That, however, was not an issue in 1996. “Back at the time of the States trial, we would never consider doing ‘touch DNA.’ We said if we collected body fluids—saliva or semen or blood—then we will type them. But now we’re doing samples you can’t see, for example, from the collar of a shirt, to pick up the profile in a groping case. We can use tape on the chest area or on the lapel of the garment to pick up whoever handled it. The sensitivity of the technology has improved quite a bit, and that can drive demands from the investigative perspective.”
Poon said the States case was a landmark in that it was the first successful DNA blooding in Canadian history. But it holds another distinction in that the crime scene samples were subjected to four successive levels of DNA technology under his watch. The first analysis of the crime scene samples was performed on RFLP, followed shortly after by analysis on the two successive STR Multiplex systems. In 1998, the RCMP switched over to the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus system.
Many of the early donors were immediately excluded using the RFLP process. One hundred and seventy-seven were excluded using the STR Multiplex systems. Two hundred and eighteen reference samples were typed using AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus. Having worked on each successive generation of DNA technology, Poon was one of the grizzled veterans of forensic DNA in Canada and, after thirty-five years as a civilian RCMP employee, was often called upon to pass that knowledge to the next generation, until his official retirement at the end of 2017. On the day he spoke to the author, he had just completed a lab tour for a new trainee.
“I explained to him that when I started with RFLP, we typically required 500 nanograms (billionths of a gram) of pure DNA, and it took us six months to do an RFLP case. When we did the Multiplex system—the first-generation PCR system—we needed something like six to ten nanograms of DNA, and it took about two weeks to complete the DNA profile. The Profiler Plus (Nine-plex) system went down to half a nanogram of DNA and one week to do the profile. With the current system that we’re using, we can do it in as quickly as two days, using 150 picograms.” That is 150 trillionths of a gram of DNA. In practical terms, that means the analyst can obtain a DNA profile from a sample as small as twenty-four human cells.
“This is our procedure. I know there are some other labs with even more sensitive technology. But we don’t want to push the system too much.” The RCMP has decided not to invest in this new supersensitive technology at this point, based on case law that is evolving in England and Australia, he explained. Their court systems have thrown out cases using that really low-level DNA because, yes, they have the system to detect it, but they don’t have an accurate enough system to interpret it.
From a forensic point of view, it is safer to rely on testing and interpretation that has been accepted by the courts, rather than pushing the limit of detection to the point where it becomes meaningless from a legal standpoint. “But I know the science is there now,” Poon added. “I believe it will take about five to ten years to mature to the point where you could actually be able to detect multiple people in that mixture.”
Amid a recent spate of historic cold cases cracked by forensic DNA, the case of the 1987 murder of a young Vancouver Island couple in Washington State illustrates some of the improvements to the technology and, perhaps, some of the pitfalls. In November that year, while the landmark Colin Pitchfork case was wending its way through the British courts, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg were murdered on a trip to Seattle. The case languished for decades.
Then, on April 11, 2018, police issued a composite sketch of the suspect, based on a new technique known as “snapshot DNA phenotyping.” Five weeks later, police announced that they had arrested fifty-five-year-old William Earl Talbott. But the suspect was actually identified after his profile, obtained from crime scene evidence, was entered into GEDmatch, a public genealogy website. Two of Talbott’s relatives had filed their DNA profiles on the site. To unravel the family connections, investigators were assisted by Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company, just two short weeks after their service became available. Family members, in turn, gave permission for their DNA data to be incorporated into the case.
CRIMES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
In Port Alberni, life went on. Over the next few years, the city experienced a pair of precedent-setting crimes. In 2006, two members of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Junior A hockey club conspired to make a sex video involving an unsuspecting girl. The sex video resulted in the second prosecution in Canada under a new Criminal Code charge, Section 162 (1), referred to as electronic voyeurism. One of the players —the video operator—has since been called up to the National Hockey League by five different teams.
On February 18, 2008, in what became known as the Plenty of Fish killing, a forty-year-old man with a previous criminal record for violence murdered an openly gay, fifty-two-year-old male nurse after arranging a sexual liaison on social media. The accused was the brother of one of former E.J. Dunn Junior High School principal Tom McEvay’s four red-flagged students. His 2011 conviction for second-degree murder was later overturned on appeal, but he was reconvicted in 2015.
I left the Alberni Valley Times on December 2, 2011, and immediately started freelance reporting, primarily for Ha-Shilth-Sa, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council news service, as well as some public relations writing. By the fall of 2014, I realized it was time to get going on The Bulldog and the Helix. That physical landscape in the opening sequence began changing almost immediately, including the demolition of the old Somass Hotel and the fire at the Arrowview Hotel. The Alberni Valley Times, which had been purchased by Black Press, publishers of the cross-town rival Alberni Valley News, closed down in October 2015.
I feel fortunate in having experienced the last great days of the hard-charging small-town daily newspaper, and to have had the opportunity to report on events, such as the Lee and States cases, that have shaped Canadian history. I built upon the many lessons of those days when I moved to reporting for Ha-Shilth-Sa, putting voice to the concerns and aspirations, often equally historic, of the Nuu-chah-nulth people, on whose traditional territory the events of this book took place.
Acknowledgements
IN WRITING THE BULLDOG AND THE HELIX, I have been able to draw on a wide variety of sources, most of whom I have had previous acquaintance with during my career as a journalist. Those folks, in turn, helped me secure interviews with other significant voices, most notably Donald Blair, Dan Bond, and Hiron Poon.
For the social/economic picture, I am grateful to familiar contacts to whom I reached out, such as former city manager Jim Sawyer, former mayor/coroner Gillian Trumper, and former city councillors Jack McLeman and Lyle Price. Former MacMillan Bloedel executive Neil Dirom provided a detailed account of the “optimizing” process that resulted in the loss of hundreds of milling jobs during the 1980s. I met Georgina Sutherland through my work at Ha-Shilth-Sa, and she, along with educators Tom McEvay and Jim Lawson, provided valuable insight into the character of Roddy Patten.
Many thanks to my former Alberni Valley Times colleague Denis Houle, who has operated Houle Printing at the old Times office since shortly after the press shut down on September 10, 2001. Through Denis, I was able, early on, to retrieve the bulging Carolyn Lee and Jessica States clipping files, and to access the Times archives. That those clipping files were compiled so diligently over the years is testimony to how these two heinous crimes impacted the community.
Major thanks to the Alberni Valley Museum and their staff and archive volunteers. I first discovered this civic gem in 1993, while house hunting in Port Alberni. I have drawn extensively from the museum’s photo archive to evoke a picture of what the city looked like during the boom years, as well as from the microfilm archives of the Alberni Valley Times.
I would especially like to express my thanks to Dale Djos for his unwavering support since the inception of this project. Dale has shared his memories, his files, and his clippings and has made contacts and opened doors along the way.
Th
ank you, Dale, and everyone who shared knowledge, experience, and insights with me.
Afterword
DALE N. DJOS
RCMP STAFF SERGEANT (RETIRED)
I WOULD FIRST LIKE to say a big thank you to Shayne Morrow for taking a collaborative approach in researching and telling these stories that truly needed to be shared with the community of Port Alberni, BC. I first met Shayne shortly after the investigation into the murder of Jessica States turned into a DNA investigation. Working on this book with him has brought back many memories of the numerous serious cases I was involved in during my tenure in the GIS (General Investigation Section)/Major Crime units, twenty-five of the thirty-plus years I spent in the force. Shayne has worked tirelessly, dedicating his time over many years to put this project together. He has been awesome to work with.
I would like to recognize the dedicated work of Corporal Dan Smith, a truly outstanding investigator. Dan played the most prominent role in both of the DNA-related homicide investigations covered in this book, resulting in the successful prosecution of both suspects. During my nine years as the NCO-in-charge of the Port Alberni GIS, I was fortunate to have worked with Dan and many other fine RCMP members. We were indeed a family.
It is also important to recognize the contributions of the many different RCMP units/sections that worked on both of these complex cases over the years. These members brought some amazing forensic and investigative skills to bear. Special thanks to DNA specialist Hiron Poon at the Vancouver Forensic Laboratory, who successfully reverse-engineered critical DNA profiles in both cases, and more significantly, brought home the “cold hit” in Canada’s first successful blooding.
Thanks also to the citizens of Port Alberni, who supported and believed in our efforts from the onset and stuck by us over the years as we learned to use this new investigative tool to bring these suspects to justice. You are part of history.
Index
Adams, Stephen, 73, 168
Alberni, City of, 51
Alberni Foundry, 55
Alberni Valley Rescue Squad, 19–20, 22, 69, 73–74, 76, 167
Alberni Valley Times
closes down, 195
and Jessica States’s murder case, 71, 75
last edition produced in-house, 185–186
letter to the editor on Surinder Dhillon, 130–131
loses production/editorial departments to Nanaimo, 185
at R. Patten’s first appearance in court, 150–151
reporting of verdict in Dhillon trial, 127, 128, 130
reports on Penner plea for Bill C-94, 92
and search for Carolyn, 20
and search for Jessica, 72–73
stories on C. Lee murder, 25, 28, 34–35
Allain, Jane M., 64
Andres, Harvey Harold, 47–49, 185
Arnfield, Shelley
arrives at Alberni RCMP, 70–71
on change of tactics of prosecution in Patten trial, 170
character of, 5
on discovery of J. States’s body, 74
and DNA collection on Pattens’, 139–140, 141
and DNA testing in J. States’s case, 99
as file coordinator in Patten trial, 163
on J. States’s murder case, 77
role in Dhillon trial, 90, 91
role in J. States’s murder case, 84
and search for P. Cooper, 173, 174–175
takes call about DNA match on J. States’s killer, 136
on victim impact statement in Patten trial, 181–182
view of decision to send D. Smith home from Patten trial, 178
view of R. Patten’s intellectual deficiencies, 177–178
Arrowview Hotel, 8–9, photograph (2) section after page 100
Ashworth, Dawn, 38, 42, 43
Baker, Shirley Ann, 47, 48
Barkley, Don, 168
Beck, Gordon, 69
Beck, Karen, 69, 70, 71, 72–73, 146, 166
Beckingham, Charles
asks for R. Patten trial to be held in youth court, 155, 157, 158
fired as Patten’s lawyer, 161, 162
hired as Patten’s lawyer, 147
at meeting to set date for preliminary hearing, 155
and R. Patten’s confession, 153
requests six week adjournment, 151
speaks out against Data Bank law, 160–161
Bennie, John, 147
Beyerstein, Barry, 179, 182
Bill C-3, 134–135
Bill C-94, 92, 94
Bill C-104, 64–65
Birston, Shelley, 152
Blair, Donald
at C. Lee crime scene, 23
on condition of Dhillon’s vehicle when searched, 33
disappearance, 17–18
and discovery of C. Lee’s body, 20
effect of C. Lee murder on, 4
on interrogation of L. Price, 25
and M. Mickey, 28–29
as source for news stories, 28
testimony at Dhillon trial, 105–107
transfers out of Port Alberni, 29–30
view of C. Lee’s disappearance, 19
view of decision to not interview S. McLeod, 32
view of job done in C. Lee case, 30
Blizard, Wade, 46, 55, 56, 57, 59, 65
The Blooding (Wambaugh), 38, 42, 44
Bond, Dan, 55–56, 57, 65–66
Bonner, Diane, 77
Boys Project School, 97
Brooks, Adrian, 67
Buckland, Richard, 43
Campbell, Angel, 143, 144, 145
Campbell, Don, 143–144
Campbell, Lillian, 143–144
Campbell, Lorinda, 143, 144
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), 49
Carmody, Richard, 117, 118, 124
Carolyn Lee Memorial Committee, 34–35
Carolyn Lee murder case
A. Lazorko witness statement, 60–62
analysis of semen in, 38–39
carbonaceous particles found in exhibits of, 94–95
as cold case, 45–46, 49–50, 65–66
community rumours about, 34–35
contents of vacuum bag analysed, 101
crime scene of, 23, photographs (3, 4) in section after page 100
D. Smith gets footprint soil tested, 35–36
D. Smith takes over file of, 13–14, 15–16
defence testimony during Dhillon trial, 118–122
discovery of her body, 73
DNA testing done on samples from, 58–59
effect on people years later, 4
forensic evidence from, 31–32
judge’s instructions to jury at Dhillon trial, 125, 126–127
lead up to Dhillon trial, 90–92
massive investigation over, 12
news conference announcing charging of killer, 87–90
prosecution testimony at Dhillon trial, 105–118
routes from abduction spot to discovery of body location, 20–21
search for murder weapon, 24, 25
similarities with Jessica States’s case, 75–76
stalled for leads, 30–31
summations in Dhillon trial, 122–126
verdict of Dhillon trial, 127–129. See also Gurmit Singh Dhillon trial; second suspect in C. Lee murder case
Cashulette, Serge, 79–80, 99, 163, 164, 170
centralized genetic data bank
attempt at passing Bill for in Parliament, 92, 94
C. Beckingham speaks out against, 160–161
passed into law, 159–160
passing of DNA Identification Act, 134–135
and States’s murder case, 86, 88
Chakraborty, Ranajit, 68, 117–118, 124
Chamberlain, Russ
appeal attempts for Gurmit Dhillon, 188
application for appeal for Dhillon, 121, 125–126
cross examination during Dhillon trial, 106, 107, 109–110, 111–112, 113–114, 115–117, 118
a
s defence lawyer for Dhillon, 103
and Dhillon trial verdict, 128
spots D. Smith writing notes, 111
summation in Dhillon trial, 122, 123–124
takes case of defending Dhillon, 90–91
during voir dire of Dhillon trial, 104
Charland, Anne-Elizabeth, 58, 67, 114–116, 120
Charlesworth, Shannon, 167–168
Clark, Dorothy, 31–32
Clark, Robert, 112
Clark, Sid, 101, 155–156
Cook, Jay, 194
Cooper, Paul, 168, 169, 173–175, 182–184
Corder, Carol, 74
Cummings, Pat, 16
Cutler, R. F., 183
Dhillon, Gurmit Singh
actions of leading to murder of C. Lee, 11
bail hearing and conditions, 91–92
becomes main suspect in C. Lee murder case, 26–28
charged for murder of C. Lee, 87
charged for unrelated sexual assaults, 30, 34
current location of, 189
date for his preliminary hearing set, 95
faces search warrant for his trailer, 57–58
gives blood sample to RCMP, 56–57, 58
has cigarette butt taken by D. Smith, 110
improved DNA result on his blood, 67–68
inability of RCMP to make case against, 15
interview with RCMP, 29
and J. States’s murder case, 75, 88
murder of C. Lee, 10
polygraph tests of, 29, 30, 34
preparing an application for DNA warrant on, 63
reaction to guilty verdict, 127–128
reenacts day of C. Lee murder, 119
S. McLeod’s statements about, 32–33
sexual assault allegations against, 56
under surveillance by RCMP, 57
testifies at his trial, 121–122
view of at his trial, 103–104. See also Gurmit Singh Dhillon trial
Dhillon, Manjit, 82, 131
Dhillon, Surinder, 131
Dickson, Louise, 145
Djos, Dale
and A. Lazorko witness statement, 62
The Bulldog and the Helix Page 22