R. v. Dhillon
R - Whiilon (2001), B.C.C.A. 555 HK Exit CASE X On Apm 14, 1977, Carolyn Lee, aged 12, disappeared while walking the 1. Were the tire and shoe four blocks between her afternoon dance class and her family's restaurant impressions represen- in Port Alberni, British Columbia. Her family began looking for her immedia tative of class or indi- ately, and at about 8:30 p.m. her father called the RCMP to report her miss- vidual characteristics? ing. Her body was found the next day by a local farmer on his property near Explain. Cox Lake. Forensic evidence established that Carolyn had been sexually as- 2. List the other types of saulted and bludgeoned to death. evidence collected. The farmer said that his attention was drawn to the area when he noticed 3. Why were the tire tire tracks not normally seen at a fork in the road about 100 metres from impressions and the where the body was found. The terrain at the fork was muddy, but there was shoe print so useful no slippage or backing up evident from the tire tracks, which led the farmer to in the investigation? believe the tracks had been made by a light-duty, four-wheel-drive vehicle. 4. Why was the evidence The front and rear tire tracks were clearly visible, and they continued spo- insufficient to lay radically all the way from the fork to where the body was found. Photographs charges until the DNA match was made 20 and drawings were made of one clear impression. A local storeowner com- pared the tread pattern and size of the markings with actual tire stock in his years later? store. He concluded the impressions had been made by Seiberling 700/15 heavy lug tires. Ten days after Carolyn's body was found, the RCMP discovered that Dhillon, a local foundry worker, owned a 1977 Blazer with four Seiberling lug tires. Dhillon and his wife both admitted to police that he had washed and vacuumed his vehicle as soon as he arrived home the night Carolyn disap peared. On the victim's jacket, the police had found a partial shoe print made by a boot that could have been similar to the type Dhillon wore at the foundry. When police interrogated Dhillon, he produced an alibi. He said he was at a bar at the time the girl disappeared and then went home for dinner. A lie detector test seemed to substantiate his alibi. Witnesses gave conflicting statements about Dhillon's whereabouts on the evening in question. The po- lice felt there was insufficient evidence to lay a criminal charge against him. Semen taken from the victim's body in 1977 remained available, and thanks to advances in scientific technology, it was used for DNA testing Forensic scientists matched the DNA in the seminal fluid to DNA in Dhillon's blood. On March 13, 1997, 20 years after Carolyn Lee's body was found, the police charged Dhillon with first-degree murder. After a month-long trial, a jury convicted him, and the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. In 2001, Dhillon's appeal to the British Columbia Court of Appeal was dismissed
