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Justice for Kerrie Ann Brown

"Justice delayed is justice denied," the important legal maxim usually attributed to 19th century British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, means that if legal redress is available for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not forthcomi
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"Justice delayed is justice denied," the important legal maxim usually attributed to 19th century British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, means that if legal redress is available for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no redress at all. Often it is used quite rightly to refer to an accused person's right to a fair and speedy trial. But in the broadest sense it also means where there is a victim, punishment must follow crime swiftly, surely and with certainty.

There has been no justice for Kerrie Ann Brown.

She remains Thompson's oldest unsolved murder case, slain at the age of 15 sometime after attending a party at a residence on Trout Avenue in Westwood on Thursday night Oct. 16, 1986. While the unfortunate truth is that there are a number of unsolved murders in Thompson, today we want to focus on the oldest - the cold case of Kerrie Ann Brown.

Twenty-five years is a very long time. The three lead investigating local RCMP officers in 1986 were constables Pat Cahill, Maggie Gregory and polygraph and forensic examiner John Tost. The Crown attorney was Dale Perezowski.

Kerrie Ann Brown would have been 40 on Aug. 19.

Instead, two days after the party, a woman from the riding stable discovered her nude body in a wooded area close to the hydro line between the horse stable and the golf course access roads. Police believe she was killed elsewhere and her body dumped there. It was found on Saturday, Oct. 18, 1986, around 2 p.m.

She had been sexually assaulted and severely beaten, bludgeoned repeatedly about the face and head causing massive injuries. A large, bloodstained stick was found at the scene. A vehicle got stuck in the mud there and a blue and red air mattress and a black rubber floor mat were used to try and gain traction and extricate the vehicle, RCMP said publicly in 1996.

Crime scene DNA samples gathered in 1986 came from at least two different men RCMP told the Thompson Citizen in 1996, adding they have always believed more than one person was involved in the killing. DNA science was in its infancy in 1986, so much of the DNA evidence was re-examined and re-analyzed in the 1990s. New DNA samples searching for matches have been taken, most voluntarily, some pursuant to court orders, from more than 100 people across Canada in the decades since the crime.

Days after Kerrie's murder, a 22-year-old Thompson man was charged with first-degree murder in connection with her killing. But he was freed four months later after being discharged by provincial court Judge Charles Newcombe without being committed to trial after a three-day preliminary hearing ended Feb. 20, 1987. Newcombe ruled there wasn't admissible evidence upon which a reasonable jury properly instructed could return a verdict of guilty, which is the legal test in Canadian law for committal to trial. Then NDP Manitoba attorney general Roland Penner did not exercise his discretion to issue a rare preferred indictment, which would have sent the case directly to trial.

Most of those in attendance at the Trout Avenue party were from ages 14 to 17. The party was held on a Thursday night because there was no school the next day for Kerrie and the others at R.D. Parker Collegiate. She had previously attended Juniper and Eastwood elementary schools. Her mom and dad, Ann and Jim Brown, had moved to Thompson like many so Jim could work in the mine at Inco, while Ann worked at Thompson General Hospital as a medical transcriptionist. Ann Brown died some years ago. Kerrie's brother, Trevor, lives in Winnipeg, and is active in keeping up the fight for justice for his sister, as is her aunt, Tammy Fenner, and her husband, Kevin, from Maberly, in eastern Ontario, near Ottawa.

Kerrie was to walk home from the Trout Avenue residence that night with a girlfriend but before leaving the friend went back into the party for a few minutes. Kerrie stepped outside apparently to wait. When the friend returned, Kerrie was gone. Several witnesses reported Kerrie was seen getting into a van between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Others believe she took a taxi to Brandon Crescent. Or she may have walked somewhere from the party.

Anyone who has information on the murder of Kerrie Ann Brown has a moral duty to come forward. Justice demands no less. You can contact Thompson RCMP detachment at (204) 677-6909, or, if you wish to remain anonymous, Manitoba Crime Stoppers at Crime Stoppers, which can be reached toll-free at (800) 222-8477 (TIPS) or to submit a secure tip online go to www.manitobacrimestoppers.com and text "TIPMAN" plus your message to CRIMES (274637).

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