February 17, 2010, Toronto, Canada - This is more info in the Jessica Lloyd murder and the alleged second victim of Air Force Colonel Russell Williams from CFB Trenton. Much of this happened in rural Ontario and not just in a large Canadian city. There may also be ties to Paul Bernardo, aka, the Scarborough Rapist.
Jessica Lloyd was strangled by her
killer, according to a source who says the death of the 27-year-old
from Belleville was the ultimate crime in a "bizarre escalation" of
behaviour.
A second alleged victim of Canadian Forces Air Force Colonel Russell
Williams was also asphyxiated, sources familiar with the investigation
say. But detectives believe the death of Canadian Forces Corporal
Marie-France Comeau, 38, was not intentionally inflicted. "The theory
is that she was meant to live."
Col. Williams stands accused of first-degree murder in both cases.
He is also charged with two counts of sexual assault stemming from
attacks on two women who live close to his Tweed-area cottage.
As well, he is under scrutiny in less severe crimes - starting with the thefts of women's underwear dating back to 2006.
A source said police are probing 48 such cases and have recovered
stolen lingerie - neatly stored, catalogued and concealed - in searches
of the suspect's Ottawa home.
The investigative theory is that Col. Williams graduated from the years of panty raids to sexual assaults, and then to murder.
In July, he took command of 8 Wing/Canadian Forces Base Trenton,
Canada's largest Air Force base. In September, two women were bound
with tape and blindfolded by a man they could not identify.
Those attacks took place two months before Col. Williams's subordinate,
Cpl. Comeau, was found slain in her home. A source said she had been
gagged and blindfolded before the killing.
Ms. Lloyd, who worked for a school-bus company, disappeared on Jan. 29.
She had just sent a text message to a friend saying she was safely
inside her home in Belleville, a community east of CFB Trenton.
Police were led to her body in the woods near a rural roadway in Tweed,
northeast of the army base, after Col Williams's arrest and
interrogation this past weekend.
Ms. Lloyd's funeral is to take place this weekend. Col. Williams is being held in the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee.
Murder victims Jessica Lloyd and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau
The "bizarre escalation" theory casts doubt on growing public
speculation that the alleged pattern of sex crimes could incorporate
decades-old "cold" cases of homicide or sexual assault.
Detectives probing the Eastern Ontario murders have been flooded with
calls from Manitoba and Nova Scotia as concerned citizens and police
ask whether the ongoing investigation might shed light on old crimes.
During the 1980s, Col. Williams attended high school and university in
Toronto. He joined the military and was posted to bases in Western,
Eastern, and Central Canada in the 1990s.
Before his arrest he had an unblemished career.
The Ontario Provincial Police say their priority remains gathering
evidence on the current cases, and they're not dusting off legacy files
just yet.
"Right now, the core investigation is still around the four incidents now before the courts," said OPP Sergeant Kristine Rae.
Police are still scouring those crime scenes, she said. Sgt. Rae
acknowledged that police and families of other missing women have been
calling.
The OPP will not say whether they have obtained a DNA sample from Col.
Williams - although it is likely, given the ongoing searches of his
properties.
His genetic code will likely prove an invaluable tool in the
investigations, regardless of whether it implicates him in other crimes
or clears him of suspicion.
Parliament passed laws creating a national DNA databank in 2000,
allowing police look for matches with evidence obtained from crime
scenes.
Police can re-examine old crime-scene evidence, such as hair, blood and
semen of potential suspects, because biological material can survive
for years after a crime takes place.
Samples are sent to forensic scientists who input the code into the
"crime scene index," or CSI component, of the national DNA databank,
which is run by the RCMP.
The oldest scrap of evidence in the national databank is from 1964 -
decades before the forensic science based on genetic code became a
reality. The database has DNA evidence from more than 50,000 crime
scenes.
"I like to look at the DNA databank as a justice time machine," Ron
Fourney, the scientist in charge of the databank, said in an interview.
"DNA is often a silent witness."
He said he could not comment on individual cases.
Meanwhile, police are said to be investigating whether there are any
ties between Col. Williams and serial killer Paul Bernardo, according
to a report Friday in the Toronto Sun which said the two were “pals”
during their university years. Police sources have said there is
currently no known connection between the two men.
Col. Williams and Mr. Bernardo attended the University of Toronto’s
Scarborough campus at the same time, Col. Williams graduated in 1986
and Mr. Bernardo in 1987. Col. Williams studied economics and political
science while Mr. Bernardo obtained a BA in business.
Mr. Bernardo, who was later convicted of killing three schoolgirls in
the early 1990s, has admitted to raping at least a dozen women in
Scarborough at that time.
Timothy Appleby
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 3:30AM EST
Last updated on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 3:26AM EST
With reports from Colin Freeze and Greg McArthur
Safe International has instructed more than 100 000 clients since 1994. Contact Chris Roberts for more information at chris@safeinternational.biz
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