Man with disability tortured in Hamilton
Favebook group has been setup to protest this atrocity. Justice for disabled man tortured in Hamilton!
JOE FRIESEN Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 19, 2009
HAMILTON — Insects cover the walls and a horrible stench fills the air inside the Hamilton apartment where for more than three weeks a 22-year-old man, described by police as trusting and vulnerable, was held captive, beaten, burned and sexually abused. The man was said to be near death when a chance discovery by police led to his rescue Sunday. He had allegedly been lured to this third-floor apartment in Hamilton’s Corktown neighborhood in January. The apartment was shared by three people, 30-year-old Stanley Brown, his 20-year old girlfriend Dakota Thompson, and 22-year-old Nathaniel Jug. It’s not known whether they knew the victim.
He was allegedly brought there, tied up and held against his will while he was robbed and abused. The only apparent motive, according to Hamilton police Superintendent Bill Stewart, was sadism.
“He was tortured,” Supt. Stewart said. “It was very disturbing, very disgusting.” Supt. Stewart said the victim has a mental disability, but lives on his own.
His disappearance went unreported. While he was held, his captors also allegedly forced him to turn over his banking information and withdrew money from his account.
It was only when police responded to a 911 call made by the alleged kidnappers that they stumbled upon the larger crime.
Amiee Morin, who lives in the apartment downstairs, was at home Friday night when she heard loud thumping noises coming from above.
“I heard ‘Help, Help. Ow, that hurts,’ ” she said yesterday. She yelled through the door, asking them to keep quiet, but they didn’t take kindly to her request.
“He threatened to tie me up and beat me,” she said.
It was a far cry from the neighbours who seemed nice enough when they moved in last summer. The group even shared drinks on New Year’s Eve, but the upstairs neighbours stopped coming around in January, Ms. Morin said. Mr. Brown and Ms. Thompson had recently tried to look more Goth, dying their hair black, she said, but their look wasn’t as authentic as that of their friend, Mr. Jug.
Mr. Brown eventually apologized for the noise, explaining that he and his friend were in training to join the Ultimate Fighting Championships martial arts circuit. This seemed preposterous to Ms. Morin, who described them as small.
When her ex-boyfriend got home he was furious to hear of the threats, and stormed upstairs. He broke a window and the police were called.
When they arrived the officers asked permission to enter the apartment, where they found the 22-year-old victim in obvious distress, hidden away inside a closet or crawl space.
Doctors later said that his blood was so toxic that he was days away from death, but police could not explain the source of that toxicity. He also had burns and wounds covering much of his body, as well as a fractured skull. He is recovering in hospital and has been reunited with his family.
Supt. Stewart said police seized some of the devices alleged to have been used in his torture, but would not elaborate. Neighbours said a police forensic team emerged carrying dozens of brown evidence bags over the weekend but couldn’t say what they contained.
The apartment was still filthy yesterday, as old clothes and a dirty mattress covered the floor. Empty bottles of whisky and a Winnie the Pooh doll were among the odd assortment of possessions sprinkled throughout the space, as were old videos, including Scream Three, Ace Ventura and Star Trek: Nemesis, foot powder, bleach and hydrogen peroxide.
A dog-eared notebook contained a list of house rules, which included: Do not touch anything without permission, no overnights – checkout time is 11 pm, if you visit you come alone, and a set of special “toking rules,” which said, “Do not ask. If we are going to share, you will know.”
The linoleum floors were barely visible beneath the dirt and detritus, and the blades of the ceiling fan were encased in dust.
Landlord Lindsay Galbraith said he was surprised by the mess, but left his tenants alone because they paid rent on time.
“I knew they were odd,” he said. “Personally, I found them intriguing, fascinating, interesting. I think they were eccentric. I think they were into the Goth thing. They weren’t maniacal kids.”
Dorian Pollard, a neighbour who lives on the first floor, said he doesn’t think any of the three were employed, and that they got their income from a single disability cheque.
They came and went at odd hours, climbing the rickety fire escape outside his apartment.
“I never expected this. When I first met them I thought they were clean-cut kids,” he said. He described them as being “almost preppy.” They had expensive haircuts that were constantly changing, and always dressed well.
“This just makes me sick. I’ve been nauseous ever since,” he said.
Mr. Brown, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Jug, along with a 17-year-old male who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, are charged with aggravated assault, forcible confinement, aggravated sexual assault, robbery and threatening death.
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