|
Maxine
Wapass | Jean Paul Aubee
| John Chalmers: another Reid technique
victim | Reid
technique in Regina | In Winnipeg, police union chief Loren Schinkel used Reid
technique on Monique Turenne:
when it didn't work he forged
a confession.
Reid technique
confession: Farand Bear acquitted
Accused 'relieved' by
release; victim's family laments decision
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 8, 2004
Farand Tony Bear walked out
of court a free man Tuesday after a Queen's Bench justice found
insufficient evidence to convict him of manslaughter in the death
of Maxine Wapass.
Justice John Klebuc had ruled
Monday he couldn't consider a videotaped confession by Bear because
police interrogators had undermined Bear's right to silence during
three days of questioning in June 2003.
Klebuc had found that RCMP
Sgt. Charles Lerat and Saskatoon Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen
"went too far" when they continued to question Bear
after he said more than 60 times he wished to remain silent.
They also falsely suggested the court would interpret his silence
as a lack of remorse.
"I'm happy it's over.
I'm relieved," Bear said with a smile Tuesday as he left
the courthouse. He had been in custody since his arrest in June
2003.
"I always knew he was
innocent," his father, Edgar Pete, said.
Klebuc said Tuesday he would
have convicted Bear of assault causing bodily harm if such a
charge had been laid, but the wording of the indictment on the
manslaughter charge left him with no choice but to find Bear
not guilty of any offence.
Klebuc said he accepted the
testimony of Wapass's friend, Sharona Night, who said she saw
Bear throw Wapass at least twice, face first, against an elm
tree. Bear is more than six feet tall, Wapass was 5-foot-2 and
weighed 105 pounds.
Klebuc said the Crown did not
present evidence to prove Bear's actions caused the death or
to rule out the possibility someone else later killed Wapass.
Wapass's cousin, Marilyn Wapass,
and about 15 other family members sat in dejected silence in
the courtroom after the verdict. Marilyn said she was shocked.
"I would have been disgusted
if they'd charged him with assault," she said.
She hopes the Crown will appeal
the decision.
"I'm not going to give
up. I'm doing it for all the First Nations women who've gone
missing. (Maxine) deserves justice. She deserves the same as
anybody else," Marilyn Wapass said.
Maxine Wapass, 23, was last
seen on May 17, 2002. Marilyn sought the public's help in finding
her, posting flyers with her picture around the city and sending
them to police and First Nations' offices across Canada.
Maxine's remains were found
in a shallow grave in a bush near Asquith in November 2002.
Court heard she lived a "high-risk
lifestyle" that included addiction to injection drugs and
prostitution.
The trial did not hear from
Bear's cousin, Andy Pete, who Night said was present during the
assault.
Pete's common-law wife, Sabrina
Guiboche, said he was irritable and nervous the day after the
assault.
She said she laundered a pair
of Bear's jeans that were covered with loose dirt and discovered
the handle was broken off her garden spade, but couldn't say
when those incidents happened in relation to the time Wapass
went missing.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
|
Charges laid in Wapass
murder
SASK.CBC.CA, June 20, 2003
SASKATOON - More than a year
after she went missing, Police have charged someone in connection
with the death of Maxine Wapass. Saskatoon City Police arrested
31-year-old Farand Tony Bear this week.
Bear, from the Sweetgrass First
Nation, appeared in court this morning, facing second degree
murder charges. Maxine Wapass was reported missing in the spring
of 2002.
Her body was found by a hunter
last November, near Asquith. Police made a positive identification
of her remains through DNA.
|
Cleaning up a high-profile
case by threatening suspect to confess doesn't work
They took their time tracking
him down even though he was under court orders and they knew
exactly where he was. Then RCMP Sgt. Lerat and Saskatoon police
union head applied a three day session of the Reid technique
for extracting confessions. They finally broke him down, after
Goertzen questioned him on a surprise visit and Bear was wearing
only underwear. Bear was told his silence and lack of expressed
remorse would be interpreted as guilt. Bear eventually broke
down. Judge John Klebuc would not admit the confession. This
should send a strong message to Saskatoon police to follow the
law when questioning suspects.--Dec. 7, 2004
18 months
after he was arrested Farand Tony Bear is getting his day in
court. The police have no forensic evidence against him. In fact
it would seem they have no evidence at all.
Maxine Wapass
first went missing June 5, 2002. Remains which were identified
as being hers were found in a shallow grave near Asquith in November,
2002. There was some pressure on police to solve the murder.
Superintendant Brian Dueck was in no longer in charge of major
crimes but the Old Boys Club was. When the arrest of Farand Bear
was announced, one would have thought it had taken all this time
to find him. He was not hard to find. In fact he was under court
orders where his whereabouts was known at all times.
Shortly
after the Wapass murder, a man who was driving a truck someone
had seen her get into on the Aves was located and questioned.
His truck was not examined. However, a truck Bear sometimes drove
was seized on the reserve and sent to the Regina lab to be searched
for forensic evidence. None was found. During the week Wapass
went missing that truck was not even licenced. No forensic evidence
linking Bear to the murder was found at Wapass's residence.
On Monday
(Nov. 29) the court watched many hours of the videotaped questioning
of Bear by police. While speaking to Bear on tape, an RCMP officer
tells him "there is a lot of pressure on us."
One has
to wonder if this arrest and others were made because the Saskatoon
Police Service was anxious to restore community confidence in
its ability to deal with violent crime rather than because they
truly believed in the reliability of their case. Otherwise you
think they would have arrested Farand Bear much sooner than a
year after the murder. They always knew where he was.
Farand Bear not guilty
of manslaughter
Dec 7 2004 12:06 PM CST
CBC
SASKATOON - The man accused
of the manslaughter of Maxine Wapass has been found not guilty
by a Queen's Bench judge.
On Tuesday, the judge said he accepted testimony that Bear viciously
assaulted Wapass on the night she disappeared in 2002.
However, the judge said there
was insufficient evidence that Bear was the only person who could
have caused her death.
The judge ruled Monday that
a key piece of evidence could not be used in the case.
He decided that police went
too far in getting a video-taped confession.
Specifically, the judge decided
officers violated Bear's right to remain silent.
Police continued interrogating
Bear despite the fact he told them more than 60 times that he
didn't want to talk. Bear later recanted his confession.
The sister of the dead woman,
Marilyn Wapass, said she was "disgusted" with the acquittal
and wants the Crown to appeal. Bear's lawyer Bill Roe said the
judge's decision was appropriate.
"I think to sum it up
in a nutshell the Crown couldn't prove that any actions of the
accused Farand Bear caused the death of Maxine Wapass,"
Roe said Tuesday following court.
Suspect's admissions
tossed
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 7, 2004
Admissions made by a murder
suspect during police interrogation were thrown out Monday after
a Queen's Bench justice hearing the case found officers violated
the man's right to remain silent.
Farand Tony Bear was in a "catch-22"
situation after RCMP Sgt. Charles Lerat and Saskatoon Police
Service Const. Stan Goertzen told Bear his continued silence
during interrogation would be interpreted by the court as lack
of remorse for killing Maxine Wapass, Justice John Klebuc found.
"Nothing could be further
from the truth," Klebuc said. "He had no obligation
to demonstrate any remorse."
Saying the right to silence
is "fundamental" and "very important for all individuals,"
Klebuc said the officers placed Bear in a situation where "he
incriminates himself no matter which way he goes."
This "materially, and
in an unacceptable manner, undermines the accused's right to
silence," Klebuc said.
Klebuc had asked Goertzen Friday
if Lerat's statement to that effect was "an out and out
lie." Goertzen acknowledged the remark "was not true."
Klebuc noted Monday that Goertzen
did nothing to correct the false impression Lerat's statement
had made.
Nor did either officer correct
that impression at the beginning of the June 19 interrogation
that ended with Bear's emotional breakdown and admissions.
Wapass, 23, went missing in
May 2002. Her remains were found in a shallow grave in a bush
near Asquith in November of that year.
In June, 2003, her boyfriend,
Bear, now 32, was charged with second-degree murder. The charge
was reduced to manslaughter following a preliminary hearing.
Bear was interrogated for about nine hours over three days in
June 2003. Throughout the interviews, Bear stated 60 to 80 times
that, on the advice of his lawyer, he could not answer their
questions about Wapass.
Klebuc noted that Goertzen
sometimes laughed at Bear's refusal to answer questions.
Police continued their questions,
a tactic which Klebuc said is acceptable under law.
However, "there comes
a time when police must desist," Klebuc said.
In this case, the police "went
too far" on the first of three days of questioning, when
Goertzen made it clear to Bear that regardless of how many times
he invoked his right to silence, Goertzen would not stop.
Goertzen's claim he would go
back to the cell with Bear shows "the right to silence is
of little value because (the interrogators) would continue indefinitely,
even if the accused went back to his cell," Klebuc said.
Police undermined Bear's right
to silence enough on June 17, 2003, that they tainted the interview
of June 19, making Bear's statements that day inadmissible at
the trial, Klebuc found.
Defence lawyer Bill Roe asked
the judge to provide a directed verdict of not guilty, saying
the Crown had no evidence of what caused Wapass's death. Klebuc
said he may still consider the included offence of criminal negligence
causing bodily harm.
Wapass's cousin, Marilyn Wapass,
said she thinks the case was more about lack of police credibility
in the wake of the Stonechild case than it was about the murder
of Maxine Wapass.
"The police had no credibility.
The judge was looking back at that," she said.
The case is a prime example
of injustice toward aboriginal women all over Canada, she said.
While the Crown did its best, the police did not take the original
missing person report seriously until Wapass's remains were found,
she said.
The trial continues today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
- Access to lawyer impeded, judge hears
Cop admits misleading
suspect in questioning about dead woman
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 4, 2004
The defence in a manslaughter
trial in which the possibility of a false confession has been
raised showed Friday that the only admissions Farand Tony Bear
made following interrogation by police echoed the words of officers'
questions.
Bear, 32, could not remember
anything about the 2002 killing of Maxine Wapass, 23, that hadn't
been told to him during the interrogation.
Family members last heard from
Wapass on May 17, 2002. Her remains were found in a shallow grave
in a bush near Asquith in November 2002.
Bear was charged with second-degree
murder in June 2003. The charge was reduced to manslaughter after
a preliminary hearing.
He was interrogated by RCMP
Sgt. Charles Lerat and Saskatoon Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen
for nine hours over three days in June 2003, at the end of which
Bear broke down crying and made several admissions.
During interrogation, Bear
refused to talk about Wapass. He said 88 times that, on the advice
of his lawyer, he could not answer police questions. The interrogation
continued anyway.
Justice John Klebuc questioned
Goertzen on statements he made to Bear that his continued silence
would be interpreted by the court as a lack of remorse.
"Do you customarily use
that language when a person exercises their right to silence?
. . . Is that an out and out lie?" Klebuc said.
After a pause, Goertzen said,
"It isn't true."
He then explained that it gives
people "something to reach for." If they're telling
the truth, he hopes they will correct him, Goertzen said.
Klebuc has viewed videotape
of the interrogation and has heard the officers examined and
cross-examined during a voir dire, a trial within a trial which
requires that he decide whether the video should be admitted
as evidence in the main trial. Klebuc has not yet given his decision.
Bear spoke to a lawyer four
or five times over the three days, but his repeated requests
for such phone calls were often not answered immediately and
he was further questioned for up to 45 minutes before being allowed
to make the calls.
Defence lawyer Bill Roe led
Lerat through the video transcript, demonstrating that Bear's
only admissions echoed police questions.
Bear said, "Just, everything
was an accident." Lerat had asked many times if the killing
had been an accident or if Bear had intended to kill Wapass.
After Bear made the admission,
Lerat encouraged Bear, saying, "you couldn't lie to me."
Bear said, "I can't lie. I'm not a good liar."
Lerat said, "Mistakes
were made." Bear said, "a terrible, horrible mistake."
The sobbing Bear seemed astonished
by his admissions. When Lerat told him to look at his feelings,
Bear stated, "I can't believe I did that. I'm in disbelief."
He said later, "I'm in
shock. I don't feel like myself."
Bear had been asked if he buried
Wapass in the bush out of respect. He said, "I respect people,"
and, "I don't know how to answer that question."
When Lerat raised the new topic
of whether a cousin of Bear's had helped Bear bury Wapass's body,
Bear said he didn't remember that part and that he thought he
blacked out.
Asked how he felt when he saw
a police car, Bear said he didn't know. Asked what he'd done
with Wapass's missing clothes and a piece of her jewelry, Bear
said he didn't know.
Back in his cell, Bear asked
Lerat if he could retract his comments and was told he could
not.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Police pushed Bear in
interviews, judge hears
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
Friday, December 03, 2004
Police interrogation techniques
were examined in detail Thursday at the manslaughter trial of
Farand Tony Bear, who admitted after hours of questioning that
he didn't mean to kill Maxine Wapass in May 2002.
Wapass, 23, was last heard
from by family members on May 17, 2002. Her remains were found
by a hunter in a bush near Asquith in November of that year.
Justice John Klebuc, who is
hearing the trial at Court of Queen's Bench without a jury, expressed
concern earlier in the trial about the possibility of a false
confession that could lead to a wrongful conviction.
Klebuc still has to decide
if Bear's statements to police on June 19, 2003, will be admitted
as evidence.
Videotapes of the interrogation
sessions, conducted by RCMP Sgt. Charles Lerat and Saskatoon
Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen over three days in June 2003,
have been presented during a voir dire, a trial within a trial,
which requires that Klebuc decide whether the evidence should
be admitted in the main trial.
The voir dire continued Thursday,
when defence lawyer Bill Roe cross-examined Lerat, drawing attention
to a one-hour interview on June 18, during which Bear said seven
times that he wanted to speak to his lawyer.
Neither Lerat nor Goertzen
complied, continuing instead to question Bear for about 45 minutes
before ending the session and letting Bear phone the lawyer.
Lerat said Thursday his duty
was to ensure Bear understood his right to legal counsel and
that he be allowed to exercise it. He knew that Bear understood
and had spoken twice with his lawyer.
During the three days of questioning,
Bear steadfastly refused to answer questions about allegations
he threw Wapass against a tree while in a rage over stolen cocaine.
Instead, he said about 60 times, during 61/2 hours of questioning
on June 17, that his lawyer had advised him not to answer their
questions.
Roe drew attention to conditions
he said would have added to Bear's discomfort during the interrogation.
He observed that some of Bear's
meals and a request to use the washroom were delayed, Goertzen
sat very close to Bear, whose chair was in a corner with a table
nearby, Bear's chair had no arms or wheels like the ones police
sat in and he yawned during a morning session after a sleepless
night.
For some reason Bear wore shorts,
not pants, during the June 19 interview that culminated with
his admission that he "didn't mean to" kill Wapass,
that he cared about her and sometimes felt disbelief in what
he had done.
Roe noted that Lerat gave Bear
information that he might not have known before, including that
the body had been found in a shallow grave, where the alleged
offence occurred.
Lerat denied suggestions by
Roe that Lerat implied to Bear that he might fare better if he
ignored his lawyer's advice and talked about the allegations.
The trial continues today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Judge hears video confession
in Bear trial
Tape may not be permitted as evidence
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 02, 2004
Farand Tony Bear told police
questioning him about the death of Maxine Wapass that "it
was an accident," but that statement, and others he made
in June 2003, may not be admitted as evidence at his manslaughter
trial.
Bear, 32, is accused of killing
Wapass, 23, by repeatedly throwing her against a tree in a yard
of an Avenue W South home in the spring of 2002. Family members
last heard from Wapass on May 17, 2002. Her remains were found
by a hunter near Asquith in November of that year.
Justice John Klebuc, who is
hearing the trial without a jury in Saskatoon Court of Queen's
Bench, has viewed video of Bear being interrogated by Saskatoon
Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen and RCMP Sgt. Charles Lerat.
The video was shown during
a voir dire, a trial within a trial, which requires that Klebuc
hear evidence and decide whether to admit it to the trial proper.
Earlier this week, Klebuc expressed
concern about the possibility of police obtaining a false confession
that could lead to a wrongful conviction.
In the videos, Bear repeatedly
says his lawyer had advised him not to answer police questions.
Other than that, he remained silent during nine hours of police
interrogation over three days.
But after watching a video
of witnesses implicating him in the death, Bear broke down in
tears and said, "It was an accident."
"I didn't mean to do it,"
Bear said as he bent forward in a chair and sobbed during the
June 19, 2003, interview.
"Sometimes I feel disbelief
in what I did," Bear said, covering his face with his hands.
Lerat said after the videotaped
interview, he took Bear to a cell and talked there for about
45 minutes.
During that time Bear asked
how long a sentence he might get and wondered whether the charge
might be reduced to manslaughter.
Bear also said, "I don't
think I did this," Lerat said.
Bear also said he didn't remember
and said, "you tricked me," Lerat said.
After the tapes ended Lerat
was questioned about his experience and qualifications.
Lerat has had extensive police
training in interviewing and interrogation techniques. He estimates
he has conducted 1,000 such questionings during his 17 years
with the RCMP.
He is qualified in using polygraphs
and has administered about 600 of them during the past five years
and has lectured on the topic at the Canadian Police College
in Ottawa.
The trial continues today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Judge in manslaughter
trial mulls police interview techniques
Watches nine hours of suspect interviews
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 01, 2004
Police interview techniques
were scrutinized Tuesday at Farand Tony Bear's manslaughter trial,
where the judge has expressed concern about the possibility of
a false confession that could lead to a wrongful conviction.
Bear, 32, is charged in the
death of Maxine Wapass, 23, who went missing in May 2002. Her
remains were found that fall by a hunter in a bush near Asquith.
Justice John Klebuc, who is
hearing the case in Court of Queen's Bench without a jury, is
viewing nine hours of videotaped interviews police conducted
with Bear in June 2003.
Klebuc is watching them in
a voir dire, a trial within a trial.
He has not yet decided whether
he will admit the interviews into evidence in the trial proper.
He said Tuesday he expects
to spend a day or two dealing with the issue after he has seen
all of the tapes.
Saskatoon Police Service Const.
Stan Goertzen and RCMP Sgt. Charles Lerat interviewed Bear three
times on June 17, 2003, for a total of 61/2 hours. They brought
him back the next day for an hour and again on the night of June
19 for another hour, at which point Bear made a statement the
Crown seeks to enter as evidence.
Bear steadfastly refused to
answer police questions throughout the June 17 interviews. He
stated about 60 times that, on the advice of his lawyer, he could
not answer their questions. He often apologized as he said it,
otherwise remaining silent and relatively still.
"My job is to ensure those
(interview) questions aren't designed to inappropriately overcome
the operating mind of a person charged with an offence,"
Klebuc said.
"I'm concerned about (the
possibility of police) inducing false confession (which) would
bring the administration of justice into disrepute."
By the time of the June interviews
police had identified the remains as those of Wapass, though
forensic evidence did not reveal the cause of her death.
Police also had the statement
of Sharona Night, a friend of Wapass's and a fellow prostitute
and drug addict.
Night, who was in custody at
the time of the interview last year, had told police that she
had seen Bear throw Wapass against a tree and that Wapass had
fallen to the ground and not moved again.
Another witness has said Night
was not present on the night in question.
Klebuc compared the procedure
in the Bear investigation to that used in the case against Guy
Paul Morin, who was wrongfully convicted in the 1984 murder of
nine-year-old Christine Jessop in Ontario. The testimony of a
jailhouse informant helped convict Morin, who was later cleared
with DNA evidence.
"Look what happened there:
an innocent person went to prison," Klebuc said.
Klebuc sought an explanation
of the interview techniques used by Goertzen and Lerat, who conducted
the Bear interviews.
Lerat said police sit very
close to a suspect who won't talk so as to increase anxiety.
The technique can increase the likelihood of a statement from
someone who is close to talking, he said.
The interviewer uses analogies
and themes, describing situations that provide morally acceptable
explanations for criminal behaviour, such as suggesting that
the individual was overcome by emotion and now feels guilt, unlike
other, unfeeling "monsters," Lerat said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Neighbour disputes witness's
account in manslaughter trial
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
November 30, 2004
A witness at Farand Tony Bear's
manslaughter trial said Monday that a Crown witness who testified
about a violent argument between Bear and Maxine Wapass, who
went missing in May 2002, was not present the night of the incident.
Sharona Night, who testified
at the trial last week that she saw Bear twice throw Wapass against
a tree during the argument before Wapass disappeared, was not
there, Sabrina Guiboche said.
A hunter found the remains
of Wapass, 23, in a bush near Asquith in November of that year.
The cause of her death was not determined, but three of her front
teeth had been knocked out before she was buried in a shallow
grave, court heard last week.
Guiboche, who lived at 417
Ave. W South in 2002 with her boyfriend, Andy Pete, and her three
children, said Bear and Wapass lived at the house for a couple
of months that year, too. Bear provided cocaine to Wapass, she
said.
Guiboche recalled an incident
at the house when Wapass became angry at Bear because he wouldn't
give her cocaine. Wapass swore at Bear and said she would get
the money herself for the coke. She said Night was not at the
house that night.
Guiboche said she remembered
washing a pair of Bear's black jeans that were dirty with soil
sometime that spring, but could not say for sure whether it was
before or after Wapass disappeared.
Guiboche said she also discovered
that spring that the handle was broken off her garden spade.
Sgt. Charles Lerat of the RCMP
testified Monday that he was brought in to interview Bear in
June 2003 about Wapass's death because Bear was not "bonding"
with other police who had tried to get him to talk about her.
"People don't confess
the truth to someone they don't like," Lerat said.
Lerat spent most of the day
Monday on the witness stand as court watched 21/2 hours of the
nearly 61/2 hours Bear was questioned by police on June 17, 2003.
Throughout the interviews,
conducted by Lerat and Saskatoon Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen,
Bear remained silent, except to repeat about 35 times that his
lawyer had advised him not to answer any questions.
The trial continues today with
more of the interview videos. Goertzen is also scheduled to testify
today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Police methods
questioned in Bear trial
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
November 27, 2004
A Queen's Bench judge took
issue Friday with methods used by Saskatoon police in gathering
evidence against Farand Tony Bear, who is on trial for manslaughter
in the 2002 death of his former girlfriend, Maxine Wapass.
Justice John Klebuc, who is
hearing the trial without a jury, has not yet ruled on whether
he will admit into evidence a tape recording made by an RCMP
constable who notified Bear in February 2003 that Wapass had
died and police suspected foul play.
Const. Kelly Guider told Klebuc
that his superior, Sgt. Murray Dreaver of the Cut Knife detachment,
instructed him to record Bear's reaction to the news. Guider
said Dreaver had received that instruction from someone in the
Saskatoon Police Service.
Guider did not know Bear was
a suspect in the murder and did not give Bear a legal warning
that anything he said could be used against him.
Klebuc told Crown prosecutor
Robin Ritter the practice seemed similar to wiring an agent with
a tape recorder to be worn in a cell with a suspect.
In the recording Bear can be
heard responding with emotion to the news of Wapass's death and
using profanity. Bear asks Guider if he thinks police will arrest
him.
Sgt. William Simpson of the
Saskatoon police major crimes unit also testified Friday, saying
Const. Stan Goertzen continued to interrogate Bear for many hours
on June 18, 2003, even after Bear repeatedly declared that his
lawyer had advised him not to speak to the police.
The court is expected to hear
the videotaped interview next week.
Simpson also talked about his
efforts to locate Wapass in the summer of 2002, before her remains
were found in a bush near Asquith in November of that year.
Simpson said he talked to people
who knew Wapass, which led him to seek Bear. He told four people
to have Bear call him if they talked to him. Bear called Simpson
in June 2002 and they had a 41-second conversation, in which
Bear denied knowing where Wapass was. Bear then hung up on Simpson,
the officer said.
In August 2002, Bear was in
custody on an unrelated matter and was interviewed by Simpson
about Wapass's disappearance.
In that Aug. 7 videotaped interview,
Bear denied knowing what happened to Wapass. He recalled seeing
her at 417 Ave. W South in April of that year. When he never
saw her again after that, he assumed she had reunited with her
former boyfriend and gone to the boyfriend's reserve.
Albert Bull testified that
he and Wapass had a five-year relationship that ended in 2000,
but that he and Wapass had maintained contact after that. He
said he did not know anything about her disappearance.
The trial continues Monday.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Witness recounts beating
of missing woman
Betty Ann Adam, The
StarPhoenix, November 26, 2004
A woman who says she saw Farand
Tony Bear throw Maxine Wapass against a tree before Wapass went
missing in 2002 could not explain in court why she has given
several different versions of the event.
Bear, 32, a tall, husky man,
twice threw the petite 23-year-old woman against a tree in a
west-side yard during an argument over missing cocaine, Sharona
Night testified Thursday in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench,
where Bear is on trial for manslaughter in Wapass's death.
Justice John Klebuc is hearing
the trial without a jury.
Wapass was last heard from
on May 17, 2002, by family members. Her remains were found by
a hunter in a bush near Asquith in November of that year.
Night, 21, said Wapass was
her friend and that the two of them used drugs together, often
injecting more than $100 worth of cocaine per day. Both women
obtained money for drugs through prostitution, Night said.
She said they often bought
drugs from Bear at 417 Ave. W South, where he was living.
During questioning by Crown
prosecutor Robin Ritter, Night recounted events on the day she
said Bear assaulted Wapass.
She said she and Maxine bought
cocaine from Bear, then left and injected it. They returned to
the Avenue W house between 7 and 8 p.m. when it was getting dark,
she said.
At some point Bear and Wapass
argued in the back yard, where Bear questioned Wapass about some
missing cocaine and Wapass denied knowledge of it, Night said.
Bear lifted Wapass off the
ground by her arms and threw her face-first against a tree, Night
said. Wapass fell to the ground and Night didn't see her move
again before Night fled the yard.
Under cross-examination by
defence lawyer Bill Roe, Night could not remember several interviews
with police in which she gave different details about the incident.
Night had said it happened at several different times of day,
from early in the evening to as late as 5 or 6 a.m.
She also said Wapass had taken
the drugs, that she gave them back to Bear and that he threw
her against the tree three or more times.
She acknowledged that she couldn't
remember what month or what season the incident occurred or when
it was in relation to the time Wapass disappeared.
Roe read from transcripts of
police interviews with Night, including one in March 2003, in
which Const. Stan Goertzen pressed Night to tell what Wapass
had done to "set off" Bear.
In the transcripts, Night,
who says she was in custody at the time and suffering drug withdrawal,
said numerous times that she had nothing to say and asked to
be taken back to her cell. She first talked about the assault
after seeking assurance from Goertzen that she would be allowed
to return to her cell.
Inconsistencies in her testimony
caused Klebuc to ask Night why she could remember the alleged
assault but not the police interviews. He also asked whether
anyone had threatened her or promised her anything in connection
with her evidence. Night said she had not.
Anthropologist Ernie Walker
also testified Thursday that he excavated the shallow grave near
Asquith on Nov. 10, 2002, and in April 2003. Animals had moved
and chewed some of the bones.
DNA evidence was used to identify
Wapass. Walker could not say what caused her death. He said three
missing front teeth probably came out after her death, but they
were already gone by the time she was buried.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Phone call last contact
with missing woman
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
November 25, 2004
A young Saskatoon woman whose
remains were found in the bush near Asquith two years ago was
planning to leave her boyfriend, Farand Tony Bear, when she went
missing, her cousin told a Queen's Bench judge at Bear's manslaughter
trial Wednesday.
Wapass, 23, was last heard
from on May 17, 2002, when she spoke on the telephone with her
cousin, Marilyn Wapass, and her father, Smith Weekusk, they told
Justice John Klebuc. Neither talked to her again.
Marilyn notified the police
and launched an intensive search that included posters around
town, inquiries with police in other cities and faxing Maxine's
photograph to police and First Nations around the country.
On Wednesday, the first day
of the trial, witness Donald Smith recalled he was hunting in
the Asquith area on Nov. 9, 2002, when he came across human bones
protruding from a shallow grave. They were later confirmed to
be those of Wapass.
Marilyn said her cousin, whom
she considered a sister, had a serious drug problem that left
her with needle marks on her arms that she tried to hide. Sometimes
the drugs left her so sick Marilyn said she had to spoon feed
her in bed.
Maxine and Bear were a couple
for about a year before Maxine went missing, Marilyn said. In
the months before her disappearance, the pair were together almost
constantly, Marilyn said.
On the rare occasions when
Maxine was at Marilyn's place without Bear, he phoned repeatedly,
sometimes calling 10 or 15 times until Maxine left to join him.
There had been a few brief
break-ups and Marilyn said Maxine told her she was considering
moving to the Little Pine First Nation to live with a former
boyfriend.
Despite the fact that they
were always together before May 17, 2002, Bear did not call Marilyn
looking for Maxine after her disappearance, Marilyn said.
She said she reached Bear on
his cellphone once. Bear said he would call her back but he never
did, Marilyn said.
RCMP Const. Cory Niedzielski
of the Delisle detachment said two teeth were missing from the
skull found in the bush in November 2002. Because police and
anthropologist Ernie Walker could not find the teeth at the site
that fall, they returned in April 2003 for another look. They
didn't find the teeth or any clothing or jewelry, Niedzielski
said.
RCMP and Saskatoon police searched
the backyard of 417 Ave. W South in March 2003 for the teeth
and videotaped a re-enactment.
Bear was arrested without incident
on June 17, 2003, on the Sweetgrass First Nation.
The trial continues today.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
