Dark find in Toronto on a day in the park

It is Wednesday August 15th, 2012, and approaching midday. Rich vibrant green spruce trees, some tinted with white rise from the grass, stopping at a grey uneven road. There is an aroma of pureness in the air at Hewick Meadows Park, West Toronto. A group of hikers are enjoying a stroll near the Mississauga`s Credit River in the park. On the rivers edge amongst leaves and dead fallen branches they make a grisly discovery. Half submerged in the murky water is a severed human foot.

"There’s definitely something amiss," said Inspector Randy Cowan of Peel Regional Police.

The decomposition of the severed foot suggested it had remained undiscovered in the park for several weeks. The presence of yellow nail varnish on the toes of the victim pointed towards the foot belonging to a female. On March 27th 2004 a hiker discovered the body of 9 year Cecilia Zhang in the same park. Four months later a visa student Min Chen 21 originating from Shanghai, China was charged with her murder. Police confirmed that the size of the severed foot out ruled the victim being a child. But who is she ?

The Police began the arduous task of scouring the park and river for evidence and more remains. Police search dogs and members of Peel Regional police search team,waded through the murky river as a helicopter scanned the area. On Thursday 16th August 2012 a second find was made, police stated they had found the remains of a decapitated human head. It is hard to believe a place of such natural beauty where deers roam and people gather to enjoy the summertime would be the site of something so horrible. Mid afternoon on Friday 17th August 2012 Police made a third discovery a pair of human hands, one hand was located close to where the foot had been found on Wednesday downstream along the Credit River ,the other hand, even further downstream and quite a distance from the other body parts.

"The likelihood of it being the same person is common sense wise, pretty high !" said Sargent Pete Brandwood of Peel Regional Police

Dismemberment is a horrible business, it takes apart society's trust in their own safety limb by limb. Imagery of deep gashes ,blood gushing to the floor, painful screams and maniacal laughter, Canada is no stranger to being drenched in blood. On 31st December 2011 in Edmonton, the dismembered body of Misty Lynn Ward 27 was found in a bathtub, her blood coating the floor and the walls. The tenant of the apartment where she was discovered ,Joshua James Houle was later charged with second degree murder. She is one of many to suffer such a gruesome end.

In Montreal on July 26th 2012 the father of Jun Lin ,hugged a box containing his sons remains at his funeral and wept his eyes worn by grief and exhaustion. Jun Lins death hit global headlines when his headless torso was discovered in a suitcase his other body parts mailed to Government offices and schools. Luka Rocco Magnotto is charged with committing an indignity to a human body and also faces a charge of first degree murder. Could this case be connected ?

"There is no evidence at all to indicate that there is any connection to that incident" said Constable George Tudos.

On Saturday 18th August 2012, at West Highland Creek , 37 miles from where the body parts were found , a golfer Cameron James was searching for golf balls when he came across a "pungent smell". On further investigation he discovered it to be a decomposing human calf. The next day a Toronto Star reporter almost tripped over a garbage bag floating in the creek whilst reporting Cameron James' gruesome find - it contained more human remains. In total one arm, two calves and a thigh were found over that weekend. Was this a second victim ?

"We have a female victim, unfortunately we've been able to find portions of her body in two jurisdictions," said Sargent Pete Brandwood, speaking to the CBC on Monday August 20, 2012.

Forensic teams continued to examine the remains, closer study would hopefully provide investigators with more answers such as the weight, height and DNA of the victim. Meanwhile police sifted through piles of missing person reports in the hope of finding her identity .

On Tuesday August 14th, a day before the first body part was found, Guang Hua Liu, 41, mother of three, was reported missing by her boyfriend, Ken, she was described in the report as being 5"1, roughly 108 lbs in weight with tattooed eyebrows and long straight brown hair. Liu was last been seen the previous Friday at 6.30 pm after being dropped off at the Spa she owned, the Forget Me Not Holistic Spa on Englinton Avenue East which she had owned since May. On Tuesday August 21st Police released information that it was missing Guang Hua Liu who's body had been dismembered and disposed of in the river. The unfortunate woman finally had an identity now the questions remain - Who did this ? and why?

Jane and Finch being wrested from the gangs

A lot of people in civil societies are wondering if societies can run without gun control. By gosh, even sheriffs in the old west knew the importance of gun control when they put up signs restricting firearms in Dodge City. And they were only dealing with a few rampantly racist alcoholics out to battle ‘hostiles,’ (and a couple of peyote slammed Mexicans and a one or two pot smoking kung fu masters).  Guns and methamphetamine or guns and crack cocaine, whew, did not exist.

It has long been an area of discontent, the neighbourhood called ‘Jane and Finch.’  This neighbourhood is the urban sprawl around the corners of those two street names, an area which lies west of downtown Toronto but north and west of Bay Street, U of T, and Queen’s Park. While Toronto is Canada’s slice of heaven made from money, brains, and power, the nearby Jane and Finch is just another neighbourhood like any other in the land.

It is this invisibility that makes poverty disappear for everybody but those who live in Jane and Finch. Even still, the shooting in CW Jeffery Collegiate Institute stunned the area. Apparently Jordan Manners, a studious fellow with no gang affiliations, argued outside his school shortly before he was found laying fatally shot in the hallway.

It was during the second week of May, and the mayor of Toronto, David Miller decried the flow of deadly firearms over the border from the USA. It turned out two killers remained free for several days during the initial investigation, and, in fact, no arrests had been made nor weapons found before it happened again.

While policing and security were still atop the list of hot topics and everybody intended to show increased vigilance and security in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, well, another street shooting erupted, a la the Gaza Strip. It was less than a week after Jordan's funeral, and resulted in more death.

It was Toronto's 26^th, and 27th murders in 2007 and 13^th and 14th with guns. Fact: Canada has seven million registered guns, including 1.2m handguns, closely restricted to police, gun clubs/collectors.

To begin with, the killers (turned out there were two) of Jordan Manners remained on the loose for several days after the shooting, until the youngish perpetrators turned themselves in. For several weeks this spring, therefore, and especially approaching summer, Toronto Mayor David Miller had to play the role of law and order Sheriff Matt Dillon on a mission to clean up Dodge City.

Right. Who wants to be run out of town by a bunch of tumbleweeds blowing in from Jane and Finch? One day, in mid June, the metropolitan police force of Toronto and cooperative police detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police made 70 arrests in several cities in southern Ontario. The drama included an early morning raid in Toronto, to take out the so-called Driftwood Cripps, a notorious Jane and Finch street gang.

The metro police said the arrests are part of larger long-term strategy, and, a day later, the number of charges rose to over 700 against 95 people. Police showed what they had seized in a large cache of handguns, assault rifles, and other guns, and a million dollars in cocaine and marijuana and other drugs.

The metro police in Toronto called this “a brazen gang that needed to be destroyed,” and for now the Jane and Finch Driftwood Cripps are gone and maybe no more.  It was the result of an 11-month operation and occurred separate from recent concerns about Toronto's streets gun violence.

Police in Canada are hoping new laws will deal a blow in their favour on gun-related issues. For example, the federal government’s crime legislation received Royal Assent, May 31 07, and the Minister of Justice, Hon. Rob Nicholson, discussed the legislation passed at the end of the parliamentary week.

“It deals out a Mandatory Prison Sentence of minimum five years for first-time offenders using firearms in the commission of a crime, and seven years minimum for second offense.” The government legislation on minimum sentences received Royal Assent, and that puts it over to the senate for approval.

Nicholson complained about watered down justice initiatives from his ministry because of the opposition in a minority parliament but “will continue” to work to strengthen sentencing laws and victims’ rights. The law designates mandatory sentences in prison for gun crimes, specifically, 5 years for first offense, and 7 years minimum for the second offense.

The ten year minimum for a third offense (presumably ‘dangerous offender’ territory) failed to escape the committee, said the minister.  Ironically for parents of 15 year old Jordan Manners, a funeral came on the same day as legislation received Royal Assent. The minister said he believes Canadians want new justice laws in place for summer while the senate examines the legislation.

He said, the law affects serious crimes to inhibit those who commit serious damage or killings in society. “Liberals watered down the legislation quite a bit,” but the Conservatives intend to support it and were satisfied at Royal Assent.

Canadians have watched the minster work diligently on several legislative initiatives against crime in a minority parliament. Last November Nicholson introduced ‘dangerous offender’ legislation with the concept of ‘reverse onus’ in criminal proceedings.

In fact, Prime Minister Harper introduced the dangerous offender legislation, and explained, the onus falls upon a person found guilty of a third violent crime to convince a judge not to designate them a dangerous offender; a convict would be considered a dangerous offender after the third offense (putting the onus on criminals to prove why they aren't dangerous offenders).

The Prime Minister said, "If the person fails to prove they are not a dangerous offender, he or she will be put in prison for an indeterminate period of time and won't be eligible for parole for seven years."

Returning to the cusp of summer ‘07, Premier Jean Charest tabled legislation in the Quebec National Assembly, Jun 15 07, to tighten restrictions on gun purchases, part of the new law involves funneling all applications to purchase guns through police detachments. “One government has taken the responsibility to step forward,” said Anastasia DaSousa’s father.

They are calling it Anastasia's Law in Quebec, in honour of the woman who died under a hail of bullets at Dawson College in downtown Montreal. Earlier in the spring the government announced victims of crime compensation from the Canadian federal government, and Hon. Stockwell Day announced a Victims of Crime Ombudsman. This was good news for crime victims in Canada, at least it was a start, said some advocates. Questions about funding may arise, said critics.