Russell Williams was once a respected Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked in other capacities, including as a member of the Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue team. Williams was also a husband, but Williams was also a serial rapist and a murderer who is now serving life in prison.
Williams was born in 1963 in England. Later on, his family decided to immigrate to Canada. He appeared to be doing well and was enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he studied and began to shape his career in the Canadian Forces. He eventually joined the Canadian Forces in 1987 and was flying planes by 1990.
The Double Life of Russell Williams
Over time, he became extremely accomplished and was even a decorated pilot, flying important people in high political positions. He was doing so well that one year after he earned his wings, he was promoted to Captain. He continued to climb the ladder of his military career, later becoming a Lieutenant Colonel, and went on to earn another college degree. Williams served in the military for 23 years.
All seemed to be going rather well for Williams until evidence revealed that he may have been involved in the disappearance of a woman who, later on, was unfortunately found deceased. Once evidence had been linked to Williams, investigators were able to delve deeper into Williams’ life and movements, and they found additional forensic evidence.
It was January of 2010 when a young woman, only 27 years old at the time, disappeared. It appeared to investigators that this young woman, Jessica Lloyd, was last seen at her home, implying she may have been taken from her home. This is one of those cases where physical evidence played a significant role in the apprehension of the suspect.
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The Crime Scene
At the scene of Lloyd’s home, police found tire tracks in the snow. Tire impressions, like shoe impressions, can be distinctive; there are entire databases dedicated to this particular type of forensic evidence. The tire tracks were found near a tree line on her property. They were approximately 300 feet from her home.
The Ontario Provincial Police began conducting their investigation and expanded it to canvass the area to locate all motorists in the vicinity. That is an enormous task to take on, but one that proved successful in this case. In February 2010, investigators noticed William’s tires on his Nissan Pathfinder. They were very similar to those found at the missing woman’s home, so police asked William’s to come to the station so they could talk to him.
What did the police have at this point? Not only did Williams’s tire tread look incredibly similar to the tire impressions found at the scene of Lloyd’s disappearance, but Williams also lived near the victim. In addition to the tire tracks, investigators also found boot impressions on the same day that matched the boots Williams owned.
Once detectives began to interview Williams, it did not take long for him to break down and confess to the crime as well as other serious crimes he had committed. They spoke to him for ten hours, and during that time, Williams provided more information that would help in proving his guilt.
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The Plot Thickens
Russell Williams confessed to more crimes, which included breaking, sexual assaults, and murder. Since he and his wife had property in various places, each of these crimes had been committed in the areas where they owned property. During his confession, he admitted to police detectives where they could find further evidence in his home. He admitted to saving keepsakes from his crimes, and he had kept pictures and videos of himself wearing his victims’ underwear.
When police searched his home, they found the items he stated he had, and they were well-organized and stored in a manner consistent with how one would store one’s most prized possessions. There were also discussions of notes involving himself and some of his victims. He confessed that he had broken into 82 women’s homes to steal underwear. He even gave up, very easily, on where investigators could find Lloyd’s body.
The police investigator showed Williams a map, explaining where they could find the decedent. He then went on to tell law enforcement how long Lloyd was alive before he killed her.
Williams’s crimes escalated from breaking and theft to raping women, and then, finally, he ended up killing two of his victims. Jessica Lloyd was one of them; the other was Marie-France Comeau, who was a Corporal. She had served in the military for 37 years.
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Heinous Crimes
With all of his misdeeds, including taking the lives of two people, Williams’ charges were many. They included two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of forcible confinement, 84 charges of breaking, and two counts of sexual assault. His confessions also gave police investigators cause to look further into other cases involving missing women. As of now, there have not been other leads tying Williams to those cases.
When his day in court arrived, Russell Williams was still highly cooperative and pleaded guilty to all charges. While the charges had already been made clear, the details of his crimes had not. Those individuals in the courtroom would learn the brutality with which he had committed these crimes.
One such incident was when he broke into a woman’s home who was a brand-new mother. While her child was asleep, he attacked the young mother and assaulted her. It was also made known that he had tendencies towards pedophilia.
Perhaps Williams confessed so quickly because he could not handle the burden of guilt, or maybe he knew the police would have too much evidence, especially over time and with more investigative analysis, to link him to his crimes directly. Part of the police interrogation video from his confession can be found online.
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Confessions
During the interview, he discusses how the investigation is already impacting his wife. However, his demeanor at the beginning of the interview is casual, and he is even smiling at the start. As time passes during the interrogation, and the police investigator continues to explain the evidence they have found and how it implicates him in the crimes, his mannerisms begin to show increasing concern.
Williams then begins to shut down as the police investigator continues to press him for answers. The investigator also discusses the emotional side of the crimes and how they affect victims’ families.
At the end of the day, the interview was highly successful, as Williams confessed, providing numerous pieces of important information to the police. The video has been used for training purposes because the police did an excellent job with the interrogation, and it serves as a good example of how to conduct a police interview properly.
Due to Russell Williams urges that drove him to commit these terrible crimes, he is serving two life sentences and was stripped of his military honors. There is still a chance that this former Air Force Colonel could be paroled, but only time will tell, and he won’t have this opportunity until he has served at least 25 years in prison for taking the lives of two people and hurting so many others.
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