The Legacy Letters

by Janice Landry

  In fact, he confirmed there is a lot of evidence in the cases. The retired detective sergeant provided no details or examples of any evidence because no one has yet been charged or convicted.

  During the year and a half when Full Course was operational, Dave confirmed that HRP/RCMP ended up with “over a thousand exhibits [which] were originally seized during Full Course.”

  A staggering amount of evidence exists in these cases.

  That begs one crucial question: if police have more than one thousand combined pieces of evidence, why have no charges been laid in any of the sixteen cases? It is appears not to be for lack of effort. It is because of the lack of a definitive forensic match.

  The exact answer lies in what happened during the final years of Dave’s policing career, when he was seconded to do a full evidentiary review of Full Course. “Those 1,000 [exhibits] were again reviewed between 2012 and 2014,” he said. One, unnamed, police forensics specialist worked with him during the evidence review. He credits that person with doing the bulk of the work.

  During the review, Dave was tasked with determining whether any evidence from the sixteen Full Course case files would be suitable for retesting in the lab, due to technical advances that had occurred since the 1990s in DNA and forensic testing.

  He confirmed 325 pieces of evidence collected from Full Course were retested during 2012 to 2014 as HRP/RCMP looked for a possible DNA match and definitive forensic evidence. He said the retesting/lab process involved looking for either suspect or victim DNA, depending on the nature of each individual piece of evidence.

  Dave attempted to estimate the significant costs involved, including the DNA retesting. He explained the estimates in a series of three follow-up email interviews and fact-check sessions. “Of those … [325 pieces of evidence deemed appropriate for retesting], 23 were not suitable for further examination at the RCMP Lab, but were suitable for examination at a private lab which did mitochondrial DNA analysis. Those 23 were examined at a cost to HRP of $65,000,” he confirmed. But what was the cost of the other 302 samples retested inside the RCMP lab?

  “We always went by [the] estimate of [a] minimum [of] $500/sample, depending on the work [that] needed to be done; i.e. how degraded a sample is, or if [the] exhibit is teeth, it can go as high as $1,500/sample. So I think $250,000 [for the overall retesting] is a fair estimate for the … exhibits, because there was a wide variance of samples: degraded teeth, etc. But [it] is only an estimate,” Dave said, particularly underlining the fact his numbers are estimates and not a confirmed tally.

  Since Full Course began, up to and including 2015, HRP and the Nova Scotia RCMP have committed hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in investigators’ salaries and lab testing to try to get definitive answers about these sixteen victims: to either locate the missing people involved, bring a suspect to justice, to help the families and their loved ones, or protect the public.

  Not one of the 325 pieces of evidence retested, in either lab, came back as a solid forensic match to any suspect. “There were no conclusive results on any of the tested exhibits; RCMP or private labs,” Worrell confirmed.

  It is hard to believe there has not been one single DNA match after all that work. But that is exactly what happened, according to the officer who was in charge of both Full Course and its evidence review. It is now clear why no charges have been laid – yet.

  I asked Dave if he thinks a second retest could ever happen, based on further advances in DNA technology. I dislike playing the “what if?” card during an interview. It is impossible for anyone to know for certain what will happen in the future, but his answer is worth considering.

  “Back in 1998, I probably said there wasn’t a hope for further testing in the future, but there was. That’s hard to say, depending on technology. The best I could say, on that point would be: there is still, in some cases, sufficient DNA left on the exhibits for further testing. You know what I mean? We haven’t used it all; in some cases I think we probably have … years from now, somebody should really look at that [testing again].”

  The door remains open.

  Dave has met with and interviewed the man who emerged as Full Course’s main suspect. The man was not initially co-operative.

  I asked about the evidentiary links discovered by officers during Full Course: that one man became the prime suspect in multiple cases and what that discovery meant, officially, for the record.

  JL: “You have links to [at least] six cases with one main suspect, which would mean you were investigating a [potential] serial killer?”

  DW: “It does to me. I’ll be frank with you; HRP, at the time, just did not want to use that term.”

  I did not ask which cases, besides the two I was researching, were linked to one suspect and that information was not provided.

  Other journalists put a lot of pressure on HRP to confirm what Dave Worrell is now publicly stating, for the record, in 2016/2017. According to Dave, HRP and RCMP were investigating a potential serial killer operating in both Halifax and in Nova Scotia in the late 1980s and 1990s.

  DW: “The case, anybody who worked on the file or the operation [Full Course] knew that’s exactly what we were potentially dealing with.”

  Dave cannot say authorities were investigating a serial killer because no conclusive DNA evidence has definitively linked someone to any of the Full Course files and no charges have been laid. Worrell has stated neither Full Course nor the evidence review provided any conclusive DNA evidence.

  DW: “You can’t give any person that label [serial killer] unless you’re able to lay a charge, from an investigative point of view. It’s the same as saying he’s a suspect; he’s a potential serial killer based on the evidence we have, so far. I use that word potential in there, because, you’re right, you can’t confirm he is a killer if you don’t have any evidence to charge him.”

  Given how hard some journalists worked to try to get the serial killer fact/investigation confirmed over the years, I asked Dave again, in our second interview, to be crystal clear, once and for all:

  JL: “You were the officer in charge of Full Course, and in your opinion, you were investigating a potential serial killer?”

  DW: “Yep.”

  JL: “You don’t have any problem with me saying that?”

  DW: “No, none whatsoever. Absolutely.”

  JL: Because that will get attention, Dave, you know that, right?”

  DW: “Yep. If you want to put a label on that ‘other’ evidence, it would be circumstantial evidence. He [the suspect] knew these people; we proved that he knew certain ones. We proved he was in their company or he was seen with them or [had an] association to his work, that kind of stuff. That’s exactly what that is – circumstantial. It’s not forensic and it’s not hard-core evidence, it’s circumstantial.”

  That includes one thousand pieces of evidence police have amassed, as of 2015, when Dave retired. He cannot and will not comment on what is currently happening with evidence or with any murder or missing person files – because he no longer is operational and the files are open.

  “To me, it’s a no-brainer. If you’re investigating someone for three or more homicides, then he’s a potential serial killer. I don’t see the room for argument there,” Worrell concluded. “I was okay back then [saying it] and I stand by it now. I mean, that’s my opinion as an investigator.”

  The detailed information revealed publicly for the first time in this book by retired Detective Sergeant Dave Worrell required a joint response from the Nova Scotia RCMP, H Division and Halifax Regional Police, who equally staffed Operation Full Course. I developed thirty detailed fact-checks and questions for both policing agencies to review and respond to over the course of the fall of 2016 and sent them to their media relations officers. Their responses were variations on the same theme: “We are unable to answer these questions as they are in relation to an open file and answering them might harm the ongoing investigati
on and jeopardize potential prosecutions.” “We don’t speak publicly about criminal operations unless they have concluded with charges.” “These questions are in relation to open cases and we have to protect these ongoing investigations, so we’re unable to elaborate further.”

  As all these cases remain unsolved, Dave said all the sixteen victims and their families remain with him, despite the passage of time. This brought us to the crux of my wanting to interview him. I wanted to speak with him to try to capture a respected opinion about dealing with an enormous amount of trauma involving forensics and violent crime, specifically if a case remained unsolved. What is that like as a police officer? How does a person deal with that?

  “It’s always there [the cases and people involved]. It’s something that you live with; I think for me, personally, it is because so much of my career and my time and energy went into it [Full Course], and secondly, I personally dealt with, on one or two occasions [at least], every family of each victim. I had some contact and usually it was personal contact, other than Andrea King,” he said. Dave has never met the King family.

  “… some of the families would call every couple of weeks, so you get to know them fairly well. So there’s an aspect that you’re always [thinking], Geez, I wish I could have done something more, or brought somebody to justice for them,” Worrell said.

  How could a person, no matter their training or experience, completely shut off their emotions after retirement, or while still on the job, when a case or cases remain unsolved?

  During the time of Full Course, it was difficult for Dave because he had a teenage daughter reasonably close in age to some of the victims he was trying to get justice for. “I remember her [his daughter] being the age of going downtown … with the girls. I was always worried about that; I think it applies to being a police officer, in general, with kids … there’s a lot I know they don’t know.”

  “My theory is that Kimberly never made it out of the parking lot. How can I tell my daughter, ‘Stay out of public places,’ … how do you deal with that? You can’t keep them at home … it’s a tough area to be in, and I’d think you’d find most police officers are that way, when it comes to what they know, that most people don’t know, and trying to somehow work that into your home life with your kids … because my whole career was mostly involving violent crimes; that’s what I dealt with,” said Worrell.

  Dave also has a son, and grandchildren. “It [the cases and people] never leaves you. I’m a grandfather now, and I have one granddaughter and one grandson. I think about abductions and that type of thing … often I’ve said, ‘Don’t let her play out in front if you’re not watching her.’ I don’t think it’s something that’s ever going to leave an officer. It’s certainly never going to leave me.”

  I asked if he is “plagued” or “haunted” by the unsolved cases he’s investigated, and if those words were an accurate description of how he feels in his retirement. “From a personal perspective, I don’t let them … There’s nothing wrong with you if that is the case. It’s natural to be affected that way, in terms of dealing with it. I’m very good at compartmentalizing. You’ve got to keep it in perspective, or I do, because if you don’t, it will take over,” he said. “I can’t stop thinking about them and I can’t control that, but what I can control is how it affects me.”

  Dave may think about the victims, their loved ones, and the unsolved cases, but he said he is trying to live his life without being severely negatively impacted by his memories. “I could be sitting down and playing with my grandkids, and for whatever reason, something pops in my mind about one of them, Kimberly, or any one of them. You think about it, but then, get back to what you are doing; move forward, get on with life. If I let it bog me down, it would do just that,” he explained.

  Dave addresses a key point: he’s discussing coping mechanisms that work for him as a professional in a career of dealing with countless violent deaths and unsolved crimes. He is not saying people should try and forget what happened or that people can simply move on. That is impossible. People try to cope, with or without assistance, in their own individual way.

  Dave’s words will help other officers who face the same reality he does: living with more questions than answers. It is a tough burden Worrell carries; he will never forget either the victims or their families.

  Reminding himself of his efforts is another coping mechanism for him. “I did everything that I could do at the time. I am completely satisfied that, over the years, I completely exhausted every avenue I could look at pursuing at the time. I’m satisfied with what I’ve done, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think, Was there something else I could have done?”

  Those what ifs? can have a lasting impact.

  Given the amount of effort that has clearly gone into Full Course, including the Kimberly McAndrew and Andrea King investigations, as well as the fourteen other files and victims, I asked the retired detective sergeant what it will take to crack open one of the unsolved crimes.

  JL: “Is it going to take someone talking?”

  DW: “Yes, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one person … because that’s how he’s gotten away with it for so long … unless someone comes out of the blue saying they’re an eyewitness, or something that basically we don’t know about, yet.”

  While he deals with trauma to the best of his ability and in his own way, he said other police officers he has known have not been so fortunate. He gave no names, nor did I ask. “I’ve seen them fold under stress. An example: we used to rotate the supervisors … in charge of an investigation … I’ve seen a person break down and say they ‘can’t do this anymore.’ When you’re in charge of an investigation … the buck stops with you. So there’s a lot of pressure, especially within the first week or two of an investigation. Back in those days, we’d work thirty to forty hours straight without a break. I’ve seen one guy break down and never come back to the job.”

  JL: “You can have all the training in the world but you’re a human being first.”

  DW: “Exactly.”

  His coping skills are challenged when he has flashbacks, which occasionally happen about cases, scenes, and autopsies that linger. “There are flashbacks and things that don’t go away. You set them aside at the time, your feelings and emotions … to deal with what you have to deal with, or [you] go into an autopsy suite and have the person cut open, or what not, but [you tell yourself] you’re there for a purpose. That’s what worked for me, at the time. But … there are some things that never go away, and some things I’ll never forget and visualize, and I still see them.”

  I do not ask about any of those images.

  Dave offered a brief explanation. “I can visualize very clearly the first fatal motor vehicle accident I went to out in B.C. I was only on the job about two weeks and I can see it like it happened yesterday.”

  Except it happened thirty-six years ago, in 1980.

  As our second interview drew to a close, I felt I had to ask a crucial question which had bothered me since our first face-to-face meeting. That initial interview lasted several hours and left me, quite frankly, reeling. I went away and could not stop thinking about what we had discussed, the people involved and how the victims and families had impacted both of us, from two totally different professions.

  It left me wondering the answer to this final question:

  JL: “Why are you talking to me?”

  He paused, briefly, before answering.

  DW: “The answer to that is a couple of things. Number one: I know who you are and I think that you’re reliable in all aspects of the media and reporting and what not. And it’s good for me to talk about those things. I felt good after our meeting, after you left, because there’s only so many people you can sit down and talk to like that. And [secondly, for] the victim’s families. Bottom line: if I can do anything or contribute to anything that there’s even the slightest chance that something might break [in a case] then I’ll do it. There are people who
I wouldn’t talk to if they approached me … I guess I still feel bad [and have] some amount of guilt that we couldn’t do more or come up with more. That’s always there.”

  JL: “We couldn’t have had this conversation back when Full Course was ongoing. You wouldn’t have talked to me then.”

  DW: “No.”

  JL: “I understand that and I respect that.”

  DW: “It’s hard, because, even when you retire, you’re still in that culture, at least I am. I feel I still have an obligation to protect the investigation, where all this stuff is ongoing. You want to try and find a balance. I don’t want to be known by the members in there today that I’m just a wild card and [have] no reliability … From that perspective, it was something I was mindful of [in giving the interviews] but I don’t have that concern with you and I.”

  His commitment to seeking answers for Canada’s missing and murdered has not waned since his retirement. As with other police officers, the personal cost in the face of trauma is great, but it does not deter them from pursuing justice.

  Dave Worrell’s Legacy Letter

  To the families:

  I want to take this opportunity and acknowledge all of the families that I had occasion to speak with over my years as a detective, regarding the violence that invaded your families and took a loved one from you, and for which you still have no answers, and your tragedy remains unsolved.

  I want to thank all of you for your unwavering commitment and cooperation. I want you to know: the contact that I or my investigators had with you was not only valuable to the investigation, but, as well, was an inspiration to our team, and solidified our reasoning for trying to solve these mysteries.