They cajoled him and they berated him.
They held his hand and they rubbed his head.
And in the end they got what they were after – a teary confession to first degree murder in the sex related slaying of Armstrong teenager Taylor Van Diest on Halloween 2011.
In a lengthy interview two days after his arrest in April 2012, police pried the admission from Matthew Stephen Foerster.
Sgt. Davidson: “You told me that you went for sex and that if she hadn’t fought you, you wouldn’t have killed her, right? Is that all truthful?”
Foerster: “Uh, Yes.”
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Sgt. Davidson: “Is it honestly?”
Foerster: “Yes.”
Foerster says he felt sick about what he’d done, sorry for Van Diest and her family, and knew he had a problem.
“After that happened with Taylor, I said to myself, I promised myself, I wasn’t going to do it anymore.”
Foerster went on to say: “I feel like I’m a good person. I just messed up and sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing until later I guess.”
Foerster admitted he strangled Van Diest with his hands and a shoelace and crushed her skull with repeated blows from a heavy flashlight as she lay on the ground.
“I just meant to keep her quiet. I didn’t want it to happen like this.”
Foerster’s step brother travelled from the Yukon to assist police with the interview, telling Foerster it’s best to get it out.
And his sister provided a videotaped statement to police which he viewed several times during the interview.
She urges Foerster to be honest and do the right thing, saying she just wants closure.
Foerster’s lawyer argued vigourously, but unsuccessfully, that the interview should not be admitted as evidence at his trial or provided afterwards to Global News.
The 28 year old from Cherryville is serving a life prison sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
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