Category: Canada

I’ve seen a lot of odd stuff in my life but this not only takes the cake, it quite frankly creeps the hell out of me. Never thought I’d see the army called out for something like this; not in this country, at least. The Freeps and the TO Red Star seem to be the only ones that have picked this up so far but look to hear more of it as word gets around.

It seems that a couple of kids were with their mom walking the family pooch on Friday along a creek that crosses Inadale Drive between Strathroy and Mt. Brydges (not sure about the name of it yet but the locals seem to just call it “crayfish creek”) and they stumbled on… two antitank mines!

That’s right. Two God damned landmines — like the one in the photo on the right, taken at the scene — were found in the creek right by a culvert that a buttload of people drive over every day.

We’ll start off with what the Freeps had to say about it today:

The potential for devastation was evident yesterday as a military team detonated the mines from a safe distance.

The force of the blast ripped bark and limbs from a tree and sprayed water so high it could be seen by observers a kilometre away.

“I could feel the percussive force,” Overdulve said, “It was 100 times louder than any fireworks you ever heard.”

Seven centimetres thick and 25 centimetres in diameter, the mines appear to be the kind used to disable tanks.

“We can’t definitively prove that, but that is the direction we are leaning,” Overdulve said.

After the detonation, the explosives experts found debris “consistent with timers,” he said.

The first mine was found Friday afternoon by nearby resident Lynn Denning, who walked to the creek with her two teenage daughters so that their yellow lab, Jesse, could enjoy the cold water.

“It’s upsetting,” she said.

While Inadale is a two-lane country road, many residents cross the culvert to commute to London, Denning said.

“There’s quite a lot of traffic during the week,” said Denning, who commutes to work at London Health Sciences Centre.

The family called Strathroy-Caradoc police, who sought help from the OPP, who called in the explosive ordinance disposal team from CFB Base Borden.

The explosives team left its base 100 kilometres north of Toronto at 6:20 a.m. yesterday.

“We responded quickly — we take this matter quite seriously,” said Capt. Cheryl Swarbrick, a base spokesperson.

Their presence was soon felt and heard on a normally quiet, tree-lined road.

“I’ve seen hand grenades and ammunition, but I never encountered anything like this,” Overdulve said.

Until a year ago, Overdulve lived near the creek, taking his three kids there to fish so often, they called it “crayfish creek.”

“This area is typically occupied by children, who come here to play,” he said.

The Red Star, of course, took their usual “nothing to see here, folks, move along” stance. You know; the same one they take every time something happens that has the potential to suggest that those on the Right side of the political spectrum just might be right about the idea of national security…

“It would be very premature to say how they might have got there,” Overdulve said. Around 1 p.m. after inspection, the military detonated what they describe as possible anti-tank devices – a type of land mine capable of damaging or destroying tanks or other armoured vehicles.

Investigators are unsure whether the suspected land mines were modern or from a bygone military era. “It’s possible that the ordnance is quite old,” Overdulve said. All the debris was collected and sent for analysis, with results expected within the next two weeks.

Bygone military era, my lilly-white ass. Dawdling around and leaving antitank mines all over southwestern Ontario has never been a part of the Canadian Armed Forces’ training and exercises regimen. 🙄

Meanwhile, over at Canada Free Press, Judi McLeod seems to be the only one asking the right questions, out loud:

The big question about two live landmines found in a countryside culvert running under Inadale Drive between Strathroy and Mt. Brydges, Ontario yesterday is who put them there?

Appearing to be attached to timers, the landmines were likely of the type used to blow up tanks, according to Strathroy-Caradoc police.

[…]

The Strathroy and Mt. Bridges communities are 20 kilometres west of London, Ont. and 30 kilometres from the former Military Camp Ipperwash (also Camp Ipperwash, a former Canadian Armed Forces training facility, now held by Stoney Point First Nation natives.

The only other military base in the area was CFB Clinton, about 40 kilometres away [actually, Judi, it’s more like 100 kliks away -Dennis], shut down some 36 years ago, and CFB London, about 20 kilometres away and downsized some 15 years ago

Let’s face it, boys and girls, the friggin’ Mine Fairy didn’t leave those things there. And there are two things that suggest to me that they haven’t been there for very damned long:

1. They were submerged in water, but not for so long that they couldn’t still go off. And as one Korean War vet told me once, in the winter time the pressure from expanding ground frost (or in this case, solid ice) will often set mines off.
2. The size of them. Earlier AV/AT mines were damned big things. They had to be, simply because the kind of compact, high-efficiency explosives that we can find today hadn’t been developed yet. Most accounts put these things found in the creek as being discs about 20cm across and about 6cm thick. That’s small for an AV/AT device.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t get that little voice in the back of my head to shut the hell up. You know the voice I’m talking about; you might have one yourself. The one that keeps saying, “They said we were a target. Even before we sent troops to Afghanistan, they came right out and said we were on their hit list. And everybody knows that they always try to do a dry run first…”

Is that nagging little voice wrong? Am I just being paranoid? I sure as hell hope so.

Okay everybody, gather ’round and check out this guy here on the right ( no, bonehead, not the one with his thumb in the air; your other right 🙄 ). This guy’s name is Marc Patterson and he has totally got my nomination for the Biggest Balls In British Columbia Awardâ„¢ after what he did.

I’ll bet you’re wondering what’s got me so impressed, aren’t ya? Well, it’s like this:
Marc and his family went on a camping trip a few days ago, along with a 12-year old friend of his family’s named Colton Reeb. Things were all fine and dandy until Colton needed to make a short trip to the thundershack after dinner. On his way there, Colton bumped into a cougar. The kind that doesn’t wear lipstick (watch the story here):

Colton Reeb was bitten on the head, face, neck and upper chest before a family friend wrestled the big cat off the boy, but his parents told CBC News on Thursday evening their son is resting and in good condition.

[…]

“I see the cougar with his mouth on top of the young boy’s head. [There’s] nothing but blood everywhere,” said Marc Patterson, a Reeb family friend who eventually fought the cougar off the boy.

“I jumped down there on the cat, grabbed him by the neck and started squeezing him from behind. I tried to pull the cat off and it took a few seconds. Finally the cat did let go and then we tumbled,” Patterson said.

“The cat was so strong he just pulled himself out of my hands. Then he’s a metre in front of me, looking at me with his ears back.”

Yeah, you read that right: “wrestled the big cat off the boy!” 😯 This guy must clank when he walks or something…

Five soccer kicks to the head of a cougar weren’t enough to wrench a 12-year-old boy’s head from the mouth of the big cat, says the man credited with saving the lad’s life.

So Mark Patterson put a chokehold on the cougar that had ambushed his young neighbour Colton Reeb, who was on his way to an outhouse near a cabin about 100 km northwest of Kamloops late Wednesday afternoon.

“The cat had Colton’s head in its mouth …blood was squirting out everywhere,” said Kamloops resident Patterson, 45.

“I’m a soccer player and I kicked the cougar in the head five times and it didn’t flinch so I grabbed him by the throat and squeezed as hard as I could and he finally let go.”

Patterson then wrestled with the 70-pound male cougar, which broke free, fixing him with an evil glare and growl, he said.

“I growled back at him and said, ‘I’m ready to go,’” said the five-foot-six, 210-pound Patterson, adding the entire melee lasted up to a minute.

As his wife stood nearby armed with a meat cleaver, the cougar then slinked away.

“I was scared but I don’t remember … I love this little boy and I didn’t want him to die,” said Patterson.

And Colton? Well, I get the feeling that he’s going to be just fine (thanks in no small part to his buddy Marc):

Colton Reeb was in good spirits but feeling “ripped off” after a planned five-day camping trip with his family was cut short when he was attacked on Wednesday near Clinton, British Columbia, the BC Children’s Hospital said.

Yup, got mauled by a cougar and mostly feels bummed that his camping trip got cut short. Ain’t the resilience of kids amazing? All Colton’s thinking about is getting back up there so he can have some time on his new dirt bike. I’ll let Colton’s dad and Marc have the last words today:

An emotional Robin Reeb, Colton’s father, said Patterson deserves a medal for heroism.

“If it weren’t for him, my son would be dead,” said a tearful Reeb, who was in Kamloops at the time of the attack .

“He attacked this thing with his bare hands and kicked the s–t out of it – it’s amazing.”

Said Patterson: “I guess they’re calling me a hero now – I thought soldiers were heroes.”

Alright, boys and girls, I finally have the time to write up a post on yesterday’s capture. Got me a hangover to, come to think of it…

For those of you that haven’t heard yet (yes, I’m talking to both of you), Jesse Imeson finally got himself bagged just outside of Portage-du-Fort in La Belle Province, just before 9 o’clock last night. And that murdering little toad is now off on a one-way trip to a hell of a lot more than 30 days in the hole.  I guess the guy that found him didn’t have ol’ Betsy with him at the time…

Everybody and their pet beaver in the MSM has some story or other on it today so I guess I’ll start with the Freeps version:

RENFREW — Jesse Imeson, the 22-year-old suspect in three Southwestern Ontario slayings, was nabbed by police last night in Quebec after two weeks and nearly 600 kilometres on the run.

The hunt for Ontario’s most wanted man ended with his arrest just before 9 p.m. near the town of Portage-du-Fort, Que., about 100 kilometres west of Ottawa, in a joint operation by Ontario and Quebec provincial police officers.

He was apprehended a short hop across a bridge over the Ottawa River from a rural area of eastern Ontario where a slain Huron County couple’s stolen pickup truck had been found less than a day earlier on a logging trail.

Tight-lipped last night, OPP confirmed Imeson was in custody in Quebec — expected to be taken back to Ontario — after a man was found trying to break into a house in the Quebec village shortly before 8 p.m.

The homeowner chased him, possibly unaware he was considered “armed and extremely dangerous,” before police finally caught him.

Officers quickly descended on the area, using dogs and helicopters to aid in the search, said Quebec police Sgt. Michel Brunet.

Imeson was located by an OPP officer about an hour later and did not resist arrest, police said.

Some folks in other threads have been wondering alout just why it is that Imeson managed to be taken so quietly. After all, he had two guns with him so you’d at least expect some long standoff, if not a shootout, right?

Wrong.

Take a look at those guys in the photo on the right. Those ain’t peashooters they’re toting. In the real world, unlike TV, when a scumbag finds himself confronted with overwhelming firepower that’s being packed by men with the will to use it, he’ll almost always shut the hell up and do as he’s told, damned quick. Especially if the cop holding the gun has that “I’ll bet blowin’ your brains out would get me a lotta pussy” look in his eye. Imeson was likely armed with nothing but a couple of varmint guns and that kind of junk just plain isn’t any kind of match for an HK MP5.

By the time you read this, that murdering little bag of mule shit will be on his way back to face the music.

Other links:

• Hunt for slayings suspect re-enacted, Presence stuns neighbours, Imeson ‘hyper,’ tattoo artist says (the Freeps)
• Back to Ontario (National Post)
• Imeson caught (Clinton News Record)
• Fugitive wanted in 3 Ontario slayings caught, Suspect in 3 slayings to be flown to London, Ont. (CBC)
• Triple-murder suspect to be transported to Ontario (CTV)

I, for one, am going to be damned glad that this prick is under lock & key.  Now I’ll be able to take my boy up to the farm for a little target shooting without having to keep one eye on the tree line.  That, and get back to ranting about my usual stuff.

I also want to say thanks to all the folks who have been stopping by.  Keep coming back, you might find something that interests you.  For now, though, just let the kids out to play for a while.  They’re likely going stir crazy. 😉

THEY GOT THE SON OF A BITCH!!

More as I have time to write it.

Until then, enjoy this tune:
(more…)

And who can blame them?

Yesterday, at sometime around 7 in the evening, Bill Regier’s truck was found in a “heavily wooded” area up near Renfrew. One commentor has said that it was found in a little place called Forester’s Falls, which is about 30 kliks NNW of Renfrew, but I haven’t been able to find anything to confirm that yet. Not that I think Jacob’s full o’ shit or anything like that but let’s face it folks, in a situation like that, rumours can fly fast and loose real quick.

Some folks have also speculated that he might be making for Quebec. Now, I personally don’t have a damned clue where this asshole is rabbiting to but when you consider that you can take a leak off your back porch in Renfrew and damned near hit Quebec, it might not be a bad idea to keep vos yeux peeled, just in case…

Renfrew OPP last night located the silver 2006 GMC Sierra pickup truck after being alerted by a citizen.

The truck was in a heavily wooded area off Kerr Line in the Whitewater Region Twp. when it was found around 7 p.m.

Renfrew-area gas station owner Greg Zavitske says the truck was found in a sparsely populated area near the Quebec border that isn’t easily seen from the road.

”You’d have to be walking through the bush or something, to find the truck,” said Zavitske, who added there are hunting camps and cottages near the spot where the truck was found.

Looks like ol’ Jake wasn’t too far off the mark. And isn’t that lovely: “hunting camps and cottages near the spot where the truck was found.” So this prick might have a rifle or shotgun and some ammo (I’m not sure if anything’s in season up there or not right now).

The OPP’s press release is right here. Some folks (like commentor Mark) have already decided to lock & load. Can’t say that I blame them; plenty of folks up there are getting nervous:

RENFREW, Ont. (CP) – The discovery of a pickup truck linked to the slayings of three people left residents of this eastern Ontario town worried Tuesday that a fugitive might be in their midst as police combed the area for clues.

Provincial police said a silver GMC Sierra bearing Ontario licence number JK8-334 was found by a Renfrew-area resident Monday evening near a heavily wooded area. The truck belonged to William and Helene Regier, who were found shot to death last week in their southwestern Ontario home – some 560 kilometres from Renfrew.

Police forensic teams were examining the truck as officers searched the area, about an hour northwest of Ottawa, where the vehicle was found. At the same time, the hunt continues for Jesse Imeson, 22, who is being sought in the Regier slayings and in the killing of Windsor bartender Carlos Rivera.

The police search near Renfrew enveloped the area around Chenaux Road, off the Trans-Canada Highway near the Quebec-Ontario border.

Back in Huron County yesterday, more than a thousand turned out for Bill and Helene’s funeral at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. A lot of them were even there up to an hour and a half early and Bishop Ronald Fabbro even showed up.

Bill was always busy with the K of C and was a huge advocate of restoration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Helene served with the CWL for more than 50 years and was a past London diocesan president. According to an online obit, “memorial donations to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Restoration Fund, Heart and Stroke Foundation or charity of choice would be appreciated.” and condolences can be made at hoffmanfuneralhome.com.

No time for more now, folks. I’ll try to have a proper post up by lunchtime or so.

More links:

• Slain couple’s pickup found in woodland (the Mop & Pail)
• Ontario police find stolen truck tied to probe of 3 slayings (the Ceeb)
• Police find truck linked to three Ontario murders (CTV)

— UPDATE —

It looks like ol’ dumbass Jesse might just have hopped from the frying pan to the fire…

In what appeared to be a startling coincidence, the mayor of the township of Whitewater Region said the small town of Beachburg, Ont., not far from where the abandoned truck turned up, is home to many members of the extended Regier family.

Just like an idiot like that to try and run to about the only place in the country with even more folks with a reason to kill your ass.  Check it out.

Remember that green Ford Taurus that everybody was wondering about? The one that was throwing such a monkey wrench into the timeline of events (how the hell could he be driving two cars at once, etc).

Well, you can write that puppy off now. As of yesterday sometime, the cops have announced that, after a shitload of forensic snooping, the car stolen on July 22 during a break and enter at a house on Babylon Line isn’t connected to the Regier murders at all. Probably some kids that emptied out the booze cabinet and went for a joyride. 🙄

The cops have also given us some more to go on when looking out for Bill’s truck. The Freeps had it today:

– Police released more details about the Regiers’ missing silver 2006 GMC Sierra pickup truck. They said the four-door vehicle, licence plate JK8 334, has Z 71 stickers on the rear sides of the box; full stainless steel tube-style running boards; front and rear moulded mud flaps; tinted bug deflector on the hood; tinted window visors above all four doors; HMP Exeter licence plate holder.

Cops are also telling folks that Imeson is a slick customer, the kind that’ll take easy advantage of the gullible (remember little miss whatshertits Lindsey Glavin from Exeter?):

Donnelly says the suspect has lots of charisma– He’s a “talker”, friendly, charming and could be considered as the life of the party in a social environment.

Yeah, right. The life of a necktie party, maybe. This is a dork that sat in an Exeter pub and claimed to be a U.S. Army soldier with a tour in Afghanistan. It’s enough to make me almost wish that Debbie had been there to witness the conversation…

Finally, Bill and Helene were laid to rest today with over 500 attending. If that doesn’t tell you they were good folks, I don’t know what will. Bill and Helene are survived by six children, 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Bill’s truck is still missing. The plate is JK8 334.  You all know the drill by now…

• 911 — the best option
• 1-888-310-1122 — the OPP
• *OPP — on your cell phone
• 1-877-584-8477 — the tip line set up specifically for Imeson