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Russell Williams (criminal)

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For other people named Russell Williams (criminal), see Russell Williams (criminal) (disambiguation).
David Russell Williams
Nickname(s)Russ Sovka[1]
AllegianceCanada
Service / branchCanadian Forces Air Command
Years of service1987–present
RankColonel
CommandsCFB Trenton, Camp Mirage
AwardsCanadian Forces Decoration
South-West Asia Service Medal (Canada)

David Russell Williams,[2] CD (born March 7, 1963), often referred to as Colonel Russell Williams, is a Canadian murderer and serial rapist, and Colonel in the Canadian Air Force. From July 2009 to his arrest in February 2010, he commanded Canadian Forces Base Trenton, a hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad and the country's largest and busiest airbase. Williams was also a highly decorated military pilot who had flown Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, and many other dignitaries.[3]

On February 8, 2010, he was relieved as the base commander at CFB Trenton due to criminal charges. He was formally charged by the Crown Attorney pursuant to provisions set forth in the Criminal Code of Canada on evidence collected by the Ontario Provincial Police with two counts of first-degree murder along with two counts of forcible confinement and two counts of breaking and entering and sexual assault;[4][5] another 82 charges relating to breaking and entry were subsequently added.[6]. On October 21, 2010, Williams was sentenced to two life sentences for first-degree murder, two ten-year sentences for other sexual assaults, and 82 one-year sentences for burglary. All the sentences will be served concurrently, likely at Kingston Penitentiary. The life sentences mean Williams will serve a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility. Since he has been convicted of multiple murders, Williams is not eligible for early parole under the so-called "faint hope clause" of the Canadian Criminal Code. [7]

He has been detained at the provincial government's Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ontario while awaiting the conclusion of the court proceedings against him. As of October 18, 2010, Williams remained a commissioned military officer and was still collecting his salary. However, on October 19, 2010, (following Williams' guilty plea to all charges and subsequent conviction), Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk said the military has taken the first steps to release Williams "as quickly as possible".[8]

Williams will serve his time at Kingston Penitentiary.

Personal life

Williams was born in Bromsgrove, England in 1963 to Cedric David Williams and Christine Nonie Williams, before the family moved to Chalk River, Ontario where his father was hired as a metallurgist at Chalk River Laboratories, Canada's premier nuclear research laboratory.[1][9][10]

After relocating to Chalk River, the Williams family met another family, the Sovkas, and they became good friends. The families would spend a lot of time together. Russell Williams' parents divorced when he was six years old and soon after, Nonie Williams married Jerry Sovka. During this time Williams took on the name Sovka from his stepfather Dr. Jerry Sovka, and moved again to Scarborough, Ontario. According to the Toronto Star Oct 9, 2010 article, while in the Scarborough Bluffs area, Williams began high school at Toronto's Birchmount Collegiate, but finished at Upper Canada College. He delivered The Globe and Mail newspaper and learned piano. By 1979 his family had moved to South Korea, where Dr. Sovka was overseeing another reactor project. Russell completed his final two years of high school as a boarding student at Toronto's Upper Canada College while his parents were in South Korea. In his final year in 1982, he was elected as one of two prefects for his boarding house, and reported to his house steward, Andrew Saxton, now the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Vancouver.[1][11][12]

In 1991 he married Mary Elizabeth Harriman who is an associate director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.[13] According to Canadian Defence Department Williams biography (now removed from DND website),[14] Williams is a keen photographer, fisherman and runner and he and his wife Mary Elizabeth are also avid golfers.[15][16]

The couple moved to Orleans, a suburb of Ottawa in July 2006. By then Williams had been posted to the Directorate of Air Requirements at DNDHQ. He served at the Airlift Capability Projects Strategic (CC177 Globemaster III) and Tactical (CC130J Hercules J), and Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue.[17]

In April 2010, Williams was placed on suicide watch after he tried to kill himself by wedging a stuffed cardboard toilet roll down his throat.[18]

Military service

Williams is a decorated officer. He wears a South-West Asia Service Medal with bar and a Canadian Forces Decoration.

Williams was regarded as a model military man over the course of his 23-year career.[9][19] He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1987 after graduating from the University of Toronto with an economics and political science degree. He received his flying wings in 1990, and was posted to 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, based in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, where he served for two years as an instructor.

Promoted to captain in 1992, Williams was posted to 434 Combat Support Squadron at CFB Shearwater, N.S., where he flew the CC-144 Challenger in the electronic warfare and coastal patrol role. He was later posted to the 412 Transport Squadron in Ottawa, where he transported VIPs, including high-ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries, also on Challengers.

Williams was promoted to major in November 1999 and was posted to Director General Military Careers, in Ottawa, where he served as the multi-engine pilot career manager.

He obtained a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2004 with a 55-page thesis that supported pre-emptive war in Iraq, and was appointed commanding officer of 437 Husky Squadron at CFB Trenton the same year.[9][19][20][21][22]

In June 2004, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was appointed commanding officer of 437 Transport Squadron at CFB Trenton, Ont., a post he held for two years.

In 2005–2006, Williams also served as the commanding officer of Camp Mirage, a secretive logistics facility believed to be located at Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that provides support to Canadian Forces operations in Afghanistan.[9][19][23]

He was posted to the Directorate of Air Requirements in July 2006 where he served as project director for the Airlift Capability Projects Strategic (CC177 Globemaster III) and Tactical (CC130J Hercules J), and Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue.

In January 2009 he was posted to the Canadian Forces Language School in Gatineau, Que., for a six-month period of French language training, during which he was promoted to colonel

In July 2009, Williams became the Wing Commander at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, the country's busiest air base and locus of support for overseas military operations. Located in Trenton, Ontario, the base also functions as the point of arrival for the bodies of all Canadian Forces personnel killed in Afghanistan, and the starting point for funeral processions along the "Highway of Heroes" whence their bodies are brought to Toronto for autopsy.[19][24][25][26][27]

Williams has been described as an elite pilot and "shining bright star" of the military. He had flown Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, and many other dignitaries across Canada and overseas in Canadian Forces VIP aircraft.[9][19][21]

The Air Force has initiated the process to strip Williams of his military rank and medals. Williams is expected to be released from the Canadian Forces by November 2010.[28]

As of October 18, 2010, Williams remained a commissioned military officer and was still collecting his salary of estimated $128,220 to $143,400 per year. However, on October 19, 2010, (following Williams guilty plea to all charges and subsequent conviction), Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk said the military has taken the first steps to release Williams "as quickly as possible".[29] Williams faces release from the Canadian Forces (removal of his rank and all military decorations (Canadian Forces Decoration and South-West Asia Service Medal (Canada))) and he may be required to pay back any salary received since being charged.[30]

Not addressed were the prospect of a military investigation or court martial. General Natynczyk also did not detail what will happen to Williams pension and salary that he's continued to collect during the court proceedings. QMI earlier reported that Williams will continue to receive his pension, regardless of conviction.[31]

Investigation and arrest

Jessica Lloyd was a 27-year-old woman who had vanished January 28, 2010. Investigators identified matched distinctive tire tracks left in snow near Jessica Lloyd's home. One week after her disappearance, the Ontario Provincial Police conducted an extensive canvassing of all motorists using the highway near her home from 7 pm on Thursday, February 4, 2010, to 6 am on Friday, looking for the unusual tire treads. Col. Williams was driving his Pathfinder that day—and not the BMW he usually drove—and an officer noticed the resemblance of his tire treads. These were subsequently matched to the treads near Lloyd's home.[12][19][32]

On Sunday, February 7, 2010, the CFB Trenton base commander was arrested in Quinte West following a 10-day search for Lloyd. After a nine-hour interrogation in which he confessed to the numerous crimes of which he was later convicted, early the next morning Williams led investigators to the woman's body in a secluded area on Cary Road, about 13 minutes away from where he lived. The 46-year-old colonel was also charged in the death of Corporal Marie-France Comeau, a 37-year-old military flight attendant based at CFB Trenton who had been found dead inside her home in late November 2009.[11][19][33][34]

Along with the murder charges, Williams was charged with breaking and entering, forcible confinement, and the sexual assault of two other women in connection with two separate home invasions near Tweed, Ontario in September 2009. According to reports, the women had been bound and raped in their homes, and the attacker had taken photos of them.[19][33][35]

Williams was arraigned and remanded into custody on Monday, February 8, 2010. The Canadian military announced the same day that an interim commander would soon be appointed to replace him (Dave Cochrane took over 11 days later), and removed his biography from the Department of National Defence website the following day.[20][23]

Hours after the announcement of Williams' arrest, police services across the country reopened unsolved homicide cases involving young women in areas where Williams, a career military man, had previously been stationed. According to news reports, police began looking at other unsolved cases based on a full statement that Williams gave to police.[20][33][34]

A week after his arrest, investigators reported that, along with hidden keepsakes and other evidence they had found in his home, they had matched a print from one of the homicide scenes to his boot.[32]

In addition to the four primary incidents, the investigation into Col. Williams includes probes into 48 cases of theft of women's underwear dating back to 2006. In the searches of his Ottawa home, police discovered stolen lingerie that was neatly stored, catalogued, and concealed.[36]

Court proceedings and trial

Williams appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville, Ontario via video link from the Quinte Detention Centre on July 22, 2010, where his next court appearance was set for August 26.[37] Again via video link, Williams waived his right to a preliminary inquiry and thus had his next appearance scheduled at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for October 7, 2010.[38] Williams' lawyer has stated his client would plead guilty to all 82 Criminal Code charges filed against him.[39]

On October 18, 2010 Williams pleaded guilty to all charges.[40] On the first day of Williams' trial and guilty plea, details emerged of other sex assaults he committed, including the sex assault of a new mother who was wakened with a blow to the head while she and her baby were asleep in her house.[41] The first day of trial revealed that Williams also had pedophile tendencies, stealing underwear of girls as young as 9 years old. He made 82 fetish home invasions and attempted break-ins between September 2007 and November 2009.[42]

Russell Williams went from fetish break-ins, to sex assaults with no penetration to rape and murder. He kept detailed track of police reports of the crimes he was committing, logged his crimes, kept photos and videos and even left notes and messages for his victims.[43] In a break-in into the bedroom of a 12-year-old, he left a message in her computer saying: "Merci" ("Thank you" in French). He took thousands of pictures of his crimes and kept the photos on his computer. The Crown attorney Robert Morrison presented numerous pictures of Williams dressed in underwear and bras he stole, frequently masturbating while lying on the beds of his victims.[44]

Some of the photos presented on the first day of his trial were published in several newspapers. As some newspapers explained , although troubling, the photos were published because they capture the essence of the crimes of Colonel Russell Williams and show the true nature of his crimes. Among the news media that published some of the released photographs were The Montreal Gazette, The Toronto Star.[45][46]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Colonel Russell Williams is a man no one really knew". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  2. ^ Jim Rankin and Sandro Contenta (October 9, 2010). "Col. Russell Williams: A serial killer like none police have seen". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  3. ^ Daily Mail Reporter (October 19, 2010). "Decorated pilot who flew the Queen pleads guilty to double murder and sexual assault". MailOnline. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  4. ^ "Air Force commander 'shocked' by colonel's arrest". Ctv.ca. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  5. ^ Wing Commander – Who We Are – Senior Staff | 8 Wing Trenton | Air Force | DND/CF[dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Bromsgrove-born serial killer hit with 82 new charges". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  7. ^ "Two life sentences for sex killer Williams's 'despicable crimes'". globeandmail.com. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  8. ^ "Military prepares to release Williams". 19 Oct 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e Butler, Don (2010-02-12). "Accused killer's early years a mix of instability, privilege". Vancouversun.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  10. ^ Allen, Nick (14 May 2010). "Canadian commander accused of murders and sex attacks". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  11. ^ a b Colonel led police to woman's body[dead link‍]
  12. ^ a b "Life and times of Col. Russell Williams". Thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  13. ^ Aulakh, Raveena. "Life and times of Col. Russell Williams". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  14. ^ "National Defence Department Williams biography Page" (PDF). Defence Department. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  15. ^ "Russ Williams' profile: A distinguished military man". CTV News. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  16. ^ "Profile: Colonel Russ Williams charged with murders of Jessica Lloyd, Marie Comeau". National Post. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  17. ^ "Colonel charged with murder has Orléans connection". Orléans Online. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  18. ^ Tripp, Rob (2010-04-04). "Jailed colonel attempts suicide". Kingston Whig Standard. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h "Trenton commander faces murder charges". Thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  20. ^ a b c "Forces in 'shock' over colonel's arrest". Cbc.ca. 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  21. ^ a b "Accused colonel flew PMs, Queen". Canada.com. 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  22. ^ "The secret life of Colonel Russell Williams". .macleans.ca. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  23. ^ a b http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/02/08/col-russell-williams-double-life/
  24. ^ "Police say no cold cases ruled out in Williams murder probe". News.globaltv.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  25. ^ "Police comb colonel's home as family mourns woman". Montrealgazette.com. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  26. ^ "Murder suspect Williams flew Governor General, prime minister aboard Challenger". Webcitation.org. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  27. ^ Unusual suspects[dead link‍]
  28. ^ Williams to lose medals, pay: military at the CBC News, October 21, 2010
  29. ^ "Military prepares to release Williams". 19 Oct 2010.
  30. ^ Pugliese, David (2010-04-10). "Accused killer Russ Williams still collecting colonel's salary". Canada.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  31. ^ "Military prepares to release Williams". 19 Oct 2010.
  32. ^ a b Ottawa police recover keepsakes from home of Col. Russell Williams accused of murder[dead link‍]
  33. ^ a b c "Police revisit unsolved murders after Trenton commander's arrest". Thestar.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  34. ^ a b "Mourners gather for Jessica Lloyd". Cbc.ca. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  35. ^ Police to begin hunt for 'trophies' tied to rapes and murders[dead link‍]
  36. ^ "Ontario women were asphyxiated, source says". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  37. ^ "Col. Williams makes brief court appearance". CBC.CA. July 22, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  38. ^ "Col. Russell Williams timeline". Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  39. ^ "Canada air force commander to plead guilty to murders". BBC News. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  40. ^ Cobb, Chris (2010-10-19). "Disgraced colonel grew increasingly brazen during descent into depravity, murder". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  41. ^ Contenta, Sandro (2010-10-18). "A harrowing account of a nighttime assault". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  42. ^ Contenta, Sandro (2010-10-18). "The secret life of Col. Russell Williams exposed". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  43. ^ Jim Rankin and Sandro Contenta (October 18, 2010). "The secret life of Col. Russell Williams exposed". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  44. ^ Contenta, Sandro (2010-10-18). "The secret life of Col. Russell Williams exposed". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  45. ^ evidence photo, Court evidence photoSandro (2010-10-18). "Col. Russell Williams trial: Warning: Evidence photos". The Gazette montrealgazette.com. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  46. ^ evidence photo, Court evidence photo (2010-10-21). "Photos: Williams fetish". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-10-21.

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