Sunday, May 28

Ontario's missing-child alerts go high-tech

Last Updated Fri, 26 May 2006 23:10:46 EDT
CBC News

The Amber Alerts by which police in Ontario notify the public about missing children will soon be available via e-mail and as text messages on cellphones.

Ten-year-old Holly Jones was abducted in Toronto on May 12, 2003. Her remains were found the next morning.

INDEPTH: Missing children
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/missingchildren/index.html

Up to now, they could only be delivered on television, radio, electronic highway signs and video displays at lottery kiosks.

Amber Alerts contain information about abducted children who might be in immediate danger, and about their abductors and suspect vehicles.

INDEPTH: Amber Alerts
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/missingchildren/amberalert.html

The system is named after a girl, Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered in Texas. It has been adopted by police forces throughout North America for high-alert cases involving children.

RELATED: Infant found unharmed after Amber Alert
http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/to-graciana20050413.html

Copyright ©2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved

Thursday, May 25

Missing women the focus of visit by private detective

By MARGARET SPEIRS
May 24 2006

A SURREY-BASED private investigator is due in town this week to continue his probe into the missing and murdered women along Hwy16. Ray Michalko says he'll be talking to between 15 and 30 people in Terrace and area and several in Smithers and Houston.
He says he has compiled a number of tips about the disappearances and murders since he placed newspaper ads in February and March.

"I've got a number of tips and people that have talked to me that I want to talk to in person," said Michalko. "I was completely taken off guard by the number of calls I've received from the ads."

"I've probably had approximately 50 contacts with people. The majority have telephoned me but there have been a fair number of emails as well."

Tamara Chipman from Terrace, who disappeared last fall, is the last person to be placed on the missing/murdered list.

In every case Michalko takes on, he starts with a theory and works to prove or disprove it.

Michalko began his search for answers to why so many women have gone missing along Hwy16 based on a couple of theories, but hasn't had time to refer back to them to see if he's closer to the answers he believed he'd find.

"I guess I still have a theory but have spent a lot of time getting some pretty good possible leads that I think warrant looking into," he said.

He also ran ads in Prince George and Prince Rupert papers and forwarded one lead he received to Prince George RCMP who are handling the case. But he wouldn't say which missing woman the information concerns.

"It's interesting. Since I've run the ad I'm quite surprised at the interest that I've received from out of the province," said Michalko.

A U.S. magazine for private investigators interviewed Michalko for a story about the missing women after hearing that he was running ads in northern B.C. newspapers.

"I don't plan to run any more ads right now. I want to see what happens with my time when I'm up there," he said.

Courtesy of:
TERRACE STANDARD
www.terracestandard.com

Mounties beef up KARE probe

By ELIZA BARLOW AND DARCY HENTON, EDMONTON SUN
May 25, 2006

Sixteen extra Mounties have been called in to help Project KARE investigate the case of the latest Edmonton prostitute to turn up dead.

Alberta RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the extra officers are from general investigations sections, Edmonton Major Crimes and general policing units.

Oakes said the lead investigator asked for the extra staff as Project KARE probes each of the "large number" of tips from the public on the Jack case, while still investigating the recent killing of Theresa Innes, whose body was found May 7.

"Every tip is investigated," said Oakes.

Jack, 37, was found dead May 16 near Range Road 225 and Township Road 542, east of Highway 21.

MORE THAN A DOZEN FOUND

Nine days earlier, the body of 36-year-old Innes was found in a Fort Saskatchewan home. Thomas Svekla, 38, has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.
Innes and Jack are among the more than a dozen prostitutes whose bodies have been found in the Edmonton area since 1988.

The chilling trend prompted police to set up a special task force - Project KARE - to investigate those slayings along with the deaths and disappearances of dozens of others involved in high-risk lifestyles.

Police believe one killer is responsible for more than one death.

Premier Ralph Klein says he hopes police will soon catch the killer or killers responsible for the slayings.

Commenting one day after a memorial service was held for Jack at a downtown church, Klein called the slayings tragic.

'FIND THE CULPRIT'

"It's terrible. I only hope that they find the culprit who is committing these awful murders," he said after addressing the annual Premier's Prayer Breakfast at the Shaw Conference Centre yesterday.

"I know (prostitutes) live a high-risk lifestyle, but still it's no excuse for anyone to conduct violence whether they're prostitutes or not," Klein told the Sun.
Jack was known to have worked in the sex trade in both Edmonton and Vancouver. Police are treating her death as a homicide although no cause of death has been released.

Wednesday, May 24

Fighter to end

Family and friends gather to remember Bonnie Lynn Jack, found dead in field

By MICHELLE MARK, EDMONTON SUN
May 24, 2006

One of Bonnie Lynn Jack’s daughters, Mindy, left, gives adoptive mother Marilynn Jack a hug yesterday outside Sacred Heart Parish after a memorial service. Mindy gave the eulogy for her mother. (PRESTON BROWNSCHLAIGLE, Sun)

Under a sombre canopy of clouds, family and friends of Bonnie Lynn Jack paid solemn tribute to her memory yesterday.

Jack's body was discovered May 16 by a couple walking near Township Road 542 and Range Road 225, south of Fort Saskatchewan - the same area where the remains of several Edmonton-area prostitutes have been found.

As mourners embraced in grief and one of her shattered daughters wept openly on the steps of Sacred Heart Parish, 10821 96 St., Jack's adoptive mother spoke of better days.

"She was such a sweet child," said Marilynn Jack, who travelled from B.C. for the service, joining Jack's biological family from Edmonton.

She also told of how Bonnie fulfilled a dream of meeting her birth parents when she was 16, growing especially close to her father.

"She was really very, very happy to be a part of their family," Marilynn said.
Bonnie, a mother to six girls, will also be remembered as a wonderful friend and mother.

"She was a wonderful mother in that she knew she couldn't look after her girls and made sure they went to good homes. She was a good person.

"Her legacy is her children. Hopefully they can all learn something from (her death). Drugs are bad."

One of her daughters was unable to attend the service because she was giving birth to Bonnie's first grandchild.

Bonnie was also no stranger to adversity as a native child raised in an all-white household, said her mom.

"In our community, she was given a really tough time and she learned to fight back."
It's that fight that likely saw her through to her last breath, said Marilynn.

"At this point, we don't even know if she was murdered, but if she was, she'd have fought (her killer) right to the end," she said. "Of that, I am sure."

Police say Jack, who was also known as Bonnie Lynn Loyie, lived a high-risk lifestyle and her family says it's too soon to tell how she died, adding she was found fully clothed and may have overdosed on drugs.

Police have not said how long her body had been in the field, but they say her family last spoke to her about two months ago.

RCMP spokesman Wayne Oakes said police received a large number of tips on Jack's case over the weekend but are still asking for the public's help to retrace the final hours of her life.

Jack was known to work in the sex trade in both Edmonton and Vancouver.

"Investigators are encouraging the public to continue calling in with their tips, especially anyone who may have seen or had contact with Bonnie," Oakes said.

"Each piece of information has the possibility of providing a detail that was previously unknown. This building block process will help to verify other details already on file and provide investigators with additional avenues of investigation.

"No tip is too small."

Premier hopes police will catch prostitute killer

Called the slayings tragic

By DARCY HENTON, Legislature Bureau
May 24, 2006

Premier Ralph Klein says he hopes police will soon catch the killer or killers who have been slaying city prostitutes.

Commenting one day after a memorial service was held for an aboriginal woman who may have been the latest victim, Klein called the slayings tragic.

“It’s terrible,” he said after addressing the annual Premiers Prayer Breakfast at the Shaw Conference Centre Wednesday. “I only hope that they find the culprit who is committing these awful murders.”

The bodies of more than a dozen slain prostitutes have been found in the Edmonton area since 1988, leading police to establish a special task force to investigate the murders.

“I know they live a high risk lifestyle, but still it’s no excuse for anyone to conduct violence whether they’re prostitutes or not,” Klein told the Sun.
“This is a terrible thing to see, especially here in Edmonton and I hope the authorities find the culprit as quickly as they possibly can.”

The body of Bonnie Lynn Jack, 37, was found May 16 in a wooded area east of the city where the bodies of five other prostitutes have been found in recent years.

Police haven’t yet determined that Jack was murdered or how long her fully-clothed body was laying in the field south of Fort Saskatchewan before it was found by a couple out for a walk. But investigators from the Project Kare task force are investigating the death as a possible homicide.

Sunday, May 21

Former hooker to help others

By AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN

May 21, 2006

She beat crack. She escaped a life of prostitution.

Now a former sex-trade worker says God is calling her back to Edmonton to help others involved in prostitution get off the streets.

"A lot of women went missing and died. I don't know why I was spared," said the woman, who now has a job and is raising a child of her own. She didn't want to be identified.

"It's only through the grace of Christ that I'm here and that's why this is the time for me to reach out and help."

Now 35, she's been off the streets of Vancouver and Edmonton for 11 years. She worked the gritty 97 Street stroll in town and in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

After five years in the sex trade, where she earned $100 per trick but had no money to show for it, she had an epiphany as she sat in a living room with her pimp and drug dealer while preparing to go to work.

"The whole reason my drug dealer was making money, the whole reason my pimp was making money was because of me," she said.

Spurred by her mother's "tough love," she disappeared from the street, checked into drug rehab and cleaned up her act.

On Thursday she attended a vigil organized by the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton to honour women and children affected by violence.

Family and supporters of women killed while they worked in the sex trade - including Theresa Innes, found dead two weeks ago in Fort Saskatchewan - were also honoured.

Just last week, Bonnie Lynn Jack was added to the list of victims.

Jack's body was found Tuesday by a couple walking near Township Road 542 and Range Road 225, south of Fort Saskatchewan, police said.

PAAFE executive director Kate Quinn said the prostitution "survivor" could be a beacon of hope for other women trying to escape street life.

"The more the women on the street see women who've survived ... the more they'll think they can do it, too," Quinn said.

More people go missing in B.C. than anywhere else in Canada

More people go missing in B.C. than anywhere else in Canada

Raina Delisle
The Province

Sunday, May 21, 2006

The Armstrong girl who was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted by a transient man on Tuesday was one of at least 10 B.C. residents reported missing in a week.

The 11-year-old was found almost 36 hours after she disappeared and is said to be doing well.

The fates of those who remain missing are unknown and they will be added to the list of more than 2,250 missing persons across the province.

"It's tragic and alarming," said Armstrong Mayor Jerry Oglow. "Why do so many B.C. children go missing?"

Oglow is not the only one asking these questions, as National Missing Children's Day on Thursday approaches.

B.C. has more missing persons than any other province or territory in the country, according to data from the Canadian Police Information Centre.

Thirty-seven per cent of all missing-person reports are generated in this province. Ontario is next, with 24 per cent, followed by Quebec with 21 per cent.

Only Newfoundland and the territories have more missing persons per capita than B.C.

"There are good people and there are bad people wherever there are people," said Sylvia Port, manager of the Rapid ID Program at the RCMP B.C. Missing Persons Centre.

Port said reasons for B.C.'s high number of missing persons may include the province's extensive coastline and vast wilderness areas.

Port also pointed out that transient people -- such as Paul Robert Lepage, the 55-year-old man charged with abducting the Armstrong girl -- are attracted to B.C. because of the mild weather.

Port said that the climate also makes running away more common in B.C. than in other provinces.

A few of the week's missing persons were runaways and some have already returned home safely.

"The majority of missings we don't have reasons for," Port said. "The bulk that we do have reasons for -- most of them are accidents and runaways."

rainadelisle@png.canwest.com

RECENTLY REPORTED MISSING

- Henok Getahun, 16, left his foster parents' home in Newton a week ago and hasn't returned. He's 5' 8" and 140 pounds. Henok is black and has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

- Kathleen Rose Slater, 16, was last seen in Surrey on Wednesday. She called home yesterday, but told siblings she was leaving town. She is 5' 3" and 110 pounds. She has reddish-brown shoulder-length hair, freckles on her face and blue eyes.

Call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

- Deborah Lynn Isaac, 47, of Quesnel was last seen on May 8 and was reported missing by her common-law husband the next day. She is 5' 8" and 130 pounds. She is Caucasian and has long brown hair and green eyes.

Call Quesnel RCMP at 250-992-9211 or CrimeStoppers at 250-992-TIPS.

Ran with fact box "Recently Reported Missing", which has been appended to the story. Also See: Coming Tuesday: Mom's DNA Quest.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

Slain Bonnie Lynn Jack 'knew how to read her tricks'

Victim streetwise
Slain Bonnie Lynn Jack 'knew how to read her tricks'

By ELIZA BARLOW, EDMONTON SUN
May 21, 2006

Bonnie Lynn Jack was a savvy, streetwise woman who knew how to fend for herself, says a man who knew her from the streets of Edmonton.

He's shocked that a woman with such street smarts ended up as the latest Edmonton prostitute to be found slain and dumped in a field.

"She knew what she was doing when she dealt with people," said the man, who didn't want his name published.

"She knew how to read her johns and tricks.

"I guess some people aren't as prepared as they think they are."

Police say 37-year-old Jack is the homicide victim whose body was found last Tuesday by a couple walking near Township Road 542 and Range Road 225, south of Fort Saskatchewan.

Bodies of several Edmonton-area prostitutes have been found in the same area.

Police say Jack, who was also known as Bonnie Lynn Loyie, lived a high-risk lifestyle and had worked in the sex trade in both Edmonton and Vancouver. They also said she was a mother.

The man, who spoke to the Sun yesterday, said that Jack, known by him and many others as Bunny, had "been around the streets a long time."

He said he hadn't seen her in a few months. "I guess this is why."

Police have not said how long Jack's body had been in the field, but they say her family last spoke to her about two months ago. She had not been reported missing.

Jack's body was discovered just over a week after the body of another sex-trade worker, 36-year-old Theresa Innes, was found in a Fort Saskatchewan home.

Thomas George Svekla, 38, is charged with second-degree murder and interfering with human remains in her death.

Saturday, May 20

Bonnie Lynn Jack liked to answer the phone with a cheery "Bunny Love"

Latest victim was street prostitute
37-year-old woman was too addicted to crack to give up high-risk lifestyle

Florence Loyie, Ryan Cormier and Richard Warnica
The Edmonton Journal

Saturday, May 20, 2006


CREDIT: Calgary Herald/HO
Even though Bonnie Lynn Jack knew some of the other women whose homicides are being investigated by Project Kare, she wasn't affected enough to stop working the streets.

EDMONTON - Bonnie Lynn Jack liked to answer the phone with a cheery "Bunny Love."

Then she would laugh.

"She was always joking and laughing. She was a beautiful person. Kind and soft-spoken," said Emiline Lagimodiere, who was shocked to learn her good friend's body was found in a wooded area near a farmer's field south of Fort Saskatchewan this week. It's the same rural area where the bodies of five other female prostitutes have been found since 2003.

A young couple found Jack while on a walk Tuesday afternoon.

Project Kare, the RCMP task force investigating more than 80 cases of missing or dead men and women involved in high-risk lifestyles, is investigating the 37-year-old woman's death as a homicide.

RCMP are now trying to trace Jack's movements in recent months and are asking for the help of anyone who had contact with her.

Lagimodiere said Jack had a bad crack addiction, and worked the streets to support her habit.

"She was a lesbian. The only reason she went with the men was because she had a crack addition," she said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"She didn't like men because of what happened to her when she was little -- she told me she was raped."

"She used to cry. She said: 'They've hurt me too much,' " Lagimodiere said.

Even though Jack knew some of the other women whose homicides are being investigated by Project Kare, she wasn't affected enough to stop working the streets, Lagimodiere said.

Her area was along 118th Avenue between 95th Street and 94th Street, but she was known to hang around around the corner of 84th Street and 118th Avenue as well.

"I used to tell her to get off the street and find a job, even if it's washing dishes for $5.90.

"She figured it would never happen to her. She said if you played it smart, you'd be all right."

Lagimodiere said the last time she saw Jack was weeks ago when she had to tell her to leave her apartment because she was doing crack cocaine and getting out of hand.

"She was really a good person who treated everybody fairly. But if someone treated her wrong while she was high, she could get aggressive," she said.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said Jack spent time in Edmonton and Vancouver, but he did not release her primary residence.

"The last known contact that we have, at this point in time, is with her family approximately two months ago," Oakes said. "I believe that contact was here in Edmonton."

Jack was not reported missing, nor was she registered with Project Kare.

So far, Oakes said, there is no connection between this investigation and any other.

RCMP have not released the cause of death, or how long Jack's body was in the woods before it was found. The body was approximately 25 metres west of a gravel road, just off of a field in a wooded area.

"I can tell you that this lady, as with many of the victims, was a mom," Oakes said. "It's very sad."

Lagimodiere said Jack never talked much about her family, or mentioned she had children.

"I know she had stretch marks, but I didn't pry. I didn't want to want to rub salt in her wounds," she said as she clutched a picture of Jack that RCMP released Friday.

"She was always kind to everyone. She would give you the shirt off her back. How could someone do this to her?"

floyie@thejournal.canwest.com

rcomier@thejournal.canwest.com

rwarnica@thejournal.canwest.com

© The Edmonton Journal 2006

Friday, May 19

Edmonton police identify body as slain prostitute

May 19, 2006
CTV.ca News Staff

A body found near Edmonton was a prostitute with ties to Vancouver, police said Friday. Investigators are treating her death as a homicide.

Bonnie Lynn Jack, 37, was discovered Tuesday in the same rural area where several murdered sex-trade workers have been found in recent years.

"Investigators have learned that (Jack) had connections with both Edmonton and Vancouver that involved a high-risk lifestyle including activities in the sex trade," RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes told reporters.

"She had contact with both communities, she frequented both communities. How much time was spent where, I have no knowledge of that."

Police also said Jack, 37, was a mother. They have contacted her family, who police said are too distraught to speak with the media.

Oakes would not say whether police are investigating persons of interest in Jack's murder, or the condition her body was in when found.

He also didn't say how the body was identified, other than that officials performed an autopsy.

"I don't know have the specifics (on the identification), whether it was dental, fingerprints or some other means," he said.

Jack is the 27th Edmonton-area prostitute murdered since 1975. Project Kare, a joint task force with the RCMP that focuses on slain sex-trade workers, is investigating her death.

Oakes said Jack was last in contact with her family about two months ago, although CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk said neighbours and prostitute's claimed she lived with a boyfriend for at least a year.

Anyone with information on Jack's death are encouraged to phone Crime Stoppers or contact Project Kare officers.

Investigators are currently working on the case of another murdered Edmonton-area prostitute: thirty-six-year-old Theresa Merrie Innes, found north of the city in Fort Saskatchewan, on May 7.

Police charged Thomas George Svekla, 38, of High Level, Alta., with second-degree murder in her death. He's also charged with indecently interfering with a dead body.
Svekla is the first person arrested by Project Kare.

With files from CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk and The Canadian Press

Body found near Edmonton identified as prostitute with Vancouver links

Body found near Edmonton identified as prostitute with Vancouver links

Canadian Press
Friday, May 19, 2006

EDMONTON (CP) - A woman whose body was discovered recently near Edmonton was a sex-trade worker who also had connections to Vancouver, police said Friday.

Bonnie Lynn Jack, 37, also known as Bonnie Lynn Loyie, was found by a couple out walking east of Sherwood Park on Tuesday. It's in an area where the bodies of a number of murdered prostitutes have been discovered in recent years. "Investigators have learned that (Jack) had connections with both Edmonton and Vancouver that involved a high-risk lifestyle including activities in the sex trade," said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

"She had contact with both communities, she frequented both communities. How much time was spent where, I have no knowledge of that."

He wouldn't say if police have persons of interest in the case and wouldn't discuss the condition of the body. He said Jack was identified through an autopsy but did not provide details.

"I don't know have the specifics (on the identification), whether it was dental, fingerprints or some other means."

He said they are treating the case as a homicide, and that Jack's family has been devastated.

"I can tell you this lady, as with many of our victims, was a mom. Another very sad element."

The investigation involves members of Project Kare, a special RCMP-led task force that has been concentrating on the prostitute murders.

The Jack case brings to 27 the number of cases being reviewed by Kare in the greater Edmonton area.

Oakes said it will be a challenge to retrace Jack's steps, "as the family last had contact with Bonnie approximately two to two-a-half months ago."

He believed the contact was in Edmonton and said police want anyone who may have seen or talked to her to contact them.

Police are also working on the case of Theresa Merrie Innes.

The body of the 36-year-old sex-trade worker was found in a home in Fort Saskatchewan, north of Edmonton, on May 7.

Thomas George Svekla is charged with second-degree murder in that case.

© The Canadian Press 2006

Thursday, May 18

Mother of slain sex-trade worker grieves at memorial

Canadian Press
Thursday, May 18, 2006

CREDIT: Canadian Press
Theresa Merrie Innes was last seen alive in High Level.

EDMONTON -- The mother of a murdered prostitute dabbed at her eyes, hugged her son and clutched a tiny bouquet of flowers Thursday at a memorial service to honour more than a dozen women found slain near Edmonton in recent years.

"She was a sweet, giving person,'' said Beverly Innes, the pain of her daughter's loss etched into her face. "She didn't deserve to go this way because she was always trying to help others.''

The body of Theresa Merrie Innes, a 36-year-old mother of two, was found earlier this month in a home in Fort Saskatchewan, a bedroom community northeast of Edmonton.

She was last seen alive last August in High Level, Alta., more than 700 kilometres away from where her body was found May 7.

Thomas George Svekla, 38, is facing second-degree murder charges. He is the first person to be charged by an RCMP-led task force looking into the deaths of dozens of women with so-called "high-risk lifestyles.''

A crowd of more than 100 watched as Delia Quinney, whose daughter Rachel was found dead in a wooded area in 2004, lit three candles atop a podium draped with black cloth. One candle was to pay tribute to Innes, another to recognize the spirit of another body found earlier this week east of Edmonton, and the third to honour all victims of violence.

Delia Quinney sniffled and held back tears as she lit the candles while another woman beat a slow and solemn rhythm beside her on an aboriginal drum.

The body of Kathy King's daughter, Cara, was discovered near the city in 1997.

King called for more resources to help women get off the street and for more public education to dry up consumer demand for the services of prostitutes.

"The young women we remember were victims at many levels,'' said King. "They did not deserve to die, yet there were few resources to help them live.''

She struggled to check her emotions in a moving tribute to the murdered women, who she said were trivialized, sometimes blamed for being victims and denied dignity even in death.

"We are no longer in the ditch or the alley or the trunk of your car. We are not even on the street corner,'' she said.

"We are now present in the sun that shines, the stars that twinkle in the sky . . . Let the memory of our short lives be used for good so that others can enjoy the peace and freedom we were denied.''

Officials with the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton, which organized the memorial, called for more action on violence against women, including seizing the vehicles of men who hire prostitutes, and providing more programs and affordable housing to get women off the streets.

Beverly Innes asked the public not to dismiss the deaths of sex-trade workers.

"They are somebody's daughter and somebody's sister. They're not just prostitutes,'' she said.

Michael Innes, Theresa's brother, paid tribute to the tireless work of investigators but said there are likely other undiscovered bodies out there.

"There are a lot of girls out there that still haven't been found or seen,'' he said.

"Let's not stop just because of a memorial. Let's keep going and find these girls.''

The Project Kare task force is also investigating the discovery of a body east of Edmonton on Tuesday -- an area where the bodies of prostitutes have been dumped before.

In a news release Thursday, RCMP said an autopsy established it was a 38-year-old female and police were working to notify the next of kin.

Police said the woman had not been reported missing and several details, such as how long the body had been in the field, would not be released for the sake of the investigation.

Kate Quinn, executive director of the prostitution foundation, said news of the discovery of another body near Edmonton was stunning.

"It was like a kick in the stomach,'' she said.

"This woman, Theresa's just buried on the Tuesday, had the family memorial, and then on Wednesday the headlines, `Another Body Found.' The violence has to stop, the deaths have to stop.''

Quinn said she was heartened that Project Kare has made an arrest in Innes's slaying, saying perhaps it will provide breaks in other cases, too.

© Canadian Press 2006

Who is responsible for the deaths of 15 women?

RCMP-led task force has made one arrest, but suspect is not linked to other killings

KATHERINE HARDING
From Thursday's Globe and Mail

May 18, 2006

FORT SASKATCHEWAN, ALTA. — It is quietly becoming a chilling sign of the return of spring to the rural fields on the eastern outskirts of Edmonton: yellow police tape and a white body bag.

Police officers, including members of Project Kare, an RCMP-led task force investigating the murders and disappearances of Albertans leading "high-risk lifestyles," spent yesterday searching a small wooded area near a farmer's field where a body was found Tuesday.

The human remains, which have yet to be identified but are believed to be those of a woman, were discovered by a young couple out for a walk.

Since 1997, the bodies of several female Edmonton prostitutes have been found within kilometres of yesterday's crime scene on a country road leading into the small city of Fort Saskatchewan.

"This is a very sensitive issue for this area. This will raise concerns for the loved ones of anyone who lives a high-risk lifestyle," RCMP Corporal Wayne Oakes said shortly after the remains were discovered.

However, Cpl. Oakes warned the public and media not to jump to conclusions that this case, which is being treated as a homicide, is linked to those murders.

An autopsy was conducted yesterday afternoon. The results, and more information about the case, could be released as early as today.

Since 1988, there have been at least 14 unsolved murders of women -- most of them prostitutes -- in the Greater Edmonton Area. And behind every unsolved case, devastated family and friends wait for answers.

Mary Lake, whose 29-year-old daughter, Debbie, was killed more than three years ago, is losing confidence that she will ever know who killed her child.

Even the recent arrest of a northern Alberta man by Project Kare has not brought much hope to the Moose Jaw, Sask., woman.

"It makes you wonder, but I honestly think more than one person has done all this," she said during a telephone interview. "And to tell you the truth, I don't think they will ever find her killer. I just feel that in my heart."

But like the families of other slain sex-trade workers, Ms. Lake and her husband, Myles, are still closely following the case of Thomas Svekla.

The 38-year-old mechanic was charged last week with second-degree murder and interfering with human remains, a day after the body of Theresa Merrie Innes was found stuffed in a hockey bag in a Fort Saskatchewan home on May 7.

The 5-foot, 100-pound crack cocaine user and sex-trade worker, who was known on the streets as "Terri" or "Theresa Goodwin," was reportedly last seen alive on Sept. 5, 2005, in High Level, Alta.

The charges are the first to be laid by Project Kare, which began operating in the fall of 2003.

While police acknowledged last year that a serial killer was likely responsible for many of the killings in and around Edmonton, they have refused to say whether Mr. Svekla is their man.

Mr. Svekla could enter a plea on the second-degree murder charge as early as May 25.
Court documents show that police believe Ms. Innes was killed in High Level, where Mr. Svekla lived, and was transported more than 700 kilometres to Fort Saskatchewan. The small city is about 15 kilometres east of Edmonton.

Ms. Lake said it is this fact that convinces her that police still have not caught the main person behind the bulk of the killings. "My daughter, and many of the other women, were found in fields. They were dumped," she said.

Most of the slain women have been discovered in rural fields and ditches east of Edmonton, and at least two were burned.

The task force released a profile of the killer, suggesting that the person behind the gruesome crimes probably likes to fish and hunt, enjoys the outdoors, and drives either a truck, van or a sport utility vehicle that he may clean at odd times. They also suspect he may live or work, or have friends or family, in places south of Edmonton such as Leduc and Camrose. About 50 officers are working on the case.

A sign posted on the front door of the home of Mr. Svekla's parents in Fort Saskatchewan reads: "We do not wish to make a statement and would like you to please understand this is a difficult time for us. Please kindly leave these premises and respect our privacy."

Court documents paint a picture of a violent and volatile man; in 2000, he was convicted of assault involving his then-wife.

Ms. Lake said despite her interest in watching these court proceedings, she does not expect they will consume her: She and her husband are too busy raising the four children that Debbie left behind.

All that was left of the 29-year-old married woman was a skull and a few bones found near a farmer's field on April 12, 2003, near Camrose, Alta. She had been missing since November, 2002.

"We are doing as well as can be expected," Ms. Lake said. "She's on my mind every day."

The Edmonton killings

Since 1988, the bodies of 15 women, most of them sex-trade workers, have been found in and around Edmonton. Many of the slain women's bodies were dumped in rural areas east of the city. In the majority of theses cases, police have never released the cause of death because of the continuing investigation. Here are their names, ages, and date of discovery. Yesterday, another body was discovered. Project Kare is investigating, but has not yet linked this case to the others.

Name Age Date of discovery
1. Georgette Flint 20 Sept. 13, 1988
2. Bernadette Ahenakew 22 Oct. 1989
3. Cara King 22 Sept. 1, 1997
4. Joyce Hewitt 22 Oct. 19, 1997
5. Kelly Dawn Reilly 24 Jan. 27, 2001
6. Edna Bernard 28 Sept. 23, 2002
7. Monique Petrie 30 Jan. 8, 2003
8. Melissa Munch 20 Jan. 12, 2003
9. Debbie Darlene Lake 29 April 12, 2003
10. Katie Sylvia Ballentyne 40 July 7, 2003
11. Rachel Liz Quinney 19 June 11, 2004
12. Samantha Tayleen Berg 19 Jan. 25, 2005
13. Charlene Gauld 20 April 16, 2005
14. Ellie May Meyer 33 May 6, 2005
15. Theresa Merrie Innes 36 May 7, 2006

© Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, May 17

Police seize more vehicles from accused prostitute killer

Florence Loyie
CanWest News Service; Edmonton Journal

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

EDMONTON - RCMP seized four more vehicles belonging to the man accused of killing an Edmonton prostitute in High Level, Alta., and transporting her body more than 700 kilometres to Fort Saskatchewan in a hockey bag.

The vehicles three sedans and a Chevy Bronco four-by-four were seized from a wrecking yard northeast of Edmonton where they had been stored for about four years.
Thomas George Svekla, 38, was charged with second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body after the body of Theresa Merrie Innes, 36, was found at a residence in Fort Saskatchewan on May 7 after police received a tip.

A relative of Svekla's had asked if they could store the vehicles in the wrecking yard, said the owner, who added his company's only connection to the accused is that he used to sell him car parts years ago.

The vehicles are now being examined at an Edmonton forensic garage.

On May 8, RCMP searched two rooms of the Family Motel in High Level, and towed a red and silver pick-up with a silver canopy from a tire company's lot, where Svekla had worked as a mechanic until earlier this year. The truck had been parked there for the last several months.

Innes, who may have also been know as Terri or Theresa Goodwin, was last seen alive in High Level on Sept. 5, according to RCMP.

Innes' death is being investigated by Project Kare, an RCMP task force investigating the deaths and disappearances of dozens of Albertans who led high-risk lifestyles, including the murders of 13 sex trade workers who have been found in rural areas outside Edmonton since 1988. RCMP have said they believe a serial killer is responsible for one or more of the women's deaths.

Svekla is the first person to be charged in connection with a death being investigated by Project Kare.

floyie@thejournal.canwest.com

Edmonton Journal
© CanWest News Service 2006

New cases may be linked to Alberta sex-trade killings

Last Updated Wed, 17 May 2006 14:52:12 EDT
CBC News

Police in Alberta have found the remains of one person and are looking for another body as an investigation into the disappearance and death of nearly two dozen sex-trade workers continues.

A young couple walking in a rural area east of Edmonton stumbled across human remains Tuesday, the RCMP said in a news release late in the day.

That's the same area where the bodies of sex-trade workers have been found in the past. Since 1975, 25 women have been found dead in the Edmonton area.

FROM JUNE 23, 2004: Remains of another woman found near Edmonton

The string of killings is being investigated by a special RCMP task force known as Project Kare.

The task force has been asked to take part in the probe of Tuesday's discovery, which appears to be the body of a woman, the RCMP release said.

"While it is currently not certain that this is a death that falls within the Project Kare mandate, they will remain actively involved until the status of the investigation is further known," the statement said.

Officials have scheduled an autopsy for Wednesday.

Officers scour landfill for woman's body

Elsewhere, more than a dozen Calgary police officers continue to search a landfill in the southeastern part of the city for evidence of a possible killing.

The Edmonton-based Project Kare team is also involved in that case, with police calling it routine procedure.

Police say they received a tip that a homicide may have occurred earlier this month involving a woman in her late teens or early twenties.

Staff Sgt. Barry Cochran said investigators dug through 500 tonnes of waste Tuesday without finding either evidence or human remains.

He said the tip directed police to look in one particular part of the landfill site.

The search will continue for the next few days.

Copyright ©2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved

Body parts found in dump - Project KARE heads to Calgary

Project KARE heads to Calgary

By SARAH KENNEDY, SUN MEDIA
May 17, 2006

CALGARY -- Homicide cops spent much of yesterday digging through a garbage dump after receiving a tip that a young woman had been murdered.

Staff Sgt. Barry Cochran said investigators dug through 500 metric tonnes of waste and by 3:30 p.m. they had found no evidence or human remains in the BFI landfill site at 194 Avenue and Macleod Trail.

Cochran was keeping tight-lipped on the investigation but said Edmonton's Project KARE, an RCMP task-force set up to investigate the deaths of sex-trade workers, is assisting.

The woman's identity is not known, nor is it known if she worked as a prostitute but it's believed she was in her teens or early 20s, said Cochran.

He said Project KARE's involvement is routine because of the alleged murder victim's age and gender.

The dump search began today following a tip homicide investigators received at the beginning of the month, said Cochran.

"The information we received was of the possible homicide of an unknown female," said Cochran.
"We don't know who she is."

Cochran said they are taking the tip very seriously because much of the information they've received has been accurate, but the tipster didn't know the alleged victim.
More than a dozen police officers will continue searching the site for the next few days.

They are being assisted by city crews and machinery to sift through the waste.
Homicide investigators are working closely with the missing persons unit because they said it's likely the woman could have been a runaway, said Cochran.

Madelyn MacDonald, executive director of EXIT Community Outreach, said they haven't received any reports of concern regarding missing sex-trade workers in our city.

Another body turns up

Grisly find north of Sherwood Park raises new fears

By CARYCASTAGNA, EDMONTON SUN
May 17, 2006

SHERWOOD PARK -- A body, believed to be a female's, was discovered shortly after noon near a farmer's field north of this community, raising fears that another Edmonton-area prostitute has been slain.

Project KARE, the police task force investigating the disappearances and murders of a number of people leading high-risk lifestyles, is involved in the investigation, which is being treated as a homicide.

But RCMP spokesman Wayne Oakes told reporters last night that the preliminary investigation hadn't determined whether the case involves a sex-trade worker or even whether it is in fact a homicide.

However, the location of the grisly find - near Range Road 225 and Township Road 542, east of Highway 21 - "is the same general area where the bodies of several Edmonton-area sex-trade workers have been discovered in recent years," Oakes acknowledged, adding the find will raise concerns for relatives of missing people in high-risk lifestyles.

Other details - including identity, cause of death, the level of decomposition and whether the body was clothed - also weren't released last night.
An autopsy was slated for this afternoon.

A young couple out for a lunch-time walk discovered what they believed to be a human body in a lightly wooded area near a farmer's field, Oakes said. The man and woman called police and investigators have been at the scene ever since.

Mounties were probing missing persons reports and contacting other agencies in a bid to identify the remains, Oakes said.

There was no evidence to link the death to any active or historic homicide investigations, Oakes said.

RCMP cruisers blocked access to the area last night.

The area, just south of Fort Saskatchewan and near Edmonton's eastern city limits, has long been a dumping ground for the bodies of women in the sex trade.

On Oct. 24, 1989, the body of Bernadette Ahenakew, 22, was discovered 2 km north of Highway 16 along Clover Bar Road.

On Jan. 8, 2003, 30-year-old Monique Pitre's corpse was found near Township Road 540 and Range Road 220.

Just four days later, the body of 20-year-old Melissa Munch was found south of Highway 16 on Range Road 220.

Then, on June 11, 2004, Rachel Quinney's body was discovered near Township Road 540 and Range Road 224. The 19-year-old's body had been dumped in a wooded area.
Other bodies have been found farther afield, but in the same general vicinity.
On Sept. 13, 1988. the body of Georgina Flint, 20 was discovered just west of Elk Island National Park.

In Sept. 1, 1997, the remains of Carlayn Aubrey King, 23, were found in a canola field near Strathmore Way in Sherwood Park.

On Oct. 19, 1997, Joyce Ann Hewitt's body was found just within Edmonton's eastern boundary. The 22-year-old's remains were found in some underbrush near 17 Street and 91 Avenue.

Tuesday, May 16

Veteran lawyer Orris joins defence team for Pickton

He leads arguments in the voir dire in the trial of accused serial killer

Lori Culbert
Vancouver Sun

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

CREDIT: Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun
Another high-profile lawyer, Glen Orris, has been added to the defence team of Robert (Willy) Pickton.

NEW WESTMINSTER - A new portion of accused serial killer Robert (Willy) Pickton's lengthy pre-trial hearing opened Monday in New Westminster Supreme Court, and revealed another high-profile name on his publicly-funded defence team.

Glen Orris led the arguments in the voir dire that began Monday, details of which are protected by a publication ban.

Pickton, a Port Coquitlam pig farmer, is accused of killing 26 women who disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Orris is a veteran defence lawyer who has represented clients in many headline-grabbing court hearings, including Terry Driver, the so-called Abbotsford killer; Roger Warren, the man convicted of killing nine fellow miners in a Yellowknife bombing; Phil Kim, one of the three men acquitted during a double-murder trial in which juror Gillian Guess was accused of having a sexual relationship with suspect Peter Gill; the appeal of Darren Huenemann, the Victoria teenager convicted of the first-degree murders of his mother and wealthy grandmother; and the appeal by protesters convicted of criminal intent in the Clayoquot Sound logging blockade.

He has also represented a Vancouver police officer linked to a case about the conduct of six officers who were accused of acting improperly when they raided a Commercial Drive apartment in March 1998; one of the Squamish Five; prominent oilman J. Bob Carter; and John Horace Oughton (a.k.a. the Paper Bag Rapist).

Pickton's lead lawyer, Peter Ritchie -- himself a seasoned, high-profile defence lawyer who has represented famous clients like Gillian Guess -- has always refused to say how big his defence team is.

However, at least 10 different defence lawyers have appeared before Justice Jim Williams or attended the courtroom since Pickton's pre-trial motions began in late January.

The long list includes Adrian Brooks, who has done most of the questioning at the pre-trial hearings. Brooks is also considered a well-known B.C. defence lawyer, and at one time represented Kelly Ellard who was eventually convicted of killing Victoria-area teen Reena Virk.

"This is not full-time for me," Orris said Monday about his involvement in the massive Pickton case.

He is the lead lawyer on a key voir dire -- a hearing which determines what evidence will eventually be admissible at trial -- that began Monday and is expected to end in early June.

Orris was non-committal when asked if he would still be involved in the case when it goes to trial. And he laughed when asked if anyone else on the who's-who list of top B.C. defence lawyers will be making an appearance at Pickton's pre-trial motions.

Pickton's trial is expected to begin later this year.

lculbert@png.canwest.com.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Lighting a canadle for Theresa

Vigil to remember latest dead hooker, other victims of violence

By AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN
May 16, 2006

It's becoming a sad tradition.

The executive director of the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton is organizing another vigil to remember women who've been victims of violence.

"It's for all the women who are victims of violence in Alberta," sighed Kate Quinn yesterday. "It's very difficult."

The spur behind the latest vigil - still in the planning stages - was the slaying of 36-year-old Theresa Merrie Innes, a sex-trade worker found dead inside a hockey bag in Fort Saskatchewan. Police say she was killed between Aug. 7, 2005 and May 8, 2006.

Cops have charged 38-year-old Thomas George Svekla with second-degree murder and interfering with human remains in connection with Innes's death.

The foundation has held vigils annually to remember women who died working in the sex trade. But Quinn and fellow workers put together marches for Samantha Berg, Ellie-May Meyer and Charlene Gauld.

"We try to organize something public because we want to to give people a chance to grieve publicly, and also to remind ourselves that they left behind grieving families and friends," said Quinn.

"They were important."

But Quinn warned that just because a suspect has been arrested and charged, women working city streets aren't necessarily any safer.

"They are asking, 'Is he the one?' All of us are cautioning people not to let their guard down," said Quinn.

Cops believe a serial killer has been preying on prostitutes. Since 1975, 26 bodies have turned up around Edmonton and police believe one killer is responsible for more than one death.

Quinn said sex-trade workers face violence on a daily basis and noted 17% of the men rounded up by the Edmonton Police Service vice squad have violent histories.
Many of the assaults aren't reported because sex-trade workers experience feelings of hopelessness, fear of being arrested on warrants - or they just don't have faith in authorities, said Quinn.

Nonetheless, she figures attitudes about violence towards women have to change, especially in a province that has the dubious distinction of having the highest rates of violence against women.

Jan Reimer, provincial co-ordinator of the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, agreed.

She applauded the vigil idea.

"I think the more it brings to the public attention violence against women, the better," she said.

Sunday, May 14

Some missing person cases never closed

By DARRELL BELLAART
The News Bulletin
May 13, 2006

Police spring into action when they get a report of a missing child.
“A lot of the members here are parents, so put it this way – you don’t have to ask for a lot of resources, it will come,” says Cpl. Doug Hogg, of Nanaimo’s serious crimes unit.
Usually, the child is found in a nearby yard or park, playing serenely. The investigating officer hands Johnny back to a tearful Mom or Dad, and the case is closed.
“It is a rather emotional thing. But regardless of the situation, it’s somebody’s loved one and we don’t ever forget that.”
No two cases are alike, and many factors have to be weighed to determine how a case should be treated.
“You cannot take the cookie-cutter approach to missing persons cases,” Hogg says.
“You have to look at the particular circumstances. That can relate to where it happened, when, the weather at the time, the person who’s missing.
“If you’ve got a lost child, four or five years old on a rainy day you’ll treat that with a lot higher priority than if it was a family member driving to Nanaimo who is one hour late.”
When investigating a missing senior the officer will want to know about his history – things like memory problems or if the person was depressed.
A good investigator knows when to ask questions and when to listen.
“I find if you have a checklist, you can limit yourself to the checklist and you might miss something. You have to be a little more logical and analytical.”
On the most serious cases, such as Lisa Marie Young, which generated hundreds of tips for police, it can mean going over facts again and again.
“There’s a lot of rumours floating around about her, and some of them are just way, way off base,” Hogg says.
“Every tip is investigated to the fullest. We take it as far as we can. We follow up everything.
“You can’t ignore anything, because you never know when that tip comes in whether it will be the one that cracks it open.”
Some cases are never closed, but they wind up at the bottom of the active file list.
“You’ve got to take the circumstances and examine them on an individual basis,” Hogg says.
“If a person has drowned 20 years ago, is that at the bottom of the heap? Yes it is. We’re waiting for a body to be found and that day may never come.”
And some people choose to disappear – a drug addict who wants to make a clean break, or a woman leaving an abusive relationship.
When found, such people often want to remain hidden, and police have to respect their privacy.
“A missing person file we would never close until that person is found, one way or another.”
newsbeat@nanaimobulletin.com

The News Bulletin
www.nanaimobulletin.com

CD offers hope to those left behind

By DARRELL BELLAART
The News Bulletin
May 13 2006

Jack Cummer wants to offer a branch on the path that led to his 21-year-old granddaughter Andrea Joesbury going missing.
She was one of the women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. A task force was formed to help find these women, leading to the arrest and charging of Port Coquitlam pig farmer Robert Pickton.
Cummer says it happened because his granddaughter fell through the cracks. She left home at 16 to escape an abusive father and wound up hooked on drugs in one of North America’s worst neighbourhoods.
“Family breakdown is what’s causing these kids to go missing,” Cummer said. “Kids today are left on their own and their parents go off and do this and that.”
Cummer was living in Victoria when police found Andrea’s remains on the Pickton property. He met poet Susan Musgrave through a common acquaintance, and Musgrave wrote the poem Missing in Andrea’s memory.
The poem was made into a song of the same name; Amber Smith sings the haunting lyrics to the accompaniment of Brad Prevadoros’ guitar, creating a powerful piece that connects the lives of the victims of that terrible tragedy.
Today Cummer lives with his wife Laila in Nanoose Bay. They want to offer hope for other women lost in a haze of drug addiction and homelessness.
All money raised from the sale of copies of Missing will go to Willow WAI House, a program for homeless women, sex trade workers and women with drug addiction problems. Haven Society delivers the program.
To find out more about how to buy the CD, please e-mail tracy@havensociety.com or phone Tracy at 754-0764.
newsbeat@nanaimobulletin.com

NANAIMO NEWS BULLETIN
http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/

The song ‘Missing’ can be heard on the Vancouver missing women website at: http://www.missingpeople.net

Saturday, May 13

CD offers hope to those left behind

By DARRELL BELLAART
The News Bulletin
May 13 2006

Jack Cummer wants to offer a branch on the path that led to his 21-year-old granddaughter Andrea Joesbury going missing.

She was one of the women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. A task force was formed to help find these women, leading to the arrest and charging of Port Coquitlam pig farmer Robert Pickton.

Cummer says it happened because his granddaughter fell through the cracks. She left home at 16 to escape an abusive father and wound up hooked on drugs in one of North America’s worst neighbourhoods.

“Family breakdown is what’s causing these kids to go missing,” Cummer said. “Kids today are left on their own and their parents go off and do this and that.”

Cummer was living in Victoria when police found Andrea’s remains on the Pickton property. He met poet Susan Musgrave through a common acquaintance, and Musgrave wrote the poem Missing in Andrea’s memory.

The poem was made into a song of the same name; Amber Smith sings the haunting lyrics to the accompaniment of Brad Prevadoros’ guitar, creating a powerful piece that connects the lives of the victims of that terrible tragedy.

Today Cummer lives with his wife Laila in Nanoose Bay. They want to offer hope for other women lost in a haze of drug addiction and homelessness.

All money raised from the sale of copies of Missing will go to Willow WAI House, a program for homeless women, sex trade workers and women with drug addiction problems. Haven Society delivers the program.

To find out more about how to buy the CD, please e-mail tracy@havensociety.com or phone Tracy at 754-0764.

newsbeat@nanaimobulletin.com

NANAIMO NEWS BULLETIN
http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=51&cat=43&id=647960&more=

The song ‘Missing’ can be heard on the Vancouver missing women website at: http://www.missingpeople.net

When hope is fading - Andrea Joesbury - Lisa Marie

Nanaimo News Bulletin

By DARRELL BELLAARTThe News Bulletin

May 12, 2006

When a loved one disappears, it leaves family members with a giant hole. Fortunately, most missing person cases are solved quickly.
But not all of them.

"It's very painful, like it's a nightmare and you're going to wake up," says Joanne Young, whose daughter Lisa Marie went missing June 30, 2002.

The last her friends heard from her, Lisa Marie was on her cellphone on Bowen Road, riding with a stranger she met at a party.
The case is deeply troubling to crime investigators. Her body has never been found, but few doubt she was murdered.

"A lot of cases bother you – we're all human," says Cpl. Doug Hogg, of the Nanaimo RCMP serious crimes unit. "Lisa bothers me. I see the pain the family is going through and yeah, I want to find her. I have a daughter and I just can't imagine...

"I want to find Lisa, just to have some closure."

For Nanoose Bay retirees Jack and Laila Cummer, the pursuit of closure has proven elusive, even after learning what happened to their granddaughter, Andrea Josebury.

The Cummers were always close to their granddaughter, so when she moved to East Vancouver with an older man at the tender age of 16, it was a big disappointment. She was soon leading a dangerous drug-addicted lifestyle.

The Cummers were glad a few years later, when Andrea called with news she was ready to clean herself up.
Then she fell off the face of the earth.

"She was on a methadone program, but her doctor said she hadn't turned up for treatment," Laila says. The doctor had filed a missing persons report, and urged the grandparents to do the same.

The last time she had called, Andrea mentioned an invitation to a party – her first since moving to Vancouver.

"She was quite excited about the whole thing," Jack said. "She said 'Don't come and get me, I'll be home when I'm ready, I'll be home soon.' That's the part that's hurtful, she was ready to come home."

The days soon became weeks and the weeks turned into months, and the Cummers's fears were fed by news reports of a string of disappearances in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Though they wouldn't mention it to each other, they both secretly began to worry their granddaughter was one of the victims.

"The worst scenario you can think of came to our minds because we had heard about Pickton," Jack said.

"We just put a mental block on it – when it happens, we'll find out. Otherwise it will drive you crazy."

Andrea disappeared on June 5, 2001. The following February police knocked on the door asking for dental records, to compare against human remains found on Robert Pickton's Port Coquitlam pig farm.

"It's something I would wish on no one and it's something a lot of people are still going through, because they reckon there's 60-something missing, and only 26 he's been charged with."

The Youngs still hope Lisa Marie will be found.
"I wonder where is she, where is she," says Cecilia Arnet, her grandmother.

Last February the family brought in Norm Pratt, a psychic who pointed police to the body of a 23-year-old woman who disappeared while hiking in Nelson the previous month.

Pratt accompanied Joanne to Colliery dams, Buttertubs Marsh and several other locations, but he said he didn't feel Lisa Marie's presence at any of those spots. He led searchers to MacGregor marsh on Rutherford Road. The search only turned up animal bones, but Joanne says something changed that day.

"That's when I really believe our family began a bit of healing," she says.

"It's really hard because you can't put faith in everything you hear, but you always have that bit of hope this is the one thing that can help us find her."

The Cummers say closure is something they've always wanted.
"I find there is no closure," Jack says.

But at least he and Laila recently found a way to say goodbye to a granddaughter who was more like a daughter to them, at a beach where they once spent time together.

"I wrote her name in the sand and watched the tide wash it away."
newsbeat@nanaimobulletin.com

http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/

Friday, May 12

'Seems an unlikely story to me' - expert

By MICHELLE MARK, EDMONTON SUN
May 12, 2006

A U.S.-based specialist in serial killers is keeping a close eye on the Project KARE investigations near Edmonton and says the latest development just doesn't add up.
Yesterday's Sun detailed an intricate story of innocence professed in 2004 by the man who admitted to finding a slain prostitute, only to be arrested this week in relation to the death of another.

Thomas George Svekla, 38, of High Level, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Theresa Innes, who was found slain Sunday night in a Fort Saskatchewan home.

Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Conflict and Violence at Boston's Northeastern University, said to be connected to two separate deaths is extremely suspect.

"The police probably don't have enough evidence to connect him with another murder, but it seems like an unlikely coincidence he'd be involved with two of the victims," he said. "I guess anything is possible."

Svekla, who claims he told police he found the body of slain prostitute Rachel Quinney in late 2004, told the Sun he was at that location with another prostitute that night who found the body as she ran away from their vehicle.

And although police have said the wooded area near Township Road 540 and Range Road 224 just outside of the city is known to be one where hookers take johns to do drugs, Levin said he has his doubts about the alleged coincidences alleged by Svekla. "It seems an unlikely story to me and not one police are apt to believe," he said.

Levin has said serial killers tend to be middle-aged men - in their 30s or 40s - who kill for the feeling of power and dominance. He also said many serial killers are, in appearance, the last person one would suspect.

Last year, police issued a possible profile of the Edmonton-area killer saying he may: drive a truck, van or SUV; be a hunter or fisherman; have some connection south of Edmonton; often clean his vehicle, sometimes at odd hours.

Thursday, May 11

Personal encounter with Svekla

Personal encounter with Svekla
Charged in the death of local prostitute

May 11, 2006
By ANDREW HANON, Staff Writer

Thomas George Svekla is charged with second-degree murder in the death of an Edmonton prostitute discovered in a hockey bag in a Fort Saskatechewan home. (SUPPLIED photo)
It felt like a kick in the stomach.

When police announced second-degree murder charges this week against Thomas George Svekla in the death of prostitute Theresa Innes, I nearly retched.

Late in 2004 , Svekla sat across the desk from me, looked me in the eye and asked me to help clear his name in the death of Rachel Quinney, a teen prostitute whose body had been found in a clump of trees in Strathcona County in June the same year.
Svekla told me he was a “person of interest” in the Quinny case, which meant that he was not considered a suspect, but was still under the police microscope.

He claimed that he was under scrutiny merely because he had discovered Quinney’s body but had waited a couple of days before reporting it.

He hesitated, Svekla explained, only because he had been too frightened and ashamed to come forward at first, but eventually he screwed up his courage and did the right thing.

The mild-mannered, soft-spoken Svekla – whom if you passed on the street you’d probably think was an accountant or insurance adjuster – sat with his hands folded as he spoke of the indignities inflicted upon him and his family at the hands of the Fort Saskatchewan Mounties.

Svekla didn’t go into much detail about the so-called indignities, saying only that the shame of being linked to prostitute killings was humiliating for everyone close to him.

Svekla admitted that he had a crack problem, and when in the throes of his addiction he was capable of ugly, nasty, regrettable things.

He said he hated himself when he was using, and was tired of causing his loved ones pain and shame. He vowed to conquer his demons.

In fact, he had Rachel to thank for his change of heart. If there was any good to come from the unspeakable horror of her murder, Svekla wanted it to be his sobriety.
He promised that he would live a drug-free life, in honour of Rachel Quinney’s memory.

Svekla told me about the night Rachel’s body was literally stumbled upon.
He had been partying in the city and had picked up a prostitute in his pickup truck. He wanted to take her out to the country where they could do crack together in private.

They headed east of the city and drove around until they found a grove of trees in a secluded area.

Something went wrong, though, he said, but didn’t provide many details. The prostitute, who Svekla didn’t name, suddenly panicked.

He claimed a struggle ensued and that she bolted from the vehicle and ran into the trees. Svekla said he followed, hoping to calm her down so he could take her back to the city.

Svekla said as she fled, the prostitute tripped over something. When he caught up to her, Svekla said, he discovered that it was a corpse.

They raced back to the city together, Svekla said, and he went home, haunted by the grim discovery.

He said he was afraid to report it at first because he’d have to explain what he was doing there in the first place, but eventually his conscience got the better of him and he came forward.

However, Svekla said bitterly, instead of thanking him, cops treated him with suspicion.

It was the only time we met. I never heard from him again.

Wednesday, Project KARE spokesman RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes refused to confirm or deny any of what Svekla had told me.

When cops announced the charge against Svekla in the Innes case on Tuesday, Oakes said it would be “unfair and potentially wrong” to assume a serial killer had been caught.

“At his point, we have one person charged with one death,” he said.
Since 1975 the bodies of 25 people leading “high-risk lifestyles” have been found in and around Edmonton.

Innes is the fourth prostitute found slain since Quinney’s body was discovered on June 11, 2004.

The others are:
•On January 25, 2005, the frozen corpse of Samantha Tayleen Berg, 19, was found in city trucking company’s parking lot;
•On April 16, 2005, the partially burned body of Charlene Marie Gauld, 20, was found partially by an oilfield worker checking a site near the intersection of Highway 617 and Highway 623;
• On May 6, 2005, the body of Ellie-May Meyer, 33, was found in a farmer's field near Highway 21, north of Township Road 534.

ahanon@edmsun.com

Project KARE suspect appears in court


Project KARE suspect appears in court
Edmonton Journal

Thursday, May 11, 2006

EDMONTON -- A man accused of killing an Edmonton prostitute in High Level and transporting her body back to Fort Saskatchewan in a hockey bag makes his first appearance in court today.

Thomas George Svekla, a 38-year-old mechanic who works at Fountain Tire in High Level, is charged with second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body. He was to appear in provincial court in Fort Saskatchewan this morning.

He was charged after the body of 36-year-old Theresa Merrie Innes was discovered at a Fort Saskatchewan home Sunday night. She was an Edmonton prostitute who also travelled to High Level following the work crews.

She was last seen in High Level in August 2005 and was reported missing from Edmonton in March.

RCMP are looking into possible links between her death and the deaths of 12 other sex-trade workers in the Edmonton area since 1988. They may also consider the person who tipped police to the whereabouts of her body for the $100,000 reward being offered for information leading to an arrest in the string of deaths.

In court documents, RCMP say they believe she was killed in High Level sometime between May 4 and May 8 and her body was transported to Fort Saskatchewan, where Svekla’s parents live.

The accused man is an ex-convict described as a sometimes violent cocaine and crack user.

Court documents show that in 2000, Svekla pleaded guilty to charges, including assault, for which he was sentenced to three months in jail.

His wife filed for divorce in 2000, about one year after getting married. She sought a restraining order against Svekla and 10 members of his family, documents show.
Svekla, then being held in custody, refused to sign the divorce documents and requested visits with his biological son. But his ex-wife objected. She eventually was awarded full custody of her son.

In High Level, Svekla has several outstanding charges, including sexual assault, assault with a weapon, committing an indecent act and uttering death threats. He has pleaded not guilty in all those separate cases.

People who know him there say arrived last summer and was hired after getting out of detox. He lived above a gift shop.

He also faced two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm after allegedly going through an Edmonton checkstop in 2004 with a stolen vehicle.

He was accused of hitting three other cars as he fled, inflicting minor injuries to two of the drivers. These charges haven’t gone to trial.

© Global National 2006

Wednesday, May 10

Stars urge justice for murdered women

The Associated Press

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

MEXICO CITY -- Stars Jane Fonda and Salma Hayek are demanding justice in more than 350 unsolved murders of women in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez. "If the Mexican government doesn't put energy and resources into stopping these crimes and prosecuting the perpetrators, this is going send a message to the rest of the world," Fonda said.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

Serial-killing probe yields a murder charge

Officers refuse to say if charge is tied to cases of missing 'high-risk' women

Jim Macdonald
Canadian Press

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

EDMONTON -- A special police team that has spent over two years investigating the deaths of dozens of Alberta women has laid one murder charge, but won't say whether it's related to any other cases.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said Thomas George Svekla, 38, of High Level, Alta., is charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman whose body was found Sunday in a home in Fort Saskatchewan, an Edmonton's suburb.

The name of the victim would not be released until her relatives could be notified, Oakes told a news conference. He described her only as a 36-year-old sex-trade worker who had been reported missing to Edmonton city police.

The accused, he said, was known to police, but he wouldn't say how.

"We are very mindful of the fact that we have a number of outstanding deaths," Oakes said.

"At this point in time we have one person charged with one death."

"It would be very unfair and potentially wrong to jump to a conclusion before investigators have had a chance to go over the investigation to examine all the details and to in fact complete the investigation process."

The case is being investigated by Project Kare, a joint Alberta RCMP-Edmonton city police unit looking into the deaths and disappearances of dozens of people who led what police call high-risk lifestyles. The team is currently working on the cases of 26 people who have died since 1975 and has said a serial killer may be responsible for some of them.

Oakes said the latest victim was not among the more than 400 Edmonton-area sex-trade workers who have registered with Project Kare and provided DNA samples to spare their families the anguish of uncertainty should they disappear.

"The RCMP are respectful of the fact that every family with a missing female member of their family will experience overwhelming emotions upon hearing this news," Oakes said. "For this reason investigators delayed the release of information in an effort to establish identity through missing persons reports, post-mortem examination or other forensic avenues."

A reward of up to $100,000 has been offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person responsible for any of the deaths. Oakes would only say that a reward payout is a possibility in the Fort Saskatchewan case.

JoAnn McCartney, a former vice officer who now works with the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation, welcomed news of the arrest. "You can only hope that solving one is going to solve more and that it's going to provide a key," McCartney said.

Kate Quinn, executive-director of the foundation, warned that even if a serial killer is found, it won't mean women on the streets are safe. "Probably none of us should jump to any conclusions until we have a bit more information," she said.
Police in Edmonton have appealed for help from anyone who has dealt with Svekla.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Families of missing pleased with arrest

By BROOKES MERRITT & AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN

May 10, 2006

As Project KARE officers begin a new investigation into the murder of a sex-trade worker in Fort Saskatchewan, families grieving the loss of slain and missing loved ones say the arrest of Thomas Svekla is still encouraging.

Jo Ann McCartney with P.A.A.F.E. (left) speaks with Kate Quinn, Executive Director of P.A.A.F.E. (right), during a press conference at "K" Division in Edmonton May 9/06 afternoon regarding the investigation into the death of a female in Fort Saskatchewan. The R.C.M.P. currently have Thomas George Svekla in custody in connection with the case and so far are only releasing that the woman is believed to have been involved in the sex trade in Edmonton. (Edmonton Sun Photo by Brendon Dlouhy)


"I'm pleased there's been an arrest so quickly, but that might mean this (killing) is not related to the others," said Kathy King yesterday.

Project KARE is still investigating the disappearances of sex-trade workers Corrie Ottenbreit, Maggie Lee Burke and Delores Dawn Brower.

Ottenbreit, 27, was last seen in Edmonton on May 9, 2004. Burke, 21, was last seen Dec. 9, 2004, and Brower, 33, was last seen May 13, 2004.

King's 22-year-old daughter, Cara, was found slain in a canola field near Sherwood Park in the fall of 1997.

"A number of the women ... grouped as victims of a possible serial killer were found outside the city," King said.

Svekla was charged after a woman's body was found in a residence.

Kate Quinn, head of the Prostitution Action and Awareness Foundation of Edmonton, said the families of Brower, Burke and Ottenbreit are all still in anguish.

"They're waiting for news, whether it's sad news or good news," she said.

Former vice cop JoAnn McCartney, who now works with sex-trade workers charged with prostitution, said she hopes the bodies of Brower, Burke and Ottenbreit are found soon.

"Or if by some stretch I can remain hopeful that maybe at least one of them is still alive," said McCartney.

"I'm really glad to see some progress. I'm glad to see someone charged and held accountable.

"But there's a lot of other murders that need to be worked on."

Tuesday, May 9

Edmonton investigators announce murder charge in death of sex trade worker

Canadian Press
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

EDMONTON (CP) - Police investigating the deaths of several Edmonton-area prostitutes have charged a northern Alberta man with second-degree murder in the case of one slain woman.

The joint RCMP-Edmonton city police task force known as Project Kare announced today that Thomas George Svekla, 38, of High Level is charged in the death of a 36-year-old woman whose name has not been released. Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the woman's body was found in a home in nearby Fort Saskatchewan on May 7.

Project Kare investigators have spent more than two years looking into the deaths and disappearances of about 80 people who led high-risk life styles, including about a dozen Edmonton-area prostitutes who have died since 1988.

Oakes would not say whether the accused has been linked to any other cases.

"At this point in time we have one person charged in one death," he said.

Last June, Project Kare investigators said they believed a serial killer is responsible for some or all of the murders.

© The Canadian Press 2006

Monday, May 8

Chance of two-year trial in Pickton case means picking jurors will be hard


Chance of two-year trial in Pickton case means picking jurors will be hard

Greg Joyce
Canadian Press

Sunday, May 07, 2006

A pile of rubble including a pickup truck sits in the middle of the Pickton farm in Coquitlam, B.C. Dec. 20, 2004. (CPimages/Chuck Stoody)

VANCOUVER (CP) - The possibility that a jury trial for accused serial killer Robert Pickton could last as long as two years will test the jury system and be an overwhelming burden on those selected, experts say.

"I wish them good luck finding 12 people who are prepared to sit on a jury for two years," says Toronto defence lawyer Steven Skurka.

"It's going to be an extraordinary challenge and really it would test the jury system. It's that onerous."

The two-year estimate was made Wednesday by Peter Ritchie, the lead defence lawyer for Pickton.

"We have come up with estimates as high as 90 weeks, which is alarming - 90 weeks with adjournments, and that could put us close to a two-year trial," Ritchie told Justice James Williams in B.C. Supreme Court.

Ritchie emphasized that his two-year figure was speculative, an estimate by the defence based on the Crown proceeding with the 26 murder counts against Pickton.

Ritchie told the court a two-year trial "gives rise to some very serious issues about a jury."

In Canada, defence and Crown lawyers pick 12 jurors and two alternates. But once the trial starts hearing evidence, the two alternates are dismissed. Under the law, a trial must start over if the number of jurors drops below 10.

Skurka, who acted as counsel to the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association at the Morin Inquiry and was lead counsel to John Paul Roby in the Maple Leaf Gardens sex-scandal case, recalled the reaction of potential jurors in the Gardens case.

"As soon as the judge in that case announced to the jury panel the length of the trial, people started to line up immediately to explain to the judge why they weren't able to sit on the jury," said Skurka.

That trial lasted six months and a jury was selected, but it took three days, said Skurka.

"Lawyers are known to be poor prognosticators of time and I'm no exception to that," said Skurka. "I'm sure it (Ritchie's estimation) is well-intentioned but if that jury panel is told that trial is going to take two years, you can imagine what you'll see.

"You're going to see people stand up and rise in unison and rush to tell the judge why they cannot appear."

A phase of the Pickton trial began in January that involves defence and Crown lawyers making arguments on what evidence should be admitted. The judge then decides what evidence can be put before a jury.

Pickton, who has been in custody since February 2002, faces 26 counts of first-degree murder related to dozens of women who went missing women from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

Gerry Ferguson, a law professor at the University of Victoria, said the possibility of a two-year jury trial has to be unique.

"I think one can say without fear of contradiction that a two-year jury trial would be entirely unprecedented," he said.

The people who would most likely be able to sit as jurors are people who are retired or government employees who can collect regular salary, he said.

"These (jurors) are also going to be people who want to (be on the jury). Virtually anybody who is going to do it is going to have to be interested because it would be pretty hard to impose that responsibility."

But Skurka said while finding a jury for two years is difficult, it's not impossible.

"There are people who are retired that may be able to sit," he said.

"For the overwhelming majority of the population, whether they're mothers of young children or employed. . . to give up two years of your life. . . is just an overwhelming hardship.

"Even if it's a year, it's still going to be a major problem."

Ferguson and Skurka said there may be a need for jury reform in Canada, at least to allow for alternates during the trial.

"You would have 12 jurors and the two alternates would be there in the courtroom. If the original 12 (hear the entire trial) the two alternates would not form part of deliberations."

Skurka said having jury alternates makes sense "particularly in a case like (Pickton) . . . because it ensures that you preserve the trial."

In recent years, a committee established by federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice has looked at the problems associated with "mega-trials" such as the Pickton case.

The committee's final report was sent to the ministers in January 2005 and they sent the report to Justice Canada, where it now is under consideration.

One proposal was that 16 jurors be sworn in at the beginning of the trial and legislation changed to allow a minimum of eight jurors in order to render a verdict.

The committee, however, recommended that alternate jurors not be appointed for the duration of the trial. Instead, lawmakers should consider reducing to eight or nine the minimum number of jurors required to render a verdict.

Another recommendation called for lawmakers to consider appointing an alternate judge who would be kept informed of the proceedings and be able to step in if the trial judge was unable to continue.

© The Canadian Press 2006

Sunday, May 7

Hit by deja vu


Peter Smith
Calgary Sun
May 11, 2003

Occasionally, the stamp world will be illuminated by a striking image bursting from some designer’s active imagination that catches the eye and holds your attention.

SAD SUNS ... An envelope from Romania, top, marked the eclipse and reminded Peter Smith of a drawing by a missing woman, above.

This pre-stamped envelope from Romania did it for me when this dazzling crying sun and smiling blue moon leaped off the page at me.

It was issued to mark the total eclipse of the sun over Romania on Aug. 11, 1999.

Hang on, I thought, I’ve seen something exactly like that before.

I was having an episode of “deja vu.”

And then I remembered.

It was in 1999, too. I had travelled out to Vancouver to write a feature about 31 missing women, all street workers engaged in the oldest profession in the world, all of whom had disappeared off the face of the earth without so much as a trace.

Pretty well everyone I met — other working women on the street, their friends, women’s shelter workers — all reckon the missing women have been murdered.

About the only people who don’t believe a “serial killer” is stalking the strolls in Vancouver’s East Hastings district are the police.

But there’s a deeply felt conviction among everyone else that someone’s murdered the women.

And there’s a deeply held fear among many out there that the missing women were taken out onto ships in the harbour and when the ships left port, the women went with them.

I wrote a feature about this opinion that “sex slave death ships” were a factor behind these disappearances.

And it was while I was researching this feature, I came across this crying sun image for the first time.

One man who knows more about the missing women than anyone outside the police force is Wayne Leng, who has the closest possible personal ties to the tragedy unfolding out there, since one of his personal friends, Sarah, is among the missing.

One night, Sarah was working a busy street corner in the very heart of this dangerous district, left and never returned. Ever.

Wayne’s personal attempts to find his friend turned into a crusade, which flourished into a large-scale campaign aimed at finding Sarah, but also finding all the women so their friends and families could have some answers and if necessary, some closure.

At that time, most of Wayne’s home had been turned into a campaign office with posters and flyers and photographs of missing women.

But in one special folder, Wayne showed me many of his personal memories of Sarah, including a large portfolio of all her drawings and paintings, sketches and doodlings, an insight into her mind.

She had lived a troubled life, often sad, always struggling.

And there, among her artworks, was this expressive painting (see picture above right).

Her crying sun was a theme depicted in many of her pictures — in colour, in black-and-white, as a background to other images, and sometimes up front and centre.

Sarah, sadly, has gone and although she’s only officially listed as “missing,” no one, not even Wayne, expects to ever see her again.

But her poignant images will live forever in her art.

And every now and then, from unknown surprising directions, as with this striking item from Romania, she’ll be remembered through her art.

As I always say, there’s a surprise around every corner in the world of stamps.

Wednesday, May 3

Jury trial for accused serial killer Pickton could last two years

Jury trial for accused serial killer Pickton could last two years: defence

Greg Joyce
Canadian Press

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CP) - The lead lawyer for the man accused of being Canada's worst serial killer says a jury trial for Robert Pickton could go on for almost two years and testimony may not begin this fall as planned.

"We have come up with estimates as high as 90 weeks, which is alarming - 90 weeks with adjournments, and that could put us close to a two-year trial," Peter Ritchie told Justice James Williams in B.C. Supreme Court.

Ritchie cautioned the time-frame is the defence's guess based on the Crown going ahead with the 26 murder counts that Pickton is charged with.

"Our best guess is, admittedly highly speculative," Ritchie told Williams.

After listening to Ritchie's submission, the judge said, jokingly: "You may need a younger trial judge."

Ritchie noted a two-year trial length "gives rise to some very serious issues about a jury."

In Canada, defence and Crown lawyers pick 12 jurors and two alternates. But once the trial starts hearing evidence, the two alternates are dismissed. Under the law, a trial must start over if the number of jurors drops below 10.

"Just to make sure we are all clear here," said Ritchie as the accused sat behind him in the prisoner's box.

"Our jury laws in selecting alternates for jurors are, in my respectful view, pathetically poor. We can't put additional alternates on in any way in an effective manner.

"If this trial lasts something like two years, the chances of holding a jury together are difficult, if not highly remote."

"If we lose more than three we are out luck and we have to start again," said Ritchie.

It would be "disastrous" if the trial went so long that the jurors' attrition ended up in the trial having to start over, he said.

Pickton has actually not yet formally opted for a jury to hear the case, but Ritchie has said that is the intention.

Kevin Church, a defence lawyer in Kamloops and a criminal justice spokesman for the Canadian Bar Association, said lawyers are obligated to not mislead the court.

"I imagine he's telling (the judge) the truth because that is what Peter Ritchie would do," said Church. "If he said his best estimate is 90 weeks then I guess it's 90 weeks."

Church noted that 26 counts entails "a lot of evidence. When you consider an average murder trial may last a month, multiply that by 26."

Church said he could not think of a jury trial in Canada that lasted two years.

"That's beyond my knowledge and it would certainly be exceptionally difficult. It's an exceptional thing to ask of somebody but (Pickton) has a right to a jury trial."

A phase of the trial began in January that involves defence and Crown lawyers making arguments on what evidence should be admitted. The judge decides what evidence can be put before a jury when one is selected.

Pickton has been in custody since February 2002 and is facing 26 counts of first-degree murder in connection with an investigation over a long list of missing women from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

While the current phase of the trial is under a publication ban, the judge allowed some parts of what the lawyers said in court Wednesday to be exempt from the ban, as long as they didn't touch on evidence.

Outside court, Ritchie said the defence is struggling to try to shorten the length of time the case will take.

"When the Crown chooses to go on so many counts there is a lot of evidence, and it's going to be a jury trial, and it would be extraordinarily difficult for jurors to deal with something over a long period of time."

He said it was "highly unusual" to ask a juror to take a year or two out of his or her life.

"It may be impossible to do that. It may be unfair to do that."

Ritchie told the court that as many as 500 witnesses could be called in order just to make the case that the women named in the indictment are actually missing.

"We are speculating about that because the Crown is the authority that decides how to present a case. We don't know how many witnesses they are going to call. Are they going to be calling a huge number or a very small number?"

Ritchie said everyone - including his client - wants the trial to move forward as soon as possible.

"(But) I have grave concerns whether our sights are properly levelled at starting in September or October given the fact that there is so much more to be done pre-trial."

He told the judge the defence team has had a huge amount of material disclosed to it by the Crown.

But the defence still needs a better idea of what witnesses and exhibits the Crown will present to a jury.

Crown counsel Derrill Prevett said the Crown is in the process of supplying that information to the defence, as well as a trial plan.

Ritchie said that might help reduce the wait.

"I'm very relieved to hear that we are finally going to be getting a trial plan so that we can press our team in the right direction."

© The Canadian Press 2006