Canada- Christopher Smith, 22, fatally stabbed, Portage Bridge between Gatineau & Ottawa, Ont., 12 April, '96, Dna, arrest- Lawrence Diehl, 73, 2024.

[PacoElFlaco]

I have access to old newspapers through my library membership (on Proquest). I'm cutting and pasting, hence wonky formatting

Police probe tips in fatal Portage Bridge stabbing: [FINAL Edition]​

The Ottawa Citizen

; Ottawa, Ont.. 17 Apr 1996: C.6

....investigators released a brief recording of a 911 call made early Friday morning, shortly after Smith, 23, was fatally stabbed on the Portage Bridge. So far the anonymous caller is the prime suspect in the slaying....

....On the tape, the caller says only: ``Yes, an ambulance, please. There's been an attack on the Pont du Portage Bridge.''....​

------‐----‐----------‐--------------------------------------------

Police believe bridge stabbing death result of fight: [FINAL Edition]​

The Ottawa Citizen
; Ottawa, Ont.. 08 June 1996: C.1.

....Ottawa-Carleton police say Christopher Smith started a fight that led to his death on the Portage Bridge in April....
it [is] our understanding that whatever took place on the bridge that night was initiated by the victim, Christopher Smith,'' Wisker said Friday night.....

....Smith, 23, was walking back to Ottawa with his cousin in the early hours of April 12 before the fight began. He died of stab wounds at the scene....

....Police still hope the man Smith was fighting with will come forward to tell his side of what happened....

....About 30 minutes after the stabbing, an unidentified caller placed a 911 call from a telephone booth on Gloucester Street....

‐------

Awesome! Thank you for posting this!

There it is: "....Ottawa-Carleton police say Christopher Smith started a fight that led to his death on the Portage Bridge in April.... it [is] our understanding that whatever took place on the bridge that night was initiated by the victim, Christopher Smith,'' Wisker said Friday night....."

So it seems based on the location (gay cruising park where numerous gay bashing crimes had occurred) that this stabbing was likely a backfired gay-bashing incident, whether Diehl is actually gay or not, as straight men had previously been misidentified as gay and attacked there, too. Also, this confirms that Diehl called the ambulance to try to save Smith's life.

I know self-defence isn't a get-out-of-jail-free thing in Canada as it is in the USA, but these facts ought to lessen the legal consequences for Diehl.

 

[otto]

I have access to old newspapers through my library membership (on Proquest). I'm cutting and pasting, hence wonky formatting

Police probe tips in fatal Portage Bridge stabbing: [FINAL Edition]​

The Ottawa Citizen

; Ottawa, Ont.. 17 Apr 1996: C.6

....investigators released a brief recording of a 911 call made early Friday morning, shortly after Smith, 23, was fatally stabbed on the Portage Bridge. So far the anonymous caller is the prime suspect in the slaying....

....On the tape, the caller says only: ``Yes, an ambulance, please. There's been an attack on the Pont du Portage Bridge.''....​

------‐----‐----------‐--------------------------------------------

Police believe bridge stabbing death result of fight: [FINAL Edition]​

The Ottawa Citizen
; Ottawa, Ont.. 08 June 1996: C.1.

....Ottawa-Carleton police say Christopher Smith started a fight that led to his death on the Portage Bridge in April....
it [is] our understanding that whatever took place on the bridge that night was initiated by the victim, Christopher Smith,'' Wisker said Friday night.....

....Smith, 23, was walking back to Ottawa with his cousin in the early hours of April 12 before the fight began. He died of stab wounds at the scene....

....Police still hope the man Smith was fighting with will come forward to tell his side of what happened....

....About 30 minutes after the stabbing, an unidentified caller placed a 911 call from a telephone booth on Gloucester Street....

‐------

That's interesting. Police knew in 1996 that the victim started a fight that led to his death. The person he started a fight with fought back, and called an ambulance for the victim who started the knife fight.

It sounds like it should be a manslaughter charge if it was self-defence that resulted in death.

 

[otto]

Awesome! Thank you for posting this!

There it is: "....Ottawa-Carleton police say Christopher Smith started a fight that led to his death on the Portage Bridge in April.... it [is] our understanding that whatever took place on the bridge that night was initiated by the victim, Christopher Smith,'' Wisker said Friday night....."

So it seems based on the location (gay cruising park where numerous gay bashing crimes had occurred) that this stabbing was likely a backfired gay-bashing incident, whether Diehl is actually gay or not, as straight men had previously been misidentified as gay and attacked there, too. Also, this confirms that Diehl called the ambulance to try to save Smith's life.

I know self-defence isn't a get-out-of-jail-free thing in Canada as it is in the USA, but these facts ought to lessen the legal consequences for Diehl.

I'm surprised that police chose this murder to focus on after 30 years. They knew that the victim started a knife fight with a stranger, and he lost. The person he attacked tried to save his life by calling an ambulance.

 

[Deleted member 83851]

All that glitters is not gold. Maybe this Lawrence Diehl is not such a good person…

 

[PacoElFlaco]

All that glitters is not gold. Maybe this Lawrence Diehl is not such a good person…

Hmmm. Yeah. I learned about Diehl's career as a youth soccer leader in BC, and then I wondered who approached who in the gay cruising park that night; Diehl, or the teenaged and early 20s cousins? Perhaps Diehl had developed some uncomfortable feelings toward the underaged soccer players he oversaw, and was trying to live out that fantasy in a city where nobody knew him? Maybe there is some sort of legal history or police awareness of him? Strictly conjecture, of course.

A charge of 2nd degree murder does seem harsh if Diehl was defending himself, and tried to get medical help for his attacker.

Another possibility is maybe there was something about the attack that seemed excessive to the cops? Like maybe there was only one knife, Smith's, and Diehl took control of the knife after being stabbed, and then he stabbed the disarmed Smith in cold blood?

 

[dotr]

Dec 30, 2024 #GlobalNews #CrimeBeat #coldcase
'A Vancouver man has been charged with second-degree murder in a decades-old Ottawa cold case police say they cracked using cutting-edge DNA technology.Lawrence Diehl, 73, is accused of fatally stabbing 22-year-old Christopher Smith on the Portage Bridge connecting Ottawa and Gatineau in 1996.Vancouver police, in collaboration with Ottawa police, arrested the former meteorologist and BC Soccer Hall of Fame inductee at his home on Dec. 10.Ottawa police said homicide investigators returned to the nearly 30-year-old cold case in 2020 when they used advanced DNA testing, including Investigative Genetic Genealogy, to identify a suspect.'

 

[NervousNellie]

I'm surprised that police chose this murder to focus on after 30 years. They knew that the victim started a knife fight with a stranger, and he lost. The person he attacked tried to save his life by calling an ambulance.

I agree 100%.

 

[Cedars]

Another possibility is maybe there was something about the attack that seemed excessive to the cops? Like maybe there was only one knife, Smith's, and Diehl took control of the knife after being stabbed, and then he stabbed the disarmed Smith in cold blood?

That's what I suspect: Don't know if you followed the case of Nicolae Miu in the US. He'd been surrounded and harrassed by teens so pulled out his knife and killed one. Many people were shocked when he was found guilty of murder, the harrassment seemed so severe and upsetting.

I believe 2nd degree murder here is defined as taking actions that you know will likely kill someone, though without premeditation. But at the moment, you want that person to die, and you make it happen. eg, stab in the chest, or cut the throat.

That's different from getting hold of the knife and backing off, or stabbing their hand as they try to grab the knife.

JMO

 

[NervousNellie]

That's what I suspect: Don't know if you followed the case of Nicolae Miu in the US. He'd been surrounded and harrassed by teens so pulled out his knife and killed one. Many people were shocked when he was found guilty of murder, the harrassment seemed so severe and upsetting.

I believe 2nd degree murder here is defined as taking actions that you know will likely kill someone, though without premeditation. But at the moment, you want that person to die, and you make it happen. eg, stab in the chest, or cut the throat.

That's different from getting hold of the knife and backing off, or stabbing their hand as they try to grab the knife.

JMO

I understand the difference between the situations you have described, but there is a great deal of nuance to such an encounter. In the instance where Mr. Smith died, LD may not have wanted CS to die, but backing off may not have been successful? If, as has been surmised, CS and his cousin were at the bridge for nefarious reasons, it is possible the only way LD had to stop the attack was to mortally wound one of them. And if LD wanted CS to die at the moment he stabbed him (to save LD's own life, maybe?), he clearly changed his mind once he was out of danger because he sought medical care for CS later.

I am sorry for the loss of life, but if sounds like a FAFO situation. I imagine the details will come out; I hope so, anyway. It was a long time ago. I will take this opportunity to reiterate the opinion that maybe this wasn't the best "cold case" to send for DNA resolution.

 

[PacoElFlaco]

I will take this opportunity to reiterate the opinion that maybe this wasn't the best "cold case" to send for DNA resolution.

I'm thinking that Ottawa Police haven't had a great couple of years and they needed some success stories. One of the highest profile recent crimes in the region, a 2023 mass shooting at a Somalian wedding party, has not been solved, and the Ottawa murder and violent crime rate is climbing. There was a horrible family annihilation in Ottawa recently as well. Plus, the downtown core is overrun with fentanyl addicts that the cops can do nothing about.

They had all that DNA blood evidence on file for this old case and I guess solving it with recent innovations was a sure thing, regardless of the apparent lack of criminal intent from the suspect. The second degree murder charge is definitely surprising.

Coincidentally, I came across an old online Ottawa Citizen article about unsolved Ottawa crimes a few months ago, and it mentioned this case. I immediately recalled it from 1996, and I said to myself it's only a matter of time before they use the blood evidence to make a DNA identification.

 

[NervousNellie]

Thanks for the local info, @PacoElFlaco! LD has probably thought the same thing on more than one occasion.

 

[Cedars]

IMO, the family of any 22 year old victim wants and deserves justice: to have the person responsible for the death brought before trial, so the case can be put to rest. He was someone's son, someone's grandson. He had a long life ahead of him, regardless of the stupid thing he may have done that night.

JMO

 

[PacoElFlaco]

Regarding the charge of 2nd degree murder. It seems like it might be harder to prove this than a manslaughter charge given the circumstances. Perhaps the more serious charge will be easier for Diehl to beat?

 

[Cedars]

Regarding the charge of 2nd degree murder. It seems like it might be harder to prove this than a manslaughter charge given the circumstances. Perhaps the more serious charge will be easier for Diehl to beat?

Hard to say. My observation is the initial charges aren't necessarily the charges faced at trial. They might start low and be upgraded, or start high and be downgraded.

One reason to start by laying a more serious charge is to have bargaining power for a guilty plea, saving all that court time and costs.

JMO

 

[otto]

Regarding the charge of 2nd degree murder. It seems like it might be harder to prove this than a manslaughter charge given the circumstances. Perhaps the more serious charge will be easier for Diehl to beat?

I think the prosecution will include lesser charges. They'll aim for second degree, settle for manslaughter, and hope for a sentence longer than a year or two.

If it's a jury trial, the right defence lawyer might convince the jury that, through no fault of their own, they could find themselves in the same situation. In that case, it could be a not guilty verdict.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Ottawa police say they know Diehl was in Ottawa in 1996 for work-related reasons and are asking people who know more about his timeline and movements to contact them.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Diehl worked as a meteorologist at Environment Canada and in various engineering and management positions.

He is a longtime soccer volunteer who served as president of B.C. Soccer and director of Canada Soccer from 1998 to 2002. Diehl won the Canada Soccer Award of Merit in 2003, the same year he was named a B.C. Soccer life member, according to the B.C. Soccer Hall of Fame website.

Diehl's next court appearance in Ottawa is scheduled for Jan. 8.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-suspect-cold-case-murder-1.7422194

 

[NervousNellie]

I think the prosecution will include lesser charges. They'll aim for second degree, settle for manslaughter, and hope for a sentence longer than a year or two.

If it's a jury trial, the right defence lawyer might convince the jury that, through no fault of their own, they could find themselves in the same situation. In that case, it could be a not guilty verdict.

RBBM
If the situation went down as some of us seem to think is likely (victim initiated the altercation), I would hope that is the outcome. It really seems like self defense. LD has probably lived his life in fear of this moment; I hope he has excellent counsel.

 

[NervousNellie]

IMO, the family of any 22 year old victim wants and deserves justice: to have the person responsible for the death brought before trial, so the case can be put to rest. He was someone's son, someone's grandson. He had a long life ahead of him, regardless of the stupid thing he may have done that night.

JMO

I agree that victims deserve justice! It may be that both LD and CS are victims in this case. I hope LE is able to determine what happened; surely by now, they've heard LD's version of events. If he's smart, he will use the story many of us think is likely - whether or not it's true. That's the tricky part, isn't it? Knowing facts vs guessing. Unfortunately, we don't always have all the facts here at WS.

 

[otto]

I agree that victims deserve justice! It may be that both LD and CS are victims in this case. I hope LE is able to determine what happened; surely by now, they've heard LD's version of events. If he's smart, he will use the story many of us think is likely - whether or not it's true. That's the tricky part, isn't it? Knowing facts vs guessing. Unfortunately, we don't always have all the facts here at WS.

Although I'm not familiar with all aspects of this, my impression is that the deceased victim was with a younger cousin at the time of the stabbing. That witness told his story, which might be why we know that the deceased victim initiated the altercation.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Suspect DNA gathered from the 1996 crime scene was sent to Texas-based Othram Inc., a company that does forensic genome sequencing. Othram works specifically with law enforcement agencies on cases of unidentified human remains and suspect identification.

"[The crime scene DNA] comes to us usually in these suspect cases in the form of a DNA extract — so just a vial of DNA they've already recovered," said Michael Vogen, Othram director of case management, speaking generally.

"We look at hundreds of thousands of markers, sometimes upwards to a million markers of DNA. With that much data we are able to develop these profiles that can detect out to about a sixth cousin, sometimes even more distant."

Initial lab work by Othram usually costs about $1,500 US, said Vogen.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7422194