News update: Williams has been charged with 82 break & enters in the towns that he’s lived in, with allegations of theft of women’s underwear during some of the B&E’s.
Also, news reports are that he’s likely to plead guilty to all the charges, including the two murder charges: Williams Expected to Plead Guilty.
Any idea what sort of sentence that all might draw? In the US, the murder charges would potentially lead to the needle, although that would presumably be taken off the table in exchange for a plea, and I expect he’d get life in prison. Does Ontario have life sentences, or will he be in for some term of years?
He probably thought it was a better plan than repeatedly beating his head on the metal toilet.
Yeah, that’s probably all he had. That reminds me, a few days after that all the papers were announcing he was “on a hunger strike” but hadn’t made any “demands”. Both of which seemed like a stupid things to write; he wasn’t protesting anything, he was just trying to off himself again.
Criminal law in Canada is a federal matter, so it’s the same in every province.
The maximum possible sentence is life. Canada has no capital punishment, not even for military crimes (which this is not, I’m just saying.) In theory Williams would be eligible for parole in 25 years, but he will no more get parole than I will be elected Pope, and just to make sure, the Crown will probably push for him to be additionally declared a dangerous offender, thus making it a for-sure life sentence.
And if Canada is anything like the US, I think our good doctor Qadgop had mentioned that prisoners who don’t want to eat tend to get a G-tube put in place long enough to administer some liquid food preparation, and after that most decide that eating is a fine thing to do.
Not quite.
Forced feeding is thankfully very rare. We only seek it if permanent significant injury or death is a clear and present danger; it takes petitioning a court, and we go the NG tube route (hose in nose to stomach) rather than the G tube (which goes directly thru the abdominal wall into the stomach.)
Forcing IVs or feedings on an unwilling individual is a last resort; it’s dangerous, degrading to everyone involved, and usually (but not always) unnecessary. It’s also problematic for health workers like doctors and nurses, who are pledged to act both in the patient’s best interest and with their consent. That means we try to give them what they need (not what they want) but they can refuse.
New development: As Commanding Officer of CFB Trenton, Col. Williams got regular updates from the police about the hunt for the killer of Cpl. Marie France Comeau, who was serving on the base.
Accused Colonel Kept Tabs on Police Probe.
Logical, given his position, and very creepy.
Just an FYI.
Yesterday, Williams pleaded guilty to all charges.
Sentencing to begin Oct. 18.
There are two types of serial killers - the disorganized and the organized. I suppose we tend to think of the disorganized type most often when we hear the phrase because their stories are so spectacular. We don’t expect exemplary people to be murderers. Hits close to home and makes us all feel unsafe and unsure of our perceptions perhaps.
It isn’t unusual for sociopaths to excel in military roles. The job is made for them. Many of them do best with a great deal of structure in their lives. They like to have control of the people around them. They thrive on dangerous situations.
I once had a psychiatrist tell me that a large number of our war heroes are probably sociopathic. Where else can you do the blood and guts thing and come out looking good?
Ideally a soldier is trained to kill. And kill without it affecting his emotional makeup. Guess that’s what he was doing.
ETA: Rather I should have begun with “Serial killers can be divided into two groups - the disorganized and the organized.”
The CBC is reporting that he will plead guilty. Then we can stop saying “alleged”. Must be a real Jeckyll/Hyde type is all I can think of.
See a couple of posts up; he already has pleaded guilty.
Not according to the Glove & Mail: Colonel Russell Williams to plead guilty to all charges - his lawyer has advised that he will plead guilty, at a hearing set for October 18:
This Toronto Sun article reports that it began as a lingerie fetish and escalated:
Is there a conflict in military and civilian jurisdictions in a case like this in Canada?
You can say that for the victims as well.
I’m not aware of any. Our criminal law is federal and uniform across the country, as is the military law. Since none of these crimes are alleged to have occurred in a military context, he’s being tried in the civilian courts.