Though his killings occurred over thirty years ago Clifford Olson is still known as one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers. Active through the years 1980-1981 he was responsible for eleven gruesome murders in that short time span. The shocking nature of his crimes ensured nobody would forget his notorious deeds. To build on that, Olson is loathed because he extorted authorities into paying $100,000 for the locations of his victims’ remains, an agreement that haunted the survivors of Olson’s crimes. Furthermore, his crime spree led neighbourhoods that once claimed to be “so safe you could leave your door open” to secure their doors; hitchhikers were seldom found on highways, and telephone poles were covered with posters warning that nearly
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This was seen as the major turning point in the investigation for the Case of the Missing Lower Mainland Children, as the four-foot-two, eighty pound nine-year-old was hardly the type of kid to run away. This made the police sure he had been abducted. Upon questioning his parents they deduced that after heading for a friend’s house he had been abducted. This was especially worrisome to authorities because he disappeared only a few blocks from where Christine Weller was last seen alive. Olson however, had only increased the speed, with which he sought out new victims, with Simon Parrington only marking the beginning of Olson’s rampage during the month of July, 1981. His five other victims included Terri Lyn Carson, fifteen from Surrey; Judy Kozma, fourteen and Raymond King, fifteen, from New Westminster; a German tourist named Sigrun Arnd, eighteen, and what is known to be his last victim before being arrested, Marie Louise Chartrand, seventeen, from Maple Ridge. It took an excruciatingly long time to link disappearances because many of the abductions had occurred in different police jurisdictions and police lacked the communication and technology, like the use of the RCMP computer or central database that we have today. In the end, however, as the number of missing children neared double digits even the …show more content…
12, 1981, when he was arrested near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. He was detained on suspicion of trying to abduct two female hitchhikers in his car. He was promptly taken to Chilliwack for questioning. Charges for the murder of Judy Kozma came two days later with the discovery of her nude body with multiple stab wounds on July 25. However, police had scarce evidence against him and had only found four of the bodies. Olson, during his interrogation, offered to lead police to the remains of the children who hadn 't been found; this, however, would come at a price. “I’ll give you eleven bodies for $100,000. The first one will be a freebie,” Olson offered the police. Authorities didn 't agree with his terms, but were aware there was a chance that Olson might slip back onto the street to kill again. Without a shred of evidence directly linking Olson to the murders, investigators were confident the pact was the only sure way to convict Olson on first-degree-murder charges. Eventually investigators, desperate to at last convict Olson, agreed to his terms. Before Olson gave up any details of his crimes, however, he insisted the money be distributed. Some would pay his legal fees, some would go to his parents, but most would go to his wife Joan and their baby
This was seen as the major turning point in the investigation for the Case of the Missing Lower Mainland Children, as the four-foot-two, eighty pound nine-year-old was hardly the type of kid to run away. This made the police sure he had been abducted. Upon questioning his parents they deduced that after heading for a friend’s house he had been abducted. This was especially worrisome to authorities because he disappeared only a few blocks from where Christine Weller was last seen alive. Olson however, had only increased the speed, with which he sought out new victims, with Simon Parrington only marking the beginning of Olson’s rampage during the month of July, 1981. His five other victims included Terri Lyn Carson, fifteen from Surrey; Judy Kozma, fourteen and Raymond King, fifteen, from New Westminster; a German tourist named Sigrun Arnd, eighteen, and what is known to be his last victim before being arrested, Marie Louise Chartrand, seventeen, from Maple Ridge. It took an excruciatingly long time to link disappearances because many of the abductions had occurred in different police jurisdictions and police lacked the communication and technology, like the use of the RCMP computer or central database that we have today. In the end, however, as the number of missing children neared double digits even the …show more content…
12, 1981, when he was arrested near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. He was detained on suspicion of trying to abduct two female hitchhikers in his car. He was promptly taken to Chilliwack for questioning. Charges for the murder of Judy Kozma came two days later with the discovery of her nude body with multiple stab wounds on July 25. However, police had scarce evidence against him and had only found four of the bodies. Olson, during his interrogation, offered to lead police to the remains of the children who hadn 't been found; this, however, would come at a price. “I’ll give you eleven bodies for $100,000. The first one will be a freebie,” Olson offered the police. Authorities didn 't agree with his terms, but were aware there was a chance that Olson might slip back onto the street to kill again. Without a shred of evidence directly linking Olson to the murders, investigators were confident the pact was the only sure way to convict Olson on first-degree-murder charges. Eventually investigators, desperate to at last convict Olson, agreed to his terms. Before Olson gave up any details of his crimes, however, he insisted the money be distributed. Some would pay his legal fees, some would go to his parents, but most would go to his wife Joan and their baby