Further on the CFB Trenton charges

April 29, 2010 11:14 AM

An update to this post from February on the Canadian Forces base commander accused of serial rape, murder and numerous other charges: Russell Williams faces 82 more burglary-related charges.

A deal has apparently been reached for a guilty plea to all charges, including these new ones. The colonel has reportedly attempted to kill himself and has alternated from being under constant surveillance to mounting a hunger strike.

posted by Hardcore Poser to MetaFilter-Related at 11:14 AM (42 comments total)

What's the difference between "rape" and "serial rape"? Why the distinction?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:23 AM on April 29, 2010

I would assume the same difference between "murder" and "serial murder."
posted by restless_nomad at 11:29 AM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

The break-ins, committed over a four-year period, targeted the empty residences of women whose lingerie was stolen. In all, 48 incidents came to attention of police. Dozens of carefully stored items were allegedly found in the garage of the Westboro-area Ottawa home Col. Williams, 47 shared with his wife.

This guy has real problems. I hope he finds some help and not just punitive action against him.
posted by hippybear at 11:34 AM on April 29, 2010 [3 favorites]

Bad wording on my part; they are investigating other rapes in the areas where he travelled. Please ignore the 'serial'.

Interesting that a set of unusual tires was what led police to him (about 18 para. down).
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:37 AM on April 29, 2010

Jesus.

hippybear: what
posted by rtha at 11:40 AM on April 29, 2010 [3 favorites]

So, I read about his attempt to commit suicide and he basically tried to jam the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels down his throat after writing a suicide note on the wall with ketchup.

Which. You know. Ending your life with a tube of cardboard basically only works if you're a gnat.
posted by kate blank at 11:42 AM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I hope he finds some help and not just punitive action against him.

Yes, I also hope he finds some help so that one day he can be at peace with himself and be well enough to be released into society again.

No, wait, that's fucking crazy.
posted by Dasein at 11:44 AM on April 29, 2010 [5 favorites]

Sorry, my mistake, his suicide note was written in mustard, not ketchup.
posted by kate blank at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2010 [6 favorites]

I don't think it's crazy to hope someone you believe is dangerously mentally ill receives treatment instead of just punishment.

obviously, anyone is free to disagree and believe the dude should be locked away forever. I just don't think hippybear is being crazy.
posted by shmegegge at 11:47 AM on April 29, 2010 [6 favorites]

He can be locked away forever AND receive treatment for mental illness.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 11:50 AM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I don't think it's crazy to hope this guy gets some treatment to stop wanting to rape, humiliate, terrorise and/or kill women.

I do think it's naive to expect that this treatment will successfully rehabilitate him.
posted by smallvictories at 11:58 AM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

This guy has real problems. I hope he finds some help and not just punitive action against him.

Um. He's a serial killer. I agree that the goal should be justice rather than retribution but I think "real problems" is a bit of an understatement.

Serious question: Can a serial killer actually benefit from treatment for mental illness?
posted by Justinian at 11:58 AM on April 29, 2010

Serious question: Can a serial killer actually benefit from treatment for mental illness?

There doesn't seem to be a wealth of anecdotal evidence immediately apparent. I would think that most therapists, especially those tasked with working with felons in an official capacity (who tend to be conservative) wouldn't be content enough with their findings to make a judgment. This story is an outlier, but even that guy seemed to have been of two minds about it: one the one side he expressed and felt some remorse, but on the other side he wasn't really in the driver's seat and the urge to kill was only slightly covered over.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:07 PM on April 29, 2010

Colonel's keen oh colonel's keen
We've never seen a
Keener airbase commander
Back up the ladder
Into each corner
Dunking the chemise
Just think of the goodwill
The ladder's a planet
Russell is a star, and
I am a satellite
posted by Free word order! at 12:15 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yes, I also hope he finds some help so that one day he can be at peace with himself and be well enough to be released into society again.

No, wait, that's fucking crazy.

Yeah who wants well-adjusted people who are at peace with themselves? Up with serial rapists!
posted by shakespeherian at 12:20 PM on April 29, 2010

I am quite happy saying that my money should go to pay for things other than therapy to help serial killers live happier lives in prison.
posted by Dasein at 1:14 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Terror Colonel Kills Couple.

Truly bizarre that someone with such glaring mental issues and lack of control could have risen to such a publicly visible and responsibility laden post.
posted by Babblesort at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

The former Trenton air base commander attempted suicide early Saturday morning by jamming a cardboard toilet tissue tube down his throat.

lol i wish it had worked if only because it would be the world's funniest ghost
posted by Optimus Chyme at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Williams was assessed by a psychiatrist who concluded that he is not suicidal in the classic sense, but rather that he simply wants to die

Does this make sense to anyone else?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:35 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

This guy has real problems. I hope he finds some help and not just punitive action against him.

I agree with this sentiment about 99.9%, but sometimes I just want to see them ground out of existence with a boot heel. Guess I won't be escaping samsara any time soon.
posted by fleacircus at 1:37 PM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Maybe he'd like to be killed, but isn't willing to do it himself? Or maybe the DSMIV has a more elaborate & technical definition for suicide that goes beyond 'wanting to kill oneself.'
posted by shakespeherian at 1:38 PM on April 29, 2010

Does this make sense to anyone else?

Not a whole lot. But I think from context it means that he's on more of a mission to terminate himself, rather than someone who might attempt suicide when a favorable condition presents itself. Not a huge difference, but I suppose that explains the 24 hour watch rather than stepped-up therapy or something. I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.
posted by Burhanistan at 1:39 PM on April 29, 2010

I'd imagine suicide is being used pathologically. It makes sense for this guy to want to die, certainly. His life really is sucking about now.
posted by rhizome at 1:44 PM on April 29, 2010

Does this make sense to anyone else?

Perhaps it is about the degree of impulsiveness involved.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:47 PM on April 29, 2010

In my view this guy is a lost soul; damned; irredeemable by any religious or secular standard worth paying attention to.

But I would like to see him rehabilitated.

Because I can hardly think of anything worse than a long life in prison haunted every day by memories of horrendous crimes I had committed and empathetic identification with my victims.

Too bad we couldn't ethically shoot him up with oxytocin to maximize those feelings.
posted by jamjam at 1:52 PM on April 29, 2010

Too bad we couldn't ethically shoot him up with oxytocin to maximize those feelings.

Now that's getting into unpleasant SciFi territory. In 2021 Congress passed the Enforced Remorse Initiative, requiring convicts of violent crimes to undergo neurological augmentation....
posted by Burhanistan at 1:57 PM on April 29, 2010

I hope he his victims and their families find some help.

Fixed that for you.
posted by cjets at 2:02 PM on April 29, 2010

Maybe he doesn't want to commit suicide, he just doesn't want to be alive anymore. One is active, the other is passive.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:09 PM on April 29, 2010

It's Raining Florence Henderson: Williams was assessed by a psychiatrist who concluded that he is not suicidal in the classic sense, but rather that he simply wants to die

Does this make sense to anyone else?


Not at first, but as I think about it, from a lay-person's perspective because I have no idea what "suicidal" might exactly mean in a strict psychiatric sense (let alone some sort of criminal psychiatric sense that this person may have been examining him under) but I do know that you can be, as strange as it may sound, suicidal WITHOUT wanting to did. Sound crazy? Yeah, that's why they call it that.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:17 PM on April 29, 2010

did = die


Damn, I want to did of embarrassment.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:18 PM on April 29, 2010

Lol Colonel Mustard.
posted by fish tick at 2:19 PM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Too bad we couldn't ethically shoot him up with oxytocin to maximize those feelings.

If he's an actual sociopath it's not clear to me that oxytocin would have the same effects as in a normal person.
posted by Justinian at 3:31 PM on April 29, 2010

Does this make sense to anyone else?

Does to me. When I was suicidal it wasn't because I wanted to die, but because I didn't want to live. Subtle, but significant difference.
posted by dobbs at 4:46 PM on April 29, 2010

I might want to throw the switch myself, or in the case of Pol Pot personally wring his neck but I don't believe any state should have the option of executing anyone, ever*. If Williams is a sociopath therapy likely won't help. If he isn't a sociopath and therapy manages to guide him toward sanity then he will come to an unimaginably horrible realization that is unlikely to lead to any kind of happiness. I think his actions coupled with his guilty plea indicate he may already be at this point.

*EVER
posted by vapidave at 5:41 PM on April 29, 2010

Personally, I hope he dies in jail, sooner rather than later. But then I'm a heartless bastard.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:19 AM on April 30, 2010

He's going to spend the rest of his life in jail with the knowledge of how many lives he's destroyed.

I don't want him executed (not on the table anyway as Canada doesn't have capital punishment) or tortured or anything like that, and I presume he will have access to pyschiatric treatment if he wants it. But honestly... if I were him, I would kill myself. There is such a thing as a life ruined beyond repair or redemption, and he qualifies if anyone does. See also: Paul Bernardo.
posted by orange swan at 6:08 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, gods, that's a nightmare line up. Paul Bernardo and Col. Williams in the same cell.
posted by QIbHom at 11:26 AM on April 30, 2010

This guy has real problems. I hope he finds some help and not just punitive action against him.

Sure, the guy needs help, but he needs no sympathy. Unless he was clinically insane (which seems unlikely), he knew that his compulsions were wrong and never once tried to seek help. So "punitive action" seems entirely appropriate.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:38 PM on April 30, 2010

And before we continue with the "LOL Colonel Mustard" jokes, to be clear the man is alleged to have stalked, raped, tortured and killed *at least* two women (including a subordinate).
posted by KokuRyu at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2010

Does to me. When I was suicidal it wasn't because I wanted to die, but because I didn't want to live. Subtle, but significant difference.

Thanks, dobbs. That actually makes sense to me when you put it like that.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:15 PM on April 30, 2010

And before we continue with the "LOL Colonel Mustard" jokes...

Oh please. Humour is a well-known and effective therapy for horror. Untwist knickers.
You know who else, etc.
posted by fish tick at 5:43 PM on April 30, 2010

MeFi.*

----
*How often does a MeTa get called out to the blue?
posted by mazola at 11:08 PM on April 30, 2010