NEED TO KNOW
-
Col. Russell Williams, trusted to fly prime ministers and Queen Elizabeth II, secretly prowled neighborhoods and broke into houses 82 occasions to steal girls’s underwear
-
Investigators linked him to 2 murders and a number of sexual assaults, crimes he admitted to in a disturbing taped confession
-
Williams was sentenced to life in jail in 2010 with no parole eligibility for 25 years, making certain many years behind bars
He was one in all Canada’s most trusted navy commanders — however behind closed doorways, Colonel Russell Williams was residing a secret lifetime of fetish, sexual violence and homicide.
Williams’ ascent within the Canadian Armed Forces appeared impeccable. He rose to command CFB Trenton — Canada’s largest navy air base — piloting dignitaries, together with the prime minister and Queen Elizabeth II, based on NBC Information.
However what nobody suspected was that in that point, and over the course of a number of years, he was secretly breaking into girls’s houses, pushed by a disturbing compulsion.
Investigators finally linked Williams to 82 break-ins throughout Ontario, the place he stole lingerie, underwear, bathing fits and footwear — typically photographing himself carrying the gadgets whereas masturbating — and, in some instances, focusing on ladies as younger as 9, CityNews Vancouver reported.
He meticulously catalogued his crimes and even returned to most of the identical houses.
REUTERS/Canadian Forces Fight Digicam/Warrant Officer Carole Morissette/Handout
In November 2009, Williams attacked Corporal Marie-France Comeau, raped and murdered her in her dwelling, and later despatched a condolence letter to her household as if he had no connection to the crime, CityNews reported.
Police would later study that Williams exploited his entry to Comeau’s flight schedule to know when she’d be alone, per the Durham Area.
Simply two months later, 27-year-old Jessica Lloyd vanished. Investigators discovered distinctive tire tracks within the snow exterior her home and commenced checking automobiles within the space.
The treads matched these on Williams’ Nissan Pathfinder, prompting police to convey him in for a ten-hour-long interrogation on February 7, 2010.
At first, Ontario Provincial Police Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth pressed Williams on forensic proof tying him to the crimes. Ultimately, Williams shifted, exhibiting extra concern for the way his actions would seem to others than for his victims.
“Once you discuss notion, my solely two speedy issues from a notion perspective are what my spouse should be going by means of proper now, and the influence that is going to have on the Canadian Forces,” Williams mentioned within the videotaped confession, based on a transcript reviewed by PEOPLE.
Steve Russell/Toronto Star by way of Getty
Because the interview went on, Williams started to explain the killings in startlingly matter-of-fact phrases. About Comeau, he admitted to beating her with a flashlight after which strangling her.
“Her cranium gave method… she was instantly unconscious,” he mentioned. “Then, I strangled her.”
Earlier than killing her, he had raped Comeau repeatedly, per testimony later given in court docket. Throughout the assault, she begged for her life, telling Williams “have a coronary heart please… I have been actually good… I need to dwell,” per CityNews.
He instructed investigators that he positioned her physique within the storage afterward. When requested why he returned to the bottom so quickly after the homicide, Williams mentioned it was due to his duties: “I used to be flying early the subsequent morning.”
On Lloyd, Williams recounted how he tied her up, held her captive for hours, compelled her to put on lingerie he had stolen, assaulted her and took a whole lot of images earlier than killing her with duct tape.
He additionally confessed to 2 violent assaults — two months earlier than killing Comeau, Williams attacked Laurie Massicotte in her dwelling, the place he tied her up, blindfolded her and compelled her to pose for images. He focused one other girl, whose identify has not been made public, in an analogous assault that very same month.
After his arrest, police uncovered a trove of trophies from his years of break-ins and assaults — hundreds of stolen undergarments catalogued and photographed in neat order.
The surprising revelations rocked the Canadian public and devastated the navy, with then-Chief of Defence Workers Common Walter Natynczyk calling Williams’ actions “ a elementary breach of belief, responsibility and valour” in a press release.
Williams pleaded responsible to 88 fees, together with two counts of first-degree homicide, and in 2010 was sentenced to life in jail with no probability of parole for 25 years.
Stripped of his rank and navy honors, his uniform was burned and his medals destroyed.
Williams reached out-of-court settlements with the household of homicide sufferer Jessica Lloyd and Massicotte — the latter for $7 million — in 2014 and 2016, respectively per CBC Information.
Learn the unique article on Folks
