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see
also Tisdale rape | Maxine
Wapass | J. J. Harper
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We remember
Pamela George
Regina, Saskatchewan
December 1996 - November 2000
In December 1996, Pamela
Jean George, a 28-year-old mother of two, was beaten to death.
Steven Kummerfield and Alex Ternowetsky were convicted by jury
of manslaughter for the murder and sentenced to 6-12 years each
by Justice Ted Malone. Judge Malone instructed the jury to remember
that George was "indeed a prostitute," when considering
whether she consented to the sexual assault. The issue of consent
was important in determining whether the young men should be
convicted of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. Ternowetsky
hid in the trunk of the car when they picked Pam George up, so
that she wouldn't know that there were two of them. She was beaten
so badly that her family couldn't open the casket for her funeral.
The manslaughter conviction was appealed by Crown prosecutor
Matt Miazga. Kummerfield was paroled November 10, 2000, after
serving just under four years in New Brunswick, because officials
feared for his safety in a Saskatchewan prison where there is
a large Native population. By now, they have blended back into
the Canadian population.
Pair guilty in slaying of Regina
prostitute:
Verdict shows two classes of justice, band chief says,
David Roberts, GLOBE AND
MAIL, Dec.21, 1996
 Steven Kummerfield, |
Alexander Ternowetsky
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A jury convicted two Regina
men of manslaughter yesterday in the slaying of a 28-year-old
woman, in a case that has galvanized public attention in Saskatchewan
because of its uncomfortable racial undertones and the widely
divergent backgrounds of the clean-cut accused and the marginalized
victim.
Steven Tyler Kummerfield and
Alexander Dennis Ternowetsky, both 20 and the products of middle-class
homes, were found guilty in the beating death of Pamela Jean
George, a native woman and single mother, on April 18, 1995.
Relatives of both the men and
their victims burst into tears when the Court of Queen's Bench
jury in Regina announced its verdict, which carries a maximum
sentence of life in prison. The men, who will be sentenced Jan.3,
appeared emotionless as the verdict was read.
They had been charged with
first-degree murder, which requires a life sentence with no eligibility
for parole for at least 25 years.
The verdict infuriated Chief
Lindsay Kaye of the Sakimay Indian band, who attended the six-week
trial off and on.
"All this goes to prove
to me is that there are two justice systems," he told reporters
outside the courtroom. "One justice system for white people
and one justice system for the Indian people. It's all right
for a white person to kill an Indian person. Nobody cares if
an Indian person dies.
Regina pair to be sentenced
Jan. 3 in manslaughter of native prostitute
"...When we brought Pam
home we couldn't even open the coffin because she was beaten
so badly and these boys are using alcohol as a defence. If these
boys were men, they'd own up to what they've done."
Defence lawyers contend that
alcohol played more of a role in the crime than did race.
The all-white, eight-woman,
three-man jury (a 12th juror was excused for health reasons)
took 12 hours over two days to reach the verdict.
"The jury made a fair
decision," Mr. Ternowetsky said on the way to the prison
van. "But most importantly I'd like to reiterate my apology
to the George family. I didn't mean for anything to happen and
I'm sorry it did."
During the trial, the court
was told how the two men, fuelled by liquor and testosterone,
cruised the streets of the Saskatchewan capital on the night
of the killing looking for a hooker. Rebuffed by several prostitutes,
one of the men hid in the trunk of their car as they finally
lured Ms. George into the vehicle, the court also heard. According
to testimony, she was taken to a remote area near the airport,
performed oral sex on the men and then was hauled from the car
and beaten to death.
The court heard that the men
split a bottle of Southern Comfort and a case of strong beer
before venturing out in Mr. Kummerfield's father's car.
According to testimony, a friend
asked Mr. Kummerfield the nest day what he had done the night
before. "Not much," was the reply. "We drove around,
got drunk and killed this chick."
The court heard that Mr. Ternowetsky
also told a friend after Ms. George's body had been discovered
that "she deserved it. She was an Indian."
During the trial, the men admitted
beating Ms. George but claimed she was still alive when they
left her battered and face down in a muddy field. An autopsy
showed she had a broken nose, swollen eyes and hands, and cuts
on her face and lips. She died of brain-stem hemorrhaging.
Members of the Saskatchewan
Coalition Against Racism demonstrated outside the courthouse
during the trial, noting the gulf between the social and economic
backgrounds of the killers and their victim.
Mr. Kummerfield, the grandson
of a former New Democratic Party cabinet minister, starred on
his university basketball team. Mr. Ternowetsky's father was
once a professor of social work at the University of Regina.
Ms. George was a Sauteaux woman
from the Sakimay Indian Reserve north of Regina. the eldest of
six children and the product of a broken home, she left school
in Grade 9 and moved to the capital where, like many natives,
she lived on the margins of society, her life marred by violence
and economic insecurity. A single mother while still a teen-ager,
she lost a two-year-old son in a 1989 drowning accident. Her
friends said she worked as a prostitute twice a month to help
support her two other children.
"Pam very much loved her
family and her children, and she was always there for them,"
said her father, Terry Sangwais.
During the trial, the men offered
backhanded apologies to Ms. George's family.
"I just apologize for
whatever part we played in this," Mr. Kummerfield told the
jurors. "I don't know what happened -- if we were the ones
who did it or not."
His words were echoed by Mr.
Ternowetsky. "I just apologize to the George family for
the way I treated Pamela. She didn't deserve it and there's no
excuse for what I did. I'm just sorry."
Throughout the trial, a few
of Ms. George's relatives sat quietly in the courtroom, hugely
outnumbered by the friends and family of the accused.
The defence argued that the
pair were too drunk to know what they were doing: Each had an
estimated blood-alcohol level of at least 0.31 to 0.34 -- four
times the legal limit for driving. However, the Crown said that
although alcohol may have lowered their inhibitions and affected
their judgment, the men could still form the intent to kill.
University of Regina criminologist
Barrie Anderson said the case has captured public interest because
it illustrates so starkly the two cultural solitudes in Saskatchewan,
where natives make up about 14 per cent of the population. In
Regina, three out of four prostitutes are aboriginal, a statistic
attributed mainly to economic circumstances.
"You've got two middle-class
white boys who killed a native woman -- look at the media interest,"
Mr. Anderson said. "We've had seven murders in Regina this
year and most of those were natives killing natives. Nobody can
recall the names of the victims or the accused. If it was a native
man who was responsible here, you wouldn't be interviewing me
right now -- that's the racist aspect of it."
He added that "obviously
they [the men] wanted a native prostitute," noting they
could have gone to an area where non-native women work the streets.
There is some disbelief and
denial among mainstream Regina residents that two young men with
no previous criminal records could commit such a crime.
"People are saying, 'Middle-class
boys just don't do this, so there must have been something that
provoked them,'" Mr. Anderson said. But "would they
have beaten up a white prostitute?"
Ron Bourgeault, a Métis
professor of sociology at the Saskatchewan Federated Indian College,
said the slaying probably was not premeditated. But the circumstances
of the crime point to a form of "systemic economic racism,"
he said.
Last year, a Saskatoon man
was convicted in the slaying deaths of three native women there.
All were said to have worked as prostitutes.
"What options do you have
if you're poor and native?" Mr. Bourgeault asked. "You're
part of the underclass. For women, what are you going to do?
Chances are you're going to try to make ends meet any way you
can, and you might do a little hooking on the side."
But Mr. Bourgeault said it
appears Ms. George's killers are part of a generation that, despite
its apparent privilege, sees little hope for the future.
"They wanted to use her
for sex and then give her a licking," Mr. Bourgeault said,
noting that the pair were products of public schools in south
Regina, where there have been race-related incidents.
PAMELA JEAN GEORGE , aged 28,
of the Sakimay First Nation
(Found face down in a ditch
West of Regina on the morning of April 18, 1995)
The 28-year-old mother of two
was the victim of a tragic and violent homicide. Steven Tyler
Kummerfield, 20 years old, and Alexander Dennis Ternowetsky,
19 years old, were charged with first degree murder in her death.
According to Kummerfield's
testimony, he and Ternowetsky met in the evening of April 17,
1995 for drinks. They first shared a nearly full 40-ounce bottle
of Southern Comfort. After 11 p.m., they picked up a 12-pack
of high alcohol beer from a downtown beer outlet.
While Kummerfield testified
that their only plan was to drink that evening, they did look
for a prostitute. With Ternowetsky in the trunk, Kummerfield
picked up Pamela George and drove out on a gravel road to a spot
near the airport.
Kummerfield then let Ternowetsky
out of the trunk. At this time, Pamela George started to scream
and tried to escape. The two men caught her and returned her
to the car where, according to Kummerfield, they had oral sex.
They then proceeded to beat her.
Dr Modesto Escanlar, who testified
for the Crown, described her injuries as being consistent with
blows from a blunt object. He stated that the beating gave Pamela
George a broken nose, swollen eyes and hand, cuts on her face
and lips and numerous bruises that covered her upper body especially
her head.
On April 19, 1995, Tyler Stuart,
a friend of Kummerfield, asked him what he had done the night
before. Stuart says that Kummerfield replied,
"Not much. We drove around,
got drunk and killed this chick."
Under cross examination, Stuart
qualified the statement by saying,
"I think we killed her."
He also testified that Kummerfield
told him they threatened to kill Pamela George if she refused
to have sex with them.
Stuart also related a telephone
call from Ternowetsky and said his friend told him, "She
deserved it. She was an Indian." In a later telephone call,
Ternowetsky told him "he was real drunk and couldn't remember
a lot of it."
After the testimony of almost
30 witnesses, Mr Justice Ted Malone, of the Court of Queen's
Bench told the all-white jury it would be "very dangerous'
to convict Kummerfield and Ternowetsky of first degree murder.
He also told them to bear in
mind that Pamela "indeed was a prostitute" when considering
if she consented to having sex with the accused.
The jury returned a guilty
verdict to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Public reaction to the verdict
was swift and widespread. A coalition of Regina-based women's
groups filed a formal complaint against Mr. Justice Malone to
the Canadian Judicial Council for the inappropriate comments
during his charge to the jury. The National Action Committee
on the Status of Women said the judge's remarks "dehumanized
women and trivialized the murder".
Blaine Favel, Chief of the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, called the verdict
"one of the most unjust in Saskatchewan judicial history".
In an open viewpoint in the
Saskatoon Star Phoenix (February 7, 1997) Chief Favel wrote,
"There have been over 20 major justice studies over the
past 15 years, including one in Saskatchewan in 1993, which have
all come to the same conclusion. First Nations people experience
racism and systemic discrimination in the criminal justice system
both as accused and victim. In the Pamela George case, we have
seen little respect for Aboriginal persons. First Nations will
not have respect for the justice system until it is changed."
Immediately after the verdict,
Chief Favel also wrote a letter to the Acting Attorney General,
Eric Kline. He said, "I submit to you, as the Attorney General
for this province, to strongly consider appealing this case and,
if successful, argue for a verdict that would be appropriate
considering the circumstances under which it was committed so
that justice is not only done but also seen to be done."
"Once again, Indian people
are victimized by a system that does not reflect our values and
the lives of our people are devalued by the courts."
-Vice-Chief Lindsay Cyr
December 6, 2000
In December 1996, Steven Kummerfield
and Alex Ternowetsky were convicted by jury of manslaughter for
the murder and sentenced to 6? years each by Justice Ted Malone.
Judge Malone instructed the jury to remember that George was
"indeed a prostitute," when considering whether she
consented to the sexual assault. The issue of consent was important
in determining whether the young men should be convicted of manslaughter
rather than first-degree murder. Ternowetsky hid in the trunk
of the car when they picked Pam George up, so that she wouldn't
know that there were two of them. She was beaten so badly that
her family couldn't open the casket for her funeral. The manslaughter
conviction was appealed byCrown prosecutor Matt Miazga.
Kummerfield was paroled November
10, 2000, after serving just under four years in New Brunswick,
because officials feared for his safety in a Saskatchewan prison
where there is a large Native population. He is now living in
a half-way house in Vancouver
Ternowetsky was granted day
parole in August, 2000. He was returned to prison in 2002 for
violence against his current girlfriend.
from the Missing
Native Women website
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
