April 13, 1999.

Francis Roy.

Francis Roy was convicted today of the 13 year-old murder of the 11-year old Alison Parrott. In 1986, she was lured from her home into Varsity Stadium by a man claiming to be a sports photographer. 3 witnesses saw her in the area with a man draped in photographic equipment. He is described as white. One of the witnesses is so reliable, is so positive of what she saw, that she didn't come forward right away, because one of the papers gave an erroneous description of Allison's clothes. Get it? She was with a "white" man.

Of course, that doesn't mean terribly much, if we're talking about casual sightings. But Francis Roy looks like the Native Canadian he is. He is not a cigar-store Indian, he is not a noble Savage, he is merely one of the many Natives making do with centuries of leftovers from the white government. He doesn't look "white." Whatever that means.

He was linked to the corpse by DNA. Traces of his sperm were found in the dead girl's vagina. He has been convicted in two other rapes, to 2 girls aged 19 and 14 year old. He claims - and this is all his DA's story that follows - that he was walking in the woods near the body. He had masturbated. Just before he saw the corpse, he had relieved himself in the open. Traces of sperm were on his hands. And when he saw the dead girl, he stuck his finger up her vagina, then fled the scene.

This account matches the trace amount of DNA material found. It is of course possible that he did this after killing her, that he never felt the urge to rape her, just invade her with his finger, or masturbate himself in her without ejaculating. The possibilities are endless. But here's the thing: at the time of the murder, he was on the run from the law over an assault charge. He did not have much time, even if he had inclination to set up a plot to kill Allison. But even if you postulate the evil genius theory, which assumes that he could conceive and execute such a desire on the fly, you're missing the crucial point that he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. His previous crimes are not the hallmark of a Moriarty, a Sideshow Bob or even a Paul Bernardo. He was too stupid to stop raping girls even after he got caught the first time. His own admission of violating the corpse is not the calling card of the cerebral villain.

The jury convicted him. I might have done the same. It's obvious that he's a mad dog, that he's too stupid to act in anyone's best interest. If I was in charge of the world, I'd give him the option of a lifetime of hard labour (to keep his hands busy, not for revenge). The other choice is swift execution. I do not believe he can be rehabilitated.

But I do not believe he killed Alison Roy.

And while I sympathize with the jury, I think they convicted him from their disgust. There was reasonable doubt. I might have done the same, just to get Roy off the streets. But the killer is still undiscovered.

And justice has not been served.

All facts were checked by the Toronto Star article of April 7th, entitled Acquit Roy, defense urges. Although I agree with the DA, I take full responsibility for the thesis.