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Parliment Buildings
Victoria, B.c,
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. Tuesday, April 7, 984 .

Legislative Library

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25 cenls

Who says there isn’t an Easter Bunny? Kelly and Scott
Gingles ‘of 4931 Cooper Drive will cert

- otherwise. The recent storm on Sunday brought this tree:
down right‘on top of the rabbit hutch, while the rabbits

Established 1909...

ainly tell you

were inside. Fortunately,

“neither Pinky,

Volume 78

" quality used parts from

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) — Mr.
Justice Harry McKay called David
William. Shearing’ a cold-blooded
murderer and sentenced him in
British Columbla Supreme Court
today to six concurrent life een-
tences with no eligibility for parole
for 25 years. ;

McKay alao prohibited Shearing,
who pleaded guilty Monday ‘to six
counts of second-degree murder in
the slaughter of six members of the
Johnson and Bentley families 20
months. ago, from possessing a
firearm for five years after any
parole is granted.

He also recommended the parole
board prohi mat him’ from ever
possessing a firearm... 9 5.

McKay said Shearing, - who
celebrated his 25th birthday six
days ago, had committed “‘a
slaughter f six innocent peopl
slaughter a: le."

“He | devastated: three
generations of a single family. The.

2 Bentleys were. enjoying their

retirement, the Johnsons were in

| the prime of their life, raising a

E family and the Johnson girls had

held by Kelly;

(left) or Thumper, held by. Scbtt (right) were injured and’

smile.

the kids can look forward to: celebrating

Easter with a

- LONDON (AP) — A gunman
fired a submachine-gun from: a
window of the Libyan Embassy

Mt, Libyan. studenta and aaid the embassy fired back in:**-Libyan

policewoman..was' killed. and 11
students: were injured, Scotland
Yard said: a ot
Police rushed to the embassy, on
fashionable St. James's Square.a
few blocks from Buckingham
Palace, and sealed off surrounding
atreets. A dozen marksmen were
dropped by helicopter and a
busload .of blue-bercted soldi
moved into position. Se
"A short time after the mid-
morning shooting, a man emerged
from the embasay and surren-
dered. But officials said they did
not know if he was the gunman.
_A staffer of the Libyan news

agency JANA said the man Was.
journalist Salah Najim, head ‘of:

JANA’s London bureau. The
staffer, who would not give her
name, said:. “He was there

covering what was happening gid

_ as he came out of thé embassy, ‘he
was arrested,” ‘

‘ Dozens of police, many wearing

" bulletproof vests, . kept guns
trained on the building from behind
trees, lamp posts and police cars.

About 4% hours after the
shooting, police spokesman Tim
Mahoney told reporters: “We have

‘ eatabliahed contact with people
inside the premises.” _
» He would not elaborate.

ands two

In Tripoli, Libyan radio reported
police and “agents of British in-
telligence” stormed the: building.

J

But: witnesses descriptions. and-
videotapes showed ‘the’ students
were demonstrating peacefully
when they were fired upon. - -

The shooting was the latest in a
string of attacks on Libyan exiles
opposed to Khadafy. Last month,
five bombs in London and ‘Man-

. chester injured 28 _ people.

Authorities arrested three Libyan
students, deported five other
Libyans and warned Libyan
diplomats that Britain would not
tolerate such: attacks. - :

.Those wounded in today’s attack ‘

were taken. to. Westminster
Hospital, where the policewoman
serlously injured
demonstrators. underwent
emergency surgery. The
policewoman, Yvonne Fletcher, 25,
later died, a police spokesman
Home. Secretary Leon Britian
was Co-ordinating the police and
army action around the Libyan
Embassy. Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, in Portugal on
an official visit, was being kept
informed of . developments, her
London office said. . .
Witnesses said about 70: anti-
Khadafy Libyan students, many of

' them wearing masks to avold

4s Mdefenice : agalast:.- e-mest-- a
horrible terrorist action.” ~ ;

Demonstrators wounded, policew

. Square'and walked acrogs it tothe:

behing. barricades. Across. the
‘street, two groups of 20 counter- |

demonstrators also were hemmed
in by officers.
Richard Bowden, $1, a saleam
who used to work in Saudi Arabia,
said the anti-Khadafy students
were shouting in Arabic ''Khadafy

_ hangs students” when the shooting :

began.

“There were no sereams,""
Bowden said. “People just started -
falling. I don't -think. anyone :

realized what was happening.”

. Freelance journalist — Brian
Cartmell said he -heard “what
‘seemed like a firecracker," But
then “I saw , bullets”. hit’ -the
Pavement and’ realized: it’ was

small arms. fire.”

“The policewoman, 15 feet in

front of me,. crumpled ‘to the
ground, clutching . her Jower
stomach, {Her) hat rolled slowly

into the gutter while three of.four. -

officers, shouting
past me," he said.

“My God,’ ran

Bowden said there were about 10°

. shots, which “‘appeared’to come

from a window on the ground -

floor,”

After police sealed off the.
square, 4 man enierged from ‘the ©

front door of the embassy. "He was
instantly told by police to He on the

oman killed

Hentitication, ‘assembled *in ‘the

vement,"’ sald a witness.”
@-man was handcuffed and
‘away ina policé car.

4” Modi: the square? ambulances :
‘stood by and police marksmen with: ~::-Shearing,. a tall’ reddish-haired ...

sheltered behind.trees. -
Several : buildings, - including
- British Columbia's government

automatic pistols and flak jackets

office, were evaciiated during the ~

' crisis, The provincial office, which

‘handles trade and other matters, 1x
located in a-butlding which backs
on to St. James's Square.

._ A man who answered the phone
at the Libyan Embassy declined
comment mine shooting. “sorry,
we ™.don’t w anything about
that,” he said.

. Claudette Williams, who works
near the embassy, told a London
radio station she saw the students
gather in the square, then begin

. Marching toward the embassy.
“We heard a round of machine:
gun fire... and wesaw a student to

the right of the building fall, and,

then’ of course everything went
mad,” she snid. :
Advertising executive Dave
Robson, also interview on the radio
station, said a policeman - was
brought into his office in shock,
. Spparently because he was ‘the
. boyfriend’ of the wourded
‘policewoman.
Former foreign secretary Dayi
Owen said-in a BBC interview that
the Libyan Embassy was probably
” immune from being assaulted by
police because of its diplomatic
status. : ;

High school bus schedule could. change

by RALPH RESCHKE. |
Herald Staff Writer

' . TERRACE— Terrace studénts
_ aitending Caledonia Senior
'- Secondary School and Skeéna

Junior Secomlary School could gee

a: change in the way they get to
‘school in: the coming school year,

1984-85, If they've been riding: the

‘School huses that. are serving :the

same-routes the municipal transit
system is, yaks

Vern Rozee, Assistant Secretary-

Treasurer and a member of School

. District 68's transportation

‘LONDON (AP) — Michael
Bettaney, the first officer of
Britain's MI counter-esplonage
agency convicted of apying since it
was founded in 1000, has begun a

2-year prison sentence, but the

furore over the cage continues.

Members. of Parliament tom-
plained about security lapses, and
news reports today said Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher. is
furious and has ordered an urgent
investigation by Lord Bridge, an
appellate judge who heads. the
Security Commission.

Bettaney, 34, who sought to spy -

for the Soviet Union but was
caught, was convicted Moiday
after a five-day trial. During: the

atl

committee, said that ‘the school

‘ . district currently has several bug

runs. operating, bringing in.
‘children from Rosswood, Lakelse
Lake, New Remo, Old Remo,
Thornhill, and basteally any
children located further than 2%
miles from their school; -

He says'that while there was
Space available on the buses, the
school district has been making a
point of picking up Students until

- the bus was full.

A problem has developed over
the recent months, however, in
that more and more students were

‘Spy begins sentence

trial, it was revealed that he was.
Promoted in 1962 within two
months of a magistrates’ court
conviction for being drunk in a
London street, .

A policeman testified then that
he found Bettaney babbling: ‘'I am
8 spy, I am a epy.” an

If his senior officers knew of the

drunk charge, ‘they have proved:
_ themselves unfit to hold their of-

fives, and if they didn’t know, why
not?” said Conservative MP
Anthony Beavmont-Dark.

_ "Tam very disturbed about the
‘I'm agpy’ incident,” said Edward
Taylor, a Tory who heads his
party's home affairs committee in
the House of Commons.

coming to the bus stops, hoping to
catch a ride, but ending up belng
turned away from the bus, due to
lack of space. ;

Rozee feels that because the
students are within the prescribed
walk limits, they should either walk

"or utilize the . municipal - transit
system, ye

“What the school district plans to

do is establish the walk limits,” -

says. Rozee, “by school and by
zone, within the municipal boun-
‘daries.”” ~. ; ;
- What that means for the next
school year.is that any students
Within the walk’ limit for their
particular school, will have to walk
or take the city bus in order to
attend school,
He says that in the area's being
serviced by the municipal transit
- System, the school bus service will
be brought under review: by ‘the
"school board, and’ there will be-
attempts made hy the board to
reduce the numbers of stops the
school buses make within the
muncipal boundaries, .

the school bus pickup routes are
identical to the runs the municipal
transit system makes and he feels
that costs for school bussing could
be reduced by having students
utilize the city bus or walk to
school. ; :

By eliminating some of the city
runs, the school board would be

Rozee says that in many cases,

better able to service the areas
that do require a bus service,
namely the outlying areas.

As far as costs go for the new
system, the school board ad-
ministrater stated that in
discussions with the municipality
of Terrace (which have yet to be
finalized), a figure of $10. per
‘student per month has been
suggested, .

This would break down to a cost
of 25 cents per ride, and Rozee says
that preliminary discussions with

the city have indicated that
students would be able to use the
passes tore than twice a day,

School board trustee, Rusty
Ljungh says that even though the

provincial government has set out _

guidelines for the schoo! boards to
base their decisions on, ‘‘you can't
just put a blanket on the limits and
declare that everyone living within
twa miles or three miles of school
will have to walk." '

She realizes there are areas

within the walk limits for both
Thornhill. and Terrace that just
aren't safe for children to walk and
therefore the school board will be
studying all aspects of the problem
when they make a decision on the
walk Ikmita.

She thinks that in the long run,
the municipal bus service will
benefit because a regular clientele
will be built up by studenta uullizing

. the transit system,

’ pleasant, shy and.

their whole lives ahead‘of them.”
‘McKay said the killings were a
tragedy anda waste, .
. “Abd for what? The only motive
was that he possibly coveted some
of their possessions.” -
HAD ANOTHER SIDE
The judge said ‘the letters filed
with the court supporting Shearing
painted a picture of him as a
setisitive man,
McKay said he had to consider that
‘side of Shearing's personality but
there is another side. .. -

- “Obviously there is another side -
to David Shearing that his familly

and friends are unaware of which

dangerous man.”

. Mmakes,.in- my’ mind “a. very

‘man whith a mustache and
prominent nose, stood: motionless
and showed no emotion as McKay

‘imposed tha maximum sentence,

Brian Bentley, 30, of North
Delta, B.C. the Bentleys’ son, said
he was satisfied with the sentence.

“That's all he can get. It's the
maximum and It’s never been done

’ before.

“It’s over, we can start putting it
d us.” .

McKay was told that Shearing
signed statements Nov. 19 and
Nov. 20, 1963, outlining how he
murdered the six members of the
Johnson and Bentley families. The
families were camping at Wells
Gray . Provinclat Park
kilometres north of here,

Crown counsel Robert Hunter
read from the statements that
sometime between Aug. 6 and 13,
1982, Shearing sneaked up on the
campsite one night and watched
the two families. | :

. The next night, he returned with
a .22¢alibre rifle, came around the
Bentley's truck and gunned down
the. four — altting wed a ite
campfire. Shearing rt
and Jacqueline Johnson of
Kelowna, B.C., and Jacqueline's
parents, George and Edith Bentley
of Port Coquitlam, B.C. ;
Shearing then went to the tent a
nd shot the Johnson’s two
daughters, Janet, 13, and Karen,
il

He put the bodies in Johnson's
‘car and hid it near his home. He
then went back for the camper and
parked it with the car.

The next night, he drove the car
to.a remote spot in the park and set
it aflame using gasoline. The car
and what remained of. the bodies

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Shearing not eligible
for parole for 25

brutal, cold-blooded .

150

years

were found in September 1982.
‘A couple of nights later, after

taking some things the truck
including tapenfoconnen a
camera and a boat and moter,

Shearing drove the truck to remote
Spay near @ ravine and burned it as
well. ;

WRONG TRACK
The truck was not. discovered

' until October 1983. Interviews with

Clearwater residents led police to
believe that two French-Canadian
men were driving it, The pair were
spotted in North Battleford, Sask.,
and then police decided to drive a

camper from British
Columbia to Quebec in hope of

more information.

"Police also hada re-enactment of

the crime shown on television .

across Canada in an attempt to get
more leads.

” “About 20 relatives and friends-cf
the Johnsons and Bentleys sat in
the first two rows of the 76-year-old

_ Courtroom and listened as Kaatz -
read a letter from Shearing's

brother, Greg,
Greg, a former deputy sheriff
and corrections officer, described

‘hig brother as hard-working,

sensitive, -- jonate and
always Willing td help serene in
need

In the letter, Greg asked: “What
happened to this young fellow who
was kind and considerate?”
STARTED DRINKING

Greg said that thelr father
developed Jung cancer in 1981 and
David “drank hard and worked
hard trying not to realize that Dad
would soon not be around.”

The father died In March 1982 of

’ a heart attack suffered during his
_ final chemotherapy treatment: :
Greg admitted his brother had _

“some minor brushes with the

law”. and. had been- convicted of...
‘possession of marten ti*1980
and fined $50 as well as convicted

of impaired driving in 1983' and
fined $500. - ph
But he said his brother is filled
with remorse about the killings and
“is at pain with himself.”
Other — supporting
Sescribed Shearing as shy, con-
siderate, well-réad and of above

average intelligence, .

Shearing finished second in his
mechanics class at Cariboo College
in Kamloops ‘and at the Hime of his
arrest was taking business
Management COUTsES by
correspondence from an American
university,

NO ANGUISH

Asked how the family. felt at-
tending the trial, George and Edith
Bentley's son, Brian sald they felt
no anguish. “Being this involved,
‘we just wanted to set it firat hand."

Earlier in the day, Hunter said
police were told last falt — more
than a year afler the murders ~
that Shearing was asking if it

- would be possible to fix up a 1981

Ford camper truck and patch a
bullet hole. .

That lead RCMP in November
1983 to question Shearing, who had
moved from Clearwater, B.C., on
the boundary of the park to
Tumbler Ridge in northeastern
B.C. to look for a job,

They also had some evidence
that in 1980, Shearing had driven
over a man Who had passed out on
the road and failed to report the
accident to police. The man had a
blood-alcohol! level of .24 and was
killed by the accident,

Although Shearing admitted to
the hit-and-run during the in-
terviews, he has not been charged.

Newfoundland leaders
cynical over sale

HALIFAX (CP) — Newfoun-
diand leaders reacted with
cynicism Monday to the an-
nouncement - that Eastern
Provincial Airways has been sold
to CP Air, with EPA's majority
shareholder, Ha Steele,
pocketing millions of dollars in the

CP Alr bought EPA and its
subsidiary, Air Maritime, for $67
million, of which $20 million went
to Steele, EPA’s president.

Steele said CP Air has assumed
about #47 milllon of EPA's debts.
and will have to spend about $200
million over the next three years to
do various things, including buying
new airplanes,

EPA will remain separate from
CP Alr. and its jogo will stay the
aame.

Steele, a Newfoundlander who
took over the Atlantic regional
airline in the mid-1970s, has been
attacked frequently
Newfoundland politiclana aver bie

decision to move EPA's head office
to Halifax from Gander, Nfld.
Premier ‘Brian Peckford end
Gander Mayor Doug eppard
denounced the purchase, . saying

Steele moved. to Halifax - only
because CP Air insisted on fit as a
prelude to the takeover, itt

A Steele, declaring it felt
good to bose $20 million in his
jeans, denied the allegations. He
said it-was a business transaction
and nothing else.

EPA and CP fir signed a
working agreement last year to co-
ordinate schedules on some flights
and to share equipment and per-
sonnel

“T think there was no way that
CP would buy out EPA while they
were still In Gander because of the
expensive move that would be
involved," Mayor Sheppard sald in
an interview. “Once they got Mr,
Steele to move, of course, that
cleared the way for them for the
takeover." .

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