警告The hunt for a serial rapist
Aaron Sands
The Ottawa Citizen
STORY
The hunt for a serial rapist
His attacks shatter lives and police fear he isn't done yet
Detectives on the trail of a serial rapist who attacks young girls in the dark concede they are "looking for a needle in a haystack."
They liken the early stages of the high-priority investigation to a mind game with a twisted individual whose disturbing pattern suggests, based on prior serial rape cases, that he will not stop until they catch him.
There are many questions and no real answers, only suppositions based on the few facts left in the wake of three sex assaults in Aylmer, a quiet Gatineau suburb of about 35,000. The attacks have lasted up to half an hour and shattered the lives of three teenage girls who may never again feel safe walking alone.
Police are left to guess at the rapist's next move, wondering whether their warning to the community of his presence will scare him off or provoke him.
There is fear in Aylmer today, Gatineau police Lieut. Yves Martel said, and probably that is a good thing because people, young women especially, will remain careful and vigilant.
"Will that stop this guy?" Lieut. Martel asks. "Or will he see it as a challenge? We don't know. We don't know much of anything right now. This is not a simple thing. That is why we want to make the public aware that this guy is out there, somewhere. We have a lot of questions."
Who is he? Where does he live? Is he reading this? What next?
"For now, we are making a lot of assumptions," Lieut. Martel said.
In emergency meetings held at Gatineau police headquarters throughout the week, veteran investigators tried to piece together a profile based on little information. Cautioning that Aylmer is only a bridge away, Ottawa police Chief Vince Bevan put the entire national capital region on alert.
Police believe the rapist lives, or lived, in Aylmer. His criminal pattern suggests an intimate knowledge of the city's streets and wooded areas, where he has lurked under cover of trees before striking.
For now, police believe the attention will keep him at bay. "We're almost sure he's going to be low profile because we did publicize the information," Lieut. Martel said. "He knows people are looking now. People are out of the routine. But if people stop talking about it in seven days, they won't be careful anymore. And he knows that. But if he takes the publicity as a challenge and makes another sexual assault tonight, we will have to re-evaluate our plan of action."
Police believe even the weather may prove a factor in this case. "It's getting cold," Lieut. Martel said, "and most sexual assailants, when it's too cold, they're not moving. He may not strike again until the spring."
Police suspect the rapist is a first-time offender, and that he is young, 20 to 30 years old. His method matches no other cases in the nationwide police databank.
The rapist's pattern:
Police believe he stalks the streets in a vehicle, eyes peeled for young women walking alone in the dark. When he spots them, police said, he drives ahead of his victim, anticipating her route, and parks his vehicle out of sight. Then he sets his trap.
He hides amid the trees and attacks from behind, so his victims do not see his face. Fluent in English and French, he whispers in his victims' ears as he rapes them. Each victim has reported hearing a car starting and speeding away in the moments after the assault.
Detectives have interviewed each victim at least twice, hoping further details would emerge in time -- the sound of the car and its muffler, the words he used as he raped them, his scent, anything.
At this point, he is described only as a white man, about six feet tall and 200 pounds.
"The description we have is so vague," Lieut. Martel said, "I'm not sure he would even feel the heat right now. The problem is we're really looking for a needle in a haystack. It's a devil's work, to be honest, but we are on it. We will remind people he is out there. The more people are alert, the more chance somebody will call patrol late at night to report seeing a man hiding in the bushes.
"Then watch us go."
Anyone with information is asked to call Gatineau police at 246-0222.
Contact Aaron Sands at asands@thecitizen.southam.ca, or 596-3625
Aaron Sands
The Ottawa Citizen
STORY
The hunt for a serial rapist
His attacks shatter lives and police fear he isn't done yet
Detectives on the trail of a serial rapist who attacks young girls in the dark concede they are "looking for a needle in a haystack."
They liken the early stages of the high-priority investigation to a mind game with a twisted individual whose disturbing pattern suggests, based on prior serial rape cases, that he will not stop until they catch him.
There are many questions and no real answers, only suppositions based on the few facts left in the wake of three sex assaults in Aylmer, a quiet Gatineau suburb of about 35,000. The attacks have lasted up to half an hour and shattered the lives of three teenage girls who may never again feel safe walking alone.
Police are left to guess at the rapist's next move, wondering whether their warning to the community of his presence will scare him off or provoke him.
There is fear in Aylmer today, Gatineau police Lieut. Yves Martel said, and probably that is a good thing because people, young women especially, will remain careful and vigilant.
"Will that stop this guy?" Lieut. Martel asks. "Or will he see it as a challenge? We don't know. We don't know much of anything right now. This is not a simple thing. That is why we want to make the public aware that this guy is out there, somewhere. We have a lot of questions."
Who is he? Where does he live? Is he reading this? What next?
"For now, we are making a lot of assumptions," Lieut. Martel said.
In emergency meetings held at Gatineau police headquarters throughout the week, veteran investigators tried to piece together a profile based on little information. Cautioning that Aylmer is only a bridge away, Ottawa police Chief Vince Bevan put the entire national capital region on alert.
Police believe the rapist lives, or lived, in Aylmer. His criminal pattern suggests an intimate knowledge of the city's streets and wooded areas, where he has lurked under cover of trees before striking.
For now, police believe the attention will keep him at bay. "We're almost sure he's going to be low profile because we did publicize the information," Lieut. Martel said. "He knows people are looking now. People are out of the routine. But if people stop talking about it in seven days, they won't be careful anymore. And he knows that. But if he takes the publicity as a challenge and makes another sexual assault tonight, we will have to re-evaluate our plan of action."
Police believe even the weather may prove a factor in this case. "It's getting cold," Lieut. Martel said, "and most sexual assailants, when it's too cold, they're not moving. He may not strike again until the spring."
Police suspect the rapist is a first-time offender, and that he is young, 20 to 30 years old. His method matches no other cases in the nationwide police databank.
The rapist's pattern:
Police believe he stalks the streets in a vehicle, eyes peeled for young women walking alone in the dark. When he spots them, police said, he drives ahead of his victim, anticipating her route, and parks his vehicle out of sight. Then he sets his trap.
He hides amid the trees and attacks from behind, so his victims do not see his face. Fluent in English and French, he whispers in his victims' ears as he rapes them. Each victim has reported hearing a car starting and speeding away in the moments after the assault.
Detectives have interviewed each victim at least twice, hoping further details would emerge in time -- the sound of the car and its muffler, the words he used as he raped them, his scent, anything.
At this point, he is described only as a white man, about six feet tall and 200 pounds.
"The description we have is so vague," Lieut. Martel said, "I'm not sure he would even feel the heat right now. The problem is we're really looking for a needle in a haystack. It's a devil's work, to be honest, but we are on it. We will remind people he is out there. The more people are alert, the more chance somebody will call patrol late at night to report seeing a man hiding in the bushes.
"Then watch us go."
Anyone with information is asked to call Gatineau police at 246-0222.
Contact Aaron Sands at asands@thecitizen.southam.ca, or 596-3625
