BELLEVILLE, Ont. – The unprecedented, sadistic crimes of convicted sex killer Col. Russell Williams have earned him a place among the worst criminals Canada has ever seen, court heard Thursday as the final chapter in the shocking case drew to a close.
"The depths of the depravity demonstrated by Russell Williams had no equal," Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Scott said as he sentenced the once decorated officer to two concurrent life sentences with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
"One suspects that he has contained for most of his adult life sexual desires and fetishes. …Russell Williams will forever be remembered as a sadosexual serial killer."
WARNING: Graphic details from this court case may disturb some readers.
Once destined for senior military command, the 47-year-old former airbase chief who flew prime ministers on VIP flights is now in Kingston Penitentiary, home to some of the country’s most notorious criminals – including schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo.
Already branded "the devil" by the brother of one of his victims, Williams will go down as one of the worst killers in Canadian history, said Crown prosecutor Lee Burgess.
"We can all think of a handful of names and everybody knows those names, and he’s now on that list," he said outside court.
The Crown didn’t seek dangerous offender status, however, saying it was "superfluous" given his life sentence and would only prolong the suffering of families.
Williams’ dark descent began with a string of disturbing fetish break-ins in 2007 that escalated to sexual assaults and culminated in the brutal sex killings of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37, and Jessica Lloyd, 27.
He beat, bound and raped both women repeatedly – obsessively documenting each gruesome moment with videotape and photographs – before he killed them.
Those homemade movies, which include Comeau’s murder, weren’t played in court, but described in horrifying detail by prosecutors as family members and friends of the victims wept openly.
His fate sealed, Williams stood up Thursday and tearfully told the judge he was "indescribably ashamed" of what he’d done.
"I’ve committed despicable crimes, your honour. In the process, betraying my family, my friends and colleagues, and the Canadian Forces," he said, his voice breaking.
"I shall spend the rest of my life regretting, above all, that I’ve ended two vibrant, innocent and cherished lives."
But his tears failed to move the families of his victims, or the investigators who helped put him behind bars.
"I think it was deserved, he should have been crying," said Andy Lloyd, Jessica’s brother.
"I was angry the whole time I was looking at him. I’ve been angry for a week."
It’s still unclear whether the sickening videos Williams made will be destroyed. Burgess said the matter is still being discussed with the families as they may prove "useful" if Williams ever applies for parole.
Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas, the lead investigator in the case, vowed the "videos will never be seen while I’m alive – to anybody."
Williams came under police suspicion last February after officers stopped him at a roadside canvass after Lloyd went missing. Officers noticed the distinctive tires on his Nissan Pathfinder, similar to the treads they’d found near Lloyd’s Belleville home.
He came in for questioning and eventually caved under Ontario Provincial Police Det. Sgt. Jim Smyth’s masterful interrogation techniques – a camera-obsessed rapist squirming under the unflinching eye of a police lens.
In his videotaped confession, Williams admitted he started breaking into homes in 2007 to steal underwear – some from girls as young as 11 – which he wore while masturbating on their beds, his camera snapping away.
Those deeply disturbing images of a rising military star donning lacy lingerie and girl’s panties would pale in comparison to the horrific scenes that would be presented in a Belleville court over three gruelling days.
It heard how Williams attacked two women that lived near his cottage in Tweed. He bound their hands, stripped them naked and forced them to pose in pornographic photos that he kept on two hard drives hidden in the basement of his Ottawa home.
Last November, he broke into Comeau’s home in Brighton, using his authority as her commanding officer to find her address and schedule.
She was brutally beaten, bound, gagged and raped repeatedly before he suffocated her by covering her nose with duct tape.
Williams, who obsessively recorded all his crimes, paused only to re-adjust his camera – even reaching for it during the attack to get a close-up shot of the rape.
Two months later, he broke into the Belleville home of Lloyd – the daughter of a retired navy officer – who worked for a school bus company.
Williams tied her up and raped her over and over again for hours. Then he took her to his Tweed cottage where he repeated the torture, every gruesome step captured in photographs and on video.
Williams later admitted to police that he made Lloyd believe she was going home, before he struck her over the head with a flashlight and strangled her to death.
He left her body in his garage for four days while he resumed his military duties, then dumped it in a wooded area as Lloyd’s family and friends were still frantically searching for her.
Williams, who is likely headed for solitary confinement, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement, and 82 break and enters.
"He won’t see the light of day," said Andy Lloyd. "I don’t really care what stipulation he has on him. As long as he dies in jail, I’m happy."
The Canadian military, which has been rocked to its core by the stunning revelations, wasted no time in declaring he’ll be drummed out of its ranks and stripped of his medals.
"We still don’t understand the why, and this is something that troubles Canadians at large," Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps, chief of the air staff, said Thursday from CFB Trenton, the base Williams once commanded.
"We certainly would like to understand if possible. We’d like to learn from this tragedy."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted that the military has been "very badly wounded and betrayed by all of this."
Sources told The Canadian Press the federal government is considering court action to reduce the amount Williams can collect from his military pension.
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