Homicide workshop

Along with the Bosma murder, another disturbing case that generated enormous attention in this region — and beyond — were the murders committed by Paul Bernardo. We now know mis-steps in that investigation led to police now sharing more information between forces. And this week in Niagara Falls — homicide investigators from across the country are meeting. They’re learning about police successes and failures in some major cases.

The post mortem on the investigations that led to the imprisonment of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka found police force rivalry was a major obstacle that allowed Bernardo to run rampant for years before he was caught. Justice Archie Campbell concluded the Toronto police force didn’t share information about the Scarborough rapist with Niagara police even though Niagara was hunting for the sexual predator who killed Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.

Campbell told Ontario police forces to share information more freely: That the capture of a serial predator involves a wider public interest than the interest of a single police force.

Inspector Jim Prinsen is with the Niagara Regional Police: “The realization as police agencies (is) we need to work together more closely. We need to share information. We need to share resources. And ultimately we need to learn from each other.”

And so the Ontario Homicide Investigators Association was created. Michael Durant, the drug crazed addict who murdered two women, was one of the cases they looked at.  Durant left Diane Dimitri for dead in a Welland ditch. Two and half years later, he took a hammer to Casey Chihoski in his Niagara Falls apartment.

The investigators involved in the Durant case are receiving an award this week for their persistence in putting him behind bars. He killed Diane Dimitri in 2003, was arrested three years later. And six years after that, he was convicted for his crimes.

The 220 homicide officers here this week are picking up ideas and tips and techniques that could help them nab killers in their own communities.

Russell Williams was another case that these homicide investigators look at during this conference in the past. And like Bernardo, Williams went from rapist to killer for years before he was caught.