Tuesday April 30, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 35)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Knock out: Hannah Seamen has plenty of fighting spirit built up for the 2013 Miss World Competition next month. After years of enduring bullying, due to her stutter, she plans to quash misconceptions about the speech impediment. › see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Police consider charges after reports of vehicle driving through red light
Horrific crash kills five family members Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Five members of a Newton family are dead following a devastating crash at 176 Street and 32 Avenue Sunday. It occurred around 11 a.m., when a white 2012 Dodge Caravan travelling westbound on 32 Avenue struck a 1994 Toyota Corolla that was northbound on 176 Street. The collision sheared the car in half, flipped the minivan onto its roof and scattered debris for at least 100 metres. “We’ve got a father whose two kids, wife, mother and sister – all gone,” a Surrey RCMP spokesman said Monday. The victims – a three-year-old girl, her five-year-old brother, ❝We’ve got a their mom, aged 31, father whose their aunt, 47, and their two kids, wife, grandmother, 68 – were mother and sister struck as they passed through the intersec– all gone.❞ tion. The impact was so destructive, police could not immediately determine the make or model of the car. “One of the most horrific scenes I’ve ever seen,” Sgt. Dale Carr said at the scene, citing speed as a clear factor. “There are pieces of evidence where pieces of evidence shouldn’t be.” The driver, a 46-year-old Langley man, was airlifted to hospital and remains in serious but stable condition. › see page 4
Boaz Joseph photo
Paramedics transport the sole survivor of a two-vehicle collision that killed five members of a Newton family Sunday morning.
Father defends son who was gunned down in South Surrey public execution
Gangland victim ‘sought new lifestyle’ Tracy Holmes & Alex Browne Staff Reporters
Tracy Holmes photo
Victim’s wife and son at scene.
A man shot to death last week in South Surrey was not the gangster he has been characterized as, his father says. “He made some mistakes in his life – mistakes in judgment – and paid for them,” Jim Widdifield said of his son, Craig. “I’m not saying he was an angel, but he was not how he’s been portrayed at all,” he said. Craig Widdifield, 28, was gunned down in the Morgan Crossing parking lot, in the 15700block of Croydon Drive, just before 7 p.m. last Wednesday. It’s believed the shooter fled in a Jeep Cherokee and got into a silver or grey Volkswagen Passat near 28 Avenue and 165 Street. Dozens of officers raced to the shopping centre and quickly cordoned off a large section of the
parking lot. A tarp could be seen cov“I was just getting out of my car and ering a body lying adjacent to a silver I heard four gunshots,” one man said. Mercedes SUV that was parked near a The White Rock resident, who did toy store and a Starbucks, by a walkway not want to be named, described seeleading to the Steve Nash Sports Club ing what looked like gunshot wounds and overhead condominiums; the Merto the victim’s head. cedes’ driver-side door was open. Another witness said he looked out Two hours later, Surrey RCMP Chief of his bedroom window after hearSupt. Bill Fordy told media the victim ing “three or four” shots from what was known to police “for this lifestyle.” Craig Widdifield sounded like an automatic weapon. Thursday, a spokesperson for the “I seen the man on the ground,” the Integrated Homicide Investigation 17-year-old said. “He looked… pretty Team described the hit as a “merciless… tar- young. He wasn’t moving.” geted, gang-associated killing.” The witness described the victim as a white Witnesses told Peace Arch News Wednesday male; he was wearing bright orange shoes, a night that they heard multiple shots and saw grey T-shirt or hoodie, and blue jeans or darkthe victim lying on the ground next to the coloured pants. › see page 4 Mercedes.
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