Montreal Police negligence lead to Katherine Hawkes death

After much thought – and assistance from others – I’ve finally been able to piece this through:

Recall that Katherine Hawkes was murdered September 20th, 1977 at the Val Royal train station in the Cartierville area of Montreal.  The night of the murder her assailant called the police twice around 10:35 pm and left the following two messages (click here for details):

First message:

“I attacked a woman at the corner of Bois Franc and Henri Bourassa. In the bushes to the North West side… Hurry sir, I’m afraid she might die. Thank you.”

Second message:

“Yes, hello, I attacked a woman at the corner of Henri Bourassa and Grenet… Grenet… in Ville Saint Laurent, in the bushes, at the North West corner. Do you understand?  I think you understand well, Sir. At the corner of Grenet and Henri Bourassa. At Ville Saint Laurent, In the bushes at the North West corner.”

Operator: “The woman is still there?”

 “Thank you.”

 “Hurry sir, I’m afraid she might die” 

This means Katherine Hawkes was no doubt alive when the first call was made. The autopsy indicates that Hawkes died from a combination of her wounds and exposure to the cold. The beating made her vulnerable, but hypothermia killed her, and that could have been avoided if police had responded with diligence instead of leaving Katherine Hawkes exposed to the elements all night long.  

There was a chance to save Katherine Hawkes.  Police waited 20 hours before responding, and Katherine Hawkes died.

This is no doubt the reason the Montreal police removed the tape from their website.