Getting away with murder- Terry Arnold, Police Informant/ Serial
Killer
It was a comparison of the Thomas Sophonow/ Shannon Murrin murder trials that exposed the
involvement of the same jail house informant and a suspicious pattern of
obstruction in both cases. The informant later claimed to
have been paid by the police to provide false testimony. As a result, Sophonow was wrongfully
convicted allowing the real killer to go free.
from- Murrin/ Sophonow comparison
Quote:
July
27, 2000 - Terry Arnold - Convicted killer Terry Arnold, already a
prime suspect in the deaths of three young women in Western Canada, is now
suspected of being responsible for several more murders in the United States.
Arnold, 38, is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years for
the 1987 killing of Christine Marie Browne, 16, near Kelowna. The FBI believes
he may have been involved in the deaths of several young women in Florida in the
1980s and is looking at unsolved cases in Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, New York
and Mexico.
see- Arnold News
stories
Compliments of Suzanne Wilton/ Calgary Herald
In Canada Arnold
is suspected of the 1981 murder of Barbara Stoppel, 16, in Winnipeg. In the
1980s Arnold worked for a carnival that travelled across North America. One of
the stops was in Winnipeg the summer Stoppel was killed. He is also the main
suspect in the 1987 death of Calgary teen Denise Lapierre and the 1988 murder of
Roberta Marie Ferguson, last seen getting into a car near Chilliwack, B.C.
Arnold lived near Stoppel's workplace at the time of her death. The suspected
serial killer also lived a block away from Lapierre when she was murdered and
was seen with Browne days before her death. Psychologists described Arnold as an
"impulsive and a pathological liar" with "poor behavioral
controls, a lack of empathy and remorse," and "a psychopath who relies
on deceit."
original
found at:
http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/morg0008.html
The CBC published Arnold's psychiatric report believing that Arnold, would be in
jail for a long time.
quote-
Arnold was assessed at New Brunswick's Dorchester Institution after he
raped four girls aged 10 to 16. A report there refers to him as insane,
dangerous and capable of serious crimes.
see
story
After having been convicted of murder in B.C. by a jury, Arnold appealed and was granted a
retrial away from Kelowna.
see copy of- aidwyc.org/pdfs/SophonowMay19.pdf
The B.C. government released a criminal case bulletin in an attempt to explain
their actions. Arnold's retrial was granted on a legal technicality based on
actions originating with the Crown.
see- complete
bulletin
Quote-
9. CHARTER
- DISCLOSURE
The Crown provided very
late disclosure of relevant evidence twice during the 5 week murder trial. On
each occasion, Crown agreed a mistrial was called for. The trial judge refused
the application saying that he could not assess the prejudice to the defence
case until after it was done, by which time it would be too late. He therefore
expressly refused to do so and left it to the Court of Appeal. The jury
convicted. HELD: The trial judge committed a reversible error of law. While the
judge was permitted to defer his assessment, he could not abrogate it.
R. v. Terry Samuel
ARNOLD (18 MAY 2001; BC.CA)
Instead of a retrial, the murder charge against Arnold was abruptly stayed
with no explanation. He
was swiftly and silently released in 2002.
quote- Even
though Arnold remained under investigation for the murders of Stoppel and
Lapierre, he was released from the Victoria Remand Centre, and disappeared from
sight.
Even the RCMP members involved in this case, were surprised and confused by the highly unusual actions
of the Crown.
http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/issues02/041102/news/041102nn4.html
An outraged juror was forced to speak out. She said that no matter what
legal problems there were with the case, the evidence was conclusive and Arnold
had been rightly convicted.
see-news story
The Thomas Sophonow inquiry revealed the degree of protection afforded to Arnold
in the past. Arnold was known to the Police. The
evidence was available to determine the killers identity. There was
an official inquiry into Thomas Sophonow’s wrongful conviction case. As a result of that inquiry, a great deal of information became
available, and Terry Arnold a much more viable suspect emerged.
see- Province
of Manitoba website
Quote: Arnold was
interviewed again by police. This time he told them that at one time, he had a
crush on Stoppel.
Despite this, police --
amazingly -- didn't pursue Arnold further. They even had his fingerprints on
file but didn't bother to compare them with the ones found at the murder scene.
"It is unfortunate that the investigation of
Terry Arnold did not proceed further," commissioner Peter Cory wrote in his
report. "This is a very sad and telling conclusion."
see- additional evidence
Arnold
was directly involved in falsely
implicating Sophonow for the murder of Barbara Stoppel.
see copy of- aidwyc.org/pdfs/SophonowMay25.pdf
In June of 2000, the police claimed that DNA testing had cleared Sophonow of murder in the Barbara Soppel
case.
Quote: On June 8, 2000, Winnipeg police announced DNA evidence cleared Thomas Sophonow
in the killing of doughnut shop clerk Barbara Stoppel.
Authorities said they had a new suspect in the 1981 murder for which Sophonow
was tried three times and spent nearly four years behind bars.
see- DNA
exonerated Sophonow
see- The
DNA exoneration was widely accepted as truth
see- The
DNA exoneration was a well publicized story:
The press then claimed that this was a simple "reporting error" and not true.
New information released by Barbara Stoppel's family tells an even stranger story as to what happened to the DNA evidence from
the crime scene. It was taken home and apparently destroyed by a high ranking Winnipeg Police
member. An Internal Affairs member tried to obtain a search warrant for
the police officer's home but was denied by his superiors. The cop was never charged!
Quote:
see-
full internal affairs report
The Winnipeg Police have been keeping this report secret since 2002.
see- news report released in Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Police produced a warrant outlining what they knew about
Arnold. There was a great deal more evidence implicating Arnold than
Sophonow. Arnold was implicating Sophonow while negotiating to have his own
charges stayed.
see- the
warrant (takes a few minutes to load)
As of 2005, the Winnipeg Police website still lists Barbara Stoppel's murder as unsolved and are
still claiming that a piece of twine
had caused them to focus on
Sophonow instead of Arnold.
see- unsolved
case #21
Sophonow's inquiry disputed the rope theory : The following is one of
the most honest reports ever published concerning this case.
quote: Retired judge Peter Cory, who headed the commission, said
the actions of one Crown attorney involved in the case "misled the
jury" and "constituted a serious breach of duties of Crown counsel
according to standards of 1982."
For example, the Crown had information about the rope used to kill doughnut shop
waitress Barbara Stoppel that would have discredited the theory that it belonged
to Sophonow. But they failed to disclose that information to the defence.
"I must conclude that withholding this information was an erroneous and
deliberate act," wrote Cory.
see- news
story
In B.C. the complicity between the Police and the Attorney
General's office is becoming increasingly evident.
Arnold, a suspected international serial killer,
was finally caught and
convicted of murdering fifteen year old
Christine Brown in 1999 by a jury, and was to be incarcerated until 2019.
Like Barbara Stoppel, Christine had come in contact with Arnold through the same carnival company
which employed him. The FBI had identified Arnold as a suspect in multiple
murders right from Canada to Mexico. Why the B.C. Crown would then
authorize the release of this killer in 2002 on such flimsy grounds without even attempting to conduct a
retrial is more than suspicious and warrants an inquiry!
Updates- This page was first made
available to the public in Jan/05 and posted on other websites by Feb/ 05. Since then, Terry Arnold was apprehended in
Victoria B.C. and briefly incarcerated before being released again, only now with a public
warning. He had continued to re-offend after his murder charges had been stayed.
view- Terry
Arnold arrested and released.
On
March/26/05- Terry Arnold was "apparently" found dead, (
supposedly a suicide) Police claim that media attention was the cause.
see- news story ( No autopsy, the truth may never be known)
see-
Winnipeg news (botched case dies with Arnold)
Some are questioning whether Arnold is really dead or if he has merely been
"relocated" by his handlers. Neither the cause of death nor any other
details have been released by the Police since they first claimed Arnold had
committed suicide.
see- story
questioning Arnold's "death"
see- recent photo of Arnold
The RCMP are known to have faked the deaths of other informants.
quote:
But is the drug informant really dead? Just last week, former
business associate Myron Mitton testified that an RCMP officer told him
Mr.Castonguay was very much alive and living in Vancouver.
see- death of
informant faked
April/08/05- Police members were
among the last known
people to have been in Arnold's
residence, supposedly to take a blood sample, after which Arnold was found dead.
quote: Police search suite for links to
Lapierre slaying
A blood sample taken from suspected serial killer and convicted rapist Terry
Arnold just days before he took his own life is not enough to prove he murdered
a Calgary teenager.
see- Calgary
news
story
Court documents show that the Police had already obtained Arnold's DNA back in 1998
from Christine Brown's murder case. Arnold had originally been found guilty, he
was incarcerated, his DNA
was on
file and was available for comparison. Why the Police required Arnold's blood
again at
this time is unknown. DNA results don't usually change.
quote: The reports related to forensic testing which had been done on certain
key exhibits and on items seized from the appellant's vehicle, plus DNA testing
of the appellant to compare with certain samples found.
see- court
document
According to news reports from 2000, the Calgary Police
were expecting Arnold's DNA for comparison even then.
Quote: Meanwhile, Calgary police are waiting for DNA evidence to see if it
implicates Arnold in the murder of 17-year-old Denise Lapierre in Calgary in
1987.
see- DNA
story
The
Police say they have no doubt that Arnold was involved in the Calgary
murder, but once again, he was somehow overlooked at the time.
see- story
A later news story from 2005 says even though Calgary Police had
Arnold's DNA, that itself was not enough proof. Denise Lapierre's body was found
only steps away from where Arnold was staying.Quote:- Despite evidence from the murder scene -- and arnold's DNA -- it
wasn't enough to lay a charge.
Quote: There is a judicial order that prevents Calgary police from revealing the
details of their investigation into Arnold.
see- news report
Update:
Wed, June 29, 2005
The Police once again claim to have tested DNA from the Barbara Stoppel
case and now say that it is neither Sophonow's nor Arnold's. The Winnipeg Police
are requesting increased funding to expand the DNA bank,
forcing this case into an endless process of elimination currently reliant upon a
very limited data
base. The RCMP are refusing to allow the available DNA evidence to be compared with their already existing DNA data
bank!
see - news
report
The reporter who wrote the previous story is a former Winnipeg cop and
should make a good investigative reporter, however he notes a favorite saying
of his brother in law, former Winnipeg Police media rep "Broadway Joe", stating, "If you can't fascinate them with your footwork ... then
baffle them with your b.s.".
A closer look at the evidence being provided for DNA testing in the previous
story raises suspicions. This was a set of gloves found a distance away from the crime scene. The Sophonow inquiry revealed that these gloves, had been tried on by
several people after being found, including the prosecutor.
quote- from
the inquiry:
There was criticism directed at Mr. Whitley for trying on the gloves thrown over
the bridge by the killer. However, he readily agreed that he should not have
done so. In any event, this was not a vital issue in the trial.
Crown Council Whitley and Inspector Beiner both worked together on
the Stoppel case and both are involved in obstructing DNA
testing in way or another.
quote: Retired judge Peter Cory, who headed the commission, said
the actions of one Crown attorney involved in the case "misled the
jury" and "constituted a serious breach of duties of Crown counsel
according to standards of 1982."
For example, the Crown had information about the rope used to kill doughnut shop
waitress Barbara Stoppel that would have discredited the theory that it belonged
to Sophonow. But they failed to disclose that information to the defence.
"I must conclude that withholding this information was an erroneous and
deliberate act," wrote Cory.
Quote:
Sophonow's
inquiry disclosed an unprecedented level of obstruction on the part of Inspector
Biener. Nothing has changed to prevent this from happening again. The police
member responsible has not been charged. He continued to say that Sophonow
may be guilty while personally withholding valuable evidence which likely would have
cleared Sophonow.
see- inquiry
findings
The evidence from the crime
scene itself has never been analyzed. The internal
affairs report said it was available. The Sophonow inquiry also noted the
availability of other (male) DNA for testing. Note the excuses for how that DNA got
there and for why it also was never tested. Testing would determine the validity of
these "assumptions" one way or another.
From The
Inquiry Regarding Thomas Sophonow
In his second appearance,
Mr. Whitley referred to evidence of male DNA being found in Barbara Stoppel's
mouth. However, this evidence only surfaced in the reinvestigation and would not
have been known to Mr. Whitley at the time of the prosecution of the third
trial. Nor is there any evidence to suggest whose DNA it might have been. It
might have come from someone who was attempting to give mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation to Barbara Stoppel. Certainly, it is clear that there was no
indication that this DNA ever came from Thomas Sophonow. Thomas Sophonow at all
times was anxious to have his DNA taken so he would be absolved of this tragic
killing.
The DNA testing is far from complete in this case. Whitley was experienced Senior Crown council,
working together with an experienced Police Inspector, and
would have known proper evidence handling procedures. Whitley is the other known
potential source of the DNA found on the gloves. Whitley's DNA needs
to be obtained for comparison instead of waiting for new laws to expand the DNA
bank or for a
court to
define the rules for comparisons. Funneling this case into an endless DNA
search, fits the same pattern of obstruction found in all other cases involving
Terry Arnold.
The cumulative amount of evidence implicating Arnold in so many
murders, coupled with the number of victims
showing up right on Arnold's doorstep is beyond the odds of accidental probability.
Similarly, the degree of police and judicial obstruction found in all of these cases leads to only one
conclusion, Arnold (and accomplices) have in effect been licensed to kill. All investigations
of Terry Arnold will likely be stopped, delayed, or side tracked with his
"apparent" death, to proceed any further would disclose how Arnold had gotten away
with murder for so long and the identity of those who had aided him. Any
additional reports like the internal affairs investigation of Barbara
Stoppel's murder would reveal even more details of the inner workings of
Canada's informant/agent
handling division and the degree to which various Police Departments and
the Canadian justice system are being forced into complicity.
see- Barbara
Stoppel Internal Affairs report
Update Calgary- Denise Lapierre investigation stopped.
see- news
report
(now removed from website)
copy-