Susan Davis, an advocate for sex trade workers who herself worked on Vancouver streets between 1990-1993, testified that a client raped her at knifepoint in the early 90’s.  She managed to escape and got the licence plate number of her attacker’s vehicle.  She phoned 911 and was told to wait for a Vancouver Police Department to attend on a specified corner.  Ms. Davis waited for an hour but no police attended.  She tried twice more over the next three weeks to report the crime but again, Vancouver police failed to respond.  Years later, when Robert William Pickton’s photograph in the media appeared, identifying him as a suspect in as many as 49 murders of sex trade workers, Ms. Davis said to herself, “that’s the guy”.

Ms. Davis described the harsh life of street sex trade workers.  She said there is a general sense of distrust of the police on the part of sex trade workers but noted that she has had four regular clients who were members of the VPD and RCMP.  Her testimony continues.

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that Attorney General/Solicitor General Shirley Bond will announce today that the Missing Women Commisssion of Inquiry will have its term extended for another six months, presumably to June 30, 2012.

We have not received any confirmation of this yet and continue to struggle with the uncertainty surrounding the proceedings.  For instance, late yesterday Commission Counsel Art Vertlieb announced that next week’s scheduled witnesses –  RCMP C/Supt. Robert Morrison, Supt. Jim Gresham, C/Supt. Janice Armstrong , Mr. Max Xiao,  VPD  Superintendent Jeff Sim and Police Board representative Elizabeth Watson – would actually not be attending the hearings next week and may be coming at some later date.  That news caught us by complete surprise, as we had been busily preparing to cross-examine them on their evidence.

We’ve been told that the long-awaited report of Peel Deputy Chief Evans (who has been working with the files for a year) will be delivered by Monday.   Next week’s hearing schedule, at  least at this moment, is said to include testimony from Susan Davis and Elaine Allan, to be followed by an application for an order protecting vulnerable witnesses and some sort of hearing to deal with the RCMP and VPD lawyers’ concerns about publication of “sensitive” information.

We look forward to attempting to address these evidentiary issues in the hearings.  At this point, it appears to us that the RCMP and VPD are trying to keep the tightest possible lid on the evidence that might lead the public, and our clients, to the truth.  If this inquiry is to fulfill its mandate, the lid will have to be pried off to expose the entire story, however messy it may be, to the Commission’s scrutiny.

Today was the first day of testimony from the families of the missing and murdered women.  Jan Brongers, one of the Department of Justice lawyers representing the interests of the RCMP , opened proceedings by magnanimously stating that RCMP lawyers would not be subjecting the relatives of the missing and murdered women to cross-examination.  Any relief that the families may have felt as a result of that announcement must have dissipated later in the day, when David Crossin and Sean Hern, two different lawyers representing Vancouver police interests, spent most of the afternoon questioning Lynn Frey about the accuracy of her recollection of events occurring some 13 years ago.   Mr. Crossin is one of the lawyers representing the Vancouver Police Union and some of its members, while Mr. Hern is one of the lawyers representing the Vancouver Police Department, the Vancouver Police Board and most of their members or former members.  Both suggested that VPD Detective Lori Shenher would have a different recollection when she testifies.  It is not yet clear when, or even if, Det. Shenher will take the stand.

We expressed a concern about what had unfolded, stating that the interests of these police participants “seem to be indistinguishable” and that we would object if their lawyers’ cross-examinations became repetitive.  This caused a stir in the gallery and Commissioner Oppal encouraged spectators to remain quiet.

The Inquiry continues tomorrow with more testimony from Lori-Ann Ellis, a relative of Cara Ellis.  Ernie Crey, brother of Dawn Crey and a well-known First Nations activist, is expected to testify Wednesday.

Marnie Frey

Lynn Frey, the stepmother of Marnie Frey, testified today that the search for her missing daughter led her to Willie Pickton’s pig farm in September of 1998, years before Marnie’s remains were eventually found there.  Ms. Frey described how she would travel from Campbell River to Vancouver’s downtown east side after Marnie vanished in 1997 and show Marnie’s photograph to people she encountered there.  These inquiries led to information about “Willie’s pig farm” in Port Coquitlam and she drove out there, only to be turned back by two dogs as she tried to scale a fence.  Ms. Frey immediately reported this information to Det. Shenher of the Vancouver Police Department.  It would be February 5, 2002 before evidence of the missing women would be found at the Pickton farm, while a junior Coquitlam RCMP member was executing a search warrant there on an unrelated firearms complaint.  Pickton was convicted of Marnie’s murder, and the murders of five other women, in 2007.  Twenty more first degree murder charges against him were stayed by the Crown last year.