HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-01-17, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019. PAGE 15.
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posted odd statements on Facebook
indicating he was tired of drama. He
wrote that even the nicest people
have their limits.
There was a meeting between the
Fischers and Carter where Gail and
her parents offered to pay off some
of Carter’s debt if he would sign his
third of the house back to them.
Carter refused, swearing as he left
the Tim Hortons location.
On March 28, the day before the
murders, Carter went to Listowel
and purchased a 20-litre gas can and
a self-igniting torch kit.
The next morning, on March 29,
Gail got up and was getting ready for
work. She had a coffee with her
mother and then donning her winter
coat and boots, walked to her Jeep
outside. Carter was waiting by her
vehicle. He attacked her, forced her
to the ground and zip-tied her wrists
behind her back. Carter told Gail he
had a gun and she should not scream
or fight. He told her this was
happening because she had taken
everything from him.
Gail’s glasses fell to the ground as
Carter shouldered his Wescast duffle
bag. Inside, were plastic bags, the
torch, rope, duct tape, 15 heavy duty
zip ties and one pair of black gloves.
The gas can he purchased the day
before was also there, as were pre-
made lengths of duct tape he had
stuck on the recycling bin.
Gail was forced back inside the
house. Things escalated quickly.
Marian came out the bedroom and
Carter shot her in the leg, hitting the
femoral artery. Then Carter went to
the master bedroom where he shot
Douglas in the mouth, shattering his
teeth. Gail ran to her dad in the
bedroom, knocked the handset off
the phone and made her first call to
911. It was 8:15 a.m.
While Gail was calling 911 with
her nose, her mother was crawling to
another phone. Carter shot Marian in
the back of the head and killed her.
Carter returned Gail to the
entryway of the house where he told
her to take off her coat. She told him
she could not because both her
hands were tied behind her back. He
cut one of the ties off and using the
opportunity, Gail (who had been
telling Carter she didn’t know where
her cell phone was) dialed 911 and
slipped her phone into her back
pocket. During that call, the
dispatcher and police could hear
Gail crying for help and saying “it
hurts.” Carter could be heard saying
“it’s supposed to.” Also audible were
sounds of Douglas’s final moments,
coughing and choking.
Carter returned to the bedroom
and put a pillow over Douglas’ head.
Gail struggled to get the pillow off
her father. Then Carter shot Douglas
four to six more times. The shots to
the head were fatal.
Carter then told Gail they were
“going to do this one more time.” He
took her upstairs. Gail slid her phone
under the bed, hiding it. She was
sexually assaulted.
Gail asked Carter to get her a glass
of water. When he returned, they
heard knocks on the door. Carter is
reported as saying, “The police are
here. Now you will get everything.”
At 8:30 a.m., the first officer was
on the scene. At 8:43 a.m., officers
broke down the door. They
witnessed Carter walking down the
stairs saying “everything is okay.”
Carter was immediately detained
and Gail was brought to the hospital.
Both Douglas and Marian were
pronounced dead at the scene.
After the Crown’s report was read,
defence lawyer Robert Morris said
the facts were essentially correct. He
added it was Carter’s position that
his intention that morning was to
force the occupants out of the home,
burn the house down and take his
own life. “We do not accept his
statement as truth,” said Maguire.
With the facts laid out, four impact
statements were read out by the
assistant Crown Attorney, Laura
Grant. In her written statement, Gail
expressed “it angers me that Carter
felt he could come into our house
that day and change our lives
forever.” Gail said when she closes
her eyes, she sees everything occur
all over again and lives in constant
fear that if Carter is released, he will
return to hurt or kill her and more
members of her family.
In Carter’s defence, Morris read
out several character letters where
Carter was credited as being very
involved in the community. It was
stated he was a helpful and loving
grandfather. Also, that Carter had
much compassion for those in need.
A neighbour wrote that Carter has
always been “regarded as a kind and
caring person who would always
help when needed. He will always
be regarded as one of the good
people who came into our lives.”
The Chaplain of the prison where
Carter had been held since the arrest
said Carter has accepted his
situation, is considerably remorseful
and believes the murders were an act
Carter considers “extremely out of
character.”
Morris also stated that by pleading
guilty, Carter “is accepting
responsibility for what he did and is
prepared to accept the consequences
of what he did.”
Judge Thomas said the letters had
little bearing on the case. He
recounted that after watching her
parents killed, Carter tried to force
Gail into sexual acts. “His actions
are so horrific, that they are, quite
frankly, unimaginable,” said Judge
Thomas.
The judge went on to refute
Carter’s claims that he only intended
to force Gail, Douglas and Marian
from the home. “Yet you showed up
with a gun with a silencer,” he said.
Carter was asked if he wished to
say anything. He unfolded a small
piece of paper on which he had
written, “To the Fischer family and
relatives and to my family and
relatives, I am truly and deeply sorry
for the pain and suffering I have
caused you. You are all in my
thoughts and prayers. If I could turn
back time, I would. Do I regret it?
Every day,” he said. Then Carter
looked up and said, “Douglas and
Marian were good people and I am
terribly sorry for taking their lives.”
In tears, as he was handcuffed and
led from the courtroom for a court
break, Carter looked at Gail and
said, “I am so sorry.”
Before sentencing Carter on the
three counts against him, Judge
Thomas again reflected on the letters
that were read about Carter. “It’s like
they were referring to a different
person,” said the Judge.
“Nothing explains why Kevin
Carter could have been so evil as to
have destroyed this family with such
violence,” said Judge Thomas. “It
was an act of greed, a final act of
domination in a situation he found
he could no longer control.”
He did credit Carter for eventually
signing over ownership of the house
and for pleading guilty so that the
family would not have to sit through
a painful trial.
In his comments to Gail, Judge
Thomas praised and encouraged her,
commending Gail’s “strength of
character” in dialing 911 while her
hands were tied behind her back.
“But for her actions, who knows
what would have happened to her,”
said Judge Thomas. “Her actions
show a strength of character which
will hopefully enable her to move
forward.” He told Gail she should
not feel guilt. “This was out of your
hands. How could you have possibly
known this would ever happen?”
Carter was then sentenced to three
life sentences to be served con-
currently with no chance for parole
until 25 years have been served. By
that time, Carter will be 82.
“However, given the age of the
offender, the guilty plea and the
personal circumstances upon which
I have commented and the real
likelihood Kevin Carter will never
be paroled, I believe concurrent
sentences are fit and just in the
circumstances,” said Judge Thomas.
Added to the sentencing, Carter
was ordered not to contact Fischer
family members. Their names were
read aloud, an emotional revelation
of how many people were directly
affected by Carter’s actions.
Carter pleads guilty to murders
Documentary features locals
Late last year, Community Futures
Huron unveiled a special
documentary called Enterprising
Women of Brussels: Tales of
Gumption to the stars of the film at a
private event at the Brussels Four
Winds Barn.
The film, which highlights both
new businesses and those changing
hands, focuses on female
entrepreneurs who are the driving
force behind a renaissance in
Brussels.
Paul Nichol, General Manager of
Community
Futures Huron,
told The Citizen
that the idea for
the film started in
the summer of
2018 when
conversation
around the
Community
Futures office,
also known as the
Huron Business
Development
Corporation,
turned to the
ongoing
revitalization of
the village of
Brussels.
“We were
talking about how
remarkable it was
that Brussels main
street was getting
life breathed back
into it after several
slower years, or
decades for that
matter,” he said.
“We talked about
the businesses that
were changing
hands and noting
that it was all
being done by
women.”
He said, from there, it was
clear that those women
should be recognized for their
efforts, which led to a short
documentary.
“We felt there was a story here and
the story was all about what’s
making these women take that leap
of faith to take over or start a new
business venture,” he said.
The documentary features a wide
range of businesses, Nichol said,
including businesses that were either
sold or taken over through
succession like Mait-Side Orchard,
Huron Feeding Systems, Riverside
Funeral Home and McDonald’s
Home Hardware or new ventures
like Brussels Bulk and Bargain.
“We wanted to share these success
stories amongst our Community
Futures community, which is nation-
wide,” Nichol said.
The documentary plays
particularly well with Community
Futures, Nichol said, because a
current priority for the group is to
seek out female entrepreneurs.
“For example, we’re launching a
new loan program to Community
Futures Huron,” Nichol said,
explaining it was a program to
provide loans to rural women in
businesses.
“That was one of the reasons we
were doing this: other than telling
the story, we had a particular
audience in mind,” he said.
The event welcomed the stars of
the film and their families because,
as Nichol explained, the project is all
about them.
“We didn’t do a gala event and we
didn’t want to release it until they
had seen it,” he said. “It was a lovely
evening and the people there were
excited about it and are still excited
about it.”
The film has undergone some
changes since then, but should be
available through the Huron
Community Futures and Brussels
Facebook pages as well as on
YouTube.
Nichol said that the documentary
was also a unique experience
because it was put together with a
team of summer students who are all
credited in the film.
He said that local students and
media students from Sheridan
College, including his son Seth, all
worked together on the project.
“It was a great experience working
with them,” he said. “It was also
very well done. It’s a very well-
crafted documentary.”
For more information, visit
Community Futures Huron on
Facebook or its website at
www.cfhuron.ca
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Entrepreneurs
Zoey Onn, shown above during an event
at Riverside Funeral Home, which she
took over with her partner Thom in 2017,
is one of the women featured in the
documentary Women of Brussels: Tales
of Gumption. (File photo)
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