HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-05-13, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010. PAGE 7.
Letter to the Editor
Warden’s intentions questioned in ARC process
Couple could face 10 years each for scheme Continued from page 1intended victim was Sheila Terpstra.Serena had two meetings with Curtisand he admitted in court that heconsidered doing it. But, instead,after the second meeting he went to
the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
in London.
Curtis then introduced Serena to
the man she thought was a hitman on
February 18, 2009 in Listowel.
That meeting and all subsequent
meetings with the undercover officer
with either Serena or Tony were
recorded.
At the first meeting the undercover
officer asked Serena exactly what
they wanted and she said Tony
wanted Sheila “six feet under”. It
was at that meeting that they
discussed a plan to stage a car
accident that would kill Sheila.
They met again the next day in
Goderich. Serena gave him $7,500
that she said Tony had given her as
the first half of the payment. He
asked what they would need for
proof that the job had been done andSerena said just her in a casketwould be fine and then laughed, therecording revealed. The undercover officer told Serenathey were free to back out at any
point, but that if they did he would
keep the $7,500. During that
meeting, Serena sent Tony a text
message and set up a meeting
between Tony and the hitman in
Kitchener. At that time Tony was
working on a job on Wolfe Island,
near Kingston.
Tony met with the undercover
officer on February 23 and provided
him with pictures of Sheila and her
vehicle. The officer asked Tony
exactly what he wanted and Tony
said he wanted Sheila “gone…
dead”.
He admitted he had thought about
this several times over the years, but
always had second thoughts. He said
he was 95 per cent sure this time but
wanted two weeks to think about it
to be sure. The officer again said
that they could back out at any timebut he would keep the money. Theyalso both agreed that nothing wouldhappen if there was any chance ofany kids being in the vehicle.The officer then testified that he
called Tony on March 10, 2009 and
asked him if he was planning on
going through with the plan, to
which Tony said he was. The officer
said he was thinking of doing it that
week and Tony hesitated because of
the possibility of kids being with
Sheila. The following week was
March Break and so the officer said
he hoped to do it before then, but
only if he had an opportunity when
there were no kids in the vehicle. He
was hoping to do it on March 12 and
Tony agreed.
At about 10:30 p.m. on March 11,
Tony called the officer and got his
voicemail. He then left a message
saying that the next day wouldn’t
work because Sheila would have her
nine-month-old niece with her that
day and for the next few days.
Sheila Terpstra testified that shedidn’t have any plans to have herniece with her that week. The undercover officer didn’t getthat message until very early the next morning. He immediately
called his fellow OPP investigators
and said it was too late to change
their plans.
The officer was told to call Serena
and Tony that morning, tell them it
had been done, make arrangements
to get the second half of the
money and arrest them at that
time. The officer called Serena and
then Tony, told them it had been
done and Serena was arrested that
morning. Tony was arrested later in
Kingston.
Throughout the trial, Serena’s
lawyer, Phil Cornish, had attempted
to show that Serena was simply
doing what Tony had asked her to do
and the plan to kill Sheila was
Tony’s alone.
Tony’s lawyer, David Humphrey,
however, claimed that his client was
only going along with the plan tokeep Serena happy and never reallybelieved it would get beyond thetalking stage. When it did, he saidTony deliberately stalled the planhoping that the ‘hitman’ would get
frustrated and just take the money
and leave.
Crown attorney Bob Morris said it
would have made a lot more sense
for Tony, at some point, to suggest
that the plan had gone far enough
and he wanted nothing to do with.
Instead, Morris said Tony supplied
the money and gave the undercover
officer pictures of his wife and her
vehicle.
The jury deliberated until shortly
after 9 p.m. on May 4 before finding
both Benninger and Terpstra guilty
of Conspiracy to Commit Murder
and Counselling to Commit Murder.
Sentencing is scheduled for June
28. Crown Attorney Bob Morris
says case history would suggest
a sentence in the five to 10-year
range.
THE EDITOR,
Morris-Turnberry is no longer a
democracy! Today we received the
Morris-Turnberry Green Approach
letter. A new dump tax of $5 to enter
the Municipal Landfill Site starts
May 15. I don’t remember hearing
about a referendum or even a survey
regarding this proposal. Not that
taxpayer surveys carry any weight.
In the spring of 2008 we had a
survey proposing curbside pickup. In
April of 2008 residents received a
letter stating that from the survey
results the majority of us were not
interested. I was naive in believing
that was the last we would be
hearing about this proposal. Within
10 days residents received a second
letter informing us that curbside
pickup would be starting May 7.
Obviously a democratic majority
opinion means nothing.
Two years later, driving through
Morris-Turnberry, it is difficult to
find any waste or recyclables waiting
for pickup at the end of anyone’s
lane. It is an unnecessary chore even
in the best weather to drag bins, bags
and containers 50, or often, 150
yards down the lane, then later
search for them and drag them back.
Nevermind getting all the garbage
that blows down the road and settles
in fields and ditches. It is so much
simpler, more convenient and less
messy to just take refuse directly to
the dump as we have done for
decades. According to today’s letter
at least 900 township families agree
with me as that is the number of
vehicles that enter the landfill
monthly.
Based on the 2008 survey results,
reinforced with this more current
information, would it not seem
prudent to continue letting residents
use the dump and cut back the
unused curbside pickup? People
don’t want it! And that is why
council chooses to force it upon us.
Unfortunately councillors dwell too
much on the phrase quoted, “the
municipality receives grants…”
Their eyes light up with dollar signs
and what their constituents want
becomes instantly irrelevant.
I regret having voted for Mayor
Dorothy Kelly in the last election but
it was only as she seemed the least
offensive candidate. It will not
happen again. I feel she would fit
right in with the McGuinty crowd,
her governing style is so similar (no
this is not a compliment). She has
totally forgotten that the key part of
civil servant is SERVANT, to your
already-overtaxed constituents.
Vil Jerva, Brussels.
Continued from page 1
helped Dykstra write the letter and if
it was presented to council before it
was sent to the school board.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said that
he couldn’t recall seeing the letter
and sided with Bezaire that some
sort of retraction or clarification
should be issued.
Huron East Deputy-Mayor and
member of the now disbanded ARC,
Bernie MacLellan, said that
council’s idea was to not stay out of
the process this time around as they
had in previous accommodation
reviews, but that perhaps council
should have just stayed out of the
decision.
“It’s unfortunate that the school
board chose a few sentences out of
the letter and used it against you
[Dykstra],” MacLellan said. “I think
this is a lesson well-learned, because
by sending the letter, we probably
didn’t help the situation.”
Goderich’s Deputy-Mayor John
Grace said he felt the use of
Dykstra’s words in the official staff
recommendation sent a very clear
message to all of Huron County
council.
“I think this is the school board
sending a message to Huron County
council to stay out of the process,”
he said. “I think it’s definitely a shot
from the school board.”
Bezaire then drafted his motion,
getting the support of Van
Diepenbeek in order to put the
motion on the floor for a vote.
The motion stated that Huron
County council supports all of its
schools, regardless of their location
and that it hopes that all schools can
stay open going forward.
“We regret that the warden’s
comments were misconstrued to
favour any specific school over
another,” the motion went on to say.
Dykstra clarified his position on
the matter, saying that he supports
all of Huron County and its
schools.
“This council does support the
rural community,” he said. “Many of
us are from the rural community.”
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent,
however, stood by Dykstra’s original
comments, saying that council
decided to make a choice, if faced
with a difficult decision and that the
warden shouldn’t be villianized as
the messenger of council’s decision
on the matter.
“We said that if we had to make a
choice between a rural school on a
concession or an urban school with
commerce around it, that children
would go to the arena for hockey or
figure skating after school, it would
be very reasonable that we would
support schools that are part of the
community and if there was a choice
to be made, we would choose the
one with those opportunities and I
think we did that,” Vincent said.
“I don’t like it and I don’t relish
making these changes, but I stand
behind what was done. I stand by
making a bad choice, rather than
making a disastrous choice.”
MacLellan also stood by the
intention behind council’s decision,
but said that a clarification should be
issued, considering that the process
is still ongoing.
“We did try to rationalize that if
we made the decision, that it would
be the lesser of two evils and that’s
where we went wrong,” MacLellan
said. “It may not have appeared right
to the public if we would have stayed
out of it, but that might have been
better.”
The motion was passed in a
recorded vote, with 14 votes
supporting the motion and five votes
against the motion with Goderich
Mayor Deb Shewfelt absent for the
vote.
It was also decided that copies of
the motion and council’s decision to
support it be forwarded to
Alexander, Deitner and the school
board.
Addressing the accommodation
review process at a higher level,
Huron East Mayor Joe Seili said that
he felt the higher tiers of government
let rural Ontario down throughout
this process in allowing Huron
County schools to close.
“I feel our Minister of Agriculture
has bailed on us,” Seili said. “I’ve
sent numerous letters to the previous
and current ministers and I’ve
received the same letter, just with a
different name on the bottom. I
guess that’s how much they respect
rural Ontario.”
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