GUILTY Canada - Marie-France Comeau, 37, & Jessica Lloyd, 27, slain, Ont, 2009 & 2010 - #6

[otto]

There was more interaction with MF than learning french.

He had dinner with her too.

Don't forget that Det. Smyth asked RW if he knew why MF had written about him in her journal (or blackberry?). He said he didn't know.

We don't know if that was a question based on fact or fantasy. I suspect that she did not write about him in a journal, but that Smyth asked that question to see if Williams would reveal something.

 

[otto]

Otto, I do believe RW stalked JL more than just the night before. He stalked her more than 4-6 weeks before. He stalked her when the grass was still green.

Stalking his victims was as big a part of the crime as the acts committed.

Here is my previous post with links, that explains why I think this:

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - GUILTY Russell Williams, 82 add'l charges - PLEADS GUILTY #5 & stripped of Mil.Rank

I have no doubt that he stalked her, and that he was in her yard and close to the house before he entered the first time. I suspect that she does have an exercise machine in the basement, as Williams was careful to match facts while attempting to minimize what he did.

I understand that the neighbour believes Williams saw her mowing the grass ... and that may well be where he first saw her. He would have then returned several times to ensure that she lived alone. He drove highway 37 back and forth between Tweed and Trenton often, so it's possible he saw her in the yard several times.

 

[flipflop]

I've been looking at maps to see the relationships between Brighton (M-F Comeau), Trenton Base, Belleville, Highway 37 (Jessica's house), further along Highway 37 (music teacher's house), Cary Road (where Jessica was found), Tweed, and then Ottawa. These areas were spread out in such a way that I think it is remarkable and commendable that police connected all the dots and zeroed in on Williams. Ontario police had a history of not working together, but I think we can be sure that they've overcome that problem.

The music teacher who called and reported the break in to the Belleville police who stated to her that they didn't know about the Tweed sexual home invasions... Tweed and Belleville is about a 1/2hr drive, you would think with todays technology that police forces that close would be aware of unsolved crimes like this... I hope they have learned something from this.

 

[Macright]

The music teacher who called and reported the break in to the Belleville police who stated to her that they didn't know about the Tweed sexual home invasions... Tweed and Belleville is about a 1/2hr drive, you would think with todays technology that police forces that close would be aware of unsolved crimes like this... I hope they have learned something from this.

Would Tweed, considering they are just a small town, have their own police force or would that area come under the jurisdiction of the OPP?

 

[flipflop]

Williams seemed to think he had it all figured out and that he knew how to outsmart police, but I watched the police interviews with him yesterday and I thought he was completely unfamiliar with police interviews.

Police said that they were executing search warrants on his home as they spoke, but I don't think that was entirely true. I doubt a matched tire tread was enough for a search warrant on the Colonel's house. Perhaps after matching the footprint, an application for a search warrant was being drawn up ... by whatever assistant chief crown prosecutor had the weekend rotation ... but that had to be drafted, and signed by a judge before the search could take place. I think Smyth told a number of lies to lead Williams to believe that he was caught ... clever police work, but at the same time ... if Williams really was aware of how police operate, he wouldn't have willingly given them so much information.

I wondered how things would have gone if he had lawyered up and refused to provide any information ... like boot prints, DNA and so on. I think it would have delayed the inevitable, made it more difficult for police, and put Williams in a position where he would have had to explain himself to his superior officers (ie: why wouldn't he provide DNA, et cetera). I think he knew right away that giving his DNA would lead to his arrest, but I think that at the same time he was hoping to pull rank, so to speak; hoping that police were only doing some routine collection of DNA and that it would be put on a shelf for months (like in the Bernardo investigation).

Regarding the search warrants...the book states that right after RW went through the checkpoint on the Thursday night, the officers called in to have surveillance on him. He was followed the next day (Friday) to a car wash where he washed and vacuumed his Pathfinder. After he left police seized the contents of the vacuum canister and sought and was granted search warrents for his house, cottage and Pathfinder. Therefore they had the warrents before he was called in.

 

[Macright]

We don't know if that was a question based on fact or fantasy. I suspect that she did not write about him in a journal, but that Smyth asked that question to see if Williams would reveal something.

after reading that he did in fact know MF more than he let on in the interview, I now believe that yes MF would have mentioned him either in her journal or by text to someone and Smyth did not make that up..MF was a Mcpl and he was a Col...if as the author stated that she was helping him with his french and that they had dinner together, I am sure that would be something that she would have let someone else know about..either a close friend or boyfriend or maybe her own family..so I don't think he (Smyth) just threw that in to trip RW........

 

[otto]

The music teacher who called and reported the break in to the Belleville police who stated to her that they didn't know about the Tweed sexual home invasions... Tweed and Belleville is about a 1/2hr drive, you would think with todays technology that police forces that close would be aware of unsolved crimes like this... I hope they have learned something from this.

The police did not communicate to the music teacher whether or not they suspected a connection. What they did was not provide information confirming or denying a connection ... but I'm pretty sure they knew what was going on.

I think we have to realize that there's a hierarchy in every organization. An officer that is collecting information about a break-in and theft is not in a position to discuss how that break-in may connect to other crimes in the area ... that information has to come from the correct person. It may seem like ineffective beaurocracy, but every organization has it, and everyone has to follow protocol.

 

[otto]

Regarding the search warrants...the book states that right after RW went through the checkpoint on the Thursday night, the officers called in to have surveillance on him. He was followed the next day (Friday) to a car wash where he washed and vacuumed his Pathfinder. After he left police seized the contents of the vacuum canister and sought and was granted search warrents for his house, cottage and Pathfinder. Therefore they had the warrents before he was called in.

Thanks! I realized that I was mistaken earlier when I doubted that police had warrants when they called Williams in for questioning.

 

[otto]

after reading that he did in fact know MF more than he let on in the interview, I now believe that yes MF would have mentioned him either in her journal or by text to someone and Smyth did not make that up..MF was a Mcpl and he was a Col...if as the author stated that she was helping him with his french and that they had dinner together, I am sure that would be something that she would have let someone else know about..either a close friend or boyfriend or maybe her own family..so I don't think he (Smyth) just threw that in to trip RW........

That's scary. She helped him with learning French, they'd flown together and he said he went back and talked with her during the flight. She may well have mentioned somewhere that she was maybe surprised that he was paying attention to her or proud that she was helping him ... she would have recognized his voice when he was attacking her. I did read that he altered his voice during the attacks, but I bet she knew it was him.

 

[Macright]

That's scary. She helped him with learning French, they'd flown together and he said he went back and talked with her during the flight. She may well have mentioned somewhere that she was maybe surprised that he was paying attention to her or proud that she was helping him ... she would have recognized his voice when he was attacking her. I did read that he altered his voice during the attacks, but I bet she knew it was him.

I'm thinking that she did know who it was..blindfolded or not..whatever their relationship was I can understand why it wasn't made public by the police or her friends/co workers....

 

[otto]

I'm thinking that she did know who it was..blindfolded or not..whatever their relationship was I can understand why it wasn't made public by the police or her friends/co workers....

Keep in mind that I'm just delving into this case ... and on the surface, I didn't want to believe that there was anything more than a professional relationship or a passing acquaintance between Williams and M-F. However, for a Colonel to be rubbing shoulders with M-F (the rank difference is enough to clarify that it would not or should not happen under normal circumstances), and the young girl that lived next door in Tweed, all under the guise of practicing or learning French ... something isn't right. He is a very scary guy to be befriending his victims prior to torture and murder.

 

[otto]

Williams' first victim was a 12 year old neighbour girl. That was his first break-in. She taught him how to play a card game, and he took her and her brother tubiing. He had to learn French and practiced speaking it with this 12 year old neighbour and Marie-France.

There are a lot of scary connections with Williams and his victims.

He was a very evil man with a very friendly manner.

 

[otto]

What we, regular people, do is project certain values onto people in certain career paths or with certain job descriptions. We assume that if they have that position, they must have certain values. For someone like Russell Williams to climb to the position he had suggests that people around him believed/projected that he had certain values.

They were all wrong ... and it sounds like there have been some resignations since that error was discovered. I think the transfer of the replacement Colonel to Korea means the military is eager to see Williams as not only the former head of the air force base, but also the former former and forgotten colonel.

 

[flipflop]

Williams' first victim was a 12 year old neighbour girl. That was his first break-in. She taught him how to play a card game, and he took her and her brother tubiing. He had to learn French and practiced speaking it with this 12 year old neighbour and Marie-France.

There are a lot of scary connections with Williams and his victims.

He was a very evil man with a very friendly manner.

He sure was...the book was very well written. I have followed this case from the beginning, alot of info in the book, we already knew about and discussed here on Websleuth, however, the book also answered alot of other questions that we wondered about.

 

[otto]

I get the impression that when Williams was head of the largest air force base in Canada, he thought that he was invincible. He thought he was above reproach, perhaps in part because he seemed to have access to all police records related to the case.

When he, in his devious mind, thought about what he would like to get away with if he could ... the answer was to frighten or suprise women that were alone, to tie them up, rape, terrorize, beat and leave for dead. As the head of the air force base, that was the one thing he wanted to do more than anything after receiving his appointment; something he thought he could get away with because of his important position.

I guess that came crashing down one Sunday afternoon.

Looking at his eyes, they appear to be too narrow ... people probably looked at him thinking that he is insightful and kind, but instead, he hs insightful and evil.

 

[otto]

He sure was...the book was very well written. I have followed this case from the beginning, alot of info in the book, we already knew about and discussed here on Websleuth, however, the book also answered alot of other questions that we wondered about.

As far as any criticisms by Gerry Nott go (above referenced book review) ... I would have to wholeheartedly disagree with the review. For those that gave up hours, days, weeks and months of their lives sitting on the edge of their seats as this story unfolded, the book may hold nothing new. For those that did not follow the case, and are looking for an excellent synopsis of the case, I highly recommend Appleby's book.

The two criticisms of the book appear to be that most of the content closely relates to known facts, and that Appleby does not tell us what triggered Williams to become a monster. If the book closely relates to the facts, that is good. That's what people that did not follow the case are looking for. As for the trigger that pushed Williams over the edge, that will be debated for a long time to come. That question will never be answered, but Appleby does provide some food for thought.

I found the book well written; an easy read, thorough and complete

 

[otto]

So ... still trying to figure this out ... so Williams was driving up and down Highway 37 to and from work and noticed Jessica Lloyd mowing the lawn and doing lawn work? With Marie-France, he broke rank and fraternized with a master corporeal on the plane, in the mess hall and somewhere else while they were learning French? Did she also mention him in her diary? If so, that would give us great insight into the mind of someone like Willams ... to know what the victim was thinking as she was being he groomed by someone like Williams.

I hope Ontario police put the information in the right hands to get a good profile ... which I think should be possible given that he detailed his escalation of events and she may have documented her interactions with him in a diary.

 

[flipflop]

I also wonder what drugs he was on, towards the end of the book once he started killing his victims, Appleby did a good job of timelines. Showing times he left his victim to drive straight to the Base to work or somewhere for a meeting or FLYING overseas to deliver troops. (scary thought of a pilot flying that far with no sleep) After killing one of his victims he drove to work hopped on a plane, flew overseas and back, drove to Ottawa to have dinner with his wife, then back to Tweed...how the hell did he keep going with no sleep.

 

[otto]

I also wonder what drugs he was on, towards the end of the book once he started killing his victims, Appleby did a good job of timelines. Showing times he left his victim to drive straight to the Base to work or somewhere for a meeting or FLYING overseas to deliver troops. (scary thought of a pilot flying that far with no sleep) After killing one of his victims he drove to work hopped on a plane, flew overseas and back, drove to Ottawa to have dinner with his wife, then back to Tweed...how the hell did he keep going with no sleep.

He was on pain killers and medicine for arthritis in the back, seven medications in total ... and who knows what else he was taking in over the counter drugs. Perhaps nothing ... maybe he was taking codeine.

We know that when he napped with Jessica at Tweed, she woke up and had a seizure. He soothed her, raped her and murdered her, then he put her in the garage and went to work. Through the military, he was probably well conditioned to having very little sleep and making consistent'y rational decisions by the book.

If anyone should have noticed that the Colonel was hanging out with the nice young woman in air baggage, it was the military.

Weird thing is ... Williams told his wife and house guests that he needed to walk late at night to help his arthritic back. His wife seemed okay with it, while house guests shrugged their shoulders ... questioning whether a brisk walk in the cool evening was a cure for arthritis in the back.

What are we supposed to believe ... that Williams was crippled up with back arthritis so bad that he was taking 7 medications to address the problem, that he was almost dismissed from service for medical reasons, but instead he was out stalking and mugging in underwear ... while his wife and friends thought he was taking a walk to deal with his back pain. And the drugs ... were they for the back pain too ... the same back pain that resulted in 82 rather agile break-ins?

 

[JayFriend]

As far as any criticisms by Gerry Nott go (above referenced book review) ... I would have to wholeheartedly disagree with the review. For those that gave up hours, days, weeks and months of their lives sitting on the edge of their seats as this story unfolded, the book may hold nothing new. For those that did not follow the case, and are looking for an excellent synopsis of the case, I highly recommend Appleby's book.

The two criticisms of the book appear to be that most of the content closely relates to known facts, and that Appleby does not tell us what triggered Williams to become a monster. If the book closely relates to the facts, that is good. That's what people that did not follow the case are looking for. As for the trigger that pushed Williams over the edge, that will be debated for a long time to come. That question will never be answered, but Appleby does provide some food for thought.

I found the book well written; an easy read, thorough and complete

I agree. And even those of us who have followed the case through the media and forums such as this, the book pulls all the information together in one place and provides a timeline. Appleby doesn't attempt to analyze Williams' motives or get into his head, but he certainly has dug up a lot of background information to let the reader gave a go at it. One has to wonder how growing up in Deep River, likened to Peyton Place, with his parents swapping partners, had on young Russell.