Teen in distress, janitor warned

Enlarge Image

‘This is absolutely horrific. It’s negligence. We knew he wasn’t right, that something was bound to happen here. How they buried their heads in the sand here is just disgusting’ -- Tracy Rose, custodian at school in the Pembina Trails School Division, where accused teenage killer attended class (MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )

A Winnipeg high school caretaker claims her concerns about a troubled student were ignored by education officials only weeks before the teen allegedly killed his father, dismembered the body and hid the remains.

Tracy Rose has filed a formal complaint with the Pembina Trails School Division and believes the tragic killing could have been prevented had she been taken seriously. School officials confirmed an internal investigation is ongoing.

"This is absolutely horrific. It's negligence," Rose said in an exclusive interview with the Free Press. "We knew he wasn't right, that something was bound to happen here. How they buried their heads in the sand here is just disgusting."

Rose said she is speaking out because she doesn't want anyone else to "fall through a massive crack."

The 17-year-old suspect, who can't be named because of provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested earlier this summer after family members and police learned the teen's 49-year-old father had been killed weeks earlier. An investigation revealed the victim was beaten with a hammer and stabbed to death inside his Charleswood home on June 25.

The teen has been charged with second-degree murder, but he has not yet been tried in court. The allegations against him have not been proven and he is presumed innocent.

The accused allegedly lived in the home with his father's body for several days while phone calls poured in from the man's employer and concerned family members. That's when the teen allegedly moved the corpse.

Justice sources say the victim was beheaded and dismembered, then placed in several garbage bags. The remains were apparently driven more than two hours north of Winnipeg and placed in dense forest, underneath several large rocks. The teen allegedly returned to his father's home and continued living alone for several more weeks.

"I'm so disgusted. I just can't believe I'm a part of this," Rose said Wednesday. She was a custodian at the boy's high school and says he started hanging around the school after-hours in spring, often conversing with her and two co-workers.

"We'd get in at 3 and he was always waiting there. Sometimes he'd stay until 8:30 or 9 (p.m.). He said his dad was never at home, that he was alone lots, that there was never much food in the house," Rose said. "It was like we were all he had. He was the laughingstock of the entire school, always getting picked on. So he'd just hang around the school all night with us."

Rose said she went to the school vice-principal in May after the teen made a series of comments that alarmed all three custodians and suggested to them that he may have a propensity to violence. "We all had a bad feeling.''

Rose claimed the vice-principal brushed off her concerns.

"He said there were less than two months left (in the school year), and that all (the teen) has to do is learn to get along better with his peers and everything would be alright. He said 'I assure you nothing bad will happen.'" Rose said. "I told him if something bad happened and I didn't do anything about it, it would eat me alive."

Rose wasn't happy with the vice-principal's response and said she spoke to the school guidance counsellor, who said he would look into her concerns. Rose doesn't believe anything was done. Weeks later, she returned from a trip to British Columbia to find a voicemail message from Winnipeg police homicide investigators, wanting to discuss her previous contact with the boy.

"I'm still just in shock," Rose said.

Larry Lussier, the superintendent of Pembina Trails School Division, confirmed Wednesday that Rose has recently contacted the division claiming her original concerns were ignored.

"We have received Tracy's report. We have a different view than she does about the statements she is making," Lussier said. He declined to provide any specifics, including whether school officials responded to her claims by speaking with the student prior to the killing. He confirmed the school board is conducting its own probe of what happened, but won't release the findings publicly.

"This is a matter that is still under police investigation. In terms of commenting on matters between an employee and the school, I can't comment. And I'm not about to start arguing in the media about what she said versus what we say," Lussier said. "I really wish I could be more upfront with you."

Rose said school officials have told her that any discipline arising out of the incident would not be made public because of privacy laws.

Justice sources said the boy allegedly killed his father following an argument that erupted while the pair was watching televised tributes to pop super--star Michael Jackson, who died earlier that day. There is no evidence at this point that Jackson's death was the trigger.

The teen is being held in custody without bail. A psychiatric assess--ment will likely be ordered to determine if he is suffering from a mental illness.

If he is found to have committed the alleged actions but is deemed not criminally responsible, he could be sent to a medical facility instead of prison.

"He did comment to me one time that he thought he was bipolar. I told him that wasn't something incurable, that he could get treatment for it," Rose said, referring to a disorder that involves both depression and mania.

"There were times he'd be hanging out with us at night and just be really dark and quiet. But there were other times where he'd laugh and it would come from the bottom of his toes, like a little kid."

The caretaker said the boy was picked on by others because he was overweight. He lived alone with his father.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 10, 2009 A4