| Advertisement |
TORONTO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A psychologist says the case of Canadian air force Col. Russell Williams, convicted of two murders, sexual assaults and stealing lingerie, is rare and strange. The lawyer for Williams entered guilty pleas to all charges in the small southeastern Ontario city of Belleville Monday, leading to an automatic sentence of 25 years in prison.
Advertisement
The 47-year-old career military man had been the commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton on the northern shore of Lake Ontario since the summer of 2009. The air base, the largest in Canada, is staffed by about 3,000 troops and 600 civilians and is a 2-hour-plus drive east of Toronto.
Williams is a pilot who shuttled the likes of British Queen Elizabeth, the prime minister and other government officials before being named base commander. He was widely viewed as a rising military star and posed for photos on the runway as Canadian troops deployed to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti in February.
However, months after he was promoted to the base leadership, the crimes began and no one near to him apparently would or could have linked him to them.
Intense media scrutiny of Williams portrays him as a man married to both his wife, Mary-Elizabeth Harriman, the associate executive director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and his military career.
In the ensuing intense media scrutiny, there has been no mention of Williams having friends.
He was convicted of killing two women, one of them a corporal who served as a flight attendant on many of his flights, as well as forcing two other victims to pose for pornographic photos after he broke into their homes. Additionally, he was charged with 61 counts of breaking and entering and theft, 11 counts of attempted breaking and entering and 10 counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offense.
That spate of activity puzzles Dr. Peter Hoaken, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, who specializes in criminal behavior. He has no involvement with the case but told United Press International in a telephone interview he was taken aback by the reported history.
"This is extremely rare to happen at this age," he said. "It's a very strange presentation."
Hoaken said while the term "psychopath" isn't officially included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by mental health professionals, the term is used in court and elsewhere.
He said the crimes committed and the associated behavior normally would have manifested much earlier than age 45.
Accordingly, UPI contacted the lead investigator of the case, Ontario Provincial Police Detective-Inspector Chris Nicholas, to inquire if the investigation into Williams' past would continue after his incarceration.
"Our team has not uncovered anything further to investigate," he told UPI in a telephone interview. "However, police agencies from all over (Canada) are still investigating open cases and are in touch with us."
Psychologist Hoaken said he could only speculate Williams was "very masterful at deceit and subterfuge" and knew how to hide things well.
"To have excelled at university, shot up the hierarchy in the military and then have this develop late in life … from my experience I have never heard of a similar case," Hoaken said.
Boxes of Williams' victims' stolen underwear and bathing suits were found neatly cataloged in the garage of his Ottawa home, police said.
He was taken for questioning in February when a police roadblock matched unique tire treads of his sport utility vehicle to those found at one of the victim's homes.
He faces an automatic sentence of 25 years in prison and is expected to be released from the Canadian Forces for unsatisfactory service or conduct within a month, a military official told UPI.
Regardless of his conviction, Williams will be entitled to his military pension, Cmdr. Hubert Genest told UPI in a telephone interview. He said the Canadian military pension system grants 2 percent matching government contributions for each year of service, meaning Williams would be entitled to $60,000 per year after age 60.
As conservative media strove to stoke public indignation over the pension issue last week, Genest told UPI the pension laws weren't just about a convicted soldier.
"The pension also benefits the family," he said.
Williams and his wife have no children.
