The notorious ‘beast of BC’:
Clifford Olson

Forty years ago, Olson’s murder spree caused panic in our province

Brandon Yip one had been strangled. He drugged and killed all of them. In August
Senior Columnist 1981, Olson was arrested on Vancouver Island near Port Alberni under
suspicion for attempting to abduct two female hitchhikers
in his vehicle. Olson was later taken to Chilliwack
CPO am for questioning—and two days later he was
charged with the murder of Judy Kozma

 

his year marks 40 years from when Canadian serial

killer Clifford Olson’s reign of terror ended a
with his arrest. Olson murdered 11 children
(eight girls and three boys) ages ranging ont (whose nude body was discovered with
from 9 to 18 years. is. pn til multiple stab wounds on July 25).
hi clson showee ne remorse for : = Olson was 41 years old at the time

IS crimes; e toot p easure in = of his arrest and had been working

taunting the families of his victims. —

Lt
ry, Sen, as a carpenter.

    

While in prison he even mailed a ie
letter to one family so he could = BEAST BEHIND BARS
describe in graphic detail how = In January 1982, Olson’s trial

their son died. He also proudly
proclaimed himself “The Beast

of BC.” When Olson appeared in

a Vancouver courtroom to begin
his murder trial in January 1982, he

ve would begin—but it only lasted
= three days. Olson unexpectedly
> pivoted from pleading not guilty to
pleading guilty to 11 counts of first-
degree murder; he was sentenced

carried himself like he was someone NSN RN ~ to 11 concurrent life sentences. Ina
of high rank—turning around to smile at SAA ~A fA & Ne —s BN ao” packed courtroom, Mr. Justice H.C. McKay
the audience. Some of the people sitting in stated to Olson (as the mother of one of the
the crowd were the families of his victims. Over the victims sobbed in the background): “I do not have
years, with Olson in jail, he continued to make headlines by the words to adequately describe the enormity of your
stirring controversy and causing further agony. crimes, or to describe the heartbreak and anguish you have caused.” He
further declared that Olson
THE BEGINNING , ce a2 never be released and “no
Aecoreine to a een One of the parents told me: ‘For years | thought he was a punishment that a civilized
was seent in Richmond, monster, but now that I’ve seen him and heard him speak, | country can impose that
Olson became known as realize he’s just a pathetic little man. would be adequate.” After his

trial in February 1982 Olson
was sent across the country
to be incarcerated in Kingston
Penitentiary.
Malcolm Gray, in the previously mentioned Maclean’s article,
discussed Olson’s mental state during his trial. Olson was
represented at his murder trial by lawyer, Robert Shantz.
“AS for Olson’s mental condition, Shantz has had five
psychiatrists looking at him, and they diagnosed
him as a psychopath. Even though he is
mentally disturbed, Olson never received
psychiatric care while he was in prison
and was not legally insane under Section
16 of the Criminal Code. He knew what
he was doing when he killed.”
Dr. Tony Marcus, head of Forensic
Psychiatry at the University of BC in
1982, was one of the five psychiatrists
who assessed Olson. He reported that
Olson had “no illusions, delusions,
hallucinations.” Marcus also added
that Olson typified “the quintessence
of the incorrigible, amoral, anti-social
psychopath who does indeed know that
he has done wrong and does appreciate the
nature and quality of the act, though he cannot
respond to these acts with the feelings that a normal
individual would show.” Also, Marcus stated Olson’s
attempt to show remorse for his victims was contrived and “are without

a bully, a con artist, anda — Neil Hall, former reporter for the Vancouver
thief to his teachers. He was Sun during the Olson murders
often described as a kid who
enjoyed being the centre of
attention and was regarded as a promising boxer. Crime was part of
his life from the beginning. At age 17 Olson received his
first jail sentence and spent nine months in jail for
burglary. He eventually escaped and was later
recaptured—and this pattern that would
reoccur at least six times over the next 20
years. A Globe and Mail piece states he
only spent four years in prison during
this period and had with over 90
convictions and seven escapes while
in custody.

From November 1980 to July
1981, Olson went on a murdering
spree while out of prison on
mandatory supervision. All of his
victims lived in the Lower Mainland
in local cities like Burnaby, Coquitlam,
Maple Ridge, Surrey, Langley, and New
Westminster (with the exception of one
who was a German tourist). Olson coerced
his victims with concocted stories about work
opportunities or other incentives in order to get
them into his vehicle. Some victims had been raped and
sodomized, some bludgeoned, while others were stabbed, and