Top general ‘winded’ by charges

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This article was published 11/02/2010 (5896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CFB TRENTON, Ont. — Canada’s chief of defence staff said there will be an administrative review to determine if the military had missed any signs that Col. Russell Williams — the base commander charged with murdering two women — may have been unfit for leadership.

Gen. Walter Natynczyk, visiting Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario to boost troop morale, said he was shocked by the charges.

"We are all in shock. I felt as if I had a body blow, and I was winded, because… I represent the leadership," he told a news conference at the base Wednesday.

Williams, 46, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Belleville, Ont., resident Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Brighton, Ont., resident Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37. He has also been charged with the forcible confinement and sexual assault of two other women in cases where the victims were bound naked to chairs and photographed.

"We’ve put additional rigour over the past five year into the selection of our leadership," he said. "We’ll do an administrative review to see, what did we miss? Did we miss anything here? And it’s a difficult situation, one that certainly I’ve not faced, nor talking to the leadership of the Canadian Forces, that we have faced, and so again what can we learn from this to ensure it doesn’t occur?" said Natynczyk.

He said he was not aware of anything on Williams’ record that was cause for concern. In fact, Williams was a rising star in the military.

One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Williams was known as "Mr. By the Book" during his years as one of Canada’s top VIP pilots.

Among his official passengers on the Challenger and, later, the bigger Airbus planes were the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as former Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. Williams may even have flown to England to transport Queen Elizabeth and her husband to Western Canada in 2005 for an official Royal visit.

As commander of 8 Wing, Williams oversaw the lives of more than 3,500 military and civilian staff at CFB Trenton, the base known to Canadians as the location where the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan first arrive back in Canada.

Natynczyk said Williams will not hold the title of base commander for long.

"He will be removed from command, and there is a process for that," he said. "We have a process to ensure that from a legal standpoint, that from a human rights standpoint, we follow the paces."

Natynczyk also encouraged the personnel at CFB Trenton to support each other through the ordeal, saying "a lot of people (are) feeling like they are indeed victims, directly and indirectly, and… we have to support them and support their families."

Natynczyk also played up the role of the base. He said CFB Trenton is essential to Canadian Forces operation in Afghanistan, Haiti, and in Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games.

"I told them (personnel of 8 Wing) to stand tall, I told them to stand proud. We have to move forward, but at the same time we have to support the victims."

He encouraged them "to move forward, to allow the judicial process to unfold and to carry on with our mission."

Meanwhile, Ontario Provincial Police clarified on Wednesday that Williams has not been ruled out as a suspect in the unsolved 2001 death at CFB Trenton of Kathleen MacVicar, 19, despite an assertion by MacVicar’s mother that she was told Williams has been ruled out.

On Wednesday, Ontario police said they have not explored whether there is a connection because they have not examined the cold case files.

The OPP said they have been receiving calls from across Canada since Williams’ arrest, and are continuing to investigate other cases for links.

Toronto cold case investigators are investigating whether Williams may be connected to two unsolved murders, according to one of the murder victims’ brothers.

In 1983, Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice were sexually assaulted and murdered within four months of each another in downtown Toronto. DNA evidence revealed that both women had been killed by the same man.

Gilmour’s brother, Sean McCowan, told Global News he called Det.-Sgt. Steve Ryan of the Toronto Police Cold Case Squad, who told him "that the colonel is a person of interest and they’re going to take a look at it," McCowan said.

Police in Halifax are also reviewing three cold cases, according to media reports.

 

— Canwest News Service

Manitoba cold cases:

 

IN 1990, Russell Williams was posted to 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School in Portage la Prairie where he served for two years as an instructor.

 

Glenda Morrisseau, 19

Glenda Morrisseau was found in August 1991, about three weeks after she disappeared.

Morrisseau, a student at R.B. Russell School, was last seen alive on July 17, 1991, at 2:30 a.m. in Winnipeg hitchhiking. She was reported missing by her sister several days later when she did not return home.

After a search that lasted nearly a month, Morrisseau’s partially naked and battered body was discovered on Aug. 7, 1991, in a St. Boniface industrial area, about five kilometres from where she was last seen. The cause of death was not easily determinable, but there was considerable damage to her face including fractured cheekbones, a broken jaw and a fractured eye socket. She may have died as a result of massive trauma to the head inflicted by a large blunt object.

It is believed that Morrisseau was killed on or about July 17, 1991, shortly after she was last seen.

 

Janice Louise Howe, 35

 

Janice Louise Howe went missing on Aug. 28, 1992, after driving off from her parents’ Winnipeg home in a blue 1985 Olds Ciera.

The car was found the next morning about 30 kilometres east of Kenora. The car’s rear floor mat and a tarp were missing from the trunk.