depth.” Finally, Marcus summarized Olson, stating “the perpetration of such horror, of such dimension, in such a macabre and horrendous way, is so alien that even people who have met individuals who CC are called psychopathic or anti- social, cannot bring themselves to believe that there may be individuals of this gross nature. It is too impossible to accept.” THE OTHER PRESS Even though he is mentally disturbed, Olson never He knew what he was doing when he killed. ‘With an audience, even death is attractive. an interview with CBC News in 2006, Worthington stated Olson had received psychiatric care while he was in prison and was not legally insane under Section 16 of the Criminal Code. Mm A few years earlier in never changed: “He knows right 22 = from wrong he just doesn’t care. Everything is a kind of learned behaviour. He’s a good con man and he manipulates.” Jon Ferry, who co-authored a book about Olson, stated in an interview with CBC that the Olson case revealed flaws in the way high-profile INTERVIEWS A VANCOUVER SUN REPORTER FROM THE TIME OF THE MURDERS Former Vancouver Sun reporter, Neal Hall, covered the trial of another local serial killer, Robert Pickton. Hall also covered Clifford Olson’s 1997 “faint hope” parole ineligibility review. “Faint hope” referred to section 745 of the Criminal Code that allowed prisoners convicted of murder and serving a life sentence to apply for a review of their parole release date. Families of Olson’s victims were outraged: “It was controversial because Olson didn’t stand a chance of success,” Hall said in an email interview with the Other Press. “He just wanted attention. But for a lot of the families of his victims, it was the first time that they got to see Olson in person (albeit they were separated in the high-security courtroom in Surrey by a wall of plexiglass). One of the parents told me: ‘For years | thought REMEMBERING CLIFFORD OLSON’S VICTIMS 1) Christine Weller (13 years old) 2) Colleen Daignault (13 years old) 3) Daryn Johnsrude (16 years old) 4) Sandra Wolfsteiner (16 years old) 5) Ada Court (13 years old) 6) Simon Partington (9 years old) 7) Judy Kozma (14 years old) 8) Raymond King (15 years old) 9) Sigrun Arnd (18 years old) he was a monster, but now that I’ve seen him and heard him speak, | realize 1 0) Terri Lyn Carson (1 5 years old) he’s just a pathetic little man.” Olson’s 4 1) Louise Chartrand (1 7 years old) application would be denied by a judge and the law was later revised to exclude serial killers like Olson. In March 2010, Olson created more controversy when Global News reported that Olson was receiving more than $1100 per month in Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments starting in 2005 when he turned 65. The CBC reported that the Canadian government wif is x introduced legislation to end pension = : oo payments to some federal prisoners and Ve . v the act became law at the start of 2011. In i | (' , ‘ November 2010, the CBC reported Olson \ \( applied for parole for the third and final \\ i y \W oA ( time. According to the National Parole on \\ f Nk : Board, it announced its decision to I \\ N( lj! deny Olson parole during a one-hour \\ \ Y" \ y \ hearing at Canada’s highest-security x \ ‘ \V \J institution located in Sainte-Anne-des- y Plaines, Quebec. Olson told the parole board, “This is the final time; never again.” Olson declared “and I’m out” as he left the room. \/ Journalist Peter Worthington had \/ been in periodic contact with Olson since 1989. In a blog published on the Huffington Post the journalist reflected on his association with Olson: “Apart from Bob Shantz, | guess | knew Olson as well as anyone can know a homicidal and narcissistic sociopath. He was a congenital liar and manipulator. You couldn’t believe a word he said. He relished attention, mindful of the Russian proverb: MY crime cases were investigated: “Olson mocked the justice system and exploited it and showed its weaknesses. And [it also] showed the poor coordination between the police forces.” “SOMETHING EVIL WAS AFOOT” Decades after Olson’s crimes, many people still remember the fear Olson put into parents. Corinne (last name withheld) grew up in East Vancouver during Olson’s murder spree in 1981. She recalls her parents driving her to school immediately when children began to go missing. “Clifford Olson took away Vancouver’s innocence in a huge way,” she said in the same 2011 CBC segment. “After Clifford Olson, when kids were [being abducted], bodies were being found [...] It just changed the neighbourhood radically. There was a palpable fear in the neighbourhood.” In addition, Neal Hall remembers the sense of fear and panic when children were going missing in the summer of 1981: “There was a sense of panic at the time. Eleven kids had disappeared by July 1981. It was every parent’s nightmare. Hitchhiking had been common in those days. Parents advised their kids not to hitchhike or accept rides from strangers,” he said in the same email Other Press interview. “But at the time there was still no definitive answer about whether a serial killer was on the loose, so | think the public wasn't fully aware of one person being responsible for the missing children. Still, there was a sense of dread that something evil was afoot.” Olson died in prison of cancer in September 2011 at age 71. Perhaps, for many of the families of the victims, there was a sense of justice and satisfaction that Olson was dead. Trudy Court, a sister of one of Olson’s victims, told Global News her reaction to Olson’s death was bittersweet: “These are tears of happiness, because justice is done for the children. Our justice system couldn’t do it for them. But life has. He’s gone now.” As well, Olson’s death will never end the pain and suffering he caused so many families for the last 40 years. Sharon Rosenfeldt says Olson’s death does not bring finality for her family—and told the CBC in an interview: “There is no closure. There is a different way of living but there is no closure, it’s an open wound that goes on and on.” Illustrations by CJ Sommerfeld