The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 11

NATION All THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2006 Vancouver police appeal for help after five people die in blaze Mad Slasher poses a threat 30 years later, officials say Transfer to Toronto psychiatric facility blocked Congolese mother, three kids and friend perish the review board to take another look at the now 57-year-old grandfather's case, noting the "sexual sadist" links a transfer to a medium security hospital with "access to women." A trio of doctors who have reviewed Magee over the years say the father of three children is an incorrigible, violent offender whose chances of rehabilitation are almost nil. The board recognized Magee poses a high risk for re-offending, but said the 'J Toronto facility could manage the killer. Magee is from Strathroy in south- western Ontario, the area where the crimes were committed. On June 15, 1976, he lured a 15-year-old girl into his car where he strangled, stabbed andV'J raped the victim. He admitted to two other murders and two sexual assaults.

CANWEST NEWS SERVICE Toronto The Ontario Court of Appeal has blocked the transfer of a serial killer known as the Mad Slasher to a medium-security psychiatric facility in Toronto. A three-judge panel ruled yesterday that the Ontario Review Board made legal errors last year when it said Christian Magee, who murdered three young Ontario women during the 1970s, should be moved to Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. But the Mental Health Centre at Pene-tanguishene, where Magee is being held, refused to accept the board's decision last year, arguing Magee remains a serious danger to the public, especially women. The appeals court yesterday ordered had not seen his family since Adela fled to Canada nine years ago as a refugee with their five children and pregnant with her sixth. Monday's pre-dawn fire took place in Skeena Terrace, the largest low-income housing project in Vancouver.

The burned unit was at the end of a block of six identical three-storey units. Built in the 1960s, the wood-frame buildings are not believed to have had sprinkler systems. Fanning said police are aware of a previous minor arson incident at the complex on April 30, but are not connecting the two. "There was a reported Molotov cocktail thrown. This happened on the 30fh of April after 11 p.m.

where a complainant in the 2200-block of Cassiar he heard a loud bang, saw a flash and looked out his window and he thought he heard young boys giggling," said Fanning. "He immediately phoned the police who went to the scene and did find remnants of what they believe was a Molotov cocktail, so that case is being investigated." Fanning said it is too early to say whether the Etibako family was targeted in Monday's fire. Among those anxiously awaiting information are relatives of the family in Kinshasa, Congo. "The emotion is going higher and higher every day as they are waiting for the bodies," said J.E Etibako, brother of the children's father, Eddy "Both his family and the wife's family are here. The tension is very high." VANCOUVER SUN take several days.

However, members of the local Congolese community, of which the family is part, have identified the victims as Adela Etibako, in her 40s, and her three youngest children Edita, 13, Benedic-ta, 9 and Stephane, 8 as well as a family friend, whose identity remains unclear. "Formal identification of the five people who died in the townhouse fire will be done forensically" Fanning said. "Investigators are proceeding under the assumption they are dealing with arson. Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning 'Autopsies will be done this week.

Police did confirm the identity of the person who escaped the flames with serious burns as Adela's son Bolingo Etibako, 16. "Bolingo is in the hospital and he is in serious but stable condition," Fanning said. The family fled Congo as refugees in 1997 after the head of the family, Eddy Etibako, who served in the government of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, was arrested as a political prisoner. Eddy Etibako, who is still living in the region and running for a seat in Congo's national assembly in elections on July 30, CHAD SKELTON AND MAURICE BRIDGE CANWEST NEWS SERVICE Vancouver Vancouver police have no suspects in the arson blaze that killed a mother, three children and one other person early Monday Police have not yet officially termed the fire an arson, but Capt. Rob Jones-Cook of the Vancouver fire department told reporters Monday the fire had been started with an accelerant, believed to be gasoline, which was splashed on the back of the building about 4 a.m.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning told news conference yesterday that while it could be several days before the fire can officially be called an arson, investigators are treating it as one. "Investigators are proceeding under the assumption that they are dealing with arson, (and) therefore five homicides," Fanning said. Police also made a public appeal yesterday for anyone who may have seen someone buying gas with gas cans on May 14 or 15. "We are asking that people, especially around the area of the fire if anyone saw anybody purchasing gas at late night hours (or saw) anything that might have appeared out of place to please call investigators," Fanning said.

Identification of the victims remains an issue. Police have not formally identified them, and Fanning said autopsies will Id 1 MontreaTt best attraction Includes: Jet boating the Lachine Rapids and a terrific BSQ (firmer at the famous Pub St-Paul! cal now for details, reservations required USKTJE RAF8 TC23 184JSS7 infojetboatingmontreal.com i'l i -I iiTTmfc-nrfc'iiTii' I Ontario defends ban on pit bulls "Automatic weapons of the dog world': lawyer In adjustable beds and massage armchairs evolution I adjustable bed SAVE Photo may differ i 4 a i ft If.lLlEDIATE DISCOUNT or 'X 36 ttOUTHS INTERESTS FREE ALLISON HANES CANWEST NEWS SERVICE Toronto The victims of pit bull attacks, including a 2-year-old in diapers, are proof an Ontario law banning the dogs is in the public's interest, government lawyers argued yesterday With its 10-month-old breed-specific legislation under attack in a Toronto courtroom, the Ontario government cited case after gory case to back its assertion that not only are pit bulls prone to biting; when they do the injuries they inflict are invariably severe. "In many ways, pit bulls are the automatic weapons of the dog world," said lawyer Michael Doi, responding to a constitutional challenge of the ban on the grounds that it targets one breed rather than aggressive dogs in general. Doi cited the example of Carrie He-witson, a Brantford, woman whose skin was peeled back "as if removing an evening glove from her arm" when she was mauled by three pit bulls in 2003. He also mentioned Canada Post letter carrier Darlene Wagner, whose right ear was jaggedly torn off when she was set upon by two pit bulls who crashed through a screen door in Ont, in 2004.

"Imagine being a grandmother and trying to keep your 4-year-old grandson on the left side of your body so he won't be traumatized by your disfigured ear," Doi said. That's certainly far removed from the experience of 23-year-old Catherine Cochrane. She fell in love with a happy-go-lucky Staffordshire bull terrier cross named Chess two years ago when she visited the home of a humane society volunteer who was sheltering the puppy Since the Dog Owner's Liability Act was passed in 2005, Cochrane has to muzzle, leash and sterilize Chess or be subject to fines and jail time. "I feel like I've been criminalized," Cochrane said. She lent her name to the court challenge because she believes pit bulls are no more vicious than any other breed.

The Canadian Kennel Club backs her fight against the law, which also bans the breeding, sale or gifting of pit bulls in Ontario. "Breed-specific legislation includes dogs that are not now nor never will be dangerous and at the same time excludes dogs that are potentially dangerous," said Sonny Allinson, a club spokesperson. 7 1135 vMASSl MASSEUR It reolly feels goodl SAVE accord I A I a Photo may differ Official Partner ADJUSTABLE BEDS AND MASSAGE ARMCHAIRS Jr 1 -888-766-6345) sommeildavantage.com CASH LOAN On Gold Diamond Jewellery MONTREAL 3830, Henri-Bourassa East Blvd. (514) 852-2222 SOUTHSHORE OF MTL 2924, Taschereau Blvd. (450) 466-6060 MTL-WEST-ISLAND 3555, St-Charles Blvd.

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