Ashley Smith: "Wishing I were free..."

Today's post is not about a woman who committed murder, but rather about a woman who was murdered by the "justice" system.

Ashley Smith first came into contact with the system in 2003 when she was only 15 years old. She was incarcerated for series of petty crimes which included throwing crab apples at a postal carrier and pulling fire alarms. Originally sentenced to 30 days for the infarctions, Ashley ultimately served over 4 years in "treatment," and was transferred a staggering 17 times among 9 different prisons in 5 provinces due to the "unruly behaviour" she exhibited. She was involved in more than 800 "incidents," and attempted to harm herself at least 150 times.

Karla Does Christmas

The beautiful young lady in the photograph above is Karla Homolka's little sister, Tammy, who died tragically on Christmas Eve, 1990. An evening of holiday merriment at the Homolka home turned dark when Tammy  died as a result of being drugged and raped by older sister Karla and her fiance, Paul Bernardo. Although Tammy's death was initially ruled an accident, an unfortunate consequence of consuming too many holiday cocktails, the awful truth about what really happened that night was eventually revealed.

Years later, Karla testified against Bernardo (her estranged husband at that time) as he stood accused of two counts of first-degree murder in the sex-slayings of 14 year old Leslie Mahaffy and  15 year-old Kristen French. Behind closed doors with her lawyer and the police, and then again on the witness stand, Karla confessed that she helped Bernardo procure young victims to appease his desire for brutal sex with under age girls. She also confessed that one of those victims had been her own sister, Tammy.

In her 2005 interview with CBC Radio-Canada, Karla Homolka told reporter Joyce Napier that she has a particularly hard time coping with what she did around the holidays, presumably because of what she did to Tammy:

I think about it all the time. At every anniversary, every Christmas, all the time.

"Remembering Taylor on Halloween"

Residents of Armstrong, B.C. gathered last night to remember Taylor Van Diest

on the first anniversary of her October 31, 2011 murder
(Photo: Amy Jackson-Shelling)

(Photo Credit: Jeff Bassett, Globe and Mail)

"The candlelight walk began on the corner of Bridge Street and continued down Pleasant Valley Road and Rosedale Avenue until the railroad tracks, where a trail has been constructed in honour of Taylor.

The 'Taylor Jade Van Diest Memorial Trail' was Taylor’s twin sister Kirstie’s idea, and 270 pumpkins lined the rocky path along the railroad tracks, where residents laid down roses as they passed."

Castanet News 

I have been following this case since first hearing the awful news last Halloween... So fucking sad.

A beautiful, vivacious girl in the prime of her life was killed after setting out to meet up with friends for some good, old-fashioned Halloween fun. She had her costume on when she was attacked, which made the last photos she appeared in so eerily ironic it sent chills down my spine; Taylor posed for a few shots before leaving the house that evening, soaked in fake blood.

Matthew Foerster, her accused killer, is currently awaiting trial. May he rot in prison, and then burn in Hell. 

More Information...

Timeline: Van Diest Murder

Global BC

Emotions still strong on 1 year anniversary of Van Diest murder

AM1150 News

Bernardo-Homolka tweet not trending

Paul & Karla pose for a holiday photo

next to an image of slain little sister, Tammy Lyn,
who died on Christmas Eve, 1990

Screen capture from Lena Dunham's Twitter
October 17, 2012

 Acclaimed actress and filmmaker Lena Dunham is currently under fire due to her not-so-funny idea for a Halloween costume to 380,000+ followers on Twitter. Dunham is best known for creating and starring in the HBO series Girls. On October 16, she wrote to fellow  actors/comedians Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak:

"You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I’ll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U!"

"I cried more hearing her tell what happened..."

Karla Homolka poses for a photograph in Joliette Institution.

Doesn't really look like prison, does it?

I am sure there are people who wonder why anyone would want to expend large amounts of their time and effort maintaining a blog like Mascara & Murder, which deals with some of the most gruesome and horrific subject matter imaginable. Hell, I've even contemplated it's value at times and have, on occasion, thought about throwing in the towel. Very recently, while perusing my blog stats, I came upon a discussion that bolstered my will to continue slugging it out in the darkest of places in the name of access to information.

The following is a snippet posted by a woman who was in contact with Karla Homolka through their shared interest in parenting-related sites and forums. I was so touched by what she said that I signed up for a BabyCenter account just so that I could tell her how much I appreciated her taking the time to share her feelings.

"Will You Die For Me?" by Charles 'Tex' Watson

I came upon the text from Charles "Tex" Watson's memoirs while (unsuccessfully) hunting for a PDF of Susan Atkins' jailhouse epic: Child of Satan, Child of God.

Will You Die For Me? is notable primarily because, in this book, Watson admits that it was he who stabbed to death actress Sharon Tate, who was married to acclaimed Hollywood film-maker Roman Polanski. 

Prior to Watson's admission, there had been a great deal of confusion surrounding which of the "Family" members had actually wielded the knife on that fateful night in the summer of 1968. Not surprisingly, none among them wanted to take responsibility for brutally murdering Tate, who was more than eight months pregnant and revered the world over for her unmatched beauty. 

The book's text is available for free through Watson's web site, Unbounding Love Ministries.

Will You Die For Me? (PDF, 102 pgs)

Jun Lin buried in "land that he loves."

Jun Lin, the peace-loving victim of Luka Rocco Magnotta's depraved brand of online bravado, was laid to rest today in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. Lin's family were kind enough to open the  service to members of the public who wished to pay tribute to the young man whose brutal murder led to an international manhunt for his killer.

Lin's mother, Zhigui Du, was unable to attend the service due to her emotional state, but expressed her feelings in a statement to the media:

I have been waiting for this day to come, because my son can finally rest in peace in the land that he loves. When he left China and came to Canada to study, he wanted us to say goodbye with our smiles…. And today, I think it's time to wipe our tears and see our son go with smiles on our face.

Donations can be made to the Jun Lin Award and the Jun Lin Family Fund through Concordia University, where Lin was a student.

In memory of Jun Lin

Magnotta Victim's Mother: "It's like my son is being murdered again and again."

"The most unbearable pain for me is that the video got posted on the internet. People watched it over and over. It's like my son is being murdered again and again."

The grieving parents of murder victim Jun Lin sat down for an interview yesterday with the CBC to discuss what their lives have been like since they learned their only son had been brutally killed while attending school in Canada.

Online reactions to the story seem largely critical of the interview, with many calling it "intrusive" and "gratuitous."

Personally, I have a hard time accepting this type of criticism. While most have heard the terms gratuitous sex, and gratuitous violence, I have never heard of grief being described in this way. To say that something is gratuitous implies lack of reason; pointlessness. What about a mother and father's utter devastation at the loss of their child is without reason, or pointless? 

Other comments chide the CBC for hounding these poor folks, to which I can only respond: they accepted the interview. Is it really so inconceivable that perhaps Jun's parents wanted to share their feelings with the masses who sat at our computer screens and watched while their son was killed, dismembered, and defiled, so is it really all that difficult to believe that they wanted to speak to us about what that has done to their family?

As I watched Jun Lin's parents struggle to find the words to express their sorrow, my heart truly broke for them. Their tears are the other side of murder, violence, and depravity. I feel it is the least we can do, as global citizens, to listen to their story and to feel their pain -- even if only for a moment. 

Silence will not save any lives; that can only be accomplished through understanding.

Magnotta Victim Remains Found in Montreal Park

Montreal police have confirmed that the human remains (believed to be a severed head) found in Angrignon Park over the weekend belong to slain Concordia University student Jun Lin.

Given the fact that it has been widely reported that the man-boy suspected of Lin's murder, Luka Magnotta, has been "uncooperative," we can only assume that he had nothing to do with the gruesome discovery on July 3. CBC reported yesterday that a tip had prompted a massive police search of the park, which located in Southwest Montreal; the source of the tip has not been released.

It is my most sincere wish that this news will bring Jun Lin's grieving family some of the closure they so desperately need (and deserve).

Leslie Erin Mahaffy

Leslie Erin Mahaffy

July 5, 1976 ~ June 16, 1991

Rest in peace

Open Statement from Jun Lin's Family

The following statement from slain Concordia University student Jun Lin's family is a heart-rending testament to the peaceful and loving nature of their only son. Through this statement, they shared with us not only the unspeakable grief associated with losing a loved one in such a tragic manner, but also their sincere hope that this horrendous crime will serve as an important lesson to us all; that "love and trust must be rebuilt."

The Jun Lin Rest in Peace Foundation is now accepting contributions in his memory through the Chinese Consular's website.

Remembering Jun Lin

A makeshift memorial for Jun Lin has been created by students at Concordia University

A note left reads: "we got that beast" in French, English, and Chinese

(Montreal Gazette)

"The Day an Entire City Grieved"

Memorial held in memory of Kristen French

Montebello Park, St. Catharines, ON (1992)

As I am just now returning from a week of vacation, I unfortunately didn't see this thoughtful article written by Doug Herod for the St. Catharines Standard until now. Although I regret not sharing it on the date that it was published, I feel that it's an important read for anyone who's been following this case.

Two decades later, many wounds have yet to heal.

Medicine Hat Murder House

September, 2009

(Google Maps)

The hulking pine tree that once stood watch over the grey split-level house has been removed, but the house on Cameron Road in Medicine Hat, Alberta, still stands as a monument to the diabolical murder plan hatched by JR and Jeremy Steinke. 

The overall appearance of the property has been altered, for obvious reasons. The white shutters have been re-painted, and a series of tidy, new gardens have been installed, all presumably in an effort to cleanse the quiet neighbourhood of Ross Glenn of the unspeakable crimes which happened there.

When the house was put up for sale more than a year after the murders, even the listing served as a chilling reminder of it's chilling history: 

"This property was the scene of a violent crime in 2006."

The MLS listing went on to say that the house was being offered "as is, where is." 

More Information...

Scene of Multiple Murder up for Sale

Article by Sherri Zickefoose @ The Calgary Herald (August 14, 2007)

Remembering the Richardson Family

Six years ago on this day, Marc, Debra, and little Jacob Richardson were brutally murdered in their suburban home in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It was Jacob's best friend who discovered the bloody scene after peering through a basement window; he rushed next door to get his mother, but it was too late.

The only member of the Richardson family who escaped the massacre was 12 year JR, and nobody knew where she was. Initially, police suspected the worst -- that the beautiful, young girl had been abducted by the monster(s) who had murdered her family. As the hours ticked by, JR's disappearance began to take on a decidedly more sinister flavour.

JR was eventually convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, and sentenced to the maximum allowable penalty of ten years imprisonment under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. She was given credit for eighteen months spent in custody awaiting her trial. Her treatment plan entailed four years in a psychiatric facility, followed by 4.5 years under conditional supervision in the community.

Haunting Karla Homolka

I dug up an article related to the tidbit posted yesterday about how Karla Homolka had enlisted the help of a local psychic to exorcise any demons which may have been haunting the home she shared with Paul Bernardo at 57 Bayview Drive.

The snippet I found wasn't sourced; if you happen to know which newspaper this appeared in, please let me know!

Karla Homolka 'haunted' by victim on BabyCenter

Green Ribbon Memorial Garden

St. Catharines, Ontario

With the recent anniversary of the murder of Kristen French, I have been thinking a great deal about the strong and beautiful Ontario teenager who was robbed of a long and happy life at the hands of serial sex predators Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

Those who have followed the Bernardo/Homolka case closely may recall that Karla believes in ghosts, and at one time contacted a psychic in order to help get rid of unwanted voices and other noises coming from the basement of the house she shared with then-husband Bernardo. 

Unaware that teenager Leslie Mahaffy had been raped, murdered, and then dismembered in the basement of 57 Bayview Drive, spiritualist Lori Disenthio advised Karla to pour ammonia down every drain while asking the spirits to leave. She also recommended that Homolka keep an amethyst stone in her pocket to "absorb all the bad" around her. Homolka is reported to have said that following Disenthio's instructions eliminated the disturbances for a while, but that the voices and noises eventually returned.

Knowing that Homolka is a believer in the possibility of spiritual hauntings, I would have loved to have been a fly on her wall when she logged into her BabyCenter account one day back in 2008 to find a user named KristenFrench responding to some of her posts there.

Kristen Dawn French

Kristen Dawn French

May 10, 1976 ~ April 19, 1992

Rest in peace

"Coverage begins to verge on pornography"

The following editorial appeared in the Wingham Advance Times, and deals with the appropriateness of media coverage of particularly heinous crimes.

In the interest of forming logical impressions and making informed decisions, I do not accept that the documentation streaming forth from our court system should be sanitized or censored in any way before it reaches my ears/eyes.

Those who aren't able to endure the uncensored truth should stick to Reader's Digest, and leave the rest of us to sift through the raw information; unpleasant though it may be.

Bernardo Victims' Lawyer on "Sanitizing the Facts"

Tim Danson speaks to a crowd of reporters in Joliette, Quebec

just prior to Karla Homolka's release from prison

With the Tori Stafford murder trial now underway, one can't help but wonder: how much does the general public need to know?

Toronto area lawyer Tim Danson, who became famous for representing the families of slain teenagers Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French at the trial of serial rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo, weighed in during an interview with CBC's Metro Morning:

"If you start setting up a rule of sanitizing the facts so that the public doesn't really know exactly what happened then you're not in a position to evaluate the administration of justice," 

The full interview can be accessed here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/03/14/audio-stafford-trial-hanson-bernardo.html