Posted on 12/08/2002 4:13:59 AM PST by Clive
The Supreme Court of Canada's ruling that inmates of prisons have the right to vote may not have much impact on how Canada is governed, but it further undermines the respect Canadians have for the judiciary.
One beneficiary of the Supreme Court's decision (not Parliament's) is Clifford Olson, now serving 11 concurrent life sentences for murdering 11 young people in 1980-81. I was on the phone with him the other day, and he recalled he'd once filed an appeal to vote, but Parliament rejected the request.
"No matter what we're in prison for, we're all citizens and should have the right to vote," Olson told me.
He added that most prisoners don't give a damn, but he'll vote Liberal: "Once a Liberal, always a Liberal; I'll never abandon the boat." He prefers Paul Martin to Jean Chretien.
On New Year's Day, Olson will be 63. Since he was 17, He has spent all but four years in prison - mostly in protective custody.
This would be psychologically devastating to the majority of convicts. Not to Olson. He seems to thrive in prison, works out in the gym, keeps fit by running (he claims a mile in five minutes) and follows news on TV, writes letters and creates controversy.
He's a jailhouse Forrest Gump, claiming links with some of the big crimes of our times. Right now he's in Quebec's Ste. Anne-des-Plaines penitentiary, manipulating his shrunken world like some Dr. Evil.
When Seattle's Green River Killer was murdering an estimated 50 prostitutes in the early 1980s, Olson caused a stir by claiming he not only knew the guy's identity, but that the pair had raped and killed together.
Olson was granted immunity by the state of Washington if his information was correct; he kept dangling tidbits and never delivered. The late, flamboyant lawyer, Melvin Belli, took up his cause.
Olson negotiated a trip to B.C. soon after his conviction, ostensibly to lead police to more bodies.
Again, he never delivered.
In the mid-1990s, he wrangled a trip from the RCMP to Churchill, Man., claiming he'd killed a couple of missing girls up there. When no bodies were found, he reckoned polar bears had found their graves and eaten them.
After the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, Olson contacted the FBI and said he'd exchanged letters a couple of years earlier with Afghani students in Florida who said "something big" was due to happen and, he said, mentioned the name of Mohammed Atta. Olson has sworn affidavits to this effect.
Information ignored
I phoned the FBI agent, who confirmed Olson's call. The agent said he believed Olson's claim of being a serial killer was untrue, and ignored his information.
He was surprised to learn Olson was indeed a serial killer and said he'd re-check the information. Not a ringing endorsement of FBI efficiency.
Olson says he's killed upwards of 90 young people in the U.S. and Canada - and even Hawaii (maybe true) and Ireland (untrue). This is rubbish, though he has almost certainly committed more than the 11 murders of which he was convicted. Seven of his young victims were listed as runaways by police until he confessed and led them to the bodies.
Two weeks ago, I got another excited message from Olson. He claimed to have received letters a couple of years ago from one John Allen Williams, "who said he changed his name to John Allen Mohammad."
Asked about victims
In what purports to be affidavits sworn on Aug. 16, 2000, Olson says: "In letters he said he was interested in serial killers and wanted to know if I had killed any of my victims with a rifle ... he said he was looking after a guy named Lee Malvo, age 15."
Olson sent his affidavit to Douglas Gansler, Montgomery County state attorney in Maryland (after initially erring and sending it to Montgomery, Alabama).
He also sent copies to other officials, including Dean Yamashiro of the public defender's office in Honolulu and Stephen Harris of the public defender's office in Baltimore, requesting an appointment regarding the sniper murders and also the unsolved murders of three girls in Baltimore in 1981.
He claimed to have photos of the murdered girls.
Olson says he has 11 letters from the Washington sniper, but isn't releasing them yet. It's more Forrest Gump stuff, and more evidence that far from rotting in solitary confinement, Olson leads a demented, stimulating life, ever seeking public attention.
Olson is more cunning than crazy - a sociopath. According to those who study psychopathy, that makes him endlessly resourceful, imaginative, innovative and a perpetual pain in the butt. And someone the Supreme Court thinks deserves the right to help choose our government ...
After his conviction, he continued to harrass his victims' families from prison.
Glad to know this b*st*rd is going to vote to for communism. Da' Moron and Martin must be so proud. They will do anthing to remain in power.
Unbelievable. How hard is it to run a name through a database, or look at caller ID to see that the phone call is coming FROM A PRISON???
Can you put me on your ping list, Clive? Thanks!
Olson should have received an additional hundred years for bribery using victims as hostage. . .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.