A military Jekyll and Hyde

By Jaimie Finch

Canada’s military is in a "state of shock" after Col. Russell Williams, commander Canadian Forces Base Trenton, was charged with murder and two violent home invasions, according to Canada’s Chief of Defense staff General Walter Natynczyk. 

CFB Trenton remains a key staging area for deployment of Canadian troops overseas to fight Afghanistan wars, mount Haitian relief efforts, and recently to provide domestic support for police and security forces assigned to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Williams, 46, who lived in the small town of Tweed near the base, was arrested in Ottawa. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38. He was also charged with two sexual assaults  in Tweed in September.
Williams became a police ‘person of interest’ after his vehicle was stopped at a blockade and his tires photographed. They allege this tread configuration was matched to photographs taken of tire tracks left in snow near one of the crime scenes.
Senior military, both active and retired, have recounted to the media how military personnel, particularly those entrusted with command, are rigorously screened, reviewed and tested by the system.
Natynczyk said that people in the forces are trained with great rigor and that military personnel “pounce” when emerging personnel issues are detected. So the question is how was this apparently elaborate system thwarted? Were there warning signs which were missed?
Williams is a career military man. Could it be that his military standing has helped him succeed as a serial killer without discovery?
A rational well-trained military type, being Canadian, would not, nor could not forget snow. Nor would this person overlook the possibility of being tracked. Perhaps the perpetrator is simply insane?

It was moving to hear leaders give condolences to the families of the two women deceased, and even to the civilian communities of Tweed and Trenton. Typically, the military  renders honors and attention to those who serve rather than those who stay behind and suffer.
Regrettably, among exhortations to the Canadian military to ‘put this behind them’ and to ‘stand tall and be proud’, I did not hear one thing for which I was hoping.
There has been no mention of Williams’ family, who if they exist, understandably must be emotionally and spiritually devastated.

Williams sits accused in a civilian cell awaiting his first court date. {jathumbnail off}