I will try to answer some of the questions.
Questions From CrimeSolver.
Quote:
“I do think that there is a very good possibility that the murder of Diana Singh and the disappearance of Cheryl Hanson in 1974 is also related.”
CrimeSolver. Singh I'll give you, but Hanson not only doesn't fit the victim profile, but is on the other side of the city. It's not like Norris was the only (alleged) deviate roaming the region.
Answer. Hanson was not on the other side of the city. She was abducted on the very same road that Singh’s body was found. Only four miles down the road. In the country, that is nothing. On the contrary, Hanson was probably his preferred victim type. Norris liked pre-puberty and girl at puberty. He did sexually abuse girls of that age. It is a lot harder to get someone of that age alone and in your car then it is a teenager who is used to hitch hiking. In his reporters notebooks that I turned into the police, many of the girls that he photographed and took information about were in Hanson’s age group.
Quote:
“I am not buying that it is just a coincidence that all three victims from different places all ended up there or being abducted from there.”
CrimeSolver I don't understand what this sentence means. Can you clarify?
Answer. It does not seem probable that in that small country area, four mile radius, that in two years three different girls were either killed there, body dropped there or abducted from there by three different perpetrators. What are the chances of it being different perpetrators involved? One girl from Mississauga, one girl from Toronto, and one from just down the street. Three different perpetrators just happened to land their crimes in that small country area at that time. I think it is the same person, probably keeps going back there to watch over the murder sites to reminisce over his crimes. To me, most probable.
Question from dearmont, “ did your father keep a journal or reporter's notebook that you know of? If you can obtain permission from the property owners for a search of the property, I can arrange GPR equipment for subsurface imaging of the possible burial sites.”
He did keep journal, a reporters notebook. I got them for the years 1971 and 1972. They have been turned over to the police and are in their possession. It is obvious from his notebook that he was using his job as reporter photographer to get close to children, photograph them and to get into where children are, schools and events. There was page after page of children’s names and ages. I will let you know if I get permission to search the property.
Questions From CrimeSolver.
Quote: “He also wanted to make me a victim in that year as well”.
Question. “Can you expand on that. What were the circumstances? How did you escape? Did you still live with him after that? Did you tell someone close to you? Mother, siblings, friends, teachers? Didn't someone go to police?”
Quote:
“However all I can say for sure is that in 1969 he admits going up to his mothers place to kill her boyfriend. In 1971 he started talking to me about killing people. In 1972 he killed two young women and attempted to kill me. He did brutalize one of his sons and did strangle him until he turned blue. In 1984 one of his son’s went missing.”
Question. “To reiterate, why did no one go to police? Also, as to Leroux, why have police not at least now closed the case based on your eyewitness account? They can close a case without publicly revealing the responsible party”
First about the Leroux case. They do not close a case until they have someone in court and tried. They may let it die, but do not close it. Take the case of Larsfolk and McCormick even, it is well known that the police have suspected Mr. McCormick, yet they are still publically displayed on the O.P.P web site as unsolved. Yvonne Leroux was also listed on the O.P.P web site and was for years. I have not been able to find her recently on there. This is still open. We still have to find the body of the other girl he killed in 1972. They have to be looking into the possibility of other victims. I get conflicting reports when I speak to the police, sometimes I get told that it is being looked at from a unit in Orilla, as to the different jurisdictions involved, other times it seems no one knows what I am talking about and there is no co-ordinating effort. They do not tell me what they do or where there at. I do not believe they tell anybody. I think all one will get is a cannot comment.
To the other and more personal questions.
In the summer of 1972 I was facing frequent sexual abuse. I told a neighbor child who told their mom who in turn told my mom. Unfortunately for me, in that same year the Toronto Star posted an article by expert psychologists that stated there was no such thing as child sexual abuse, it was the daughters inappropriate behavior towards the father. I then, in my mothers eyes was responsible for the sexual abuse. In fact it does happen that a child is blamed for the abuse and both parents turn on the child. After this I was called a *advertiser censored*, permissive and was beaten and shunned by my mother.
In the fall of 1972 my mother dressed me up and did my hair so I can go out have my picture taken by my dad. She was unusually nice to me. Also unusually she told my brothers that they couldn’t come this time. She had always been ferrous with him for taking me with him all the time but never my brothers. Not this time.
I was taken to Rattle Snake point conservation area. I was told to pose on top of a high rounded cliff edge. I was told to lean over look down. My one foot was barely balancing on the cliff edge, he kept demanding that I get closer, lean over more on that foot and look down. At the same time he was telling me to lean over and look down he was telling me how many people have fallen to their deaths on those cliffs and how many were murders that would never be found out. He did the same emotional torture to Yvonne and the girl at Lake Simcoe. Yvonne did fight back. I love Yvonne for that, her bravery.
He ran out of film then. I do have those negatives, in them is very clear that I try to comply by moving closer and leaning over more. At one point I wonder how I am still balancing on there. I did get scared, so scared that I could not move. He got mad and told me to just pull my hand threw my hair, so I did. A very unnatural pose for a 12 year old. I was doing what I was told. He then ran out of film. I moved away from the cliff at that time and sat down as far away as I could get. I was terrified by this time and could not move.
He took the film out and showed me the empty camera, he lied to me then,
told me that he forgot to put film in the camera and would have to take all the pictures over again. I could not move. He became angry but eventually told me that he would come get me.
He came over and put his hand out for me to take. I took it, but when I got closer to him he grabbed me, picked me up and tried to throw me off. I was being whipped around like a rag doll. I was able to hold onto him with one hand while my other hand was trying to grab some weeds that were growing out from the other side of the cliff. If I could grab them, I thought that I could force myself to the safe side of the cliff. In something like this, were talking seconds and things change.Next thing I know I am on the good side of the cliff and running like hell up the embankment, going from tree to tree. Don’t recall how it went that way. Do know that I had weeds in my hand. I went tree to tree in case he were to grab me to take me back down, I could grab a tree and hang on.
I made it to the trail, he did not follow me up then. I hung around the trail for awhile. Did I feel like telling someone then, yes. At some point a very pretty women and her boyfriend came walking by, they were laughing and talking. I wanted to go tell her what had happened and have them take me away, but I could not. I figured that they would not want me either. At this time I was very used to rejection, had no self esteem, was powerless, and was the throw away.
So I just waited on the trail. Eventually he came up. Sat leaning against the rock wall guarding people against the cliff and telling me that he was not going to move until I came to him. I did not, so we were there until very late at night.
Eventually he went back to the car, I went to the car got in the passenger seat and we drove home in silence.
When we got home, the first thing I noticed when stepping threw the door is how clean the house was. All the shoes were in a straight row and it was all vacuumed and spotless.
I could hear my mom screaming real happy like up stairs, “Your daddy’s home, your daddy’s home” Except it was real late and all my brothers were in bed. Then she comes quickly down the stairs until she passes the landing and sees me standing there behind my dad. She stopped on the stairs then and stared at me with incredible hatred. She said, “Oh well then.” then stomped back upstairs.
My bedroom was on the floor that we came in on. My dad went upstairs with my mom, I went to my bedroom and did die inside that night. It was obvious to me that both my parents wanted me dead that day. I rarely spoke, I did not bathe, I did not think, I just existed. This was a very difficult time. At school the kids teased me terribly. Calling me dud and greaser, of which I was, as there was nothing left inside.
As well as to the pictures I have of that event there is a witness as well. I wish there was a way to find him. When I was balancing on top of the cliff another kid came up saw me there, a boy, a few years older then I, he became excited and upset and started screaming that I was on the cliff. He then left to find someone it seemed. No one came and I did not see him again. Could be as a kid no one took him seriously and did not follow up.
I was also able to get my mother on tape stating that she knew about the attempt on my life at the cliff. She states on tape that it was horrific. She also states that I told her about it when I got back. No way did I do that. It was apparent to me at that time that she already knew and also I could not talk after that. She knew because she wanted me dead.
I think from the pictures this was late September as some of the trees were losing their leaves. It was then only a month later, on November 30th, that Yvonne was killed. I could not have said anything to help her as I could not even help myself. I believe that I was on the cliff because I started telling people that I was being sexually abused. I would have to count on who ever I told about Yvonne would take it seriously and be able to save me. In other words, remove me from the situation, not just go tell my parents what I said. Humor the situation as to what the kid said. This be cop or otherwise. I would have been dead before I could say another word. Was that a realist fear, damn right. What would the cops have been confronted with, an upstanding newspaper reporter and a housewife, a crazy kid they don’t know what to do with. Cop laughs it off, crazy kid with parent. Kid dies later in other unfortunate accident.
Hay, it happened to my brother. I tell you the Napanee cops didn’t give a ****. Never investigated.
As to kids in abusive situations not talking is common. There was a case to point a few years ago in the States, where the mother took her three kids in the car, pulled over and shot them. One child survived. Even thought the child was removed from the home and given supports and counseling, it took 7 months for the child to say anything about it. I did not have access to those supports.
The day my brother was strangled until he turned blue, that was a wild day, it was serious for him that we thought he might be killed. My brother and I stood outside at night when it was over, I said to him, “He really wanted to kill you.” He said “Ya.” We didn’t want to go back home and so walked around all night. Only going back home when all was quiet and all was in bed. We have NEVER spoken of it again. That’s it, that ’s all we said.
So why weren’t the cops ever called, we couldn’t talk. Also, from our point of view, if he wanted to kill us before we called the cops and we have to go back home again, how mad is he going to be after we call the cops? Also, as I confirmed when I first approached the cops in Napanee, they do not always do the right thing, you can go threw hell instead and left wondering why you ever bothered.
You may want to consult with professionals for all the reasons why abused kids don’t talk.
This may be hard for people who have not been in that situation to understand. Some people may fancy themselves to be an armchair critic, and think what they would have done, why wasn’t this done etc. Fact is, in that situation, you are powerless, you are feeling worthless, you have no word and no respect. When you are the unkept and unwanted kid believe me everybody else treats you badly to. Us older kids we did what we could and all got out of there by the time we were 15. Someone did keep calling the Children’s Aid for concern for the two youngest at this time and they were removed frequently by the Children Aid.
As for us, 15 on the street, homeless, hungry. People look at you with disdain. Come on
people honest, how many times have you ever stopped to help a person like that or do you just avoid them, fear them. How often do the police harass people like that?
Abused kids are different. They don’t have anyone to talk to. They can’t go home and have someone who cares make things better. They got low self esteem and great mechanisms to help them make it threw the next day. They are used to going to bed with all hell breaking out and getting up to go to school the next day. How, one way is threw denial. They learn not to think about what happened the day before. They are just on survival mode, and they learn not to talk.
One incidence I will mention. In 1971 I had pet rats. I really liked them, moonshine and sunshine.
My dad had a Red Tailed Hawk, they eat rats. To get my rats out of their cage you would have to lift the top of the cage off. One morning I woke up and saw the top of the cage lifted up and put aside and one of my rats was missing. At that time my dad only had chicken heads to feed the Hawk. When a bird of pray eats an animal they throw up a fur ball it does not get digested. There is no fur on a chicken head. The Hawk threw up a fur ball.
I told my mom that dad fed my rat to his Hawk. Well she beat me and called me all kinds of names and said how dare I say such things about my father and stated that I was an ungrateful *****. The next night, the same thing happened and I lost my other rat. I did not say anything.
I knew when I first started talking publically that I may be asked a lot of questions. Its not easy. But one thing I know for sure would happen if I didn’t talk about it.
NOTHING.
That is not something I am willing to be content with. Yvonne’s family would not know what happened to her. There would be no chance of finding the other girl, and the families of the missing boys would never have a choice to check that hole or not. This is something I don’t want to live with.
Answer to sleuthhound, “I think the only thing we have going for us that will confirm Norris is in fact responsible for the disappearance of these two boys, or anyone else, is to find the actual
bodies, and to do so, the only way to do so, is to find the bodies, and the best chance we have of doing so is to go ahead with the search and digging of what was once his yard.”
So true. That goes too for the girl killed at lake Simcoe. I don’ know what happened to the boys. All I can say is it is worth checking. But I do know that she was killed. I want to find her body.
