MMIWG — What Happened to Hilary Bonnell?

hey Mike here I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Dark poutine early and adree on Amazon music included with [Music] Prime oh my gosh it felt like just moments ago we finished another episode welcome back to dark poutine I'm Mike across from me is Matthew and you're the Creator in host I but yes and you are the co-host hello for some reason people get hung up on that everybody who sits in that chair has been a co-host I'm the co-hostess with the mostest exactly you're co-hostess yeah you need better legs hey have you seen my Cals I give good calf the views information and opinions expressed during the dark poutin podcast are solely those of the producer and do not necessarily represent those of curious cast its affiliate Global News nor their parent company chorus entertainment dark poutine is not for the faint of heart or squeamish our content is often intense and some listeners may find it disturbing we are not experts on the topics we present nor are we journalists we are ordinary Canadian Schmucks chatting about crime and the Dark Side of History let's get to it put on your toque grab yourself a double double and in a Nimo bar it's time to scarf down some dark poutine [Music] [Music] [Music] on September 5th 2009 Hillary benell 16 disappeared from esan otic formerly known as burnt Church in the mirami region of New Brunswick over the next several months her mother Steph father family and friends pulled out all the stops searching for the teen despite their tireless efforts during which they utiliz the media in a widespread poster campaign they could not find Hillary on Sunday November 8th 2009 Curtis Wayne bonell Hillary's first cousin was arrested by the RCMP on an unrelated sexual assault allegation in custody Curtis began talking he admitted he had not knowledge of what had happened to Hillary Bell you are listening to Dark poutine episode 193 mmiwg what happened to Hillary banel Nancy Hillary banel was born on April 28th 1993 and was a member of the migma First Nation called esotic a word that means the lookout at the Town formerly known as burnt Church in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick for as long as there have been people in the region the migma people have had a settlement of some description there it has a long history according to the esotic nation's Facebook page quote the village is located on the western shores of Miram Mishi Bay 5 km south of the present day community of lagas Ville and 38 km Northeast of the town of mirami between 1504 and 1534 the migma of esotic were regularly in contact with Basque bretan British Normans French and Portuguese fishermen and fur Traders however after the French explorer jacqu Cartier dropped anchor near the shores in 1535 to trade for Furs a mysterious epidemic swept through the migma throughout the mirami bay even after the epidemic the migma still maintained a village at esan notic oral tradition states that esan notic was considered a main village site during precolonial times in 16 1958 Nicholas Denny reported that the village of esen notic had a population around 500 individuals and counted over 80 Wigwam and lodges in the village later his son Richard Denny would marry a migma woman from asan notic from the University of New Brunswick website the town of burnt church was named as a result of an event in the Seven Years War following the capture of Lewisburg by the British in July 1758 Colonel James Murray was sent to destroy Acadian settlements in the mirami region on the 17th of September 1758 Murray reported spending two days in mirami Bay looking unsuccessfully for acadians but destroying anything he found this included burning the first stone church built in New Brunswick established on March 5th 1805 burnt church was one of the earliest reserves in New Brunswick with 258 acres set aside for the migma peoples living there a report of burnt Church is given by MH Purley in the Journal of the House of Assembly for 1842 it read it is still a favorite migma settlement and much the largest in all New Brunswick it has a good church a school a vibrant fishery local Crafts People and other evidences of progress and prosperity migma Traditions governance and their way of life have been maintained as much as possible by the residents of esotic despite colonialization part of that that tradition are regular powow that include traditional spiritual celebrations involving music dance and plenty of food it was at one of those Powwow in late August 2009 that a friend of Hillary bonell captured a photo of the 16-year-old taking part in the festivities Hillary's mom Pamela fillier later testified before the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls she said that Hillary was smart and that she started talking at a very young age Hillary's aunt Pamela's sister shot a video of Hillary when she wasn't even walking but was able to grab a nearby adult and stand up Hillary's Aunt didn't realize it had happened in the moment but when she looked back on the video the little girl not yet a year old had reached up to her and said Auntie Hillary and her mom did lots of motherdaughter things together like cooking floating around in inner tubes on the nearby waterways young Hillary was Fearless jumping from a low bridge with the other kids into the water and then cheekily making fun of her mom when she was too chicken to follow according to internet posts about Hillary she was an energetic Girl Who Loved music as well as singing and dancing Pamela filer's mmiwg inquiry testimony confirmed this filer said quote she was just so full of life she just lit up my house we'd sit in my bedroom and we'd play that game karaoke Wars we would have so much fun like I'd pick songs and she would pick them and she just really loved life she loved every bit of it end quote over the Labor Day weekend of 2009 Hillary was expected to be attending several parties hosted by friends on the esen noich First Nation it was to be the last big blowout before school began that year Pamela filer had spoken to her daughter Hillary by phone at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning this conversation was overheard by one of Hillary's friends who was not intoxicated Hillary and her mother made plans to go shopping that afternoon so Hillary could get new clothes and supplies for the beginning of the school year Pamela later recalled the phone call that she'd had with Hillary in the wee hours of that morning she said I asked her if she was okay she said she was the last thing we said to each other was I love you Pamela later said that she awoke that morning with a strong feeling that she couldn't shake she and her husband Fred fillier went to see her ex-stepmother at her camp for a visit but she had a feeling that something was wrong and that feeling would not leave her alone while they were there the stepmother received a call that a male Rel had died Pamela thought for a moment that might have been what the bad feeling was about but as Pamela and Fred were leaving she realized the feeling was still there haunting her there was something else wrong she knew it Hillary was still not home so maybe that was it Pamela tried calling Hillary cell but there was no answer when Hillary did not show up for the outing to go shopping Pamela was concerned and she still could not get through to Hillary Hillary did not come home that evening either Pamela later said that she thought maybe Hillary was still having fun with her friends and decided to stay out one more night she'd done that before according to court documents but the fact that Hillary hadn't checked in was still a concern for Pamela on Sunday morning Hillary was still not home and Pamela had still not heard from her at all now she was certain that something was wrong very wrong Pamela called her sister and had her go look for Hillary in the neighborhood while Pamela stayed at the house in case Hillary returned home Hillary's Aunt looked around for her but there was no sign of the girl Pamela decided that she'd go out and look around herself and went to every house that she presumed Hillary had been to over the weekend Pamela later told the mmiwg inquiry when I went looking for her the last house I went to I asked the girl I said did you see Hillary anywhere she said I didn't see Hillary in over a week but her sister just told me that she was with Hillary all night that night no one seemed to have seen Hillary after that Pamela called the RCMP to report Hillary as a missing person there is a lot of warranted mistrust between indigenous people and the police in particular the RCMP Pamela felt that the cops were not looking for Hillary at all so rather than wait for the RCMP to do anything Pamela and her family and friends in the community began their own search for Hillary Bell Pamela said quote big groups of men went all over looking for her I mean they literally kick people's doors in I will always be grateful to my community for doing that they searched for her and still the police weren't searching end quote as the days passed with no real progress in the search for Hillary Pamela also got in touch with local media Outlets to put pressure on the police to do more right there is Canada's shame in my opinion mhm at least one of them yeah yeah if Hillary had been a blonde white girl mhm if Hillary had been a blonde white girl the police would have been all over it right yes they as with the media and rightly so because with any missing person you have to act quickly before the trail goes cold right but unfortunately I think there's been a long history of that not happening when it's somebody whose first Nations or from another minority group and we've seen it again and again and again and again right and it's not say all police it's saying there's something stomach that's been happening there is a actual syndrome called missing white woman syndrome okay and it is a term used by social scientists and media commentators to refer to the media coverage especially in television of missing person cases involving young white upper middle class women or girls yeah and to the exclusion of attention of anyone else of anyone else who is a person of color or any and even look at what's what was that seral name in the gay Village in Toronto Bruce MacArthur the gay community was saying there is a serial killer yes right and like a week before they actually caught him yes the chief of police is like there's no serial killer the community was saying there was yeah well there was also one in the 70s that was denied as well and personally think that's was MacArthur the First Nations people have borne the brunt of this in Canada and it sorry I'm getting my get gets my up yeah and now is the time for us to talk about that kind of I like to think that I think that Society social Consciousness that we've finally realized that this is happening and I think the vast majority of the population of this country is demanding change here's a statistic for you and this is from 2008 but I think it has value today according to a 2008 study published in the law and Society Association Aboriginal women who go missing in Canada receive 27 times less coverage than white women they also receive dispassionate and less detailed headlines articles and images they're not us right yeah that's I think the sort of thinking somewhere along the line like how on Earth do you change that I know CBC is trying a lot of CBC podcast do have a focus on uh missing and murdered indigenous women and girls they do have that Focus they have indigenous people involved in the programming which is excellent with episodes like this particular one I feel like we are trying to do the right thing you know absolutely yeah and I would rather be a part of the solution rather than a part of part of the problem so thanks chiefly to Pamela filer's efforts to find her daughter Hillary's likeness and details were all over the news all over the web everywhere you looked in the Eastern provinces the family also paid for and put up posters all over the place a Facebook group was started to Aid in the search one of the missing posters put up on the site included five photos of the missing girl along with her details it read Alert missing child Hillary Bell 16 years old missing since September 5th 2009 burnt Church New Brunswick black hair brown black eyes 5' 5 Ines tall and weighing 134 PBS last seen at approximately 7:30 a.m. walking down Highway 11 in the burnt Church First Nation if you have seen Hillary or have any information about her whereabouts please call your local police department Crime Stoppers are 911 end quote Pamela felt she was getting the runaround from police she said that she was passed from person to person and that no one she talked to seemed to be responsible for the case she was often told that another investigator was assigned to to it and she'd have to talk to that person but would have to wait as they weren't there at the time when she called back and talked to the officer who' been identified that person said that it was actually someone else who was responsible and so it went Pamela was frustrated and scared for Hillary it appears that RCMP were doing some investigating at least in the days after Hillary's disappearance they found some video of her taken on the morning that she'd vanished police discovered that at around A4 to 8 in the morning Hillary went to 4d's convenience store in burnt Church she was there for 2 minutes and then left and began walking presumably headed home to get some rest before the afternoon shopping Excursion that she'd planned with her mom as Hillary walked toward the center of burnt Church she was seen walking by several people traveling in their vehicles none of the people who had seen the 16-year-old noticed anything unusual in Hillary's ability to walk nothing indicated that she was drunk or otherwise intoxicated in any way the people in those Vehicles were the last ones admitting that they had seen Hillary alive that morning the video from the convenience store had more to show though Hillary had been in the store from 7:43 until 7:45 police looked to see if other people had been in and out of 40s convenience store around the same time as Hillary sure enough there had been someone there arriving in his vehicle at 749 was Hillary's first cousin Curtis bonell he was in the store for only a minute then left the property driving onto Route 11 toward mirami at 7:50 a.m. heading in what appeared to be the opposite direction that Hillary was walking regardless of this route RCMP thought Curtis might be able to shed some light on what had happened to Hillary or where she'd gone next they were cousins after all and knew each other very well on September 19th 2009 a full two weeks after Hillary had gone missing Curtis Wayne bonell came into the RCMP Detachment in OK New Brunswick Curtis had been invited there by investigators to talk about his movements on the morning of Hillary Bell's disappearance Constable Serge minville a longtime member of the RCMP was the officer present for the interview with Curtis bonell at that point Curtis was not a suspect only a person of interest according to court documents Constable minville felt that the interview was unremarkable quote the interview was video and audio record Ed Curtis told the officer that he had been with Dean bonell all night drinking and did not take Dean bonell to his home until until after the two went to his sister Diana Bell's Residence at approximately 8:00 in the morning on September 5th 2009 to get some more liquor he also said that he had not seen Hillary Bell either that evening or the next morning as part of his statement Curtis told Constable minville that his father had been trying to reach him that morning but Curtis didn't want to answer the calls he promised his dad that he would help him in loading firewood that morning but as he was still in a partying frame of mind he let the calls go to voicemail instead of answering from court documents what was significant from this interview was the self- assured manner that Curtis bonell displayed throughout the hourlong interaction with minville an example of that occurred when the officer left the interview room for a few moments leaving his investigation file of the case on the desk Curtis bonell was alone in the room with it shortly after Constable minville closed the door upon leaving Curtis took the file and began to leave through it he hummed to himself and seemed completely at ease with what he was doing on a second occasion later in the interview minville left the room again saying that he would return soon and only had a few more questions for him this time Curtis began to sing quietly to himself while alone in the room shortly thereafter he began to sing out loud and then called his father on his cellular telephone to come pick him up at the Detachment when Constable minville returned to the interview room Curtis continued to sing in his presence and quote before Curtis left the interview room that day he saide you know all it takes is just a little tip a little lead you know recovering this poor little girl you know end quote after some more investigation police became aware of three text messages between Hillary bnell and her cousin Haley on the morning of her disappearance Haley did not respond probably due to the time these were Hillary's final Communications at 7:25 a.m. Hillary wrote OMG Haley I want to leave something must have frightened her to cause her to leave the party that she'd been attending later on she wrote please answer me I'm scared and this was at 7:52 a.m. 3 minutes after after her departure from Ford's convenience store almost a half hour later Hillary wrote omf text me I'm scared this was Hillary's last text message sent around 8:20 a.m. Hillary Bell had disappeared without a trace it seemed as though no one knew where she was her family and the rest of the community of esan notic kept looking for her police were becoming increasingly concerned for Hillary's safety that the worst might have happened to her and we will take a break right here if you're looking for a Smoking Gun I can absolutely guarantee you you will not find it in October 2001 a series of letters filled with a deadly powder called Anthrax were dropped into the US Mail system what started as an unprecedented case turned into an unsettling mystery who sent these deadly letters and why from campside media and Sony Music Entertainment I'm Josh Dean and this is cover up season 4 the anthrax threat available [Music] now and we're back Matthew thoughts oh my God she's 16 16 years old those texts are freaking me out yeah I don't know if you're going to tell us what was going on on kind of don't want to know but they're chilling mhm and I'm feeling really bad for her like what was freaking her out what was happening exactly we'll never know because she's not around to tell us so yeah it was uh was terrible by October 2009 police had spoken to Curtis bonell again on several occasions what bonell was saying was not adding up and his casual Behavior Disturbed them as well there were others in the community who told them they thought Curtis might have something to do with what happened to Hillary by October 5th 2009 Corporal Greg lupson the RCMP officer in charge of the investigation into Hillary Bell's disappearance raised Curtis bennell's status in the inquiry from Person of Interest to suspect police now believe that Curtis Bell had picked up Hillary Bell as she was walking down the road near esan otic First Nation on September 5th 2009 they also believed he had sexually assault assed and killed her the RCMP set plans in motion to tap Curtis's phone and Bug his home to gather evidence but when it became clear that Curtis needed attention for another matter that plan was put on hold a second Anonymous girl from ezin notic made a sexual assault complaint against Curtis panell according to court documents on November 3rd 2009 armed with a search warrant constable devau and Constable minville along with number of RCMP officers went to Curtis Bell's home Constable devau showed Curtis the warrant and asked him if he wanted the officer to go through the particulars of the warrant with him Curtis benell scowled and said no I know the law as the cops searched Curtis became increasingly agitated especially with the number of RCMP vehicles in front of his home Curtis didn't like how it made him look hinting that if they did not clear out soon he would let his dogs out of the place where he' locked them while the search was going on and they were not friendly although pissed off he didn't seem intimidated by the presence of the police in his home on Sunday evening at 11:25 p.m. November 8 2009 officers Devo minville and amot accompanied by other RCMP officers arrived at Curtis Bell's home this time they had a warrant to arrest him the arrest warrant alleged that he had recently sexually assaulted the teenage girl from esen notic and had forcibly confined her Curtis answered the door with a knife in his hands when the police knocked for the next 20 minutes there was a standoff as officers repeatedly screamed for him to drop the knife Curtis refused and screamed shoot me shoot me one of the officers pulled his taser gun and hit Curtis dead center Curtis seemed relatively unaffected by the electricity pumping into his body and was angered he simply cut the wires from his body with the knife in his hand however Curtis soon ran out of steam and just eventually gave up and was taken into custody to ensure all their tees were crossed and eyes dotted officer amot read an arrest script to Curtis bonell as follows from court documents RCMP District 8 tracked New Brunswick arrest information for Curtis bonell to Curtis bonell also known as Wayne Curtis Dam from RCMP District 8 tracky this notice is to ensure that you clearly understand you have been arrested today four one the sexual assault of mws two the forcible confinement of mws in addition to that matter you are also the subject of a police investigation into the following offenses three the kidnapping of Hillary bonell four the murder of Hillary bonell five committing an indignity to a human body dated this eth day of November 2009 at or near neguac New Brunswick Curtis was taken back to the neg walk Detachment of the RCMP in order to interview him and allow him to get in touch with legal councel Constable minville repeated the request that Curtis should call a lawyer three times Curtis became upset with him and told him it was his right not to call a lawyer Curtis was bunked in a cell with an undercover RCMP officer in the hopes he would say something overnight but he was pretty quiet on the morning of November 9th 2009 Curtis Bell refused to eat any breakfast and the interviews with him began he was still refusing a lawyer Curtis and Constable minville discussed the alleged a sexual assault of the teenager Curtis bonell 29 said it was consensual sex that the 16-year-old had seduced him and he could not understand why she'd be filing any complaints against him when corpal lupson arrived Curtis was reminded of his rights and the details of his arrest warrant that had been read to him the night before he was informed of the possible penalties if he were convicted of what he was being arrested for Curtis indicated he understood lupson also told Curtis that he should acquire Counsel on multiple occasions but again he refused lson laid out what police believed had happened to Hillary Curtis yawned a few times and complained he was tired from court documents when lupson offered to get him a coffee early on in the interview Curtis replied that if lson was paying he wanted a Tim Horton coffee when asked what he wanted in the coffee even though he did not speak much French he replied in an animated fashion when lupson offered to get him a coffee early on in the interview Curtis replied that if lupson was paying he wanted a Tim Horton's coffee when asked what he wanted in the coffee even though he did not speak much French he replied in animated fashion Grand do or large double double when the coffee arrived he again switched to French and smiled at lupson and said in a friendly joking manner thank you sir Mery Boku T parl France we throughout the interview Corporal lupson kept telling Curtis he wanted help bringing Hillary Bell's body home to her family and the community for a decent burial after a few more hours of back and forth finally Curtis bonell agreed he would take lupson to where Hillary Bell's body was but he refused to talk about what had happened with the girl lepson asked can we go in the chopper now can we go find Hillary banel replied let's do the right thing send you home too hugging Curtis lupson said Thank you bonell said that's what I need a hug honestly oh lson said let's do it together okay I'm going to get my jacket Curtis said Hillary was in the woods in tustan about a half hour's drive away they tried with the chopper first but Bell couldn't identify the area in which he'd left Hillary from the air they returned to tracked deciding they'd go to the area by SUV instead before leaving to try and find the burial site Curtis gave the officers instructions to bring a rope with them because he believed they would get stuck on the muddy Woods Road they would have to use to get to the site police were rolling video and audio throughout the entire trip to capture every interaction with Curtis bonell Curtis moaned that he was cold he expressed his concern about people finding out what he'd done from court documents benell said it's going to be all over the news me and well [ __ ] lupson replied you're taking control of it you can take control of it yourself or you can leave that cloud to history hanging up there Bell said cuz actually I'm not charged with nothing yet lson said that's right Bell said right to which lson reiterated that's right when they found the general area where bonell said he had buried Hillary in a shallow grave with a shovel that he'd had in his truck he said jackpot take her home bring some closure lupson said okay benel continued and to give my family some closure lson then asked did she suffer at all no okay like that the officer snapped his fingers Bell didn't quite understand lepson repeated himself was it like that he again snapped his fingers Bell replied pretty close the off officers entered the woods and started looking for Hillary's body despite the officer clearly telling Curtis several times that he has the right to a lawyer Curtis continued talking I don't care what I'm charged with I just want to go to a cell and be left alone he said RCMP investigators found Hillary's body right where Curtis had indicated then they began the meticulous task of gathering evidence they believed had relevance to the case next they carefully extracted the teen from the clay of the cold ground that had preserved her relatively well during the return trip to tragedy Curtis cried in the back of the RCMP SUV Curtis father Christopher Bell came into the Detachment to see his son in Curtis cell the two had a conversation with Corporal lupson present it was of course recorded by the RCMP during their discussion Curtis Bell explained to his father the reason that he took police to the burial site saying it was because he wanted to take responsibility but did not say For What specifically he added that he believed police would never have found Hillary Bell's burial site but for his decision to show it to them Curtis said quote I truly believe these guys wouldn't have found her you know that but I did this because I care about Boyd Hillary's father I care about you and that was like your daughter too this this is going to be a heavy burden on me for a long time end quote [ __ ] off right so what what's what's the term here is this narcissism is this is narcissism yeah he's trying to make himself out to be like the hero slth victim Let's ignore the fact that he killed her but he's like oh I'm doing the right thing now [ __ ] off yeah right yeah just because you're doing quote unquote the right thing at this point I've I just know a few people like this yeah well I know quite a few ly it's just I you you type of people just go away please yeah yeah I actually had someone come at us for our maltreatment of narcissists in an email one time it was probably a narcissist oh it for sure was Curtis bonell was formally charged in court the next day for the sexual assault of the teenage girl he was still refusing a lawyer Bell said quote no I don't want to talk to a lawyer I don't need one end quote days later in yet another interview Curtis said that he felt cold and thought that a spirit was coming for him I need to go to an asylum Curtis Bell said I have things inside me like Jackel and Hyde he believed that the only person who could help him was a spiritual man so police facilitated a meeting between Curtis and a local Elder according to CBC News quote Crews spent days using TRS in their hands to dig up the ball body Hillary's body was left encased in a clay cocoon placed in a special box and then transported to the St John Regional Hospital for an autopsy during the November 14th autopsy officials tried several methods to remove the clay in order to preserve the girl's skin they considered freezing the body they also contemplated using X-rays and even transported her body to border patrol services but they finally decided to use their hands to remov the clay and videotaped the process due to its unusual nature Dr Ken obenson who performed the autopsy on the 16-year-old's body over two days determined that although he was not 100% sure the probable cause of death was aixia on December 2nd 2009 Curtis agreed to go with RCMP officers to the place where he had buried Hillary there the dam finally broke and he admitted he'd killed her what he said could be taken with a grain of salt but here's the transcript of his confession quote I dropped Dean off I was going home she flagged me down she got in the truck she asked what I was doing so I turned around and I said I was going home so she said let's go so she came and we turned around and she wanted to do a do something I don't know what it was and then I told her let's have sex she said okay and then after that she wanted she she wanted money but I said no cuz school was starting she wanted money and I said no so she turned around she started freaking out and then we got in we got into it there was a and then after that uh I I hit her and she was screaming and I just held her mouth so she'd stop screaming and when I realized what I was doing it was already too late I held her mouth and then I panicked I freaked out I sat there crying I checked her pulse and then I just turned around and I I I was crying for a while I kept I continued drinking and and then after that I uh uh I chucked everything on my truck garbage aluminum tin I don't know and plastic and and plastic siding I I chucked that over her and then came here and this is where I buried her end quote Bell said that he remembered dragging Hillary's body to the place where he would bury it and was saying the Lord prayer over her body for his soul I saw that lifeless poor girl in front of me what the [ __ ] did I do end quot he said when he returned home he wanted to kill himself but didn't for Hillary's sake he described more details I remember the grass he said I was crying on that part where she lost her last breath end quote Curtis was finally charged with first degree murder of his 16-year-old cousin Hillary bonell he was now saying that he was not guilty of of course he claimed that he woke up on the morning of September 5th 2009 after a night of alcohol and drugs to find Hillary Dead next to him in his pickup truck he was now saying he didn't know how she' died but panicked and then buried her in the woods he'd initially given the statement that he did because he was tired according to a CBC news article quote February 6 2012 was the date set for the sexual assault trial for Curtis Wayne bonell on November 8th 2009 he was charged after the assault of a 16-year-old girl benel 30 was charged with sexual assault illegal confinement resisting arrest and attempting to engage in anal intercourse with a girl whose name can't be disclosed under a publication ban the victim like Curtis banel is also a resident of the eoic First Nation Reserve also known as burnt Church Bell's first-degree murder trial in the murder of his then 16-year-old cousin Hillary banel is slated for August 16th 2012 if convicted he faces a minimum 25 years in prison Curtis's murder trial began in September 2012 after a number of hearings to determine the admissibility of evidence the evidence of the crown relied heavily on testimony of Hillary's family friends of experts the RCMP and the videotape statements of Curtis Bell the same ones that the defense attorneys he' finally acquired were now refuting from a global news report quote the court was told that the autopsy and toxicology reports were inconclusive on on the exact cause of death but term the manner of death as homicide but a forensic pathologist called by the defense disagreed with the homicide determination saying Hillary could have died as a result of quote positional asfixia which can happen when someone is intoxicated and they fall into a slumped position that constricts their Airway Curtis benell even testified in his own defense when asked how he felt about the interrogations he saide I was just tired and sick and not feeling well end quote he said the police would not let him sleep he was sticking to his story that Hillary had just died in his truck while he was sleeping off his intoxication from the night before Curtis's lawyer Mr Lemieux asked in your mind why did you want them to find the body Curtis said well it was an opportunity to face the music and maybe find out what happened to Hillary to explain it when I tried to open up to him he just shut me down there were times I tried to explain like saying what if I know where she is and had nothing to do with anything else but he said that's not the truth I was scared that if the animals get at her we would never find out what happened to her that's why I did what I did put her there lemu then asked but then you led the police to her grave why Curtis replied that's where I thought everything would end I couldn't explain how she died I didn't know what to do it was an opportunity to bring her home and find out what happened to her end quote according to the Canadian press quote after 6 weeks of testimony Judge Fred Ferguson of the court of Queens bench told the six-man six-woman jury in Mir masi that they have the option of finding Bell guilty of first-degree murder second-degree murder manslaughter or not guilty of any crime the jury deliberated for about 6 and 1 half hours late Friday and early Saturday morning before coming back with a verdict they'd found Curtis Wayne bonell guilty as charged when the decision was read Hillary's family cheered and wept openly in the courtroom after the guilty verdict outside the courtroom mirami online recorded video and audio of Pamela Filer and other members of Hillary Bell's family reacting to the guilty verdict in Curtis Bell's murder trial a cigarette in hand to calmer through tears Pamela Cried Out Hillary was never hit a day in her life this was her first time getting hurt and it fraking killed her end quote at Curtis Bell's sentencing the convicted killer listened to the victim impact statements of Pam fillier Hillary's mother Fred filer Hillary's stepfather and Boyd bonell Hillary's father the details of the following statements were reported on the news website mirami online Fred fillier said in part quote Curtis bonell you have done a lot of damage to my family not only do we have to grieve for what you did we also have to fight daily to survive you gave us all a life sentence Boyd benell Hillary's dad was up next he saide when the police told me they found her I asked if she was okay they said it wasn't good news it still hurts me knowing I will not see her graduate and will not be able to walk her down the aisle all the things of Father should do with his daughter I just don't understand how Curtis could do this but he will have a lot of time to think about what he's done and how it has affected us for the rest of our lives pamilia Hillary's mom was the last to speak Pam said from the day Hillary went missing life became a nightmare the stress was so unbearable my hair was falling out I couldn't eat or sleep the stress has caused me to become a severe diabetic and I was in remission from rheumatoid arthritis but now it is back I have nightmares all the time to describe how I'm feeling is so difficult I never get to hear her laugh or sing again she made our house a home and I feel like an empty shell without her this person robbed me of my baby girl I never get to buy her a prom dress or get to see her graduate she will never be a bride or a mommy throughout the trial it became clear he had no remorse one day you will answer to the highest court of all for the evil you have done Pam said to Curtis the worst was when you drug her name through the mud and I hope you get what you gave Jus as Fred Ferguson asked Curtis if he had anything to say Curtis said he had nothing to say Curtis was sentenced to life and he must remain behind bars for a minimum of 25 years before he can apply for parole all his appeals have failed in mid-February 2018 as part of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls a community hearing was held over two days in monton on the first day Pam and Fred filer Hillary Bell's mom and stepdad testified before the inquiry a news article was filed that Day by global news reporter Shelley Steves she captured audio of Pamela filer speaking about her feelings on her daughter's death the inquiry and the perpetrator Curtis bonell here's a bit of what she had to say she was 16 years old when she was murdered it was an emotional day for New Brunswick mother Pam fillier whose teenage daughter Hillary benell was murdered in 2009 it's still really hard they say time heals wounds not when you lose not when you lose your child filer was the first to testify at the monton hearings she's calling for stiffer laws for Those who commit violent acts Bell's cousin was convicted of her murder in 2012 sentenced to life in prison with no chance of plle for 25 years not good enough for this mom why isn't he on the list to not be let out again he he shouldn't be he shouldn't be let out the goal of the inquiry is to examine and report on the systematic causes of violence against indigenous women and girls in Canada roughly 40 family members like Filer and victims of violence will speak over the next two days organizers say they are in the process of applying to extend the inquiry by up to another two years allowing more time for people like filer to tell their stories my goal is not just to protect my people it's for all the little girls out there because I don't have that was my only daughter Shelly Steves global news monton so there you hear it right directly feel so bad for her do these all do these commissions get anything done because it's the action that would be put into place that's the only thing that can help yeah I mean the this particular commission a lot of it is about awareness right and that is happening um it formed me in this podcast okay I guess sort of the information and the knowledge is the first step right M and these sorts of things hearing from actual people mhm we have to gather the information we have to hear their stories before we can take any action yeah to make things better yeah to improve the situations that they're in it's just horrible as well can you imagine like it was her own relative as well mhm her first cousin yeah I mean I wonder if that tore the family apart oh for sure yeah yeah and what I read pamilia was rightfully so quite angry with parts of that family so you know I mean it's horrendous these things happening to she was a little girl she's only 16 whenever I hear these stories I wish had sort of a magic wand to bring their daughter back you know yeah horrible you can learn more about the national inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women and girls in this week's show notes and that's it for dark poutine episode 193 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls what happened to Hillary bonell that's right it's time for voicemails you can leave us a message at 1877 32757 A6 or 1877 D RK ptn we'd love to hear from you let's see who called us this week hi this is uh this is Stephanie too calling from London Ontario I would just like to say that your podcast is awesome I listen to it all the time I guess I'm not I'm not very good at um doing voicemails as you could tell but I just love you guys um guess I I'm supposed to say go take a [ __ ] in your hat so there you go keep on doing what you're doing and bye thanks for giving us a call Stephanie much appreciated and thanks Stephanie upon listening you'll probably notice that it sounds more together than it was so I edited a bit of your a few of your pauses out just because I thought your voicemail was great anyway yeah so thank you so much she was from London Ontario shout out to London my peeps a lot of uh people from Matthew's old stomping grounds The Stomping Ground yeah yeah you have some other episodes about or that area that we're going to I'm writing them now yeah exciting I'm looking forward to having some more episodes that I didn't have to I'm going to be the Southwest Ontario murder specialist yeah and ah yeah then everyone will complain what about Alberta what about Alberta what about New Brunswick what about man yeah we hear you we hear you hey if you want to write an episode yeah no no no I'm not going to say that next up we have from Victoria British Columbia David so let's listen to what David had to say this is David from Victoria BC uh I just wanted to talk about go [ __ ] in your hat as it's such a lovely Canadian way of telling someone where to go and how to get there but what I really was thinking about lately is other ways to say it and of course there's a go poop in your toque or go take a crap in your hat but I'm a festive guy myself and you know I quite like Halloween so I found a fun way to say it for the month of October if you will and it's go take a spooky dookie in your tuy and I thought you guys might enjoy that so [ __ ] in your hat I love the podcast thanks so much guys well there you go I love it thanks David spooky in your tuie I took a spooky dookie in my tuie this morning it was yeah I don't I think it's going to come back and haunt me at some point yeah when you put your hat on oh dear no that's not nice but anyway hilarious uh our last voicemail comes to us from Pickering Ontario another Ontarian Pickering Pickering I was on the phone with Pickering last week there you go not all of them hey guys my name is Negan and I'm from Pickering Ontario I've been listening to uh dark voutine for a long time um and I'm so grateful and happy for this last episode that I listened to about vinley um a few other podcasts that I know I've covered it and I've listened intently um and you guys were kind of the first to really touch on the fact that schizophrenia is a mental illness and there's a reason in Canada that we don't just throw people into the I was going to say into the bus but that would not be funny but into the into the fire and and just let them burn you know um thank you guys so much for this episode it was so wonderful to hear your take on it um and you you gave a great homage to Tim McLean he deserves it obviously in his family as well but Vince Ley um also needed a little bit of a background story to understand that he wasn't just some dude on a bus who just went crazy so thank you guys so much I love your podcast bye well thank you thank you I and I've gotten a lot of feedback like that about the uh Greyhound bus 1170 episode so yeah I really appreciate that and we we were nervous about doing that episode for a lot of people were asking for it MH but it was um pretty heavy so we kind of put it off for a while well I had a percol in my brain and that's what I do with the big episodes the really one the ones that yeah the difficult ones the ones that people are really aware of you may there are some glaring deficits as far as popular should I say popular uh True Crime episodes in Canada that I have not done and this was one of them and the reason being is I wanted to do it in such a way that it wouldn't be just like any other podcast uh just telling a story about a person on a bus being murdered yeah uh it was I wanted to ensure that we approached it in the right way so I had to let it yeah let it percolate a little bit and and it made a better cup of coffee frankly yeah yeah and you know in most recent ones as well it's you don't really want to necessarily do them do you because it's it's all just happening and it's fresh and the families are still going through it yeah and so we do get a lot of requests to do episodes about crimes that have just happened maybe the person was just convicted it feels a little somehow distasteful I don't know do you know what I mean yep and in a way um giving it giving it a little time is probably a better thing for everybody yeah you know so I don't know I just I'm glad that uh I've chosen to wait to do a bunch of these yeah yeah and there's more coming plan on a big big uh really uh I'm planning to do a one that people will recognize as soon as they see this perpetrator's name coming up here soon so should be another interesting episode or two two maybe a two-parter two-parter anyway double parter for DP exactly that's it for voicemails again you can leave us one at 1877 3275 786 or 1877 DK ptn ptn we'd love to hear from you uh if you're stump for what to chat with us about a quick story is welcome try and keep it under two minutes if you can we love you folks thank you bye there's no patrons or donut money donors this week so don't say that what there aren't so Mike will be living uh and to mouth and to mouth for the next little while I'll be okay okay um I don't have any don't have any savings uh yeah it's horrendous yeah things are bad anyway maybe someone will give us some love who knows who knows it could happen or not or not and uh yeah so I guess this is being released on November 1st so tomorrow you can get my book in if you want it's no longer a pre-order it's an order and you get it so murder Madness and Mayhem just if you don't see it on the shelves of your local bookstore ask them to order it in for you absolutely maybe tell them about it um my mom told the Kohl's Bookstore in my in the mall in Bridgewater that I have a book coming out and would they like to stock it well that's actually a good idea cuz if you're local mhm right you're from there yeah book sell more from local artists in in the in the area so that's actually smart they should pick it up and as I am going home for Christmas for the first time in 28 years well good Lord but that's not my choice it's just my mom was always don't come home that is your first time home in 28 years 28 years yeah ever ever uh no no for Christmas for Christmas no I've been home Jesus I was thinking you're a bad son no just not a Christmas time you're sort of bad son but go on anyway so just a Christmas I'm going home you're not my kid we're going to do a Meetup in Halifax details coming soon and it will be with Jordan from the nighttime podcast and myself at the library there in Halifax I won't be there you won't be there and then I will probably do something else in Bridgewater most likely at the pub and maybe even a bit of book signing at the mall depending on whether or not they'll have me then after that I will be in Berwick are you going to sign a book in a lighthouse sign a book in a lighthouse yeah what difference would it make I know cuz I'm just picturing your sort of East Coast lifestyle have you seen the movie The Lighthouse with Robert patson is that the one when the fog rolls in and there's monsters in the fog no that's a different movie okay but yeah this this one is essentially uh yeah you need to watch it the lighthouse Robert patson it's on Amazon Prime I'll watch it okay please do and then tell me how uh how well you slept the next night I will yes Willam defo as well quite good anyway uh that is it for this week's episode thank you to all our patrons and donut money donors past and present uh even the ones who didn't donate this week we we appreciate your non-donation yeah exactly um your generosity helps to keep the show going you can become a patron of dark poutine at patreon.com dark poutine for a onetime donation you can send us donut money via Paypal using our email address dark ptin podcast gmail.com if you don't already subscribe to the show it mean a lot to us if you did you can easily find dark poutin on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast and don't forget please please buy my book I need to eat uh and that's it until we return don't forget to be a good egg and not a bad apple goodbye bye [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I said to my parents don't trust her I wouldn't listen every family has a secret Joy Delaney mother four is from the author of big little lies comes a chilling new mystery to W you were an emotional chaos sinkhole Amy and I'm sick of it starring and net Benning nobody can break your heart like your own children and Sam Neil she will come back here we go strapping apples never fall all new Thursdays only on W stream on stack TV