# Canadians: any updates on Col. Russell Williams? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795 "2010-09-15T01:53:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/61 "2010-10-21T22:14:30Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I think that consecutive sentences should be used to deter other murders from committing more than one murder. If I were King, then with the first murder the murderer would have a chance at parole, but with the second murder the murderer would have not chance at a parole. Since I am not King, that is not the way things work. > > The Tories recently put a bill through first reading in the Commons that would at least put in place consecutive parole periods for multiple murderers, if not actual consecutive sentences for multiple murderers – check out [sections 4 and 5 of Bill C-48](http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=3&Mode=1&Pub=Bill&Doc=C-48_1&File=30). There is a difference already - the “faint hope” parole provision is available to someone who kills once, but not to someone who kills twice. > [@](#): > > Section 745.6 (1) Application for Judicial Review - Subject to subsection (2), a person may apply, in writing, to the appropriate Chief Justice in the province in which their conviction took place for a reduction in the number of years of imprisonment without eligibility for parole if the person > a. has been convicted of murder or high treason; > b. has been sentenced to imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole until more > than fifteen years of their sentence has been served; and > c. has served at least fifteen years of their sentence. > 2) Exception – multiple murderers > A person who has been convicted of more than one murder, after January 9th 1997, may not make an application under subsection (1), whether or not proceedings were commenced in respect of any of the murders before another murder was committed. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/62 "2010-10-21T23:07:40Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > A strong contrast to the allegedly botched investigation into the Picton affair, where an apparently subnormal pig farmer eluded detection for years. Picton was smart enough to murder whores, though. It’s sad but true that some victims are far more likely to elicit a vigourous investigation than others. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/63 "2010-10-22T00:59:44Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Picton was smart enough to murder whores, though. It’s sad but true that some victims are far more likely to elicit a vigourous investigation than others. Or, the disappearance of persons with no fixed address is a lot more difficult to investigate than people with homes and full time jobs. Which is more likely? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/64 "2010-10-22T01:10:20Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > The pictures of him in female underwear were just damn disturbing. However, I couldn’t help thinking how much he looks like Woody Harrelson. I guess I just have a totally warped sense of humour (but I knew that before this incident) - I have to admit I found those pictures hysterically funny! (and yes, I agree that he should be put away for a long long **long** time; doesn’t stop the pictures from being hilarious). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/65 "2010-10-22T13:36:58Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Picton was smart enough to murder whores, though. It’s sad but true that some victims are far more likely to elicit a vigourous investigation than others. There is certainly something to that, I’ve heard the BC cops being harshly criticized for not taking the disappearances seriously enough. A true test of the two would have been if the Colonel targeted crack whores, rather than his neighbours and fellow officers. Nonetheless, it is heartening to see an apparently efficient, clever and successful police investigation which catches an undoubted bad guy who was both smart and powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/66 "2010-10-22T13:39:25Z")
Criminal Minds has addressed the issue of serial killing of whores and homeless people (that was one of their best episodes). In one episodes, a politician asked Hotxchner “Nobody cares. Who are these people anyway that you waste time on them.” He replied “They’re daughters. Some of them are sisters and mothers.” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/67 "2010-10-22T13:50:18Z")
I suspect the Colonel did _not_ target the homeless or prostitutes, exactly because what he got off on was a rousing sense of violation. Sneaking into a “good” home to steal and rape was, seemingly, “the point” to him. Raping & murdering the already downtrodden would, one suspects, not have provided the same sort of thrill. That aside, it obviously makes mores sense, if one wished to be a serial killer with longevity, to target the homeless and prostitutes. Even with the best will in the world - which is certainly not guaranteed - the police work tracking such victims down would be a lot harder. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/68 "2010-10-22T14:55:15Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Some expert on the CBC radio the other day said that the sort of fetish Williams had doesn’t just turn on like a light switch, so yeah he had probably been doing small stuff for years. > > There is also a clear escalation in his behaviour that unfortunately ended with committing murder. On the other hand, another medico is quoted in the media as saying that if Williams had sought psychiatric help, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have escalated: [‘Hyper-Sexuality’ Run Amok](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/10/21/15770856.html): > [@](#): > > Based on reports from court, Booth said Williams has a mental illness and surmises he probably had fantasies involving wearing women’s clothes since he was a teenager. He said stress and health issues could have triggered a change in his behaviour and led to him acting on those fantasies. > … > While Williams has the demeanour of a psychopath – leading a double-life as a successful military man, chewing gum and confessing his crimes as a soldier might recall a completed mission, not showing any emotion in court. But Booth said he is not a psychopath. > > “There is no psychopathy,” he said, referring to a scoring system to determine such a diagnosis. > > “You need a score of 30 on a scale of 40 and he’s only a 16-17,” adding he lacks factors such as antisocial behaviour and anger. > … > “Somebody with (Williams’ desires) had treatment options. He should have sought help and this wouldn’t have happened.” If true, very sad that he wouldn’t have sought help. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/69 "2010-10-22T15:52:41Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > He replied “They’re daughters. Some of them are sisters and mothers.” Daughters, sister and mothers who for the most part have become transients. The police can no more keep track of transients than their families could. When a transient relocates without informing anyone, it could be that she was murdered, or it could be that she relocated. The pig farmer preyed on street prostitutes and out-call prostitutes. I have to wonder how many of them would have preferred to work in an in-call environment, where there would be some degree of security and stability, making it more difficult for them to be preyed upon, and making it easier for the police to provide police services for them rather than ignore them. I hope the offences in our criminal code that are related to prostitution\* – pimping, running a whore house, and advertising – are struck down, for it would make it easier for prostitutes to get off the streets or stop doing out-calls, and instead work in environments with security provisions. Recently these laws were struck down in Ontario, but the Feds are appealing. [As Justice Himmel put it:](http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/bedford-ruling.pdf) > [@](#): > > These laws, individually and together, force prostitutes to chose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Back in the 80s, the Fraser Commission (Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution. Pornography and Prostitution in Canada. 2 Vols. Supply and Services Canada, Ottawa, 1985) made recommendations that for the most part were along these lines regarding the law related to prostitution, but the government did not adopt its recommendations. Obviously this would not be a full solution – not even close – for there will always be psychologically disturbed, drug-addled crack whores drifting through the streets of our cities, being preyed upon by people like the pig farmer, but at least some prostitutes would be able to get off the street while still practising their legal\* trade. The one good thing to come out of the pig farmer debacle, is greater pressure being put on police to pay closer attention to reports of bad tricks and oddly disappearing prostitutes. \*(For folks who might not already be aware, prostitution has never been illegal in Canada.) ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/70 "2010-10-23T15:26:32Z")
Did anyone watch The Fifth Estate last night, “The Confession”? It was fascinating. I had heard about the stellar job of interrogation by Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth and seen snippets linked online. It was a very sobering hour of television—commercial-free. It was also the first time I’d seen in the coverage, that I recall, a picture of Russell Williams’ wife. I cannot imagine what she and their children are going through. Everything they known and believed must be shattered. It occurred to me, when there was a snapshot of them both shown, that maybe her face should have been redacted, for her privacy. They are also victims. But I also can’t help but wonder, were there any clues? Did she somehow suspect that he harboured these secrets? I’d like to think that I would know about objects stored in my home. Although my husband greatly assists with housework, it’s me that cleans out closets, decides where things are stored, and what needs painting. I can’t imagine having the stolen underwear and such hidden in my house all along, and me missing it. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/71 "2010-10-23T15:38:50Z")
A friend of mine was in Shoppers’ Drug Mart on Wednesday with her three year old son. Son pointed at the picture on the front page of the Toronto Star and said “Daddy!”. Everyone was laughing until she went to pay with her credit card - her last name is also ‘Williams’ (no relation). Utter shock and horror from the clerk. As she put it - “I’ve never explained a bizarre coincidence so quickly in my life!” ---
**Author:** ![kfraser34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@kfraser34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kfraser34)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/72 "2010-10-23T16:18:30Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > The Tories recently put a bill through first reading in the Commons that would at least put in place consecutive parole periods for multiple murderers, if not actual consecutive sentences for multiple murderers – check out [sections 4 and 5 of Bill C-48](http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=3&Mode=1&Pub=Bill&Doc=C-48_1&File=30). This could have already been passed and in place [if they had not prorogued parliament](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/10/22/williams-parole.html)… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/73 "2010-10-23T19:28:22Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The phrase you’re looking for is “fraudulent conveyance” (or sometimes, “fraudulent preference”). Williams signs over (“conveys”) his interest in these properties to his wife, in an effort to protect them from the plaintiff. In other words, the plaintiff cannot be awarded what Williams doesn’t own. But by naming Williams’ wife as a party to the suit, the plaintiff can continue to claim against the assets she now owns. How successful this claim against Williams’ wife will be, I don’t know. > > A quick Google search shows a number of news sources stating that a publication ban on events in the civil trial was granted last May, so until that is lifted (and it doesn’t seem to have been, so I’ll assume it is still in place), we won’t know much about it. The judge has made a Mareva order temporarily freezing Harriman’s and Williams’ assets while the case proceeds. Harriman is defending the action. She has asserted that the property transfer was properly made under the Family Law Act. (When married couples in Ontario separate, they can equalize their net family properties under the FLA.) Needless to say, it is not surprising that they separated when she learned that he was a sex murderer, so as long as the figures in the equalization were reasonable, then the plaintiff’s claims against her will fail. Since all the figures are not public at this time, one can’t say if the equalization figures were reasonable, but from the figures that have come out so far, it looks like it really was an equalization, rather than simply a dumping of his assets on her – for example, she got the house and the mortgage, she transferred a sizeable chunk of cash to him, and he got the camp and his pension. On its face, that appears to be a typical FLA equalization. All bets are off if it is established that she knew what he was up to, but there has not been anything suggesting that she had any inkling of his hidden life. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/74 "2010-10-23T22:10:56Z")
**Savannah** Do they have children? I was under the impression it was just him and his wife, I haven’t seen anything about kids anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/75 "2010-10-23T22:58:26Z")
I think you’re right, **Flutterby** –accounts I am looking at make no mention of children. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/76 "2010-10-24T05:12:40Z")
They don’t have kids. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/77 "2010-10-24T09:28:28Z")
Article about the couple: no kids, just cats: [Wife of Killer Colonel Avoiding Public Spotlight](http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Wife+killer+colonel+avoiding+public+spotlight/3718105/story.html). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/78 "2010-11-19T17:28:09Z")
Latest in the Russell Williams story: the Canadian Forces burn his uniform. See the item in today’s [Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/russell-williams/canadian-forces-burn-russell-williamss-uniform-gear/article1806079/). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/79 "2010-11-19T18:08:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Article about the couple: no kids, just cats: [Wife of Killer Colonel Avoiding Public Spotlight](http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Wife+killer+colonel+avoiding+public+spotlight/3718105/story.html). Poor kitties. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795/80 "2010-11-19T18:45:24Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Latest in the Russell Williams story: the Canadian Forces burn his uniform. See the item in today’s [Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/russell-williams/canadian-forces-burn-russell-williamss-uniform-gear/article1806079/). I can see why they would do that. I wonder if any of them spit on it first? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-any-updates-on-col-russell-williams/553795.md?page=5)