http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Police+scour+cold+cases+after+colonel+arrest+killings/2539198/story.htmlPolice scour cold cases after colonel's arrest
By Gary Dimmock, Jorge Barrera, Juliet O'Neill, Ken Meaney and Meghan Hurley , Ottawa CitizenFebruary 9, 2010
OTTAWA — Police detectives across Canada will be digging into cold cases of slain and missing women to see whether the shocking arrest Sunday of a Canadian air force colonel could provide the answer to other unsolved crimes.
In a case that seems like the stuff of movies, the commanding officer of one of Canada's largest bases, Col. Russell Williams, was led shackled into a courthouse in Belleville Monday afternoon.
Williams, 46, the commander of 8 Wing Trenton, was arrested in connection with the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38. Their disappearances in the fall and winter had struck fear into local residents.
Williams, who has a residence in Tweed, northeast of Belleville, as well as a home he shares with his wife in Ottawa, was also charged with two counts of forcible confinement and two counts of break and enter and sexual assault relating to two home invasions.
The sex assault and murder cases against Williams started as four separate files -- two killings and two sex assaults -- but detectives linked them.
Monday, clad in a blue jumpsuit, Williams looked down for the most part, but when prompted, glanced up at the judge and said his name. His face, according to people in the courtroom, was expressionless.
Lloyd, of Belleville, worked at Tri-Board Student Transportation Services in Napanee. She was reported missing Jan. 29 after she didn't show up for work. She last communicated with a family friend on Jan. 28 at 10:36 p.m. through text messaging. Her body was found Monday in a secluded area near Tweed.
Comeau, 38, was found dead in her home in nearby Brighton on Nov. 25. She was a military flight attendant based in Trenton.
Police aren't saying much about what led them to Williams, except there was a canvass of an area highway to check vehicle tracks and that pointed them to the officer.
The detectives working on the homicide and sex assault cases against Williams are now reviewing the cold cases at every military post -- including Canada's secret base in the Middle East -- where he has served during his 23-year career.
One of those cases is the unsolved 2001 murder of Kathleen MacVicar at CFB Trenton. MacVicar, a 19-year-old from Glace Bay, N.S., was staying with relatives on the base and working at a call centre in Belleville when she was found murdered on the base in June 2001. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed.
Her mother, Colleen MacVicar, said Monday night that she had been phoned by an OPP officer earlier in the day and told that they were examining the case in light of the charges against Williams. While they told her there were no obvious similarities between the cases he has been charged with and Kathleen's murder, further investigation would be done.
"They are still looking for Kathleen's killer and they are keeping her in mind," MacVicar said, adding the call made her feel sick to her stomach and "anxious to know if we can find a face to put to Kathleen's killer or not."
In Ottawa Monday, on the Westboro street where Williams and his wife own a house, neighbour Michael Gennis said he first learned his neighbour was in trouble on Sunday night.
Two unmarked police cars were parked in front of Williams' home on Edison Avenue. Two OPP cruisers were also on guard in a parking lot that backs onto the rear of the house.
Williams' wife followed police into her garage Sunday night and left the home a short time later.
"It looked like she was given 10 minutes to get her act together and get out," Gennis said.
Plainclothes officers were going in and out of the house on Sunday night, Gennis said. He said a few of the men who entered were dressed in black and "looked like undertakers."
On Monday night, an OPP vehicle sat in the couple's driveway beside a BMW. Neighbours, who stood on the street looking at the house, said the couple also had a sport utility vehicle that is no longer at their house.
Gennis said Williams and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Harriman, moved into the newly built home at the end of December. Gennis moved in a short time before the couple and came to know them. The neighbours had their homes constructed by the same builder.
Harriman is the associate executive director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
"She is one of our most beloved staff," said spokeswoman Eileen Melnick-McCarthy. "She is taking an extended leave to focus on family matters and we continue to support her."
The two have no children, said Larry Jones, a neighbour in Tweed, adding that Williams kept to himself. He said in the five years they were neighbours, they had probably spoken only 20 times.
Bonnie Jones said she sometimes took them cucumbers from her garden, but they didn't interact much. "They were city folks who kept to themselves," she said.
According to Larry Jones, police at one point considered him (Jones) a suspect in the home invasions, which he said occurred at two nearby homes.
"(You) wouldn't believe the rumours around town ... Wife getting calls, 'How does it feel to live with a murderer?'" he said.
Larry Jones said he was detained for questioning and believes he was under police surveillance for weeks.
"I told them they were barking up the wrong tree," he said. "They wasted weeks ... never questioned (Williams) ... because he's untouchable."
Williams was remanded into custody following the brief appearance and is expected to be back in court in Belleville on Feb. 18 at 9 a.m.
Chronology of Events
- Monday, Feb. 8., 2010
Police discover the body of missing Belleville, Ont., woman Jessica Lloyd off Carry Road, in the Municipality of Tweed, Ont.
- Sunday, Feb. 7.
Ontario Provincial Police and the Belleville police arrested Col. Russell Williams, 46, wing commander of CFB Trenton. Williams is charged with first-degree murder of Jessica Lloyd and first-degree murder of Marie-France Comeau. He also faces two counts of forcible confinement, and two each of break and enter and sexual assault.
- Thursday, Feb. 4
Police say Williams came to their attention as a result of information gathered during a roadside canvass on Highway 37.
- Thursday, Jan. 28
The last time Jessica Lloyd, 27, was seen alive.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009
Marie-France Comeau, 38, was found dead in her Brighton, Ont. residence.
- September 2009
There were two separate home invasions in the Tweed area in which two women were the victims of sexual assault.
- With files from Zev Singer and Global News
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