Russell Williams - Above Suspicion - the fifth estate — Transcript
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- 0:01on this edition of The Fifth
- 0:03Estate May 2005 the queen and Prince
- 0:07Phillip in
- 0:09[Applause]
- 0:11Canada in command of their flight an
- 0:14officer on his way up in the Canadian
- 0:16Forces Lieutenant Colonel Russell
- 0:18Williams Rising through the ranks if not
- 0:21a household name yet arrested Russell
- 0:25Williams 46 of Tweed for first deegree
- 0:28murder Russell Williams would not be on
- 0:31this past Summer's royal visit once the
- 0:35model of a military
- 0:36man is now accused of a bizarre and
- 0:39violent crime spree two counts of
- 0:42first-degree murder two brutal sexual
- 0:44assaults 82 break enter and theft
- 0:47related charges tonight the story as you
- 0:50haven't heard it told before from the
- 0:53victims I have bad dreams nightmares but
- 0:56I can't stay along very well the
- 0:59commanding officer people how could we
- 1:02have missed this is there something that
- 1:04we did or didn't do that would have
- 1:06given us a clue his longtime friend I
- 1:08heard that name Williams and I heard
- 1:12murder charge it felt like someone had
- 1:14kicked me in the groin as hurt as it
- 1:16could a couple of times I I vomited I I
- 1:19just couldn't believe it I still can't
- 1:21believe
- 1:23it hello I'm Bob McKuen welcome to a new
- 1:27season of The Fifth Estate Colonel
- 1:29Russell Williams seemed the embodiment
- 1:31of the military ideals of Duty and honor
- 1:35pilot for prime ministers and royalty
- 1:37commander of the secret Canadian base in
- 1:39the Persian Gulf and in 2009 appointed
- 1:43commanding officer of Canada's biggest
- 1:45most important Air Force Base here in
- 1:47Trenton Ontario Russell Williams Fall
- 1:51From Grace is a frightening reminder of
- 1:53the unpredictability of human behavior
- 1:56we should remind you that none of the
- 1:58charges against him have yet been proved
- 1:59proven in court this is what we've
- 2:12discovered it started under the
- 2:16radar under cover of
- 2:18Darkness with a mysterious person
- 2:21stalking the Ottawa suburb of
- 2:23Orleans and a series of break-ins like
- 2:26the one that took place in January 2009
- 2:29a family returned from a trip to Toronto
- 2:32as their teenage girl unpacked she
- 2:34noticed something
- 2:36strange my daughter um came running down
- 2:39the stairs telling us that all her
- 2:41underwear were gone out of her drawer
- 2:43and we kind of laughed and said check
- 2:45the floor cuz you know how teenagers are
- 2:47or check the laundry or whatever and she
- 2:50said no I'm serious there's nothing left
- 2:52in my
- 2:53drawer Brenda Constantine and her
- 2:55husband Brian Rogers wouldn't laugh for
- 2:58long when their daughter disc discovered
- 2:59discovered what else was missing she
- 3:02went back up and she realized there were
- 3:04dresses gone there were shoes gone all
- 3:06her bathing suits photographs of herself
- 3:09had
- 3:10gone someone had gone through their
- 3:12family albums selecting pictures of
- 3:15their 15-year-old daughter and police
- 3:17found something even more
- 3:20disturbing they did tell us that they
- 3:22took some DNA evidence from my
- 3:25daughter's bedroom from her Bureau where
- 3:28the underwear draw around that area they
- 3:31warned us to wash it with bleach clean
- 3:33everything and of course my daughter
- 3:35didn't sleep in her bedroom for 3 months
- 3:37after that for Brenda and Brian the
- 3:40crime was both bizarre and terrifying
- 3:43someone was targeted their
- 3:4715-year-old we wouldn't let her go
- 3:49anywhere or do anything alone she wasn't
- 3:51allowed to stay home alone her brothers
- 3:54uh basically were her bodyguards for the
- 3:56day and and us and we had friends
- 3:58looking out for her as well Orleans
- 4:02Ontario is a bedroom community for the
- 4:04nation's capital home to many members of
- 4:06the military and their families at the
- 4:09time they included Russell Williams and
- 4:11his
- 4:12wife on The Fast Track in the forces
- 4:15Lieutenant Colonel Williams had been
- 4:17commander of Canada's Air transport
- 4:19Squadron a key job at a time of
- 4:22war the leadership the challenges of
- 4:26command the commanding officer of
- 4:28Canada's Air Force was then liutenant
- 4:30General Angus watt now retired the
- 4:33general says that even under the
- 4:34constant scrutiny and evaluation of
- 4:36military life Williams was one of the
- 4:39best and brightest unusually calm very
- 4:43logical um very rational and able to
- 4:46produce good quality staff work uh in a
- 4:49fairly short time which is a valued
- 4:51commodity in Ottawa but in Russell
- 4:53Williams neighborhood in the suburb of
- 4:55Orleans the mood was far from calm you
- 4:59know I'm remember talking to friends in
- 5:00that and and some of them would be
- 5:03really spooked and some others would you
- 5:05know take with a grain of salt almost
- 5:07but you know the ones that were really
- 5:08spooked were really spooked during 2008
- 5:12and 2009 there were 34 similar break-ins
- 5:16and attempted break-ins in the area
- 5:18resulting in the theft of hundreds of
- 5:20intimate female garments all from homes
- 5:23not far from the house where Lieutenant
- 5:25Colonel Williams
- 5:28lived Ottawa police warned residents to
- 5:30be vigilant they called the incidents
- 5:33very peculiar in nature the search for a
- 5:36suspect was
- 5:38[Applause]
- 5:41on at that same time another search was
- 5:44underway to fill one of the key
- 5:46positions in Canada's Air Force
- 5:48commanding officer at CFB
- 5:50Trenton Lieutenant General Angus wad
- 5:53eventually signed off on the successful
- 5:55candidate Russell Williams you have to
- 5:58be good with people in other words you
- 6:00have to be a good leader you have to be
- 6:02good with the administration you have to
- 6:04be good with the media and good with the
- 6:06public it all has to come together in a
- 6:08in a package that gives us confidence
- 6:10that you will uh do well as a win
- 6:12commander and Russ had all of that
- 6:14package when Canada is at War nowhere is
- 6:17it more evident than the base at Trenton
- 6:20it's here that soldiers take their final
- 6:21steps on home soil before shipping out
- 6:24to Afghanistan and where Heroes
- 6:27return 4,000 men and women are assigned
- 6:30to Trenton the job of Base command is a
- 6:32crucial
- 6:35one in a ceremony in July 2009 now
- 6:39Colonel Russell Williams was sworn in as
- 6:41the new commanding
- 6:43officer as Wing Commander Williams had
- 6:46living accommodations on the base but he
- 6:48also owned a cottage in Tweed Ontario
- 6:51about a half hours Drive North along
- 6:53Highway 37 a quiet little town that was
- 6:56about to get a lot better known for the
- 6:58wrong reason
- 7:01because some strange soon to become
- 7:04terrible things were happening not far
- 7:06from CFB
- 7:08Trenton when we return the Russell
- 7:11Williams his neighbors saw I thought
- 7:14that he was kind of a kind of a loner
- 7:16because he never really had any friends
- 7:17there to talk to speak of and the man
- 7:20who may know him best and he wasn't just
- 7:23some average person that was in my life
- 7:25I mean we were very
- 7:28close
- 7:39Tweed Ontario population
- 7:435200 about midway between Toronto and
- 7:46Ottawa a friendly Town especially on
- 7:49Canada
- 7:51Day the kind of place where everyone
- 7:53seems to know everyone
- 7:56else Colonel Russell Williams had owned
- 7:58this Cottage in tweet for 5 years before
- 8:01he took command of the Trenton Air Base
- 8:02in July
- 8:042009 his street Cozy Cove Lane is as it
- 8:08sounds an idilic Lakefront location
- 8:10where no one locked their doors at least
- 8:13not then Williams nextd door neighbor
- 8:15was lifelong resident Larry Jones pretty
- 8:18well every day he'd be here off and on
- 8:21and and going and coming all hours you
- 8:23never knew cuz he's a very busy man and
- 8:25he had a big job to do William's wife
- 8:27Mary Elizabeth worked in Ottawa and
- 8:29usually stayed at their house in Orleans
- 8:32Janes says the colonel was often at the
- 8:34cottage alone kind of a loner because he
- 8:36never really had any friends there to
- 8:38talk to speak of maybe twice a year
- 8:40you'd have some friends there one of
- 8:42Williams visitors at Cozy Cove was Jeff
- 8:45far 1982 I remember being there when he
- 8:47had first bought it I think the deal was
- 8:49just barely done and uh he called me to
- 8:52come out and take a look and gave me a
- 8:54tour of the place and he was really
- 8:55excited to have a cottage they' known
- 8:58each other since 1982 when the bearded
- 9:0118-year-old Russell Williams was in his
- 9:03first year at the University of
- 9:05Toronto's scarra campus Jeff farquar was
- 9:08assigned as his dormmate it was a rocky
- 9:11start for example in the the residence
- 9:14we were there were six of us and he
- 9:16assigned tasks for us all uh two two
- 9:19guys would be responsible for groceries
- 9:21two more would be for cleanup of dinners
- 9:23and and so on and uh I remember looking
- 9:26at him thinking who is this and who is
- 9:29this uh person William's nickname was
- 9:32the drill sergeant Sarge for short he
- 9:35was also the resident prankster pulling
- 9:38practical jokes that involved stealth
- 9:40surprise and opening locked doors he
- 9:43would spend hours hiding in a roommate's
- 9:45closet a trend that caught on and then
- 9:48when the the room roommate came in and
- 9:51sat down started working on his desk uh
- 9:53we would jump out and scream you know
- 9:55and scare the babers out of the uh the
- 9:57roommate so so it got to uh to be a
- 10:00regular thing and okay maybe Russ did
- 10:03start this but again I I don't read any
- 10:05dark into that Jeff farar says his best
- 10:09friend shared little about his
- 10:11background a child of divorce at
- 10:13boarding school and in college Williams
- 10:16rarely saw his family usually spending
- 10:18weekends and vacations in Residence
- 10:20often
- 10:21alone as for a love life Fara remembers
- 10:24him having just one girlfriend in
- 10:26college then a bad breakup
- 10:29it was a tough one on him for sure I
- 10:32hadn't seen him that hurt ever in his
- 10:34life and uh uh I'm not sure the time
- 10:36frame exactly but maybe from age 20 on I
- 10:39hadn't known him to have any girlfriends
- 10:41age 20 to what 's see 30 yeah so
- 10:47probably roughly a 10e period in there I
- 10:50would
- 10:51think afterwards that relationship was
- 10:53off limits even to his closest pal it
- 10:57wasn't an open subject and just like his
- 10:59parents divorce or whatever the
- 11:00situation was with his family I wasn't
- 11:02going to poke in Pride and pull out a
- 11:04scab you know that's not something you
- 11:06want to do to any any of your friends
- 11:08but there was something Russell Williams
- 11:10didn't keep to himself though he had
- 11:12studied economics for four years he
- 11:14suddenly announced he wanted to join the
- 11:16Air
- 11:17Force good student graduated and right
- 11:21after that he said I think I want to be
- 11:23a pilot and I said what the heck did you
- 11:26do all this for you know where's that
- 11:28coming from
- 11:32apparently at least in part from this
- 11:35Tom Cruz in the hit movie Top Gun I feel
- 11:38the
- 11:39need the Need for
- 11:42Speed and actually I was a little bit
- 11:44concerned cuz he was taking it way over
- 11:46the top in what way I I really thought
- 11:49he was uh trying to live that and so did
- 11:52a couple of us uh that knew us pretty
- 11:54well and I thought gee he's really lost
- 11:56in a fantasy world here because he had
- 11:58just had the recent nasty
- 12:02breakup um and I kept thinking to myself
- 12:05oh no now he's going to be a jet fighter
- 12:07and he's going to win the girl back in
- 12:09the years to come Williams would make
- 12:10his fantasy reality becoming one of
- 12:13Canada's top Pilots not flying Fighters
- 12:16but transport planes to war zones and
- 12:18natural disasters and jets carrying
- 12:21Prime Ministers and other VIPs across
- 12:23the country and around the
- 12:25world through it all Williams was the
- 12:28friend Jeff parar had known since
- 12:29College enthusiastic trumpet player
- 12:32amateur photographer MC at his wedding
- 12:36well good evening my name is Russ
- 12:37Williams and it's my pleasure and honor
- 12:39to welcome you on behalf of Jeff and
- 12:43Jodie but there was much his pal still
- 12:46didn't share like news of his impending
- 12:50marriage it was a complete shock I mean
- 12:52I was excited for him but he hadn't been
- 12:55dating from University days um save from
- 12:58second year maybe on they've now been
- 13:00married almost 20 years farquar says he
- 13:03thought the match with Mary Elizabeth
- 13:05Harman now a charity executive was a
- 13:07good one but with her in Ottawa and him
- 13:10at the base in Trenton it was often a
- 13:12longdistance
- 13:14relationship and I can't tell you
- 13:16exactly what year it was that he said
- 13:18well now I'm at Trenton and I'm actually
- 13:21staying at Cozy Cove quite a bit rather
- 13:23than commuting all the way back to
- 13:24Ottawa and Mary Liz is coming out on
- 13:27weekends or I can go to otwa on
- 13:30weekends it was on a weekend in the fall
- 13:32of 2007 that a series of unusual
- 13:35break-ins began to unfold in and around
- 13:38Tweed Russell Williams was at his
- 13:40Cottage neighbor Larry Jones was at home
- 13:43next door when he got a frantic phone
- 13:45call from his daughter who lived nearby
- 13:48she'd come home from a party to surprise
- 13:50an intruder and jogging clothes
- 13:53Christine opened the door to go from the
- 13:55garage into the house and saw this Long
- 13:57Tall figure uh run past out the door on
- 14:00the deck jumped over the fence and run
- 14:02off in the bush she thought it was just
- 14:05one of the neighborhood kids and nothing
- 14:07seemed to be missing it would be years
- 14:09before the police told her something
- 14:13different in fact it would be years
- 14:15until anyone put it together that
- 14:17beginning in 2007 according to court
- 14:20documents when Russell Williams was at
- 14:22his Cottage in Tweed a multitude of
- 14:25bizarre break-ins would follow women's
- 14:27lingerie and underwear stolen almost all
- 14:31in his own neighborhood especially on
- 14:33Cozy Cove Lane it was the same pattern
- 14:36as the breakings near Ottawa in Orleans
- 14:38theft sometimes so well executed they
- 14:41weren't even
- 14:46noticed when he took command at Trenton
- 14:49the demands on Williams increased now
- 14:52responsible for thousands of military
- 14:53men and women and often in the public
- 14:56eye but following his promotion and July
- 14:592009 according to police records the
- 15:02frequency of the break-ins increased to
- 15:05there were 10 more in his first two
- 15:07months as Wing
- 15:08commander and all the while Colonel
- 15:11Williams performed His official duties
- 15:13golfing with hockey great Johnny Bower
- 15:15to raise money for military families
- 15:18appearing at a charity drive to send
- 15:19gift boxes to soldiers abroad cementing
- 15:23community
- 15:24relations inviting local officials on a
- 15:26flight to the far north
- 15:29the colonel returned from the Arctic on
- 15:32September 16th 2009 and according to the
- 15:35police criminal activity in Tweed was
- 15:37about to take a brutal turn early on
- 15:40September 17th a young mother was asleep
- 15:43near her 8-week old baby she said that
- 15:46about 1: in the morning a male Intruder
- 15:48invaded her house sexually assaulted her
- 15:51took photographs and left about 3:00
- 15:55a.m. that same day while police
- 15:58investigated at the assault Colonel
- 16:00Williams was at the base presiding over
- 16:03an attempt to set a Guinness World
- 16:04Record for pulling an airplane on the
- 16:06Trenton
- 16:08tarmac the next night there was another
- 16:10Breakin undetected at the time
- 16:13incredibly at the same house where the
- 16:15sexual assault had taken place a pattern
- 16:17of returning to the scene of the crime
- 16:19that would be
- 16:21repeated the following day at the arena
- 16:23in Belleville Colonel Williams took part
- 16:25in the opening of the junior hockey
- 16:27season
- 16:29yes I think I'll have the opportunity to
- 16:31uh to drop the puck at the at the
- 16:33beginning of ceremon ceremonial dropping
- 16:35of the puck early on the week after that
- 16:38there was a third Breakin at the scene
- 16:40of the sexual assault the same day that
- 16:42Williams welcomed defense minister Peter
- 16:44M to CFB Trenton and according to the
- 16:47charges against Williams at the end of
- 16:50September 2009 that pattern of criminal
- 16:53activity in Tweed would become even more
- 16:55extreme that final week of the month
- 16:58there were two more break-ins at a house
- 17:00not far from William's Cottage then
- 17:03there was a third Breakin at that very
- 17:05same
- 17:09house a woman was at home alone when she
- 17:12was surprised by a male Intruder she
- 17:15said he blindfolded her tied her up cut
- 17:18off her clothes choked beat sexually
- 17:21assaulted and photographed for 2 and 1/2
- 17:24hours when she asked if he were going to
- 17:26kill her she says his answer was no need
- 17:29for that she told police she thought
- 17:32she'd heard his voice before but
- 17:33couldn't identify it because both sexual
- 17:36assault victims are subject to a
- 17:38publication ban we won't reveal their
- 17:44names according to Larry Jones the day
- 17:47after the second sexual assault the
- 17:49Ontario Provincial Police blanketed Cozy
- 17:52Cove Lane knocked on the door and if
- 17:54they weren't home they come back the
- 17:55following day and have followup when
- 17:58they got got to Russell Williams door
- 17:59there was no answer the officer moved on
- 18:02to the Jones house he said who lives
- 18:05next door I said Russ Williams
- 18:07commanding officer for CFB Trenton he
- 18:09says well I guess no sense looking at
- 18:10that guy
- 18:12then just like that eh Howard gray and
- 18:16an Maran cook have homes just a few
- 18:18kilometers away on Highway 37 but we
- 18:21knew about it shortly after um shortly
- 18:25after it happened
- 18:27because things are fast odor own here
- 18:31and the word in Tweed was that the two
- 18:33sexual assaults must have been done by
- 18:35one
- 18:37person there's a guy who's out there for
- 18:40women I mean I knew that it kind of been
- 18:42no you know no two guys doing the same
- 18:44kind of things no it had to be there it
- 18:47had to be for me there was a connection
- 18:49definitely and before long the police
- 18:51apparently thought they had their man a
- 18:54resident of Tweed in fact of Cozy Cove
- 18:57Lane
- 18:58Russell Williams nextdoor neighbor Larry
- 19:00Jones came home one day to find his
- 19:03house overrun by the OPP SWAT
- 19:06team I said you're saying that I'm a
- 19:08suspect well yes you are our suspect I
- 19:13said you got to be
- 19:14kidding I said you should be looking in
- 19:16the right direction I said this is the
- 19:17wrong
- 19:18direction yes unreal unbelievable
- 19:22remember the second sexual assault
- 19:24victim thought she'd recognized the
- 19:26voice of Her attacker for some reason
- 19:28she guessed it was the voice of Larry
- 19:30Jones Jones says it took a 3 and 1 half
- 19:33hour interrogation fingerprints DNA a
- 19:37more than 3-hour polygraph exam and
- 19:39weeks of followup before the police
- 19:41finally told him he wasn't their man but
- 19:44by then for many people in Tweed it was
- 19:47too late well after I was taken away and
- 19:50the neighbor saw me getting in the
- 19:51police car well right away Larry Jones
- 19:54is the guy on Cozy Cove he's the one
- 19:55that uh sexually sawed those S women
- 19:57down the road
- 19:58so I was guilty right there in
- 20:00everybody's eyes after the break what
- 20:03happened on an Maran Cook's birthday I
- 20:06heard my name being called the type of
- 20:09tone of voice I'd never heard before and
- 20:12the message left behind and what went
- 20:16through your mind by then I knew
- 20:18somebody was really out there for me I
- 20:20mean I knew
- 20:25that on the road from Tweed to
- 20:27Belleville there's a 150-year-old
- 20:30farmhouse the woman who lives here
- 20:32happens to teach music at the Trenton
- 20:34Air
- 20:36Base it was a late afternoon in mid
- 20:38November her birthday when Anne Maron
- 20:41cook arrived home to get ready for her
- 20:43party at a friend's place nearby so I
- 20:46was kind of um looking forward and
- 20:48hurrying up to
- 20:51go she was alone in the house she
- 20:53thought she rushed upstairs to change
- 20:57what I remember I went to the bedroom
- 20:59and and as I went to my dresser to to
- 21:03get you know change of
- 21:04clothes I noticed that my the the the
- 21:08bedside drawers the little Tables by the
- 21:11bed the drawers were open not only were
- 21:14the drawers open but some personal items
- 21:16kept there were missing her sex toys
- 21:19dildos as she calls them she immediately
- 21:21thought someone in the family was
- 21:23playing a joke it's just a bit of a
- 21:26laugh really yeah we we were we were
- 21:28we were having some laughs of what kind
- 21:30of what kind of Yahoo would come in and
- 21:32do that when her neighbor Howard gray
- 21:35arrived to pick her up they debated
- 21:37calling
- 21:38911 and put the question to me should i
- 21:40ph the police and I said no because they
- 21:44won't even put ink to the paper all they
- 21:46and I remember saying I said all they'll
- 21:48do is they'll use us as a good laughter
- 21:51at coffee break yeah yes because of what
- 21:54it was that it was that's right yes
- 21:56right and I said there's no use doing it
- 21:57because
- 21:59they wouldn't even begin to take it
- 22:02seriously so so she I then I told her
- 22:05get your stuff you're not staying alone
- 22:07here tonight and we came downstairs we
- 22:10went around we we checked all the doors
- 22:13all the
- 22:14windows yeah and uh out we went the last
- 22:20thing they did was double check that the
- 22:22kitchen door was dead bolted from the
- 22:26inside the following morning after the
- 22:29party gray drove Maran cook home again
- 22:32she went up to her office to photocopy
- 22:35something before work what he heard next
- 22:38was her scream it was the type of voice
- 22:40where he react immediately that
- 22:42something's
- 22:43wrong he just immediately react dashing
- 22:46upstairs he found her speechless
- 22:50trembling and uh she was just inside the
- 22:54um inside the the door of the office
- 22:56about two paces in holding her hands
- 22:58like this looking at the screen it was
- 23:00the screen of an old computer that was
- 23:02rarely used it had been turned on the
- 23:05screen saver disabled and replaced by a
- 23:08chilling
- 23:09message in large letters it said go
- 23:12ahead call the police I want to show the
- 23:15judge your really big
- 23:18dildos honestly it's the first time I
- 23:20ever think I ever had the hair stand up
- 23:21on the back of my neck because it was
- 23:23right out of
- 23:24Hollywood it was right out of Hollywood
- 23:28then Maran cook checked her bedroom and
- 23:31then that's when I saw that my drawers
- 23:33my underwear drawers my two drawers were
- 23:35both open and empty and that's when I
- 23:38lost it I lost it I screed big scre the
- 23:43first Big Scream came when she opened up
- 23:45her the one drawer and then she
- 23:47shakingly she opened up the other door
- 23:48and then the other big and then she she
- 23:50was a wreck then a wreck because she
- 23:53realized then that someone must have
- 23:55been in the house when she was the night
- 23:57before
- 23:58someone who'd come for her who'd hidden
- 24:00in the closet then typed that message
- 24:03unlocked the kitchen dead Bol and left
- 24:06and what went through your mind by then
- 24:09I knew somebody was really out there for
- 24:11me I mean I knew that now but he was
- 24:14angry to leave that message I mean I
- 24:17know he he wanted he wanted to do just
- 24:19something more than just stealing my
- 24:20dildos and my underweare to leave a
- 24:22message live at she also was convinced
- 24:25it was in some way related to the sexual
- 24:27assault in Tweed but Maran Cook's house
- 24:30is located within the city limits of
- 24:32Belleville so the break-in was
- 24:33investigated by the Belleville Police I
- 24:36can't remember it was either an or
- 24:38myself question the the guys is this
- 24:40connected to the
- 24:41Tweed why what's going on back at tweet
- 24:44I said well you got to know what's
- 24:45happening back at tweet they they
- 24:47admitted to you they weren't aware of
- 24:48the see we're on Belleville and that's
- 24:51op back at tweet when Anne marcan cook
- 24:54realized there had been a failure to
- 24:56communicate she started telling everyone
- 24:58she could what had happened to
- 25:00her I spread the messages now for to all
- 25:03the women in the area and where I work
- 25:05on the base and you know just lock your
- 25:07doors lock your doors lock your doors
- 25:08you know like there's a guy out there
- 25:10but the warnings wouldn't be enough for
- 25:12a 38-year-old Corporal at CFB Trenton
- 25:15who lived in Brighton Ontario about 30
- 25:17kilom from the base Mary France KO may
- 25:20have been military but she was also a
- 25:22free spirit according to former
- 25:24boyfriend and Confidant Al plant
- 25:28Insider she was an artist a Bohemian um
- 25:32in love with life in general curiosity
- 25:35was uh one of her big things she um she
- 25:40uh she wanted to discover the world she
- 25:42wanted to taste every meal that was
- 25:44available on the planet she had the
- 25:46right job for that as a military flight
- 25:49attendant in fact Corporal KOMO had
- 25:52recently been a crew member on the
- 25:53aircraft carrying Prime Minister Steven
- 25:55Harper on a state visit to the Far East
- 25:58Alan plant spoke with her when she got
- 26:00back she flew from Trenton over the
- 26:03Pacific to go to Japan and from there
- 26:06when they came back uh they flew over
- 26:09the Atlantic so she went around the
- 26:11world I don't know many people who did
- 26:14that so I
- 26:15was I was curious and happy for her but
- 26:19because her dream was coming true 3 days
- 26:22later on November the 25th her body was
- 26:25discovered inside her house
- 26:28the cause of death was his fixation
- 26:30first described as suspected suicide
- 26:33then reclassified as murder like so much
- 26:36else here the full story would take time
- 26:38to come
- 26:40out back in Trenton the same day that
- 26:43Marie Fran Ko's body was found Colonel
- 26:46Russell Williams was being handcuffed
- 26:48and arrested laughing as part of a
- 26:51publicity stunt for the local United Way
- 26:53fundraising
- 26:55campaign later officially informed of
- 26:57Ko's death he wrote a letter of
- 26:59condolence to her family saying please
- 27:01let me know whether there is anything I
- 27:03can do to help you during this very
- 27:05difficult time he didn't attend the
- 27:08funeral in the months to come Williams
- 27:10had his usual full schedule of events
- 27:13the Olympic torch
- 27:14relay holiday
- 27:17parties Consulting on relief operations
- 27:20with the defense minister and chief of
- 27:21Defense staff after the Haitian
- 27:23earthquake always the consumate officer
- 27:28when we come back the crucial clue that
- 27:31led to Russell
- 27:33Williams says I had a sh out my spine I
- 27:35said yeah I did too and uh like you know
- 27:38something's not right
- 27:41here whenever Colonel Russell Williams
- 27:44would drive from CFB Trenton to his
- 27:46Cottage in Tweed Ontario he went right
- 27:49past the house where a 27-year-old woman
- 27:51lived on her own her name was Jessica
- 27:54Lloyd her brother Andy describes his
- 27:57sister is friendly and
- 27:59vivacious just very very witty very
- 28:01outgoing um even people she didn't know
- 28:05friends of mine she' just meet she'd be
- 28:06best friends with them within half an
- 28:07hour so yeah was very outgoing very very
- 28:11funny on January 28th 2010 Jessica Lloyd
- 28:15came home from an evening out she sent a
- 28:18final text message to a friend before
- 28:20calling it a night it was said night
- 28:22night I believe it was it was just kind
- 28:24of saying that was it and assume she was
- 28:27on her way to bed because it was 10:30
- 28:28and she had to work at you know 8:00 in
- 28:30the morning and yeah so that was the
- 28:33last anybody heard from her was that
- 28:34text
- 28:37message it was that same night about
- 28:393:00 a.m. that two local men drove South
- 28:42on Highway 37 headed to Belleville to
- 28:45pick up a load in their truck they
- 28:47didn't know it yet but they too went
- 28:49right past Jessica Lloyd's house what
- 28:52was about to happen May well be the
- 28:54single most important event in this
- 28:56whole tragic story
- 28:59it was frigid with a full moon ly Barker
- 29:02was in the passenger seat struggling to
- 29:04stay awake I was just more or less
- 29:06looking to see you know if I can see a
- 29:08wolf or something like I'm a wildlife
- 29:10buff so I I'm always looking and even
- 29:12when I'm driving I'm looking eh but you
- 29:14know I was just looking to see if
- 29:16there's anything out poking around eh
- 29:18and uh just happened to see the
- 29:22vehicle what he saw was an SUV parked in
- 29:25a field some distance both from the road
- 29:29and from the nearest
- 29:30house it was very odd cuz you never see
- 29:33anything like that at that time of year
- 29:36you know it just didn't seem right like
- 29:39there was shouldn't have been there
- 29:41that's what my cousin said like know we
- 29:43had a said I had a shun down my spine I
- 29:46said yeah I did too and uh like you know
- 29:49something's not right here Lyle Barker
- 29:52and his cousin kept driving it would be
- 29:54a while before they understood exactly
- 29:56what they' seen
- 30:00later that day Andy Lloyd got a phone
- 30:02call from his mother Jessica had never
- 30:05arrived at work Andy went right to her
- 30:08house that's what was so weird is
- 30:10because everything was there you know
- 30:13which why we couldn't figure out what
- 30:16had happened because all of her
- 30:17identification and I mean her cell phone
- 30:19and her purse and things people don't
- 30:22leave home without were there as the
- 30:24following days unfolded pictures of Jess
- 30:27were everywhere there was a massive
- 30:29search with a police helicopter and the
- 30:31search and rescue team from CFB
- 30:34Trenton but something had been missing
- 30:37authorities hadn't drawn a specific link
- 30:39to the sexual assaults in Tweed nor to
- 30:42the murder of Marie France Como two
- 30:43months earlier or the Breakin on Anne
- 30:46Maran Cook's
- 30:47birthday back then there was still no
- 30:49connection they didn't know about my
- 30:51case and I'm sure they didn't think
- 30:53about the Tweet girls either they were
- 30:54just looking for a missing girl after
- 30:57Lyle Barker and his cousin returned from
- 30:59their trucking job they saw Jessica
- 31:01Lloyd's face on all those missing
- 31:03posters when they noticed police
- 31:06vehicles around the house on Highway 37
- 31:08they put it together it was the house
- 31:11next to the field where Barker had seen
- 31:13the SUV parked in the middle of the
- 31:14night the house from which Jessica Lloyd
- 31:17had
- 31:18disappeared that's when Lyall went to
- 31:20the
- 31:21police when they reached the field the
- 31:24weather was still frigid it hadn't
- 31:26snowed since and there were tire tracks
- 31:28preserved by the Cole exactly where
- 31:31Barker said they would
- 31:33be the opp set up roadblocks checking
- 31:36the tires of cars on Highway 37 a week
- 31:39to the day after Jessica lyd vanished
- 31:42Thursday February 4th one of those they
- 31:44stopped was Colonel Russell Williams
- 31:47driving an SUV they checked his tires
- 31:50then let him go unbeknownst to Williams
- 31:53he was under police surveillance from
- 31:54then
- 31:56on
- 31:58Jessica Lloyd's disappearance not only
- 32:00heightened anxiety and Tweed but also
- 32:03suspicion about Larry Jones Janes says
- 32:06it reminded him of something odd that
- 32:08had happened a few months earlier he was
- 32:10going hunting when his usually a Loof
- 32:12neighbor made a beline towards him and
- 32:15he walks across his lawn he Larry what's
- 32:17going on today I says oh just go par on
- 32:19Russ oh and where do you Parish hunt I
- 32:22said well you know where the gulf course
- 32:23is yeah I said well that's East
- 32:25Hungerford Road I said just go their
- 32:26past carrier Road and that's where hunap
- 32:28is oh really well anyway I'm just
- 32:31heading to work I'll see you later take
- 32:33care as you will see he would learn
- 32:35later what that conversation really
- 32:39meant on Sunday February 7th Russell
- 32:42Williams was at his new house in Ottawa
- 32:44when the opp called asking him to the
- 32:47Ottawa Police Department to answer
- 32:48questions it's been reported he thought
- 32:50they were going to ask about Larry Jones
- 32:53instead Williams was informed that
- 32:55extinctive tires of his SU SUV matched
- 32:58the tracks in the field next to Jessica
- 33:00Lloyd's house during a 9-hour
- 33:03interrogation he cooperated with
- 33:06[Music]
- 33:08police investigators gave the sad news
- 33:11to the Lloyd
- 33:13family they didn't say what they thought
- 33:15had happened just basically that that
- 33:18she was gone and they had somebody in
- 33:21custody the next morning Williams
- 33:24directed police to the body the Lloyds
- 33:27had to wait until the news conference to
- 33:29learn who it was who had been charged
- 33:31with Jessica's murder Colonel Russell
- 33:33Williams is the8 wi commander of CFB
- 33:37Trenton and that's also when Williams
- 33:40neighbor Larry Jones heard where police
- 33:43had found the body the body of Jessica
- 33:45Lloyd was located this morning off kery
- 33:48road in the municipality of Tweed it was
- 33:51the very location Jones had described to
- 33:54Russell Williams his favorite hunting
- 33:56grounds
- 33:57now did you put two and two together
- 33:59when you learned where that was there's
- 34:01lots of Roads way back in the boonies
- 34:03that you could put a body on and nobody
- 34:04ever find her but no he had to pick the
- 34:06road that goes to my hunt camp and I
- 34:08said well Jesus what's going on there I
- 34:10wonder sounds like he's trying to set me
- 34:12up e at their news conference police
- 34:15revealed they' found the crucial tire
- 34:17track but not that it was Lyall Barker
- 34:19who told them where to look police then
- 34:22Barker got a phone call serious I
- 34:25received an anonymous call that that my
- 34:27tip
- 34:29head CAU him that it was worth it's
- 34:32weight in gold Larry Jones has no doubt
- 34:35that if not for Barker's vigilance he
- 34:38might well be the one behind bars and
- 34:40Russell Williams wouldn't like the man
- 34:43thought he's never going to get caught
- 34:45until he left those ter tracks behind
- 34:47Jess loy's house which was
- 34:50a a real God sin for
- 34:53me if he hadn't been caught I been in
- 34:57jail now
- 35:01sure a top ranking military officer was
- 35:04charged today with some very grave
- 35:07crimes Williams arrest hit like a
- 35:10bombshell I was at a funeral of an Air
- 35:12Force officer here in Ottawa and some of
- 35:15my Air Force colleagues who still in
- 35:17uniform said Russ Williams has been
- 35:20arrested for murder and of course my
- 35:23reaction was one of shock and dismay
- 35:25like everybody else reti Lieutenant
- 35:27General Angus wat had promoted Williams
- 35:30to commanding officer at Trenton how
- 35:32could we have missed this is there
- 35:34something that we did or didn't do that
- 35:36would have given us a clue and
- 35:38everything I've heard and everything
- 35:39I've seen and everybody I've talked to
- 35:42has the same reaction there was no
- 35:45clue with the exception of Russell
- 35:47Williams wife who has not spoken
- 35:49publicly since it's possible no one took
- 35:52it harder than his friend Jeff aror I'll
- 35:55never forget that day of course um I
- 35:57Heard the uh 5:00
- 35:59news and uh I heard that name Williams
- 36:03and I heard murder charge and then I
- 36:08heard Cozy Cove and I what what and I
- 36:13jumped up and I immediately turned on
- 36:15the
- 36:15TV and uh right there on the news was
- 36:18Russ's face his pictures were all over
- 36:21and I'm telling you it it hit me like
- 36:25uh yeah
- 36:31it hit everyone but this is your best
- 36:35friend for a quarter of a
- 36:37century it it's impossible to imagine
- 36:40sorry how how react to that I mean it
- 36:44made me physically ill to my stomach it
- 36:46felt like someone had kicked me in the
- 36:48groin as hard as they could a couple of
- 36:50times I I vomited I I just couldn't
- 36:52believe it I still can't believe
- 36:55it
- 36:57farar says he decided to speak out after
- 37:00realizing he may never get the answers
- 37:02to the questions he needs to ask his
- 37:04friend foremost among them why obviously
- 37:08I can't even imagine what the uh the
- 37:10families of those victims are going
- 37:12through but I just it doesn't add up in
- 37:14any way uh to the person that I've come
- 37:16to
- 37:17know and respect and he wasn't just some
- 37:21average person that was in my life I
- 37:22mean we were very close and for it all
- 37:25to end was some heinous crimes I just
- 37:29don't get and I keep thinking there had
- 37:31to be something terribly wrong has
- 37:33happened to Russ in those last years
- 37:36that I've produced this because I can't
- 37:38believe for a minute that he was a bad
- 37:40seed but how to explain all the awful
- 37:44details in addition to the murders and
- 37:47sexual assaults Williams is accused of
- 37:49search warrants obtained by police for
- 37:51Williams homes in Tweed in Ottawa led to
- 37:54boxes and boxes of female appar not just
- 37:57bras and panties but bathing suits robes
- 38:00even shoes as well as photographs of
- 38:02some of the young girls and women who
- 38:04owned them all apparently painstakingly
- 38:07stored and cataloged in a notebook
- 38:09recording when and where they were
- 38:13stolen it's how the police were able to
- 38:15tell Brian Rogers and Brenda Constantine
- 38:18Larry Jones daughter Christine and Maran
- 38:21cook and all the others that it was
- 38:24Russell Williams who'd invaded their
- 38:26home
- 38:28for many like Marana cook it's had a
- 38:30lingering cost in locked doors and lost
- 38:33trust if I have bad dreams nightmares
- 38:35but I can't stay along very well but I
- 38:39can't imagine the other girls I mean
- 38:41Jessica she's dead in some ways I feel
- 38:45sorry for the poor girls in
- 38:47Tweed and that's why I want him
- 38:51dead she believes if police forces had
- 38:54better informed residents about
- 38:56everything that happened Jessica Lloyd
- 38:58might have been on guard perhaps
- 39:02survived nothing was said about anything
- 39:04and and Jessica wasn't part of my you
- 39:07know she was a younger a younger woman
- 39:09she wasn't part of my my surrounding
- 39:11women friends or friends of friends so I
- 39:15mean I just feel sorry
- 39:25that that
- 39:30maybe maybe she she would be still
- 39:37alive there's no consolation and no end
- 39:41in sight for those Left Behind like Mar
- 39:44France Como's friend El plant her
- 39:47presentence her present beside
- 39:50me
- 39:52just being invol to touch her I is
- 39:58that as for Russell Williams he's in
- 40:00solitary confinement at the Detention
- 40:02Center in napan Ontario at one point
- 40:05under a suicide watch after reportedly
- 40:07trying to kill himself by stuffing a
- 40:09cardboard toilet roll down his throat
- 40:12guards got to him in time I have talked
- 40:16to some people who uh through other
- 40:19intermediaries have talked to him and
- 40:21the and the feedback I got was
- 40:23immediately after the arrest uh his
- 40:26Psych ological condition was was very
- 40:28poor uh his entire world had been blown
- 40:31up uh by him by him yeah no doubt about
- 40:35it he had blown up his entire world uh
- 40:39and that went right through until his
- 40:40suicide attempt uh and after a suicide
- 40:44attempt the word I heard is that he
- 40:46reconciled himself to the situation and
- 40:48understands his fate for retired
- 40:51lieutenant general Angus Watt and so
- 40:53many others in uniform and doubt the
- 40:56judge judement of Colonel Russell
- 40:57Williams will undoubtedly be harsh and
- 41:01this is a huge betrayal a huge betrayal
- 41:05of the profession a huge betrayal of the
- 41:07honor of the military and we take this
- 41:10very personally uh the people that that
- 41:12knew Russ Williams that shephered him
- 41:15along in his career that helped him at
- 41:17key points uh that selected him as I did
- 41:20for senior leadership positions view
- 41:23this as an the ultimate betrayal of that
- 41:25honor and we will never forgive
- 41:30him
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