who killed theresa?

I know Dr. John Butt. He is a good man:

The man who committed a random sex killing that shook Calgary in 1993 is seeking temporary passes from prison.

Luc Yoland Gregoire abducted 22-year-old Lailanie Silva as she worked at a northeast Calgary convenience store, raped and strangled her before dumping her body in a ditch.

Gregoire, who is now 51 years old, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25-years at an undisclosed federal prison in his native Quebec.

Although Gregoire has not reached the point when he’s eligible to apply for early release, the Parole Board of Canada said he is seeking escorted temporary absences.

Corrections legislation allows offenders temporary passes — under escort or unescorted — prior to earning parole.

Most decisions regarding escorted release are left up to the warden of the institution, but offenders under life sentence must have their cases referred to the parole board for a hearing.

A date for Gregoire’s hearing hasn’t been set, said Louis-Philippe Moisan, a parole board spokesman in Quebec.

Privacy regulations prevent officials from revealing details of Gregoire’s application, though they will be disclosed at his hearing.

Generally speaking, escorted absences are granted to inmates for compassionate reasons, family visits, or personal development and community service designed to prepare them for release.

Silva was washing the windows of a 7-Eleven store on Rundlehorn Drive N.E. when Gregoire grabbed her shortly after midnight on May 3, 1993.

A passerby found her body in a ditch along 80th Avenue N.E. in an area that was at the edge of the city back then.

Dr. John Butt, who was the chief medical examiner at the time, testified he’d rarely seen a murder as brutal as Silva’s.

“I’ve never seen sexual injuries like this before,” Butt told the court.

“These are very forceful injuries.”

Gregoire strangled Silva with such force that it crushed her larynx and pushed it to the back of her spine, Butt testified.

Gregoire was a former member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment who was working as a roofer in Calgary after leaving the military. A co-worker of Gregoire’s later recalled that the stocky ex-soldier easily handled 35-kilogram bundles of shingles and worked for hours without stopping.

Silva and three of her siblings had arrived in Canada from the Philippines a few months before the killings, and their parents were days from joining them in Calgary.

Trained as a teacher in her native country, Silva was working at 7-Eleven to save money to return to school.

The killing touched off intense criticism of authorities when it was revealed Gregoire was on supervised release and should have been returned to prison for breaching his conditions prior to killing Silva.

A Correctional Service of Canada report later found that a clerical error on Gregoire’s parole records mistakenly said his supervision ended in 1990 — not 1993.

As a result, Gregoire was released on bail twice after being arrested by Calgary police: first for impaired driving in January 1993, and again in three months later when he was charged with assaulting a prostitute.

In both cases, no one notified the parole office of the new charges, which would have likely resulted in him being returned to prison for violating his conditions.

Gregoire also served a two-year prison sentence in after he was convicted in 1981 of forcible confinement and indecent assault for attacking a woman outside a Quebec nightclub the previous year.

Deux jours après la découverte du corps de Jolène Riendeau, les policiers de Montréal ont arrêté ce matin un homme de 40 ans, soupçonné d’avoir assassiné la fillette de 10 ans et demi, portée disparue depuis avril 1999.

Il s’agit d’un développement majeur dans cette mystérieuse affaire, qui a tenu la province en haleine durant douze ans. Le suspect est bien connu des milieux policiers et a été arrêté ce matin à Montréal. Il est présentement interrogé au quartier général de la section des Crimes majeurs, dans l’est de la métropole. «On ne parle pas d’accusations pour le moment, mais on espère qu’on va vous annoncer plus tard qu’il sera accusé», a indiqué le sergent Ian Lafrenière, du Service de police de la Ville de Montréal.

Déterminés à coincer le suspect à tout prix, les policiers font preuve d’une extrême prudence dans cette affaire et laissent couler bien peu d’informations, pour éviter de faire déraper les efforts de longue haleine des enquêteurs. Impossible donc pour l’instant de connaître l’identité du suspect et de savoir s’il existe un lien entre lui et la famille de Jolène Riendeau.

Pour les mêmes raisons, les policiers n’ont toujours pas indiqué où et quand le corps de la fillette a été retrouvé. Le secret entourant ces rebondissements majeurs est tel, que même la famille de la victime a été tenue dans l’ignorance.

Il y a deux jours, les policiers montréalais ont créé une onde de choc en annonçant avoir retrouvé le corps de Jolène Riendeau. Ils avaient annoncé du même souffle suivre une piste sérieuse et avoir un suspect dans leur mire. Selon nos sources, les restes de Jolène Riendeau se trouvaient depuis très longtemps à l’endroit où ils ont été découverts. La fillette de dix ans et demi serait morte dans les heures ou les jours qui ont suivi sa disparition.

Le jour de sa disparition, le 12 avril 1999, Jolène Riendeau venait de préparer le souper avec son père dans leur résidence de la rue de Montmorency, à Pointe-Saint-Charles. Pour la récompenser, son père lui a donné de l’argent pour aller s’acheter des croustilles dans un dépanneur voisin, rue Charlevoix. Elle n’a jamais été revue.

En mai 2005, la police avait entrepris de nouvelles fouilles après qu’un détenu eut confié à son compagnon de cellule qu’il avait tué Jolène et avait jeté son corps dans le canal Lachine, près de la taverne Magnan. On avait abaissé le niveau de l’eau, inspecté le canal à l’aide d’un échosondeur numérique et des caméras, sans résultat. Au fil des ans, les policiers ont reçu des centaines d’informations du public -plus de 1500- dont la plupart étaient fausses. «Malheureusement, dans des histoires comme celles-là, on a des gens qui sont de bonne foi et qui veulent nous aider, mais on a aussi d’autres qui veulent de l’attention ou qui ont carrément des problèmes de santé mentale», a précisé l’agent Lafrenière.

Dire qu’il s’agit d’une semaine riche en émotions pour la famille de Jolène Riendeau serait un euphémisme. Hier, la famille et les proches s’affairaient à organiser des funérailles, possiblement dans une église de Pointe-Saint-Charles, où la «petite Riendeau» est bien connue.

La mère de la fillette de 10 ans, Dolorès Soucy, a indiqué hier qu’elle souhaite prendre possession du corps avant de rencontrer les médias. Mme Soucy et les siens n’ont jamais cessé de chercher leur fille. Il y a un an, la mère de Jolène se trouvait même à la tête d’une marche, soulignant le dixième anniversaire de sa disparition. Mme Soucy allait également porter chaque année des avis de recherche au dépanneur où sa fille a été vue la dernière fois.

Un peu plus tôt cette semaine, la directrice de l’organisme Enfant-Retour, qui sert d’intermédiaire avec les journalistes, a résumé les épreuves difficiles vécues par la famille de Jolène. «C’est un choc pour les parents et la famille proche. Ils sont anéantis, même s’ils s’attendaient à un tel scénario depuis un certain temps», a expliqué la directrice générale de l’organisme, Pina Arcamone.

Mme Arcamone a accompagné la famille à une rencontre avec les policiers, aux aurores hier. «La police n’a pas donné de détails sur la découverte du corps, mais elle a simplement confirmé à 100% que les restes retrouvés étaient ceux de Jolène», a expliqué Mme Arcamone. «La police dit avoir une piste sérieuse qui mènera à des accusations. On veut vraiment voir le responsable derrière les barreaux», a-t-elle ajouté.

Plus que jamais, ce souhait risque enfin d’être exaucé.

A man arrested as a suspect in the death of 10-year-old Jolène Riendeau was being questioned by investigators Friday evening, several hours after his arrest in one of the most high-profile cases to be handled by Montreal police.

The question of whether the man, described only as a Montrealer in his 40s, will be charged Saturday with causing the girl’s death or walk away a free man remained unanswered Friday.

The man was arrested in the morning and brought to the east-end headquarters of the Montreal police majorcrimes squad in the Place Versailles shopping mall. He was questioned as a suspect in Jolène’s death two days after police revealed they located the remains of the girl who went missing in Point St. Charles on April 12, 1999.

Also on Friday, Jolène’s parents, Dolores Soucy and René Riendeau, dealt with the certainty of their daughter’s death as they began to plan a fitting tribute to a girl whose unsolved disappearance stuck in the minds of many for a dozen years.

Pina Arcamone, head of Quebec’s Missing Children’s Network, said Friday that even though Jolène’s parents moved away from the Point long ago they plan to hold Jolène’s funeral in the neighbourhood where she was raised and last seen alive.

After she was reported missing in 1999, a friend of Jolène’s told police she saw her eating chips outside a convenience store on Charlevoix St., six blocks from her home. It was the last time she was seen alive.

“They are focused. They know the tribute they want to pay to their daughter. They want to make this a very special occassion for Jolène and the many people who supported them over the past 12 years,” Arcamone said.

“It is very important and they are taking pride in what they are doing for their daughter. Some parents go in different directions after a tragedy like this. But this is a family that has remained strong in the past 12 years.”

Arcamone said Jolène’s parents were informed the provincial coroner might release her remains on Monday. If that happens, a funeral in Point St. Charles will likely be held later in the week. Arcamone, who has been helping the family deal with their loss, said Jolène’s parents remained resilient despite what they were put through in the space of three days.

“This is a family that has been searching for the past 12 years. They’ve clung to the hope that their daughter was alive. And within the last 72 hours it has been overwhelming. Wednesday was very, very difficult for the family and on Thursday they were making the funeral arrangements. Then news came (Friday) morning of an arrest in the case. So it has been overwhelming,” she said. “Through it all, I have to say, they are keeping really strong. They are very courageous.”

The Gazette has learned the suspect is a 47-year-old man who was charged in 2001, in Montreal court, with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl. A year later, he pleaded guilty to sexual assault, sexual touching and inviting a minor to touch him in a sexual manner. He was sentenced to a 20-month prison term and 3 years of probation. As part of the same case, he was convicted of assaulting an adult woman and received the same sentence.

In 2009, he was charged, in Montreal court, in two separate cases that are still pending. In one, he is charged with assaulting a woman in 2009. In the other, he is alleged to have threatened, forcibly confined and sexually assaulted a woman in 2007. He was granted a release, shortly after he was charged, by agreeing to follow a series of conditions.

The Montreal police tried to keep a lid on information getting out while the man was questioned Friday, a matter Sgt. Ian Lafrenière described as “crucial to the investigation.” Lafrenière said Jolène’s remains were found in Montreal but wouldn’t specify where or when.

“It is a jagged edge for us,” he said. “We don’t want to compromise a court appearance. That’s why we are keeping some information to ourselves. Honestly, I know I’m holding back a lot of information. In 12 years as a spokesperson I think it’s the first time that I’m doing it (to this degree). But in this case it is so important. We don’t want to miss this one. We’ve been investigating this for 12 years.”

Lafrenière said the man arrested Friday was not the person who led police to Jolène’s remains. “What we can say is that it is someone who is wellknown to the police. Earlier in the week, when we announced we had found the body and that the case was a homicide, we said we were on a serious trail. That trail led us to this man. We hope this leads to him being arraigned.”

Lafrenière said another reason why police are keeping a tight lid on information is that investigators must be able to differentiate between someone who knows intimate details about the homicide and someone who is merely repeating what they might have heard through the media.

In the Jolène case, he said, false tips caused the police to search the Lachine Canal twice and to use large construction equipment, a few years ago, to break up cement at an undisclosed location.