Col. Russell Williams worries about wife’s house being torn up for evidence

BELLEVILLE, ON – Confronted with evidence linking him to his gruesome crimes, Col. Russell Williams turned from a gum chewing, grinning murder suspect to a teary-eyed man desperate to protect his wife’s home from a destructive police search.

The transformation occurs during a police interrogation captured on video and being played in a Belleville, Ont., courtroom today.

Williams stressed to police how attached his wife is to their new Ottawa home, seemingly concerned about how police might tear it up in search of evidence.

Earlier in the video Williams appeared "calm and cool" – until he was told his footprints and tire tracks were found at the home of one of his murder victims.

Initially, the former military star spoke jovially with Det. Sgt. Jim Smyth on Feb. 7, declining a lawyer and even grinning for the camera.

His demeanour was so relaxed at the outset, people gathered in an eastern Ontario court let out a collective gasp as they watched the video.

Crown prosecutor Lee Burgess froze the chilling image, saying he wanted to illustrate just how "calm and cool" Williams was despite the gruesome nature of his sex assaults and murders.

The former commander of CFB Trenton has confessed and been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37, and dozens of other charges, including sexual assaults.

In video shown Wednesday, the interrogation is clearly moved toward a confession after Smyth confronts Williams with the evidence and tells him his house is being searched, and that Williams’ wife is aware of that.

Williams falls silent and starts to look uncomfortable.

Smyth tells him that he has met cold-blooded psychopaths who got off on the notoriety of their crimes, including serial sex-killer Paul Bernardo.

"I don’t see that in you," Smyth says.

Williams slips into a long, anxious pause, cradling his face in his hands before finally asking to be called "Russ."

Smyth asks Williams to do the right thing and admit his guilt to at least allow Lloyd’s parents to get her body back.

When Williams again falls silent, Smyth asks him what he’s struggling with.

Williams responds that "it’s hard to believe this is happening."

Later, Williams says his two concerns are what his wife is going through and the impact it’s going to have on the Canadian Forces.

Williams later says he wants to "minimize the impact on my wife."

"How do we do this?" Williams asks, to which Smyth replies: "Start by telling the truth."

Williams is silent, looks down and then appears to tear up.

In a chillingly calm voice, Williams describes how he spied on Lloyd from outside her home the day before he broke in.

"So I raped her in the house," he tells Smyth.

Then Williams says he took her in his car back to Tweed and describes, in curt sentences, how he killed her.

Outside court, Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas characterized the interrogation as one of the best interviews he has ever seen.

"It’s a smart man, outsmarted by a smarter man," he said.

The video will be released to the media, meaning the public can expect to view portions of it on websites and television stations.

More excerpts from the video will be played this afternoon, followed by victim impact statements.