deadmonton 2006 - theresa merrie innes
Theresa Merrie Innes, 36, was found dead May 7th, 2006.
Thomas George Svekla, 38, was charged with second-degree murder and indecently interfering with human remains.
latest update | Innes background | a missing person | the Quinney connections
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“At this point in time we have one person charged in one death.”
RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes faced an agressive media fray on May 9th, 2006 while addressing issues surrounding the death of an Edmonton woman found in a Fort Saskatchewan home.
Oakes detailed how RCMP acted on a tip and found the body of Theresa Merrie Innes, a 36-year-old sex-trade worker, in a residence in the Pineview district of the bedroom community northeast of Edmonton on May 7th.
The following day RCMP arrested Thomas George Svekla, 38, of High Level. Svekla was charged with second-degree murder and indecently interfering with human remains.
Interest in the case fueled speculation that progress has been made in the investigation of over a dozen unsolved deaths of prostitutes whose bodies have been found in the greater Edmonton area over the past several decades.
While the joint task force known as Project KARE is involved in the investigation, Oakes was quick to point out the accused has not been linked to any other cases under the Project KARE mandate.
Project KARE has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest in the deaths characterised as the work of a serial killer. The tipster involved in the Innes case was being considered for the reward.
"The reward is still out there and may apply in this case," said Oakes.
The charges were the first to be laid by Project KARE.
The name of the dead woman was first withheld while police confirmed her identity through missing persons reports, post-mortem examination and the notification of next of kin.
On May 10th police identified her as Theresa Merrie Innes, also known as Terri or Theresa Goodwin. She was described as five feet tall and 100 pounds, with reddish-brown or brown hair and brown eyes.
While a cause of death wasn’t released, police confirmed Innes had been reported missing earlier in 2006 but wasn't one of 400 sex-trade workers who registered their DNA with Project KARE.
Police didn't indicate whether her body was found in the house or outside of it, or how long it had been there.
Court documents obtained by the media revealed the homicide took place at or near High Level sometime between May 4th and 7th, more than 700 kilometres from where her body was found. This initial timeline was later revised.
Spokespersons for Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton hoped Svekla's arrest would provide a break in the investigation of the murders and disappearences of Edmonton area sex-trade workers.
However PAAFE member JoAnn McCartney didn't feel that "one person did all this" and cautioned persons working the streets to not throw caution to the wind.
"I think there are still some very dangerous men out there who are preying on these women," McCartney said.
PAAFE executive director Kate Quinn noted the victim was found in a home instead of a field like other bodies. She speculated the latest case could have been a date that had gone "very, very bad."
For more about developments involving the man charged with the murder of Theresa Merrie Innes, visit the Thomas George Svekla page.
May 18th, 2006
On a bright and warm summer day, family and friends of two murdered women held a vigil on Sir Winston Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton.
Delia Quinney (left), mother of Rachel Quinney, with Beverley Innes, mother of Theresa Innes.
Organised by the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton (PAAFE), the memorial attracted 150 people.
It was the first time many of the families of the two slain women made a public appearance.
Beverley Innes, with son Mike Innes and her daughter’s common-law husband Chad Quigley at her side, appealed to those in the high-risk lifestyle.
“Contact your parents. Stay in touch so they know whether you’re alive or dead. Just keep in contact.”
Quigley, Theresa’s common-law husband of 11 years, faced cameras and told how both he and Theresa fell into a crack cocaine habit while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, just a few years after they became a couple.
Quigley said the pair spent $8,000 a month on crack at the height of their addiction.
"There would have been no Theresa the prostitute if it wasn't for crack cocaine," said Mike Innes.
Dealers continued to give them more drugs free to keep them hooked and Theresa resorted to prostitution to finance their addiction.
"She approached me and asked me if it was all right. It was definitely not all right," Quigley told the Journal.
"She was way more than a prostitute. I did everything I could to reassure her that she was a decent person and didn't have to resort to this, and that I was there to help her out."
Quigley last spoke to his wife on January 6th, 2005 -- her birthday -- and she told him goodbye and that she didn’t want to be helped
Kate Quinn, executive director of PAAFE, said she was heartened that Project KARE had made an arrest in Innes' murder, hoping perhaps it will provide a break in other cases.
Edmonton police announced May 18th they were setting up a "bad date" hotline so that sex trade workers could report violent johns anonymously.
The line, the first of its kind in western Canada, would then track the reports. Police are hoping to have the line up and running by summer.
June 7th, 2006
RCMP led media through a tour of sites in High Level where police believe Theresa Merrie Innes may have been last seen with Thomas Svekla.
They also released a number of photographs in hopes of jogging the memory of anyone who may have seen Innes or Svekla in early May 2006.
Among the pictures released is that of a red and grey Ford pick-up truck behind a High Level hotel where Inne's body may have been stored until it was retrieved and transported to Edmonton.
Police said Innes’ body was in a hockey bag, picked up on the afternoon of May 6th, 2006 in High Level, and driven to Edmonton.
The RCMP said they would like to speak with anyone who may know of Theresa’s body having been in the back of the truck or who knowingly or unknowingly assisted with the preparation, transportation, or any other manipulation of Theresa’s body.
It was reported that Svekla was driven to Edmonton by friends.
RCMP spokesman Constable Tamara Bellamy said they can not share all of the details of tips that have come from the general public, stating many tipsters will only come forward if police can ensure their anonymity.
“We’re looking for someone who may have participated in some way, be it unwittingly, in any manipulation of the body, moving it, trying to cover the vehicle, anybody who may have had any interaction,” said Bellamy.
A person described by Bellamy as a “family friend” gave Svekla -- and a hockey bag -- a ride to Fort Saskatchewan.
Police also confirmed the truck of interest was owned by Svekla but didn't comment on how long Innes’s body may have been in the pickup or what its state of composition was.
Bellamy added detectives were trying to create a “strict timeline for Theresa and Thomas Svekla so we can nail down their movements.”
Svekla, who lived in an apartment above a pizza parlour in High Level, stayed in the Family Motel May 4th and the Sweet Dreams Motel May 5th before he was asked to leave. No reason was given why Svekla was asked to vacate the Sweet Dreams Motel.
Bellamy reminded media the matter was currently before the courts and police must be careful about releasing details to the public.
Photographs released by the RCMP can be seen on this Theresa Merrie Innes photo gallery page which contains large, high-resolution photographs.
January 2nd, 2007
RCMP announced they laid charges of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a human body against Thomas George Svekla in connection with the death of 19-year-old Rachel Liz Quinney.
Quinney's body was found June 11th, 2004 in a wooded area near the intersection of Township Road 540 and Range Road 224, northeast of Sherwood Park.
In May 2006 the Edmonton Sun reported that Svekla claimed to have discovered Quinney's dead body.
The Sun's Andrew Hanon said Svekla told him he'd taken a prostitute to a remote area northeast of Sherwood Park to do drugs. For some reason, the prostitute bolted from his pick-up. Svekla gave chase and they came across Quinney's body.
Svekla claimed he waited two days before reporting the body to police and had asked Hanon's help in clearing his name. Svekla told the reporter late in 2004 that Project KARE had placed him under a microscope.
For more about developments involving the man charged with the murder of Theresa Merrie Innes and Rachel Liz Quinney, visit the Thomas George Svekla page.
February 19th, 2008
The double-murder trial of Thomas George Svekla began in an Edmonton courtroom.
Theresa Merrie Innes
Theresa Innes grew up in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. She lived in Nanaimo for a time before moving to Alberta. On the streets, she was also known as Terri, Theresa Goodwin and simply "TG."
Left, Innes at age 22.
Folks who knew her in High Level described her as a popular and easygoing woman.
While working the bars in the northern Alberta town, Innes was discreet. Unlike other out-of-town prostitutes, she didn't hand out cards advertising herself as an escort.
Innes was never seen drinking anything stronger than coffee, but some said she had the nickname "Twitchy" because she was always twitching. If she was using drugs or not no one seemed to know.
The Edmonton Journal quoted regulars in the bars who said Innes used to appear several times a week but that she hadn't been seen during the two months before she was found dead in Fort Saskatchewan.
Innes had not registered her DNA and fingerprints with Project KARE and had no contact with the Prostitution Action and Awareness Foundation of Edmonton.
PAAFE executive director Kate Quinn said, "She was not known to us. I find it hard to look at the face of the young woman and realise her life has been snuffed out, so I send condolences to her family."
A former roommate remembers Innes as a fun-loving friend and devoted mother to her son, who she says is now 13.
"She wasn't a prostitute, I can tell you that," said Amber-Lee Reddeman, 25 in a story published in the Edmonton Sun.
"She was very hard-working and carried a lot of good jobs. She was a jack-of-all-trades. And she was always upbeat, always in a good mood."
"I knew she had a problem with crack off and on before I knew her. But she stayed clean the whole time I knew her," Reddeman added.
Innes' family in British Columbia has asked to be allowed to mourn privately.
"We are grieving and we don't want to share that with the world," said her brother Mike Innes who lives in northeast Edmonton.
"She's a mother, she's a daughter, she's a sister. She's a lot more than a prostitute and that's all that's being portrayed," he added in an interview with the Edmonton Journal.
In an interview with CTV Edmonton, Mike Innes blamed a crack-cocaine addiction that drove her to prostitution a few years ago.
Interviewed by Global Television, Innes reflected on his sister's death.
"When a plumber dies, when an electrician dies, nody says an electrician died -- so why do we have to say a prostitute died."
In the same interview, Innes showed cameras the back of the picture displayed above. On it Theresa wrote "Outta my way man I'm coming to haunt you (ha ha)."
Mikes Innes told the Edmonton Sun he kicked his sister out in August 2004 over her crack cocaine use. It was the last time he saw her.
Theresa Innes had two sons, David, 12, and Michael, 18.
The family plans to release a statement through the RCMP shortly.
Innes was to appear in Edmonton court in June 2006 on a long-outstanding charge of communication for the purpose of prostitution.
A warrant was issued for her arrest when she first failed to appear in court on the charge in December 2004. The warrant was recalled on August 16th, 2005, but when Innes didn't show up for court again the following month the warrant was re-issued.
A missing person
When police announced the discovery of Theresa Innes' body, questions were raised as to why no public alerts had been issued.
The RCMP said Innes was reported missing to the Edmonton Police Service on March 16th, 2006 but they won't say who reported her missing.
RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the Edmonton Police Service forwarded Innes' photo and personal information to Project KARE "shortly" after she was reported missing in March.
Oakes said Innes' disappearance was being actively investigated by Project KARE, but not with the same vigour as Delores Dawn Brower, Maggie Lee Burke and Corrie Ottenbreit whose photos and information were widely released.
The three were prostitutes who worked the 118th Avenue area and disappeared between May and December 2004. Police believe all three have met with foul play.
Oakes had little explanation for why Innes' disappearance was not made public before May 9th, 2006.
"The difficulty with a missing person is that sometimes people can go missing and they have no desire to be contacted," he said. "So investigators first of all have the obligation to conduct an investigation before the circumstances give us a justifiable reason for putting out the person's name."
When asked why the Edmonton Police Service had not reported the woman's disappearance to the public, spokesman Jeff Wuite said "We have about 7,000 missing persons files a year, that's why."
Investigators on individual cases decide whether a public release on a missing person is valuable, he added.
Project KARE has come under criticism for how long it takes to publicise the identities of sex-trade workers reported missing.
In the case of the three women named above, their pictures were not made public until October 2005.
Oakes stated Project KARE took standard steps to locate Innes after she was reported missing in March.
"There were certain investigative steps that had to be taken," he said. "Project KARE did go out to the social agencies and to the streets seeking assistance in locating Teresa Innes."
Kate Quinn, executive director of the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton, says she didn't know Innes, but had been made aware within the last month that people were looking for her.
Mike Innes, Theresa's brother, told the Edmonton Sun "We'd been phoning the RCMP for months, asking, 'Has she been arrested?' I drove around, I thought she might be on the stroll somewhere. I honestly thought I could find her."
He said he'd been searching for his missing sister for months. His mother filed a missing person report with Edmonton police as a last resort in March.
"I don't know why she didn't get the blanket coverage that all the other (missing) sex-trade workers were getting," Innes said
The Sun also reported that when Mike went to view his sister's body he came to the conclusion that she was slain within the last week.
In spite of Theresa's status as a high-risk missing person, no photo or information about her was ever publicly released.
The family of Rachel Quinney, the prostitute whose body Svelka tripped over in the middle of a night in June 2004, asked "Why weren't the alarms sounded?"
Quinney's sister-in-law, Charlotte Lajimodiere, also observed "They never gave the public a chance at all on this woman, and I don't think that's right. There's still always that second set of eyes."
The Quinney connections
On May 11th, 2006 the Edmonton Sun reported that Thomas Svekla claimed to have discovered the dead body of prostitute Rachel Quinney in June of 2004.
Sun reporter Andrew Hanon said Svekla told him he'd taken a prostitute to a remote area northeast of Sherwood Park to do drugs. For some reason, the prostitute bolted from his pick-up. Svekla gave chase and they came across Quinney's body.
RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes said he "won't confirm or deny ... any of Andrew Hanon's story."
Rachel Quinney, 19, was found in a wooded area near the intersection of Township Road 540 and Range Road 224, northeast of Sherwood Park on June 11th, 2004.
The cause of her death was not released and her murder remains unsolved.
Quinney herself was connected to two other sex-trade deaths.
Quinney was a friend of Samantha Berg, 19, who was found dead January 25th, 2005 by two employees in a courtyard behind Stross Management Ltd. at 7829 127 Avenue. The area is normally used for parking semi-trucks and trailers.
On September 13th, 2005, the Medical Examiner's office released its report on Berg. Initially treated as a suspicious death, police were now investigating Berg's death as a homicide.
At the time of the release of the ME's report, Berg's death as a homicide brought 2005's murder tally up to 26.
Quinney was also a friend of Charlene Gauld, 20, who was found dead April 16th, 2005 by an oil worker performing a routine check on a service site close to the intersection of Highway 617 and Highway 623 (north of the city of Camrose, a one-hour drive southeast of Edmonton).
Gauld's body and the surrounding wooded area had been burned.
Gauld, who worked under the street name Roxanne, was last seen alive on April 8th, 2005 and was reported missing April 13th.
Gauld was found in the area where the body of another Edmonton prostitute, Debbie Lake, was discovered on April 12th, 2003.
Police said there was no clear link between the two women. The RCMP didn't release a cause of death, but were treating Gauld's death as suspicious while the medical examiner performed further tests.
A distant relative of Rachel Quinney, Christopher Quinney, was found dead March 21st, 2006 inside a locked vehicle compound at the Koch Ford Lincoln Sales dealership at 5121 Gateway Boulevard.
His cause of death has yet to be released.
The Quinney family were shocked when they learned Svekla may have been a person of interest in the murder of their daughter and sister.
Charlotte Lajimodiere, Quinney's sister-in-law, said to the Sun "If he was under the microscope of the police investigation, well, how bad are their microscopes? How dirty are they?"
RCMP wouldn't confirm or deny if Svekla was ever linked to Quinney's slaying by Project KARE. They only said he was known to police.
Lajimodiere said her family now feared the secrets of Quinney's death could have died with Innes.
"What if this Theresa was on the streets of Edmonton and knew who did Rachel in? What if she has all the answers and all the clues and the second set of eyes for our sister?"
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This page updated
20:33 2008-02-21