Deceased/Not Found Canada - Alvin, 66, & Kathy Liknes, 53, Nathan O'Brien, 5, Calgary, 30 Jun 2014 - #19

[otto]

"There are some charges for which you don’t get a choice of trial format. These are limited and the only one that really applies with any regularity is murder. In a murder trial, there is no option; you have to have a jury trial unless the Crown consents otherwise, which they almost never do.'
- See more at: http://info.lawyershop.ca/archives/...oosing-trial-by-jury-or-trial-by-judge-alone/

I think there's more to it than that. This is a case where a man elected judge and jury, and then wanted to change his mind. The affidavit explains his position, the decision reflects the position of the court. That is, only because he missed his deadline of 15 days, the Crown as a say:

Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta

"Decision:
[37] I have concluded that an election prescribed for the Applicant by operation of law is still an election. When the Applicant was charged with murder, he immediately had an election - that of judge and jury. When he was indicted on the included charge of manslaughter he subsequently obtained a right to determine without Crown consent the mode of his trial and had, for 15 days following the completion of the preliminary inquiry, that right and opportunity to serve notice of his unilateral intention to re-elect. The Applicant failed to do this, and now he cannot re-elect without the consent of the Crown."

http://www2.albertacourts.ab.ca/jdb/2003-/qb/criminal/2011/2011abqb0145.pdf

 

[news.talk]

Okay. So, I am curious what you and others make of the activity on KL's FB. Her FB acct. has "liked" two moving companies from the UK and these moving co. pages appear to have been created in September of 2014.

Honestly, I don't know what to make of FB and the world of algorithms. What I have learned in my advanced, non-technological age, is that social media sites have a way to act on your behalf, whether or not you have agreed for them to do so.

 

[otto]

In Alberta (the above link is from an Ontario lawyer) even murder suspects can elect to be tried by Judge alone and they do not need consent of the Crown. Therefore, it is very common in Calgary for murder suspects to elect to be tried by Judge alone.

Here it is:

"Except in Alberta, an accused charged with murder must, under ss. 427, 429 and 430 of the Criminal Code, be tried by a judge and jury."

http://www.hrcr.org/safrica/equality/r_turpin.html

More from the same article:

"The impugned provisions of the Code treated the appellants and those charged with the offences listed in s. 427 more harshly than those charged with the same offences in the province of Alberta who, because of s. 430, have an opportunity to be tried by judge alone if they deem this to be to their advantage. However, while the distinction created by s. 430 resulted in a violation of appellants' rights to equality before the law, such distinction was not discriminatory in its purpose or effect and, therefore, did not violate s. 15 of the Charter. Persons resident outside Alberta and charged with s. 427 offences outside Alberta do not constitute a (page 1299) disadvantaged group in Canadian society within the contemplation of s. 15."

 

[Sillybilly]

Okay. So, I am curious what you and others make of the activity on KL's FB. Her FB acct. has "liked" two moving companies from the UK and these moving co. pages appear to have been created in September of 2014.

aka "fake likes" or "zombie likes" ...

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5967716/how-are-dead-people-liking-stuff-on-facebook

But how does that explain people who've passed away still liking things after they've been, well, dead? The picture above shows a zombie Like.

A Facebook spokesman says the "likes" from dead people can happen if an account doesn't get "memorialized" (meaning someone informs Facebook that the account-holder has died). If nobody tells Facebook that the account-holder is dead, Facebook just keeps operating on the assumption the person is alive.

And the way Facebook operates is that it keeps on recycling and re-using a user's Like. So if you Like something from a long time ago, it could pop up again as if it was a bradn new Like.

<bbm>

 

[otto]

aka "fake likes" or "zombie likes" ...

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5967716/how-are-dead-people-liking-stuff-on-facebook

<bbm>

The internet is full of bots.

 

[LoisLane]

Does anyone think that the CCTV Ford Truck could have had the body painted in the last year? Does it appear to be in good enough condition that the paint could have been redone?

 

[LoisLane]

aka "fake likes" or "zombie likes" ...

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5967716/how-are-dead-people-liking-stuff-on-facebook

<bbm>

But if the moving company pages were not alive until September can that still happen if the FB profile owner wasn't around to like it in the first place? Can FB just like a page on your behalf?

 

[otto]

I believe the key here is that the case was deemed as "This is now a homicide investigation" after meeting with the Crown Prosecutor. This would be because the Crown Prosecutor felt that there was enough evidence to build a case around that evidence. Somewhere between Friday afternoon when LE were still hopeful of finding these 3 alive, and the meeting with the Crown Prosecutor, someone, decided that the L's and NO were in fact dead. Who was the one that actually decided this in order to turn it into a homicide investigation? Still, there appears to be nothing 'factual' relating to the ME that anyone has been able to find. That's the piece that confuses me...why between Friday and Sunday did things change...and who decided that things had changed? What was that change based on?

It most certainly is the decision of the prosecutor to proceed with charges, so the prosecutor determined, after reviewing the evidence, that charges of first and second degree murder charges were appropriate. To doubt the validity of the charges is to doubt the judgement of the prosecutor ... who of course relied on all the officers and crime scene investigators to do their jobs and provide him with the information he needed to make the right decision.

 

[otto]

July 15, 2014 06:53 AM

"The Calgary Police Service can now officially identify a man charged in relation to an ongoing missing persons investigation, now deemed to be a homicide investigation.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., Monday, July 14, 2014, police arrested a man on property near the Airdrie acreage currently linked to the investigation into the disappearance of three family members.

Douglas Robert GARLAND, 54, of Airdrie, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, and one count of second-degree murder in the death of Nathan O'Brien. He will next appear in court on Wednesday, July 16, 2014.

The Amber Alert has been discontinued. However, the bodies of the three victims have not been found and investigators continue to ask people to come forward with any information they may have. Rural property and business owners are asked to please search their properties for anything suspicious.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234, by email at [email protected], or via Crime Stoppers.

As this matter is now before the courts, no further media availabilities are expected. However, should there be any significant updates that can be released without compromising the impending court case, we will notify the media as soon as possible."

http://newsroom.calgary.ca/news/man-charged-in-missing-persons-investigation

 

[deugirtni]

I am merely refuting some postsmade by WS members stating that the trio has already been declared dead and that it is already a fact they are dead, because it just isn't fact yet.

Just because it isn't fact yet that the trio is dead, does not mean they are NOT dead and that it has to therefore be something else. I am merely pointing out that opinion, belief, wishful thinking, prayer, surmisal, rumor, hearsay, etc., should not be stated as fact. And since some things are in fact NOT yet fact, that leaves a door open, however small some feel it to be, to speculate alternate theories and conclusions, and WS members should not be chastised for sleuthing other potential alternate theories and conclusions until such time as they are opposing actual fact.

Where could they be hiding, and what sort of grandparents would take a five year old boy away from his family, friends, education, and stability?

 

[Tinkerbel1]

It most certainly is the decision of the prosecutor to proceed with charges, so the prosecutor determined, after reviewing the evidence, that charges of first and second degree murder charges were appropriate. To doubt the validity of the charges is to doubt the judgement of the prosecutor ... who of course relied on all the officers and crime scene investigators to do their jobs and provide him with the information he needed to make the right decision.

Great! Sounds like he knows what he's doing! So, he in fact would have made the determination along with LE and the evidence obtained that the victims are deceased. It was not the ME then. Correct?

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Interesting article published today on Calgary police and the mental health of officers. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this quote makes me wonder what we don't know:

"Difficulties in dealing with cases like the quintuple Brentwood slayings and the deaths of Nathan O&#8217;Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathryn Liknes earlier this year...

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/11/12/calgary-police-expanding-mental-health-program-to-help-officers

 

[deugirtni]

Quite frankly, if it were *me* in DG's situation, I would be seriously considering 'judge alone', because of the way the general public seems to lash out at suspects/accuseds, just because the police say so, years before a trial takes place, based on no known evidence, and hearing none of the facts at trial, outwardly stating their belief in the accuseds' guilt, some even stating it as fact, some calling for the death penalty. Scary.

... and an accused who will most likely elect to be tried by Judge alone.

 

[deugirtni]

Since we know very few actual facts in this case, the discussion is open to alternate theories. If someone might have an alternate suspicion or theory, must that therefore mean that 'police know nothing'? Is it possible that police could be off on one important thing, or two little things? Or must it be either white, or black? All correct and competent, or all incorrect and incompetent? Nothing in between?

Have you heard of the 'butterfly effect'? : "The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere."
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Butterfly_effect.html

It wouldn't be that much fun to be a retiree and have to deal with an upset child all day long ... and most likely through the night as well ... but if we're running with the "police know nothing" scenario, then ... that must be what happened. That certainly casts a negative light on the victims.

 

[LoisLane]

I admit my bias, but my friends and family on this force would be the first to say that I am also their harshest critic. Besides, I base my assessments on facts, not wild speculation. I will not malign anyone without the facts to support my critique.

Interesting! Do you have any cold cases or closed cases or other that you could give an example of? Have you shared or published any of your critiques that we could see the facts you used in your assessment? That would be very interesting to see!

 

[Tinkerbel1]

Interesting article published today on Calgary police and the mental health of officers. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this quote makes me wonder what we don't know:

"Difficulties in dealing with cases like the quintuple Brentwood slayings and the deaths of Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathryn Liknes earlier this year...

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/11/12/calgary-police-expanding-mental-health-program-to-help-officers

So sad that this is a result of one's occupation. It really does show us that LE are people just like everyone else, with the potential of not only human error, but mental and emotional fragility as well. No one is a rock. I think it would be extremely hard to keep your personal feelings and emotions under wraps at all times with the situations they have to deal with. Suppressed things inadvertently end up creeping out somewhere. Remembrance Day should also be a salute to all LE personnel as well, they sacrifice a lot to keep people safe.

 

[deugirtni]

I don't want to be a stickler, but can you provide some kind of indication of proof (ie links?) on the ratio between murderers choosing trial by jury and those murderers choosing trial by judge? I am curious how often the 'judge' route is chosen, because when I think about it, I can't really recall any off the top of my head, so I am wondering how common that actually is, and yet you say this is 'usually' the case, for murderers to choose 'judge alone'.

Who knows why accused murderers usually elect to be tried by Judge alone ... they just do.

If keeping an open mind means doubting police, then I have an open mind.

 

[Tinkerbel1]

Since we know very few actual facts in this case, the discussion is open to alternate theories. If someone might have an alternate suspicion or theory, must that therefore mean that 'police know nothing'? Is it possible that police could be off on one important thing, or two little things? Or must it be either white, or black? All correct and competent, or all incorrect and incompetent? Nothing in between?

Have you heard of the 'butterfly effect'? : "The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere."
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Butterfly_effect.html

Very, very interesting article! The Law of Cause and Effect in action.

 

[deugirtni]

I am not *getting*, if someone objects to something 'other than fact' being presented instead as 'fact', how that equates with 'not interested in what police have to say', and 'tossing everything out' that has been thus far been stated. The trial is not here yet. Theories will be speculated upon. Both LE's theories and alternate theories, since not much is yet 'fact'. It should not hurt anyone's feelings if not everyone agrees with one another's theories right now, they are ALL speculative. Open minds might take a piece here from *this* theory, and a shred from *that* theory, and have a theory of their very own. Until we are dealing in facts, we sleuth.

Let's toss out everything we know about the case because we're not interested in what police have to say about the case.

Where does that leave us?

 

[Lalalacasbah]

So sad that this is a result of one's occupation. It really does show us that LE are people just like everyone else, with the potential of not only human error, but mental and emotional fragility as well. No one is a rock. I think it would be extremely hard to keep your personal feelings and emotions under wraps at all times with the situations they have to deal with. Suppressed things inadvertently end up creeping out somewhere. Remembrance Day should also be a salute to all LE personnel as well, they sacrifice a lot to keep people safe.

I agree Tink, I don't think the vets get looked after psychologically after their job is done either, as well as LE. So many tough jobs out there I personally couldn't handle (doctors, nurses, ambulance personnel/first responders, LE, military, etc.), it has to wear on people after so long.

The quote in the article gives me an impression something quite sinister happened with this crime for hardened Calgary LE to have a hard time dealing with it (psychologically). Maybe it's because of little NO's involvement that it's very devastating to those working the case, and again, maybe I'm over-analyzing it.