deadmonton - thomas george svekla - timeline

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April 24, 1968

Thomas George Svekla is born, the youngest in a family of six sisters.


March 27, 1999

Svekla marries Mona Marie Bouchard. Court documents showed he was granted a divorce in 2001 after a messy battle over visitation rights with their son. Bouchard obtains a restraining order against Svekla and 10 members of his family.


May 30 to December 28, 1995

A girl under the age of 14 contends she was sexually assaulted and sexually interfered with during this period. Svekla was charged in connection with the matter on July 5, 2007.


May 2000

Svekla is sentenced to 27 months for sexual assault on a female under the age of 14 in a Peace River court. He was also convicted for assaulting his wife.


August 1, 2002 to June 30, 2004

A woman contends she was sexually assaulted and had her life threatened during this period. Svekla was charged in connection with the matter on May 24, 2007.


June 11, 2004

Svekla reports to RCMP that he stumbled over the body of Rachel Quinney in a remote area northeast of Sherwood Park. Police say the woman may have died as early as May 25th but insect analysis suggests she died on or before June 3rd. Svekla is asked to submit DNA and passes a polygraph test. He was charged with Quinney's murder in January 2007.


November 26, 2004

A hit and run incident leads to Svekla facing ten charges after he was alleged to have hit three cars in a stolen Buick at 114th Street and 64th Avenue in Edmonton. Svekla was to appear on the charges in May 2006 during the same week he was charged with the second-degree murder of Theresa Merrie Innes.


Late 2004

Svekla contacts Edmonton Sun reporter Andrew Hanon. He tells the columnist he is a suspect in Quinney's murder and asks for help in clearing his name.


January 25, 2005

Samantha Berg, 19, is found dead by two employees in a courtyard behind Stross Management Ltd. at 7829 127 Avenue. Berg was a friend of Rachel Quinney.


April 16, 2005

Charlene Gauld, 20, is found dead 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. Gauld's body and the surrounding wooded area had been burned. Gauld was a friend of Rachel Quinney.


Spring 2005

Svekla starts working at the High Level Fountain Tire.


June 17, 2005

RCMP Project KARE offer a $100,000 reward and publish a profile of a person being sought in connection with the deaths and disappearances of Edmonton-area sex trade workers. Police use the term "serial killer" for the first time.


August 4, 2005

A man sexually assaults, chokes and threatens to kill a woman in High Level. Svekla is charged.


August 7, 2005

According to RCMP, this is the last date Theresa Merrie Innes is seen alive. Other witnesses contest this date, with one man reporting seeing Innes in March 2006. Theresa's brother Mike Innes said that when he viewed her body, she appeared to have been dead less than a week.


August 16, 2005

A judge recalls a December 2004 warrant for the arrest of Innes, who is charged with communicating for the purposes of prostitution.


September 5, 2005

RCMP later report this as the last date Innes is seen alive.


September 15, 2005

A judge re-issues the warrant for Innes, after she fails to appear in court.


October 13, 2005

A woman is assaulted in a High Level motel. Svekla is charged with assault and is sentenced August 31st, 2006.


January 2006

RCMP later report this as the last date Innes is seen alive.


February 18, 2006

Svekla is charged for threatening to kill a High Level man over a woman.


February 24, 2006

Svekla is charged with sexual assault, assault with a weapon, uttering death threats and committing an indecent act (in an RCMP phone room in front of a woman).


February 27 or 28, 2006

A friend spots Innes at the Frontier Motel and Bar in High Level. Police believe this is her last credible sighting; others claim to have seen her in March and April.


March 2, 2006

Svekla is sent to prison in High Level for breaching bail conditions in an unrelated case.


March 16, 2006

Innes is reported missing.


May 4, 2006

Svekla is released from custody and checks into a room at the Family Motel in High Level.


May 5, 2006

Svekla checks into a room at the Sweet Dreams Motel, also in High Level. According to Jacqueline Lantz, manager, Svekla doesn't have a vehicle. He is joined by a woman, but she isn't seen when he checks out the next morning.


May 6, 2006

Svekla travels from High Level to Fort Saskatchewan with a hockey bag.


May 7, 2006

Svekla reportedly walks to a neighbour's home in Fort Saskatchewan to talk to a man about a vintage car for sale.


May 8, 2006

Police search Svekla's room at the Family Motel in High Level and tow a red and silver pickup truck with a silver canopy from the Fountain Tire lot where Svekla had worked as a mechanic until earlier in the year.


May 9, 2006

Svekla is charged with second-degree murder and indecently interfering with human remains in connection with the death of Theresa Merrie Innes.


May 9, 2006

Police search Svekla's room at the Sweet Dreams Motel.


May 11, 2006

Svekla makes brief court appearance to face formal charges. Svekla is seen giving reporters the fingers-to-lips sign and a thumbs up from the back of a police car.


May 11, 2006

Edmonton Sun publishes details of columnist Andrew Hanon's conversation with Svekla about how he stumbled over the body of Rachel Quinney in June 2004 in a remote area northeast of Sherwood Park.


May 12, 2006

Svekla appears in court in Edmonton to face ten charges stemming from a hit and run that occurred on November 26, 2004.


May 12, 2006

Police seize four vehicles belonging to Svekla from a wrecking yard northeast of Edmonton, stored there by Svekla's sister while he was in prison. The Last Link reveals that it was Svekla's sister who tipped off police, and that Innes' body was found in a pickup truck at her residence. The Last Link also reveals that police are seeking an accomplice.


May 16, 2006

The body of 37-year-old Bonnie Lynn Jack is found in a farmer's field just two kilometers south of Fort Saskatchewan. Jack is described as a part-time sex trade worker and the location of her body is in the area where numerous other women's bodies had been found over the past two decades.


May 18, 2006

A memorial for Innes is held. More than 200 attend, including Rachel Quinney's mother Delia – months before she learns that Svekla is charged with killing her daughter.


June 7, 2006

RCMP lead media through a tour of sites in High Level where police believe Theresa Merrie Innes may have been last seen with Thomas Svekla. A number of photographs are released and police reveal that Svekla was driven to Edmonton by a family friend.


June 8, 2006

Svekla's preliminary hearing is set to begin January 8, 2007. Svekla's lawyer elects a trial by judge and jury, but does not enter a plea or a request for bail.


August 31, 2006

Svekla is sentenced in High Level on an assault charge stemming from a motel room incident where a woman was attacked on October 13, 2005. Svekla is ordered to submit DNA.


December 15, 2006

Svekla is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for the November 2004 hit and run incident.


January 2, 2007

Svekla is charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a human body in connection with the death of Rachel Liz Quinney.


January 3, 2007

The Edmonton Journal publishes details of several interviews the paper had conducted with Svekla since his arrest in May 2006. The newspaper later contests a subpoenae ordering two of its reporters to testify at Svekla's preliminary hearing.


January 4, 2007

Svekla is formally charged with Quinney's death. A judge rules Svekla is to be tried for Quinney's death and that of Innes' at the same time. Svekla's defence lawyer pleads not guilty to all charges on behalf of his client and elects a trial before a judge and jury.


January 8, 2007

Svekla's preliminary hearing begins. Crown prosecutor Clifton Purvis announces two other Crown prosecutors, Marilena Carminati and Karl Wilberg, have been assigned to help with what was now being dubbed a “mega” case.


February 8, 2007

Preliminary hearing judge rules Svekla's murder trial to proceed.


May 24, 2007

Svekla is charged with sexual assault and threatening to kill a woman at or near Edmonton between August 1st, 2002, and June 30, 2004.


July 5, 2007

Svekla is charged with sexually assaulting and sexually interfering with a girl under the age of 14 at or near Edmonton between May 30 and December 28, 1995.


February 19, 2008

Thomas Svekla goes to trial on two counts of second-degree murder.


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