Dilaudid addict who went on crime spree gets house arrest
%]-->
A Dilaudid addict who went on a crime spree in the spring and summer to feed her habit was granted a conditional sentence of house arrest in provincial court Friday.
Juanita Starr Smith, 27, of Kingsclear First Nation was in court to be sentenced for five counts of uttering forged documents, five counts of probation violation and one count each of break and enter, theft and assaulting a police officer.
Crown prosecutor Trent Wilson said police received a report in May from Kingsclear First Nation band councillor Mike Solomon - Smith's stepfather - that there was a problem with some cheques belonging to the reserve.
"He said that cheques were being bounced all over the city," Wilson said.
He reported that the cheques had been stolen out of his truck in February but he hadn't noticed until later when bad, authorized cheques - made out to Smith - were showing up.
Smith had taken the cheques and had cashed five of them at various businesses in Fredericton in April.
"She apparently needed money for drugs," Wilson said. "While this spree was taking place, she was on probation."
Smith was also caught May 10 in a bungled attempt to steal four Star Trek DVD box sets, valued at a total of $474.52, from Wal-Mart.
Wilson said she was observed putting the DVDs in a backpack and left the store without trying to pay for them. She was stopped by store security.
"She cut herself while doing this. There was blood smeared on the boxes," the prosecutor said.
Smith advised the security officers that she had hepatitis C as a result of sharing a needle for drug use.
She also admitted to police that she broke into a room at the Airport Motel, where she had been staying with a friend.
Wilson said a briefcase in the room had been forced open, but nothing was taken.
Smith was also arrested after a brief high-speed chase on Aug. 2. Wilson said she was unco-operative and combative after the arrest.
"She appeared to be under the influence of narcotics at the time," he said.
After she was placed in a cell at city police headquarters in the early-morning hours of Aug. 3, Wilson said, she spit on the arresting officer, which constituted the assault charge.
It's clear that Smith has a severe drug addiction, he said, one that's cost her the custody of her three children.
"The past six or eight months have been difficult for her and her family," Wilson said.
"A friend introduced her to Dilaudid last year. With friends like that, your honour, who needs enemies?"
Wilson said Smith's past criminal history is limited, but he argued a strong punishment was in order.
"Certainly, the Crown's position is that she needs to go to jail," he said.
"Her conduct with the police officer was despicable, to say the least."
Defence lawyer Edward Derrah said Smith is ready to turn her life around.
"There's no question Miss Smith hit bottom," he said.
He pointed out that her wish to turn over a new leaf isn't just jailhouse conversation. She has sought detox treatment before and has inquired about signing up for a drug rehab program.
Derrah requested that a conditional sentence of house arrest be imposed instead of straight jail time.
"I'd just like to say I'm very sorry, to my father especially," Smith told the court. "I wasn't always this messed up."
Information about the Rising Sun drug treatment program in Eel Ground was faxed to the court. It advised there were openings later this month for which Smith could qualify.
Solomon told the court he was willing to take Smith back in and help her get her life back together.
Judge Graydon Nicholas ruled a conditional sentence was in order so Smith could get the help she needs to fight her addiction.
"In my opinion, this individual does need strong rehabilitation," he said.
He placed her on house arrest for one year.
During that time, she can only leave her stepfather's home for treatment, counselling, medical appointments, emergencies, worship, work, education, community service time and five hours of personal time each week, pre-arranged with her supervisor.
She must also abstain from alcohol and non-prescribed drugs and perform 100 hours of community service work.
After her house arrest, Smith will be on probation for 18 months, during which she must continue her counselling as recommended and pay $894 in restitution to Money Mart on Main Street.
=========
Nova Scotia
Advocate: 90 days slap on wrist for voyeur, slap in face for victims
AMHERST — The 90-day sentence proposed for a man who filmed a little girl through her bathroom window is a slap in the face for victims, says a New Brunswick woman who crusaded to have voyeurism made a crime.
"It isn’t what I fought 10 years for and it won’t send a message of deterrence to those who might want to do a similar thing," Julia Buote of Riverview said in a telephone interview Thursday.
"For the Crown prosecutor to indicate it was on the low end of the scale because the young victim wasn’t touched but only videoed upset me greatly. The voyeurism law was put into effect last November to close a loophole that was letting people get away with an assault that takes place when they are photographed against their knowledge and no touching happens."
Ms. Buote made the comments two days after Winston Charles Patriquin, 33, of Port Howe pleaded guilty in Amherst provincial court to one count of voyeurism and another count of making child pornography. He stood on a ladder outside a home to videotape a girl under the age of ten taking a shower.
Mr. Patriquin is the first person in Canada to be convicted under the law.
Crown attorney Craig Botterill told the media outside court that he and defence lawyer Pat Duncan would be suggesting the 90-day jail term when sentencing takes place on Sept. 28. The Crown will also recommend that he get intensive treatment and counselling and have his name and DNA added to the Canadian sex offender registry.
The New Brunswick woman began fighting to have voyeurism included in the Criminal Code of Canada in 1996, two years after her 17-year-old daughter was victimized by a voyeur.
"My ex-husband videoed her in the bathtub with a concealed camera," Ms. Buote said. "After I found out what he’d done, I went to the RCMP to lay charges. I spent two hours with the RCMP going over the Criminal Code," said Ms. Buote. "But because he’d only photographed her and not touched her, they told me there was nothing in the code that he could be charged with. The RCMP even sent the information to the Crown prosecutor and he came to the same conclusion."
Their decision stunned Ms. Buote, who felt the clandestine videotaping had violated her daughter to the same degree as if she had been touched during a sexual assault. After agonizing about what to do to prevent it from happening to others, she decided that she had to fight to get voyeurism included in the Criminal Code.
Over the years, her battle included sending dozens of letters and making numerous phone calls to her member of Parliament and to three federal justice ministers. An entry in Hansard, the official record of parliamentary debates, shows a former New Brunswick MP advocated on Ms. Buote’s behalf.
The woman has been on a crusade, "not only on behalf of the injustice that occurred with respect to her own daughter, but to ensure that this invasion of privacy in a very personal way would never happen again," said John Herron, who used to be the Conservative MP for Fundy-Royal.
He said she contacted him shortly after being elected in 1997.
Ultimately, in March 2005, Ms. Buote appeared before the federal justice committee in Ottawa. There she outlined her reasons for wanting voyeurism placed in the Criminal Code.
"Even though there is no touching, voyeurism is a devastating crime that has long-term effects on its victims," Ms. Buote said. "To this day, neither me nor my daughter can go into a public washroom or try on clothes in stores because we’re afraid a camera could be there. We could never videotape family events. The fear of being videotaped without your knowledge never seems to go away.
"I was very happy when the law was enacted last November. But I just couldn’t believe the sentence Mr. Botterill said he was going to recommend in the Patriquin case. Ninety days just isn’t enough. That little girl won’t be over the effects of being videotaped by him in 90 days. She will always be afraid of windows for fear that someone is on the other side videotaping her."
She suggests two years would be more appropriate. "That would have sent a message of deterrence to him and others who are thinking about doing something similar."
Ms. Buote is also concerned about the terms of Mr. Patriquin’s release pending sentencing. "I couldn’t believe they ordered him to refrain from possessing firearms but said nothing about possessing video equipment. I sure hope it’s there when he is finally sentenced because, as it is now, he can still use video equipment to build up his collection."
However, she is thankful for one thing. "Because that little girl is a victim of a crime, she will have access to counselling through victim services. That wasn’t available to my daughter or my family when it happened to us because back then it wasn’t a crime."
=========
More shots fired in Dartmouth
For the second time in a week, Halifax Regional Police rushed to a Dartmouth apartment building after reports of late-night gunshots.
After arriving at 15 Kennedy Dr., an eight-storey, blue and grey building in Westphal, police heard from witnesses that four to six shots rang out just before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and a big, black vehicle with shiny rims sped off afterwards.
In the parking lot, police found a Nissan Maxima with bullet holes and a broken window in an adjacent, occupied apartment.
"We believe that a shot deflected from the Maxima and went through the apartment window," police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr said Thursday. No one was hurt.
Const. Carr said police spoke with the Nissan’s owner, but didn’t make any progress on the investigation that way. Officers also spoke to others in the area who heard the shots and witnessed some of the activity, he said.
Police will look into the possibility the shootings are related to some incidents in the area over the weekend, he said.
Around 11 p.m. Saturday, police heard reports of gunfire and arrested two drunk men in woods behind the building and found two firearms afterwards. A little over two hours later, at 1:30 a.m., police heard someone had driven a 14-year-old girl with gunshot wounds to her leg to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.
Police haven’t been able to confirm if those incidents are related.
Several residents of 15 Kennedy Dr. refused to speak about the issue Thursday morning. But one young woman who wouldn’t give her name, said she wasn’t afraid to move in with her son.
"Nothing happens without a reason. People just don’t run around doing stuff like that for no reason. It probably started somewhere else and just finished here."
===
=======
PROVINCE IN BRIEF
Shelburne man charged with attempted murder
SHELBURNE — A Sable River, Shelburne County, man has been charged with attempted murder.
Orin Brenton Dash, 33, also appeared in Shelburne provincial court Wednesday on charges of assault causing bodily harm and aggravated assault.
The charges are in connection with a domestic dispute Aug. 9 in Sable River. A female victim received a gash on her head during the dispute.
Mr. Dash is scheduled to enter a plea in court Oct. 4.
Dartmouth man arrested for child pornography
A 21-year-old Dartmouth man was arrested on child pornography charges Wednesday.
The Halifax Regional Police/RCMP Internet child exploitation unit executed a search warrant at a Braemar Drive address at 8:15 p.m. and arrested a suspect without incident. He will appear in court at a later date.
====
Six arrested in drug sting that also nets guns, cash
Operation Impetus, based on Spring Garden Road, took month to complete
HALIFAX - A month-long undercover operation aimed at street-level drug trafficking in the heart of the city has resulted in six arrests and the seizure of a quantity of illegal drugs.
The police called it Operation Impetus, but for the Spring Garden Road Area Business Association, it's a case of keeping the street safe.
"It's really the focal point of the city, let's face it," said association manager Bernard Smith. "And when you get a lot of people, you get a lot of activities going on."
Some of those activities were illegal.
Merchants were complaining about suspected drug deals going on near their shops and residents were suspicious of activities in the streets and parks just off Spring Garden Road.
That convinced police to launch a special project to get the drug dealers off what is arguably the busiest street in the city.
"We're delighted with the support we're getting from the police," said Smith. "We think the police are attuned to the same goals we have."
The goal in August was to get the dealers off the street.
After three weeks of gathering information and surveillance, the Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP Drug unit moved in Wednesday night.
Three men were arrested on Spring Garden Road Wednesday evening. Brandon Simmonds, Andre Simmonds, both 19 and Edward Appleby, 33, face drug trafficking charges.
Three apartments were searched on Mitchell Street, near Barrington and Inglis streets, resulting in the seizure of crack cocaine, pills, two pellet guns, cash and drug paraphernalia.
Two women and a man were arrested during the searches and will face a number of charges.
All of the arrests were made without incident.
Halifax Regional Police Const. Jeff Carr said the investigation is continuing and there could be more arrests.
He also said street-level drug dealing isn't a big problem downtown.
"And this will certainly put a damper on it," he said.
Smith said merchants and the association are in daily contact with police.
"(That's) to make sure this is a showcase to the outside world and that there is an appropriate level of safety," he said.
===
Swarmings return
HALIFAX - A gang of marauding youths jumped at least five people late Wednesday night in north-end Halifax in a series of random attacks and robberies along North Street.
Around 11:10 p.m., a man and woman were attacked near the corner of North and Brunswick streets.
Four male youths - all between the ages of 14 and 18 - approached the couple. Three of the boys attacked the man, punching and kicking him, while the fourth suspect grabbed the woman's purse and necklace.
All four then fled.
But they didn't leave the area, and they didn't give up for the night.
A short time later, a man was walking on Barrington Street near the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge when four youths knocked him to the ground and began pummelling his head. The victim's Walkman and watch were stolen and all four suspects ran from the area. The man was treated at the QEII Health Sciences Centre for head injuries.
Soon afterwards, a man and a woman were attacked on North and Agricola streets by four youths who grabbed them from behind. The woman's purse was snatched off her shoulder.
The suspects in all three incidents are described as young black males between the ages of 14 and 18.
They have slim builds and were wearing dark, baggy clothes. In one incident, one of the youths wore a red ballcap backwards with a lot of hair sticking out from the sides. The other three wore bandanas on their heads.
One victim in another incident described one of the attackers as wearing black pants, a white T-shirt and a black stocking cap.
None of the victims was seriously injured, but investigators are worried by the random attacks.
"It concerns us because of the violence involved," said Halifax Regional Police Const. Jeff Carr.
Police believe the three incidents were committed by the same quartet of youths.
And investigators will be looking for similarities with other incidents in the same area.
"We see spikes of this type of occurrence from time to time," said Carr.
-
Fighting back could lead to more trouble
The advice on what to do if you’re swarmed by would-be thieves is rather simple: give it up, and don’t fight back.
“If someone’s confronted with people who are demanding money from them, we recommend that they comply with the demand,” said Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr.
“We don’t recommend that they fight back because you don’t know what the person’s intentions may be, or the fact that they could possibly have a weapon.”
And it helps to be aware of your surroundings, he said, and go with your instincts.
“If you do see someone or a group of people who you feel may be ill-intentioned, try to avoid them,” Carr said.
“Go to the other side of the street or turn around and walk the other way before you get too close.”
And even in the frightening course of being robbed, Carr says any type of description that victims can provide to police is always helpful.
==
Five injured, vehicles, property destroyed as driver goes on Coldbrook-to-Kentville rampage
KENTVILLE — A driver who used a van to go on a rampage through Kings County on Thursday evening injured five people and left a trail of destruction in downtown Kentville.
When the mayhem was over, Kentville police had arrested Herbert Howard MacDonald, 33, of Kingston, charging him with one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and one of leaving the scene of an accident. But Police Chief Mark Mander said more charges are pending against him. The van’s passenger also faces drug and open liquor charges.
As emergency services workers were left to pick up the pieces, what still remains unanswered is why it happened. But witnesses left to ponder that same question noted an interesting piece of debris at the scene of the final crash — the van’s novelty front licence plant, which read The Devil Made Me Do It.
Witnesses say the driver of the van tore down Main Street in Kentville just before 7 p.m., setting off a chain-reaction crash that involved six other vehicles.
Stephanie Martin was working at Beleaf Salon and Spa at the intersection of Church Street when the crash happened.
"I was behind the desk and we just heard the bang-bang-bang-bang of the cars," she said.
She jumped up and ran to a large window to see the van sliding toward her. Luckily, the van hit a power pole and ran over a stop sign before skidding to a halt just short of the building.
"He was coming directly at me. By that time, the pileup had begun," she said.
Ms. Martin said she called 911, but emergency services workers were already arriving at that point.
"It was the biggest fright I’ve ever had in my life," she said. "It was so loud."
She said she saw a man get out of the van and walk away. She later saw police arrest and handcuff that same man at the scene.
Police said a witness in the west end of town estimated the van was going 100 kilometres an hour when it drove by his house, located in a residential area with a 50 km/h speed limit.
The van apparently tried to squeeze between a sport utility vehicle and small car on the two-lane, one-way street but struck the rear passenger side of the SUV, Police Chief Mander said.
The impact tore the back tire off the SUV and the SUV then sideswiped a parked car before crashing into the back of another parked car in front of Lawtons Drug Store. That car was forced into another car, which careened into a pickup truck.
Meanwhile, the van scraped by the smaller car and skidded in front of it to the opposite side of Main Street, where it finally hit the power pole near the spa. The front driver’s side of the van was demolished and the tire on that side torn away.
Dozens of bystanders lined the sidewalks behind police tape as paramedics and firefighters tended to a woman and two children who were in the SUV. Paramedics gave teddy bears to the children to calm them. The woman was placed on a stretcher. She, the children and a woman driving the smaller car were taken to Valley Regional Hospital, where they were treated and released.
The two people in the van were not seriously hurt, police say.
Black skid marks stretched for half a block to the point of impact and all three vehicles hurtled through a crosswalk that was empty at the time.
"It’s a miracle that no one died," Chief Mander said.
Pieces of the vehicles littered the roadway, including part of an axle that was found about 25 metres from the crash site.
The spectacular crash was the end to a frantic search by police, who had been looking for a suspect who had allegedly been driving erratically on Highway 101 and had allegedly been involved in a Coldbrook hit and run.
RCMP Cpl. Tracy Vincent said police received calls from motorists about the driver of a van driving dangerously on the highway at Exit 16 in Aylesford. Calls continued coming in from drivers along the highway.
Cpl. Vincent said the van that crashed in Kentville matched a description of the one seen on the highway. And he said it also matched witness descriptions of a van that collided with a car on the off-ramp at Exit 14 in Coldbrook. The woman driving the car was slightly shaken up in that crash, police said.
RCMP warned Kentville police to be on the lookout after the hit-and-run incident. But before Kentville police could intercept it, the van had already travelled six kilometres in just a few minutes, arrived in downtown Kentville and crashed.
Mr. MacDonald was remanded pending a court appearance Tuesday morning.
Police say drugs and alcohol were not factors in the incident. Officers are still investigating exactly what was behind the erratic driving.
The driver of this van was arrested Thursday night after setting off a chain-reaction crash in Kentville that involved six other vehicles and sent five people to hospital. ( Valley Bureau)
====
Knife slasher handed 31-month sentence
A 57-year-old metro area man was sentenced to 31 months in prison Friday for slashing another man with a knife.
Robert John Barkhouse of no fixed address was convicted Sept. 27 of separate counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and possession of a knife for a purpose dangerous to the public following a trial in Halifax provincial court.
He was found not guilty of three other charges including two additional weapon-related offences and aggravated assault.
Judge Marc Chisholm sentenced Mr. Barkhouse to 31 months on the assault charge and six months concurrent for the weapon offence.
The charges stemmed from an altercation at a Halifax rooming house July 5, 2005, during which resident Richard Munro sustained a knife wound to his face.
Judge Chisholm also ordered Mr. Barkhouse to provide a DNA sample to a national data base and banned him from possessing a firearm for life.
=======
Four arrested after pair of street robberies
Halifax Regional Police arrested three adults and a teenage boy after a pair of street robberies in Dartmouth overnight Thursday.
The first incident took place near Portland and King streets at about 11:10 p.m. Two young men and a woman were robbed of cash by three young males, one of whom produced a handgun.
Then at 1 a.m., near Albro Lake and Wyse roads, a 36-year-old woman was assaulted and received non-life-threatening injuries to her head and face after she was knocked to the ground by a man who got out of a car and stole her purse.
"She was taken to hospital for treatment of injuries and later released," police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr said.
Afterwards, police pulled over a vehicle on Primrose Street in Dartmouth that matched the description of the one in the second incident. Officers seized an imitation pistol from the car and arrested the occupants.
All four of the suspects — three young men, aged 17, 18 and 19, and a 21-year-old woman — will face robbery and assault charges. The 19-year-old is from Lake Echo, the rest from Dartmouth. The 17-year-old boy also faces a charge of assault with a weapon in the second incident.
The four were still in custody late Friday afternoon but were expected to be released on bail after a court appearance later in the day. All four were previously known to police, Const. Carr said.
Police don’t think the latest robberies are connected to three robberies perpetrated by four young people in north-end Halifax on Wednesday night.
=========
Charges laid in string of gas bar, store heists
Halifax Regional Police have charged a Dartmouth man with two dozen criminal offences, including armed robberies of numerous metro area service stations and convenience stores.
Robert Keith Hawkins, a.k.a. Herbert Hawkins or Christopher MacKinnon, is accused of committing the offences between Aug. 7 and 21.
The charges against the 27-year-old High Street resident include robbing at least 11 gas stations and convenience stores while armed an equal number of times with a knife, scissors or an imitation of a firearm.
Mr. Hawkins is also accused of theft and being in possession of a stolen Pontiac Firebird, exceeding $5,000 in value.
There were no injuries during any of the incidents, police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr said in a news release Friday.
Police described the robber, who was caught on several store surveillance cameras, as being at least six feet tall, slender, with light facial hair.
Often he wore a hoodie and a ball cap and was sometimes clean-shaven and other times scruffy, police added.
Const. Carr said regional police have talked to Codiac RCMP in Moncton where Mr. Barkhouse is currently being held on a host of similar charges stemming from robberies in the New Brunswick city two weeks ago.
He’s accused of robbing six gas station convenience stores, at least one store twice, in a span of three days.
Mr. Barkhouse appeared in a Moncton court Wednesday but didn’t enter a plea. He’s being held in custody until his next court appearance on Sept. 7.
It’s expected he will be dealt with in New Brunswick before being arraigned in a Halifax court on the metro charges. A date for his return to the metro area has yet to be determined.
========
4 arrested, released after bridge torched
Pictou County RCMP arrested four unidentified adults late Thursday in connection with a fire that destroyed Big Gut Bridge at Pictou Landing earlier that day.
By late Friday, the RCMP said the four were released and no charges had been laid.
Investigators say arson caused the fire, which began as a small blaze under an abutment late Wednesday evening. Several fire departments called to the scene were unable to access the bridge’s underside, and it collapsed at about 4 a.m. Thursday. The creosoted timbers continued to burn into the afternoon.
Traffic between Trenton and Pictou Landing has been rerouted through Chance Harbour Road or Egypt Road, but transportation officials expect a temporary bridge will be in place by Oct. 31.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call their local RCMP detachment, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
Thieves rob, injure man in Bridgewater
Police are looking for two young men after a violent armed robbery early Friday morning near Bridgewater Plaza.
Two men in their early 20s threatened a man with a knife at about 1:15 a.m. and got into a scuffle when the victim didn’t immediately hand over his wallet, Bridgewater Police said. The victim suffered a gash to the head, not caused by the knife, and his wallet was taken. The suspects ran away towards High Street.
===
Border guards get guns
PM: Canada will hire 400 more officers
SURREY, B.C. — Canadian border guards will be armed starting in September 2007 but it will take 10 years to fully implement the plan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Harper announced at a border crossing south of Vancouver that the federal government will have at least 150 officers with sidearms deployed by the end of March 2008.
He also reiterated a $101 million promise from the federal budget to hire 400 additional officers. They will be used, among other things, to double up on Canada-U.S. border crossings that only have a single officer on duty.
"We’re going to take action and get things done," Harper said at the Pacific Highway border crossing south of Cloverdale in the Fraser Valley.
The Conservatives had indicated earlier this year that they intended to arm border guards, following a number of border incidents in which guards left their posts when they felt threatened by reports of armed fugitives headed their way from the U.S.
"There have been numerous examples of officers leaving their posts because they simply weren’t equipped to deal with the kind of threat that was anticipated to come over the border," said Harper, who made the announcement accompanied by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day as they stood outside the busy crossing.
"We live in a dangerous world and we know there is traffic of dangerous individuals and firearms across the border and this is part of our efforts to deal with that," said the prime minister.
Harper said the announcement is part of the government’s effort to "tackle crime and protect and Canadians’ way of life."
Canada now has about 4,400 border guards who have been demanding to be armed to help them deal with cross-border criminal activity.
George Scott, national vice president of the Customs Excise Union, attended the announcement and sounded satisfied that his members’ wishes were being met.
"This has been an awful long time coming," said Scott. "It’s very stressful at times."
Scott, however, said that other union members should also be armed eventually.
"We want to make sure every officer is armed, not just at marine and land borders. We have a lot of officers undercover who do surveillance."
In February, officers at four Canada-U.S. border crossings near Vancouver walked off the job Friday over reports of an armed U.S. fugitive headed their way.
The Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings in Surrey, opposite Blaine, Wash., were closed first but the walkout later spread to the Aldergrove and Huntington crossings in the Fraser Valley.
Supervisors were rushed in to operate a couple of lanes at the Pacific Highway crossing, which caters mainly to commercial truck traffic.
It was the third such incident at a B.C. crossing this year
=============
B.C. fugitive arrested in Texas after 24 years
The 24-year search for a British Columbia man who disappeared after surviving a small-plane crash in a Montana lake that killed his girlfriend has come to an end with his arrest in Texas.
Jaroslaw Ambrozuk, originally from Burnaby, B.C., was arrested in Dallas on Wednesday on a warrant for negligent homicide in the drowning death of 18-year-old Dianne Babcock on Aug. 22, 1982, U.S. officials said Thursday.
“It was such a sad, sad thing,” Ms. Babcock's grandmother, Dorothy Babcock, said from her home in Trail, B.C. “She had graduated and had put money down to go in and become a nurse.”
“She didn't know she was going to die.”
But Mr. Ambrozuk, who piloted the plane, somehow veered off course into Montana — a diversion that U.S. authorities alleged was intentional.
“The RCMP tipped us Mr. Ambrozuk had called a friend and told him they had an eloping scheme — that they were going to crash the plane in a lake and were going to disappear and live their life in America,” Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont, who was a deputy at the time of the crash, said from Kalispell, Mont.
A search of the area found evidence of a campfire along the shore. In the burned debris, Mr. Dupont, who has a commercial pilot's licence, recognized aircraft parts.
Mr. Dupont said Mr. Ambrozuk's behaviour after the crash raised suspicion. Mr. Ambrozuk didn't report the crash or his girlfriend's death to authorities, and he apparently built the campfire to dry off and then vanished, setting off a countrywide manhunt.
Mr. Dupont said Mr. Ambrozuk called a friend after the crash, saying the plane was at the bottom of Little Bitterroot Lake near Marion, Mont.
Mr. Ambrozuk told the friend he swam free of the wreckage but he was unable to free Ms. Babcock because her seatbelt was jammed, Mr. Dupont said.
About a month after the crash, sophisticated underwater equipment provided by a Vancouver man helped police locate the plane in about 70 metres of water.
“We indeed found the aircraft, and indeed she (Ms. Babcock) was still in it,” said Mr. Dupont, adding that Ms. Babcock's seatbelt wasn't jammed as Mr. Ambrozuk had claimed to his friend.
Missing from the plane were cash and other items, U.S. authorities said.
The crash and Mr. Ambrozuk's disappearance were featured twice on the U.S. television program America's Most Wanted.
“We received hundreds of tips after the show, but none of them led us to his whereabouts,” Mr. Dupont said.
However, Mr. Ambrozuk continued to make phone calls to a friend in Canada.
“The calls were taped by the RCMP and the transcripts, more than 75 pages, were handed over to us,” said Flathead County Det. Pat Walsh. “The RCMP put a lot of time into trying to track down this guy.”
Police traced the calls back to New York, and later to Texas.
Mr. Ambrozuk had used a phone booth in Dallas which was later staked out by police, but he never went back, Mr. Dupont said.
Last week, a Texas woman called Mr. Dupont to tell him she believed Mr. Ambrozuk was living in Plano, Texas.
Mr. Dupont contacted Texas police, and on he received confirmation on Tuesday that the man was indeed Mr. Ambrozuk.
When he was arrested, Mr. Ambrozuk acknowledged his identity and asked for a lawyer, Mr. Dupont said.
“I believe he worked for a computer company out of Dallas and assumed another name,” he said.
Montana will seek to extradite Mr. Ambrozuk on the negligent homicide charge. If he agrees to extradition, he is expected to be in Montana within two weeks. But if he fights it, the process will be delayed for a month or two, Mr. Dupont said.
The search for Mr. Ambrozuk has taken on personal significance for Mr. Dupont over the past two decades.
“I am going to retire at the end of this year, and this would have been the only unresolved case in my career,” he said.
======
Alleged child pornographers became roommates
Police say one of the suspects worked at a Bathurst and Lawrence daycare for 10 years
Friday, September 01, 2006
Toronto police say they have arrested two men who became roommates after meeting online while trading child pornography.
One of the men who has been charged with possession of child pornography worked at a daycare for 10 years, police said.
"Not only are they trading online, they're living together," said Detective-Constable Paul Krawczyk of the child exploitation section.
In early August, undercover officers logged on to the Internet to investigate the distribution of child pornography, Det.-Const. Krawczyk said.
Officers learned the online moniker and actual name of a man involved and put the information into the Child Exploitation Tracking System.
The system, launched last year, acts as a searchable database to cross-reference people and evidence.
A connection was made to two ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions, police said.
On Aug. 15, police raided a two-bedroom apartment in the Eglinton Avenue and Allen Road area.
They arrested one man and seized a "large quantity" of child pornography photographs, movies and computer equipment.
The images and movies were of "mostly boys" and showed children as young as toddlers, Det.-Const. Krawczyk said.
He said it was one of the largest busts of its kind of the year.
After further investigation, police took the man's roommate into custody on Tuesday.
David Miller, 33, has been charged with possessing and copying child pornography.
David Reeks, 36, has been charged with possessing, distributing and making available child pornography.
Investigators allege the pair met online about six years ago.
They became friends, found out that they lived close to each other and decided to move in together, Det.-Const. Krawczyk said.
He said they have lived together in the apartment for at least a year.
Mr. Miller worked with children between two and 11 years of age at a Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue area daycare from 1989 to 1999. Police would not identify the daycare. Police say Mr. Miller also babysat children in the Toronto area.
"We just want the parents to be aware of this. Hopefully, we don't find any victims, but we want to have done a thorough investigation," Det.-Const. Krawczyk said.
He requested that anyone who has had contact with the accused call police.
Mr. Miller and Mr. Reeks are scheduled to appear in court this morning.
=====