Canadian Col. Williams Pure EVIL

by sehgalviveka | October 21, 2010 at 05:34 pm

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The newspapers are full of Col. Russel Williams gross details, here are some excerpts from Toronto Sun

So this is what it's like to be in the presence of pure evil.

What else do you call it after what Col. Russell Williams did to his victims while the commander of CFB Trenton and in a position of trust and care of our precious young fighting men and women?

It took an exhausting 31 minutes to read out the 86 repulsive charges against him on Monday.

But his pleas of guilt to the murders of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau and Jessica Lloyd was just the beginning of what ended up being a turbulent day.

Every time there was a picture of himself on the courtroom screen wearing children's underwear, or lying naked on a child's bed, Williams would tilt his head and sneak a peak -- perhaps one last jolly before the twisted pilot and "shining, rising star" of the Canadian military goes off to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Click for his video on Police camera

The iron handcuffs and leg irons snap shut on a sad-eyed devil who looks so deceptively like an ordinary human being.

Mr. Russell Williams shuffles off to Kingston Pen, hopefully for eternity, where in an isolated cell, perhaps near Paul Bernardo, he can replay in his mind the snuff films he choreographed with such sadistic detail.

For the briefest of moments, he had almost fooled me with his emotional expression of remorse.

But he was just playing a part. Playing at being human.

Playing, because he cannot possibly be one of us.

Without the protection of his military rank, his uniform, his outward mask of stiff self-confidence, the "sadosexual serial killer" had risen slowly in the prisoner's box to address the victims of his crimes.

But he was addressing the horrified nation he once served as well.

About to be condemned by the sentencing judge as "Canada's bright shining lie", the former CFB Trenton, Ont., commander could barely find his voice, his pale, long fingers clenched in a fist by his sides, his hanky tucked in a pocket nearby.

"Your Honour," he finally said so haltingly, before hesitating once more as seconds ticked slowly by. "I stand before your honour indescribably ashamed."

We have seen him naked, we have seen him wearing the orange bras and panties he's pilfered from his victims. We have been drawn images that will haunt our psyche for many nightmares to come, of a sadistic animal who tied ropes around two beautiful women, made them do his perverse bidding, and then executed them when his pleasure was done.

"Shame," Mr. Williams? Shame should hardly be the word.

The sentence yet to be uttered will come as no surprise to him: For the brutal rape and murder of Marie-France Comeau, 38, and Jessica Lloyd, 28, and the sexual assaults of two neighbours and panty thefts from dozens more, he will serve an automatic life term with no chance of parole for 25 years.

He didn't have to say anything before this sentence was imposed. No words of regret would change the mandated punishment to be meted out by Justice Robert Scott.

So there is some modicum of respect for what Williams did Thursday morning, acting for a brief moment like the soldier he was supposed to be, and accepting responsibility like a man.

"I know the crimes I've committed," Williams began and after a long pause continued, "have traumatized many people. The family and friends of Marie-France Comeau and Jessica Lloyd have suffered and continue to suffer profound desperate pain and sorrow as a result of what I've done."

He cried what looked like real tears. He reached for a tissue, wiped at his nose.

"The understandable hatred that was expressed yesterday and that was palpable throughout makes me recognize that most will find it impossible to accept the fact that I very deeply regret what I have done and the harm I know I have caused."

Silence filled the courtroom, except for the sniffling of a serial killer. No one else will shed a tear for him on this day, not when there were none for the women he brutalized, bound with rope and filmed as he violated them again and again.

"I had a hard time fighting back the tears yesterday and I didn't feel that same emotion today," OPP Det.-Insp. Chris Nicholas will later tell reporters on the steps of the courthouse, recalling the heart-wrenching victim impact statements of the day before.

"I felt extremely sorry for the victims. I don't feel extremely sorry for Mr. Williams."

Yet I admit to being moved for a moment by his words. His self-loathing appears genuine, he doesn't seem to understand himself any more than we do.

"I've committed despicable crimes, your Honour," he said, choking on his sobs, "in the process betraying my family, my friends and colleagues and the Canadian Forces.

"I shall spend the rest of my life regretting most of all that I have ended two vibrant, innocent and cherished lives."

So he said all the right things, rehearsed and delivered them well. He sounded contrite and even the judge accepted his regret as sincere.

But it changes nothing. We have only to look over to the other side of the courtroom, where every seat is filled with pain.

"Marie-France did not have to die. Jessica Lloyd did not have to die," the judge reminded him.

Only a monster would hunt women and treat them like disposable prey. Only an animal devoid of all humanity could have ignored their desperate pleas for life.

So tell me not that you're sorry, you horrific impostor of a man. Tell me why.

Explain to me the anatomy of your evil.

Make me understand how you managed to live among us with such remarkable success, pretending you were human.

When you were not remotely human at all.

michele.mandel@sunmedia.ca