Accused serial killer says he's not responsible for other unsolved cases

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Tanya Jane Nepinak, 31, Lorna Blacksmith, 18, and Carolyn Marie Sinclair, 25, is seen in police handout photos. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Winnipeg Police

WINNIPEG - Accused serial killer Shawn Lamb says he hopes the killers of dozens of women in Manitoba are caught.

"It’s a sad thing for the victims and their loved ones," Lamb said in an exclusive, 20-minute interview with the Winnipeg Free Press on Thursday.

"There are so many questions.”

Lamb, 52, was charged earlier this week with three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of three Winnipeg women.

Police discovered the body of Lorna Blacksmith, 18, in a yard on Simcoe Street last Thursday. She died in January.

Lamb has also been charged with the December 2012 killing of 25-year-old Carolyn Sinclair, whose body was discovered in March. The third victim, Tanya Nepinak, 31, was reportedly killed last September. Her remains haven’t been found.

Lamb said police have confronted him with the names of dozens of other young Manitoba women who have been killed or gone missing. There are also investigations ongoing in other provinces to determine whether Lamb could be connected to any of their cold cases.

He denied suggestions he could be linked to any other unsolved homicides in Winnipeg or across Canada.

“I’ve given them voluntary DNA, not to include myself but to exclude myself,” he said. “The police are going to say what they’re going to say.”

“The main thing for me is the victims. There are many people who are suffering out there,” Lamb said.

Lamb was asked if he plans to fight the allegations he killed Blacksmith, Sinclair and Nepinak. He refused to give a direct answer.

"I’m definitely going to fight to make sure this is done properly,” said Lamb. He explained that meant that his “charter rights” were upheld and offered no further details.

Lamb admitted he was speaking to the Free Press without the consent of his defence lawyer, Evan Roitenberg.

He decried the conditions at the Remand Centre, which he says includes 23 1/2 hours per day inside a segregated cell on the maximum-security floor.

“I know I’m not getting any out of here any time soon,” said Lamb. “I don’t have a radio, I’m last on the list to get a newspaper. I get out for half an hour a day to shower and use the phone, that’s it.”

The interview with the Free Press was cut short because his daily allotment of time outside that segregated cell was close to expiring. Still, Lamb expressed concern about some of the limited news coverage he’s been able to catch, wondering why media outlets are focusing on his background.

Lamb has 99 prior convictions dating back to 1976 in four provinces and 11 different cities. They include multiple acts of violence which have seen him spend much of his adult years in and out of custody. His most serious sentence was four years for a sexual assault that happened in Peace River, Alta., in 1992.

The Free Press also published excerpts of Lamb’s various writings, parole reports and court-ordered assessments into his background. They paint a picture of a highly intelligent and bipolar man harbouring years of pent-up anger over neglect and abuse he says he experienced at the hands of several important women in his life.

Lamb also expressed interest in writing a “self-help” book and working with at-risk youth to steer them towards a better life. He admits to struggling for years with drug and alcohol abuse.

Lamb was seized from his now-deceased biological mother’s care at the age of two as part of the “60’s scoop,” taken from his First Nation community and raised by a white family in Ontario.

He claims his foster mother, who is no longer alive, sexually and physically abused him while also introducing him to alcohol when he was just nine.

Lamb said Thursday he was recently able to visit the grave of his birth mother for the first time during a visit back home to Ontario last month.

“I found the closure I was looking for,” he said.

(Winnipeg Free Press)