Opinion: Clifford Olson had murdered 11 youths before being arrested on August 12, 1981. His 1982 conviction, which made him Canada's first modern and recognized serial killer, brought, rather than relief, an ugly revelation.
After a 9-year-old girl went missing just a few blocks from her Vancouver home, the "rainforest A small village on the edge of "" - BC For the first time many locked their doors, and the city's nickname sounded more ironic than affectionate.
The children were suddenly taken to school and also to a nearby friend's house. Like when Jaws terrorized Amity Island, it marked a moment when many believed Vancouver and the state had lost their innocence.
Growing hysteria over missing children and other adolescents has been fueled by a US media frenzy over Wayne Williams and the murder of her 24 children in Atlanta.
By the time he was arrested on August 12, 1981, Clifford Olson had murdered 11 of his youths. His 1982 conviction made him Canada's first modern serial killer. He made guilty pleas and stifled the tears of a crocodile - they brought not relief, but a silly revelation.
Police said he paid his $100,000 to a 41-year-old diminutive repeat offender and a rat. Counted on the $1,000 bill. He offered one of his as a "freebie".
A self-righteous hitman armed with an RCMP Stetson leads a caravan of cars around his lower mainland in terrifying processions, visiting shallow grave after shallow grave. I was.
It is hard to believe that such a human predator was just beginning to permeate the public consciousness and was not a staple of his channel for countless TV series, movies, documentaries, public shows, podcasts and streaming. I want to
Recent violence — assassinations with possible links to international terrorists, Hollywood-style jailbreaks, “targeted” killings, attacks on the homeless — and a former lawyer for Olson’s wife Joan It reminded me of a chance conversation I had with Jim McNeney, that moment when the zeitgeist changed.
Olson's serial killings were unprecedented, and the unspeakable searing horror scarred most of those involved. Some drank the bottle, others descended into cynicism and despair.
``Forty years ago. Forty years ago. I think we did the right thing.”
Nonetheless, no one expected the hellish sea changes to take place. I didn't.
It was in his 1970s that the FBI began classifying "serial killers." Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me, about her rubbing shoulders with her Ted Bundy in Seattle, was published in 1980. Cretin created an industry.
While awaiting electrocution, the propaganda hound engages in satanic sexual fantasies and other Loudly spun stories detailing unspeakable deeds.
In 1981, Thomas Harris' first best-selling Hannibal Lecter book, The Red Dragon, appeared. I later donated the final reward: the true price of incriminating Clifford Robert Olson to the growing tsunami.
Evil outliers were always recognized: Jack the Ripper, Boston strangler Albert DeSalvo, New York son of Sam David Berkowitz and even convicted of murder Some lesser-known people include Alfredo Barrí Treviño, a Mexican doctor who received and severed the model of the lover and Lecter, who was suspected of tearing others apart.
The contemporaneous convictions of England's Peter Sutcliffe, Williams, Olson, and many others who would unexpectedly follow turned the "serial killer" into a modern-day bogeyman.
Soon came collectibles and memorabilia with a twist, from trading cards to dolls.
On 2 February 2002, when Robert William his Pickton was arrested, B. C. It became the birthplace of not only Canada's first (Olson), but also the most prolific serial killer — Pickton claimed he murdered 49 women.
Almost immediately, across the border, Green River her killer Gary Ridgeway was convicted of 48 nearly identical murders in Washington State.
On December 18, 2003, as one of his 12 international writers drawn by lot, including Ann Rule, I was asked by the Seattle jury for his verdict. I sat in the staff seat.
Ridgway calmly sat a meter away, staring blankly. An auditorium-sized public gallery filled with victims' families waiting to voice their loss and pain.
The first to remember their loved ones killed with dignity, others spoke with anger and fury.
Then, in a sincere and heartbreaking tone, an elderly couple limped forward and professed to feel the pain of Ridgeway, wishing they had some balm. rice field. They had forgiven him and hoped that he would find comfort.
I cried.
Sitting next to me, Rule handed me a tissue to stop my tears.
Psychopaths may not have a moral compass or a need for repentance, but they can imitate repentance like a well-trained parrot. To make matters worse, some were still roaming the Pacific Northwest.
Forty-one-year-old handsome and athletic Charles Kembo slaughtered his four in Vancouver to maintain the luxurious lifestyle the former refugee wanted.
After his arrest, Kembo asked me to go see him. He was one of the luckiest people you could ever meet, even when he was in prison.
I testified for the prosecution and Kembo smiled at me and gave me a big wave as I left the witness box.
The discovery of DNA, computers, security cameras, digital recordings, and public terror has fortunately frustrated the ability of these predators to hunt successfully.
About 3,000 confirmed serial killers in North America between 1950 and 2000 — nine out of ten since 1970.
This is less than his 1/100th of the population and a lesson to be learned from someone who has had a front row seat. Genes, physical disabilities, organic injuries, and mental illnesses are all possible, according to research. Contribute to or catalyze a medical condition. These anomalies are as unique as any other.
But as shrewd chameleon-like monsters, they are not lurking in the dark or under beds, but silent waving in the sunlight. You can also be neighbors.
Although their numbers have declined this century, McNeney fears that much has not changed:
14-90 … Thousands of people across North America die every year. I'm missing. The lesson Olson taught us is that children need to be taken to school and must be picked up. When you go to UBC, you can't stand at No. 10 and Alma with a thumbs up. Rest assured there are some active predators now. ''
imulgrew@postmedia. com
twitter. com/ianmulgrew
Listen to Episode 1 of the True Crime Byline Podcast: This Isn't About Robert Pickton
Most Canadians , know the name Robert Pickton. A hog farmer outside Vancouver who passed by Willie and was convicted of murdering six people, although he once boasted to an undercover agent that he had killed 49 of his female victims. .
Picton's name he knows as well as he knows the name of the most notorious murderers who make headlines for heinous crimes. But there are many others whose names should be known. On his farm he has 33 women whose DNA has been found. Hundreds of families – parents, siblings and children – continue to mourn the loss of these women and, in some cases, are still fighting for answers and justice. And advocates who continue to lobby for changes in laws and social attitudes so that vulnerable women are better protected in the future.
This story began long before we heard Picton's name and continues long after he was sentenced to life in prison. Listen to this podcast about the heartbreaking history of Canada's most prolific serial killer, as told by Vancouver Sun reporter Lori Calvert.
Sign up for Postmedia Network Inc. Receive daily headline news from the Vancouver Sun, a division of .
Thank you for registering.
Sending welcome email. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder.
The next issue of Vancouver Sun Headline News will arrive in your inbox shortly.
