Alberta man facing second murder charge

By Dawn Waltom
Globe and Mail

Calgary — An Alberta man who is already accused of murdering a prostitute and stuffing her body in a hockey bag is now charged with killing another sex-trade worker, whose remains he discovered in a wooded field outside Edmonton 2½ years ago.

Thomas George Svekla, 38, an erstwhile mechanic and onetime husband with a well-documented temper, is scheduled to appear in an Edmonton court tomorrow to face charges of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a human body in connection with the death of Rachel Liz Quinney, a 19-year-old mother of two who was hoping to get off the street and kick a drug habit, but died before fulfilling her dream.

“It's emotional news because it brings to a close one chapter — the last 2½ years of waiting and wondering — but a new chapter begins,” said Kate Quinn, head of the Edmonton-based Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation, who spoke with the Quinney family yesterday.

The new charges do not come as a shock to those following the growing number of cases involving slain prostitutes whose bodies keep turning up in rural areas outside Edmonton, but they don't come as comfort either.

Most believe there is more than one killer preying on women who lead high-risk lifestyles.

Mr. Svekla was arrested last May, charged with the same set of offences linked to the death of Theresa Merrie Innes, whom he is accused of killing in Northern Alberta — almost two years after he stumbled on Ms. Quinney's battered remains — and then moving the body of the 36-year-old crack addict to an Edmonton-area home.

A tip made way for his arrest last year, but yesterday when police announced the new charges, RCMP Corporal Wayne Oakes refused to answer questions about what evidence led to this charge or whether Mr. Svekla is also being investigated for any of the more than 70 cases of missing or murdered women that date back decades currently being probed by a task force dubbed Project Kare.

“It would be detrimental and irresponsible to comment on that at this time,” Cpl. Oakes said.

“We have maintained right from the beginning that we have reason to believe that more than one person is responsible for more than one death and Project Kare stands firmly behind that.”

A preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence against Mr. Svekla in the death of Ms. Innes to go to trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8, but it appears that the lawyers involved had been preparing for some time for the case to be expanded.

Clifton Purvis, a special Crown prosecutor working with Project Kare, said yesterday that he is prepared to proceed with that hearing on both sets of charges.

Defence lawyer Robert Shaigec also said he will be ready to represent Mr. Svekla on all charges at the inquiry, which is scheduled for six weeks.

Mr. Shaigec would not comment on his client's reaction to the latest allegations.

Mr. Svekla has been in custody since his arrest last spring.

His wife filed for divorce in 2000 — just one year into their marriage — but Mr. Svekla balked. Eventually, his ex-wife won sole custody of their son.

In May of 2006, Mr. Svekla was living and working as a mechanic in High Level, about 700 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, when he was accused of killing Ms. Innes and transporting her body to a home in Fort Saskatchewan just east of the capital.

In June of 2004, he contacted police saying he found a body near Sherwood Park, a bedroom community just southeast of Edmonton. He would later approach an Edmonton Sun reporter, claiming the RCMP treated him unfairly, and that he came across the body while partying in the area with another prostitute.

The remains would later be identified as belonging to Ms. Quinney, who had been on the streets since 2001. She was a crack-cocaine addict.

In the spring of 2004, she met with JoAnn McCartney, a former Edmonton police officer who now works for an outreach program to help get prostitutes off the street, about enrolling in an apprenticeship program for aboriginal people.

“She realized she could do something bedsides being a prostitute. She could do other things,” Ms. McCartney recalled yesterday.

But street life and her addictions kept her on the street.

Ms. Quinney gave birth to Alex, who was placed in foster care six months before she died. Her daughter, Aaron, now 4, was adopted by relatives. Her family visits the site where her body was found each year on Ms. Quinney's birthday and continues to work with other young prostitutes to persuade them to leave street life. A bursary has also been set up in Ms. Quinney's name at NorQuest College in Edmonton.