Colonel’s depravity laid bare for all to see

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This article was published 20/10/2010 (5665 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Despicable crimes committed by Col. Russell Williams are being methodically outlined in gruesome detail in an Ontario courtroom in what seems to be unprecedented judicial candor.

While some can’t get enough, others are asking why the public needs to know so much about the horrifying sexual assaults, rapes and murders.

Prosecutors had a full confession on the table and could have swiftly put the shamed military commander behind bars. A life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years is guaranteed no matter how much the public learns about the string of crimes, and a flood of information won’t change the outcome for Williams or his victims.

“It’s all irrelevant because the sentence is fixed,” Don Stuart, a criminal law professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, said Tuesday.

“So the judge could have said we’re not going to do it that way, we’re just going to take the guilty plea and have the sentence over in a very short period of time.”

Adam Boni, who worked as a federal prosecutor before turning to criminal law defence in Toronto, said Canadians weren’t exposed to such a flood of graphic images and information about the crimes of serial killers Paul Bernardo and Robert Pickton.

Many details of Bernardo’s sex-killings of two Ontario teenagers were subject to a publication ban. By comparison, almost every detail of Williams’ gruesome crimes are being tweeted and live-blogged from the courtroom in real time.

Boni says the Crown may have wanted the public to know as much as possible to ensure that the scope of Williams’ crimes is understood.

“It is clear that the Crown is wanting to provide the community with a very graphic snapshot not only of the types of crimes committed but of the psychology that was at play in the commission of these offences,” said Boni.

Some commentators have suggested his prosecutors wanted to humiliate him.

A photo released by authorities showing Williams wearing a girl’s pink panties landed on the front page of the Toronto Star, Canada’s most circulated newspaper. An image of him in full military uniform displayed next to it said everything about the commander’s fall from grace.

Boni says the Crown may be painting a vivid, disturbing portrait of the colonel so that a full record of the depravity of his crimes is available when he becomes eligible to apply for parole.

Canadians seem polarized on how they feel about the rush of lurid details.

A member of the Twitter community who identifies herself as (at)kotekSara wrote: “After a day of reading disturbing yet fascinating Colonel Williams tweets from the reporters I am going home. I hardly got any work done today.”

And Dan Allen thanked the media for reporting the details saying, “the world needs to know what a monster Williams became.”

Stuart says there is a danger in providing too much information. “You’re going to end up with outrage and calls for vengeance which are completely understandable but also completely counterproductive,” he said.

 

— The Canadian Press