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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-10-19, Page 2Wednesday, October 19, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 11 Man gets life for murder of Hanover's Christine Harron in 1993 Scott Dunn Owen Sound Sun Times Undercover police who moved into Anthony Edward Ringel's trailer park and recorded him confessing to the murder of Christine Har- ron more than 23 years ago provided the new evidence needed to convict him. After fighting unsuccess- fully to exclude those state- ments since his arrest more than three years ago, Ringel, 47, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the Superior Court of Justice in Walkerton to second- degree murder in the death of Harron on May 18, 1993, in Hanover. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 12 years, less about five years presen- tence custody -- the exact count wasn't available. A DNA order and firearms ban were also imposed. This was the second time Ringel confessed but the resulting first murder charge ultimately was stayed after a judge found some evidence was inadmissable. That related to events that unfolded after police received a 911 call from Elm- wood on Aug. 22, 2004. Rin - gel, then 35, told the responding police officer that "he was responsible for the murder of Christine Har- ron," an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court Tuesday said. "Ringel's fam- ily members confirmed that Ringel had admitted to his crime to them:' He was committed to trial on June 21, 2005, following a preliminary hearing. But on Oct. 20, 2006, after pretrial motions and on the day a trial date was to be set in Walkerton, the murder charge against Ringel was stayed for 12 months due to the inadmissibility of evidence. In 2012, the OPP renewed its investigation into Har- ron's disappearance. Police working undercover befriended Ringel after mov- ing into his trailer park. Police recorded in the winter of 2013 new "detailed con- fessions by Mr. Ringel," the agreed facts said. They were read aloud by lead Crown attorney Robin Flumerfelt in court Tuesday. Ringel was arrested and charged on Feb. 27, 2013 and has been in custody since. Those facts revealed that Ringel encountered the 15 -year-old girl as she walked the long way to school, through her favourite park in a Hanover. Ringel was feeling "sexually frus- trated" and "opportunity knocked." Ringel told undercover police that Christine "should have screamed" because there were others in the park. He added "a 14 -year- old should know better" (she was 15), and so in Ringel's opinion "it wasn't all his fault." He told the officer "if you were a female wouldn't you struggle?" He forced her by the arm some distance through a wooded area, where they came to a remote spot on the Saugeen River. He pushed her into the fast current, she went under and was carried downstream but Ringel caught up with her on the other side. Once on land he restrained her and with her arms trapped behind her by her jacket he had sex with her over her protests that it hurt. He told the undercover officer "Even though she said she wouldn't tell any- one, it doesn't always work out that way, so I decided she's gotta be done" because both lived in the same town and she could point him out. He didn't know her name. He suffocated her, face down in the water and mud. It took 15 minutes to kill her because of her struggling, he told the undercover police. He left her body on the riv- erbank and fled. But fearing it would be discovered, he returned the next day and covered the body with sticks and logs and debris to hide it. Christine's body was never found. In a forensic expert's opin- ion, if the body wasn't dis- covered that summer, by the time winter came it would have been reduced to bones. The remains on the river- bank would then have been swept away with the flood cycle and any attempt to located them would be fruitless Ringel stood and listened. His face appeared pained. His long, receded brown hair was draped over his left shoulder. His lawyer, Ste- phen Gehl, said Ringel has been diagnosed with a learn- ing disability. Mostly his employment has been obtained through social services. Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan made sure Ringel understood what he was about to do in a series of pre -plea inquires. When he asked if he understood by pleading guilty to murder that he was admitting he caused Christine Harron's death, Ringel remained silent but nodded several times. He grew emotional, with his lips held tightly together and his face flushed, then confirmed verbally he did understand. He declined the opportunity to say anything after the facts were read, just before he was sentenced. Mary Ann Russwurm declined to be interviewed after sentence was imposed on her daughter's killer. But in court she stood to read aloud how her daughter's murder has had ongoing, devastating consequences for her. "I am stuck in the past, wondering if there was something I could have done to prevent it. And I miss her so very much." She suffers from depres- sion and post-traumatic stress disorder. She has been to counselling and will be on medication for the rest of her life, she said. "I don't know what pos- sessed someone to be so sick and cruel to do something this horrible to a child, with her whole life ahead of her. I cannot get through the night without suffering from nightmares of her calling out for help and I cannot reach her in time " She turned directly toward Ringel and told him she wanted answers and wanted to speak with him personally. "I pray that no one will ever forget her and that maybe some good can come out of this and other chil- dren will be more careful not only around strangers but also people they know." Flumerfelt, the Crown, told the court it would be up to the parole board to decide whether Ringel ever gets full parole once the period before eligibility is served. He noted but for Ringel's confessions, first to his fam- ily, then to police, his involvement wouldn't have Scott Dunn/Owen Sound Sun Times Anthony Edward Ringel, 47, is led away to jail after pleading guilty Tuesday, Oct. 11 in Walkerton to second-degree murder in the death of Christine Harron more than 23 years ago. been known. He said the board will also have to consider Ringel has two prior convictions. One of them is a conviction for pos- session of a weapon for an incident eight days after Christine Harron's murder. "It involved Mr. Ringel attempting to break into a house where a woman was and he had a starter's pistol," Flumerfelt said. Ringel's lawyer said Ringel never admitted to any attempted break-in and those details didn't form part of the facts to sustain the charge he was convicted on. Justice Conlan endorsed the sentence recommended by Crown and defence, saying it properly addressed denun- ciation of Ringel's crime. He also said the law recognizes that "very few people are completely beyond any form of rehabilitation!' He wished for Christine Harron's family and friends some form of closure and "some sense of peace." Speaking directly to Rin - gel, Conlan said "you have begun the road of rehabilita- tion today ..." Ringel looked up at him and nodded. "It's never too late," Conlan continued. Just before they took Rin - gel away, Conlan said "Mr. Ringel, you've done the right thing today." 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