Prime Time Crime is collected and published by Leo Knight, a former Canadian police officer, security expert and media commentator. Site edited by Chris. Created Jan. 2003
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BBC
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber has killed at least 32 people and injured about 60 in a predominantly Shia Muslim district of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The bomb went off in a market place as a funeral procession was passing in the city's Zafaraniya district. (BBC)
MORE: Dozens dead Car bomb near funeral procession
LCC Syria
DAMASCUS - Syrian security forces bombarded several cities with mortars and heavy artillery on Friday, and fighting edged closer to the capital of Damascus as residents of the city’s suburbs reported a days-long military onslaught. Activists in Homs said there were heavy casualties after a night of shelling and mortar fire, with military tanks again deployed across the city after being partially withdrawn last month at the outset of a monitoring mission by the Arab League. (Washington Post)
MORE: Killings shock Homos Army attacks 'Massacre' in Homs Uprising has killed 384 children
PREVIOUS: Syrian uprising Bashar al-Assad Arab League
Reuters
KANO - An official says gunmen have killed 15 people in a daylight attack near a northern Nigerian city where a radical Islamist sect last week killed 185 people. Zamfara state spokesman said Friday that the gunmen burned the bodies of their victims in a village in Katsina state on Thursday. (AP)
MORE: Jonathan open to Boko Haram talks Supreme Court dismisses five governors Nigerian state governors
PREVIOUS: Boko Haram Boko Haram launches war Multiple bomb attacks Blasts Escalating violence
BBC
JUBA/KHARTOUM - When South Sudan became independent last July, Sudan lost most of its oil. However, the export pipelines go through Sudan, which has seized some $815M in oil revenue, accusing the south of not paying transit fees. South Sudan last week said it was suspending oil production, accusing Sudan of "stealing" its oil. The leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia are trying to broker a deal between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his Sudanese counterpart - and old enemy - Omar al-Bashir. (BBC)
MORE: South Sudan -Sudan relations
AFP
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian rescuers intensified their search for victims in the rubble of three collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro Friday, though they are yet to find any survivors. 7 bodies have been recovered and 20 people are reported missing. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse of a 20-story building and adjacent 10- and 4-story buildings on Wednesday night. Officials said they were investigating both the possibility of a gas leak and a structural failure. (CNN)
PREVIOUS: Building collapse Explosion downtown Rio building collapse
Don't drink the water, even if tap water is safe
LIUZHOU - Millions of people in southern China have been warned not to drink the local water after high levels of the cancer-causing chemical cadmium were found in two rivers. Authorities in Liuzhou, a city of 3.7M in Guangxi Province in southern China, are battling to contain the spread of the toxic chemical, after elevated levels of cadmium were detected on Friday in the Liujiang River, the main source of drinking water in Liuzhou. Local officials, though, are insisting that tap water in Liuzhou is safe. (Telegraph UK)
UNITED NATIONS - A shipment containing 16 kilograms of cocaine was seized last week at the UN's mail intake center, a New York Police Department spokesman said Thursday. Paul Browne, NYPD's chief spokesman, said the drug was in a white bag evidently masquerading as a diplomatic pouch that raised suspicions when it was being scanned because it was stamped with what looked like a poorly concocted version of the UN logo. Browne said there was no name or address on the shipment sent from Mexico City through Cincinnati. (AP)
PYONGYANG - North Korea has warned that any of its citizens caught trying to defect to China or using mobile phones during the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong-il will be branded as "war criminals" and punished accordingly. (Telegraph UK)
Twitter faces censorship charges
WASHINGTON - Twitter, championed as a tool of free expression during the Arab Spring, was facing censorship charges on Friday after announcing it can now block tweets on a country-by-country basis if legally required to do so. (AFP)
MORE: Twitter can now censor country-by-country
PREVIOUS: Google tracking users Backlash Greed & Corruption: copyright Big Brother
RELATED: Poland signs ACTA ACTA Abu Dhabi to 'Green' world tourism
SAN DIEGO - Authorities arrested more than 100 suspected gang members and associates throughout San Diego County on Wednesday morning as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged racketeering, firearms trafficking and drug distribution coordinated by the Mexican Mafia. (LA Times)
MORE: FBI press release Gang members arrested
ROME - An organized crime “agromafia” has seized control of the Italian food industry, which is rife with fraudulent labels that include its most golden export, extra virgin olive oil, a government investigation has revealed. Organized crime controls $16.4B a year in Italian farm and food businesses, the report said, using it as a means of laundering money. 80% of the olive oil stamped “Made in Italy” is diluted with cheaper, lower quality oils from Tunisia, Greece, Spain and Morocco, said the report, based on scientific analysis and investigations by customs agents, Mafia prosecutors, food inspectors and police. (Toronto Star)
PARIS - A French court has fined perfume giants including Chanel, Christian Dior and L'Oreal a total of 40M euros ($53M) for colluding to keep prices high. (AFP)
MONTREAL - Quebec announced Thursday that it will not pay for new prisons and other costs required to enforce the upcoming federal tough-on-crime legislation known as Bill C-10. (CP)
MORE: Ottawa has no cheque to help provinces foot crime bill
Matawa First Nations leaders are proposing a $34M strategy to halt prescription drug abuse - a strategy that would fund addiction and mental health workers in 9 communities. And perhaps, most importantly, the plan would include ongoing care. (CBC)
PREVIOUS: Prescription drug abuse Eabametoong First Nation
RELATED: First Nations summit in Ottawa Time to revamp Indian Act Building trust
OTTAWA - Rogers Communications Inc. is asking an Ontario court to strike down part of a federal law requiring a company to have "adequate and proper" tests of a product's performance before advertising claims about the product - on the grounds that it violates its freedom of expression. In addition to taking on the performance claims provision of the Competition Act, the telecom giant is arguing before the Ontario Superior Court the hefty financial penalties that can be imposed on a company for making a false or misleading claim are also unconstitutional. (PostMedia)
Appointment office with nothing to do
OTTAWA - In the 6 years since the Harper government came to power, Canadian taxpayers have spent millions of dollars on supporting a federal appointments commission that doesn't exist. The money has disappeared into a bureaucracy set up to support the commission - a bureaucracy that seems to have just about everything except a commission to support. (CBC)
DAVOS - There's one key thought Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other government leaders at the economic brainstorming sessions keep hearing over and over again: it's time to challenge the status quo of capitalism. So far, they've shown few signs of heeding the call. The founder of the annual World Economic Forum retreat in this Alpine town, Klaus Schwab, has appealed to global movers and shakers for a “great transformation” that would challenge the basic tenets of capitalism. (CP)
MORE: Rich countries complacent Major transformations Changes coming OAS to age 67 Retirement agenda 70 should be the new 65
PREVIOUS: World economic forum 2012 Capitalism
RELATED: IMF cites eurozone debt in lowering growth forecast Obama stresses economic prosperity, unity and values Insider trading by members of Congress
Win for provincial appointed regulators
OTTAWA - The feds are throwing in the towel and abandoning plans to create a national securities regulator. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he's still hoping to create a national body that would monitor what he calls systemic risks to financial markets. (CP)
PREVIOUS: Regulators
Debt-ridden Canadians piling up more
OTTAWA - Canadians who should be saving for their retirements are actually the ones driving the national increase in personal debt, a CIBC study says. The study, "Punch Drunk" to be released Thursday, looked at "micro" data to determine what's responsible for the spike in household debt to record levels since 2007, something the Bank of Canada has said could derail the country's economic recovery. (CTV)
REPORT: Punch Drunk .pdf
MORE: BC has the most 'heavy' borrowers
RELATED: Hike in airport fee
OTTAWA - Aboriginal and environmental activists opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal have tapped a gusher of funding for their activities - taxpayers. Almost 50 groups will dip into about $2.8M from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s (CEAA) participant funding program to help them contribute to hearings on Enbridge’s proposal to connect Alberta’s oilsands to a tanker terminal in northern BC. (QMI)
MORE: Levant kicked out of hearings 'Radical' federal remarks boost support
PREVIOUS: Time to redefine non-profit Non-Profit Industry
Unions must overhaul themselves dramatically - and fast - or face a slow death, says a secret report by the two groups contemplating the biggest merger in Canadian labour history. In a surprisingly blunt assessment of organized labour’s current difficulties, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) union say in a discussion paper that they must become a lot more relevant to working people, not only in contract bargaining, but for social change. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: CAW, CEP hold merger talks
TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran is ready for nuclear talks with the world powers amid toughening sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to sharply scale back its nuclear program. (AP)
MORE: Iran devalues currency in bid to stop slide
PREVIOUS: EU Iranian oil embargo EU Iran sanctions Iran renews threats Iran and WMDs
CANBERRA - The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, had to be extracted from a restaurant near Parliament House as angry protesters banged on the glass. Supporters of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra picketed the Lobby restaurant over comments by Mr Abbott this morning that the tent embassy should close. As many as 200 gathered in front of the restaurant, banging on its glass walls and yelling "shame" and "racist". (SMH)
MORE: Australia PM 'rescued' Security scare
Why does Pharma bury half of its studies
Clinical trials are the last, most expensive part of developing new drugs. Earlier this month the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a study showing that fewer than half the trials funded by the US government's National Institutes of Health were published in a medical journal within 30 months after completion. Even 4 years after trials are finished, one-third of these publicly funded studies remain unpublished. In other words, whether funding comes from government or from pharma companies, the results of approximately half of all clinical trials are buried. (Philly.com)
PREVIOUS: War on Legal Drugs
CBC
ST JOHN - Border officials have made two seizures of cocaine at the Port of Saint John, with an estimated street value of $3.5M. A total of 28 kilograms was seized, officials said. The first seizure, made public on Wednesday, involved 80 cocaine-stuffed pineapples being discovered on a marine container on Aug. 25. 19 kilograms of cocaine was concealed inside the hollowed-out fruit. Then, on Oct. 11, a second, similar shipment from Guyana was discovered. Officials found 9 kilograms of cocaine in that case. (CBC)
Deported killer ready to return
Moreno Gallo
MONTREAL - A suspected adviser to the Rizzuto crime family, who agreed to be deported to Italy, has done an about-face and now wants a Federal Court judge to approve his return to Canada. Moreno Gallo, a convicted murderer and popular baker in Montreal's Little Italy neighbourhood, filed the motion days after his expulsion on Jan. 4. (QMI)
PREVIOUS: Advisor agrees to be deported Mafia
AP
PUNE - A bus driver mowed down pedestrians and rammed cars, scooters and food stalls in a rampage through crowded Indian streets Wednesday that killed 9 people and injured more than two dozen. Police chased the bus for an hour through the streets of the central city of Pune, with traffic officers firing on it in an attempt to stop it, before they managed to arrest the 30-year-old driver. He is being held on murder charges. (AP)
MORE: 'Berserk' bus driver 'Berserk' driver caught
Poul Thisted Jessica Buchanan
MOGADISHU - The same US Navy SEAL that killed Osama bin Laden parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, 9 kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed. (AP)
MORE: Buchanan & Thisted rescued US commandos free hostages US military raid
Heriberto Lazcano Joaquin Guzman
MEXICO CITY - The Zetas Cartel has become the biggest drug gang in Mexico, overtaking its bitter rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, a new report suggests. The report by US security firm Stratfor says the Zetas now operate in more than half of all Mexican states. (BBC)
REPORT: Cartel report 2012 Zetas incursions in Sinaloa territory
MORE: PGR should declassify info on most wanted
PREVIOUS: Cartels
A prominent environmentalist has been fired from an organization that has staunchly protested the Northern Gateway pipeline after he accused the Prime Minister’s Office of resorting to intimidation tactics against the project’s critics. (Globe & Mail)
RELATED: Gateway gaining support
OTTAWA - A new life in Canada was for sale for a fistful of cash, a court heard Tuesday. Mahmoud Samih Zbib got his Canadian citizenship in 1998. But he needed paperwork for the love of his life, who had overstayed on a one-month visa. The fixer was Issam Dakik, who’s already pleaded guilty for his role in influence-peddling ring. His person on the inside was allegedly Diane Serre, at the time a Citizenship and Immigration Canada manager. (QMI)
Laws stop Britain protecting against terrorism
STRASBOURG - The Prime Minister is trying to push through reforms of the European Court of Human Rights over fears it has too many powers to overrule national governments. In a speech to the Strasbourg assembly, Mr Cameron said the whole concept of human rights laws was in danger of becoming "distorted" and "discredited" because of the court's decisions. (Telegraph UK)
PREVIOUS: Doublespeak
BEIJING - China on Wednesday confirmed police shot dead a "rioter" in a Tibetan-inhabited area, saying they had to use lethal force after a violent mob attacked them. (AFP)
MORE: 2nd clash
LAHORE - At least 70 people are believed to have died in the Pakistani city of Lahore over the past three weeks because of faulty heart drugs. They said that at least 400 others are being treated for similar symptoms. The number of dead has soared since Tuesday, when officials said about 36 people with cardiovascular problems had died since the start of the month. The owners of three local drugs companies alleged to have supplied the contaminated drugs have been arrested. (BBC)
The first international drug treaty was signed a century ago this week. So what was the war on drugs like in 1912? (BBC)
PREVIOUS: US opens new Canadian front in war on drugs ONDCP National northern border counternarcotics strategy .pdf
TORONTO - Booze bureaucrats are meddling in our lives. They’re making decisions to control us. They’re treating us like a bunch of irresponsible kids who can’t be trusted and they’ve got no problem picking our pockets while they do it. It’s gone on for so long, most of us don’t even notice it any more. (QMI)
MORE: Time for the LCBO to sober up
COMMENT: Liquor laws need updating
RELATED: Cinema gains liquor license, loses right to show movies
ZAMBOANGA CITY - At least 15 men were killed in the southern Philippines when gunmen opened fire on three boats, in what military officials say was fishing turf rivalry. The incident happened on Monday off Basilan province, a stronghold of Muslim rebels. (CBC)
MORE: Gunmen kill rival fishermen
CASABLANCA - One of two young Moroccans who set himself on fire in Rabat last week during a protest by unemployed university graduates died of his wounds on Tuesday. "Abdelwahab Zeidoun died at around 5:00am," a doctor at Casablanca's Ibn Rochd hospital told AFP. The 27-year-old, who held a master's degree from the University of Fez, was among a group of five who doused themselves with petrol during a sit-in protest and tried to set themselves alight. The fire only caught on two of them. (AFP)
PREVIOUS: Moroccan protests
FREDERICTON - The police seizure of the computer equipment of a controversial Fredericton blogger came under criticism on Monday. Charles LeBlanc was arrested for allegedly libeling a Fredericton Police officer. LeBlanc writes a blog on politics and social justice issues. He regularly criticizes political figures, police officers and senior bureaucrats in his posts. (CBC)
MORE: Civil liberties attack Bogger accused of libelling police officer
COMMENT: Silencing Fredericton's gadfly
PREVIOUS: Charles LeBlanc's old blog
MONTREAL - Leon Mugesera, a man accused of inciting the Rwandan genocide and who has been fighting for 16 years to stay in Canada was deported on Monday afternoon. (CTV)
MORE: Canada deports genocide suspect
PREVIOUS: UN's torture committee puts its reputation on the line Rwandan loses appeal Rwandan genocide
John Mandarino
TORONTO - A fired union executive who regained his $255,000-a-year job has quit after revelations in the Star that a training centre board had originally dismissed him on accusations of improper personal spending and breaches of the operating rules. John Mandarino, a veteran official of the Labourers' International Union of North America Local 183, abruptly resigned Monday as administrator of its Local 183 training centre here. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: Fired official rehired
WASHINGTON - A former Central Intelligence Agency officer has been arrested and charged with illegally disclosing classified information to journalists, including the identity of a covert officer and details about the capture of terrorism suspect Abu Zubaydah, the US Justice Department said on Monday. (Reuters)
MORE: Former CIA officer accused
MADRID - The Spanish judge who became an international human rights hero went on trial Tuesday for daring to probe right-wing atrocities around the Spanish civil war that may be linked to the deaths or disappearances of more than 100,000 civilians. It is the second trial in as many weeks for the 56-year-old Baltasar Garzon, although the charges at the Supreme Court are essentially the same: that he knowingly exceeded the bounds of his authority. (AP)
MORE: Spanish judge on trial
GIGLIO - 2 more bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of the Costa Concordia. Divers recovered the bodies of 2 women from the ship's Internet café, the national civil protection agency official in charge of the search said Monday. That brings the number of confirmed dead to 15. Officially, there are now 17 people still missing. However, officials said over the weekend that there may have been unregistered guests on board at the time of the accident. (CTV)
MORE: $14,400 compensation offer Death toll at 16 How the cruise ship industry sails under the radar
COMMENT: Of heroes and cowards
PREVIOUS: Crew ordered passengers back to their cabins 'Sue us if you want compensation' Company blames captain YouTube
Involved in choosing G8 projects
OTTAWA - Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement was involved in choosing which projects were selected for the multi-million dollar G8 legacy fund, according to documents obtained by the federal New Democrats. The auditor general released a scathing report last June accusing the Conservative government of misleading Parliament about the purpose of the $45.7M G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund that was divvied up between 32 projects in the Muskoka area hand-picked by Clement (the MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka), Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty and a local businessman. (Toronto Star)
MORE: New memos contradict Clement
COMMENT: Dishonesty is the best policy
PREVIOUS: Life in a Banana republic
MONTREAL - Former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe has squelched talk of a possible political comeback in the wake of a report he used public funds to pay party staff while he was federal leader. (Globe & Mail)
MORE: Duceppe will not return to politics
PREVIOUS: Surprise La Presse says Duceppe denies Bloc broke rules
KOSOVO - When Raul Fain boarded Turkish Airways Flight 1017 from Istanbul to Kosovo on July 25, 2008, he was no ordinary tourist. The ailing investment consultant from North York had just paid $127,000 to purchase a kidney and, according to European investigators, was engaging in the controversial but growing practice of transplant tourism. Also on board that flight was Anna Rusalenko, a 45-year-old woman from the isolated stretches of eastern Siberia. She and other victims had been lured by “false promises” of money they never got from a sophisticated organ-trafficking ring that spanned three continents and trapped impoverished people into selling their body parts. (Toronto Star)
MORE: Transplant tourism a form of cannibalism
Regina Leader-Post
REGINA - Police have charged a man with manslaughter after a woman who was found badly beaten on Wednesday died in hospital. Mark Jeffrey James Severight, 38, appeared on the charge in Regina provincial court on Friday. The woman who died has been identified as Elise Anne Cote, 48. Police found Cote Wednesday night when they were called to a house on the 2000-block of Edgar St. She was lying injured in the front yard. She was taken to hospital, where she died Thursday. (CBC)
MORE: Man charged
Roger Matern Mitra Javanmardi
MONTREAL - A Westmount naturopath is on trial for criminal negligence causing death. Mitra Javanmardi was treating 84-year-old Roger Matern in 2008 when he came to see her for heart problems. In court on Thursday, witnesses testified that Javanmardi gave Matern an intravenous injection of magnesium at which point he started feeling ill. Following this Matern went home, and continued to decline. He was taken to St. Luc hospital where he died the next day, June 13, 2008. The College of Physicians has fined Javanmardi on at least two prior occasions for practicing medicine without a license. (CTV)
CBC
MONTREAL - Ottawa police arrested a 24-year-old man in the suburb of Orleans on Wednesday night, and the suspect is expected to appear in court Friday morning. Officers say the young man was in a car with the victim when he was shot. The attack took place on Thursday, Jan 19 in the parking lot of a Wendy's/Tim Hortons restaurant on Decarie Blvd. According to police, the victim had ties to a gang. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Shooting Shooting in parking lot Murder in parking lot
CALGARY - A Calgary man is facing several charges in connection with a horrific crash last summer that killed two people. Police and emergency crews were called to the scene of the crash at about 11:55pm, on Sunday, June 5, 2011. Passengers Tina Thanh Nguyen,16, and Amrullah Safari, 20, were not strapped in, and were thrown from the vehicle. Both were taken to hospital where they died from their injuries. After a lengthy investigation, Billal Abbou, 21, has been charged. (CTV)
Stephanie Warren
TORONTO – The former Toronto woman currently in a Jamaican prison along with her husband following the grisly discovery of their dead toddler in a suitcase had more kids taken from her while in Canada. (QMI)
MORE: Mom will be judged by God
PREVIOUS: Parents charged Body in a suitcase
Jessica Lloyd Russell Williams
BELLEVILLE - The family and estate of murder victim Jessica Lloyd are seeking $4M in damages from her killer - former air force colonel Russell Williams - and his estranged wife. A statement of claim by Lloyd’s mother and elder brother, Roxanne and Andy Lloyd, was filed Thursday in Belleville’s Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The document is also filed by Roxanne Lloyd as trustee of her daughter’s estate. (QMI)
Mohammad, Hamed, Tooba Yahyz
KINGSTON - The jurors in the Shafia murder trial are receiving their final instructions from the judge, but it will likely be several hours before they can begin deliberations. The judge will need to take the time to carefully explain the law to the seven-woman, five-man jury and present them with their options for verdict. Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, hare accused of murdering three Shafia daughters and Shafia's first wife from a polygamous marriage. (CTV)
MORE: Trial hinges on timing 'Diseased limb on family tree' 3 options judge tell jury
PREVIOUS: Shafia family murder PTC murder
Robert William Pickton Kim Rossmo
VANCOUVER - A former Vancouver police inspector who has faced intense criticism at the Robert Pickton inquiry is disputing some of the allegations against him, rejecting claims he ruled out the possibility of a serial killer and suggesting one of his fiercest critics is biased. Insp. Fred Biddlecombe has been accused of being a hot-headed, arrogant manager quick to dismiss evidence that a serial killer could be at work and instead clinging to the belief that the women weren't actually missing. Those criticisms have been amplified this week with the testimony of former detective Kim Rossmo, a geographic profiler who was among the first to warn that a serial killer was responsible. (CBC)
MORE: Ex-detective stands by his testimony Police lawyers coming out of the woodwork
CBC
TORONTO - The mother of a one-time marijuana dealer, who claims drug squad officers beat him and stole his money, says she was shocked to see how badly injured he looked hours later. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: Witness pressed about plea deal Cops beat, ripped off dealers Curtain raised 1st witness Witness feared for his life Timeline Toronto Police Scandal
Harley Clifford Combres
BILLINGS - A Canadian citizen will spend more than 7 years in federal prison for smuggling guns from Montana into Lethbridge, Alberta. Chief US District Judge Richard Cebull in Billings sentenced Harley Clifford Combres, 29, to 7 years and 3 months, noting that his history of convictions and violations in Canada had done “absolutely nothing to deter him” from crime. Combres and Caley Dawn Sinclair, 23, both of Lethbridge, were arrested in Billings on March 26 after they bought guns at a gun show in Billings. (Billings Gazette)
VANCOUVER - BC polygamous leader Winston Blackmore says he took out a $25,000 loan from the bank to prepare for the end of the world. The cash was to be used to gather supplies for the religious sect in SE BC, near the Canada-US border, he said. But it wasn't meant to be. “Another deadline for the end of the world has come and gone. Some 15 deadlines have passed,” Mr. Blackmore's self-published online newsletter later said in March of 2004. (Globe & Mail)
PREVIOUS: 21 wives Tax court fight Bountiful Sex Crimes
YORKTON - A Saskatchewan Mountie who specializes in drunk driving cases took his work home with him recently when an allegedly drunk driver got stuck on his lawn. (CBC)
PRINCE ALBERT - A provincial court clerk says Michael Ozar was given a discharge after he pleaded guilty, adding he will not face any probation, conditions or time behind bars. The officer admitted assaulting a woman during an altercation on Oct. 3, 2010. He pressed his boot to the back of the head of Cheryl Morin while she was being searched at the police detachment. Morin had been brought in on a charge of intoxication and was scuffling with two guards on the floor. (CTV)
TORONTO - The single binder of “marketing services” an ORNGE for-profit company did for an Italian helicopter firm is not worth the $6.7M the ORNGE firm was paid. That’s the assessment of Ron McKerlie, the able civil servant now running the provincial air ambulance service. What else the ORNGE Peel consulting firm, majority-owned by former president Dr. Chris Mazza, may have done to justify the payment is unclear. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: Non-profit has been good to me Star's investigation: ORNGE
BC's civil forfeiture over the line
VICTORIA - BC's director of civil forfeiture has been scolded for trying to confiscate a Dodge Ram from a retired firefighter even though he didn't own the truck at the time of his arrest for drug possession. It wasn't until after the title was in Wolff's hands that the Civil Forfeiture Office applied for the right to seize and sell off the Dodge as an instrument of crime, a decision that earned the government body a tongue-lashing in BC Supreme Court this week. (CTV)
JUDGMENT: 2012 BCS 100
VICTORIA - Gord Macatee, the independent ferry commissioner, released his review of the Coastal Ferry Act this week, along with 24 recommendations that include a bigger subsidy from the province for the ferry system. Macatee said greater consideration should be given to ferry users, many of whom are unable to pay sharply rising ferry fares. Since the ferry corporation went from a Crown corporation to a quasi-private company in 2003, ferry fares have increased up to 80% on minor routes and 47% on major routes. (North Shore News)
REPORT: Coastal Ferry Act review
Weird that the overactive civil forfeiture group hasn’t gone after any bureaucrats or politicians for commissions, bonuses, promotions or golden pensions, oh right they just made ‘wrong choices’ in the best interest of the citizens of BC. - Chris
More ‘good management at competitive rates’
TORONTO - Hydro executives have earned incentive bonuses totaling $2.9M in the past 5 years despite the company’s failure to meet reliability standards set by the Ontario Energy Board. (Toronto Star)
Crown refuses to press charges
VANCOUVER - The Crown has refused to approve charges in one of the Stanley Cup riot cases because there isn’t enough evidence, a blow to the VPD’s assurances that taking several months to investigate would reduce the likelihood the recommendations would be bounced out of the courts. (Globe & Mail)
PREVIOUS: Vancouver crimes
HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia woman has been charged with manslaughter in the death of her father, who was a retired teacher. Police say the charges stem from an incident on July 22 when officers were called to investigate a suspicious fall at a residence in Brookside. David Burgess, 64, died in hospital from his injuries on July 28. His daughter, 28-year-old Vanessa Lynn Marie Burgess, was charged. (CTV)
MORE: Manslaughter charge Woman charged
CTV
WINNIPEG - Officers and emergency crews were called to the 300-block of Assiniboine Ave for a report of an assault. Police identified the victim as Alche Fsehaye Kidane, 34. Police said the victim and her husband had been arguing inside the residence, prior to her being stabbed. Teklu Tesfamichael Mebrahtu, 32, of Winnipeg is facing one count of second-degree murder. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Body found Screams before 'cops swarmed' building
Denis Jerome Labossiere
WINNIPEG - Denis Jerome Labossiere paid $10,000 to have his family members killed before they bodies were found inside a rural Manitoba farmhouse, a key Crown witness has told a jury in Winnipeg. Jeremie Toupin, 26, struck a deal with justice officials to testify against Labossiere and Michael Hince during the trial that began last week. All three men were charged initially charged with first-degree murder for the attack in St. Leon that killed Fernand, 78, Rita, 74, and Remi Labossiere, 44. (CBC)
MORE: Son OK'd plan Jury hears of confession
PREVIOUS: Triple murder trial begins
RELATED: Guilty Court hears from witness Help fixing shotgun Trial begins
VANCOUVER - On Oct. 5, 2008, 67-year-old Irving Bell was living in Renee Chelsea Leblanc's basement suite. That afternoon, Bell called 911 and told the dispatcher that he was "getting killed," and then hung up. Between the call and the time police arrived, Bell had died. His cause of death has never been determined, but he had methamphetamine and alcohol in his system. On Oct. 7, 2008, Leblanc enlisted the help of her 11-year-old daughter and wrapped Bell's body in plastic and stuffed him into the container. His body was covered with bark mulch and the bin sealed with tape. (PostMedia)
Chantal Lavigne
DRUMMONDVILLE - A Quebec woman who died last summer after a reported spa detox treatment was actually a member of a self-improvement group practising risky therapy involving sweating and hyperventilation. Radio-Canada's Enquête program has learned that Chantal Lavigne, 35, died from hyperthermia, after undergoing a 9-hour session of intense sweating at a home in rural Quebec in July 2011. The session was part of a seminar called "Dying in Consciousness" led by a self-styled Quebec therapist. (CBC)
Jordan & Devon Drake
LANTZVILLE - Investigators say that the fire that killed two young boys at a Vancouver Island First Nations reserve was likely an accident. The blaze broke out just before 5am Wednesday at a home on Snaw'Naw‘As First Nation land near Lantzville. Two brothers - identified by family members as 7-year-old Devon and 9-year-old Jordan Drake - perished in the blaze. The serious crimes unit of the Nanaimo RCMP examined the scene and say that foul play is not suspected. (CTV)
MORE: 2 brothers killed in house fire
$5B infrastructure strategy doesn't exist
Wayne Loveys
ST JOHN - The province doesn’t have a formal $5B infrastructure strategy, and departments are claiming cabinet secrecy prevents the release of details about how their infrastructure projects are assessed. Those were two of the major findings in the auditor general’s annual report. (St John’s Telegram)
REPORT: NL AG annual report 2011 .pdf
MORE: RCMP investigating school board Little oversight of charitable lotteries
PREVIOUS: Newfoundland and Labrador
VANCOUVER - A man who suffered horrific bite wounds during an attack by a Vancouver police dog is suing the city for what he says was excessive force. Christopher Evans, 33, was bitten by the VPD service dog last June after Evans broke a window of a city bus. Photos provided by Pivot Legal Society, which is backing Evans in the suit, show a pair of gaping, bloody gashes on his right thigh - one of the wounds runs nearly the width of his thigh. (Vancouver Sun)
Chris Thompson
TORONTO - Police identified the man shot dead at a Malvern Town Centre barber shop as Chris Thompson, a barber described as a peaceful and friendly man. Police responded to a shooting call at the Cut Creator barber shop at 31 Tapscott Road shortly before 1pm on Tuesday. According to a police a man entered the shop and fired a number of shots at the victim before fleeing the scene. The man was found without vital signs and pronounced dead at the scene. (CTV)
MORE: Barber shot dead Mid-day execution Man shot
VANCOUVER - A Montreal man charged in a cocaine conspiracy claims the RCMP offered him $1M to help solve the murder of newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer. Jean Gaetan Gingras was captured on wiretap telling an undercover Mountie that police met with him and his lawyer at a Montreal law office to make the offer. A recording of the conversation was played for Justice Carol Ross Tuesday in BC Supreme Court at the conspiracy trial of Gingras and co-accused Bruno Diquinzio. (Vancouver Sun)
CALGARY - A number of major buildings across Alberta may require safety inspections because approvals for fire suppression systems were allegedly faked. Peter Geoffrey Pybus, 63, of Saskatoon, had his licence to practice engineering suspended after an investigation was launched by the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) into allegations of unskilled practice and unprofessional conduct. Peter Pybus was working through the firm DFK Engineering Canada Ltd. of Calgary when he was suspended. (CTV)
VANCOUVER - A Metro Vancouver employer who repeatedly exposed unprotected workers to asbestos has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for disobeying a court order. The BC Supreme Court ordered contractor Arthur Moore to halt all demolition projects in August 2010 after WorkSafe BC discovered employees as young as 14-years-old were handling the deadly carcinogen without protective clothing. Within 24 hours of receiving the order, Moore's employees were back on the job, according to court documents. He operated by issuing fake certificates claiming homes were asbestos-free before sending workers inside. (CTV)
EDMONTON - A local man admitted Tuesday to having sex with his own children and the daughters of two girlfriends and using a whip and a dog in his twisted crimes. The 41-year-old man - who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims - pleaded guilty to 8 counts of sexual interference, 8 counts of inviting sexual touching, 4 counts of child pornography, 2 counts of incest, unlawful confinement, attempted counselling of sexual interference, administering a stupefying drug, bestiality and using a whip in a sexual assault. (QMI)
A Williams Lake man has been ordered to pay more than $20,000 after he was busted bragging on Facebook about his bogus insurance claim. Corbin Joseph posted on the site that he had rolled his truck into a ditch after drinking at a New Year's Eve party, then made off with a big insurance payout. Unfortunately for him, the ill-considered boasting caught the attention of ICBC's special investigation unit. (CTV)
TORONTO - Doctors, nurses, teachers and 1M public sector workers in Ontario will have to hold their salary demands in check while the province eliminates a $16B deficit, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday. “One half of all government spending, about $55B, is invested in wages and salaries,” Mr. McGuinty told the Canadian Club. (Globe & Mail)
RELATED: Hospitals have been good to us
Sheila Nabb Hotel Riu Emerald Bay
CALGARY - Sheila Nabb, the Calgary woman who was found severely beaten inside a luxury hotel in Mexico's Mazatlan region has emerged from a medically-induced coma. (CTV)
MORE: Video shows beating Police identify suspect Beating victim back in Calgary
PREVIOUS: Canadian beaten at resort
Carl Charlie Robert Luggi
BURNS LAKE - BC's coroner has confirmed that the remains of two workers have been found after an explosion at a mill near Burns Lake last week. Authorities have not confirmed the identities of the deceased, but family members say two fathers - Carl Charlie and Robert Luggi, both members of Burns Lake-area First Nations - remain unaccounted for after the fiery explosion tore through the Babine Forest Products mill on Friday. (CBC)
MORE: 2 confirmed dead
PREVIOUS: Sawmill explosion BC town reeling
BELLEVILLE - Charges have been laid against a Belleville man following a deadly crash that killed two women on Highway 37 in Belleville. Jennifer Bugg, 31, of Brighton and Andrea Manan, 27, of Frankford, were killed in the crash Dec 20. Their vehicle was hit from behind by a transport and pushed into oncoming traffic. Three other people were hurt. Provincial police say 45-year-old Allan Cooney has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death and three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. (CP)
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi confirmed Monday that he is donating 10% of his salary to charity. This makes it the second time in as many years that the Mayor has decided to give money on top his other donations. On Monday city council began reviewing the formula that's used for determining how much Calgary’s politicians get paid. But Nenshi said he has already decided that he is over-compensated. (CBC)
PREVIOUS: Best compensated
PETERBOROUGH - An Alberta man faces several charges after leading Ontario police on a high-speed snowmobile chase Saturday while his five-year-old son rode on the back without a helmet, police say. (QMI)
PREVIOUS: Quebec snowmobile deaths
TORONTO - A 28-year-old man is facing 33 charges alleging fraudulent applications for social services benefits in Toronto. Police say at least 6 aliases were used to apply for social benefits between Sept and Dec of 2011. Charges against Alex Kusi include 10 fraud counts, 4 counts of personation and 5 of identity fraud. (CP)
HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ordered Halifax Regional Municipality to pay a woman $30,000 for damages after she was injured playing badminton in a city gymnasium. Elizabeth Roscoe was playing at the Bob Douglas Gym when she stepped on a piece of duct tape on the floor and injured her knee. The municipality had argued that an average of 100 people had used the gym on evenings and weekends for the previous five months and Roscoe was the only person who complained about the tape. (CTV)
VICTORIA - Nearly three decades after Tony Roche's bike was stolen from outside a Victoria pub, the "well used" ride has been returned to its rightful and slightly baffled owner. The 10-speed Norco bicycle was turned in at the front counter of the Victoria Police Department in Dec, and police noted a nine-digit number engraved into the frame. With a little bit of digging, an officer identified the figure as a social insurance number, and tracked it to 49-year-old Roche, an Esquimalt resident and Coast Guard employee. (CTV)
Anthony Spencer
TORONTO - An aspiring hip-hop artist was shot while recording music early Saturday morning, police said. Police have located the people who brought Anthony Spencer, 23, to the hospital after he was shot. Dungeon Sounds Studio on Brimley Rd was closed Sunday as police applied for a search warrant. (Toronto Star)
MORE: Gunned down in studio Shot in studio Shooting update Friends of victim know killer Police locate vehicles and witnesses
Metro
OTTAWA - A murder investigation is underway after the death of a 24-year-old man in downtown Ottawa early Sunday. Ottawa paramedics said they were called to Dalhousie St around 2:30am Sunday where a man had been stabbed. Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Navid Niran. (CTV)
Vancouver is the world’s second-least affordable major city to buy a house, according to an annual survey of global housing markets. The Eighth Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey covers 325 metropolitan markets around the world. (Globe & Mail)
REPORT: 8th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey .pdf
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VANCOUVER - The latest casualty, Sean Beaver, is from Montreal and was not well-known to police in BC before he was targeted in the driveway of a house in the 13900-block of 56th Ave about 11pm Thursday. A second man shot Thursday and critically wounded is the sibling of Stephen Leone, a member of the Dhak-Duhre group who was fatally shot by a masked gunman as he sat in his black Acura sedan in a strip mall at 100th Ave and King George Highway last Oct. 22. (Vancouver Sun)
PREVIOUS: Feud Targeted shooting 1 dead, 1 critical Shooting
CBC
BONAVISTA BAY - A central Newfoundland man has been charged with manslaughter a week after a man was killed in the small community of Trinity, Bonavista Bay. RCMP said Ivan Curtis King, 57, has been charged in the death of Winston Hunt, who died at his home late on the night of Jan 13. (CBC)
PREVIOUS: Murder investigation
LONDON - After 10 days on the lam, the fourth suspect wanted in the shooting of a Hells Angels member and a woman in London, Ont., is in custody. Peel police arrested Nikota Martin, 26, Friday in Brampton, Ont. (QMI)
PREVIOUS: Gang war brewing 3 arrested 2 shot near clubhouse Feud
HALIFAX - Police say they responded to a call from the Valley Regional Hospital on January 4 after a baby boy was brought in. Six-week-old Ethan Chetwynd was suffering from cardiac arrest when he arrived at the hospital. Police arrested two people on January 13 in connection with the infant's death. Candace Chetwynd, 21, of Port Hastings and 26-year-old Shawn MacIsaac of Waterville are facing charges of aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life. (CTV)
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Friday, January 27, 2012 12:43:36