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When the cops won't do
it.. . When the courts won't do it. . . When the lawyers won't
do it. . . Who ya gonna call?
Aug. 16, 2002: Dan Zakreski
report" Missing
woman and a murder lead to eerie conclusions | See
also Tisdale case
Former StarPhoenix
Reporter Warren Goulding has published a book about the police
bungling in the Crawford case.
It is called
Just Another Indian:
A Serial Killer and Canada's Indifference. the introduction and Chapter
1 are
available online.
See also review of
By the Skin of
the Teeth by Ted
Munro, below.
John Martin Crawford
From the StarPhoenix:"
. . Crawford was convicted in May 1996 of first-degree murder
of Shelley Napope, 16, and second-degree murder of Eva Taysup,
30, and Waterhen, 22.
Their skeletal remains were
found in some brush southwest of Saskatoon in October 1994. The
women had died two years earlier.
The murders followed Crawford's
release from prison after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence
for manslaughter. In 1982 he pleaded guilty to killing a woman
in Lethbridge, Alta.
In a startling affidavit
filed for the appeal by Regina defence lawyer Bob Hrycan, Crawford
claims both the deaths of Taysup and Waterhen were an accident,
and that he stabbed Napope after she was already dead. . . ."
We remember
Pamela George | Maxine
Wapass
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Rehabilitation is
not promising. He's a killer and a cheapskate. He says he killed
the women because they asked for more money than he thought they
were worth! Study his face! Remember him because he has already
been let out once! In typical Saskatoon fashion, it is unlikely
Crawford will be charged for other murders he has almost certainly
committed. Police also used a woman as bait for Crawford -- she
is now suing
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- Crawford (above) was formerly
featured on our Sex Offenders page
- Other sex criminals in the
news:
-
-
Shedding light
on dark alleys of the Magic City,
Randy Burton SP column,
June 18, 2001
Saskatoon, sometimes known
as the City of Bridges, the Magic City, or even the Paris of
the Prairies, is also home to some of the most appalling social
conditions and vicious sexual exploitation in all of Canada.
Our "dirty little secret,"
of child prostitution, abject poverty and drug addiction is not
the stuff of tourist brochures, but it looms ever larger in the
city's image.
It has also become a world
in the imagination of G.E.M.(Ted) Munro, former teacher and onetime
columnist for the now defunct Saskatoon Free Press.
In a new book called By The
Skin of The Teeth, Munro dives into the Saskatoon street scene
to paint a fictional picture of desperation and redemption as
inner-city aboriginals struggle to recover their dignity and
pride in a largely unsympathetic community.
It's a theme Munro often explored
as a columnist. Those who remember his tales of "West Side
Johnny" in the Free Press will recognize the flamboyant
prose, now given free rein on a broader canvas. Yet despite the
grim subject matter, Munro paints an often hilarious picture
of local society as he eviscerates the politically correct, the
media, city council and a wide range of other targets.
The name Saskatoon doesn't
actually appear in Munro's novel, but there is no mistaking the
setting that includes detailed descriptions of the scene on 19th
and 20th streets, the "neon heart liquor store," the
Friendship Inn, the leafy surroundings of the university area
and much more.
Some of the names have been
changed, but readers can decide for themselves which local hotel
is the Inn Continent, and what local action group might parallel
Munro's description of COIN, or Clean Out Innercity Neighbourhoods.
More important though, are
the parallels with the events of real life that have unfolded
in Saskatoon in recent times. The central plot line is that hookers
are being murdered on the streets of the inner city and an alcoholic
newspaper columnist named Perles has the horrible suspicion that
he is the killer.
Given to bouts of binge drinking
with a cadre of down-and-out cohorts, Perles routinely passes
out in his van, and almost every time he does, he wakes to find
another dead prostitute and incriminating bits of evidence on
his person.
A tortured individual nursing
a number of personal mistakes, Perles's best days are behind
him. The one-man editorial crusade he once ran against the social
disasters of the inner city has deteriorated into a series of
half-baked rewrites of old material as the columnist sinks into
a morass of alcohol and self-pity.
But as the body count rises,
the possibility that he might harbour a monster within himself
sobers Perles sufficiently to begin to pay attention to a visionary
hooker named Solania.
Through a series of impromptu
street gatherings and inspirational speeches, Solania begins
to arouse the street people to recognize the injustice of their
situation.
Perles falls in love with her
and the vision of a rejuvenated people she represents. His social
conscience rekindled, Perles abandons his comfortable, yet loveless,
east-side home and joins the struggle as Solania transforms herself
from visionary to revolutionary.
It wouldn't do to give away
too much of the plot, but the point behind the story is that
the great social divide in inner-city Western Canada is based
as much on race as it is on economics.
Munro's argument is that the
larger society is happy to ignore the aboriginal population as
long as it's profiting from their misery.
In that sense, Munro's book
forms something of a fictional bookend for Warren Goulding's
non-fiction account of the John Crawford murders called Just
Another Indian, that was published earlier this year.
In both cases, the authors
make the case that the indifference of the larger society allows
continued exploitation to thrive. The difference lies in Munro's
view that a broader upheaval of the kind he describes in his
novel is a real possibility.
"These people have actually
operated under the worst bargain I've ever seen," Munro
said in an interview Monday.
"Here's the deal. You
comply with our social conventions, you meet our established
niceties, you respect the things that we have found that oil
our society, and in return for that, we'll give you exactly nothing.
"The question is, how
long will that bargain continue to work? How long will the population
over here agree to that sort of bargain? The answer is, not much
longer, I think."
That remains to be seen, but
regardless of your view on the ills afflicting portions of west-side
Saskatoon, Munro is shining a much-needed light on a part of
the Wonder City that too many people would rather simply ignore.
Outreach worker
criticizes sentence for sexual offender
June 18. 2001, cbc
SASKATOON - A 22-year-old Saskatoon man has been
sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting and beating
three prostitutes.
"To me, it's really sad
that he got 18 months for sexual assault" ...Don Meikle
Jeffrey Bodnaruk was convicted
in April. Over a 6 month period, beginning in 1999, he picked
up the women, made deals for sex, then refused to pay. He then
forced them to perform sexual acts, and threatened rape if they
did not comply.
Bodnaruk assaulted one of the
women with an ice scraper, choked another, and punched the third
woman in the face.
A street outreach worker, Don
Meikle, says the 18-month sentence sends the wrong message. "The
courts look at this as just part of the job and just part of
the risks they're taking out there.", says Meikle. "To
me, it's really sad that he got 18 months for sexual assaults."
The crown had asked for a 5
year prison sentence.
Bodnaruk will spend two years
on probation following his jail term. The judge has ordered him
to take a sexual offender and substance abuse program.
Sex slavery
nets jail time
By KEVIN MARTIN-- Calgary
Sun, Wednesday, June 20, 2001
- The sex-slave victim of a
depraved Calgary couple hopes their sentencing will help alleviate
her nightmares.
- But the single mother of four
said yesterday the three-year terms will do little to ease her
pain.
- "I don't think it's enough
time for what I went through -- I have to live with this for
the rest of my life," the woman, who can't be named, said
moments after the couple's sentencing.
- Justice Sal LoVecchio followed
a joint recommendation by Crown and defence lawyers and sentenced
Brenda Debakker and Bruce James Rutherford to three-year terms.
- "We must say to the accused
we denounce your unlawful conduct and find it unacceptable in
a civilized society," LoVecchio said.
- Debakker, 32, and Rutherford,
38, each pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of aggravated sexual
assault.
- They admitted picking up their
victim on the Victoria Park hooker stroll and taking her to a
northwest apartment, where they forced her to strip and tied
her hands and feet to a bed.
- Debakker and Rutherford then
took turns sexually violating the woman, forcing her to perform
sex acts on them and beating her.
- During the 13-hour ordeal
the woman was also at times bound by the neck, forced to act
like a dog and commit other acts.
The victim said she hopes the end of the court action will help
stem her recurring nightmares about the attack.
- "It's a little bit of
closure -- I'll find out tonight," she said about her bad
dreams.
Former prostitute
sues RCMP
CBC.CA, Monday, August,
14 2000
SASKATOON - A lawsuit in Saskatoon
raises serious allegations against the RCMP.
In 1994 Theresa Kematch was
working as a prostitute in Saskatoon. She knew the street scene.
What she didn't know was whose car she was getting into one October
night.
But in a statement of claim
her lawyer says RCMP knew all too well whose car it was because
they were closely watching it, and followed it, as the car drove
to another area of the city.
Kematch's lawyer, Ron Piche
says, "The officers were in the immediate vicinity surveying
this situation, and a young woman was raped and beaten by a known
monster."
The monster, says Piche, was
John Crawford. Crawford admitted killing one person and was suspected
in a number of other deaths. He was eventually convicted of murdering
3 Saskatoon woman. In October 1994, Piche says the RCMP had Crawford
under surveillance as part of their investigation into their
deaths.
The statement of claim alleges
at least 3 RCMP officers witnessed Kematch being raped inside
Crawford's car, just a few meters away, and didn't intervene.
The RCMP says their officers
didn't know. RCMP spokesperson Heather Russel says the police
acted appropriately.
"Members who are conducting
surveillance are under an obligation to intervene if they see
a criminal act take place. However, the members in this case
were not aware that there had been a criminal act at the time
during the incident."
Theresa Kematch didn't go to
police after the alleged rape. She says she didn't realize the
man who she claims raped her was John Crawford, until he was
charged with the other killings.
Piche says Kematch waited six
years to sue the RCMP because she needed time to heal.
The force is expected to file
its defence in the next couple of weeks.
Saskatoon
police encounter girl pimps too young to be charged
By CRAIG WONG-- Canadian
Press, Sunday April 14, 2002
SASKATOON (CP) -- For six months
Const. Tim Korchinski and the Saskatoon vice unit heard stories
about an 11-year-old girl running a prostitution ring.
The four-person unit spent
hours compiling information from tips and other sources.
"This girl was actually
successful in doing this through other people," Korchinski
said.
"She was very manipulative.
She was a bit of a bully too, but she obviously had some control
somehow over all these individuals."
However, it wasn't until the
squad had witnesses come forward willing to testify that police
were able to lay charges.
And even then, Korchinski could
only charge the girl with offenses that occurred after she turned
12 because of provisions under the Young Offenders Act.
Over the last year the members
of Saskatoon's vice unit have seen a disturbing trend of young
girls not just selling themselves in the sex trade, but forcing
others to do the same.
The unit has handled roughly
a dozen similar cases.
"Younger people who may
have been involved in the sex trade on their own are now saying,
'Gee, here's an easier way for me to reap the benefits, which
would be the cash, by forcing or bullying or threatening someone
else to do my dirty work and go with the johns or the tricks,'"
Korchinski said.
Last week a 14-year-old girl
was sentenced to a year in secure custody for holding a knife
to the throat of a terrified 12-year-old and trying to force
her to turn a trick to get money for beer.
An adult prostitute rescued
the younger girl and called police.
The cases aren't limited to
Saskatoon.
In January, a young prostitute-turned-pimp
was given a year's probation after convincing a developmentally
handicapped 16-year-old runaway to sell sex for cash in Toronto.
The then-14-year-old girl,
who said she began turning tricks at age 12, paired up with a
male pimp, rented a hotel room, arranged the tricks and set the
price.
Last July, a 15-year-old Vancouver
girl was charged with forcing a 13-year-old into prostitution
after meeting her at a group home. A few weeks later, the younger
teen was walking Vancouver's notorious kiddie stroll.
Crown prosecutor Valerie Adamko
has handled several of the cases in Saskatoon.
"This is the first time
that we've seen a number of youths being charged with a similar
offence like this," Adamko said. "A procuring charge
is very unusual.
"You don't usually see
a youth pimping another youth."
As a youth court prosecutor,
Adamko tries to address the underlying causes of the crime.
"You're dealing with a
youth that obviously needs counselling," she said.
"So that can be done in
the custodial facility. They have access to psychologists, they
have access to personal counsellors."
In another case last month,
a 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty to punching a 14-year-old girl
in the shoulder until she started to turn tricks.
The older girl would earn up
to $500 a night, giving most of it to the 13-year-old, who bought
marijuana, pills and snacks for herself and other girls.
Child prostitution is not a
new phenomenon in Saskatchewan.
Last summer a special committee
of the provincial legislature released a report on the prevention
of exploitation of children in the sex trade.
Among its 49 recommendations
was a suggestion the province adopt a zero-tolerance policy for
those who sexually offend against children.
In response, the province has
introduced legislation that will allow police to seize cars of
those who break prostitution laws and promised action on other
recommendations.
Kearney Healy, a legal aid
lawyer in Saskatoon, had suggested to the committee that child
prostitutes be allowed to sue johns for support to help them
get out of the sex trade.
Healy made three presentations
to the committee outlining plans to help kids who want to quit
prostitution.
"This is a big pool of misery that has to be drained,"
he said.
A 20-year veteran of the legal
aid system, Healy said he's seen three or four cases of young
girls pimping other young girls.
"I don't think it's a
new phenomenon," he said. "I've had cases like this
years ago.
"Of course somebody is
going to take advantage of them."
Korchinski said one reason
the cases have started to appear in the courts is a change in
the way the vice unit is dealing with prostitutes.
"What we were finding
was because 99 per cent of these people were addicted to some
kind of drug or alcohol, they were breaching (the conditions
of their release)," he said.
"We still prosecute for
communicating for the purposes of prostitution, but, more so,
what we're looking at is a situation whereby we'll try to get
at the root problem -- to why they're out there."
He said the approach has helped
build relationships with the girls on the street and helped break
cases against those forcing them to be there.
"In the big picture we're
still in the infancy of it, but it's shown a lot of successes
and it's really been accepted well by a lot of the agencies that
we work with."
Despite the successes, Korchinski,
a father of two young children, is frustrated by the cases.
"We're talking about generational
problems. Their mothers have been involved in the trade. Sometimes
a lot of these mothers or parents don't have a lot of parenting
skills, and so maybe they think it's acceptable."
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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
