CANADA Canada - Sonia Varaschin, 42, Orangeville, 29 Aug 2010 - #2

[matou]

A cop wouldn't have left his DNA though, IMO.

 

[2soccermom]

Does anyone else have the terrible suspicion -- a terrifying prospect, really -- that there is no firm DNA from any of the three sites, other than Sonia's DNA? I know that sounds preposterous given the resource-intensive, wide-sweeping and costly task of DNA testing in this case. And I know folks who gave DNA in the "voluntary sampling" were told that if they weren't a match they would receive letters indicating some level of exoneration (I can't remember the precise wording). But it has always struck me as odd that Detective-Constable Andy Karski stated “We believe we have the killer’s DNA and it’s only a matter of time” -- http://news.nationalpost.com/tag/sonia-varaschin/ . It's the "we believe" that has always sat so uncomfortably with me. Have I been reading too many conspiracy theories? Is this just careful legalese? Please, someone, assure me that the DNA testing is not a smoke-out poker bluff. I have to believe LE has more in the hand than I worry.

 

[achouse]

Does anyone else have the terrible suspicion -- a terrifying prospect, really -- that there is no firm DNA from any of the three sites, other than Sonia's DNA? I know that sounds preposterous given the resource-intensive, wide-sweeping and costly task of DNA testing in this case. And I know folks who gave DNA in the "voluntary sampling" were told that if they weren't a match they would receive letters indicating some level of exoneration (I can't remember the precise wording). But it has always struck me as odd that Detective-Constable Andy Karski stated “We believe we have the killer’s DNA and it’s only a matter of time” -- http://news.nationalpost.com/tag/sonia-varaschin/ . It's the "we believe" that has always sat so uncomfortably with me. Have I been reading too many conspiracy theories? Is this just careful legalese? Please, someone, assure me that the DNA testing is not a smoke-out poker bluff. I have to believe LE has more in the hand than I worry.

I've wondered about that before. Seems like there may not be DNA. I've put in a tip to orangeville police about a relative who has since committed suicide, but lived in the area. Doing some digging on ancestry.ca found out that his parents are buried at vansickle cemetery and more ancestors at the stenabaugh cemetery on Audrey Gleave's property. I have always wondered if he could have something to do with sv and sl, but now to actually find a connection to AG is bizarre. His wife left him that December. Leading up to her leaving, he was accusing her of cheating in the summer of 2010 and was trying to isolate her. He also took time off work summer of 2010 and did not tell his wife. Also was said to go out driving in the middle of the night. All bizarre behaviour. Never heard back from orangeville police, but then again - would they follow up with a tipster? Since I emailed, I found the cemetery link. The relative also grew up in Hamilton, lived in Burlington, then to Bolton.

 

[dreamwatcher]

Oh, I think they have the dna alright. They would not go to the expense of collecting it from over 600 men if they didn't. (I would hope lol). So far - no match. Keep in mind that they have to use the one lab in Toronto, and of course this lab is rushed off of it's feet with other crime forensics. So each swab from a prospective perp would be in the line up.

Achouse thanks for your post. This does make one think. You have given reasons as to a possibility that it may be him, now, what is it about him that may exclude him? Can you think of anything??

(And who would think to swab a cop?
There would have to be a pretty good sensible tip before that ever happened.)

 

[2soccermom]

DW -- I hope you're right, although I can think of wilder things than this level of expense and amassing of resources as a smoke-out. I'll try to remain hopeful.
achouse: -- thanks for posting this. I'm sorry that someone's despair (your relative) was so great that he had to take his life but, wow, the pattern of coincidence you're mapping does seem to present a picture with emerging shape. I know it's all VERY circumstantial but I believe it will take exactly this kind of tip (if likely not this specific one) that will break these cases open. I admire and appreciate your willingness to bring this info further. It might be worth a follow-up with LE to ensure someone has actually checked out the info you have given. If you live in the area, would it be possible to make an appointment with an officer to have some assurance in person?
again, thanks for being the type of citizen who doesn't only speculate but who takes action on what you know. Not everyone does. I know LE is under-resourced and inundated by many leads in many different cases, but I do believe it is a tip that will be the undoing of the perp(s) in Sonia's, Audrey's, and Shelley's cases.

 

[dreamwatcher]

I agree with Soccermom. It will take a tip such yours Achouse.
What did your relative do for a living? I too offer my condolences on the demise of your relative. He must have been in mental anguish for quite sometime. No one is to blame for this sad outcome.

 

[achouse]

Thanks for the encouragement. Made a call instead.

You know when you have that gut feeling that maybe they could have done something, then you convince yourself it can't be. I've been doing that for years until I recently found out about the middle of the night outings, the impromptu vacation in the summer of 2010, his marriage ending early December and 2 more people getting hurt/killed in close proximity to his Bolton house, then parent's grave site in Lynden - literally a 3minute drive or 10 minute walk to AG's property, probably depressed and alone at Christmas, parked his car at the cemetery and took a walk. He was stalking his wife at the time where she was staying in Burlington.

If you read the profile of the person they said did this, he meets most of that criteria. Loner, no friends, in and out of jobs (industrial), addictions, obsessions, escalating loss of control, anger towards women, etc. My family had always found him strange and he was the kind of person who would blame you for "making him" do something. Therefore, was never his fault. I won't go into too much more detail, but he has had a pretty touch childhood and has developed some pretty inappropriate patterns of behaviour, stalking young girls, and the list goes on.

And we just compared the composite for SL to this relative and it really does seem to fit. My husband, who thinks I am crazy to piece this all together, agreed about the sketch and likeness.

For the sake of all these victims, I hope these get solved. Whether with this tip, or one like it. Sometimes, we can think we're crazy to even assume someone so close to us can be that evil. Hiding in plain sight.

 

[dreamwatcher]

IN Sonia's case, part of the profile says that he knew Sonia, but she did not necessarily know him.
At the time her parents were living in Bolton, her parents were in dispute with a gravel company next door to them - I can just picture Sonia giving them a piece of her mind - my thoughts only. Did he work in like industry?
Did he ever spend time in the hospital?

Glad you made that telephone call Achouse. It may not have been him - but, he was one citizen roaming around with mental issues at that time, and the citizens were not aware of it. I wonder how many more are out there??

I can see him attacking SL(possibly), but the police say the two crimes are not related.

I hope the police listened to you and thanked you, and I hope they said they will follow up.

I feel sorry for his wife and family. They are victims of the course of mental illness.
I hope that they can get on with their lives.

 

[Chorley8]

"Believe we have his DNA".

They have DNA I agree the forensic labs would go crazy if they thought they were being used that way - 600 samples.

I think he was just leaving room open for 'other' scenarios to name two neither of which I think is true or likely but just to make the point:

1. Sonia intimate with man other jealous intimate shows up kills Sonia but DNA not from killer or

2. Two men involved and actual killer not the one leaving the DNA.

To stress neither of these happened but I would guess they are just leaving the door open so as not to box themselves in in case something strange happened.

We of course don't know what they used for DNA.

 

[2soccermom]

I posted the following on UC, and thought it might be useful here. LE usually takes a lot of heat when a murder isn't solved right away, but here's a quite laudatory report of work in Sonia's case by a group of journos comparing policing in Winnipeg.
From http://blackrod.blogspot.ca/2011/05/is-north-end-spree-killer-back-at-work.html:

"Compare how the Winnipeg police are handling their hunt for a double-murderer with how the police chief of Orangeville, Ontario, population 27,000, attacked an unsolved murder in his town last year.

In August, Sonia Varaschin, 42, was killed by an intruder in her home in Orangeville, northwest of Toronto. The killer put her body in her car, drove it 12 kilometres to a neighbouring town, and dumped it next to a remote road. He then drove back to Orangeville, and abandoned the car in an alley.

Four months later, police pulled out all the stops on the investigation. They hosted 25 criminal profilers and investigators from across North America in a three day "investigative summit" to thrash over the details of the crime and to create a profile of the killer.

There were officers from the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, homicide investigators from Toronto, Ottawa and York Region, plus FBI profilers.

In attendance were criminal profilers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Virginia-based behavioural analysis unit, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, plus senior homicide investigators from several forces, including York Region, Toronto and Ottawa.

In December they issued a lengthy profile, something to engage the public and stimulate leads.

In Winnipeg, the chief of police begs people to contact police. Then he rushes off to the next photo-op.

They haven't solved the Varaschin murder yet. But at least they have no doubt their chief of police has done everything possible to nail her killer.

We can't say the same."

Apologies if this story has been posted before. It does remind us of the significant resources and attention LE has put it for this case. Is that usual for a stand-alone?

 

[Wondergirl]

I posted the following on UC, and thought it might be useful here. LE usually takes a lot of heat when a murder isn't solved right away, but here's a quite laudatory report of work in Sonia's case by a group of journos comparing policing in Winnipeg.
From http://blackrod.blogspot.ca/2011/05/is-north-end-spree-killer-back-at-work.html:

"Compare how the Winnipeg police are handling their hunt for a double-murderer with how the police chief of Orangeville, Ontario, population 27,000, attacked an unsolved murder in his town last year.

In August, Sonia Varaschin, 42, was killed by an intruder in her home in Orangeville, northwest of Toronto. The killer put her body in her car, drove it 12 kilometres to a neighbouring town, and dumped it next to a remote road. He then drove back to Orangeville, and abandoned the car in an alley.

Four months later, police pulled out all the stops on the investigation. They hosted 25 criminal profilers and investigators from across North America in a three day "investigative summit" to thrash over the details of the crime and to create a profile of the killer.

There were officers from the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, homicide investigators from Toronto, Ottawa and York Region, plus FBI profilers.

In attendance were criminal profilers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Virginia-based behavioural analysis unit, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, plus senior homicide investigators from several forces, including York Region, Toronto and Ottawa.

In December they issued a lengthy profile, something to engage the public and stimulate leads.

In Winnipeg, the chief of police begs people to contact police. Then he rushes off to the next photo-op.

They haven't solved the Varaschin murder yet. But at least they have no doubt their chief of police has done everything possible to nail her killer.

We can't say the same."

Apologies if this story has been posted before. It does remind us of the significant resources and attention LE has put it for this case. Is that usual for a stand-alone?

Thanks SM. Is there another link? That one didn't work.

 

[2soccermom]

sorry, Wondergirl --
not sure why that didn't open. Try the full link by copy-and-paste: http://blackrod.blogspot.ca/2011/05/is-north-end-spree-killer-back-at-work.html
If that still doesn't open for you, try googling some of the quotes I've cited, or copy the first link I posted and enter that in google; the correct article is the second one that pops up.
hopefully, if you're still interested, one of these will work!
sm

 

[Deleted member 102539]

DNA sweeps have proven controversial before. A 2011 move by police to test males in connection with the death of Orangeville nurse Sonia Varaschin prompted a complaint from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to the province's privacy commissioner.

Ricardo Federico, a criminal lawyer and adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, noted the complaint focuses on racial profiling, but the practice of DNA sweeps raises many other broad questions.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4395420-opp-faces-scrutiny-over-dna-testing-sweep/

I looked for news, but nothing really there. :tantrum:

 

[dotr]

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/03/19/100-serial-rapists-have-been-idd-in-detroit/

"Five years ago, 11,000 untested rape kits were discovered in a police storage facility in Detroit. So far, just 1,600 kits have been tested, but that small number has yielded startling results: 100 serial rapists have been identified, and the DNA of 10 since-convicted rapists has been found.

So what do these findings mean? Of 1,600 women raped in Detroit in the last 25 years, 100 of their attackers raped more than once. And among convicted rapists in Michigan, 10 might have been caught sooner had some of these decades-old kits been tested.

Mariska Hargitay, founder of the nonprofit End the Backlog and star of Law and Order: SVU, spoke Monday about the findings, saying, “My head exploded. We have the means to do it, and DNA equals justice.”

 

[matou]

Seriously shaking my head about this case. Three crime scenes. No leads???? WTF is going on with this case????

 

[Wondergirl]

Seriously shaking my head about this case. Three crime scenes. No leads???? WTF is going on with this case????

we should be looking at similar crimes elsewhere for linkages

 

[dotr]

we should be looking at similar crimes elsewhere for linkages

Trying to think of any other cases where a bloodied victim is dragged outside of her home and placed in her own car and dumped? Who does that and why ?

 

[colette]

Trying to think of any other cases where a bloodied victim is dragged outside of her home and placed in her own car and dumped? Who does that and why ?

Interesting Questions. Why move the body? He was worried about getting caught in her home? He wanted to spend time with her remains and maybe go back like a serial killer has in the past?

I don't think anything was cleaned up, so he wasn't worried that someone would know Sonia was dead or taken. He wasn't trying to hide the fact that she was hurt by the blood in the car and probably in the home.

He wanted to move her, but he didn't want blood on his own car which was probably in the area.

Last question, does he know her or not???

 

[2soccermom]

Hi all --
thought I'd add this here since I posted it in Audrey Gleave's thread this morning, since the subject of the possibility of DM's involvement came up there:
"I reported Dellen and his gang as potential persons of interests in Sonia Varaschin's case to LE -- both the unit overseeing SV's investigation and Hamilton LE because, in perusing Dellen's fb pages and those of his friends at the time of Tim Bosma's murder investigation, I came across a photo of a boot that looked identical to the one LE have been advertising as belonging to SV's killer. In fact, it is identical in terms of the boot style, and the main colour of the boot (tan & yellow) that media has featured -- although there are other colours of that make the killer might have worn. In any event, it's hard to know for certain, of course, if this is indeed the same make of boot because it's really the tread that is supposed to be unique to the brand -- and this pic didn't show the boot bottom. It was just a snap of a boot in the whole frame; you can just see a bit of a person's arm holding it. It's an odd object for a photo; what was particularly striking to me and the catalyst for calling it in were the hashtags on the photo: "#fresh to kill" and "#death by fashion." Both units -- SV's and Hamilton LE -- have that info."
There was, iirc, a third hashtag with the photo -- "#freeshit."
I saved the photo, but don't think that I can post it here since the DM friend from whose fb page I took it is not named a suspect in Sonia's -- or Audrey's -- cases. But the photo and specifically boot look SO familiar -- even identical -- to what LE has been showing; this might even BE taken from the case publicity, although that was not my first sense.
Bumping for justice for Sonia and Audrey. And Shelley.

 

[matou]

I found a screenshot I took a long time ago of an add posted by a neighbour of SV (one who was interviewed after SV was killed). She posted online looking for two roommates on Aug 31st 2010. This piqued my interest very much at the time and still does now. I submitted this info to crimestoppers years ago. My question now is, did she have roommates at the time and did they suddenly move away? Were they university students? This neighbour is young and no longer lives in the area from what I can tell. JMO