Change of Venue for Teague Murder?

The newspaper reported today that lawyer for Kevin Davis, the man who has been arrested in the September 2005 slaying of 18-year-old Jennifer Teague of Barrhaven, Ontario, may request a change of venue. Understandably, the lawyer, Michel Bisson, is concerned that pretrial publicity may have already adversely affected his client. Confessions tend to do that.

Bisson is waiting for more information from the Crown before he even considers such an application. He told the Ottawa Citizen that change of venues are rare and infrequently granted, but information that was released by the police at a press conference about Davis's confession may have biased too many people in Ottawa for Davis to receive a fair trial here.

Agreed. Everyone deserves a fair trial. I haven't spent 14 years working for the wrongly convicted for nothing! There are such things as false confessions and we really need more concrete evidence against Davis; however, the police did report earlier that Davis seemed to know things about the murder that were not publicized, and that fact will work against him.

Davis made a brief court appearance via video.

Sigrid Mac

***Update -- July 29. Bisson will definitely file for a change of venue and intimated that Police Chief Vince Bevan was out of line by providing too many details to the public about Kevin Davis's involvement in the Teague murder.

Police Chief Bevan Retires

Ottawa police chief Vince Bevan retired yesterday. He gained notoriety in the nineties when he oversaw the investigation of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, two of Canada's most infamous sexual serial predators and killers.

The Ottawa Sun newspaper quoted Bevan as saying that sometimes all people need is one good break in a murder, but writer Jorge Barrera pointed out that Bevan missed his big break in the Bernardo case. His team failed to find explicit videotapes in Bernardo's house near St. Catherine's, Ontario, that clearly implicated him in the murders of schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffey.

As a result of the team missing the tapes, the Crown cut a sweetheart deal with Karla, who has now served her time and, to the dismay and outrage of the public, is out of prison, living somewhere in Québec.

Bevan may have also missed his cues in the murders of Ardeth Wood and Jennifer Teague in Ottawa. Chris Myers of Sudbury was only arrested in the Wood case when some clever cop in North Bay recognized Myers from the suspect sketch that had been hanging in the walls of various police stations all around the province.

Bevan didn't have to do much work in the Teague case either, although Barrera stated that the search for Jennifer Teague's killer took more than 10 months and cost approximately $400,000. But in the end, the suspect, Kevin Davis, was so overwhelmed with guilt that he became intoxicated on psilocybin, ran into the streets naked, and confessed to the murder.

It can't be easy being the chief of police. The responsibility of that position is daunting to consider, however, it doesn't seem as though Vince Bevan was anywhere near the top of his game during these tragedies. As he passes the torch, I wish the best of luck to his successor.

Sigrid Mac

91-year-old woman raped in Ottawa

Some crimes are more horrific than others. Last week, a 91-year-old woman in my town of Nepean, Ontario (part of Metropolitan Ottawa) was raped in her own apartment. The building has security and a surveillance camera, but no one saw anyone unusual entering the apartment. However, when the Ottawa Citizen newspaper investigated, they found a back door wide open. So much for security.

Despite the trauma, the woman sounded strong and feisty, and said that she was not afraid to return to the apartment that she had lived in for years.

It is nearly impossible to imagine the mentality of someone who would rape a 91-year-old. Of course, it's hard to fathom that someone would do that to a nine-year-old child and bury her alive, which is what convicted child molester Couey is being tried for right now in the tragic death of Jessica Lunsford.

I've never been a proponent of the death penalty, but stories like these make me wonder.
It is not very reassuring for people like me to know that the perpetrator is still out there. The Baseline Road apartment is probably less than a mile from my house.

Sigrid Macdonald

Ed Teague Offers Forgiveness

Ed Teague, father of 18-year-old Jennifer Teague who went missing from Barrhaven, ON and was found murdered back in September of 2005, told Earl McRae of the Ottawa Sun that if he were able to say anything to Kevin Davis, who was recently arrested for the crime, he would say that he has forgiven him. Tough words to relate to from a beautiful, Christian man who has lived with unimaginable pain and uncertainty since last fall.

Teague would also ask Davis , who has confessed to murdering Jennifer and given police details that only the killer could know-- why he did it. Why? It's a question that torments us all, particularly people who knew Jennifer (which doesn't include me), and her family.

Ed said that he found the behavior of some of the bloggers to be incomprehensible when they were speculating that he had killed his own child. Other Internet people seemed to be attention seekers, claiming to have been Jennifer's best friend. Sad and pathetic. We need to take responsibility for our words in virtual space and only say the same thing here that we would say in a room full of 10,000 people.

What I would say now to Ed Teague if I could speak to him is, I'm sorry. I don't understand violence, especially something that seems so arbitrary and random because we don't have the answers as to why Kevin Davis fatally injured your daughter and what his motives were.

I also don't understand the cruelty and unfairness of this life where an 18-year-old can be snuffed out before she had a chance to begin her journey. Why Jennifer? Why now?Ed, I'm glad that you have the religious faith that I lack and I hope that it sustains you and your ex-wife in your darkest moments.

Sigrid Mac