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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Killer colonel led a lurid life
Disturbing images displayed in courtroom
A photographic record of Col. Russell Williams’ crimes was revealed in an Ontario court Monday after he pleaded guilty to 86 charges, including two counts of murder. (JULIE OLIVER / POSTMEDIA NEWS)
Marie-France Comeau, 38 ( )
Jessica Lloyd
Developments Monday in the case of Col. Russell Williams:
Williams pleads guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau and Jessica Lloyd
It takes the court almost 40 minutes to read the additional charges into the record: two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement and 82 counts of break and enter, to which Williams also pleads guilty
Photographic evidence is displayed on two courtroom TVs documenting the break-ins. Most of the images are pornographic
The Crown says the images and other "extremely disturbing" evidence trace the escalation of Williams's crimes, from break-ins to murder
Thousands of images show Williams indulging his fetish for women's and girl's lingerie as he masturbates while wearing their stolen underwear
Court hears Williams broke into at least a dozen bedrooms of girls under the age of 18, including one shared by 11-year-old twin girls
Today, the court is expected to hear details of the two murders
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BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- The depravity that consumed confessed sex predator and murderer Col. Russell Williams was laid bare Monday in image after image of a decorated military man dressed in little girls' underwear while masturbating.
A photographic record of an escalation from fetish break and enters to sexual assaults and murder was flashed on two courtroom TVs after the former air-base commander pleaded guilty to all charges against him.
Williams, 47, was a rising star in the military before being charged in February with first-degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38.
The once-celebrated commander was expressionless as he entered the court shackled at the ankles and handcuffed, wearing a dark suit and grey button-down shirt.
"Guilty, your honour," he said after the charges were entered.
Along with the two murder counts, Williams admitted to two sexual assaults that involved forcible confinement, and 82 break and enters.
The photos shown in court graphically depicted Williams splayed on the beds of young girls and women, sometimes with stuffed animals or toys among the panties and bras he neatly laid out.
For two years starting in 2007, Williams would break into homes -- sometimes of people he knew -- and go through their closets and underwear drawers in search of sexual trophies.
Everything was obsessively photographed and documented in two hard drives that were found stored in the basement ceiling of his Ottawa home. The files and date-and-time-stamped photos were organized in a "complex" filing system so his wife wouldn't find them, Williams admitted to police.
The murders, last November and January, followed an increasingly obsessive and predatory pattern that started with 26 months of break-ins in Tweed, Belleville, and Ottawa, and two sexual assaults.
The former commander of Canada's largest airfield was so consumed with collecting underwear he had to burn some of his trophies in a field to make room for more, according to an agreed statement of facts. Williams had a pattern, the court heard. He'd take photos of open underwear drawers, closets and beds, then meticulously lay out the stolen underwear and lingerie on the bed, often photographing each piece individually for his catalogue.
The pictures then took a pornographic turn, as a grim-faced Williams donned girls' clothes and underwear -- some decorated with cartoon characters -- and took photos of himself, usually masturbating or holding his penis.
During one disturbing episode in November 2008, Williams stole into the room of a 15-year-old Ottawa girl. He took 91 pictures focusing on a pair of her panties.
Seventy of those photos were pictures of Williams wearing, licking or kissing the underwear. One showed him wearing the panties like a balaclava around his head, with only his eyes and nose visible. He admitted to police he sought out homes where "attractive young women" lived, targeting those in their late teens to early 30s. He broke into at least a dozen bedrooms of girls under the age of 18, including one shared by 11-year-old twin girls.
He also took a photo of himself in the bedroom of a 12-year-old girl whose parents he was friendly with.
He returned to her room at least two other times, court heard, taking photos of himself masturbating on her bed and wearing one of the girl's skirts.
Williams faces an automatic sentence of life in prison, with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years.
The charges against Williams were so numerous, it took nearly 40 minutes to read them into the court record.
Canada's top soldier, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, said the military is working as "quickly as possible" to remove Williams from its ranks.
A formal conviction in the case -- expected after evidence supporting the 88 counts is officially entered into the court record -- will allow the military to begin the process to release him from the Canadian Forces, Natynczyk said.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 19, 2010 A3
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