Edmonton Killing Fields Killer
Edmonton Serial Killer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Edmonton Killing Fields Killer is a suspected serial killer that was active in the Edmonton area from 1991 (or potentially four years earlier) to 2006.
A serial killer was heavly suspected in the Edmonton area after a string of sex workers went missing and were found dead in rural areas around the city. Because they were found in nearby ditches, fields and wooded areas, the suspected killer was dubbed the The Killing Fields Killer by online groups. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police behavioural analysts concluded that a cluster of these victims were definitively killed by the same serial predator. Police profiled the suspect as someone with a strong connection to rural Edmonton who drove a truck or SUV and frequently cleaned his vehicle.[1]
Victims
Some of the victims of the Killing Fields Killer that are most accepted to be connected are,[2]
- Jennifer Janz (1991)
- Jennifer Joyes (1991)
- Keely Pincott (1991)
- Tracey Maunder (1992)
- Rebecca Boutilier (1993)
- Cara King (1997)
- Katie "Sylvia" Ballantyne (2002)
- Corrie Ottenbreit (Disappeared 2004)
These people were all found in the same way and very close to each other, with the first three found side by side in shallow graves. although these are the ones that people say are the most definitively linked. however there was another string of three murders in the winter known as "the Strathcona County Panic" of 1987 that are also suspected to be the serial killers first killings.
- Melissa Jane Letain (1987)
there were also two others that where found in the winter of 1987 but the RCMP have chosen not to reveal there names to the public.
None of the cases for these murders have been solved; there have been 39 disappearances and 40 homicides of similar high risk females/sex workers, some of these people could be victims of the Killing Fields Killer. A high amount of the women here are of Aboriginal decent and until recent years of protests and the creation of KARE that injustices towards the investigation of Aboriginal peoples have been confronted. [1]
Potential suspects
Over many years there have been captures, speculation and coincidences that created a semi long line of potential suspects for the Killing Fields Killer. The first speculation of a serial killer being loose and in Edmonton was in 1987 when the original three went missing and where found dumped in fields or in shallow graves and a couple of people where investigated for the crime.
Thomas Svekla
Thomas Svelka was Convicted for the second-degree murder of Theresa Innes (36). He was also heavily suspected and tried for the murder of Rachel Quinney (19), whose mutilated body was found in a field near Sherwood Park. While Svekla was labeled a serial killer, forensic units confirmed he was not responsible for the historical 1990s murders.[3]
Joseph Laboucan
Joseph was convicted in 2005 after the brutal murder of Ellie May Meyer, the killer was originally thought to be one of the latest of the Killing Feilds Killer but was proven to be the known local predator Joseph Laboucan through forensic evidence.[4]
Shawn Cameron Lamb
In 2012, police in Winnipeg arrested Shawn Cameron Lamb, a long-time drifter who was convicted of killing three Indigenous women. Because Lamb had a lengthy criminal history that included living and committing violent offenses in Alberta dating back to the early 1990s, Project KARE investigators heavily scrutinized his travel records. however Lamb was never linked definitivly to any of the many cold cases in the Edmonton area.[5]
Gary Seri
Gary Seri A serial killer in Calgary and more broadly the Alberta area. Active in the area from 1977-78, he was found to be a murderer convicted of 4 historical killings in that time period. the major breakthrough in his arrest was DNA evidence Eva Dvorak (14), Patricia "Patsy" McQueen (14), Melissa Rehorek (20) and Barbara MacLean (19). he was suspected to be the killer in the infamous "Strathcona County Panic" of 1987 but was cleared of suspicion after learning that he moved to British Columbia shortly after his Calgary murder spree. he was later arrested in 1998 and connected to the murders through DNA evidence.[6]
The Killers Impacts on Edmonton.
The impacts of multiple serial killers being inside of the Edmonton area caused the creation of the Project KARE, a conjoined program between the RCMP and Edmonton Police Service to help investigate and solve Missing person cases and homicide cases.[7]
Its original Mandate was to help solve the missing persons and Murders of vulnerable persons, particularly those working in the prostitution world and indigenous women. with the time period for those cases being from 1983 to present day. It is proven that one of the main causes of the creation of Project KARE was the Serial killers active in that time frame including the Killing Fields Killer.[8]
In 2005 Project KARE officially Released to the Public that they where on the hunt for The Killing Fields Killer. Some responses of the Project KARE officers to the media after being questioned about the Killing Fields were:
- "We're looking at thousands of square miles. And you're dealing with one or two people out of a population of one million." RCMP Inspector Mike skelela[1]
- "The remains of many turned up in ditches, fields and forested areas beyond the city limits... Discovering whether this was true and, if so, to what extent, was our mandate." RCMP Inspector Mike Skelela[9]
- "The people who are living out there have nothing to fear. The target group is very specific." Sgt. Lynn Crawford[8]
- "We are looking at these cases Collectively... It is frightening, because there's a subset of humanity out there that believes in killing vulnerable young women." Cpl. Wayne Oakes[1]