentially lethal, an autopsy yesterday determined the teenager died as a result of drowning. Major crime Staff Sgt. Gerry Sabourin said there was no evidence of sexual assault, "as of yet."
Police questioned the suspect, a 26-year-old west-end resident arrested around 5:40 p.m. yesterday, into the early hours of this morning. Charges were pending late last night.
Mahtoonah Arngna'naaq, 16 and the closest of Elena's many friends, spent Saturday night at Elgin Street headquarters, fighting tears to answer detectives' questions in a videotaped interview. Her answers led police to a man the girls met in Chinatown on Friday night.
Mahtoonah said Dakota introduced a new face, a young man who said he lived in the Bayshore Drive area. After acquiring a sufficient amount of alcohol, the group moved to a common hangout at the intersection of Primrose and Lorne avenues. The two boys and two girls coupled up on two park benches on a patch of grass outside the Paroisse St-Jean Baptiste, an immense stone church that overlooks the Lebreton Flats to the north. They drank and talked and laughed, though Mahtoonah said she found the strange man odd.
"I got a bad feeling with him," she said before he was arrested yesterday.
When the drinks were done, "it was really late," around 2 a.m., and the group decided to call it a night, Mahtoonah said.
She said the stranger offered to walk Elena to the bus stop, where she planned to get a bus to her Vanier apartment. Mahtoonah said she accompanied Dakota to his home in the townhouse projects at Booth Street and Primrose Avenue, where she spent the night. Before they parted, Elena asked her friend to call her on Saturday afternoon.
Mahtoonah did but got no answer. The police knocked at Mahtoona's door within two hours of finding the body.
"They started asking me all these questions and I knew something was wrong," she said.
"Your friend Elena has been found," the officers told her.
"What do you mean, found?"
"She is dead."
As police officers pored over fields, yards, trees, cars, sewers and garbage cans in search of evidence yesterday afternoon, Elena's "family", more than a dozen of them, comforted each other at their "home" on the dirty sidewalk outside Rideau Street McDonald's.
Elena was born and raised in Ottawa. She lived through "some really hard times" to become a "beautiful soul", her friends said.
She moved into a small Vanier apartment on New Year's Day with her cat and hamster, Poochie. Every Wednesday, she visited her mom, but otherwise took care of herself.
"She was an independent woman," Mahtoonah said. "She was strong."
Her friends said she never used drugs, "never even smoked pot", no matter what the crowd did. She took correspondence courses run by the city's Youth Services Bureau on Besserer Street, and looked forward to a happy life.
Her friends said the streets had always been kind to her.
"She just loved to chill," Mahtoonah said. "I love her. I can't stop crying."
SOURCE: Aaron Sands , The Ottawa Citizen , Monday, June 03, 2002
That's exactly what he did nine years ago to a 21-year-old virgin. She fearfully surrendered to his aggression and was raped.
But at least she lived to tell about it. And that's just what she did last week while testifying at James' first-degree murder trial in the violent death of 17-year-old Elena Assam, who was also a virgin.
Unlike the first victim, Assam slugged it out with James. She lost not only the battle, but also her life during the early morning hours of June 1, 2002.
James hammered the girl on the head nine times with a rock before casting her unconscious body into a Lebreton Flats stream to drown.
What followed was a massive Ottawa police investigation, led by Sgt. Julie Vaillant and Sgt. Dave Shea, that left no stone unturned. What easily could have become a case of whodunit instead led detectives to James' front door one day after the murder.
There was never any doubt that police had the right guy. His blood was at the crime scene and her blood was on his clothes, it was later proven.
As well, the last time Assam was seen alive, she was alone with James.
But James never took the witness stand to tell his side of the story and the jury never heard his confession to police, which was ruled inadmissible by Justice Lynn Ratushny.
'I MURDERED HER'
"I murdered her and I put her body in the water, which I didn't want to do, but I did. Why? Anger. Rage. A lot of it," said James in his taped statement to Vaillant on June 3, 2002.
"To take someone's life like that, you have to have a lot of anger and a lot of rage in you," he said.
On the night she died, Assam and her pal Mahtoonah Arngna'naaq, 16, had been hanging out in Centretown when they met two strangers near the corner of Somerset St. W. and Lorne Ave.
The girls came to know the men as "Dakota" and "T," while the men only knew them as "the shorter one" and "the taller one."
The foursome walked to a lookout area, where they chatted and drank beer before Arngna'naaq headed home with Dakota, whom she had confused in her drunken stupor with an ex-boyfriend.
Assam and Barry "T" James walked to the Lebreton Flats OC Transpo station to catch a ride back to their respective homes, but the bus service had ended for the night.
A Lebreton Flats camper saw the couple walk past him, engaged in normal conversation. Minutes later, between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., the man heard the girl scream: "Get off me" or "Get away from me."
It's believed James made a sexual advance toward Assam that was flatly rejected. What happened next was an escalation of violence toward Assam that ended in her tragic death. Assam, who was experienced in martial arts and larger in size than James, refused to let her attacker have his way with her.
James later tried to justify the murder by claiming Assam begged him to take her life.
"She kept on saying, 'Please do it. Take my life. Do it. Take my life. And make sure you're man enough to dump me in the water when you do it,' " James told police.
The attack happened at the bottom of a steep embankment west of Parliament Hill. There, on the stone platform next to a popular kayak route, Assam fought for her life.
BODY RECOVERED
James told police he hit Assam on the head with a rock from behind while she was sitting on a wooden bench, causing her to scream.
Assam bit and scratched back before falling to the ground, said James, who eventually grabbed Assam's feet, dragged her to the water and then rolled her in.
Her body was recovered downstream by police later that day. James could not explain why Assam was naked from the waist down except for a sock, or why her underwear was present at the crime scene.
It's believed he removed her underwear and pants or forced her to do so, just as he had done with his previous victim.
After James washed the blood off his face, he returned to his Bayshore townhome where he tossed his bloodstained clothing into a neighbourhood recycling bin and hung his jacket, bloodstained at the sleeves, on a dining room chair.
Then he went to bed.
James, who was arrested at home while playing Monopoly, later expressed regret over what he'd done.
"I would rewind time if I was God," he told police.
But Assam's life was over. And while it hadn't always been an easy life, she had made the most of it.
Assam had her own apartment in Vanier, did volunteer work and took courses through correspondence. She had managed to stay away from drugs and certainly from sex.
MOM REMEMBERED
She was also thoughtful enough to remember her mom's birthday. The greeting card was later found in her bag at the crime scene.
Also recovered were computer disks containing job applications for the Detroit Free Press, Ottawa X-press and the World Wildlife Fund.
Assam had dreams, as all young women do, but she died an ugly and horrible death before getting a chance to chase any of them.
Barry Thurston James, known as "T" on the streets, James had previously served three years in jail following a 1997 conviction for a violent sexual assault in Hull.
Following a two-week trial and roughly 10 hours of deliberation, a six-woman, six-man jury convicted Barry Thurston James, 28, of murdering Elena Assam, 17, on June 1, 2002, during a sex attack.
The verdict brought joy to Ms. Assam's mother, Annie Thunderbird, who cried out, "Yes -- thank you very much," when the foreman announced the decision.
After the verdict, Judge Ratushny sentenced Mr. James to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, which is automatic when somebody is convicted of first-degree murder in Canada.
But before she did, she gave Ms. Thunderbird and Mr. James a chance to speak.
"Since the tragic loss of my daughter, my life is not the same, and it will never be," Ms. Thunderbird said. "She was my life." She said Ms. Assam was her daughter and her friend, and that she misses her every day.
"I just hate that she is gone. My life is life hell," Ms. Thunderbird said.
After Ms. Assam's mother finished, the judge gave Mr. James a chance to speak. After a brief pause, he turned and faced his victim's mother.
"Mrs. Thunderbird, I've thought about the right words to say, and the right feelings to say it with, and there's nothing that I can do or say. There's no amount of time that the judge can give me that would bring your daughter back," he said, marking the first time he'd spoken during the trial.
"And for this, I'm truly, truly regretful and sorry for what I did to your life."
"You wrecked my life," Ms. Thunderbird replied to him.
"I hold myself responsible for my actions, and I'm ready to face what comes with them. Thank you," concluded Mr. James.
Barring a successful appeal, Mr. James will be eligible for parole in 23 years and 349 days. By then, he will be 52.
MISSING
REBECCA JEAN KING
REBECCA JEAN KING , aged 22, from North Bay, Ontario on October 21, 1999. Rebecca could be using the nicknames Becky or Bec. She was last seen at bus depot in Orilla when she bought a one way ticket to Toronto. She has a tatoo of an angel on upper left arm and tatoo on calf area (unsure of what leg). She is a loner and took a suit case with her and toiletries.
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair: black - short
Eyes: brown
Build: medium - full build
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MURDERED
Bernadette Leclair
BERNADETTE LECLAIR, aged 16, raped and murdered in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1987.
UPDATE
The person responsible for Bernadette's vicious murder, was described as a 'gentle caring family man who led a seemingly ordinary and upstanding life, working hard, raising a son, and impressing his family and friends', who coached a little league baseball team
In 1990, his fingerprints taken during a drunk driving offense were put into the computer and they came up a match on DNA found on a cigarette butt found at the location the girls bodies were found.
He admitted to these horrific crimes saying he suffocated both girls by tying plastic bags over their heads after raping them. but claims to have no memory of these deeds.
Larry Runholm was sentenced on Feb. 19, 2003, to life in prison without chance of parole for 20 years.
“The fact there were two similar murders of innocent teenage girls almost three months apart is unusual and extremely serious circumstances,” Justice Stanley Kurisko said in delivering his eight-page ruling.
“There is no explanation that mitigates the killings.” Runholm avoided a jury trial by pleading guilty in January to second-degree murder in the 1987 deaths of teenagers Donna Tebbenham and Bernadette LeClair.
Defence lawyer Dan Brodsky said his client will consider an appeal of Kurisko’s decision, and if that doesn’t pan out, Runholm will apply for a judicial review to cut the parole period to 15 years.
Because parole eligibility starts counting from the time of arrest, it’s possible Runholm could get parole consideration as early as 2015
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DEANNA DAW , of Fort Frances, shot to death on October 29, 2000, by her common law husband, Michael Tetu, in the presence of their four year old daughter, Kristina.
Tetu plead guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in jail .He will be eligible for parole in five years.
Besides being sentenced to the 10 years for manslaughter, Tetu faces an additional five years in jail—to be served consecutively—for assault with a weapon.
He also was sentenced to 15 years—to be served concurrently—for an additional charge of assault with a weapon and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
The latter charges stemmed from Tetu’s role in a hostage-taking incident at the Fort Frances Jail last June 28-29.
Three victim impact statements were submitted to Justice Platana, but these were not read aloud in court.
MURDERED
Doug Maki, 28, was charged with first degree murder.
The homicide investigation is continuing under the direction of Det. Insp. Dennis Olinyk of the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (Major Case Section).
Police would not say where Maki was arrested except that it was here in Fort Frances. And they would not say if more charges are pending, or if anyone else will be charged.
Police also would not say if Sutton was acquainted with Maki, or what led them to charge him yesterday. They offered no motive for the crime.
It also has not been revealed how police knew where to find Sutton’s body.
Police also know what caused Sutton’s death but will not release that information at this time.
Donna TebbenhamDONNA TEBBENHAM , raped and murdered in Thunder Bay in 1987. A man was finally arrested in July, 2000, but a trial has not yet been had.
UPDATE
A fingerprint and a discarded cigarette butt led to a guilty plea to the murder of two teenage girls more than 15 years ago.
The person responsible for Bernadette's vicious murder, was described as a 'gentle caring family man who led a seemingly ordinary and upstanding life, working hard, raising a son, and impressing his family and friends', who coached a little league baseball team
In 1990, his fingerprints taken during a drunk driving offense were put into the computer and they came up a match on DNA found on a cigarette butt found at the location the girls bodies were found.
He admitted to these horrific crimes saying he suffocated both girls by tying plastic bags over their heads after raping them. but claims to have no memory of these deeds.
Larry Runholm was sentenced on Feb. 19, 2003, to life in prison without chance of parole for 20 years.
“The fact there were two similar murders of innocent teenage girls almost three months apart is unusual and extremely serious circumstances,” Justice Stanley Kurisko said in delivering his eight-page ruling.
“There is no explanation that mitigates the killings.” Runholm avoided a jury trial by pleading guilty in January to second-degree murder in the 1987 deaths of teenagers Donna Tebbenham and Bernadette LeClair.
Defence lawyer Dan Brodsky said his client will consider an appeal of Kurisko’s decision, and if that doesn’t pan out, Runholm will apply for a judicial review to cut the parole period to 15 years.
Because parole eligibility starts counting from the time of arrest, it’s possible Runholm could get parole consideration as early as 2015
MURDERED
Samantha Johnings
SAMANTHA JOHNINGS, aged 19 months of Hamilton Ontario, was sexually assaulted and murdered by a friend of her mother's. This murder took place on December 13, 1992.
Samantha's own mother, Norma, was sexually abused as a child, and grew up to have two children at a young age. Samantha was the eldest with a newborn brother Anthony at home.
There was evidence of previous physical abuse committed against the child. One month prior to the murder, the accused had thrown the child approximately one metre into the wooden frame of a couch. An injury to the child's right buttock had appeared on a day on which the accused had exclusive care of the child. The mother had also been seen striking the child on several occasions.
On the night she died, Samantha was sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. Semen was found all over the house, on almost every object there, including her toys.
Police were called by neighbours reporting loud noises coming from the Johnings apartment. When they arrived, Samantha's mother refused to let them in. They had to force their way in. Once inside they found the apt. in complete shambles, with the baby laying dead on the floor beside her crib.
The child had blood and vomit on her face, a swollen left eye, bruises on her head, and bruising and redness on her genital area. The cause of death was acute brain injury. Trace amounts of semen were found on vaginal and anal swabs
Frederick Alexander Brooks was convicted of first degree murder of Samantha Johnings murder was sentenced to to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for 25 years.
To read trial report click Here
MURDERED
Minnie Sutherland
MINNIE SUTHERLAND, aged 40, December 31, 1988.
The two block strip of scummy bars and shabby restaurants in Hull used to be one of Canada's toughest places. It was Ottawa's dirty little back room, drawing the city's riff-raff, university students and slumming tourists.
The lure of the place was simple: bars in Hull stayed open until 3:00 AM two hours after last call in Ontario. People arrived drunk, spent two hours hammering back drinks, and staggered out to the streets to find their way back across the river. Stabbings, robberies, fights and rapes were fairly common.
The strip was Hull's shame, but it also was the backbone of what passed for tourism in the city. Thousands of Canadian high school students had their first drinks in the bars of Hull during class trips to Ottawa. For many of them, it was all they ever saw of Quebec.
New Year's Eve was the busiest night of the year. All of the 20-odd bars along the two-block strip were packed. In 1988, a tiny woman, old beyond her 40 years and nearly blind, was amongst the partiers. After last call, Minnie Sutherland jay-walked onto Promenade du Portage and was hit by a car.
Around her was a mob of people looking for buses and cars for sale. The street was crowded with cars and people walking, the snowbanks were abnormally high and there were virtually no police around to keep order.
When Sutherland fell into the slush, two police officers picked her up and dumped her in a snowbank. When the driver of the car and passers-by tried to help, the police told them to stop blocking traffic.
Sutherland eventually ended up in an Ottawa hospital, brought in by an Ottawa police officer. Her friends had abandoned her. For three days, none of the medical staff knew she had suffered a severe brain injury. Sutherland's brain damage masked itself with the symptoms of drunkeness- disorientation, vomiting, inability to speak coherently. Of all the places to have this kind of injury, none could have been worse than that seedy street at last call on New Year's Eve.
Two weeks after she was admitted to hospital, she died.
Ottawa Police were not held responsible for her death, despite the fact that when they called in the "accident" they referred to Minnie as a "Squaw" involved. Her body was tossed to the side and all but ignored, assuming she was just another drunken indian.
Had Minnie been non native chances are that she would have been transported to hospital immediately and her brain injury been diagnosed in time to save her life.
Sandra Kaye Johnson
MURDERED
SANDRA KAYE JOHNSON, aged 18. On the morning of February 13th, 1992 a male walking his dog near the Neebing/McIntyre floodway near 110th Avenue in Thunder Bay discovered Sandra Johnson’s body. Police have been able to establish Johnson’s whereabouts until about 1:30 the morning of February 13th. After that, however, whom she was with and where she went is still a mystery.
Police know that Johnson was at a south side bar until around midnight. After stopping off at her sister’s residence Johnson was seen walking near the 7-11 store at the corner of Dease and May Streets around 1:30 in the morning. Sometime after that Johnson died.
Police have been working with forensics evidence in the Sandra Johnson case. They have also turned to Crime Stoppers to help in their ongoing investigation. Someone out there knows something and detectives are hoping that person will finally come forward and help end the pain and suffering the Johnson family has endured over the last decade.
Please contact Detective Constable Mike Walsh at 684-1362with any information you may have. you can also contact Thunder Bay District Crime Stoppers at 623-8477 or 1-800-222-8477.
MURDERED
Ms. Deslile will probably be acquitted due to the nature of the crime.
Diane Dobson
Windsor police have refused to provide us with a picture or further details of this case to add to our site.
Deborah Toulouse
, aged 41 and her husband, 46-year-old Lawrence Toulouse, pof Wikwemikong First Nation ( Mantioulin Island, ON), were found shot on the back lawn area of the Wikwemikong Civic Complex, on Saturday, May 18, 2002 at approximately 6:30 pm.
Deborah and Lawrence Toulouse were the parents of Lorraine, Olivia, Vanessa and Lawrence Jr., and grandparents to Austin Lawrence Nicholas Waboose. Ms. Toulouse was daughter of Ursala Kanasawe and the late Levi Kanasawe, and granddaughter to Ben and Agnes Kanasawe. She was sister to Joseph, Robert, Donna, Eleanor, Bernice and Lillian.
Their deaths are being treated by the police as a murder suicide at this time. Officers from the Wikwemikong First Nations Tribal Police and OPP North East Region Crime Unit, under the direction of A/Det. Inspector Steve Rooke, OPP Criminal Investigation Branch, are continuing their investigation into their deaths
.
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Jane Jack
JANE JACK, of Kenora, Ontario, stabbed to death by her non native common law husband on April 28th, 1995.
On that evening Jane, her common law partner of ten years, and a friend acquired a case of beer and mickey of rye which they drank from 7 - midnight. The accused then aquired another case of beer and another mickey and returned to his residence where they continued drinking.
For some reason untold to the court, around 4 or 5 am, struck him on the back of the head from behind with a bottle of beer. He then pushed her into the bedroom, and with no recollection of the events, obtained a Rapella knife and inflicted some "twenty-two abrasions, punctures, some of which were very deep resulting in her death.". The Court was satisfied that "there was sufficient provocation on her part to reduce the charge from second degree murder to manslaughter as the Crown has conceded that to be so."
In sentencing the Judge stated:
".It was excessive force, far more severe than was required to deter his common law wife from any further assaults, and on the basis of the evidence I have no difficulty in finding that the Crown has established the guilt of the accused of the offence of manslaughter beyond any reasonable, conceivable doubt. I so find and there will be a finding of guilty of the offence of manslaughter.
I have reviewed all of the letters of character reference. Mr. Strong, you are highly regarded by a great number of people who have supported you by writing to your lawyer, to the Crown attorney, and I have read those letters. I have read your summary of your background and your life. You have indicated, as shown on the screen, that you are very sorry for the injuries which caused your common law wife's death and felt disgusted with yourself as you have told the officer.
You were provoked without any question, and I have so found, by what Jane Jack did to you by coming up from behind and smashing a beer bottle over your head. That would provoke anyone and I understand your cause for concern. That did not however, entitle you to get a Rapella knife and stab her as you did which I know that you realize today.
Since that event on April 28th, I take into consideration the fact that you have spent two months in custody, that you have taken a ten day rehabilitation programme for alcohol abuse, have attended on three separate occasions with Migisi Alcohol Treatment Centre which was to some extent a custodial term, albeit voluntary, because you volunteered for two additional sessions. I understand further that you are not the same person as we have heard as of April 1995, that you have turned your life around, you have met a new companion who is now living with you. You have completed a course of treatment to overcome the alcohol problem that you had, not only to deter yourself from excessive use of alcohol, but to avoid association with those who do. This too is in your favour.
You have worked with Wilson's Camp for a period of ten years. They think so highly of you that once you are released from custody - and I must say that I have no alternative but to impose a term of custody - but following your release they are quite prepared and happy to have you back working with them again. Violence is not in your character from what I have been told and read and I hope and sincerely trust it never will be again.
The section under which you have been found guilty, Mr. Strong, provides that this court - and this is how serious the law considers this offence - that you could be sentenced to prison for life. The Crown has indicated that a sentence of thirty months is indicated.
Mr. Brodsky on your behalf asks in view of your change in character and in view of the time you have spent in custody and the treatment, that the court consider a lenient sentence. Having regard to the fact that the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, in my view thirty months is in the lenient time-frame and I must commend you Mr. Strong, another factor which I am impressed by, is your loyalty to your friends despite the insistent and persistent requests of the interviewing officer, you refused to provide any information with regard to where you got the second case of beer. Your loyalty is to be commended. You did not want to get anyone else in trouble. I do not know, quite frankly, why the officer persisted in that line of questioning.
In any event, Mr. Strong, you might now stand. The sentence of this court is that you will serve thirty (30) months in custody. I am not in a position to provide that there will be any probation period because that only applies for sentences under two years. However, you have made your way back and I am satisfied that upon your release you will continue to avoid alcohol and not associate with those who do.
I commend you for the programme which you have embarked upon and your success in completing it. I wish you all future success in your life, Mr. Strong. Keep your nose clean in the place you are going and you should be eligible for parole fairly shortly. That is the sentence of the court. You may be seated."
Maxine Susanne Peters
Family and friends are stunned by her death.
"I think the majority of people are still in shock," said Joyce Johnson, who co-owns the Chematogen Trailer Park and Campground, a family business on Walpole Island. Maxine was a clerk at the campground's variety store for the last seven years.
"She knew a lot of the campers and a lot of the locals who would come in and go to the store. She was very outgoing, a very caring person," Johnson said.
Maxine was "extremely well-liked," Johnson said, her voice cracking. The hard-working woman was primary caregiver for her two children, she added. The children were not with their mother at the time of the shooting.
. Johnson, who heard about the shooting early Sunday, said Peters knew the man charged in her death, whom she believed was the boyfriend of Maxine’s sister.
Walpole Island police are investigating along with the OPP. OPP Det. Insp. Mark Wright is heading up the probe.
Darrel Blackbird, 48, appeared in a Sarnia court yesterday. He is slated to appear again on June 21.
Pamela Holopainen
PAMELA HOLOPAINEN, aged 22 of Schumacher, Ontario was last seen leaving a house party on the night of Monday, Dec. 15, 2003.
There has been no contact between her and her two children, aged one and two years, since the time of her disappearance, nor her family members. It is unusual for her not to be in touch with her family and investigators are concerned about her well being.
The investigation is being conducted by members of the South Porcupine OPP detachment, OPP North East Region, and Timmins Police Service, under the direction of OPP Detective Inspector Dave Truax, Criminal Investigation Branch.
Anyone with information is asked to call the OPP at 705-235-3345.
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"Vickie"
Vickie and her sister Tara were placed for adoption on a reserve 10 years ago (1994). Both ran away five years ago and have not been seen since.
Their birth father and sisters desperately want to know if they are ok.
Their birth father (Cheyenne-Apache) is Ernest Thornley, from Codrington ON. His number is 613-475-9582, or if you would prefer to contact me, I will contact him for you either to tell him you are ok but do not wish to be found, if this is what you prefer.
"Tara"
Tara and her sister Vickie were placed for adoption on a reserve 10 years ago (1994). Both ran away five years ago and have not been seen since.
Their birth father and sisters desperately want to know if they are ok.
Their birth father (Cheyenne-Apache) is Ernest Thornley, from Codrington ON. His number is 613-475-9582, or if you would prefer to contact me, I will contact him for you either to tell him you are ok but do not wish to be found, if this is what you prefer.
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