oS ferent versions of the same event

Inside investigations

He calls himself a puzzler but he may well be a criminal’s worst enemy. Corporal Hal Vousden gives a lesson ¢ on crime scene investigation.

By SARAH 4. ZIMMERMAN CORPORAL HAL Vousden loves a good puzzle.

Whether it’s crosswords, jig saws, mind teaser puzzles or in- vestigating evidence at a crime

. Scene, the Terrace RCMP officer loves the challenge of piecing

-Clues together.

——""*Tguess I'm a puzzler,” he says, “Having a natural penchant for that kind of thing lends to my leaning toward that type of police work as well.” ~~ Vousden is one of three RCMP members who make up the fore- nsic identification section housed deep within the Terrace detach- ment building.

~Vousden, Set. Derek Stein- haeusser and Cpl. Mike La-

Marche serve seven northwest detachments including New Aiyansh, Smithers, Kitimat, the Hazeltons, Houston, Granisle and Terrace.

-» An identification specialist’s ‘duties include collecting, photo- graphing and preserving physicai evidence from crime scenes. ~ In general, palice deal with two types of evidence when in- vestigating a crime, Vousden

Says.

Firstly there’s witness evi- dence — what witnesses see, hear, taste, smell or feel ~ and second-

ly, physical evidence.

Because it’s not unusual for

investigators to hear several dif-

from witnesses, physical evi-

CORPORAL Hal Vousden demonstrates how fingerprints c can be lifted off objects such as this glass container. He’s one of three forensic identification specialists based out of the Terrace RCMP detachment. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

body. Vousden soon realized the marking was in fact a series of

into the man’s Flesh,

“Sometimes we can find marks on the bedy or cuts that match the undercarriage of the vehicle,” Cpl. Vousden says.

Vousden called in another spe- cialist to consult on the case. Through tracing the physical evi- dence it was determined the mark- ings were part of an 11-digit serial number from the transmission of the suspect vehicle.

Forensic identification special- ists go through a long training pro- cess including a two month train- ing program in Ottawa followed by a one-year apprenticeship period.

Once that practical training is over, an apprentice faces a cerlifi- cation panel made up of seasoned veterans who question the officer and conduct a mock trial based on an actual case the person has in- vestigated, Vousden explains.

The ability to communicate the facts accurately in a court setting is crucial to becoming, certified.

“It’s a big and difficult process and it has to be,” says Vousden about the training period. “My evi- dence can put a guy in jail.”

Vousden has given expert testimony in more than 50 differ- ent court cases from St. Albert, Alberta to Tallahassee, Florida.

One of those trials included presenting testimony at the spring 2002 trial of Terrace’s Christopher Alexander.

‘dence becomes very important.

numbers which had been bruised -

“The thing about physical evi- dence is it can assist in the un- derstanding of a crime scene and

‘sort out which story makes sense,” he says.

’ Physical evidence serves a number of purposes including pla- cing a suspect at a crime scene, placing a victim to the proximity

_.Of a crime scene and verifying

- the credibility of a story.

Corporal Vousden investigated one case an Vancouver Island in

“the early 1990s that involved two ‘neighbours who had a long history of not getling along.

- A report came in that one of the men had shot a .22 calibre bullet | ‘through | ‘the window of his neighbour’ 5 home.

The gun wielding man told po- lice he was walking across his neighbour’s yard when a bear came out of the woods behind the house, Holding his gun at waist height, he said he turned and

'’.. fired a shot from the hip ~ acci-

dentally hitting the window.

By using various techniques to recreate the trajectory of the bul- let, the physical evidence discre- dited the man’s story. The evi- dence showed in order for the bullet to travel in the fashion it

break and enter.

Vousden looked for character- istics on the tread mark that might match the suspect’s own shoes, Those markings, calied accidental characteristics, include cracks or wear spots that differentiate shoes

“The thing | personally like about physical evi- dence is it doesn’t lie to me."

did, the gun would have had to be fired from shoulder height. “The thing I personally like

about physical evidence is. il . Sone tiny’ piece of glass."

AE, you ‘re not, a puzzler, the” “detail in'ident can drive people

doesn’t lie to me,” Vousden says.

Much of the work Vousden and , ””

his cohorts do involves tooking to the smallest details of a crime scene to make the connection be- tween a suspect and the crime. In another case Vousden worked on, a partial shoe tread imprint was found on a Scm long shard of glass at the scene of a

of the same make from one an-

other after the shoe is worn. Vousden managed to find 12 of

the tiny, unique markings | on that

crazy,” laughs Vousden. Another case saw Yousden in- vestigate a hit and run.

_ In examining the body of the man who had been killed, Vous- den came across what initially looked like a taltoo on the man’s

On December 9, 1998 Alexan- der brutally stabbed his neighbour Linda LeFrane to death. Alexander was convicted of second degree murder by a 12-person jury and is serving a life sentence with elig- ibility for parole after seven years.

Having the ability to deal with crime scenes which can involve gruesome situations is necessary to being an ident specialist.

“We also sec the ugly side of a lot of cases,” Vousden says. “You have to be able to deal with dead bodies, body parts, smells.”

That’s where a sense of fratern-

ity among ident Specialists comes ..

"into play, Vousden says. On.tough cases they: consult’ and’ §uppolt one “another.

“There’s a collaborative men- tality in the section,” Vousden Says.

“There’s a sense of camarader- ie, brotherhood, coHaboration — whatever you want to call it ~ that is comforting.”

Lab results take a long time

- MARLENE MeLean is still waiting for some ‘answers as to what caused the unexpected death of her four-year-old daughter Vicki. Vicki McLean died July ‘t at Mills Memor- ‘jal Hospital after repeated visits to the emer- gency room in the preceding three days. Preliminary autopsy results released to Marlene McLean in July suggest the child died of viral encephalitis. ’ . But McLean is still waiting for the results - of the forensic pathology tests — in-depth ana- _ lysis of blood samples and tissues done by a ‘forensic pathologist. She’s hoping the test re- . sults will give her some understanding as to -why her daughter died.

- It’s difficult to estimate how long it takes conclude forensic pathology exams because "every case has varying degrees of complexity, says Dr. Syd Pilley, director of legal and tech-

nical services for the B.C. Coroner’s Service.

“I think we would like to have them back as soon as we can, but realistically a more normal expectation is cight to 10 weeks,” Dr. Pilley says.

- There are between eight and 10 doctors in B.C. who spend most of their time doing fore- -nsic pathology work, says Dr. Pilley.

But those people also have other dulies which means the tests may take longer than would be possible in theory.

“If we had twice the amount of forensic pa- thologists would we get the results back quick- er? Probably,” Dr. Pilley concedes.

“Would that make much of a difference? Probably not in the majority of cases.”

For Marlene McLean the three and a half month wait for those results has been rough. She says while she waits to hear the definitive answer on what Vicki died from, she fears for the health of her remaining six children.

“Especially when Elijah got sick, because | didn’t know what happened to Vicki,” she says of her two-year-old son.

Elijah fell sick two weeks after his big sis- ter died and McLean was frantic he could be developing the same illness as Vicki-

“If they find something was wrong with her that nobody knew about they can check for that in the other kids,” McLean says.

McLean isn’t the only person waiting on pathology reports. Terrace RCMP members in- vestigating the suspicious death of 14-month- old Rowen Von Niederhausern who died Aug. 16, are also waiting for pathology reports to be

completed. While the investigation into the baby’s

death continues, Sgt. Jas Basi says no arrests -

have been made nor have charge recommen- dations been forwarded to Crown council.

When police investigate a suspicious death they generally use the RCMP crime lab in Vancouver to do forensic pathology testing if it is required.

And as B.C.’s high profile investigalion at accused serial killer Robert Pickton’s Port Co- quitiam pig farm progresses, more demand is being put on labs to deal with the forensics pa- thology tests.

RCMP Constable Danielle Efford says the staggering amount of evidence which has been collected to date from the farm is not causing a backlog in the system.

“There is no panic situation and there is no serious backlog that is affecting administration of justice,” Cust. Efford said.

“Tf the lab in Vancouver is not able to do a test that can be sent to any of the other labs across Canada to get the tests done,” she said.

In addition to the Vancouver lab, the RCMP also has labs in Regina, Halifax, Otta- wa and Edmonton.

Very few coroner’s inquests held in B.C.

1999 there were 29 in-

- HOW coroners investigate unexpected deaths is something: many people

_ don’t understand. Televi- ‘gion shows like CBC’s Da- *Minci’s Inquest, a popular

. drama about a comer’s in- “vestigations, can lead the ~public to believe that in-

“quests happen often.

“2°. But inquests, which are “quasi-judicial hearings -held publicly with witnes« /ses testifying in front of a _ five-person jury, are rarely

‘conducted in B.C.. The

“ coroners service is only re- qiired to call an inquest

‘inlo sudden deaths which

“occur. in police custody. ‘Most of the remaining in- vestigations are concluded : by an inquiry.

~~-“People have this im-

pression that an inquest is

better than the judgment, but it isn’t,” says Dr. Syd Pilley, director of techni- cal and legal services for the B.C. Coroner’s Service. “The only difference is it’s in public.”

Details of a judgment of inquiry do become public information after they are concluded..

The process of deter-.

mining the who, where and how the death occurred is compiled by a coroner be- fore becoming public, Depending on how the person died, the coroner may coordinate with po- lice, witnesses and other agencies which may be in- volved in the investigation. ' The B.C. Coroners Ser- vice investigates about 9,000 deaths per year. In

quests conducted in the province - only three of which didn’t involve a death in police custady. There are many reasons why inquests are held so seldomly, says Dr. Pilley.

One factor is money.

The cost of an inquiry can be as low as $1,500 depending on the com- plexity of the case. Some are less expensive and some could cost consider- ably more.

Compare that to an in- quest which involves law- yers and the price tag jumps to $3,500-$5,000 just for the first day of the inquest. and © between $1,000-$2,000 for each subsequent day.

Inquests also tend to be

[Reasons for coroner's inquest "|

——

tion. While * some inquests ~ are held as quickly as four.

1998

"1999

$88 Police custody Bl industrial

Medical

Other

more delayed. Getting all the parties involved in the inquest — lawyers, witnes- ses, coroners and family members — can be in one place at the same lime is a tremendous exercise in organization and coordina-

months after the death oc- curs, some can take years to happen.

Inquests can also be somewhat combative, says Dr. Pilley.

“You can usually make beller recommendations if all parties can come toge- ther rather than ‘fighting about if in open court.”

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 16, 2002- A5 °

Only in Canada

THE CONTRASTING images are quite bizarre. On the one hand, two gap-toothed, bruised giants stuffed into hockey pear and holding hockey sticks like scythes for the grim reaper. Between them a diminutive grey-haired matron in a ted coat and sensible shoes, holding a round rubber disk.

This slightly demented fantasy came true Oct. 6 when Queen Elizabeth [I, Elizabeth Regina, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the rest of the British Commonwealth of Nations, came to Vancouver and as part of her royal tour, opened an exhibition hockey game with regal ceremony. —

This bit of history in the making was too good fo miss. Although the game was not scheduled to begin until 7 p.m., my son.and I arrived at 5:30 p.m.

Several guards were checking bags and jackets al each GM Place entry. They were polite, but thorough, digging through to the bottom af my son's backpack.

Once in our seats we were lreated to the spectacle of the preparations for the game. The score clock replay video screens were rerunning previous games’ heroics, and every so oflen a screen would warn us to WATCH FOR PUCKS! | instinctively glanced around, but concluded that a fatal shot into the balcony where we sat was about as likely as the Queen coming to Vancouver to drop the puck. Hmmm.

Just then a mellifluous FM voice rising to a pitch of growing excitement exclaimed proudly, “Ladies and gentlemen, YOUUUUUUR Vancouver Canucks!” I resisted the gentle tug of proprietorial pride, but tured my attention to the ice, just the same.

Twenty or so players in white squirted like self- propelled blobs of toothpaste through a gate and began circling the near half of the rink. After an appropriate pause, a like group of sea-green gel uniforms emerged onto the farther end. Both teams began warming up with a series of stretches and dritls, snapping passes among themselves and whacking pucks at beleaguered goalies.

When the warm-ups were over, two Zambonis — rolled out to resurface the ice. Both were tattooed with advertising. Steam rose from the freezing surface as the two great machines circled in a clumsy minuet.

As quickly as they finished, they were replaced by a legion of workers who entered from the near end of the rink. The poal was slid aside. Red carpet was rolled from the end to center ice and taped down at the joins. Potted shrubs were placed at a tasteful interval. To the left of the red carpet a larger swatch of blue carpet was put down. Microphones were deployed. About 30 feet away from the center ice circle another square of carpet was arranged.

Meanwhile the crowd had filled out. The college youngsters in front of us sat complaining about the beer price. Hawkers handed out tiny white ER flags to any and everyone. A buzz of expectation filled the place.

The workers left quickly. Into their place came two RCMP officers (one male, one female) in red serge, who stood as sentinels at the gate. Four trumpeters carrying long, fanfare horns stepped out. Paparazzi photographers jockeyed for position opposite the center ice circle. A choir of boys in blue uniforms and burgundy ties took up positions in front of a pair of microphones on the blue carpet.

The pro hockey teams returned fo thé benches from their ‘dressing roonis, and two groups of Mite hockey players dressed in alternating red and blue uniforms | lined the carpet like an honour guard of armed dwarfs.

Finally everything was ready. There was even a bit of * ©

_ anticipatory hush. The thumping sound system was) unceremoniously turned. off in mid-song, and a slightly stunned crowd turned its impatient atiention to the trumpet fanfare at the gate, just barely audible after the blasts produced by the thousands of walls that drive the main sound system.

Finally the announcer requested that the crowd all stand for “God Save _ d the Queen”, as sung by

the Vancouver Boys’

eleeeetn Choir. They sang zabeth Il beautifully, despite the fact that some of the -

crowd tried to sing along. —

And then, sure enough, there she was, flanked by Mr. Hockey himself, Wayne Gretzky.

She looked tired and a bit bent as they slowly and . magisterially made their way along the carpet to _ center ice. The crowd cheered and applauded, waving - their little white flags, or looked on, stupefied by the : peculiarity of the event.

The two team captains took their places at center | ice, and Her Majesty stood between them, the royal referee. Mr. Gretzky graciously placed a puck in the» royal hand. Cameras flashed everywhere.

For a moment I had a pang of doubt. Would her hand be minced into hamburger by two slashing sticks at center ice? Would she be bowled over by Ricci or Naslund? ,

But no. She sort of tossed the puck away from herself, as if it were a piece of distasteful refuse. Ricci didn’t move, but smiled knowingly as if the fix were in. Naslund drew the puck toward himself, then reached down, picked it up, and gave it back | ta Her Majesty.

The crowed roared its approval. More cameras flashed. And then the royal procession made its way back down the carpet, between two tines of little hockey players tapping a salute on the i ice with their sticks.

It was all over. The royal carpet rollers ‘scooted back out and collected all their decoratioas. The

extras left the ice as if departing the. stage from secondary roles in some fantastic opera.

Before the game began for real, we were directed to look to the.royal-box, where the Queen and her party, including Premier Campbell at her side, took their places to watch. .

I imagined Mr. Campbell trying to explain hockey ‘ to her, muttering mantras of Liberal policy like, “That” player should be cut.”

Ah, history. Two Canadian cultural icons feted in one night. Only in Canada, you say?) ~~. ne

Al Lehmann is teacher ‘at ‘Caledonia Senior Secondary School, “ :