Mike on Crime (18 page)

Yet the tragedies continue to mount. And the roadside memorials—like the one that still exists to this day for Crystal Taman—continue to pile up.

A HEARTLESS ACT

I
have covered well over 500 homicides in my career. Sadly, many of the same root causes are often involved. Excessive alcohol abuse. Drugs. Domestic conflict. Gang warfare. All of them are deeply troubling, tragic and senseless. It's so hard to fathom the sudden, violent ending of a human life. But every now and then, a case comes along that chills you to the core. One where it seems the only way to explain what happened is with these two words: Pure evil. This is one of those cases.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2007

It was the worst-case scenario that everyone had feared. Roxanne Fernando was dead. The 24-year-old Winnipeg woman—known affectionately known to loved ones as “Apple”—had last been seen nearly two weeks ago. Her mysterious disappearance had triggered plenty of panic among her friends and family members. This was so unusual, so out of character, that something just had to be wrong. And so they had been peppering the Internet with her photo and police contact information by sending out e-mail alerts to hundreds of people asking for assistance. They also contacted local media outlets, linking them to a YouTube video they had created which showed Roxanne's photo over the music of Coldplay's “Fix You.”

Winnipeg police had also put out a call for help, hoping to generate some leads, shortly after hearing from the family on February 18th. But nobody could have anticipated where their investigation would take them. A body, quickly identified as Roxanne, had just been found buried in a snowy ditch in the northwest part of the city. Foul play was obvious. She had been brutally beaten, almost beyond recognition.

“Oh no, I can't believe it. That's so cruel,” said a stunned Carrie Barroga upon learning of the killing. Barroga worked in the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba and recently met Fernando's sister when she came in to distribute posters seeking information about the missing woman. Fernando and her family had come to Canada from the Philippines in 2003.

“She said she wanted our help and asked to put it up on our bulletin board, which she did,” said Barroga. “This is just terrible.”

“It's just horrible,” Fernando's co-worker at the Radisson Hotel told the
Winnipeg Free Press
following the discovery. “None of us can believe it. She was just one of the nicest, sweetest girls.”

Now the focus turned to bringing whoever was responsible for this heinous crime to justice. Police quickly made a series of arrests, charging three young men with first-degree murder. That indicated they believed the killing was a planned, pre-meditated act. Nathanael Mark Plourde, 19, Jose Manuel Toruno, 19, and a 17-year-old youth who couldn't be named were all in custody. For now, police were saying little publicly. They confirmed it wasn't a gang or drug-related killing. They also stated their belief that Roxanne was likely killed within hours of when she was last seen. The rest of the story would be kept from the public. For now.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 23, 2007

“Guilty.” The 17-year-old stood in the prisoner's box and answered directly after the first-degree murder charge was read aloud. It was a surprisingly quick resolution, just a few months following his arrest. And now details of one of Winnipeg's most chilling homicides would be revealed publicly for the first time.

“The circumstances of this crime are extremely aggravating. [The teen killer's] conduct is completely inexplicable,” provincial court Judge Marvin Garfinkel said. Roxanne Fernando had been lured to her death as part of an elaborate plan. All because she had refused to have an abortion. The Crown called it a “callous, well-planned execution.”

The teen killer—who couldn't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act—was given the maximum youth sentence of six years prison and four years of probation. Justice officials had agreed not to seek to have him raised to adult court in exchange for his guilty plea to the most serious charge in the Criminal Code. It was hoped the plea bargain would also give the Crown plenty of leverage in the remaining case against two adult co-accused. Nathanael Mark Plourde, 19, and Jose Manuel Toruno, 19, remained before the courts.

The youth made a quick apology in court to Fernando's family, who sat weeping as Crown attorney Brent Davidson read the facts of the case. “I'm so sorry, even if this apology seems hollow. She deserved much better and this ordeal has been unfair to her. I hope God blesses Roxanne's family,” the youth said. Davidson said the man wasn't remorseful when he was overheard in jail following his arrest talking about how he should have “raped” Fernando after her killing. “His moral compass is so out of whack,” Davidson said.

Fernando had learned she was pregnant weeks before her death. The father was her boyfriend, Nathanial Plourde. The two met when they worked together at a McDonald's restaurant on Main Street. “She thought this was the man of her dreams,” Davidson told court. Fernando was pressured to terminate her pregnancy and initially agreed. She later had a “change of heart” and that set in motion a chilling chain of events, he said. “It would be the fetus that would drive the planned and deliberate killing of Ms. Fernando,” Davidson said.

The youth was offered $500 and a 32-inch television to carry out the act. He initially refused, but began participating in the plot, Davidson said. A meeting was set up on February 15—the day after Valentine's Day—in which Fernando had expected to exchange gifts with her boyfriend. She wrapped a box of chocolates and got into a waiting car—unaware that the youth was hiding under a blanket in the back seat, Davidson said. He had also participated in an earlier trip to the store to buy supplies, including leather gloves and rolls of tape. Fernando was driven to Little Mountain Park on the northwestern edge of the city on the guise there was a “surprise” waiting there for her.

While en route, Fernando revealed details of a recent dream. “It was of seeing her own obituary,” Davidson told court. “There's a belief she may have unconsciously been aware of the fate that awaited her.”

The youth sprung out from under the blanket and began attacking Fernando at the isolated park, along with a second man. Fernando was hit with a wrench up to 20 times, bound with tape and wrapped in a blanket before being stuffed in the trunk of the car. It was thought she was dead. But as the car began driving away, sounds could be heard coming from the rear.

“There was a realization Roxanne Fernando was still alive. They could hear moaning,” Davidson said. Panic set in and a third accused was picked up and paid $120 to assist in Fernando's killing. The youth had taken the money out of Fernando's purse as she lay dying in the trunk, Davidson said. Fernando was taken to a remote area near Mollard Road and Ritchie Street in northwest Winnipeg and repeatedly beaten with a broken hockey stick until she was obviously dead.

“The beating was long lasting and extreme,” Davidson said. Her body was then buried in a snow ditch. Fernando's killers went to McDonald's for a bite to eat, stopped at Safeway for some cleaning supplies for the vehicle and then text-messaged at least one of Fernando's friends—using her cellphone—indicating all was well. “This was sheer callousness,” Davidson said.

Her body was discovered several days later.

Perhaps anticipating some public blowback, Davidson went to great pains why his office agreed not to seek an adult sentence against the teen killer. “This [deal] is not the result of any deficiencies in the Crown's case,” he said. Instead, Davidson took aim at the much-maligned Youth Criminal Justice Act that he said made it nearly impossible to force killers—such as Fernando's—to be raised to adult court. “Only the imposition of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, with all its deficiencies, is saving this youth from a life sentence with no chance of parole for a very long time,” Davidson said. As an adult, he would have been given an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. As a youth, he would be released from custody before he turned 24.

A court-ordered pre-sentence report found the teen a “low-risk” to re-offend despite committing one of the most chilling murders in recent Winnipeg history. That's because he had no prior record, had strong family and community supports and the fact he'd finished high school and has been employed. Davidson said that meant this case just wasn't “exceptional enough to take it out of the youth range” despite aggravating factors surrounding Fernando's slaying.

Federal Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson had recently announced plans to strengthen the YCJA by putting greater focus on “deterrence and denunciation” as sentencing principles. Since the act became law in April 2003, rehabilitation had been the main focus. That had resulted in numerous controversial sentences—including one day in jail for a Winnipeg teen who killed a man with a pool ball wrapped in a sock. Changes were on the way. But they were too late to have any impact on this heartless killer.

They had struggled to get to Canada to start a new life for themselves. Now one of them was dead, the victim of a sadistic plot. Elisa Fernando conveyed her feelings in an emotional victim impact statement presented in court:

“My life will never be the same again. I feel as if I have died with her, too. One will never know until it happens to them. I have gone through a tough life, being poor, and raised five children on my own. I didn't have a good life until my daughter sponsored me and “Apple” to live with her here in Canada. I thought it would be the beginning of a new and good life, and not the end of it.

I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. She looked so happy when she left the house that night, all dolled up and carrying a Valentine present that we wrapped together. I jokingly asked if I can have one of the presents she had.

I thought that was going to be one of the happiest days of my daughter's life. She even asked me to look out the window to see if I could see the car that was waiting for her outside. I said I could only see the headlights. I didn't know that would be the last time I was going to see and talk to my daughter.

I feel so betrayed by this and regret that I let her go out that night. She had no idea she was in danger. I have so much regret and always the question of “What if?” My feelings of hurting are beyond imagination. I could write and speak about being hurt, but it will never end.”

Roxanne's sister, Ana Maria Deluz, also shared her grief publicly:

“I remember when she was born. It was a very special date because I was celebrating my birthday. I was with my aunt, cousins and brothers celebrating when I found out my mom had given birth to a healthy baby girl.

It made by birthday extra special because I found out I had a baby sister. I will never, ever forget that day because that's how my life of being a big sister began.

I became a second mother to her. I took her under my wing, took care of her from the very beginning, since our mother had to work a lot. I have so many loving memories of her, from registering her first grade of school until graduating from elementary. I watched her grow up and that became part of my life and now that she's gone, it's like losing a part of myself.

I miss her so much that I'm still hoping one day she'll walk through the door with a big beautiful smile on her face. She was the kind of person that would brighten up the house, always dancing and singing.

She was a very caring person, too, always ready to lend a helping hand to those she loved, especially her family back home who she supported financially.

There are absolutely no words to describe how it feels when someone you truly love is unjustly taken away in an instant. I am not who I used to be and probably never will be. There is a big hole in my heart, and my family's heart.

I am now left with only memories of my sister and no words to adequately describe the depths of my sorrow. I not only lost a sister, but an irreplaceable friend. We knew each other like no one else does, and had an understanding that only sisters can provide each other.

I have this feeling of regret because I brought her to Canada. I remember crying in front of a judge for permission for her to be able to live here so that she could have a better life. Now I am crying in front of a judge because her life was taken.”

To many people, there were actually two homicide victims that night. But the death of Fernando's unborn baby didn't result in an additional murder charge because Canadian law, unlike the United States and other countries, doesn't recognize a fetus as a living being. This triggered plenty of public outrage. From local radio talk-shows to Letters to the Editor, it was clearly many were upset.

“The brutal murder of Roxanne Fernando and her unborn child continues the violence directed toward pregnant women who refuse to abort their babies” said Maria Slykerman, president of Campaign Life Coalition Manitoba. “Statistics show that many women are coerced into having abortions by boyfriends or husbands. These same women, who have submitted to the threats and bullying of their baby's father, subsequently seek the help of grief counsellors to comfort them in the guilt and sadness that overcomes them.”

Slykerman called for legislative changes. “The Canadian Criminal Code must be revised to recognize the obvious fact that in cases where the mother is murdered, charges must also be laid in the death of the child who is equally worthy of recognition as a human being,” she said.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2009

They had stalled and delayed as long as possible, knowing full well justice officials had a rock-solid case against them. And just as their long-awaited jury trial was set to begin, Roxanne Fernando's two adult killers finally accepted their fate.

Nathanael Mark Plourde took the unusual step of pleading guilty to first-degree murder, earning himself a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. Few ever plead guilty to this charge because the penalty was automatic, with no room for judicial discretion. “He didn't want to put the victim's family through any more of an ordeal,” defence lawyer Roberta Campbell said outside court.