CFB Trenton commander charged in two murders (1)
A senior military official faces a pair of first-degree murder charges in two separate Ontario slayings.
Police said Monday that Colonel Russell Williams, 46, of Tweed, Ont., has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jessica Lloyd, of Belleville, Ont., who went missing Jan. 28.
As well, he faces a second count of first-degree murder in the death of Marie Comeau, a Corporal with 437 Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
Col. Williams, who is a commander at CFB Trenton, also faces two counts of forcible confinement and two counts of break and enter and sexual assault.
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Related:
Senior soldier arrested in death of Jessica Lloyd
Updates:
4:15 pm EST, February 8th, 2010 — CFB Trenton chief charged with murder of two women
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Cy Says:
$10 says that the “liberal” views about profiling suddenly become more popular around here
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Jack Says:
Re: #1: I doubt it Cy. Military personnel are not very forgiving about this kind of thing. What boggles my mind is how a man in his position could get himself into such a mess although I note he is innocent until proven guilty. I’ll keep an eye on it.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Cy Says:
No I meant get ready for 10000 comments on other forums to the effect of “what do you expect from the military?” – and well beyond any trepidation about open homosexuality. The left is going to have a field day with this one. This guy was not some private, nor did he belong to any kind of politicized minority. So how is it that NO ONE noticed any warning signs? One does not wake up one day and decide to become a multiple killer (IF he is convicted of such).
You can check out CBC to see how things are shaping up already in terms of public backlash.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Jack Says:
Thanks for clarifying, Cy. When I first read your comment I had question marks in my mind but I decided to reply. I also saw the CBC article but discarded it because of lack of detail. I’ll have another peek when I get a minute now that I know where you’re going.
Another thought while I’m here. This situation should have been caught during one of his routine security clearances. Why it wasn’t is far beyond my pay grade.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
ward Says:
The accused would have had to have kept his desires and thoughts very well hidden. I would be very surprised to see that there was a history of obvious indicators as there was with Hasan.
I have not served in the military, but I would guess that there must be some sort of evaluations done to determine the mental fitness of those who serve, mental profiling if you will, which would expose undesirable mental characteristics.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Cunctator Says:
#4 – the accused (and let’s be clear that he still is only the accused, and not the convicted) is a colonel and a base commander. A subordinate who saw anything odd would know that his career would likely meet a fast end if he reported him. The military is a heirarchy after all, and Williams will have patrons who will only reluctantly admit that they might be wrong in their assessment of the man.
I had not heard of these two murders. It is a real tragedy what happened to them. I hope that the perpetrator, who ever he might be, is convicted.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Bozo De Klown Says:
I’ve flown with this man, and this bears no resemblance to the guy I knew. It’s just not believable…
Sorry people, just had to put that out there.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Jack Says:
Re: #5 — “The accused would have had to have kept his desires and thoughts very well hidden. I would be very surprised to see that there was a history of obvious indicators as there was with Hasan.”
Actually Ward, there probably were indicators (f**king around) and his routine security evaluation (if it was carried out properly) would have revealed something badly amiss. I don’t know what went wrong in this situation but you are correct I suspect when you state “A subordinate who saw anything odd would know that his career would likely meet a fast end if he reported him.”.
That needs to change.
I will only say that and no more because of national security rules. I’ve done this kind of stuff and I was not really concerned about my career. “F**king around” was a really big deal in my day and Military Police wrote the reports regardless — with a lot more investigation. Perhaps something has changed. I don’t know because I’ve been out of the game a long time but you can believe me on this point.
“Heads are rolling” as I write.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Jack Says:
Re: #7: That’s fine Bozo and I agree with you for now. We have no idea what the case entails but you can take it to the bank that before this arrest was made the news it was reviewed by senior OPP officials and they would not have ordered the charges if they were not convinced.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Edward Mulindwa Says:
It is very interesting how secretive this entire investigation has happened, this man was arrested when? Yesterday and we are getting to know about it today !!!! And when you listen to talk Radios as myself living in Toronto, not much is said about him. One then wonders why we were so embormed with Tiger Woods day in day out for he slept with women but not with this man who clearly did more than sleeping with the women. Then one remembers the difference, one is white and another is black. I can assure you that an investigation into his past location of employment will find a more un solved murders of women.
I long for a time where all people with all colors will be treated equal, where Ben Johnson is not announced as a Canadian for he has won a Gold but few seconds letter announced as a man of Jamaican origin after the steroids show up. But again that is truly an illusion for it will never happen. Had this fella been black we would by now known what country he immigrated from, who is his father and mother where he was born and what school he went into, what he did while in school. And we would have been reminded over and over how he is black. I challenge you to tell me what you know about Colonel Russell Williams.
My condolences to the families of the four women, the entire population of Tweed, Brighton, Trenton, Bellville and our entire armed forces.
EM
Toronto
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Cynapse Says:
Your assertion may prove to be true in time, Edwin; however, we all know that there is a shroud of secrecy when it comes to the military. This is doubly true when the military men are highly ranked and triply so when we might be dealing with a serial killer.
I’d say let this play out. It’s only been a day and Mr Commander is not a celebrity … yet.
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Mac Says:
For others in service, this kind of situation hits like a kick from a steel-toed boot someplace sensitive. The RCMP has had more than our fair share of them lately and I certainly do not wish it on anyone else…
Posted on February 9th, 2010 at 12:56 am
Edward Mulindwa Says:
The story that has not yet taken off, is the neighbors of this man in Tweed that the RCMP and OPP decided to take as prime suspects. One of them was being interviewed and he said that OPP interviewed him for six total hours, the OPP had a feeling that their suspect was in Tweed but they took in every one around this man’s house except him. They collected DNA samples except from him for to them he was the only righteous man in Tweed. The OPP dwelt on this family took in the wife and told her that her husband was their prime suspect. I can see the life coming back to these families after the arrest was made.
EM
Toronto
Posted on February 9th, 2010 at 1:35 am
ward Says:
EM: As a side point to your earlier post. I have an autographed picture of Ben on my office wall that I proudly display there.
I too was disgusted by the treatment of Ben Johnson and how the Canadian media and sports establishment used him and hung him out to dry.
I bristle every time I read “disgraced Canadian Sprinter”, and they always use disgraced.
Ben gave Canadians – and Canadian politicians and sports establishment types exactly what they were looking for. They could not pile on fast enough to bask in the glory of the moment, and then rather than quietly slip off the bandwagon when it ended, knifed him in the back instead.
5 of the runners in that final have since been implicated in steroid scandals.
I don’t advocate what he did but to have Canada suplicate itself at the feet of the international community did nothing for us other than give us a black eye.
Posted on February 9th, 2010 at 11:39 am