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Former Soldier's Dreams Crushed by Shooting Accusations - Article

Bruce Monkhouse

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http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/19/former-soldiers-dreams-crushed-by-shooting-accusations
    Former soldier's dreams crushed by shooting accusations 

By Chris Doucette ,Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 08:22 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 09:09 PM EDT
   

TORONTO - Warren Bate wanted more than anything to be a cop.

But the former Canadian soldier’s dream was shattered two years ago when Durham Regional Police invited him to come in and talk about a job — and instead accused him of attempted murder.

The 35-year-old has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since because investigators allege they found his old army foot locker — evidence they claim ties him to several shootings.
“I just want my life back,” an emotional Bate said recently after reaching out to the Toronto Sun, believing his only remaining option was to go public with his story.
Bate’s life began to unravel in the fall of 2010.

He had served his country for 12 years as a reservist with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, an infantry unit in Cobourg, and was working at General Motors while coaching minor hockey and volunteering as a Big Brother.
But he “wanted more out of life,” so he left GM to pursue his goal of becoming a police officer.
Bate applied to services across the province and returned to college to upgrade his education while waiting for acceptance.
On Oct. 28, 2010, it appeared his dream was coming true.

He arrived home to a message on his answering machine from a woman identifying herself as a constable from Durham’s police recruiting department.
“Warren, I’m calling about your application with us,” the officer said, before asking him to come in and “discuss our recruiting process.”
“I was super excited,” Bate recalled.
Dressed in his best suit, he walked into a police station the next day unaware that moments later he’d be trapped in a nightmare.
A plainclothes officer asked him, “Do you know why you’re here?”

“I said, ‘I’m here to talk about a possible job with the police,’” Bate recalled. “He said, ‘Not exactly.’ Then he showed me a picture of my old military barracks box (an army-issued foot locker).”
Suddenly he found himself accused of attempted murder, facing questions about the shooting of a pick-up truck on Hwy. 401 and several other gunplay incidents from a few months earlier.

Bate, who has no criminal record, was stunned. He still trembles as he thinks about that moment.
The detective also pulled out a photo of a rifle and told him officers were searching his pick-up truck in the parking lot and others were searching his home.

“I thought they were joking,” Bate said.
Bate, who said he doesn't own any firearms, told the cop he returned his barracks box, along with most of his other kit, when he left the army in 2006.
The only items he was allowed to keep were his uniforms and footwear and he told the officer he had paperwork at home to prove it.

Bate, who is single and has no kids, also pointed out that while his name was still stencilled on the barracks box in the police photo, someone else had added “pink pony stickers” on the side.
But the officer didn’t believe him.
He was told the contents of the barracks box, which included 250 rounds of ammunition and smoke grenades, were “unique” to him.

A “legal aid lawyer” advised him not to answer any questions, but Bate decided to be cooperative, convinced the whole mess could be easily cleared up.
“I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he said.
Bate claims he was “interrogated” by three cops and a military police officer, who alleged he didn’t return any of his gear when he was honourably released.

“They told me I’m leading a double life just like Russell Williams,” he said, referring to the former Canadian Forces colonel who imprisoned for two murders and numerous sex attacks.
Bate claims the officers also made references to his relationship with his Little Brother, telling him people often volunteer with kids “to hide who they really are.”
After six hours of questions, he was allowed to leave.

A few months later, Bate received a letter from Ottawa police telling him his application had been “declined” and he was “prohibited” from applying to other Ontario services for a year.
Durham cops confirmed a barracks box was found in a field and that they are still probing the July 28 shooting of a vehicle on a Hwy. 401 on-ramp at Courtice Rd.
But they refused to comment further or say if Bate remains a person of interest in the case.

“This firearms investigation is open and ongoing,” Sgt. Nancy van Rooy said. “No charges have been laid.”
Despite all he has endured, Bate is reluctant to say anything bad about police. In his heart, he’s hoping he may still get to be a cop some day.
“I know mistakes happen,” he said. “But I wish they would either charge me, so I can defend myself, or clear my name.
 
Wow, just wow. It amazes me that the MP jumped on board so fast too. Everyone has drawn kit with somone elses name on it and turned in kit with their name on it too. Tons of the stuff is sold through Crown assets and none of the id is removed unless it was sewn on.  :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
 
If what he says is true....WTF!? Seriously, a name and SN printed on a barrack box? No crown attorney will ever go to trial with that alone, any half ham defence lawyer could tear that case apart. I hope the police have something more concrete than that?
 
And they just may. This is only one side of the story so how about we avoid on pile on here against the police who are trying to solve a crime here using whatever leads they have.
 
jeffb said:
And they just may. This is only one side of the story so how about we avoid on pile on here against the police who are trying to solve a crime here using whatever leads they have.

Exactly...

Having said that though, I'd have to say there is a little more to this than meets the eye - every barrack box I've returned had to be ID free and sticker free.  I took the stickers off with solvent and was handed a can of spray paint to cover the ID painted on previously.  :2c:

MM
 
medicineman said:
Exactly...

Having said that though, I'd have to say there is a little more to this than meets the eye - every barrack box I've returned had to be ID free and sticker free.  I took the stickers off with solvent and was handed a can of spray paint to cover the ID painted on previously.  :2c:

MM

I've seen more barrack boxes than I can count with names still on them of their previous owners. Usually every summer we'd paint ours to rectify that.
 
Bruce Monkhouse said:
but Bate decided to be cooperative, convinced the whole mess could be easily cleared up.
HUGE mistake. Even cops don't talk to cops.

I've spoken to a police detective about something and had the same "RUSSEL WILLIAMS!" boogyman carrot shoved in my face.
I had the same thing, speaking to a detective about something who threw the RUSSEL WILLIAMS boogyman carrot infront of my face.  Dick move.
 
BernDawg said:
Wow, just wow. It amazes me that the MP jumped on board so fast too. Everyone has drawn kit with somone elses name on it and turned in kit with their name on it too. Tons of the stuff is sold through Crown assets and none of the id is removed unless it was sewn on.  :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:

I'm not, I've delt with to many MPs that if they can make this case stick (what ever it was at the time) it will make their career.  No offence to our MP brethern on these boards I don't trust you. I've had MPs tell me not to talk to MPs with out; a) a Witness b) a laywer, and I have found this to work quite well.
 
Bruce Monkhouse said:
Bate claims the officers also made references to his relationship with his Little Brother, telling him people often volunteer with kids “to hide who they really are.”

Interesting, this article is a good way to dry up volunteerism, if police think that volunteers are more likely to be crooks.

Bruce Monkhouse said:
He was told the contents of the barracks box, which included 250 rounds of ammunition and smoke grenades, were “unique” to him.

To him or to the unit he was in?

There is a lot missing here and something we are not a party too, so I will wait and see.  Although it is not usual for the guilty to seek so much public scrutiny.  The article does demonstrate the growing divide between the average Canadian and our police services particularly in Ontario.
 
Hate to say it, but cops have a job to do and if they are talking to you the best thing you can do is not say anything.  You are not co-operating with them, you are making their job easier.  Co-operating implies that both sides will benefit.

They perform a vital service, but if you are innocent and being accused of something say nothing and leave as soon as is legally permissible.  Cops are only human and like everyone else, most will pick low hanging fruit.
 
I usually roll my eyes when I hear of somebody suing. In this case I would get one of those angry lawyers and sue for every penny I could. Blame me for murder and compare me to that retard Williams...it would put me over the top.
 
Usually one of the final questions asked by an investigator/interviewer, is if the suspect would be willing to take a polygraph. It's also a behavioural observation question (BOQ).....if these police officers are investigating something as serious in nature as it's described, then I would think that this has been offered up.

There is more to this story than the limited information in the article.

Noneck
 
noneck said:
Usually one of the final questions asked by an investigator/interviewer, is if the suspect would be willing to take a polygraph. It's also a behavioural observation question (BOQ).....if these police officers are investigating something as serious in nature as it's described, then I would think that this has been offered up.
A bit more on that in another article....
.... Bate even agreed to a polygraph 10 months after he was “interrogated.”

“But I wasn’t asked any questions about the barracks box,” he said, adding he was never told the results of the lie detector test.

In the end, he was allegedly told, "We know you did it. We don’t think you were the triggerman, but we know you know something about this barracks box.” ....
noneck said:
There is more to this story than the limited information in the article.
There usually is more in "the truth" than we read in media stories....
 
milnews.ca said:
.... Bate even agreed to a polygraph 10 months after he was “interrogated.”

“But I wasn’t asked any questions about the barracks box,” he said, adding he was never told the results of the lie detector test.

In the end, he was allegedly told, "We know you did it. We don’t think you were the triggerman, but we know you know something about this barracks box.” ....

Sounds like some real quality detective work.
 
ObedientiaZelum said:
Sounds like some real quality detective work.

..and, with all the investigations you've headed up, I guess your some kind of expert??

What??...you haven't?..oh....
 
So, because this gentleman is one of "our own," he should get a free pass from questioning, despite the fact that something that has certainly, at one point, belonged to him, showed up at the scene of a shooting? I am just going out on a limb, but that would be sloppy police work, not getting one half of the story from an article that clearly has an axe to grind. He's part of an active investigation. Of course he's not getting hired. I've seen people, all good candidates, blown off for less.


 
Baloo said:
So, because this gentleman is one of "our own," he should get a free pass from questioning, despite the fact that something that has certainly, at one point, belonged to him, showed up at the scene of a shooting? I am just going out on a limb, but that would be sloppy police work, not getting one half of the story from an article that clearly has an axe to grind. He's part of an active investigation. Of course he's not getting hired. I've seen people, all good candidates, blown off for less.

Just as sloppy as assuming things that weren't mentioned in the article?  ;)
 
I was once advised to never ever take a polygraph test.

1) they aren't admissable as evidence

2) the science beyhind them isn't perfect

3) Even if you pass they won't necessarily stop investigating

4) If you fail (false negatives happen) they'll likely look into you even more.

Best thing to do is tell them that you want legal advice before taking the test.  Lawyers will always tell you not to take it necause of the reasons above.
 
Strike said:
Just as sloppy as assuming things that weren't mentioned in the article?  ;)

Oh, boy.

Yes. Yes, that's egg on my face.
 
I suppose we've learned one concrete lesson from this:

Make sure you remove identifying marks from your kit before turning it in.
 
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