Tweed neighbourhood uneasy

Russ Williams
Posted By W. Brice McVicar
Posted February 11th, 2010

Margaret Dafoe has called her house on Highway 37 home for nine years, but it is only recently she began locking her doors.

Dafoe, who lives just two doors away from Jessica Lloyd's tidy brick bungalow, said the 27-year-old's murder has shaken her sense of security in the quiet, rural neighbourhood just north of Belleville. Like other residents in the Quinte region, this past week's news has left Dafoe wondering how such horrible crimes could happen here.

"It hits really close to home, that's for sure. It's just a shame to see such a young girl — and a very pretty girl — killed like that," she said. "We've never had anything like this before."

Dafoe said she always locked her doors when she left the house for work or shopping, but would never have considered making sure those locks were in place while she was in her home. That's changed since Lloyd's disappearance and the eventual discovery of her body and arrest of Col. Russ Williams.

"It makes you think and wonder, that's for sure."

A caller to The Intelligencer suggested police need to place a greater emphasis on urging residents, particularly women, to take precautions. She doesn't buy the fear of spreading panic in doing just that, either.

"Panic in the general population," said the woman, who described herself as a mother and former teacher, "is immaterial when it's weighed against public safety."

Last week, police conducted a roadside canvass in front of Lloyd's home, asking all motorists if they had seen anything suspicious or if they had information that would assist them in their investigation. Though that canvass took place just north of Dafoe's home, she was still approached by police, she said.

A police officer approached her as she returned home that night and asked her some questions. The officer's questions were simple, she said, with inquiries focusing on whether Dafoe had heard anything suspicious or witnessed any suspicious activity in the neighbourhood.

And those questions weren't the only ones Dafoe had to answer.

"Pretty near every weekend we had police at our door, or detectives .... I didn't see anything though," she said.

Lloyd's neighbour, Dawn Chambers, said that increased police presence in the neighbourhood has made her feel safer, despite their reason for being in the community. She said police cruisers — especially those that had remained parked at Lloyd's house for the past two weeks — were a common sight.

"They were there, it seems, 24-hours-a-day some days and certainly dropping in frequently when they weren't parked there," she said. "Safety, though ... I don't feel any differently."

Chambers said the crime hasn't shaken her sense of security, living as she does in the country, and she has not changed her lifestyle due to the circumstances. There have been break-ins in the community in the past, she added, and people need to be cautious all the time.

"We've always used common sense in what we do by keeping our vehicles locked and making sure our home is locked. I can't say we've changed anything, really," she said.

However, Chambers said she does get "an eerie feeling" when she looks at Lloyd's house at night. She said she knew Lloyd only "casually" and would often wave to her when she saw her, but the relationship never extended beyond friendly, neighbourly waves and smiles.

Lloyd's father, Warren, was a hunting buddy of retired city police inspector Garnet Goodwin.

Goodwin, who spoke highly of the entire Lloyd family, lives not far from Lloyd's home on Highway 37.

The events this week, he said, have not changed his feeling of security in the rural area north of Belleville, though he admitted he has always been leery of leaving family members home alone.

"I've never had concerns for my sense of security, though I certainly do with leaving a family member," he said. "I don't think we can live in a barricaded mentality, but I think you have to take precautions to safeguard yourself, no matter what."

Goodwin, who now works for Alarm Systems, said residents can take steps to increase their security by ensuring they have outside lighting, strong locks on doors, bushes cut away from windows so points of entry are not concealed and even a home security system.

The idea, he said, is to make sure your property is as secure as possible. Such steps — regardless of where you live — can decrease the chances of being a victim of crime.

Focusing on Lloyd's murder, Goodwin said he was impressed with the work conducted by police in arresting Williams.

"This is a very horrendous situation and thank God for the team effort of all the police services," he said. "They've done a great job."

bmcvicar@intelligencer.ca