Welcome to my Crime and Justice blog! I am a 19 year old criminal justice student at the University of Winnipeg. I advocate for prisoners' rights, human rights, equality and criminal justice/prison system reforms.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Colonel accused of murder, sexual assault attempts suicide


KINGSTON, Ont. — Russell Williams, the former commander of CFB Trenton now charged with killing two women, made an elaborate and desperate bid to kill himself over the Easter weekend.
 
Sources at the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ont., tell the Kingston Whig-Standard that at roughly 5 a.m. Saturday, the accused serial sex killer wrote a suicide note in mustard on the wall of his segregation cell.

The note was a farewell message saying his affairs are now in order and his feelings are too much to bear.

Aware that he was being closely watched, Williams, 47, jammed the lock in his cell door with cardboard and foil in an attempt to prevent staff from getting into his cell quickly and stopping him, sources said.

Using a cardboard toilet roll stuffed with more foil and cardboard, Williams stuffed it down his throat in an apparent bid to suffocate himself, sources said.

Staff were able to bust into the cell and rescue Williams.

The incident has raised staff fears that Williams won’t survive until his next court appearance on April 29.

He is now on 24-hour, one-on-one suicide watch inside the jail, sources said.

It appears Williams had rehearsed his attempt the day before.
Sources said Williams jammed a pencil into the lock of his cell door on Friday to test how long it would take staff to unjam it. Maintenance staff arrived and opened the door within 15 minutes.

Williams’ bizarre jailhouse behaviour has been noted before.

When he first entered the provincial facility immediately after his arrest, Williams acted as though he was a prisoner of war, only giving authorities his name, rank and serial number.

At that time, Williams was assessed by a psychiatrist and deemed a possible suicide risk. His demeanour has been described as "cocky," but "vacant."

Williams is accused of killing Jessica Lloyd, 27, of Belleville, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37, of Brighton. Comeau worked at CFB Trenton.

Williams is also accused of two home invasion-sex assaults on two women in the Tweed, Ont., area in September 2009.

Reached by phone Sunday, Williams’ lawyer Michael Edelson said he had "no comment" on reports that Williams had attempted suicide.

Colonel Williams on suicide watch in prison

No comments:

Post a Comment