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Little new information released in Ladner-Beaudry murder

April 8th, 2009 · 7 Comments

As Alex Tsakumis commented correctly here, there wasn’t much that came out of the RCMP news conference yesterday, as you can see from my story today. The lack of information is causing quite a few people, in and out of the media, to start to spin their own theories and pass around all kinds of secondhand bits and pieces.

It’s times like this when it helps for all reporters to take a deep breath (and I definitely include myself among them) and think clearly about what the focus and rules for verification should be on this story. It’s easy to get dizzy with all the talk going around in every direction.

One piece of information I got yesterday that I didn’t include in the print story, by the way. I’ve heard from several people that there were reports of cars being broken into. I checked with VPD spokesman Cpl. Lindsey Houghton, who checked stats for the area that are available (up to March 31). There is nothing there indicating a mini-crime blip. And, while I know some people argue that crime stats are meaningless because so many people don’t bother reporting any more assuming police can do nothing anyway, car break-ins do tend to get reported because you have to report to make an ICBC claim.

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  • hg

    A lot of car break ins are not reported, because thieves do not do any damage to the vehicle and just photograph the insurance papers (identity theft). Car owners found their glove compartments open and their insurance papers laying either on the front seat or on the floor, nothing else was stolen.

  • njb

    Hmm. I fail to see what car break-ins have to do with a murder. ? There are LOTS of petty thieves, not so many murderers. Anyway, I’m signed up for the marathon in May and just got another newsletter from “the running room”, it had this in it:

    “ATTN Females! Also many of you have now heard about what happened to the women [sic] in the Pacific Spirit Park….. Sexually assaulted, then murdered”

    To my knowledge, nobody official has said anything about a sexual assault. Has anyone heard this?

  • Denis

    Why not all settle down a bit and let the cops do the investigating. Yes a woman from a big family name in town was killed, a big section of a park is police taped, but is second guessing the cops getting much of value. Let’ s all leave her family alone for awhile She left behind a husband and children, they can read and hearing speculation on the death must be hard for them to take in.

  • njb

    Denis, that’s basically my point. The Running Room newsletter will have been sent out to thousands of people (everyone who registered for the Vancouver Marathon and related events).

  • njb

    Well, that settles that. The Running Room guy just issued another e-mail revoking the statement as misinformation (rumour). Frances, feel free to delete my comments if you wish. Not that you need my permission.

  • fbula

    I will leave the previous posts up, as I think it helps people understand how misinformation gets out and corrected.

    The reality is that a murder like this, which is so unusual and mysterious, prompts a lot of talk. You should hear the chatter in newsrooms and at dinners these days, as everyone trades their bits of half-information.

    My info is that there was no sexual assault, but I haven’t put that in any print stories because police will not confirm or deny any details at all.

  • A. G. Tsakumis

    Complete agreement. I wish people would stop playing CSI…I, too, have heard from very reliable sources that there was no sex assault involved, and other details too outrageous to mention as well, but out of respect, it becomes impossible to go to print with supposition and hearsay, even if it is from a source close to the investigation.

    This was a brutal murder. From there, maybe the police will offer something more than the anti-climactic pap that they gave us the other day. So much for making the Dunbar neighborhood feel more relaxed. They’re counting out no one as suspects and suggesting it might not have been random. Those are key elements.

    Let’s just let professional investigators to their business. I find some of the chatter by certain reporters idiotic. One guy, in particular, thinks he’s David Caruso.

    I can’t take it anymore. Head to Kerrisdale and have a latte.