The more things change,
the more they remain the same…
Today, I read my copy of the Halifax Herald and once again, the front page is dominated by two more gruesome crimes against young girls/women.
The first one is about a 12-year-old girl, Karissa Boudreau, from Bridgewater, NS, whose body was found on the upper banks of the LaHave River six days ago. She had been missing since January 27 after she and her mother allegedly had a fight in the local Sobeys parking lot. After two helicopter searches, two underwater searches of the river and a community search of the area failed to turn up anything, a passerby found Karissa’s body on February 9th across the street from a blind man’s house. The police took six days to perform an autopsy and declared her death a homicide. Today, the RCMP had two suspects in custody.
Some of the interesting statements in the news coverage include:
… an RCMP profiler from Ottawa "came down to the scene, looked over the file and certainly felt that (the local RCMP) were going in the right direction,"
… Karissa was found within walking distance of her home.
… the police did not have video evidence to back up the mother’s story that she left Karissa in the car after their argument.
… They also won’t say whether family members, including Karissa’s mother, Penny Boudreau, and her boyfriend, Vernon MacCumber, have been ruled out as suspects.
These statements tell me two things:
1. The media seems to be asking the right questions.
2. The police, in this instance, seem to be doing all the right things—acting quickly, bringing in additional resources and experts and not leaving anything to chance. Let’s hope they keep the pressure on until the killer(s) are brought to justice(?).
I can’t help but wonder if Theresa Allore’s death occurred in 2008 outside the Province of Quebec, would we have a need for this blog? Have the Sûreté du Québec’s policing techniques kept pace with the times?
Somehow, I doubt it. Maybe the parents of Julie Surprenant and Cedrika Provencher could tell us.
Martin Provencher, the father of Cedrika said the SQ failed to issue an Amber Alert and begin a prompt investigation in the days after his daughter was reported missing. He also says the SQ haven’t been sharing information with the family. (Surprise, surprise.)
Is it just me or is there a marked difference between the way crimes are investigated in Quebec?
The second story is about Charlene Knapp, a pregnant mother of one, who was brutally stabbed with a SWORD by her fiancé. She almost died, she lost her unborn baby and she is now permanently disabled. Her fiancé received 14 years in jail which means he’ll probably be out in seven. Sad commentary on our justice system.
Read more about Karissa Boudreau’s homicide here:
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1038217.html
Read Charlene Knapp’s story here:
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1038143.html
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Maritime Missy
posted by John Allore @ 2/15/2008 11:46:00 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Missy - Glad to read your post again.
You've asked a very interesting question. Would the outcome be any different if Theresa's murder occured this year outside of Quebec? I'm gonna be thinking about that for a while.
Has the SQ learned anything from the experience of the last 30 years? I wonder about that too.
Is there a marked difference between Quebec policing and the rest of Canada?
Yes. The Quebec model is based on the Franch model (Vidocq): a federalist, centralized force that answers to one.
The RCMP is based on the British model (Peel), decentralized, more fragmented... open, more specialization.
That she was found so close to her home astounds me.
JJA
BILL...I truly believe Theresa's killer would have been identified within months (if not weeks) if she had died outside of Quebec in 2008. I know the RCMP have made some mistakes and dragged their feet on some investigations...but I get the impression that they at least TRY to keep up to date with new technologies and investigative techniques. I don't get that impression from the SQ.
JOHN...I believe Karissa was placed on the riverbank after the searches were completed. The fact that she was found across the street from a blind man's house suggests to me that her killer(s) knew that neighbourhood extremely well and was following the news closely. Of course...suspicion right now seems to be falling on the mother and her boyfriend. Especially since the police immediately said that this crime was an "isolated incident" early on in the investigation. How would they know that so soon after her body was found?
Halifax has had a lot of violent crimes lately. Just a few weeks ago, a young woman was found brutally murdered in a couple's apartment. There have been quite a few missing persons lately too. I guess Halifax has graduated into a big city--complete with drugs, sex crimes and everything else.
Bless you, Missy!
I have been waiting for someone to say what you said for a long time.
I keep on wondering why everyone wants to put down the RCMP, when the SQ have been such blundering idiots?
I'm sorry, I know this is going tp offend some people, and I know there was no SQ back in 1978.
I have read Patricia Pearson's account at least 4 times now, and I've read everything John wrote in here, and I've also exchanged a lot of e-mails with Terry Roth discussing the details of Theresa's story, so forgive me for coming off like I know something about it.
I am not at all impressed with how the SQ has handled this case. I'd even go as far as to say I'm disgusted with it!
I am not a Canadian, have never been to Canada, and probably don't know half as much about the political situation up there as the rest of you.
And yet, somehow, I find in me the audacity to say that I truly believe the RCMP would have been so much better at solving this case than the SQ ever will.
There, I said it.
Does anyone want to shoot me now?
Bill:
On "yer mourning news"... you're a sweetheart... yes, my ego is that fragile.
Anonymous -
Instead of getting shot at, I get a Valentine. I sure didn't see that coming.
Yeah, I confess, guilty as charged, I'm a sweetheart. But please don't tell everyone. I'm trying to keep it a secret.
Is your anonymity due to a fragile ego?
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