Charges move military to review selection process

By Laura Stone and David Wylie
Canwest News Service
February 11, 2010


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 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 by their attacker.

"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 Chretien 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.

Natynczyk called military leadership a "sacred trust. And I see that I must hold, and I must maintain that trust, not only of all Canadians, but right down to the young privates, the young sailors, and the young airmen, who are deployed, enable their success, and they need to have confidence in their leadership.

"So any time, any time, you have that kind of violation, a perceived violation of leadership, that's where you know you've had a body blow."

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 much longer.

"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. 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 said.

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 from MacVicar's mother that she was told Williams has been ruled out.

On Wednesday, Ontario police told Canwest News Service 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.

"After this, then we'll also be looking at and reviewing other unsolved crimes trying to see if there's any similarities to what we have now," Sgt. Kristine Rae told Canwest News Service on Wednesday.

Ottawa police said Wednesday that they hadn't yet searched Williams' Ottawa home, as was earlier reported, but expected to search it on Thursday, when they'll be looking for digital storage devices, video and camera gear, computer equipment, pornographic images, and DNA linked to the two murders and the sexual assaults of two other women.

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 on Tuesday."(Ryan) just mentioned that the colonel is a person of interest and they're going to take a look at it," McCowan said.

Williams graduated with a degree in economics and political science from the University of Toronto in 1987.

An Ottawa police inspector will lead the search for links between the murders Williams has been charged with and unsolved cases in Ottawa, including the violent 2007 sexual assault of a Carleton university student.

"We're pulling cases right now, but don't have enough info from OPP," said Ottawa police Chief Vern White. "We're examining our cases from the modus operandi." Williams owns a house in Ottawa.

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

And the OPP has been fielding calls from families of victims whose crimes have gone unsolved — for example, Windsor resident Ron Grozelle, the father of a cadet who died mysteriously at the Royal Military College in 2003, who wants the case into his son's death reviewed because Williams was there at the same time.

Canadian Forces National Investigation Service spokeswoman Maj. Paule Poulin said that military police are "assisting the lead investigative agency, in this case the Ontario Provincial Police, as required" but noted that the service does not discuss matters to do with ongoing investigations.

"As part of the investigative team, the CFNIS will examine any new evidence that comes to light as a result of this investigation and will assess any connection to any relevant unsolved CF Military Police historical files," Poulin noted.

The case of a base commander charged with two murders and two sexual assaults has drawn the world's attention, with many high-profile news agencies such as the BBC, The Guardian and Australia's Courier Mail all providing coverage of the unfolding drama.

Germany's largest daily newspaper, Bild, ran a large article about the murders that had "shaken Canada completely."

Meanwhile, response to the case on popular social-media websites has been overwhelming, with Facebook groups quickly attracting thousands of members in the days since charges were laid against Williams. A memorial page dedicated to Lloyd had garnered more than 11,000 supporters, while another group with the name "Russell Williams should get the death penalty!" claimed more than 3,100 members as of Wednesday afternoon. Williams has been a recurring trending topic on Twitter.

Comeau had been working as a flight attendant based at CFB Trenton for six months when she was killed. Her body was found in her home in Brighton, Ont., a small town about 15 kilometres west of Trenton, on Nov. 25.

Lloyd went missing Jan. 28, after texting a friend that she'd arrived safe at her Belleville home. Police found her body after arresting Williams. An autopsy on Lloyd's body was completed Wednesday, but police would not release the cause of death.

Police said it was a roadside canvass on a nearby highway that made Williams a person of interest in the case. Reports suggest the special type of tire treads on Williams' vehicle tipped off police to his possible involvement in the murders.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kristine Rae would not comment on the treads nor suggestions that Williams confessed to police. "I can't speak about anything evidentiary," said Rae.

Police have searched Williams's home in Tweed, Ont., near where the sexual assaults took place, before turning their focus to his Ottawa home, where he lived with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Harriman.

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