YVONNE ZACHARIAS
Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER — Abbotsford police have turned up gruesome evidence in a case against a man who is scheduled to appear in provincial court next week for counselling a mentally disturbed woman to commit suicide.
According to sworn information contained in an application by Abbotsford police for a search warrant, officers found a room in Kenneth William Carr’s basement suite with ropes hung from the ceiling and a cellphone containing photographs of an apparently lifeless naked man and woman hung by the neck. The photos appeared to be taken in the basement suite.
According to court documents, Carr, who is in his mid-50s, has a long and troubled history.
He was sentenced in 1999 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a teenage girl who, according to a judge’s sentencing report, he forced face down on the ground and smothered to death following a dispute over money.
In the latest incident, police allege in material filed with the court, that a 48-year-old woman with a history of mental illness reported last September that Carr had offered to help her commit suicide.
One day after they met, Carr had her prepare a suicide note, gave her white pills, rigged a rope from the rafters and helped her place it over her head, according to a police summary of their investigation.
She recalled standing on a chair but was told by Carr the next morning that she had told him to stop when he was about to push her off the chair.
Carr drove her home the next day, after giving her a turtleneck sweater to hide the ligature mark on her neck. The victim later showed the mark to her mother, who was also interviewed by police.
During an initial search of Carr’s suite, police found ropes hanging from the ceiling and the disturbing photo images on his cellphone. Based on those images, police advised Carr he was also under investigation for murder but no subsequent murder charges have been laid.
Police also reviewed the disturbing details of the 1999 manslaughter conviction in the death of Katharyn Kaminski.
In their report, which formed affidavits for a search warrant in the latest case, police stated that Carr had reported finding the naked body of Kaminsky between two sets of rail tracks in New Westminster. She was found lying down with a rope around her neck and the word “die” written in feces on her back. An autopsy revealed the young woman — whom court records say was “about 17 years old” — died from asphyxiation and that the rope appeared to have been applied after death.
As part of their investigation into Kaminski’s murder, they searched Carr’s locker at his former workplace, CN Railway. Twenty-eight photos of women in different poses, some naked and some partly dressed, were seized. Two of the photos depicted women with a noose around their necks in a hanging position.
In sentencing Carr, Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker noted that Carr, who was 40 at the time, had no previous criminal record, no history of violence and a history of stable employment that he had left in “unusual and unhappy circumstances.”
A psychiatric report ruled out any major mental disorder.
In sentencing Carr to four years in prison in addition to his 36 months of pre-trial incarceration, Baker described Kaminsky’s murder as “an inexplicable act of violence.”
She noted that while Carr eventually expressed remorse for his crime, he did not do so right after Kaminsky’s death. In fact, he attempted to cover up his crime and throw blame on other people.
Last October, after charging Carr with counselling to commit suicide, Abbotsford police issued an appeal to the public to come forward with any information regarding Carr. So far, nothing substantial has surfaced.
As for the images found on Carr’s cellphone, Const. Ian MacDonald, public information officer with the Abbotsford police, said in an interview: “Our opinion changed from the initial sighting of those images on a small device to where we were able to enhance and investigate further. That said, we are dealing with a very serious matter.”
None of the allegations contained in the search warrant has been proven in court.
Carr appeared in court Thursday for a bail hearing, but the matter was adjourned to next Thursday. He remains in custody.
