News

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File # 2011-431 – http://bc.rcmp.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=50&languageId=1&contentId=21421
2011-10-17 09:29 PDT
Statement issued by: Insp. Brendan Fitzpatrick, E Division Major Crime Section

The RCMP is here today to announce that a series of homicide charges have been laid in connection with one investigation dating back to 2009 and two investigations from 2010.

These charges are the result of a 10 month coordinated investigation called Project E-Prelude, a joint investigation led by investigators from the North District Major Crime unit and the Prince George RCMP Detachment Serious Crime Unit. It also involved extensive resources from around the province including investigators and support staff from the E Division Serious Crime Unit, Behavioral Science Group, the E Division Interview Team, Criminal Analysts and a number of specialized RCMP Forensic Laboratories throughout the country. Investigators also took the unusual step of utilizing a Forensic Specialist from the United States to examine specific aspects of the available evidence.

We can announce today that 3 counts of first degree murder have been laid against 21 year old Cody Alan Legebokoff from Prince George in connection with the deaths of 35 year old Jill Stacey Stuchenko, 35 year old Cynthia Frances Maas, and 23 year old Natasha Lynn Montgomery. Legebokoff was arrested this past Friday at the Prince George Regional Correctional Center where he is currently awaiting trial in the November 2010 homicide of 15 year old Loren Donn Leslie from Fraser Lake, BC.

Jill Stuchenko was a mother from Prince George. She was also a talented singer. She was reported missing to police on October 22, 2009. At the time, the Prince George RCMP conducted a missing persons investigation and sought the assistance of the media and the public to help find her. Sadly, her body was found on October 26th, 2009 in a gravel pit off Otway Road in the outskirts of Prince George, BC.

Cynthia Maas was also a mother. She was reported missing by her friends on September 23rd, 2010. Her family was also concerned because they had not heard from her over the course of several weeks. Despite numerous proactive policing initiatives on the part of the Prince George Detachment and North District Major Crime Unit, such as street checks, contact with various organizations and businesses and other search efforts, Cynthia was not found until October 9, 2010, when her body was discovered in LC Gunn Park, also in a remote area of Prince George.

Also a mother, Natasha Montgomery was originally from Quesnel, BC but had been living in the Prince George area. When she failed to connect with her family after a number of weeks, they contacted the RCMP to report her missing. She was reported missing the same day as Cynthia Maas. While her body has not been recovered, investigative findings have resulted in a murder charge in relation to her disappearance.

All four were women loved by their friends and family. All four were homicide victims. As a result of Project E- PRELUDE, all four of these murdered women have been connected to a single suspect.

We have spent the last 24 hours with members of the victims’ families and support services have been provided to help them through this difficult time. It was evident by our meeting yesterday; these women were all very vibrant, talented and loving. They were all mothers, daughters, and aunts and possess large extended familes who miss them tremendously. The families request privacy at this very sad time.

We also respect news of this development and the charges will be met with mixed emotions by the community. These are difficult and complex investigations that require a dedicated team of resources. This group and particularly the RCMP remain committed to ensuring justice is delivered.

While these cases are before the courts, I am limited to the amount of information or details I can provide at this time. However, I can confirm that in all three of these new cases investigators were assigned with first locating the missing person. Upon receiving the Missing Person Reports investigators were immediately focused on locating the women and gathering information as to their potential whereabouts. This consisted of a number of proactive policing strategies including street checks, designated patrols, targeting areas and people known to frequent areas these women were known to have attended. Extensive and immediate follow-up was conducted on potential sightings as well as a number of other investigative avenues. In fact, during this time at least one other woman was reported missing. The on-going investigation thankfully located her safe and sound in another city.

When they were located, in the cases of Jill Stuchenko and Cynthia Maas, the crime scenes were examined and the latest in forensic collection and analysis methods were used. In two of the four cases, this also included, as I mentioned earlier, utilizing a forensic specialist from Pennsylvania who utilized state of the art computer technology to forensically examine some of the evidence.

Over the course of the investigation a number of search warrants were executed at two Prince George residences associated to 21 year old Cody LEGEBOKOFF. The vehicle he was driving during the aftermath of 15 year old Loren LESLIE’s November 27, 2010 murder was also painstakingly forensically examined over the course of several weeks. It was a combination of many factors, along with a dedicated team of investigators that has brought us to the point where these additional three charges can be laid.

However, our investigation is not over. We do need the public’s help. In order to assist us with advancing our investigation, we are releasing a photo of Cody Alan Legebokoff and his vehicle.

Legebokoff is described as 21 years old, Caucasian male, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing approximately 220 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His vehicle is described as a Black 2004 GMC ½ ton pickup truck. We also know that he was an avid user of social media and technology. Our investigation indicates he extensively utilized social media and on-line dating to correspond with friends, associates, potential girlfriends and others. He frequently used the on-line name of 1CountryBoy.

It should also been known that Mr. LEGEBOKOFF lived in Lethbridge, Alberta for a short time between June 2008 and August 2009.

We are asking anyone with any information, in particular between the time period of October 2009 and November 2010 to call a special Tip Line that has been established for this case. The number 1-877-987-8477 (TIPS)

We believe there are others out there that may have been in contact with LEGEBOKOFF or these victims and possess information that can assist our on-going investigation.

Released by:

“E” Div. Communications Services
Phone: 604-264-2929
 

Email: bcrcmp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

The RCMP is here today to announce that a series of homicide charges have been laid in connection with one investigation dating back to 2009 and two investigations from 2010.

Dear Madam Premier:

We write to you as organizations directly interested in the crucial human rights concerns at the heart of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, established by your government’s September 27, 2010 Order in Council. Regretfully, we write to advise you that this Commission is in serious jeopardy. We are asking for you to intervene in this broken process, meet with our organizations, hear our concerns, and take steps to ensure that the Commission lives up to its vital mandate to determine why so many women’s lives were lost and what can be done to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy.

We would be remiss if we did not, first, thank your government for establishing the Commission of Inquiry. We asked for this Inquiry to take place, and your government established an Inquiry in response. The subject matter being canvassed by this Commission is information we have wanted to be brought before the public for years. This Commission appears to us to represent the sole opportunity for that information to be heard, and for government to reform policy in response in a manner that is constructive, engaged and meaningful for our communities. We want this Commission to succeed, and
we want to participate in it. The success of this Commission means nothing less than the human rights, physical safety and security of girls and women we care deeply about, people who are our friends and family members.

All of our organizations share the goal of ending violence against girls and women. This Commission has as a key mandate identifying the systemic failures that led to brutal violence against women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and failed to prevent it. That violence against this group of vulnerable women continues to this day; the problem has not been solved with the arrest of William Pickton. This Commission is therefore not just a necessary step, but is only one step towards ending violence against women. Its failure and its loss of legitimacy among women and girls and those that support their safety is a disappointing continuation of successive failures of governments to enact meaningful policies to eradicate violence against women, and, in particular, against Indigenous women and other vulnerable and disadvantaged women.

This Commission also represents an important opportunity not just for truth, but for some reconciliation between police and Indigenous and marginalized communities. This Commission in itself will not solve the myriad of issues between police, members of Indigenous communities, and women who live in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, but it will go a distance to better understanding the problems and perhaps healing some old wounds. If this Commission is allowed to fail, which would certainly be the case if it is ultimately seen as illegitimate by affected communities, the result will be to not only aggravate old wounds, but open new ones. For these reasons too, we want this Commission to succeed, and we want to participate fully and meaningfully in it.

Despite our unflinching desire for this Commission of Inquiry to succeed, and for our communities and organizations to be able to participate in it, the people and communities who are intended to be benefited by this process have been made to feel that their participation is not needed, or even particularly desired. This outcome will negatively impact the findings and credibility of this Commission. For example, the unique experiences of women who live in the Downtown Eastside must be heard given the unique intersection of systemic challenges these women face before effective recommendations affecting them can be made. Some groups among us have formally or informally withdrawn because they are not able to participate given the current structure, process and resources. Others are considering whether they can remain involved. These deeply worrying concerns have been largely met by silence from your government, or by reassurance to the larger public that the non-participation of these groups will not affect the legitimacy, effectiveness or the conduct of this Commission.

Our concerns are simple but fundamental: that those with information critical to the inquiry are assisted and supported so that their information can come before the Commission; that the hearings, when held, provide a fair and safe opportunity for those with evidence to share their information and be heard; that groups granted standing have representation by legal counsel of their choice, just as the police do, so that they may probe and engage with the evidence that comes to light; and that, when the hearings are concluded, government will act in a constructive way in reforming policy based on the information collected. It is only through a fair and safe opportunity for truth telling and cross examination of police and government witnesses that the aims of the Commission around preventing violence against women,
ensuring accountability, building trust, realizing reconciliation and creating meaningful policy reform can be achieved.

We urge you to appoint someone senior within government to hold an emergency meeting with every group granted standing in this Inquiry, either in a group, or individually, to determine how this Commission of Inquiry may be fixed. We urge your government to repair the inquiry process based on these consultations so that we may all move forward.

Today is September 28, 2011. The Commission hearings are scheduled to commence on October 11, 2011. We hope to hear from you by October 5, 2011 at the latest.

Thank you, in advance, for your consideration. Please help us protect those we all care about by ensuring the success of this Commission; a process critically important to the people and communities our organizations represent, but ultimately of vital importance to all people in British Columbia and across Canada.

Yours truly,

• The Family of Dianne Rock
• The Family of Georgina Papin
• The Family of Marnie Frey
• The Family of Cynthia Dawn Feliks
• The Family of Cara Ellis
• The Family of Mona Wilson
• The Family of Helen May Hallmark
• The Family of Dawn Crey
• The Family of Angela Hazel Williams
• The Family of Jacqueline Murdock
• The Family of Brenda Wolfe
• The Family of Andrea Joesbury
• The Family of Elsie Sebastian
• The Family of Heather Bottomley
• The Family of Andrea Borhaven
• The Family of Tiffany Drew
• The Family of Angela Jardine
• The Assembly of First Nations
• Amnesty International Canada
• The B.C. Civil Liberties Association
• The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
• Don Larsen (of Crab Water for Life Society)
• The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
• The Ending Violence Association of B.C. (EVA BC)
• The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee
• First Nations Summit
• The Frank Paul Society
• Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC
• The Native Women’s Association of Canada
• The Providing Alternatives Counselling & Education Society (PACE)
• The Sex Workers United Against Violence Society
• The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
• The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
• The WISH Drop In Centre Society (WISH)
• The West Coast Women’s Legal Education Fund
• The Women’s Equality and Security Coalition
• The Aboriginal Women’s Action Network
• The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres
• The Coalition of Childcare Advocates
• EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating)
• Justice for Girls
• The National Congress of Black Women Foundation
• The University Women’s Club of Vancouver
• The Vancouver Rape Relief Society
• The Poverty and Human Rights Centre
• The Asian Women Coalition Ending Prostitution
• The Provincial Council of Women

“Initially, the UBCIC was deeply troubled by the extremely narrow and restrictive terms of reference, the tight timelines and was shocked by the unilateral appointment of BC’s former Attorney-General Wally Oppal as Commissioner,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the UBCIC. “From the start, it appeared there was an incredibly low and impenetrable funding ceiling for this Inquiry. In truth, the decisions and sheer hypocrisy of the Christy Clark Government have effectively slammed the door to this Inquiry.”

Terry Teegee, Vice Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council stated “Premier Christy Clark recently hosted a First Minister’s meeting where she stated publicly that the safety of First Nation women was of paramount concern. If that is the case, we must learn from the errors of the past. We must listen to those families who endured the silence of authorities when their loved ones went missing. We must pursue answers to the many questions of the missing and murdered women not only in Vancouver but along the Highway of Tears in the North.” Teegee further stated, “This was an opportunity for the Christy Clark Government to demonstrate that the safety of First Nation women, and their families, matter to this government. With the full involvement of all the participants, this Inquiry, and the full and meaningful implementation of its recommendations, could have been a small but significant measure of justice.”

“We thank Commissioner Oppal for his efforts to expand the scope of the Inquiry and to seek the necessary resources from the Province to allow all participants to contribute equally to the Inquiry,” said Grand Chief Phillip. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones and to their many friends who worked hard with community organizations for a full and exhaustive inquiry to address their many concerns. We continue our commitment to them and to work with them to ensure justice will one day be served. We will not abandon them.”

For further information please contact:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, UBCIC (www.ubcic.bc.ca) (250) 490-5314
Terry Teegee, Vice Tribal Chief, CSTC (www.carriersekani.ca) (o) (250) 562-6279, (c) (250) 640-3256

PDF copy: http://www.carriersekani.ca/images/uploads/docs/cstc/UBCIC_CSTCPress
_WithdrawfromMWCI_072711.pdf