We've posted on dad EVERTON BIDDERSINGH before.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Canada.
http://www.680news.com/2016/01/04/dads-reign-terror-killed-daughter-jury-suitcase-murder-trial-hears/
Dad's 'reign of terror' killed daughter, jury at 'suitcase' murder trial hears
Local
National
by Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press
Posted Jan 4, 2016 8:22 am EST
Last Updated Jan 5, 2016 at 5:39 am EST
A father’s “reign of terror” reduced his daughter from a happy, healthy child to a starved, emotionally broken teen, ultimately killing her, a Crown prosecutor told a Toronto court Monday as he urged the jury to find the man guilty of first-degree murder.
Everton Biddersingh has pleaded not guilty in the death of 17-year-old Melonie, whose charred body was found in a burning suitcase 21 years ago.
“His reign of terror over Melonie ultimately resulted in her death,” Crown prosecutor Mary Humphrey said in closing arguments. “But for his actions or his omissions, Melonie would have been alive today. She would have been 38 years old.”
The case has taken two decades to get to trial because police weren’t able to identify Melonie’s remains until they received a tip that eventually led to the arrest of Biddersingh and his wife in March 2012.
The trial has heard that Melonie came to Canada from Jamaica with two brothers in 1991, when she was 13, to live with her father and stepmother.
Jurors have heard that the girl – who hoped to one day become a nurse – was not sent to school and suffered brutal beatings, food deprivation and gut-wrenching abuse at the hands of her father.
Melonie was treated like a slave, Humphrey said, and was “withering away” before her father’s eyes but he did not stop mistreating her.
“Everton took away everything from Melonie,” she said. “He took away her will to live.”
Biddersingh viewed his daughter as a “traitor” after he believed she once took her stepmother’s side during a marital dispute, Humphrey said.
He also used the girl as a free housekeeper, a caregiver for his other young children and an outlet for his anger towards his wife, Humphrey said.
Over the course of many months, Melonie was confined for hours in a tiny closet, had her head placed in a toilet that was flushed, was chained to the furniture at times, was denied food and was kicked, punched and thrown against walls by her father, the trial has heard.
“The evidence was clear that Everton had a real dislike for his daughter,” Humphrey said. “He told (Melonie’s older brother) Cleon he wished he had dropped her on the head as a baby.”
Melonie wasn’t taken to the hospital as her health deteriorated – despite her obviously frail body and the fact that she had trouble moving – because Biddersingh didn’t want anyone to detect that the girl had been abused, Humphrey said.
“He dominated her and he exploited her until her very last breath,” she said. “When she was no longer of any use to him he killed her or he caused her to die when she was unlawfully confined.”
While the exact cause of Melonie’s death is debatable – there are suggestions she may have drowned or merely starved to death – Humphrey told the jury there was no doubt that Biddersingh’s “planned and deliberate” actions caused his daughter to die.
“Melonie was a helpless 17-year-old girl who was starved, beaten, drowned or nearly drowned, stuffed into a suitcase and then set on fire by her father,” she said. “This was a cold, calculated, deliberate first-degree murder.”
After Melonie’s death, Humphrey told the jury, Biddersingh crammed his daughter into a suitcase, drove her to a remote area and set her on fire.
“He attempted to eliminate any evidence that she ever existed,” she said. “Burning her body shows a high degree of malice.”
The jury has heard that Biddersingh told friends and family, including Melonie’s brother and her biological mother, that the girl had run away from home.
The jury was told that Melonie died on Sept. 1, 1994 and weighed only about 50 pounds at the time.
Expert evidence indicated Melonie was “grossly underweight” and had 21 “healing fractures” in her ribs, spine, pelvis, right knee and left ankle that were caused three weeks to six months before her death.
It also indicated that Melonie had inhaled water shortly before her death.
Showing posts with label Jamaica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamaica. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Friday, October 30, 2015
Custodial dad FINALLY goes to trial for 1994 torture-murder of 17-year-old daughter (Toronto, Canada)
The custodial dad is identified as EVERTON BIDDERSINGH.
There are an amazing number of cases like this. Poor mothers in imporverished countries who lose custody to fathers in the wealthier countries. Fathers who can presumably provide these children with a "better life." And the "better life" turns out to be torture and death.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/10/28/trial-starts-for-dad-charged-in-daughters-murder-after-body-found-in-suitcase.html
Melonie’s terrible last days unroll in courtroom as her father’s trial begins
The Crown outlines its case against Everton Biddersingh, whose daughter was found burned in a suitcase in 1991.
By:Rosie DiManno
Columnist, Published on Wed Oct 28 2015
Melonie Biddersingh came to Canada from Jamaica in early 1991 with nothing more than a single suitcase.
Whether this was the same suitcase in which her charred remains were found three years later, behind a Vaughan commercial building, is unknown.
The known details are gruesome: 21 healing fractures discovered on autopsy, when that pitiful corpse was examined by a coroner; weight of 50 pounds, far below the normal body index range for a 5-foot-2 teenager, indicating severe malnourishment; an ante-mortem — before death — head contusion that had resulted from trauma or blunt force injury; fluid in the nostrils and bone marrow, indicative of drowning as either a cause of death or major contributing factor — the liquid from a freshwater source, not tap water, perhaps pooling rain.
All of these details were related in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday, as the prosecution laid out its case against Melonie’s biological father.
To the death roll of Randal Dooley and Jeffrey Baldwin, children starved to death and grotesquely mistreated while alive, right in our midst, add now the name of this 17-year-old who lived and died with nobody taking notice.
All but held prisoner, the court was told, in a one-room apartment she shared with her father, her stepmother, two brothers, two half-brothers and, eventually, an infant half-sister for whom she was responsible. When the baby’s diaper needed changing, Melonie would be summoned with a buzzer.
She was not allowed to attend school, though furthering her education — her ambition to one day become a nurse — was the main reason Melonie had been excited about moving to Canada, leaving behind a mother and four other siblings, living in abject poverty in a slum shack.
The harshness of Melonie’s existence was only summarily outlined by Crown Attorney Anna Tenhouse in her opening address to the jury. The details here are all from that address:
At times, the teen was kept in a closet, “hidden from the outside world.”
She was made to shower on the balcony in summer, was at times locked out there as punishment, and forced to use a bucket to relieve herself.
She was called names like “the devil,” told that she’d brought evil to the family.
Made to sleep on a piece of cardboard on the living room floor, though there was a sofa bed nearby.
Had her head placed in the toilet and the toilet flushed, as punishment.
Was kicked and punched about her body, dragged by the hair and stomped upon.
Was at times chained to furniture.
Deprived of food, she became so weak she could no longer hold her baby sister. Enfeebled to the point that her older brother had to help her bathe after the girl urinated or defecated on herself.
That brother, Cleon, was allegedly forced to sell drugs and warned that, if he ever told anyone about it, or about the abuse in their home, “harm would come to him and his family in Jamaica,” Tenhouse told the jury.
Cleon got out by and by, ran away. Melonie’s other brother, Dwayne — 12 when he arrived in Toronto, a year younger than Melonie — died in an accident 17 months later.
Melonie died, court was told, on Sept. 1, 1994. This is not yet evidence. It is the prosecution’s claim.
But the photograph displayed on a screen in the courtroom — that’s evidence.
Blackened, curled into a pathetic heap of limbs, bits of singed hair still visible on the death scalp.
In the front row, Melonie’s mother, Opal Austin, choked on a sob and wept. Melonie’s sister, Racquel Ellis, was overcome: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
Who could do this terrible thing?
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His wife, Elaine Biddersingh — Melonie’s stepmother — has also been charged with first-degree murder but will be tried separately next year.
On Aug. 31, 1994, Det. Steven Seabrook, then a constable with the canine unit of York Regional Police, was patrolling in the Highway 7 area when he noticed a plume of black smoke. He tracked it to a spot behind an industrial area. What he saw, at first, were flames a couple of metres high, emanating from a pile close to a garbage bin. At the base of the fire was a tire, largely melted — source of the black smoke, from the burning rubber.
The heat was so intense Seabrook could come no closer than 4 or 5 metres.
Another officer arrived with a fire extinguisher, but that only put the blaze out temporarily. The flames sprung back.
Next came the firefighters, who were able to douse the pyre with water. And then they all saw, amidst the charred heap, a grisly sight.
“At that point, it was obvious to us there was a body lying on the tire, in the fetal position. No flesh on the legs, the head was very black and charred,’’ Seabrook testified yesterday. “I noticed a metal square shape around the body, looked like the frame of a suitcase.’’
The Suitcase Girl, as she became known in the media, once it was determined that the corpse was female.
No name. And no one came forward with information about a missing teenage girl.
Those with long memories may recall, as the years went by, the occasional press conferences as police continued attempts to identify her. The artist’s depiction of how she may have looked. The forensic sculpture of a female head, which triggered no public recognition either.
They never gave up but they never came close to solving the mystery.
Eighteen years would pass, longer than the length and breadth of Melonie’s sad life.
And then, as Tenhouse told court, the secret was exposed, the plotline that police have never revealed. On Dec. 11, 2011, Elaine Biddersingh confessed to her pastor, court heard, that the girl in the suitcase was her step-daughter. The minister took that information to police, and the Toronto Police cold case unit took carriage of the matter.
Opal Austin, living in Jamaica, was contacted. For nearly 20 years she had wondered what had become of her daughter and sought information. Everton Biddersingh told her Melonie had run away to New York.
DNA from the mother was matched to The Suitcase Girl, confirming her identity. She had a name. She claimed her history.
Outside court, Racquel Ellis told reporters: “It’s like the hole of my belly button dropped out. I couldn’t breathe. I had to come out of the courtroom. It’s like my heart was going to stop beating.’’
Everton and Elaine Biddersingh were arrested on March 5, 2012, in Welland, Ont.
Yesterday, the father never appeared to even once glance at the mother of their dead and desecrated daughter.
Melonie.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
There are an amazing number of cases like this. Poor mothers in imporverished countries who lose custody to fathers in the wealthier countries. Fathers who can presumably provide these children with a "better life." And the "better life" turns out to be torture and death.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/10/28/trial-starts-for-dad-charged-in-daughters-murder-after-body-found-in-suitcase.html
Melonie’s terrible last days unroll in courtroom as her father’s trial begins
The Crown outlines its case against Everton Biddersingh, whose daughter was found burned in a suitcase in 1991.
By:Rosie DiManno
Columnist, Published on Wed Oct 28 2015
Melonie Biddersingh came to Canada from Jamaica in early 1991 with nothing more than a single suitcase.
Whether this was the same suitcase in which her charred remains were found three years later, behind a Vaughan commercial building, is unknown.
The known details are gruesome: 21 healing fractures discovered on autopsy, when that pitiful corpse was examined by a coroner; weight of 50 pounds, far below the normal body index range for a 5-foot-2 teenager, indicating severe malnourishment; an ante-mortem — before death — head contusion that had resulted from trauma or blunt force injury; fluid in the nostrils and bone marrow, indicative of drowning as either a cause of death or major contributing factor — the liquid from a freshwater source, not tap water, perhaps pooling rain.
All of these details were related in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday, as the prosecution laid out its case against Melonie’s biological father.
To the death roll of Randal Dooley and Jeffrey Baldwin, children starved to death and grotesquely mistreated while alive, right in our midst, add now the name of this 17-year-old who lived and died with nobody taking notice.
All but held prisoner, the court was told, in a one-room apartment she shared with her father, her stepmother, two brothers, two half-brothers and, eventually, an infant half-sister for whom she was responsible. When the baby’s diaper needed changing, Melonie would be summoned with a buzzer.
She was not allowed to attend school, though furthering her education — her ambition to one day become a nurse — was the main reason Melonie had been excited about moving to Canada, leaving behind a mother and four other siblings, living in abject poverty in a slum shack.
The harshness of Melonie’s existence was only summarily outlined by Crown Attorney Anna Tenhouse in her opening address to the jury. The details here are all from that address:
At times, the teen was kept in a closet, “hidden from the outside world.”
She was made to shower on the balcony in summer, was at times locked out there as punishment, and forced to use a bucket to relieve herself.
She was called names like “the devil,” told that she’d brought evil to the family.
Made to sleep on a piece of cardboard on the living room floor, though there was a sofa bed nearby.
Had her head placed in the toilet and the toilet flushed, as punishment.
Was kicked and punched about her body, dragged by the hair and stomped upon.
Was at times chained to furniture.
Deprived of food, she became so weak she could no longer hold her baby sister. Enfeebled to the point that her older brother had to help her bathe after the girl urinated or defecated on herself.
That brother, Cleon, was allegedly forced to sell drugs and warned that, if he ever told anyone about it, or about the abuse in their home, “harm would come to him and his family in Jamaica,” Tenhouse told the jury.
Cleon got out by and by, ran away. Melonie’s other brother, Dwayne — 12 when he arrived in Toronto, a year younger than Melonie — died in an accident 17 months later.
Melonie died, court was told, on Sept. 1, 1994. This is not yet evidence. It is the prosecution’s claim.
But the photograph displayed on a screen in the courtroom — that’s evidence.
Blackened, curled into a pathetic heap of limbs, bits of singed hair still visible on the death scalp.
In the front row, Melonie’s mother, Opal Austin, choked on a sob and wept. Melonie’s sister, Racquel Ellis, was overcome: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
Who could do this terrible thing?
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His wife, Elaine Biddersingh — Melonie’s stepmother — has also been charged with first-degree murder but will be tried separately next year.
On Aug. 31, 1994, Det. Steven Seabrook, then a constable with the canine unit of York Regional Police, was patrolling in the Highway 7 area when he noticed a plume of black smoke. He tracked it to a spot behind an industrial area. What he saw, at first, were flames a couple of metres high, emanating from a pile close to a garbage bin. At the base of the fire was a tire, largely melted — source of the black smoke, from the burning rubber.
The heat was so intense Seabrook could come no closer than 4 or 5 metres.
Another officer arrived with a fire extinguisher, but that only put the blaze out temporarily. The flames sprung back.
Next came the firefighters, who were able to douse the pyre with water. And then they all saw, amidst the charred heap, a grisly sight.
“At that point, it was obvious to us there was a body lying on the tire, in the fetal position. No flesh on the legs, the head was very black and charred,’’ Seabrook testified yesterday. “I noticed a metal square shape around the body, looked like the frame of a suitcase.’’
The Suitcase Girl, as she became known in the media, once it was determined that the corpse was female.
No name. And no one came forward with information about a missing teenage girl.
Those with long memories may recall, as the years went by, the occasional press conferences as police continued attempts to identify her. The artist’s depiction of how she may have looked. The forensic sculpture of a female head, which triggered no public recognition either.
They never gave up but they never came close to solving the mystery.
Eighteen years would pass, longer than the length and breadth of Melonie’s sad life.
And then, as Tenhouse told court, the secret was exposed, the plotline that police have never revealed. On Dec. 11, 2011, Elaine Biddersingh confessed to her pastor, court heard, that the girl in the suitcase was her step-daughter. The minister took that information to police, and the Toronto Police cold case unit took carriage of the matter.
Opal Austin, living in Jamaica, was contacted. For nearly 20 years she had wondered what had become of her daughter and sought information. Everton Biddersingh told her Melonie had run away to New York.
DNA from the mother was matched to The Suitcase Girl, confirming her identity. She had a name. She claimed her history.
Outside court, Racquel Ellis told reporters: “It’s like the hole of my belly button dropped out. I couldn’t breathe. I had to come out of the courtroom. It’s like my heart was going to stop beating.’’
Everton and Elaine Biddersingh were arrested on March 5, 2012, in Welland, Ont.
Yesterday, the father never appeared to even once glance at the mother of their dead and desecrated daughter.
Melonie.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Custodial dad wanted in death of 5-year-old daughter (Port Maria, St. Mary, Jamaica)
If you read the account carefully, it is obvious that DWIGHT COLEMAN is a custodial father. The clues:
1) It is reported that the child lived with the father at the address where her dead body is found. And there is no mention of the mother....
2) The cowardly father called HIS mother from his home phone and told her to "check" on the child, knowing full well she was either dead or critically injured. Then he took off and "disappeared." If the girl's mother had lived in the home, at some point SHE would have found the body making the call unnecessary. Or he could have called HER, but he didn't.
3) And, to reiterate the point, there is no mention of the girl's mother, who has been erased from the account entirely.
So how did this father acquire custody of this young girl? Who gave it to him? And what happened to the mother? Was she subjected to similar treatment? The odds are very high....
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/ONLINE-UPDATE---Child-found-dead-in-St-Mary-identified--police-seek-father
UPDATE: Child found dead in St Mary identified, police seek father
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 | 9:44 PM
Port Maria, St Mary — The body of a child which was reportedly discovered by a family member in her home in Frontier Heights Port Maria has been identified as that of five-year-old Crystal Coleman. The child’s body was discovered shortly after 1:00 pm on Wednesday, January 21.
The St Mary police are now seeking the child’s father to assist with investigations.
According to the St Mary police, Crystal resided at the given address with her 27-year-old father Dwight Coleman, who left the home on Wednesday afternoon shortly after making a call to his mother asking her to check on the child. This was done and the child’s body found.
The police say they suspect foul play in the death of the child. According to the police, there were marks of physical abuse seen all over the child’s body.
The whereabouts of Coleman was unknown up to late Wednesday evening. The police say they are appealing to Coleman to come forward as they believe he can assist with the investigations.
RENAE DIXON
1) It is reported that the child lived with the father at the address where her dead body is found. And there is no mention of the mother....
2) The cowardly father called HIS mother from his home phone and told her to "check" on the child, knowing full well she was either dead or critically injured. Then he took off and "disappeared." If the girl's mother had lived in the home, at some point SHE would have found the body making the call unnecessary. Or he could have called HER, but he didn't.
3) And, to reiterate the point, there is no mention of the girl's mother, who has been erased from the account entirely.
So how did this father acquire custody of this young girl? Who gave it to him? And what happened to the mother? Was she subjected to similar treatment? The odds are very high....
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/ONLINE-UPDATE---Child-found-dead-in-St-Mary-identified--police-seek-father
UPDATE: Child found dead in St Mary identified, police seek father
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 | 9:44 PM
Port Maria, St Mary — The body of a child which was reportedly discovered by a family member in her home in Frontier Heights Port Maria has been identified as that of five-year-old Crystal Coleman. The child’s body was discovered shortly after 1:00 pm on Wednesday, January 21.
The St Mary police are now seeking the child’s father to assist with investigations.
According to the St Mary police, Crystal resided at the given address with her 27-year-old father Dwight Coleman, who left the home on Wednesday afternoon shortly after making a call to his mother asking her to check on the child. This was done and the child’s body found.
The police say they suspect foul play in the death of the child. According to the police, there were marks of physical abuse seen all over the child’s body.
The whereabouts of Coleman was unknown up to late Wednesday evening. The police say they are appealing to Coleman to come forward as they believe he can assist with the investigations.
RENAE DIXON
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Dad accused of assaulting mom, raping 6-year-old child (St. Andrew, Jamaica)
UNNAMED DAD
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20140621/news/news1.html
Cops probe if...DAD BUGGERS 6-Y-O CHILD
Leighton Levy, STAR Writer
Police from the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) are reportedly investigating a case of buggery involving a six-year-old child in St Andrew. The incident, reliable STAR sources have indicated, occurred Monday afternoon.
Impeccable sources indicate that the child's father is being accused of the act. It is further claimed that, prior to the incident, he had an altercation with the child's mother.
Deputy Superintendent Gilzene of CISOCA, citing strict confidentiality rules that govern the investigative body, declined to comment on the case. "I can't confirm or deny that," she said when asked whether they were investigating the incident. "We are investigating several cases at the moment."
However, THE STAR understands that the child's father, who has been taken into custody while the investigation progresses, had a domestic dispute with the mother. It is unclear what the nature of the dispute was about, but the mother was reportedly beaten with a piece of wood.
She later discovered that the child was bleeding and checked to discover signs that suggested the child had been sexually assaulted. She was forced to fit the child with diapers in effort to control the bleeding.
The matter was reported to the police and the suspected man taken into custody pending the outcome of the investigation.
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20140621/news/news1.html
Cops probe if...DAD BUGGERS 6-Y-O CHILD
Leighton Levy, STAR Writer
Police from the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) are reportedly investigating a case of buggery involving a six-year-old child in St Andrew. The incident, reliable STAR sources have indicated, occurred Monday afternoon.
Impeccable sources indicate that the child's father is being accused of the act. It is further claimed that, prior to the incident, he had an altercation with the child's mother.
Deputy Superintendent Gilzene of CISOCA, citing strict confidentiality rules that govern the investigative body, declined to comment on the case. "I can't confirm or deny that," she said when asked whether they were investigating the incident. "We are investigating several cases at the moment."
However, THE STAR understands that the child's father, who has been taken into custody while the investigation progresses, had a domestic dispute with the mother. It is unclear what the nature of the dispute was about, but the mother was reportedly beaten with a piece of wood.
She later discovered that the child was bleeding and checked to discover signs that suggested the child had been sexually assaulted. She was forced to fit the child with diapers in effort to control the bleeding.
The matter was reported to the police and the suspected man taken into custody pending the outcome of the investigation.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Custodial dad, step get life in prison for torture-murder of 10-year-old son (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
We've posted on custodial dad GARFIELD BOOTHE for several years now. He is beyond despicable. One of the saddest things I read about this case, was a report that this little boy dreamed of reuniting with his mother in the U.S. some day....
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/father-and-stepmother-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-10-year-old-s-brutal-murder-1.1854213
Father and stepmother sentenced to life in prison for 10-year-old's brutal murder
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, June 5, 2014 8:07AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, June 5, 2014 2:24PM EDT
BRAMPTON, Ont. -- The brutal beating that pushed a frail, sickly and badly injured 10-year-old boy to his death was delivered by his father, an Ontario Superior Court judge said Thursday in handing both the man and his wife life sentences.
The suffering that Shakeil Boothe endured in the months before his death is "almost unthinkable," Justice Fletcher Dawson said in presenting his ruling in a Brampton, Ont., court.
While both Garfield Boothe and Nichelle Boothe-Rowe betrayed Shakeil and contributed to his death, Boothe was "more involved" and admitted to regularly hitting his son, the judge said.
"I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Garfield Boothe perpetrated the final assault," Dawson said.
"Garfield was the primary disciplinarian. He has admitted to repeated and brutal whippings of Shakeil. ... Anyone who would repeatedly whip a 10-year-old boy with a belt to the point where blood was drawn and spattered about would certainly be inclined towards other forms of physical violence against the child."
Dawson said there is little evidence of Nichelle ever striking Shakeil, side from one incident in the fall of 2010. She was, however, "a partner in the abuse and neglect of Shakeil even though she did not commit the physical acts of assault that caused the injuries that led to Shakeil's death," he said.
Boothe-Rowe's lawyer Brian Ross said his client "continues to feel horrible for Shakeil's death." Her apparent remorse was a factor in determining her parole eligibility, Dawson said.
Boothe-Rowe has no chance of parole for 13 years. Boothe will be ineligible for parole for 18 years, though he can apply for a reduction after 15.
The pair was convicted of second-degree murder in April by a jury after 14 hours of deliberation. Both have been in custody since their arrest in May 2011 and that time will count toward their sentences.
Jurors had recommended a higher period of ineligibility for Boothe -- with some calling for up to 20 years -- than for Boothe-Rowe, which suggests they believe the father played a greater role in the killing, Dawson said.
"Shakeil was entitled to nurturing, love and support. Instead, he was brutally whipped, beaten, deprived of food and medical care and was chained to his bed like an animal," he said.
Shakeil -- who came from Jamaica to live with his father in 2009 -- was found dead in his bed on May 27, 2011, but evidence heard at trial suggests he died a day earlier.
Jurors were told he died "minutes to hours" after a savage beating that left him with a black eye, bruised head, re-fractured rib and internal bleeding. Autopsy photos showed old and new scars criss-crossing his skin.
The issue of who delivered that final beating was a sticking point at trial, with each of the accused pointing the finger at the other. Yet neither Boothe nor his wife testified they had witnessed the assault.
However, the pathologist who examined Shakeil's body found that while the attack triggered the boy's death, he was already in a downward spiral due to malnutrition and a severe infection that saw pus forming in his lungs.
It's unclear why the abuse began, Dawson said in his ruling.
"What I find remarkable here is that when Shakeil originally came to Canada, things started out more or less normally. It also appears that Garfield was genuinely concerned about Shakeil and the problems he was having at school," the judge said.
"For some reason which is difficult to discern, he began to severely abuse Shakeil to the point of torture. He was a 230-pound man. Shakeil was a 65-pound defenceless boy."
Without expert psychological evidence to explain what motivated Boothe, "it is difficult to see much prospect for rehabilitation," the judge said.
Shakeil's step-grandmother Claudette Boodth held back tears as she remembered the "smart boy" who wanted to be a scientist when he grew up.
"That was taken away from him, unfortunately," she said outside the courthouse after the sentencing.
"And if it's one message that I can send out there -- child abuse is everywhere, closer than you think. I am a nurse and when I suspected it, I tried. But unfortunately, it was too late," she said.
"If I had called the authorities earlier -- and this is the thing that has haunted me -- would it have made a difference?"
This little boy suffered alone, said Boodth, and for his legacy to live on, "we have to take this situation as an example and do not have it repeated."
The guilty verdict had carried a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 10 to 25 years, but the exact length of the parole prohibition was what was to be determined today. .
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/father-and-stepmother-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-10-year-old-s-brutal-murder-1.1854213
Father and stepmother sentenced to life in prison for 10-year-old's brutal murder
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, June 5, 2014 8:07AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, June 5, 2014 2:24PM EDT
BRAMPTON, Ont. -- The brutal beating that pushed a frail, sickly and badly injured 10-year-old boy to his death was delivered by his father, an Ontario Superior Court judge said Thursday in handing both the man and his wife life sentences.
The suffering that Shakeil Boothe endured in the months before his death is "almost unthinkable," Justice Fletcher Dawson said in presenting his ruling in a Brampton, Ont., court.
While both Garfield Boothe and Nichelle Boothe-Rowe betrayed Shakeil and contributed to his death, Boothe was "more involved" and admitted to regularly hitting his son, the judge said.
"I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Garfield Boothe perpetrated the final assault," Dawson said.
"Garfield was the primary disciplinarian. He has admitted to repeated and brutal whippings of Shakeil. ... Anyone who would repeatedly whip a 10-year-old boy with a belt to the point where blood was drawn and spattered about would certainly be inclined towards other forms of physical violence against the child."
Dawson said there is little evidence of Nichelle ever striking Shakeil, side from one incident in the fall of 2010. She was, however, "a partner in the abuse and neglect of Shakeil even though she did not commit the physical acts of assault that caused the injuries that led to Shakeil's death," he said.
Boothe-Rowe's lawyer Brian Ross said his client "continues to feel horrible for Shakeil's death." Her apparent remorse was a factor in determining her parole eligibility, Dawson said.
Boothe-Rowe has no chance of parole for 13 years. Boothe will be ineligible for parole for 18 years, though he can apply for a reduction after 15.
The pair was convicted of second-degree murder in April by a jury after 14 hours of deliberation. Both have been in custody since their arrest in May 2011 and that time will count toward their sentences.
Jurors had recommended a higher period of ineligibility for Boothe -- with some calling for up to 20 years -- than for Boothe-Rowe, which suggests they believe the father played a greater role in the killing, Dawson said.
"Shakeil was entitled to nurturing, love and support. Instead, he was brutally whipped, beaten, deprived of food and medical care and was chained to his bed like an animal," he said.
Shakeil -- who came from Jamaica to live with his father in 2009 -- was found dead in his bed on May 27, 2011, but evidence heard at trial suggests he died a day earlier.
Jurors were told he died "minutes to hours" after a savage beating that left him with a black eye, bruised head, re-fractured rib and internal bleeding. Autopsy photos showed old and new scars criss-crossing his skin.
The issue of who delivered that final beating was a sticking point at trial, with each of the accused pointing the finger at the other. Yet neither Boothe nor his wife testified they had witnessed the assault.
However, the pathologist who examined Shakeil's body found that while the attack triggered the boy's death, he was already in a downward spiral due to malnutrition and a severe infection that saw pus forming in his lungs.
It's unclear why the abuse began, Dawson said in his ruling.
"What I find remarkable here is that when Shakeil originally came to Canada, things started out more or less normally. It also appears that Garfield was genuinely concerned about Shakeil and the problems he was having at school," the judge said.
"For some reason which is difficult to discern, he began to severely abuse Shakeil to the point of torture. He was a 230-pound man. Shakeil was a 65-pound defenceless boy."
Without expert psychological evidence to explain what motivated Boothe, "it is difficult to see much prospect for rehabilitation," the judge said.
Shakeil's step-grandmother Claudette Boodth held back tears as she remembered the "smart boy" who wanted to be a scientist when he grew up.
"That was taken away from him, unfortunately," she said outside the courthouse after the sentencing.
"And if it's one message that I can send out there -- child abuse is everywhere, closer than you think. I am a nurse and when I suspected it, I tried. But unfortunately, it was too late," she said.
"If I had called the authorities earlier -- and this is the thing that has haunted me -- would it have made a difference?"
This little boy suffered alone, said Boodth, and for his legacy to live on, "we have to take this situation as an example and do not have it repeated."
The guilty verdict had carried a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 10 to 25 years, but the exact length of the parole prohibition was what was to be determined today. .
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Dad "questioned" in stabbing murders of two sons, their mother (Jamaica)
UNNAMED DAD
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/news/regional/04/30/mother-two-sons-stabbed-death-jamaica/
Mother, two sons stabbed to death in Jamaica
April 30, 2014 · By Stabroek editor (Jamaica Observer)
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — THE police were up to late last night carrying out investigations into yesterday’s brutal murder of a woman and her two sons in Ramble District, near Porus in this parish.
Police said the three — Nadine Carridice, 42, and her sons Jevaughn Thomas,16, and Roshane Ellis,11, — were found about 7:20 am outside of their home with stab wounds all over their bodies. The mother’s body was found at the doorway to the house while her children were reportedly found at different places in the open space outside the yard.
“It’s a sad day. It’s a wicked act,” said Damion Carridice, a relative of the deceased.
Several residents from Ramble and adjoining communities who visited the death scene were in shock as they quietly discussed the loss of three community members.
Aboutho Carridice, who said that Nadine was his only child, struggled for words as he questioned the motive for the murder of his daughter and two of his grandchildren.
A man, who was taken in by the police for questioning in connection with the three deaths, was said to be the father of three of the woman’s children, including 11-year- old Ellis. However, residents said they did not believe that he was the “real perpetrator of the crime” and wanted the “true criminal” to be found as soon as possible so that justice could be served.
They claimed that the death of the three could be linked to disagreements which the deceased woman had with another man with whom she had a relationship. The killer, they claimed, may have killed the two children because they witnessed the murder of their mother.
“The community well shake up. Whether or not is the man (in custody) justice fi done,” said Marie Carridice, another relative of the deceased. She said that she had a close relationship with Nadine and saw her for the last time Saturday afternoon. “She was very nice. No matter what she always a try fi her kids,” said Marie Carridice.
Yesterday, councillor for the Porus Division Muriel Swaby said plans were in place to assist persons having domestic problems.
She said that a back section of the Porus Police Station was being upgraded to provide temporary shelter for abused children, women and men, adding that the short term housing would at least give the victims a safe place to stay overnight while police carry out investigations. She said that the first phase of the work on the project should start on Labour Day, May 23.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/news/regional/04/30/mother-two-sons-stabbed-death-jamaica/
Mother, two sons stabbed to death in Jamaica
April 30, 2014 · By Stabroek editor (Jamaica Observer)
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — THE police were up to late last night carrying out investigations into yesterday’s brutal murder of a woman and her two sons in Ramble District, near Porus in this parish.
Police said the three — Nadine Carridice, 42, and her sons Jevaughn Thomas,16, and Roshane Ellis,11, — were found about 7:20 am outside of their home with stab wounds all over their bodies. The mother’s body was found at the doorway to the house while her children were reportedly found at different places in the open space outside the yard.
“It’s a sad day. It’s a wicked act,” said Damion Carridice, a relative of the deceased.
Several residents from Ramble and adjoining communities who visited the death scene were in shock as they quietly discussed the loss of three community members.
Aboutho Carridice, who said that Nadine was his only child, struggled for words as he questioned the motive for the murder of his daughter and two of his grandchildren.
A man, who was taken in by the police for questioning in connection with the three deaths, was said to be the father of three of the woman’s children, including 11-year- old Ellis. However, residents said they did not believe that he was the “real perpetrator of the crime” and wanted the “true criminal” to be found as soon as possible so that justice could be served.
They claimed that the death of the three could be linked to disagreements which the deceased woman had with another man with whom she had a relationship. The killer, they claimed, may have killed the two children because they witnessed the murder of their mother.
“The community well shake up. Whether or not is the man (in custody) justice fi done,” said Marie Carridice, another relative of the deceased. She said that she had a close relationship with Nadine and saw her for the last time Saturday afternoon. “She was very nice. No matter what she always a try fi her kids,” said Marie Carridice.
Yesterday, councillor for the Porus Division Muriel Swaby said plans were in place to assist persons having domestic problems.
She said that a back section of the Porus Police Station was being upgraded to provide temporary shelter for abused children, women and men, adding that the short term housing would at least give the victims a safe place to stay overnight while police carry out investigations. She said that the first phase of the work on the project should start on Labour Day, May 23.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Dad with history of DV who abducted 8-year-old son from school awarded custody (Paramaribo, Suriname)
Still more evidence on how violence against women and mother is not taken seriously by the authorities. Dads like NIZAAD NABI are highly likely to become abusive towards their kids--if they were not, in fact, abusive already.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Father-who-abducted-son-given-custody-of-child_16413945
Father who abducted son given custody of child
Saturday, April 05, 2014
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Seven months after he kidnapped his eight- year-old son from a school and flew to the Netherlands, a court in Amsterdam has given Nizaad Nabi custody of his child.
In a ruling, the court said that Nabi, as the only surviving parent should be the one to take care of and raise his underaged son, unless there are fears that the child's interests will not be met.
It said there were no indications that this is the case.
The court had requested that the Council for Child Protection look into the case and based its ruling on the Council's report.
Nabi's abduction of his son, Nishayad, last October, had been filmed by the Dutch-based producers of the television programme "Ontvoerd!" (Kidnapped), after the father snatched the child from school.
The boy had been living with his grandparents following the death of his mother, who reportedly had returned to Suriname in 2007 indicating that she had been a victim of domestic abuse.
The grandparents had also blamed the school for being tardy in reporting the incident to the authorities, thereby allowing the father to slip out of the country.
The mother, Rabina, died in 2010 and after her death Nabi had first sought legal means to get his son, before the kidnapping.
Police here said they viewed the whole incident as a kidnapping, and that efforts would be made through legal channels to have the child returned.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Father-who-abducted-son-given-custody-of-child_16413945
Father who abducted son given custody of child
Saturday, April 05, 2014
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Seven months after he kidnapped his eight- year-old son from a school and flew to the Netherlands, a court in Amsterdam has given Nizaad Nabi custody of his child.
In a ruling, the court said that Nabi, as the only surviving parent should be the one to take care of and raise his underaged son, unless there are fears that the child's interests will not be met.
It said there were no indications that this is the case.
The court had requested that the Council for Child Protection look into the case and based its ruling on the Council's report.
Nabi's abduction of his son, Nishayad, last October, had been filmed by the Dutch-based producers of the television programme "Ontvoerd!" (Kidnapped), after the father snatched the child from school.
The boy had been living with his grandparents following the death of his mother, who reportedly had returned to Suriname in 2007 indicating that she had been a victim of domestic abuse.
The grandparents had also blamed the school for being tardy in reporting the incident to the authorities, thereby allowing the father to slip out of the country.
The mother, Rabina, died in 2010 and after her death Nabi had first sought legal means to get his son, before the kidnapping.
Police here said they viewed the whole incident as a kidnapping, and that efforts would be made through legal channels to have the child returned.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Step: Custodial dad wanted to dump body of dead 10-year-old son (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
More from the murder trial of custodial dad GARFIELD BOOTH. The murdered boy's mother lived in the United States. Daddy and the step sure sound like worthless crap.
http://www.surreyleader.com/national/249730931.html
Father wanted to dump boy's body: stepmom
by Canadian Press - BC Local News
posted Mar 12, 2014 at 12:04 PM— updated Mar 12, 2014 at 1:48 PM
By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
BRAMPTON, Ont. - After finding his son dead at home, the man now charged with murder in the boy's death wanted to dump the 10-year-old's body and leave the country rather than face authorities, his wife and co-accused testified Wednesday.
In her second day of testimony, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe told a Toronto-area court that she asked her husband to "do the right thing" because Shakeil Boothe deserved a proper burial.
"Garfield was insisting on leaving Shakeil's body in the house or to dump it" before fleeing to his native Jamaica or the U.S., where he also has relatives, she said.
He also encouraged her to hide out with family members in Pennsylvania, since the couple wasn't supposed to be living together under the conditions of Boothe's probation, his wife said.
At the time, Boothe-Rowe believed her stepson had died from a bad cold and reassured her husband that he hadn't done anything to deliberately kill the child, she said.
Boothe-Rowe told the court that when she found Shakeil's lifeless body in the family's basement on May 26, 2011 she didn't know that he had been beaten shortly before his death.
She said Boothe told her not to call 911 and later moved the boy's body to his bedroom, where paramedics found him the next day, cold and foaming at the mouth.
Both are both charged with second-degree murder.
Court has heard autopsy results showed widespread internal bleeding overwhelmed Shakeil's frail body, already weakened by malnutrition and severe infection.
The pathologist who examined Shakeil's body said the boy had sustained heavy blows minutes to hours before his death.
Previous testimony showed the couple arranged to transfer Boothe-Rowe's belongings and the baby's things to a storage locker on May 26. A taxi driver testified he dropped Boothe-Rowe and the baby at the Toronto bus terminal that night.
Boothe-Rowe and the baby took a bus to Buffalo, NY, where her sister waited to drive them to Pennsylvania, she said.
In that time, the couple was in near-constant communication by text message and BBM, court heard.
Phone records presented at trial show Boothe-Rowe first messaged her husband around 1 a.m. to let him know she had crossed the border. But the messages soon turned to Shakeil's death and how the pair would handle it.
"Pray n make the rite decision u didn't do anything intentional u tried b strong n call ur dad 4 support he was still ur child n u owe him that much," Boothe-Rowe wrote her husband around 7:45 a.m. on May 27.
A flurry of messages followed over the next few minutes, with Boothe-Rowe urging her husband to call 911 and do something by noon or she would. "I just just dnt want u and (the baby) to get involve," Boothe wrote around 7:50 a.m., immediately followed by: "Cause ur right I didn't do any ting wrong intentionally."
In another message, Boothe told his wife he would "make sure u have nuttin to do with this."
"I don't as a matter of fact," she replied. "But I cud have made you help him more. I so miss him I wish it didn't go like this."
Boothe-Rowe deleted all the messages on her phone before returning to Canada on May 30, knowing they would prove she had known Shakeil was dead, she said. She was arrested at the border.
The stepmother said she knew authorities would be looking for her, even though she "didn't have anything to do with Shakeil's death."
Court has heard she knew he was being beaten, had seen Boothe strike him with a belt and, once, stomp on his chest.
Twice she noticed cuts on the boy's legs, but never saw the extent of his injuries since he always wore jeans and long-sleeved shirts, she said. His father was in charge of shower time, she said.
She admitted to lying to police officers and, later, withholding information from children's aid because she was "still protecting Garfield."
She described living in fear of the only man with whom she'd had a relationship, wanting to leave him but fearing he would hurt her or his sons.
"If I should ever leave the house, he'll hunt me down... He also said that if I leave the house, I wouldn't be leaving alive," she testified.
"Why didn't you just call police to get help?" her lawyer Brian Ross asked.
"I was controlled by Garfield, I had fear and I was just paralyzed by fear," she replied.
Boothe-Rowe said she only fully realized what was happening to her while taking a course on domestic abuse during her incarceration.
http://www.surreyleader.com/national/249730931.html
Father wanted to dump boy's body: stepmom
by Canadian Press - BC Local News
posted Mar 12, 2014 at 12:04 PM— updated Mar 12, 2014 at 1:48 PM
By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
BRAMPTON, Ont. - After finding his son dead at home, the man now charged with murder in the boy's death wanted to dump the 10-year-old's body and leave the country rather than face authorities, his wife and co-accused testified Wednesday.
In her second day of testimony, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe told a Toronto-area court that she asked her husband to "do the right thing" because Shakeil Boothe deserved a proper burial.
"Garfield was insisting on leaving Shakeil's body in the house or to dump it" before fleeing to his native Jamaica or the U.S., where he also has relatives, she said.
He also encouraged her to hide out with family members in Pennsylvania, since the couple wasn't supposed to be living together under the conditions of Boothe's probation, his wife said.
At the time, Boothe-Rowe believed her stepson had died from a bad cold and reassured her husband that he hadn't done anything to deliberately kill the child, she said.
Boothe-Rowe told the court that when she found Shakeil's lifeless body in the family's basement on May 26, 2011 she didn't know that he had been beaten shortly before his death.
She said Boothe told her not to call 911 and later moved the boy's body to his bedroom, where paramedics found him the next day, cold and foaming at the mouth.
Both are both charged with second-degree murder.
Court has heard autopsy results showed widespread internal bleeding overwhelmed Shakeil's frail body, already weakened by malnutrition and severe infection.
The pathologist who examined Shakeil's body said the boy had sustained heavy blows minutes to hours before his death.
Previous testimony showed the couple arranged to transfer Boothe-Rowe's belongings and the baby's things to a storage locker on May 26. A taxi driver testified he dropped Boothe-Rowe and the baby at the Toronto bus terminal that night.
Boothe-Rowe and the baby took a bus to Buffalo, NY, where her sister waited to drive them to Pennsylvania, she said.
In that time, the couple was in near-constant communication by text message and BBM, court heard.
Phone records presented at trial show Boothe-Rowe first messaged her husband around 1 a.m. to let him know she had crossed the border. But the messages soon turned to Shakeil's death and how the pair would handle it.
"Pray n make the rite decision u didn't do anything intentional u tried b strong n call ur dad 4 support he was still ur child n u owe him that much," Boothe-Rowe wrote her husband around 7:45 a.m. on May 27.
A flurry of messages followed over the next few minutes, with Boothe-Rowe urging her husband to call 911 and do something by noon or she would. "I just just dnt want u and (the baby) to get involve," Boothe wrote around 7:50 a.m., immediately followed by: "Cause ur right I didn't do any ting wrong intentionally."
In another message, Boothe told his wife he would "make sure u have nuttin to do with this."
"I don't as a matter of fact," she replied. "But I cud have made you help him more. I so miss him I wish it didn't go like this."
Boothe-Rowe deleted all the messages on her phone before returning to Canada on May 30, knowing they would prove she had known Shakeil was dead, she said. She was arrested at the border.
The stepmother said she knew authorities would be looking for her, even though she "didn't have anything to do with Shakeil's death."
Court has heard she knew he was being beaten, had seen Boothe strike him with a belt and, once, stomp on his chest.
Twice she noticed cuts on the boy's legs, but never saw the extent of his injuries since he always wore jeans and long-sleeved shirts, she said. His father was in charge of shower time, she said.
She admitted to lying to police officers and, later, withholding information from children's aid because she was "still protecting Garfield."
She described living in fear of the only man with whom she'd had a relationship, wanting to leave him but fearing he would hurt her or his sons.
"If I should ever leave the house, he'll hunt me down... He also said that if I leave the house, I wouldn't be leaving alive," she testified.
"Why didn't you just call police to get help?" her lawyer Brian Ross asked.
"I was controlled by Garfield, I had fear and I was just paralyzed by fear," she replied.
Boothe-Rowe said she only fully realized what was happening to her while taking a course on domestic abuse during her incarceration.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Murdered boy had hoped to live with his non-custodial mother some day (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
Thanks to the reporter for mentioning something of the murdered boy's mother. Apparently it was his wish that he could live with her someday. Too bad that wish can never be true:
Shakeil left his grandmother's care in Jamaica in 2009 to come live with his father "for better opportunities, for a better life," Slate said. His mother lived in the U.S. and hoped he would eventually join her there, she said.
Instead, he was dead within two years of his arrival.
Once again, the custodial dad was GARFIELD BOOTHE.
http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/news-story/4348561-boy-10-died-of-physical-abuse-crown/
Boy, 10, died of physical abuse: Crown
BRAMPTON, Ont. - A 10-year-old boy who came to live with his father and stepmother in search of a better life was kept chained to his bed, beaten and starved in the months leading up to his death, prosecutors alleged Monday on the first day of the couple's murder trial.
Autopsy results showed "injuries on top of injuries" and open wounds on Shakeil Boothe's emaciated body, as well as clear signs of infection in his lungs and blood stream, Crown lawyer Kelly Slate told a Toronto-area court. The boy's death was caused by a combination of blunt-force injuries, malnutrition, pneumonia and other infections, she said in her opening statement.
Shakeil's lifeless body was found on May 27, 2011, in the family's Brampton, Ont., home, court heard. The paramedics who first examined him testified Monday they believe he had been dead for some time.
The boy's father, Garfield Boothe, and stepmother, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe, are charged with second-degree murder.
Garfield Boothe was originally charged with failing to provide the necessities of life but that charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder.
Nichelle Boothe-Rowe was previously facing a manslaughter charge.
Shakeil left his grandmother's care in Jamaica in 2009 to come live with his father "for better opportunities, for a better life," Slate said. His mother lived in the U.S. and hoped he would eventually join her there, she said.
Instead, he was dead within two years of his arrival.
Slate said the boy was an "obviously sick, malnourished child with multiple observable injuries" at the time of his death. A recent violent incident "pushed an already downward declining child over the edge and he died," she said.
"Shakeil did not get to that state overnight."
Boothe and Boothe-Rowe "had an obligation to care for their 10-year-old son once he came to Canada," she said.
"Both did just the opposite of that," she said, adding the boy was "treated with abuse and neglect the last months of his life."
Things changed once the couple had a son of their own — an infant born in September of 2010, Slate argued.
Neighbours noticed Shakeil, previously viewed as a "happy but shy and quiet boy," wasn't seen playing outside or going to school, she said. They were told he was inside playing video games, she said.
And public health nurses who visited to help Boothe-Rowe with the baby "saw no sign of another child living in the house," Slate said.
It was only after Shakeil's death that Boothe-Rowe told a social worker that the 10-year-old had been pulled from school in January and had been abused, the Crown said.
Boothe-Rowe told Kathleen Williams the boy's father hit him with a belt and had once stomped on his chest because he had ripped a page out of the Bible, Slate said.
The stepmother also told Williams that since leaving school, Shakeil was chained to his bed every day and only freed to use the bathroom or shower or when relatives would visit, the lawyer alleged.
Slate warned the jury, however, that Boothe-Rowe's comments can only be used "for or against her."
The afternoon of May 27, Boothe phoned his father, saying he needed to speak to him in person, court heard.
Burke Boodh said his son complained of trouble with Shakeil, including that the boy had been stealing other children's lunches at school. Boodth said he asked to see his grandson and was taken upstairs.
In the boy's bedroom, "someone was lying on the bed with a sheet, he was covered from head to toe," Boodth testified.
Once the sheet was lifted, "I could see Shakeil's lifeless body," he said. "Something was coming out of his mouth."
"Something cold just ran down my body."
Boodth said he told his son to call 911, and after some hesitation, Boothe agreed to do it.
Paramedics testified Monday they found the boy lying in bed, frigid and stiff and foaming at the mouth, suggesting he had been dead for a while.
Kristy Eastwood told the court Shakeil met their standards for someone who is "obviously dead."
"Once categorized as obviously dead, resuscitation is deemed futile," she said.
Another paramedic, Michael Niffin, said he told Boothe "there was nothing to be done, that his son had been dead for some time."
Niffin said he and a Peel Region constable spoke to Boothe after breaking the news of Shakeil's death. Boothe told them his son had been sick with a cold for a few days, Niffin recalled.
The father said he had received a call at work that morning saying Shakeil was unresponsive, but when he returned home around 8:30 a.m., the boy appeared asleep, Niffin testified.
Boothe then slept until about 3:30 p.m., when he found Shakeil wasn't breathing, the paramedic said.
By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
Shakeil left his grandmother's care in Jamaica in 2009 to come live with his father "for better opportunities, for a better life," Slate said. His mother lived in the U.S. and hoped he would eventually join her there, she said.
Instead, he was dead within two years of his arrival.
Once again, the custodial dad was GARFIELD BOOTHE.
http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/news-story/4348561-boy-10-died-of-physical-abuse-crown/
Boy, 10, died of physical abuse: Crown
BRAMPTON, Ont. - A 10-year-old boy who came to live with his father and stepmother in search of a better life was kept chained to his bed, beaten and starved in the months leading up to his death, prosecutors alleged Monday on the first day of the couple's murder trial.
Autopsy results showed "injuries on top of injuries" and open wounds on Shakeil Boothe's emaciated body, as well as clear signs of infection in his lungs and blood stream, Crown lawyer Kelly Slate told a Toronto-area court. The boy's death was caused by a combination of blunt-force injuries, malnutrition, pneumonia and other infections, she said in her opening statement.
Shakeil's lifeless body was found on May 27, 2011, in the family's Brampton, Ont., home, court heard. The paramedics who first examined him testified Monday they believe he had been dead for some time.
The boy's father, Garfield Boothe, and stepmother, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe, are charged with second-degree murder.
Garfield Boothe was originally charged with failing to provide the necessities of life but that charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder.
Nichelle Boothe-Rowe was previously facing a manslaughter charge.
Shakeil left his grandmother's care in Jamaica in 2009 to come live with his father "for better opportunities, for a better life," Slate said. His mother lived in the U.S. and hoped he would eventually join her there, she said.
Instead, he was dead within two years of his arrival.
Slate said the boy was an "obviously sick, malnourished child with multiple observable injuries" at the time of his death. A recent violent incident "pushed an already downward declining child over the edge and he died," she said.
"Shakeil did not get to that state overnight."
Boothe and Boothe-Rowe "had an obligation to care for their 10-year-old son once he came to Canada," she said.
"Both did just the opposite of that," she said, adding the boy was "treated with abuse and neglect the last months of his life."
Things changed once the couple had a son of their own — an infant born in September of 2010, Slate argued.
Neighbours noticed Shakeil, previously viewed as a "happy but shy and quiet boy," wasn't seen playing outside or going to school, she said. They were told he was inside playing video games, she said.
And public health nurses who visited to help Boothe-Rowe with the baby "saw no sign of another child living in the house," Slate said.
It was only after Shakeil's death that Boothe-Rowe told a social worker that the 10-year-old had been pulled from school in January and had been abused, the Crown said.
Boothe-Rowe told Kathleen Williams the boy's father hit him with a belt and had once stomped on his chest because he had ripped a page out of the Bible, Slate said.
The stepmother also told Williams that since leaving school, Shakeil was chained to his bed every day and only freed to use the bathroom or shower or when relatives would visit, the lawyer alleged.
Slate warned the jury, however, that Boothe-Rowe's comments can only be used "for or against her."
The afternoon of May 27, Boothe phoned his father, saying he needed to speak to him in person, court heard.
Burke Boodh said his son complained of trouble with Shakeil, including that the boy had been stealing other children's lunches at school. Boodth said he asked to see his grandson and was taken upstairs.
In the boy's bedroom, "someone was lying on the bed with a sheet, he was covered from head to toe," Boodth testified.
Once the sheet was lifted, "I could see Shakeil's lifeless body," he said. "Something was coming out of his mouth."
"Something cold just ran down my body."
Boodth said he told his son to call 911, and after some hesitation, Boothe agreed to do it.
Paramedics testified Monday they found the boy lying in bed, frigid and stiff and foaming at the mouth, suggesting he had been dead for a while.
Kristy Eastwood told the court Shakeil met their standards for someone who is "obviously dead."
"Once categorized as obviously dead, resuscitation is deemed futile," she said.
Another paramedic, Michael Niffin, said he told Boothe "there was nothing to be done, that his son had been dead for some time."
Niffin said he and a Peel Region constable spoke to Boothe after breaking the news of Shakeil's death. Boothe told them his son had been sick with a cold for a few days, Niffin recalled.
The father said he had received a call at work that morning saying Shakeil was unresponsive, but when he returned home around 8:30 a.m., the boy appeared asleep, Niffin testified.
Boothe then slept until about 3:30 p.m., when he found Shakeil wasn't breathing, the paramedic said.
By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
Court: Custodial dad chained 10-year-old son to bed (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
More on custodial dad GARFIELD BOOTHE. Also see the post directly below this one. At least this article is a little more honest in identifying the father as custodial, though the living mother is still ignored.
We have posted before on mothers living in developing/poor countries who lose custody of their children to fathers living in the U.S. and Canada. Often these mothers are hoping that their children will have a better life. It doesn't always pan out that way. It is sickening that these men do not respect the mother-child bond. If they were so interested in really helping the child, they would send money to help the mother with food, living, and school expenses. But that wouldn't give these guys the same sicko thrill as torturing the child, would it?
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/02/20140203-220047.html
Accused killer dad would chain son, 10, to bed, court told
10:00 pm, February 3rd, 2014
Accused killer dad would chain son, 10, to bed, court told
Trial begins for dad and step-mom of Shakeil Boothe, 10, found slain in his Brampton home in 2011
TERRY DAVIDSON | QMI AGENCY
BRAMPTON, ON -- A father charged with killing his 10-year-old son pulled the child from school and would chain him to a bed, a court heard Monday.
Crown attorney Kelly Slate told a jury that Garfield Boothe, 31, took his son, Shakeil, out of Hanover Public School in January 2011 and would "discipline Shakeil by hitting him with a belt and physically abusing him."
He also would chain Shakeil to his bed, freeing him only to use the washroom, shower and when family came to visit, Slate said in her opening address.
Boothe and his wife, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe -- Shakeil's stepmother -- have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.
Emergency personnel were called May 27, 2011, to the family's Homeland Crt. home, where they found the lifeless boy.
Paramedics found Shakeil in his bed, cold to the touch and with white foam oozing from his mouth, court heard.
Slate said investigators later found traces of the child's blood in various parts of the home, as well as on his father's belt, and that the child had become malnourished.
Slate also alleged that Boothe, a native of Jamaica who had brought Shakeil to Canada from the Caribbean island in 2009, had at one point "stomped" on Shakeil's chest after the boy ripped a page out of a Bible.
"It is the prosecution's position that the evidence will show that Shakeil Boothe was removed from society and treated with abuse and neglect the last months of his life," Slate told the jury.
Slate alleged that "things changed with respect to Shakeil" when Boothe and Boothe-Rowe had a baby of their own in September 2010.
Peel paramedic Kristy Eastwood testified she was first on the scene after Boothe phoned 911 and had to tell the father his son was dead.
"(Boothe) said, 'OK.' He didn't really react at all... He seemed very calm," Eastwood told the court, adding that Shakeil had been dead for some time.
Peel Regional Police officer Andrew Gales testified Boothe broke down crying after being placed in a cruiser to be taken to a station to give a statement.
Slate said a Children's Aid worker had contacted the family's home the day before Shakeil was found after receiving an anonymous call.
The worker was told by a female at the Boothe home not to come over and that Shakeil's father would be in touch, the jury was told.
Boothe called the case worker back and said Shakeil was living with his mother in Oshawa, Ont., and that he would call again with the mother's contact info. Slate said Boothe never made that call to the case worker.
We have posted before on mothers living in developing/poor countries who lose custody of their children to fathers living in the U.S. and Canada. Often these mothers are hoping that their children will have a better life. It doesn't always pan out that way. It is sickening that these men do not respect the mother-child bond. If they were so interested in really helping the child, they would send money to help the mother with food, living, and school expenses. But that wouldn't give these guys the same sicko thrill as torturing the child, would it?
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/02/20140203-220047.html
Accused killer dad would chain son, 10, to bed, court told
10:00 pm, February 3rd, 2014
Accused killer dad would chain son, 10, to bed, court told
Trial begins for dad and step-mom of Shakeil Boothe, 10, found slain in his Brampton home in 2011
TERRY DAVIDSON | QMI AGENCY
BRAMPTON, ON -- A father charged with killing his 10-year-old son pulled the child from school and would chain him to a bed, a court heard Monday.
Crown attorney Kelly Slate told a jury that Garfield Boothe, 31, took his son, Shakeil, out of Hanover Public School in January 2011 and would "discipline Shakeil by hitting him with a belt and physically abusing him."
He also would chain Shakeil to his bed, freeing him only to use the washroom, shower and when family came to visit, Slate said in her opening address.
Boothe and his wife, Nichelle Boothe-Rowe -- Shakeil's stepmother -- have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.
Emergency personnel were called May 27, 2011, to the family's Homeland Crt. home, where they found the lifeless boy.
Paramedics found Shakeil in his bed, cold to the touch and with white foam oozing from his mouth, court heard.
Slate said investigators later found traces of the child's blood in various parts of the home, as well as on his father's belt, and that the child had become malnourished.
Slate also alleged that Boothe, a native of Jamaica who had brought Shakeil to Canada from the Caribbean island in 2009, had at one point "stomped" on Shakeil's chest after the boy ripped a page out of a Bible.
"It is the prosecution's position that the evidence will show that Shakeil Boothe was removed from society and treated with abuse and neglect the last months of his life," Slate told the jury.
Slate alleged that "things changed with respect to Shakeil" when Boothe and Boothe-Rowe had a baby of their own in September 2010.
Peel paramedic Kristy Eastwood testified she was first on the scene after Boothe phoned 911 and had to tell the father his son was dead.
"(Boothe) said, 'OK.' He didn't really react at all... He seemed very calm," Eastwood told the court, adding that Shakeil had been dead for some time.
Peel Regional Police officer Andrew Gales testified Boothe broke down crying after being placed in a cruiser to be taken to a station to give a statement.
Slate said a Children's Aid worker had contacted the family's home the day before Shakeil was found after receiving an anonymous call.
The worker was told by a female at the Boothe home not to come over and that Shakeil's father would be in touch, the jury was told.
Boothe called the case worker back and said Shakeil was living with his mother in Oshawa, Ont., and that he would call again with the mother's contact info. Slate said Boothe never made that call to the case worker.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Dad shot to death by cops after raping, stabbing 15-year-old daughter (Kingston, Jamaica)
UNNAMED DAD. No mention of the girl's mother.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e1f8f6c6b7f741ae88c67f9ed28169bb/CB-Jamaica-Child-Abuse
Jamaica girl battling for her life after allegedly being raped, stabbed by her father
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 09, 2013 - 5:18 pm EDT
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Authorities in Jamaica say a 15-year-old girl is battling for her life in a hospital after allegedly being raped and then repeatedly stabbed by her father.
The Office of the Children's Registry said Monday that the incident is a "stark reminder of the abuse faced by Jamaica's children."
The father was shot to death by police after confronting officers with a cutlass in rural St. Mary parish. Neighbors had alerted authorities and discovered the bleeding girl in bushes behind her grandmother's house Sunday.
Earlier this year, the United Nations' child welfare agency said it was concerned about what it described as "unrelenting violence" against youngsters in Jamaica. It said 40 children were killed on the island of roughly 2.7 million people last year.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e1f8f6c6b7f741ae88c67f9ed28169bb/CB-Jamaica-Child-Abuse
Jamaica girl battling for her life after allegedly being raped, stabbed by her father
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 09, 2013 - 5:18 pm EDT
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Authorities in Jamaica say a 15-year-old girl is battling for her life in a hospital after allegedly being raped and then repeatedly stabbed by her father.
The Office of the Children's Registry said Monday that the incident is a "stark reminder of the abuse faced by Jamaica's children."
The father was shot to death by police after confronting officers with a cutlass in rural St. Mary parish. Neighbors had alerted authorities and discovered the bleeding girl in bushes behind her grandmother's house Sunday.
Earlier this year, the United Nations' child welfare agency said it was concerned about what it described as "unrelenting violence" against youngsters in Jamaica. It said 40 children were killed on the island of roughly 2.7 million people last year.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Dad forces kids to eat feces (St. Catherine, Jamaica)
No mention of a mother in the home. UNNAMED DAD.
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20130225/news/news1.html
Father forces kids to eat faeces
Rasbert Turner, Star Writer
A St Catherine man who is accused of forcing his children to eat faeces is now in police custody, charged with cruelty to children.
The incident occurred in the parish last Thursday, police told THE STAR.
Reports are that last Wednesday night, the man was at home with the children, ages 7, 9 and 12 years. Police said one of the children wanted to defecate but was afraid to go outside and use the pit latrine.
The child reportedly defecated in a closet and left it there.
Police said the following day the faeces was reportedly found by the father who inquired of the children who had carried out such an act. All the children denied it.
The man, the police said, became angry and reportedly forced all three to eat the mess.
Residents became aware of the incident and contacted the police.
Following investigations, the children were given medical examinations. Further investigations resulted in the arrest of the father.
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20130225/news/news1.html
Father forces kids to eat faeces
Rasbert Turner, Star Writer
A St Catherine man who is accused of forcing his children to eat faeces is now in police custody, charged with cruelty to children.
The incident occurred in the parish last Thursday, police told THE STAR.
Reports are that last Wednesday night, the man was at home with the children, ages 7, 9 and 12 years. Police said one of the children wanted to defecate but was afraid to go outside and use the pit latrine.
The child reportedly defecated in a closet and left it there.
Police said the following day the faeces was reportedly found by the father who inquired of the children who had carried out such an act. All the children denied it.
The man, the police said, became angry and reportedly forced all three to eat the mess.
Residents became aware of the incident and contacted the police.
Following investigations, the children were given medical examinations. Further investigations resulted in the arrest of the father.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Trial format leads to low conviction of child molesters (Jamaica)
It's not just Jamaica. Just by changing a few minor details, this could describe the treatment that mothers and children get anywhere in the world when the father molests the kids.
And it's always much worse when UNNAMED DAD happens to be a police officer.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Trial-format-leads-to-low-conviction-rate-of-child-molesters_11339967
Trial format leads to low conviction rate of child molestersBY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignments
Sunday, May 06, 2012
ONLY one in five child molesters is convicted in Jamaica, leaving victims of this sexual crime to feel twice traumatised by court proceedings which often drag on for years before ending in futility.
Children's Advocate and former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Diahann Gordon Harrison said there is a range of issues which contribute to the low conviction rate of sex offenders in Jamaica.
According to Gordon Harrison, the conviction rate in Jamaica is comparatively low when compared to other offences such as murder and wounding.
The manner in which trials are conducted is said to impact directly on the rate of conviction.
"We have little girls who are sexually abused and they have to give their evidence twice -- first before the Resident Magistrate's (RM) Court in preliminary enquiry and if the RM feels the child has given sufficient evidence to establish a prima face case, then it is committed to the Circuit Court and that is where the Supreme Court judge and a jury will sit to try the case," she explained.
The child is again required to take the stand and recount the incident before a jury.
The mother of a child who is now 13-year-old has grown weary of pulling her daughter from school once every three months to attend the Half-Way-Tree RM Court where the matter of indecent assault by her father has dragged on for two years with no immediate end in sight.
The mother, whose identity we will not reveal because her daughter is still a minor, said she has grown impatient with a legal system which is yet to deliver justice for what happened to her only child.
According to the mother, she first learnt in 2009 that the accused, who is a police officer, had been molesting their daughter since she was eight years old.
"She told me that the first time it happened she was by his house and woke up one night to see him kissing her breast and vagina. She told me that she started to cry and ask him to stop but him wouldn't, instead telling her to stop the noise before she mek the neighbours hear," the mother recounted.
However, according to the mother, when the child failed to stop crying the father beat her with a belt.
"I remember when he brought her home the next day her eyes were red and I asked what is wrong with her and he said nothing, but even then my intuition as a mother told me that something was wrong," she said.
However, the mother said it never crossed her mind that the man who she though was an upstanding police officer would molest his daughter.
Unaware of what was happening, the mother said on other occasions, she sent her daughter to spend time with him at his girlfriend's house where he allegedly continued to molest the child.
But for two years the child told no one of her ordeal, as the father convinced her he would be sent to jail if the secret was ever revealed.
"After I took her to the police station and she gave the statement, she kept asking if he is going to go to jail and get locked up," the mother said.
He was later charged with indecent assault -- as the police report showed that the child was not penetrated -- and granted bail shortly after.
But the mother said the trauma for the daughter began all over when she learnt she would be required to testify against her father in court.
"When it get close to the court date she would get depressed," she said.
However, in February when the child finally took the stand to give evidence, the mother said she was very disheartened to learn she could not remain in the courtroom to be a support to her scared daughter.
"He was in there with his lawyer talking on his behalf and she had to be there all by herself," the mother said.
Added to that, the mother said she is being made to feel like a liar as his lawyer's defence is that the incidents didn't happen but were made up by the mother.
The mother does not hold out too much hope that the accused man will be convicted but believes the case will drag on until she becomes too frustrated to fight it any longer.
The children's advocate said with the lengthy delays in the court system it is not unusual for a matter to reach the jury two years after it was first brought to court.
With the passage of time, the psychological effect and the emotional trauma which would have accompanied the incident, Gordon Harrison said the child may not be willing to discuss the issue in a candid way before seven jurors she does not know.
"Sometimes it compromises the quality of the evidence the child is able to give, and if the quality of the evidence is not to a particular standard, or is riddled with lots of inconsistencies, this is not to say the child is lying, but because as a defence mechanism the child has chosen to block the gory details from his/her mind and so is not able to recount as accurately," she said.
Gordon Harrison cited cases during her tenure as a deputy director of public prosecutions where jurors did not believe the offender should be punished.
"I have done cases where the evidence is quite clear but the jurors are of the view that it is a 'bad pickney' so we are not going to send the man to prison, even though we know he did it," she said.
There is yet another view where jurors do not believe that sexual abuse should be given a similar punishment as any other crime.
"Some jurors have a view that say 'yes, it sad, but is just a little sex and she didn't die and he never hurt her too bad' and so the accused gets let off the hook," Gordon Harrison said.
There are also instances, she said, where persons encourage and even pay the child's family not to pursue the matter.
"It is a multiplicity of issues, but it goes back to societal response and the jurors come from the society, and if societal response is a very casual one in relation to the seriousness of these abuses, then you are going to have that reflected in some of the verdicts you do get, even if the evidence is there," she said.
As for child molesters being charged with the lesser offence of indecent assault, which is answerable in RM Courts, and which attracts a maximum of three years' imprisonment, Gordon Harrison said this is what the law dictates.
"If it is that a father performed an oral sex act on the child and there was no actual vaginal penetration by the penis, it would be an indecent assault charge as there has to be penetration, not by a finger or an object, but by the actual male organ for it to be considered as rape or carnal abuse," she explained.
She said that the Sexual Offences Act, which took effect from June 2011, encompasses some additional offences such as sexual grooming, sexual interference or touching and attracts stronger penalties.
"The penalties for those are a little bit more rewarding from the perspective of the victim and it gives the judges and prosecution more flexibility in terms of what is the appropriate charge to prefer, depending on the circumstances," she said.
As for the exclusion of a mother from the court where a child is testifying, the children's advocate said this is standard procedure in instances where the mother has not yet given evidence in the trial.
The thinking of the court, she said, is that the mother's evidence may not be independent and objective but would be tailored to support that given by the child.
However, Gordon Harrison said this can be left to the discretion of the prosecutor to structure the case in a manner which would allow the parent/guardian to remain in the courtroom.
"What I used to do as a prosecutor, depending on the fragility of the child, I would make an assessment as to whether or not it would be good to have her mother in and what I would do is switch the order of witnesses and call the mother first and once she gives evidence she would be allowed to sit in court," she said.
The delay in these court proceedings, she said, often results in witnesses becoming frustrated with the process and this at times leads to the parties compromising the case.
Meanwhile, the children's advocate said her office does not have the number of investigators required to deal with the current reported cases of sexual abuse.
"We have an internal investigation unit and we have four investigators on staff who are mandated with investigative powers across the island, so it makes it quite challenging to deal with the case load in as quick a manner as we would like," she told the Jamaica Observer.
The limited number of investigators, Gordon Harrison said, makes it difficult for her office to do unannounced inspection at some of these facilities.
"If it is that we are to be ensuring children are in fact in conditions that are suitable for their well-being,I think it is important to have unannounced visits," she said, adding that even an additional three investigators would assist the department greatly.
Head of the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) Superintendent Gladys Brown-Campbell said many times these persons who are convicted of sexual offences are given probation which often does not fit the crime.
"In a lot of these cases these persons are getting probation and so they think it is no big deal," she said.
However, the superintendent said CISOCA has been and will continue to aggressively pursue sexual predators.
"It is important for Jamaica to know that we are not joking here at CISOCA, and so now people are becoming more confident in the system and we are seeing far more persons coming in to report things which happened seven months or two years ago," she said.
As for those cases where offenders are not convicted, she said this sometimes happens either when the jury fails to find them guilty or children whose cases have languished in the courts until they are over 18 years old decide not to show up in court.
"But our job is to take them before the courts and we are doing just that and we are not letting up," she said.
And it's always much worse when UNNAMED DAD happens to be a police officer.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Trial-format-leads-to-low-conviction-rate-of-child-molesters_11339967
Trial format leads to low conviction rate of child molestersBY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignments
Sunday, May 06, 2012
ONLY one in five child molesters is convicted in Jamaica, leaving victims of this sexual crime to feel twice traumatised by court proceedings which often drag on for years before ending in futility.
Children's Advocate and former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Diahann Gordon Harrison said there is a range of issues which contribute to the low conviction rate of sex offenders in Jamaica.
According to Gordon Harrison, the conviction rate in Jamaica is comparatively low when compared to other offences such as murder and wounding.
The manner in which trials are conducted is said to impact directly on the rate of conviction.
"We have little girls who are sexually abused and they have to give their evidence twice -- first before the Resident Magistrate's (RM) Court in preliminary enquiry and if the RM feels the child has given sufficient evidence to establish a prima face case, then it is committed to the Circuit Court and that is where the Supreme Court judge and a jury will sit to try the case," she explained.
The child is again required to take the stand and recount the incident before a jury.
The mother of a child who is now 13-year-old has grown weary of pulling her daughter from school once every three months to attend the Half-Way-Tree RM Court where the matter of indecent assault by her father has dragged on for two years with no immediate end in sight.
The mother, whose identity we will not reveal because her daughter is still a minor, said she has grown impatient with a legal system which is yet to deliver justice for what happened to her only child.
According to the mother, she first learnt in 2009 that the accused, who is a police officer, had been molesting their daughter since she was eight years old.
"She told me that the first time it happened she was by his house and woke up one night to see him kissing her breast and vagina. She told me that she started to cry and ask him to stop but him wouldn't, instead telling her to stop the noise before she mek the neighbours hear," the mother recounted.
However, according to the mother, when the child failed to stop crying the father beat her with a belt.
"I remember when he brought her home the next day her eyes were red and I asked what is wrong with her and he said nothing, but even then my intuition as a mother told me that something was wrong," she said.
However, the mother said it never crossed her mind that the man who she though was an upstanding police officer would molest his daughter.
Unaware of what was happening, the mother said on other occasions, she sent her daughter to spend time with him at his girlfriend's house where he allegedly continued to molest the child.
But for two years the child told no one of her ordeal, as the father convinced her he would be sent to jail if the secret was ever revealed.
"After I took her to the police station and she gave the statement, she kept asking if he is going to go to jail and get locked up," the mother said.
He was later charged with indecent assault -- as the police report showed that the child was not penetrated -- and granted bail shortly after.
But the mother said the trauma for the daughter began all over when she learnt she would be required to testify against her father in court.
"When it get close to the court date she would get depressed," she said.
However, in February when the child finally took the stand to give evidence, the mother said she was very disheartened to learn she could not remain in the courtroom to be a support to her scared daughter.
"He was in there with his lawyer talking on his behalf and she had to be there all by herself," the mother said.
Added to that, the mother said she is being made to feel like a liar as his lawyer's defence is that the incidents didn't happen but were made up by the mother.
The mother does not hold out too much hope that the accused man will be convicted but believes the case will drag on until she becomes too frustrated to fight it any longer.
The children's advocate said with the lengthy delays in the court system it is not unusual for a matter to reach the jury two years after it was first brought to court.
With the passage of time, the psychological effect and the emotional trauma which would have accompanied the incident, Gordon Harrison said the child may not be willing to discuss the issue in a candid way before seven jurors she does not know.
"Sometimes it compromises the quality of the evidence the child is able to give, and if the quality of the evidence is not to a particular standard, or is riddled with lots of inconsistencies, this is not to say the child is lying, but because as a defence mechanism the child has chosen to block the gory details from his/her mind and so is not able to recount as accurately," she said.
Gordon Harrison cited cases during her tenure as a deputy director of public prosecutions where jurors did not believe the offender should be punished.
"I have done cases where the evidence is quite clear but the jurors are of the view that it is a 'bad pickney' so we are not going to send the man to prison, even though we know he did it," she said.
There is yet another view where jurors do not believe that sexual abuse should be given a similar punishment as any other crime.
"Some jurors have a view that say 'yes, it sad, but is just a little sex and she didn't die and he never hurt her too bad' and so the accused gets let off the hook," Gordon Harrison said.
There are also instances, she said, where persons encourage and even pay the child's family not to pursue the matter.
"It is a multiplicity of issues, but it goes back to societal response and the jurors come from the society, and if societal response is a very casual one in relation to the seriousness of these abuses, then you are going to have that reflected in some of the verdicts you do get, even if the evidence is there," she said.
As for child molesters being charged with the lesser offence of indecent assault, which is answerable in RM Courts, and which attracts a maximum of three years' imprisonment, Gordon Harrison said this is what the law dictates.
"If it is that a father performed an oral sex act on the child and there was no actual vaginal penetration by the penis, it would be an indecent assault charge as there has to be penetration, not by a finger or an object, but by the actual male organ for it to be considered as rape or carnal abuse," she explained.
She said that the Sexual Offences Act, which took effect from June 2011, encompasses some additional offences such as sexual grooming, sexual interference or touching and attracts stronger penalties.
"The penalties for those are a little bit more rewarding from the perspective of the victim and it gives the judges and prosecution more flexibility in terms of what is the appropriate charge to prefer, depending on the circumstances," she said.
As for the exclusion of a mother from the court where a child is testifying, the children's advocate said this is standard procedure in instances where the mother has not yet given evidence in the trial.
The thinking of the court, she said, is that the mother's evidence may not be independent and objective but would be tailored to support that given by the child.
However, Gordon Harrison said this can be left to the discretion of the prosecutor to structure the case in a manner which would allow the parent/guardian to remain in the courtroom.
"What I used to do as a prosecutor, depending on the fragility of the child, I would make an assessment as to whether or not it would be good to have her mother in and what I would do is switch the order of witnesses and call the mother first and once she gives evidence she would be allowed to sit in court," she said.
The delay in these court proceedings, she said, often results in witnesses becoming frustrated with the process and this at times leads to the parties compromising the case.
Meanwhile, the children's advocate said her office does not have the number of investigators required to deal with the current reported cases of sexual abuse.
"We have an internal investigation unit and we have four investigators on staff who are mandated with investigative powers across the island, so it makes it quite challenging to deal with the case load in as quick a manner as we would like," she told the Jamaica Observer.
The limited number of investigators, Gordon Harrison said, makes it difficult for her office to do unannounced inspection at some of these facilities.
"If it is that we are to be ensuring children are in fact in conditions that are suitable for their well-being,I think it is important to have unannounced visits," she said, adding that even an additional three investigators would assist the department greatly.
Head of the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) Superintendent Gladys Brown-Campbell said many times these persons who are convicted of sexual offences are given probation which often does not fit the crime.
"In a lot of these cases these persons are getting probation and so they think it is no big deal," she said.
However, the superintendent said CISOCA has been and will continue to aggressively pursue sexual predators.
"It is important for Jamaica to know that we are not joking here at CISOCA, and so now people are becoming more confident in the system and we are seeing far more persons coming in to report things which happened seven months or two years ago," she said.
As for those cases where offenders are not convicted, she said this sometimes happens either when the jury fails to find them guilty or children whose cases have languished in the courts until they are over 18 years old decide not to show up in court.
"But our job is to take them before the courts and we are doing just that and we are not letting up," she said.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Mom mourns loss of daughter; custodial dad, step charged with 1st-degree murder (Kingston, Jamaica)
Note that custodial dad DWAYNE BIDDERSINGH had a history of domestic violence against the mother of the murdered daughter. But given the mother's extreme poverty, the father ended up with possession of two of her children.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1154792--mother-mourns-her-daughter-s-ghastly-death
Mother mourns her daughter’s ghastly death
Published On Sun Apr 1 2012
Opal Austin, with daughter Racquel Ellis and son Issachar Fuller, speaks for the first time about the loss of her children Dwayne and Melonie Biddersingh, who came to Canada in 1990 with their father. Police now believe they have cracked the case.
By Royson James
City Columnist
KINGSTON, JAMAICA—All Opal Austin needed was a little help.
The “suitcase murder” victim’s mom says her daughter might still be alive if Canadian authorities had heeded warnings she and others gave them in the early 1990s.
Instead of pursuing the family’s suspicion that 15-year-old Dwayne Biddersingh’s fall from a 22nd-storey Parkdale apartment in 1992 wasn’t a suicide — and that his sister, Melonie, might be in danger too — authorities told Austin everything was fine, she says.
In an exclusive interview with the Star, family members said those assurances gave Opal Austin a false sense of security — which led her to cease asking Canadian officials in Jamaica to return Melonie to the island.
Two years after Dwayne’s alleged suicide, the 17-year-old girl’s body was found in a burning suitcase in an industrial complex in Vaughan. At the time, no one but the killer knew her identity — not school officials, not police.
“Suitcase murder”: Readers reach out to victim’s mother
“How on Earth that happen in a place like Canada?” asked Racquel Ellis, the victim’s sister. “You have children, they not illegally in the country, they not going to school and nobody pick up on that. Dwayne’s death should have alerted them that something was wrong.”
Melonie’s thin, broken body was barely 50 pounds. She had been confined and left to die from multiple fractures. Her finger-, foot- and hand-prints were burned off to make identification impossible.
And her family in Jamaica knew nothing. Eventually they were told, falsely, by her dad that she had run away to the United States.
While Austin and family sent feelers out to contacts in the U.S. and friend Elias Azan conducted fruitless Internet searches, Melonie was on the Toronto police cold-case files — until last November, when a tip connected the victim to her mother in Kingston, Jamaica.
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, 56, and stepmom Elaine Biddersingh, 50, are in police custody, charged with first-degree murder.
Austin told the Star she first went to the Canadian High Commission after hearing rumours that her son’s conflicts with his dad might have led to his death. She shared that information and told them: “Mi want back mi daughter.”
Weeks later, she received a letter from the embassy stating that Melonie is “Okay, she fine, going back to school; and is suicide Dwayne commit.”
She wasn’t convinced, but the assurance of people who should know eased her concerns.
“For them to say mi brother dead by suicide and everything okay, then you must have investigated the situation,” said her son Issachar Fuller.
Melonie’s disappearance suggests “some neglect down the line between the embassy and their investigation. To my knowledge, if an investigation did go on the right and proper way they would have seen a problem in the household from day one,” Issachar said.
Dirt-poor and desperate, all Opal Austin needed was a little help.
Faced with raising seven children on a street vendor’s income that couldn’t keep a Canadian kitten well fed, Austin did what any mother would: She sent two of her teenagers to live with their dad and step-mom.
The fact daddy lived in Toronto made the decision a no-brainer.
“I sent them up for something better, for a better life,” Austin told the Star. She was thinking, “Somebody must come out with something.”
Who could have imagined that Canadian authorities would soon be telling Austin, 57, that her son had jumped off a Parkdale apartment balcony at age 15; and that her daughter, Melonie, was soon to become the victim in a 1994 “suitcase murder” that police only now solved.
Austin knew Biddersingh, the father of her two children that would go to Canada, was an abuser. She says he beat her all the time, stopping only after he drew blood. But he never hit the children, so she felt secure in sending them to live with him.
Speaking for nearly two hours here Friday, Austin relived that nightmare, supported by two of her surviving five children (Racquel, 39; and Issachar, 31), her pro bono lawyer, and a family friend haunted by the fact he had encouraged her to send her children to Canada.
“Mi mother not educated, but she mek sure all of us okay,” said Racquel. “She poor but we woulda never suffer, even if she (feed us every day) with cornmeal porridge. Any mother would feel proud to do what she did. It’s their father we send them to, y’know; it’s not a stranger.”
According to family and friends:
• Toronto police are pursuing one or more witnesses to what might have happened to Dwayne and Melonie.
• The father’s initial explanation of Dwayne’s suicide suggests that several family members, including Melonie, were present when he fell to his death.
• Austin did not abandon her children, but sent teenage kids to live with a dad and his wife who were thought to be in a good situation to help the family.
• Their “smart, balanced, happy” Dwayne did not commit suicide, and they want Toronto police to reopen the 1992 case, exhume the boy’s body and pursue a possible link between the deaths.
• Austin’s family friend, Elias Azan, a former policeman in Jamaica, urged Toronto police to “dig deeper” into the cause of Dwayne’s death, as suicide seemed implausible.
• The Canadian High Commission in Kingston reassured Austin when she alerted them to her fears for Melonie’s safety. The embassy sent her a letter following a social inquiry report which states that Melonie was fine and about to enter school. But soon after, she disappeared, and Canadian authorities didn’t even know she was missing.
• When Melonie’s father said she’d run off to the U.S., Austin sent pictures to relatives and friends in America to help find the missing daughter. Internet searches by family friends came up empty.
• The family want to give the siblings a proper burial in Jamaica, but considering their lack of resources, only charity from the public could pick up the tab of the transport, estimated at up to $10,000.
• Austin wants to attend Everton Biddersingh’s trial so she can hear for herself what really happened to her children, as most details have come from media reports.
“It’s here they born; we can give them a proper funeral and I can go visit them in the cemetery.”
It’s 22 years since Austin’s dream died with her kids in a foreign land of opportunity. But it’s not until you travel to her hovel of a home — the place where her seven children slept in quarters not big enough to outfit most modern bathrooms — that the enormity of her plight smacks you in the face.
Nearby is where she spends her days at a makeshift stall, selling sweets, crackers, boxed juice and bagged popsicles outside the main gate of the Jamaican Red Cross. To call her a higgler is to insult the infamous Jamaican buy-and-sell vendors. A child’s piggy bank might be enough to bankroll Austin’s entire inventory. She easily ferries her goods to the spot each day and prays for a few sales.
Turning off the main road in downtown Kingston, columns of corrugated zinc create a rabbit warren of lanes. Ten or more turns and you arrive at her home, its wooden walls painted a beautiful maroon red and resting on concrete floors.
“This used to be all dirt,” daughter Racquel proudly declares. She sees progress where you see despair.
Family members rifle through mounds of old pictures to find one clear image of Melonie, the shy one, the girl who couldn’t hurt anyone. It baffles the mind trying to understand why, as Toronto police say, her caregivers would have starved her and left her in a confined place, with multiple fractures, to die like a dog.
And then burn off her fingerprints, hand- and footprints. And, finally, set her remains ablaze in a suitcase.
Melonie’s photograph, released by police to Canadian media, is a blurry image of a 12-year-old holding her baby niece, Kerina, Racquel’s child. Kerina is among those who on Friday were searching for a clear picture of her Aunt Melonie (she would have been 34 now). They found one that’s marginally better. Dwayne’s photo is a lovely, smiling one, hugging his younger brother Issachar, now 31.
If things had worked out as planned for Melonie and Dwayne, maybe by now they could have chipped in and helped the family move out. Instead, Opal and the remaining kids are improving themselves. Some 18 family members and acquaintances joined forces and bought a little real estate — under one acre of less-than-desirable land — before subdividing it without surveyor’s tools or planner’s design.
“Yes, the seven a mi pickney dem sleep right here,” Austin says, pointing to two tiny beds; and it is unimaginable.
When Toronto police travelled here in February to take Austin’s DNA samples, which would link her definitively to the victim of the “suitcase murder,” it capped two decades of dashed hopes and what is now unspeakable grief.
“I cry and I cry and I cry and my eye hurt,” Austin tells the Star. “I wonder if it’s a nightmare because everything happened so quick.
“I sent them to Canada to better off themselves and help the family. Now, I need (reading) glasses and I have nobody to help me.”
The nightmare started barely two years after the kids left for Canada with their father and an older sibling, Cleon, the father’s child. He has four other children.
Austin may have spoken to the kids a couple of times. Most often, the father took the collect calls and left little time for interaction, often complaining about long-distance costs.
When he called Austin to report Dwayne’s death, it was with a convoluted story that left Austin reeling. Friends in Toronto knew little or nothing about the apparent suicide. And despite Azan’s intervention and request that the body be sent to Jamaica for burial, police had determined it was a suicide and the father said it was too costly to return the body. Austin received not even a funeral program.
Family members must now read foreign newspaper reports to find out what happened to the loved ones who were supposed to return to help their siblings and end a generation of poverty.
The only way Melonie and Dwayne can return now is with help. Two decades later, all Opal Austin needs is a little help.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1154792--mother-mourns-her-daughter-s-ghastly-death
Mother mourns her daughter’s ghastly death
Published On Sun Apr 1 2012
Opal Austin, with daughter Racquel Ellis and son Issachar Fuller, speaks for the first time about the loss of her children Dwayne and Melonie Biddersingh, who came to Canada in 1990 with their father. Police now believe they have cracked the case.
By Royson James
City Columnist
KINGSTON, JAMAICA—All Opal Austin needed was a little help.
The “suitcase murder” victim’s mom says her daughter might still be alive if Canadian authorities had heeded warnings she and others gave them in the early 1990s.
Instead of pursuing the family’s suspicion that 15-year-old Dwayne Biddersingh’s fall from a 22nd-storey Parkdale apartment in 1992 wasn’t a suicide — and that his sister, Melonie, might be in danger too — authorities told Austin everything was fine, she says.
In an exclusive interview with the Star, family members said those assurances gave Opal Austin a false sense of security — which led her to cease asking Canadian officials in Jamaica to return Melonie to the island.
Two years after Dwayne’s alleged suicide, the 17-year-old girl’s body was found in a burning suitcase in an industrial complex in Vaughan. At the time, no one but the killer knew her identity — not school officials, not police.
“Suitcase murder”: Readers reach out to victim’s mother
“How on Earth that happen in a place like Canada?” asked Racquel Ellis, the victim’s sister. “You have children, they not illegally in the country, they not going to school and nobody pick up on that. Dwayne’s death should have alerted them that something was wrong.”
Melonie’s thin, broken body was barely 50 pounds. She had been confined and left to die from multiple fractures. Her finger-, foot- and hand-prints were burned off to make identification impossible.
And her family in Jamaica knew nothing. Eventually they were told, falsely, by her dad that she had run away to the United States.
While Austin and family sent feelers out to contacts in the U.S. and friend Elias Azan conducted fruitless Internet searches, Melonie was on the Toronto police cold-case files — until last November, when a tip connected the victim to her mother in Kingston, Jamaica.
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, 56, and stepmom Elaine Biddersingh, 50, are in police custody, charged with first-degree murder.
Austin told the Star she first went to the Canadian High Commission after hearing rumours that her son’s conflicts with his dad might have led to his death. She shared that information and told them: “Mi want back mi daughter.”
Weeks later, she received a letter from the embassy stating that Melonie is “Okay, she fine, going back to school; and is suicide Dwayne commit.”
She wasn’t convinced, but the assurance of people who should know eased her concerns.
“For them to say mi brother dead by suicide and everything okay, then you must have investigated the situation,” said her son Issachar Fuller.
Melonie’s disappearance suggests “some neglect down the line between the embassy and their investigation. To my knowledge, if an investigation did go on the right and proper way they would have seen a problem in the household from day one,” Issachar said.
Dirt-poor and desperate, all Opal Austin needed was a little help.
Faced with raising seven children on a street vendor’s income that couldn’t keep a Canadian kitten well fed, Austin did what any mother would: She sent two of her teenagers to live with their dad and step-mom.
The fact daddy lived in Toronto made the decision a no-brainer.
“I sent them up for something better, for a better life,” Austin told the Star. She was thinking, “Somebody must come out with something.”
Who could have imagined that Canadian authorities would soon be telling Austin, 57, that her son had jumped off a Parkdale apartment balcony at age 15; and that her daughter, Melonie, was soon to become the victim in a 1994 “suitcase murder” that police only now solved.
Austin knew Biddersingh, the father of her two children that would go to Canada, was an abuser. She says he beat her all the time, stopping only after he drew blood. But he never hit the children, so she felt secure in sending them to live with him.
Speaking for nearly two hours here Friday, Austin relived that nightmare, supported by two of her surviving five children (Racquel, 39; and Issachar, 31), her pro bono lawyer, and a family friend haunted by the fact he had encouraged her to send her children to Canada.
“Mi mother not educated, but she mek sure all of us okay,” said Racquel. “She poor but we woulda never suffer, even if she (feed us every day) with cornmeal porridge. Any mother would feel proud to do what she did. It’s their father we send them to, y’know; it’s not a stranger.”
According to family and friends:
• Toronto police are pursuing one or more witnesses to what might have happened to Dwayne and Melonie.
• The father’s initial explanation of Dwayne’s suicide suggests that several family members, including Melonie, were present when he fell to his death.
• Austin did not abandon her children, but sent teenage kids to live with a dad and his wife who were thought to be in a good situation to help the family.
• Their “smart, balanced, happy” Dwayne did not commit suicide, and they want Toronto police to reopen the 1992 case, exhume the boy’s body and pursue a possible link between the deaths.
• Austin’s family friend, Elias Azan, a former policeman in Jamaica, urged Toronto police to “dig deeper” into the cause of Dwayne’s death, as suicide seemed implausible.
• The Canadian High Commission in Kingston reassured Austin when she alerted them to her fears for Melonie’s safety. The embassy sent her a letter following a social inquiry report which states that Melonie was fine and about to enter school. But soon after, she disappeared, and Canadian authorities didn’t even know she was missing.
• When Melonie’s father said she’d run off to the U.S., Austin sent pictures to relatives and friends in America to help find the missing daughter. Internet searches by family friends came up empty.
• The family want to give the siblings a proper burial in Jamaica, but considering their lack of resources, only charity from the public could pick up the tab of the transport, estimated at up to $10,000.
• Austin wants to attend Everton Biddersingh’s trial so she can hear for herself what really happened to her children, as most details have come from media reports.
“It’s here they born; we can give them a proper funeral and I can go visit them in the cemetery.”
It’s 22 years since Austin’s dream died with her kids in a foreign land of opportunity. But it’s not until you travel to her hovel of a home — the place where her seven children slept in quarters not big enough to outfit most modern bathrooms — that the enormity of her plight smacks you in the face.
Nearby is where she spends her days at a makeshift stall, selling sweets, crackers, boxed juice and bagged popsicles outside the main gate of the Jamaican Red Cross. To call her a higgler is to insult the infamous Jamaican buy-and-sell vendors. A child’s piggy bank might be enough to bankroll Austin’s entire inventory. She easily ferries her goods to the spot each day and prays for a few sales.
Turning off the main road in downtown Kingston, columns of corrugated zinc create a rabbit warren of lanes. Ten or more turns and you arrive at her home, its wooden walls painted a beautiful maroon red and resting on concrete floors.
“This used to be all dirt,” daughter Racquel proudly declares. She sees progress where you see despair.
Family members rifle through mounds of old pictures to find one clear image of Melonie, the shy one, the girl who couldn’t hurt anyone. It baffles the mind trying to understand why, as Toronto police say, her caregivers would have starved her and left her in a confined place, with multiple fractures, to die like a dog.
And then burn off her fingerprints, hand- and footprints. And, finally, set her remains ablaze in a suitcase.
Melonie’s photograph, released by police to Canadian media, is a blurry image of a 12-year-old holding her baby niece, Kerina, Racquel’s child. Kerina is among those who on Friday were searching for a clear picture of her Aunt Melonie (she would have been 34 now). They found one that’s marginally better. Dwayne’s photo is a lovely, smiling one, hugging his younger brother Issachar, now 31.
If things had worked out as planned for Melonie and Dwayne, maybe by now they could have chipped in and helped the family move out. Instead, Opal and the remaining kids are improving themselves. Some 18 family members and acquaintances joined forces and bought a little real estate — under one acre of less-than-desirable land — before subdividing it without surveyor’s tools or planner’s design.
“Yes, the seven a mi pickney dem sleep right here,” Austin says, pointing to two tiny beds; and it is unimaginable.
When Toronto police travelled here in February to take Austin’s DNA samples, which would link her definitively to the victim of the “suitcase murder,” it capped two decades of dashed hopes and what is now unspeakable grief.
“I cry and I cry and I cry and my eye hurt,” Austin tells the Star. “I wonder if it’s a nightmare because everything happened so quick.
“I sent them to Canada to better off themselves and help the family. Now, I need (reading) glasses and I have nobody to help me.”
The nightmare started barely two years after the kids left for Canada with their father and an older sibling, Cleon, the father’s child. He has four other children.
Austin may have spoken to the kids a couple of times. Most often, the father took the collect calls and left little time for interaction, often complaining about long-distance costs.
When he called Austin to report Dwayne’s death, it was with a convoluted story that left Austin reeling. Friends in Toronto knew little or nothing about the apparent suicide. And despite Azan’s intervention and request that the body be sent to Jamaica for burial, police had determined it was a suicide and the father said it was too costly to return the body. Austin received not even a funeral program.
Family members must now read foreign newspaper reports to find out what happened to the loved ones who were supposed to return to help their siblings and end a generation of poverty.
The only way Melonie and Dwayne can return now is with help. Two decades later, all Opal Austin needs is a little help.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Custodial dad, step charged in 1994 slaying of 17-year-old daughter (Toronto, Canada)
Yet another story of a custodial dad and step who starved and tortured dad's child. This time the dad is EVERTON BIDDERSINGH.
This case also fits another theme we have seen: the immigrant father who comes to the U.S. or Canada, and manages to convince the deeply impoverished mother that her child would be better off with him.
Here are some examples of kids who came to the U.S or Canada., only to be seriously abused/murdered by the custodial dad and/or the new step:
Charlenni Ferrera - Murdered in Philadelphia, PA by custodial dad and/or step.
Mom from Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/02/dhs-not-at-fault-for-abuse-death-of-10.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/charlennis-tragic-journey-actually.html
Manuel Gonzalez - Miami, Florida father who had sexually abused his daughter, and then stabbed her and her infant son, killing the son.
What is often not reported in this case is that he was custodial--the girl's mother is from Guatamala:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/estranged-wife-of-stabbing-suspect.html
Naticia Laurent-Murdered by custodial dad and/or step in Beauford, South Carolina.
Mother in Haiti:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/stepmom-accused-of-homicide-wants-to.html
Unnamed girl sexually abused, neglected by custodial father in Miami, Florida.
Mother in Dominican Republic:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/04/custodial-dad-molests-teen-daughter-dcf.html
Randall Dooley, murdered by custodial dad/step in Toronto, Canada.
Mom in Jamaica:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/09/custodial-dad-stepmother-want-new-trial.html>
Melvin Ortiz in Ponciana, Florida. He and/or the step murdered his son while he was visiting from Puerto Rico.
Mom still had custody back in Puerto Rico at the time: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/07/custodial-dad-charged-with-killing-5.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1149684--suitcase-murder-dad-stepmom-charged-in-1994-slaying-of-17-year-old-toronto-girl?bn=1
Suitcase murder: Dad, stepmom charged in 1994 slaying of 17-year-old Toronto girl
Published On Wed Mar 21 2012
Curtis Rush Stephanie Findlay and Liam Casey
Staff Reporters
She hadn’t seen her for years, yet Opal Austin believed her daughter was happy and working in America.
That’s what Austin, who was living in Jamaica, says she was told by her ex-husband, who was in Canada with their daughter, Melonie Biddersingh.
Now, Austin knows the horrifying truth.
In 1994, Melonie Biddersingh was found dead in a suitcase doused with gas and lit on fire.
Toronto police recently charged her father and stepmother with first-degree murder.
Everton Biddersingh, 56, and Elaine Biddersingh, 50, were arrested in Welland, Ont., on March 5 and appeared in court the next day. They are in custody until their next court appearance.
“I was asking where my daughter is,” Austin told a Jamaican news agency Wednesday. “He (Everton) said she’s in America.”
Raquel Ellis, Melonie’s sister, said she thought Toronto police were going to deliver good news when officers called. “We thought it was them finding Melonie,” she said.
A simple phone call to police last November was the key that unlocked a murder mystery going back almost two decades.
“It started with a phone call from a person with a conscience,” Toronto police Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan told a news conference Wednesday.
“It goes to show the power of a phone call. It’s a difficult case.”
The call, from a person Ryan would not name, helped police identify 17-year-old Melonie whose charred remains were found in a suitcase behind a Vaughan industrial plaza on Sept. 1, 1994.
On Wednesday, police released a 1990 photo of Biddersingh holding an unidentified child in Kingston, Jamaica, where she was born.
Ryan, who heads the cold-case squad, said police know the cause of death but are not releasing it.
A police source said the teen was beaten, starved and kept in a closet. At death, she may have weighed as little as 50 pounds.
Her charred body was found when York police came across a mysterious fire. Gasoline or some other fuel had apparently been poured over the suitcase and set ablaze only minutes before an officer on patrol spotted the flames and thick, black smoke shortly after 3 a.m.
Vaughan firefighters quickly extinguished the blazing heap.
Biddersingh’s body, curled in the fetal position, was found in the once forest-green suitcase. Her fingerprints, handprints and footprints were burned off. Little was left of what investigators surmised was once curly black hair.
A forensic anthropologist detailed numerous injuries believed to be the result of a fall from a height or a car accident.
The teen had suffered fractures in the lower back, including a number of vertebrae and ribs, the pelvic area, the left knee and right ankle.
She would have been immobile and likely in constant pain, the forensics exam found.
The young woman was not treated for her injuries, York police concluded. Her fractures were believed to have taken place three weeks to six months before her death.
Melonie had never been reported missing in the years since she had been killed.
Ryan said a phone call in November prompted police to contact the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police liaison office in Kingston.
With their help, police identified the victim’s biological mother as Opal Austin, who lives in Kingston. Toronto police flew there to interview her and obtain a DNA sample. A match was made last month, identifying her daughter as the homicide victim.
“She was of the belief that her daughter was a young adult, a productive member of society” Ryan said. “She thought she was alive.”
Melonie Biddersingh was born in Jamaica in 1977 and came to Toronto with brothers Dwayne and Cleon to live in Parkdale with her biological father and stepmother.
Dwayne was 15 when he died in 1992 in a fall from their 22nd-floor balcony. His death was ruled a suicide but police are taking another look at the case.
Officers were executing a search warrant and conducting forensic testing Wednesday on Close Ave., where the couple lived at the time of Melonie’s death. “My information was that her life in Toronto wasn’t pleasant,” Ryan said.
She was kept in seclusion in the apartment shared by the couple and six children, Ryan said.
None of the children went to school here. The youngest was an infant at the time. They are now “productive” adults, Ryan said.
O’Neil Biddersingh, who identified himself as the oldest son of Everton and Elaine Biddersingh, said he vaguely remembers life in Parkdale. Asked what his parents told him about Melonie, he said: “Um, they actually said she ran away or something like that.”
O’Neil and his sister are distraught. “We just don’t want to talk about this, it’s our right,” she said, declining to give her name.
“It’s just a horrible time right now. One minute my parents are here, then they’re in jail for murder.”
The parents lived in Parkdale until about 1996 and returned briefly to Jamaica. They then came back to Canada.
Police did not release details of the lifestyles or livelihoods of the accused couple in Welland.
David Houser, who lives in the other half of the duplex the Biddersinghs rented on Ontario Rd. in Welland, said he watched undercover officers police lead the couple away in handcuffs.
He said the Biddersinghs moved into the place last fall and lived with their two sons.
“I was probably one of Everton’s only friends,” Houser said. “He was friendly and they were very religious. This is pretty nuts. I can’t really believe what the police are saying about them.”
He said Elaine often sang choir music with girlfriends at their home. Everton spoke a lot of Jesus, his bike and his native Jamaica.
“He would tell me about the simple life in Jamaica, but he really loved the cold in Canada — I mean, who loves the cold? He always seemed so happy about everything, even bad weather,” Houser said.
Everton would cycle everywhere in Welland and would call on Houser, a cyclist himself, to help him with bike repairs. The Biddersinghs lived simply and would use the nearby Hope Centre for food from time to time, he added.
Ryan credited many other agencies for the arrests: Jamaican authorities, Niagara Regional Police, the RCMP, York Regional Police, the coroner’s office and the Centre for Forensic Sciences.
This was the second major cold case leading to arrests by Toronto police in the past few months.
In December, a man serving time for a 1994 murder was arrested in custody and charged in the 1981 rape and murder of a woman in Mississauga.
Ryan said the phone call that cracked the Biddersingh case should provide hope for others connected to unsolved cold cases.
“I am hopeful for all those other families who have lost loved ones to murder,” the cold-case detective said. “For them I say, ‘Just don’t give up, remain hopeful, because we have not forgotten about you or your loved ones.’ ”
This case also fits another theme we have seen: the immigrant father who comes to the U.S. or Canada, and manages to convince the deeply impoverished mother that her child would be better off with him.
Here are some examples of kids who came to the U.S or Canada., only to be seriously abused/murdered by the custodial dad and/or the new step:
Charlenni Ferrera - Murdered in Philadelphia, PA by custodial dad and/or step.
Mom from Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/02/dhs-not-at-fault-for-abuse-death-of-10.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/charlennis-tragic-journey-actually.html
Manuel Gonzalez - Miami, Florida father who had sexually abused his daughter, and then stabbed her and her infant son, killing the son.
What is often not reported in this case is that he was custodial--the girl's mother is from Guatamala:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/estranged-wife-of-stabbing-suspect.html
Naticia Laurent-Murdered by custodial dad and/or step in Beauford, South Carolina.
Mother in Haiti:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/05/stepmom-accused-of-homicide-wants-to.html
Unnamed girl sexually abused, neglected by custodial father in Miami, Florida.
Mother in Dominican Republic:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/04/custodial-dad-molests-teen-daughter-dcf.html
Randall Dooley, murdered by custodial dad/step in Toronto, Canada.
Mom in Jamaica:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/09/custodial-dad-stepmother-want-new-trial.html>
Melvin Ortiz in Ponciana, Florida. He and/or the step murdered his son while he was visiting from Puerto Rico.
Mom still had custody back in Puerto Rico at the time: http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/07/custodial-dad-charged-with-killing-5.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1149684--suitcase-murder-dad-stepmom-charged-in-1994-slaying-of-17-year-old-toronto-girl?bn=1
Suitcase murder: Dad, stepmom charged in 1994 slaying of 17-year-old Toronto girl
Published On Wed Mar 21 2012
Curtis Rush Stephanie Findlay and Liam Casey
Staff Reporters
She hadn’t seen her for years, yet Opal Austin believed her daughter was happy and working in America.
That’s what Austin, who was living in Jamaica, says she was told by her ex-husband, who was in Canada with their daughter, Melonie Biddersingh.
Now, Austin knows the horrifying truth.
In 1994, Melonie Biddersingh was found dead in a suitcase doused with gas and lit on fire.
Toronto police recently charged her father and stepmother with first-degree murder.
Everton Biddersingh, 56, and Elaine Biddersingh, 50, were arrested in Welland, Ont., on March 5 and appeared in court the next day. They are in custody until their next court appearance.
“I was asking where my daughter is,” Austin told a Jamaican news agency Wednesday. “He (Everton) said she’s in America.”
Raquel Ellis, Melonie’s sister, said she thought Toronto police were going to deliver good news when officers called. “We thought it was them finding Melonie,” she said.
A simple phone call to police last November was the key that unlocked a murder mystery going back almost two decades.
“It started with a phone call from a person with a conscience,” Toronto police Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan told a news conference Wednesday.
“It goes to show the power of a phone call. It’s a difficult case.”
The call, from a person Ryan would not name, helped police identify 17-year-old Melonie whose charred remains were found in a suitcase behind a Vaughan industrial plaza on Sept. 1, 1994.
On Wednesday, police released a 1990 photo of Biddersingh holding an unidentified child in Kingston, Jamaica, where she was born.
Ryan, who heads the cold-case squad, said police know the cause of death but are not releasing it.
A police source said the teen was beaten, starved and kept in a closet. At death, she may have weighed as little as 50 pounds.
Her charred body was found when York police came across a mysterious fire. Gasoline or some other fuel had apparently been poured over the suitcase and set ablaze only minutes before an officer on patrol spotted the flames and thick, black smoke shortly after 3 a.m.
Vaughan firefighters quickly extinguished the blazing heap.
Biddersingh’s body, curled in the fetal position, was found in the once forest-green suitcase. Her fingerprints, handprints and footprints were burned off. Little was left of what investigators surmised was once curly black hair.
A forensic anthropologist detailed numerous injuries believed to be the result of a fall from a height or a car accident.
The teen had suffered fractures in the lower back, including a number of vertebrae and ribs, the pelvic area, the left knee and right ankle.
She would have been immobile and likely in constant pain, the forensics exam found.
The young woman was not treated for her injuries, York police concluded. Her fractures were believed to have taken place three weeks to six months before her death.
Melonie had never been reported missing in the years since she had been killed.
Ryan said a phone call in November prompted police to contact the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police liaison office in Kingston.
With their help, police identified the victim’s biological mother as Opal Austin, who lives in Kingston. Toronto police flew there to interview her and obtain a DNA sample. A match was made last month, identifying her daughter as the homicide victim.
“She was of the belief that her daughter was a young adult, a productive member of society” Ryan said. “She thought she was alive.”
Melonie Biddersingh was born in Jamaica in 1977 and came to Toronto with brothers Dwayne and Cleon to live in Parkdale with her biological father and stepmother.
Dwayne was 15 when he died in 1992 in a fall from their 22nd-floor balcony. His death was ruled a suicide but police are taking another look at the case.
Officers were executing a search warrant and conducting forensic testing Wednesday on Close Ave., where the couple lived at the time of Melonie’s death. “My information was that her life in Toronto wasn’t pleasant,” Ryan said.
She was kept in seclusion in the apartment shared by the couple and six children, Ryan said.
None of the children went to school here. The youngest was an infant at the time. They are now “productive” adults, Ryan said.
O’Neil Biddersingh, who identified himself as the oldest son of Everton and Elaine Biddersingh, said he vaguely remembers life in Parkdale. Asked what his parents told him about Melonie, he said: “Um, they actually said she ran away or something like that.”
O’Neil and his sister are distraught. “We just don’t want to talk about this, it’s our right,” she said, declining to give her name.
“It’s just a horrible time right now. One minute my parents are here, then they’re in jail for murder.”
The parents lived in Parkdale until about 1996 and returned briefly to Jamaica. They then came back to Canada.
Police did not release details of the lifestyles or livelihoods of the accused couple in Welland.
David Houser, who lives in the other half of the duplex the Biddersinghs rented on Ontario Rd. in Welland, said he watched undercover officers police lead the couple away in handcuffs.
He said the Biddersinghs moved into the place last fall and lived with their two sons.
“I was probably one of Everton’s only friends,” Houser said. “He was friendly and they were very religious. This is pretty nuts. I can’t really believe what the police are saying about them.”
He said Elaine often sang choir music with girlfriends at their home. Everton spoke a lot of Jesus, his bike and his native Jamaica.
“He would tell me about the simple life in Jamaica, but he really loved the cold in Canada — I mean, who loves the cold? He always seemed so happy about everything, even bad weather,” Houser said.
Everton would cycle everywhere in Welland and would call on Houser, a cyclist himself, to help him with bike repairs. The Biddersinghs lived simply and would use the nearby Hope Centre for food from time to time, he added.
Ryan credited many other agencies for the arrests: Jamaican authorities, Niagara Regional Police, the RCMP, York Regional Police, the coroner’s office and the Centre for Forensic Sciences.
This was the second major cold case leading to arrests by Toronto police in the past few months.
In December, a man serving time for a 1994 murder was arrested in custody and charged in the 1981 rape and murder of a woman in Mississauga.
Ryan said the phone call that cracked the Biddersingh case should provide hope for others connected to unsolved cold cases.
“I am hopeful for all those other families who have lost loved ones to murder,” the cold-case detective said. “For them I say, ‘Just don’t give up, remain hopeful, because we have not forgotten about you or your loved ones.’ ”
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Dad charged in burning death of 13-year-old daughter (Phillipsburg, St. Maarten)
Dad ROBERT REID faces "possible homicide charges."
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20110908/news/news1.html
13-Y-O JAMAICAN BURNT TO DEATH - St Maarten police arrest dad on possible murder charges
Robert Reid, a Jamaican man living in St Maarten was Tuesday arrested and faces possible homicide charges following the discovery of a charred body believed to be that of his 13-year-old daughter Tiffany on Tuesday night. That same night the child's parents had reported that she had gone missing.
According to police in the Dutch colony in the eastern Caribbean, at about 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police and personnel from the Fire Department were directed to Reward Road in St Maarten where a severely burnt body was found in a ravine. The body was retrieved and identified only as a young female. Police say the body was so badly burnt it was extremely difficult to establish age and identity.
As the police launched their investigations into the matter they received a call from Central Dispatch that a couple - Robert Reid and his wife, whose initials were given as E. J. - had visited the police station earlier and filed a report that their 13-year-old daughter Tiffany had gone missing. The couple, police said, is from Jamaica. The detectives were told that Robert had severe burns to several parts of his body. Orders were immediately issued for the police to locate and apprehend him.
Police reports said Reid was found in a community known as Middle Region and arrested at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday night less than three hours after the child's body was discovered in the ravine. He was taken into custody at the Philipsburg Police Station in the centre of the town.
The police said they were processing the crime scene when the couple made the report about their daughter being missing.
Police have yet to identify the body and say they are still in the preliminary stages of their investigations. They have made an appeal to anyone who may have information that can aid in their investigations to contact the St Maarten Police Department.
http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20110908/news/news1.html
13-Y-O JAMAICAN BURNT TO DEATH - St Maarten police arrest dad on possible murder charges
Robert Reid, a Jamaican man living in St Maarten was Tuesday arrested and faces possible homicide charges following the discovery of a charred body believed to be that of his 13-year-old daughter Tiffany on Tuesday night. That same night the child's parents had reported that she had gone missing.
According to police in the Dutch colony in the eastern Caribbean, at about 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police and personnel from the Fire Department were directed to Reward Road in St Maarten where a severely burnt body was found in a ravine. The body was retrieved and identified only as a young female. Police say the body was so badly burnt it was extremely difficult to establish age and identity.
As the police launched their investigations into the matter they received a call from Central Dispatch that a couple - Robert Reid and his wife, whose initials were given as E. J. - had visited the police station earlier and filed a report that their 13-year-old daughter Tiffany had gone missing. The couple, police said, is from Jamaica. The detectives were told that Robert had severe burns to several parts of his body. Orders were immediately issued for the police to locate and apprehend him.
Police reports said Reid was found in a community known as Middle Region and arrested at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday night less than three hours after the child's body was discovered in the ravine. He was taken into custody at the Philipsburg Police Station in the centre of the town.
The police said they were processing the crime scene when the couple made the report about their daughter being missing.
Police have yet to identify the body and say they are still in the preliminary stages of their investigations. They have made an appeal to anyone who may have information that can aid in their investigations to contact the St Maarten Police Department.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Custodial dad took boy out of Jamaica; now charged with son's murder (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
We've seen cases like this before. Dads who get custody by preying upon and exploiting the impoverished mothers of their children--moms who live in countries like Jamaica, Haiti, Mexico, or the Dominican Republic. And after these dads get their way and move the kid to the U.S. or Canada, they kill, rape, or severely abuse the kids. For a list of similar cases, see this post:
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/immigrant-dads-who-once-in-us-or-canada.html
It looks like dad Garfield Boothe will be added to this list. This POS didn't even know this boy was his son till two years ago....Some devoted dad, this one.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/30/father-charged-in-death-of-brampton-boy
Father charged in death of Brampton boy
By Chris Doucette ,Toronto Sun
First posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 1:48:38 EDT PM
BRAMPTON — Neighbours recall little Shakeil Boothe’s excitement when he glimpsed snow for the first time a couple winters ago.
It’s one of the happy memories Homeland Ct. residents are clinging to as they try to come to grips with the 10-year-old’s murder, allegedly at the hands of his father who moved him to Canada from Jamaica for “a better life.”
“They seemed like the perfect family,” Dan Greig said Monday. “It’s just so sad.”
He said Shakeil’s father, Garfield Boothe, 31, only learned he had a son in Jamaica about two years ago.
“And when he did, he brought the boy here to give him a better start in life,” Greig said.
The youngster lived briefly in the Jane St.-Finch Ave. area before moving with his dad and stepmom to the two-storey house in the quiet neighbourhood, near Dixie Rd. and Queen St. E.
The family occasionally visited Greig’s home next-door for barbecues and Garfield seemed to be a “good” dad.
“His son was such a polite little guy,” Greig said.
“He always had a big smile on his face,” he added. “He was a great kid.”
Peel police responded to a 911 call at 15 Homeland Ct. around 5 p.m. Friday and found the child dead.
Shakeil’s dad was arrested the next day after detectives concluded the boy hadn’t died of natural causes.
“When we were in the house that first day, there were no visible signs of injury,” Const. Adam Minion said. “But since then, we’ve received the coroner’s report, we’ve talked to witnesses and determined there was a criminal element involved.”
Garfield, who is in custody, was initially charged with failing to provide the necessities of life.
But Minnion said the father will be formally charged with second-degree murder when he appears in court Tuesday.
Police aren’t releasing the cause of death, so neighbours can only speculate as to what may have happened.
Greig said he often heard the couple arguing leading up to the birth of a child eight months ago.
He and others said they believe Shakeil’s stepmother moved out a few weeks ago and took the baby with her.
Long-time resident Rilla Armitage thought the Boothes were “a wonderful addition” to the neighbourhood when they moved in a few doors away.
She said the family mostly kept to themselves, but they were always friendly.
“This is just horrific,” Armitage said.
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/immigrant-dads-who-once-in-us-or-canada.html
It looks like dad Garfield Boothe will be added to this list. This POS didn't even know this boy was his son till two years ago....Some devoted dad, this one.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/30/father-charged-in-death-of-brampton-boy
Father charged in death of Brampton boy
By Chris Doucette ,Toronto Sun
First posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 1:48:38 EDT PM
BRAMPTON — Neighbours recall little Shakeil Boothe’s excitement when he glimpsed snow for the first time a couple winters ago.
It’s one of the happy memories Homeland Ct. residents are clinging to as they try to come to grips with the 10-year-old’s murder, allegedly at the hands of his father who moved him to Canada from Jamaica for “a better life.”
“They seemed like the perfect family,” Dan Greig said Monday. “It’s just so sad.”
He said Shakeil’s father, Garfield Boothe, 31, only learned he had a son in Jamaica about two years ago.
“And when he did, he brought the boy here to give him a better start in life,” Greig said.
The youngster lived briefly in the Jane St.-Finch Ave. area before moving with his dad and stepmom to the two-storey house in the quiet neighbourhood, near Dixie Rd. and Queen St. E.
The family occasionally visited Greig’s home next-door for barbecues and Garfield seemed to be a “good” dad.
“His son was such a polite little guy,” Greig said.
“He always had a big smile on his face,” he added. “He was a great kid.”
Peel police responded to a 911 call at 15 Homeland Ct. around 5 p.m. Friday and found the child dead.
Shakeil’s dad was arrested the next day after detectives concluded the boy hadn’t died of natural causes.
“When we were in the house that first day, there were no visible signs of injury,” Const. Adam Minion said. “But since then, we’ve received the coroner’s report, we’ve talked to witnesses and determined there was a criminal element involved.”
Garfield, who is in custody, was initially charged with failing to provide the necessities of life.
But Minnion said the father will be formally charged with second-degree murder when he appears in court Tuesday.
Police aren’t releasing the cause of death, so neighbours can only speculate as to what may have happened.
Greig said he often heard the couple arguing leading up to the birth of a child eight months ago.
He and others said they believe Shakeil’s stepmother moved out a few weeks ago and took the baby with her.
Long-time resident Rilla Armitage thought the Boothes were “a wonderful addition” to the neighbourhood when they moved in a few doors away.
She said the family mostly kept to themselves, but they were always friendly.
“This is just horrific,” Armitage said.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Supreme court upholds convictions in horrific child-murder case involving custodial dad, step (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
We've posted on custodial dad TONY DOOLEY and the charming step before. Another case where a mother and child from a poor country--in this case Jamaica--were screwed by a richer, North American daddy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-upholds-convictions-in-horrific-child-murder-case/article1734619/
Supreme Court upholds convictions in horrific child-murder case
Ottawa— The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010 11:25AM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010 11:35AM EDT
Second-degree murder convictions have been upheld in what's been called one of Canada's worst child-abuse cases.
The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear an appeal in the case of seven-year-old Randal Dooley.
The court, as usual, did not give reasons.
A jury convicted the boy's father and stepmother, Tony and Marcia Dooley, in 2002 of murdering the boy.
Randal had wasted to just 41 pounds and had 13 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, four brain injuries, and head-to-toe bruises when he died in 1998.
Last December, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the couple's argument that they should be granted a new trial because the judge made legal errors which resulted in jury verdicts based on emotion, not evidence.
Randal was born in Jamaica and came to Canada to live with his father and stepmother in November 1997, 11 months before his death.
The key objection raised during the appeal was the trial judge's failure to specifically instruct the jury not to convict the couple based solely on the evidence of prior abuse.
The Ontario Appeal Court also dismissed Marcia Dooley's sentence appeal.
At the 2002 trial the judge found Marcia Dooley “more blameworthy” and handed her a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 18 years.
It was found that she had struck the fatal blow to Randal and had inflicted the vast majority of the prior abuse.
Her husband received a life term with no parole for at least 13 years.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-upholds-convictions-in-horrific-child-murder-case/article1734619/
Supreme Court upholds convictions in horrific child-murder case
Ottawa— The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010 11:25AM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010 11:35AM EDT
Second-degree murder convictions have been upheld in what's been called one of Canada's worst child-abuse cases.
The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear an appeal in the case of seven-year-old Randal Dooley.
The court, as usual, did not give reasons.
A jury convicted the boy's father and stepmother, Tony and Marcia Dooley, in 2002 of murdering the boy.
Randal had wasted to just 41 pounds and had 13 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, four brain injuries, and head-to-toe bruises when he died in 1998.
Last December, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the couple's argument that they should be granted a new trial because the judge made legal errors which resulted in jury verdicts based on emotion, not evidence.
Randal was born in Jamaica and came to Canada to live with his father and stepmother in November 1997, 11 months before his death.
The key objection raised during the appeal was the trial judge's failure to specifically instruct the jury not to convict the couple based solely on the evidence of prior abuse.
The Ontario Appeal Court also dismissed Marcia Dooley's sentence appeal.
At the 2002 trial the judge found Marcia Dooley “more blameworthy” and handed her a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 18 years.
It was found that she had struck the fatal blow to Randal and had inflicted the vast majority of the prior abuse.
Her husband received a life term with no parole for at least 13 years.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Revisiting the village - by Glenda Simms (Frankfield, Clarenden, Jamaica)
Wonderful and moving essay by Glenda Simms of Jamaica. We truly need to be the "keepers" of abused children everywhere, not just in Jamaica. I have also posted the May 5 article she refers to below. The murdered little boy's mother died two years ago, and his custodial UNNAMED DAD is "in custody"--but not yet arrested--for the crime.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100516/cleisure/cleisure4.html
Revisiting the village
Published: Sunday May 16, 2010
Glenda Simms
Glenda Simms, Contributor
The proverb, 'It takes a village to raise a child', is rooted in the worldview of many cultural groups on the African continent. The Igbo and Yoruba peoples of Nigeria are reputed to have translated this belief in their communal approach to child rearing. In 1996, Hilary Clinton used this proverb to be the title of her book on the communal responsibility in the important pursuit of raising our children.
Those of us who are over 50 and who were raised in the rural villages of Jamaica can remember the scrutiny of all the neighbours as we traversed the paths and roadways to school, church or the neighbourhood shop. Everyone had the right and the responsibility to reprimand us and to report our bad behaviours to our parents, especially our mothers.
No self-respecting woman of my mother's generation wanted to hear bad news about their offspring. As children, we watched our 'Ps and Qs' and we learnt to respect the adults, and heeded their warning, "Behave yuhself!"
While the changes in the social, economic and cultural patterns of our island nation have affected the ways in which we see ourselves and our communities, we cannot afford to give up on all the values and attitudes that made us a fairly decent society.
Gut-wrenching event
The most stark and gut-wrenching event that signified the death of the village was reported in Arthur Hall's news story, which was carried in the May 5 edition of The Gleaner. Titled 'A short, sad life', Hall detailed the gruesome end of a bright-eyed, innocent and horribly abused five-year-old boy named Evan Sebastian Spencer.
This tragedy took place in the community of Frankfield in the parish of Clarendon.
It was only after little Evan was butchered that the good folk who knew about his precarious situation found the energy to realise that they could have done something to prevent his demise.
According to Hall, these "church-going" neighbours of the ill-fated child knew about 'the squalor' in which he lived with his father. They were able to show The Gleaner the "dark and mouldy cellar in a partially abandoned building no more than seven feet by seven feet".
Dd nothing to save
It was unsettling to read the remarks of the many Jamaican citizens who knew about the continuous abuse of the little boy. They had the energy to detail the atrocities of which they were aware, but they did nothing to save a baby from his unnatural and inhumane situation.
It is instructive to note how much these informants knew. They provided Hall with the most unbelievable details of human cruelty to a child, but they did not have the intestinal fortitude to phone the office of the Child Development Agency, the Children's Registry, or 119 (the police line).
It is not enough to use fear as an excuse in these situations. While it would be naive to think that the population in general, and women in particular, are not now afraid of their shadows, we cannot allow such fear to paralyse us or to rob us of the ability to report the evils that we are aware of. After all, we are not expected to identify ourselves when we report a crime.
The reality of our complicity in our silence around the atrocities to which the most vulnerable in the society are exposed must be understood against our predisposition to whisper and gossip and generally, spread bad news to our friends and acquaintances.
I can well imagine some of the holier-than-thou citizens of the community in which Evan lived making the following remarks:
"Bwoy! You want to see di dutty place that the man and him pickney live in!"
"A long time mi no si di little bwoy. A wonder if him dead fi hungry by now?"
I wonder how many of these 'concerned citizens' offered this child a meal, especially at the times when the daddy was not around.
How many of them have ever tried in any meaningful way to reach out to a desperate family in the most desperate of situations?
Our responsibility
If our ancestors were right, we should not forget that it takes "the village to raise a child" and each one of us has a responsibility to maintain the values, social integrity and the ideology of a healthy village environment.
In a real sense, the village is more than a geographical space, it is a way of life which puts more emphasis on communal response rather than on crass individualism. 'Every man and woman for himself or herself' seems to be the order of the day. But the time has come for us to stand back and find new ways of rebuilding the village.
We need to truly be our brother's and sister's keepers. We need to begin to care for each other in different ways.
Jamaica certainly needs a new awareness of the need to rebuild communities, not with bricks and mortar, but with love and compassion for everyone, especially the helpless children among us.
Dr Glenda Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100505/lead/lead3.html
A short, sad life
Published: Wednesday May 5, 2010
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
Finding a five-year-old boy with his throat slashed would leave any community in Jamaica shocked, despite the numbness caused by the rampaging crime monster which has left more than 560 people dead across the island since the start of the year.
But for the people of Frankfield, Clarendon, the killing of Evan Sebastian Spencer is even more painful as they wrestle with the feeling that they could have done something to help him.
The residents yesterday painted a picture of squalor endured by Evan in the relatively short time he was alive.
They showed The Gleaner a dark and mouldy cellar in a partially abandoned building no more than seven feet by seven feet where Evan and his father lived.
The smelly, small area had no light, no running water and no way for fresh air to enter the room. It contained a sponge for a bed, a chest of drawers and precious little else by way of furniture.
"Sometimes him ... lock up in deh for days and the only thing you see was him little eyes peeking out from the crack at the bottom of the door ... " one resident told The Gleaner.
Driven to act
While other residents worried about Evan and quietly wondered how he was doing, Joan Mitchell's fears drove her to act.
"Last week Wednesday me sit at me stall and me say to me friend, 'A long time me no see the baby ... '," Mitchell said.
She said she called a district constable (DC) who was based at the nearby Frankfield Police Station and told him her concerns.
"The DC tell me say him get transfer to Spaldings but him send some other police ... .
"To be truthful, me did see the baby Thursday but that is the last day me would see him alive," Mitchell said as she almost burst into tears.
Other neighbours related similar stories of concern for the young boy.
Evan's mother died two years ago.
"Last month, for about two weeks ... the boy lock up inna the cellar," another clearly angry woman added.
Evan attended Frankfield Primary and Infant School where he was a pupil in the infant one class.
"Last month he was missing from school for a long time but, before that, he attended regularly," Heather Carr, a teacher, said as she pored over the register.
"He was such a loving child. When I passed him on the road in the mornings with his father catching water, he would say, 'Morning, Teacher' and not stopping until I heard," Carr added.
It was a similar story from a caregiver at the school who asked not to be named.
"Evan was quiet and well-mannered and, because he had a speech problem, most times he did not speak," the caregiver said.
Young Evan's body was found in the house he shared with his father in the heart of Frankfield about 2:30 Sunday morning.
Investigators have taken the father and another man into custody but, up to late yesterday, neither had been charged.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100516/cleisure/cleisure4.html
Revisiting the village
Published: Sunday May 16, 2010
Glenda Simms
Glenda Simms, Contributor
The proverb, 'It takes a village to raise a child', is rooted in the worldview of many cultural groups on the African continent. The Igbo and Yoruba peoples of Nigeria are reputed to have translated this belief in their communal approach to child rearing. In 1996, Hilary Clinton used this proverb to be the title of her book on the communal responsibility in the important pursuit of raising our children.
Those of us who are over 50 and who were raised in the rural villages of Jamaica can remember the scrutiny of all the neighbours as we traversed the paths and roadways to school, church or the neighbourhood shop. Everyone had the right and the responsibility to reprimand us and to report our bad behaviours to our parents, especially our mothers.
No self-respecting woman of my mother's generation wanted to hear bad news about their offspring. As children, we watched our 'Ps and Qs' and we learnt to respect the adults, and heeded their warning, "Behave yuhself!"
While the changes in the social, economic and cultural patterns of our island nation have affected the ways in which we see ourselves and our communities, we cannot afford to give up on all the values and attitudes that made us a fairly decent society.
Gut-wrenching event
The most stark and gut-wrenching event that signified the death of the village was reported in Arthur Hall's news story, which was carried in the May 5 edition of The Gleaner. Titled 'A short, sad life', Hall detailed the gruesome end of a bright-eyed, innocent and horribly abused five-year-old boy named Evan Sebastian Spencer.
This tragedy took place in the community of Frankfield in the parish of Clarendon.
It was only after little Evan was butchered that the good folk who knew about his precarious situation found the energy to realise that they could have done something to prevent his demise.
According to Hall, these "church-going" neighbours of the ill-fated child knew about 'the squalor' in which he lived with his father. They were able to show The Gleaner the "dark and mouldy cellar in a partially abandoned building no more than seven feet by seven feet".
Dd nothing to save
It was unsettling to read the remarks of the many Jamaican citizens who knew about the continuous abuse of the little boy. They had the energy to detail the atrocities of which they were aware, but they did nothing to save a baby from his unnatural and inhumane situation.
It is instructive to note how much these informants knew. They provided Hall with the most unbelievable details of human cruelty to a child, but they did not have the intestinal fortitude to phone the office of the Child Development Agency, the Children's Registry, or 119 (the police line).
It is not enough to use fear as an excuse in these situations. While it would be naive to think that the population in general, and women in particular, are not now afraid of their shadows, we cannot allow such fear to paralyse us or to rob us of the ability to report the evils that we are aware of. After all, we are not expected to identify ourselves when we report a crime.
The reality of our complicity in our silence around the atrocities to which the most vulnerable in the society are exposed must be understood against our predisposition to whisper and gossip and generally, spread bad news to our friends and acquaintances.
I can well imagine some of the holier-than-thou citizens of the community in which Evan lived making the following remarks:
"Bwoy! You want to see di dutty place that the man and him pickney live in!"
"A long time mi no si di little bwoy. A wonder if him dead fi hungry by now?"
I wonder how many of these 'concerned citizens' offered this child a meal, especially at the times when the daddy was not around.
How many of them have ever tried in any meaningful way to reach out to a desperate family in the most desperate of situations?
Our responsibility
If our ancestors were right, we should not forget that it takes "the village to raise a child" and each one of us has a responsibility to maintain the values, social integrity and the ideology of a healthy village environment.
In a real sense, the village is more than a geographical space, it is a way of life which puts more emphasis on communal response rather than on crass individualism. 'Every man and woman for himself or herself' seems to be the order of the day. But the time has come for us to stand back and find new ways of rebuilding the village.
We need to truly be our brother's and sister's keepers. We need to begin to care for each other in different ways.
Jamaica certainly needs a new awareness of the need to rebuild communities, not with bricks and mortar, but with love and compassion for everyone, especially the helpless children among us.
Dr Glenda Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100505/lead/lead3.html
A short, sad life
Published: Wednesday May 5, 2010
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
Finding a five-year-old boy with his throat slashed would leave any community in Jamaica shocked, despite the numbness caused by the rampaging crime monster which has left more than 560 people dead across the island since the start of the year.
But for the people of Frankfield, Clarendon, the killing of Evan Sebastian Spencer is even more painful as they wrestle with the feeling that they could have done something to help him.
The residents yesterday painted a picture of squalor endured by Evan in the relatively short time he was alive.
They showed The Gleaner a dark and mouldy cellar in a partially abandoned building no more than seven feet by seven feet where Evan and his father lived.
The smelly, small area had no light, no running water and no way for fresh air to enter the room. It contained a sponge for a bed, a chest of drawers and precious little else by way of furniture.
"Sometimes him ... lock up in deh for days and the only thing you see was him little eyes peeking out from the crack at the bottom of the door ... " one resident told The Gleaner.
Driven to act
While other residents worried about Evan and quietly wondered how he was doing, Joan Mitchell's fears drove her to act.
"Last week Wednesday me sit at me stall and me say to me friend, 'A long time me no see the baby ... '," Mitchell said.
She said she called a district constable (DC) who was based at the nearby Frankfield Police Station and told him her concerns.
"The DC tell me say him get transfer to Spaldings but him send some other police ... .
"To be truthful, me did see the baby Thursday but that is the last day me would see him alive," Mitchell said as she almost burst into tears.
Other neighbours related similar stories of concern for the young boy.
Evan's mother died two years ago.
"Last month, for about two weeks ... the boy lock up inna the cellar," another clearly angry woman added.
Evan attended Frankfield Primary and Infant School where he was a pupil in the infant one class.
"Last month he was missing from school for a long time but, before that, he attended regularly," Heather Carr, a teacher, said as she pored over the register.
"He was such a loving child. When I passed him on the road in the mornings with his father catching water, he would say, 'Morning, Teacher' and not stopping until I heard," Carr added.
It was a similar story from a caregiver at the school who asked not to be named.
"Evan was quiet and well-mannered and, because he had a speech problem, most times he did not speak," the caregiver said.
Young Evan's body was found in the house he shared with his father in the heart of Frankfield about 2:30 Sunday morning.
Investigators have taken the father and another man into custody but, up to late yesterday, neither had been charged.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
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