Canada’s most notorious
By macleans.ca - Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 0 Comments
An exclusive poll reveals who Canadians consider the country’s worst criminals
Paul Irish/Getstock
Fame may be fleeting, but infamy endures. Karla Homolka recently came back into public view when journalist Paula Todd tracked her down in the Caribbean, revealing that the killer is now a mother of three. Around the same time, a controversial eight-month-long inquiry into the case of serial killer Robert Pickton wrapped up, with the families of the murdered women now waiting on the final report. In these ways and others, cases that grabbed headlines and shook the nation so many years ago never really go away.
Maclean’s has delved into its 107-year archive to refocus on some of the most intriguing and disturbing crime stories from our country’s history. As part of that special project, we asked Canadians to tell us who they consider to be the country’s worst criminals. It’s a short list of unspeakable horrors and unimaginable depravity, and in the end, the only difference is by degrees. Paul Bernardo and Homolka, convicted of abducting and killing two Ontario schoolgirls in the early 1990s, still loom large in the public imagination with 73 per cent of respondents to an exclusive Maclean’s/Angus Reid Public Opinion survey offering up their names. Pickton, the B.C. pig farmer found guilty in 2007 of the murders of six women, who once confessed to killing 43 more, was cited by 61 per cent. And Clifford Olson, who died in prison in 2011 while serving life sentences for the rapes and murders of 11 young people at the beginning of the 1980s, was identified by 44 per cent. Continue…
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Clifford Olson dies in Quebec hospital
By macleans.ca - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 5:06 PM - 7 Comments
B.C. serial killer was serving 11 life sentences
Clifford Olson, the notorious serial killer convicted of killing 11 children in British Columbia, died of cancer on Friday in a Quebec hospital, CTV reports. Olson, 71, known as “the Beast of B.C.,” was serving 11 consecutive life sentences for the 1981 murders of eight girls and three boys. The case sparked controversy after a deal was reached that had Olson reveal the location of his victims’ remains to police in exchange for $100,000.
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Cancer-stricken Clifford Olson reportedly near death
By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 12:51 PM - 3 Comments
Child killer may have days to live
Convicted child-killer Clifford Olson is dying of cancer, Vancouver radio station CKNW reported Wednesday. The mother of one of Olson’s victims told the station that Corrections Canada told her the man may have days to live. Olson is serving 11 concurrent life sentences. He pleaded guilty to a series of murders in B.C in 1981. Sharon Rosenfeldt, whose 16-year-old son was one of Olson’s victim, says she was told Olson has been transferred from prison to a hospital in Laval, Que.
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The endless feedback loop
By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 1:53 PM - 100 Comments
Jack Layton, asked during a post-QP scrum yesterday, comments on recent government moves in response to the likes of Graham James and Clifford Olson.
Well, it does seem to be policy-making by headlines and sensationalism. Of course a lot of Canadians I’m sure would have trouble with Mr. Olson getting payments while he’s in prison and so do we. But the bill has got to be looked at very, very carefully to see exactly what the Conservatives are up to here but they do appear to be making headlines by making policy based on headlines.
