CITY: Council denies Coun. Brian Skakun’s info request A5 Wednesday, January 23, 2013 P.G. Skates event obviously needed some face paint A3
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www.pgfreepress.com ■ ADAM WILLIAMS MANSLAUGHTER CASE
Meeting with mother described TERESA MALLAM
ings with Cook and Adam’s biological mother, Judy Williams, during January 2002. She told Crown counsel Lara Vizsolyi the purpose of the interviews was to discuss the ministry’s concerns over the couple’s youngest child. Johnson said when she questioned Williams about Adam’s whereabouts, the mother’s response was: “He’s in a safe place”... but she would not elaborate on the subject. Asked by Vizsolyi to describe Williams’ demeanor during the interview, Johnson said, “She was very quiet, she kept her head down, and it was hard to make eye contact.” However when Williams talked about Adam, “tears were rolling down her cheeks” Johnson said. But when the social worker “pushed” for information, Williams still would not answer the key question of where Adam was. Cook did not attend that meeting, she said. He did attend a scheduled meeting on Jan. 17 with Williams and two social
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Crown and defence lawyers were expected to wrap up their court cases in the Lloyd William Cook trial Tuesday morning with closing arguments to be heard before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett. The judge-alone trial began last Monday. Cook, 50, has pleaded not guilty to one count each of manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, unlawful confinement and interference with a dead body. He was arrested in Oliver, B.C. in June 2009 and charged with offences stemming from the January 2000 death of his 13-yearold step-son, Adam Williams-Dudoward, whose bone fragments were found in October 2004 in a wooded area off North Nechako Road. In testimony Monday via video link from Penticton, Karen Johnson, a social worker with Ministry of Children and Family Development, described her meet- turn to PAGE A3
Bridal expo
Crime task force set DELYNDA PILON
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The mayor and councillors Dave Wilbur, Brian Skakun and Garth Frizzell will sit on a mayor’s task force on crime, an initiative introduced by Mayor Shari Green during Monday’s council meeting. Green said making the city safer has been a priority of this council and many councils before it. The task force will draw in a number of stakeholders in an effort to strategize initiatives to reduce crime in the city. “I think you’ll see Supt. Eric Stubbs on
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the committee,” Green said in an interview following Monday’s meeting. She added the RCMP as well as several other organizations, including Community Policing and the Downtown Enforcement Unit (DEU), are very interested in the task force. Green said it’s not about reinventing the wheel, and added they will draw on the work of previous committees, like the antigang summit in 2011. They will also use information gathered regarding a similar initiative taken by the municipal govern-
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Te re s a M A LLA M / Fre e Pre s s
There were plenty of wonderful moments at Storybook Wedding’s Bridal Expo at the Civic Centre on Sunday. Story Page A8.
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