http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=c8a6abed-e73e-4914-9426-3eae570fbf54Project Kare up to the task, expert says
More solved cases predicted as RCMP missing women's unit lays murder charge
EDMONTON - Although Project Kare took more than three years to lay murder charges in a local woman's death, a U.S. expert says it's still one of North America's top specialized homicide teams.
On Friday, RCMP announced the group had charged Joseph Laboucan, 23, with second-degree murder in the death of Edmonton prostitute Ellie May Meyer, whose body was found in a farmer's field in 2005.
Steven Egger, a former homicide detective and expert on serial killer investigations at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, says he isn't worried about the speed of their work.
If anybody can solve these cases, it's Project Kare," he said Saturday.
"I don't think I've seen a better organization that could deal with a number of killings in one area." More than 16 Edmonton prostitutes have been slain since the late 1980s and their bodies left in rural areas.
Egger has been a harsh critic of similar police task forces in other cities.
He once called the police response to the continued killing of prostitutes in Vancouver's downtown Eastside an "absolute disaster." But in 2006, he joined a group of specialists in sex crimes and homicides on a tour of Project Kare's downtown Edmonton office.
He was impressed, he says, and remains pleased with their progress.
"Basically, everything they're doing is everything right," he said. "I suspect they're going to end up solving more cases." Gary Beaulieu, deputy chief of Ontario's Niagara Regional Police Service, also praises Project Kare, calling it a well-run organization.
Beaulieu was an investigator for four years on a case that eventually led to the murder convictions of Paul Bernardo.
The Project Kare team has cost the Alberta government more than $11 million, but has performed diligently, said Andy Weiler, a spokesman for the Solicitor General's office.
"We know it's very important work," he said. "The public expects this work to continue because there are a lot of unsolved cases out there." These investigations can sometimes take an extraordinary period of time, said RCMP Corp. Wayne Oakes.
A homicide detective's first step in any case is to identify the victim and who they last contacted, but that can be difficult with people living high-risk lifestyles, Oakes said.
They usually don't have a routine work schedule and may lack regular phone and bank account activity.
"These are the most difficult of the difficult cases for any law enforcement organization." Egger said Project Kare took the initiative by forming quickly after several prostitutes were killed in 2003.
The team then gained the trust of many sex-trade workers. More than 500 prostitutes have voluntarily submitted strands of hair, fingerprints and photos to help identify them if they are killed.
Meyer, 33, was last seen April 1, 2005, two days before 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte was raped and murdered on an out-of-town golf course.
Laboucan is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder in that case.
He'll appear in Strathcona County provincial court Monday.
slillebuen@thejournal.canwest.com
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