deadmonton 2001 - ginger lee bellerose
Ginger Lee Bellerose, 26, was beaten to death April 25th, 2001.
Richard David Douglas, 55, was charged with second-degree murder.
On April 25th, 2001 a 911 call from a caretaker led police to discover the beaten body of a woman lying in the junk-strewn courtyard of the then-condemned and since demolished International Hotel at 10334 96 Street.
Police figured Bellerose's body had been in the courtyard for several weeks before being found.
The medical examiner determined that she was struck on the head with significant force at least five times with a weapon.
Police charged Richard David Douglas, 55, with second-degree murder in November 2003.
The former caretaker of the 1906-built hotel had moved to Medicine Hat, saying he had to get away from street life.
Inconsistencies in Douglas' statements to police led to his arrest.
He first told police he spotted Bellerose's body from an upstairs bathroom window and never got close. He later said he found her body in the courtyard while removing some stairs.
In a trial that began on October 5th, 2005, jurors heard that Douglas denied knowing Bellerose, but DNA evidence showed they had sex shortly before she died.
After deliberating for more than 10 hours on October 15th, Douglas was found guilty of Bellerose's murder. A conviction for second-degree murder automatically carries a mandatory life sentence.
On May 26th, 2006 Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Jack Watson set Richard Douglas' parole ineligibility period at 25 years, a term usually reserved for those convicted of first-degree murder.
“It is the maximum sentence allowed and you deserve it,” Watson said.
In his ruling the judge described the killing as a “comprehensive beating” in which Bellerose's skull was shattered by the force used.
The medical examiner described the trauma as being similar to the force involved in a violent car crash.
“This was, overall, an atavistic slaughter,” said Watson. He added the agony of her death “must have been intense.”
The judge noted Douglas’ extensive criminal record, which spanned 36 years with 20 convictions.
In 1971 Douglas received a 10-year sentence in Edmonton based on the cases of five victims. He extorted sexual acts from one of the victims, a teenage girl, by threatening to shoot her friend who he had locked in the trunk of a car.
At one point he fired a shot at the trunk, but missed hitting the teen.
Douglas also had convictions for rape, gross indecency, sex assault and assault with a weapon.
“It is only logical to decide you are a very dangerous person,” said Watson. The judge stated that Douglas is a person from whom the public must be protected.
Douglas was described by media reporters as a squat, long-haired, heavily-tattooed man who resembled cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson.
During the sentencing the black-haired and black-bearded man chewed constantly and stared away from the judge with his arms folded, showing little expression.
Defence lawyer Arnold Piragoff said that Douglas suffers from hepatitis C, liver fibrosis and depression.
He urged Watson to consider allowing parole after 10 years of imprisonment because Douglas' poor health means he is unlikely to live much longer beyond that term.
Watson said he was not persuaded by the health evidence and suggested Douglas could still live a long time.
Victim impact statements from Bellerose’s family reflected they were devastated that she was beaten beyond recognition.
“This monster has not only victimized my niece, but he has managed to come into my bedroom and my head each night before I go to sleep,” wrote Ronda Bellerose.
“The sound of Ginger’s voice screaming out for help and the thought that she was probably begging for mercy and for this inhuman psychopath to stop hurting her.”
Janet Hawryliw, Bellerose's aunt, said "Richard the monster Douglas should get life in prison."
Danielle Tatarin, a cousin, said she is sad and angry that Douglas is still alive while Bellerose never had time to get her life back on track.
"The hardest part of this whole situation for me to deal with has been the fact that Ginger's life was taken before she could heal herself," Tatarin said.
Tatarin said Bellerose grew up without a father and her mother committed suicide while Bellerose was still a teenager.
Bellerose was a prostitute but relatives said they would like her remembered as a sweet young woman and a caring mother who was trying to escape a lifestyle brought about by a debilitating cocaine addiction.
Bellerose's murder was only the fifth of 26 Edmonton area prostitute murders dating back to 1983 to be solved.
Bellerose was the younger sister of Deana Bellerose, a 29-year-old sex-trade worker whose disappearance in September, 2002 is being investigated by the RCMP task force Project KARE.
Police said there was no link between the death of Ginger Lee Bellerose and other unsolved murders of sex-trade workers in the Edmonton area.