The Killer Handyman: The True Story of Serial Killer William Patrick Fyfe (Crimes Canada: True Crimes That Shocked the Nation Book 7)
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His preliminary hearing began on November 6, 2000. Jean Lecours, a well-known and aggressive Crown prosecutor, headed up the case. As far as prosecution for a case like this, Lecours was essentially handed the case on a silver platter. It would have been very difficult for a defense attorney to poke holes in it because the investigation was done properly and protocol was followed appropriately. Lecours said he found it “rather troubling” that Fyfe’s charges now covered a period of almost twenty years. “It should motivate the police departments and experts to work hard on their investigations” of unsolved murders, said Lecours. Indeed, they did. An overwhelming amount of evidence was collected against William Fyfe but the case still needed to be tried in court.
The prosecution, through primary testimony of Jacinthe Prevost, Jim Miller, Jean Paul Manier, and Montreal Urban Community police Commander André Bouchard, demonstrated without a doubt that the physical evidence against William Fyfe was obtained lawfully and processed according to the accepted practices at the time of the case. Each member of the law enforcement community who testified was sound and provided excellent authentication on behalf of the Crown against William.
In addition, as more evidence for other homicide cases was collected during his court proceedings, investigators requested and received permission to speak to the accused. The practice had previously been taboo since he was in the middle of a murder trial. Court authorities granted the request and allowed William open access to speak to the police. The prisoner hinted at his willingness to discuss details of other alleged homicides. Hoping not to cause a problem down the road, the investigators backed off and waited until the existing case was completed before speaking to him about other suspected murders. Law enforcement did not want to be accused of tampering with the suspect, so they backed off.
On September 21, 2001, William Fyfe stunned the courtroom by changing his plea from not guilty to guilty. (6) Sarah, Anna Yarnold’s daughter, recalled being in court for one of the hearings and described Fyfe as, “a pathetic little old man who was sick in the head.” It was bittersweet for her and the rest of the families of the victims he’d murdered when he pled guilty. The healing process could finally begin, although extremely difficult. His guilty plea was a great success for all the agencies involved in the case, and it marked the beginning of what we would eventually know about William Fyfe.
Once the court case was complete, the families of the victims ultimately reached out to the Montreal Police and the Ontario Provincial Police to thank them. This case, and how it was handled and investigated, prompted many discussions between citizens and law enforcement about how to do things better in the future. Overall, however, based on my examination of the available case details, law enforcement agencies did a fairly good job and should be commended for apprehending one of Canada’s worst serial killers.
Sentencing
In Canada, a second-degree murder conviction carries a maximum punishment of a life sentence, with no possibility of parole for a period of ten to twenty-five years. The term is set by the trial judge.
On October 16, 2001, William Fyfe was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, with no possibility of parole.
I personally hope he never sees light outside a prison wall.
It should be noted that based on Crown Law, he did not receive any extra time for the five murders he later confessed to. In the United States, twenty to twenty-five years, or more, would have been added to a sentence for each victim, ensuring the murderer would never leave prison.
On a positive note, change may be on the horizon in Canada as it pertains to sentencing. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has proposed legislation, with significant backing, that would make some crimes, such as those William Fyfe committed, punishable by life in prison with no chance of parole. I openly support such change.
Conclusion
The case of William Fyfe was a significant one for Canada and the people of Montreal. Several developments occurred after William Fyfe was apprehended. Authorities learned there was much more to investigate and discuss once he was convicted.
On November 23, 2001, William Fyfe agreed to give an interview to investigators regarding several other homicides they believed he committed. What he was about to say and describe would surprise investigators. Most of those involved were people who thought they’d heard everything during their careers. It came at a cost, however, as William negotiated a prison location change in exchange for his statement.
“He was a vicious murderer,” Montreal Urban Community police Commander André Bouchard would later say after interviewing Fyfe on November 23. (7)
William sat very still in a cold room at the prison and told investigators that he killed his first victim while out on a day pass from a Montreal jail for a minor crime (1979, Nicole Raymond). Describing how he got into his victims’ homes, he said he’d ring the doorbell or knock on the front doors in affluent communities, especially west of Montreal. The would-be victims would invite him inside without a care. He provided specific gruesome details of how he killed Raymond, but his confession did not stop there. Before long, William confessed to four additional murders. His statements and the details he provided convinced the police that he was, in fact, guilty of at least five more murders.
“You couldn’t invent those details,” Commander Bouchard said.
As mentioned, in exchange for this confession, William negotiated a transfer from a Quebec prison, where he was serving a twenty-five-year sentence for multiple murders, to a prison in western Canada.
Investigators believed this was a good deal because they concluded William was serving time regardless of where he was housed. If they could clear some unsolved murder cases, they thought it was a proper exchange. The public did not like the deal, but it went through anyway.
“I don’t know the difference between an eight-by-eight-foot cell in western Canada and an eight-by-eight-foot cell in Quebec,” Commander Bouchard said. “He got it in English instead of in French, and that’s what he asked for.”
Marc Labelle, who represented William during his trial and after his incarceration, argued that his client would receive specialized treatment in the other prison which the prison in Quebec did not provide. The Saskatoon facilities offered psychiatric care for inmates of Fyfe’s ilk. He also said William was trying to get away because his case in Quebec had been highly publicized. (8) His request caught some people off guard because it suggested he fully understood that what he had done was wrong. His attorney said Fyfe was also seeking help to cure his murderous ways. The majority of serial killers do not share similar feelings. They seek popularity and feel what they’ve done was right and normal.
After the interview, the investigators described William as manipulative and stubborn. He was open about many of the sick things he’d done in his life, but he refused, over the course of three years of interviews, to ever state why he killed so viciously. It was noted during the interview that William, unlike most serial killers, was determined to avoid the spotlight, which led Commander Bouchard to believe William understood what he did was wrong. In fact, this interview was not made public until after William had been flown out of town, again demonstrating his wish to avoid celebrity.
“Usually, serial killers love the publicity, and when they’re caught, they’re all over the place,” Commander Bouchard said. But in Mr. Fyfe’s case, “even though he’s a serial killer, he knew that what he did was wrong.”
Troubling to me, as well as every investigator or law enforcement official involved in this case, are the significant gaps in William Fyfe’s life that cannot be explained. Also concerning is the fact that William chooses not to disclose what he did during these times. He felt comfortable disclosing the fact he killed five women, but not comfortable enough to fill in time gaps? As mentioned earlier, over eighty-five murder cases remain open in Canada, particularly in the Montreal area. Some of those homicides could be the work of William Fyfe. As such, and based on what we do know of him and how he b
rutally killed nine women, it’s likely the case of William Fyfe will never be officially closed. You can’t shelve his file away and honestly think he wasn’t responsible for other murders in those twenty years.
Many have speculated that some sort of significant relationship or sexual situation forced William to commit sexual acts with the women he killed. Some psychologists believed he obtained some sort of gratification by having sex with his victims, but in each of the cases he did so, the women were dead or dying at the time. Perhaps the wires in William’s mind became crossed or over-taxed during the fights with his victims and eventual chaotic killings of his victims causing him to need a sexual outlet to calm himself. The fact remains, William still refuses to answer about the sexual assaults or his reasons for the murders themselves. It’s possible he suffered some sort of mental deterioration due to extensive drug use which caused him to have psychotic episodes. To stab his victims repeatedly then sexually assault them simply to take their money just doesn’t add up. He burglarized many of the victims and tortured them for the PIN numbers to their bank cards demonstrating clearly how desperate he was for cash. His murder sprees seemed to occur during winter months when handyman and gardening jobs would be less available, requiring him to seek other means of getting cash.
It’s my belief that he needed drugs to function “normally.” One can only wonder why not just rob the victims and be done with it once you have their bank cards or jewelry? Until he decides to speak again, we’ll likely never know the answers to these questions. He was once asked why he stabbed his victims so many times. He smiled and responded, “That’s for me to know.” What kind of sick individual talks like that?
Murder cases almost always reveal, at some point, a motive for someone, or, in this case, multiple people, losing their lives. I’ve seen many associated with money or lovers’ quarrels, but the majority did not include sexual assault, especially after the victim was murdered. Unique to this case is the fact, even as of today, William Fyfe has never revealed reasons for any of it. Many have speculated that sometime during his childhood, or early adult stages of development, something happened to Fyfe causing him to snap.
I believe serial killers are exposed to terrible environments and become killers. I don’t think anyone is born to kill. Based on my research, the cases I’ve investigated, and the volumes of data available with regard to serial killers, it seems likely William was exposed to or lived through a truly unthinkable event or series of events that, coupled with extreme drug usage, turned him into one of Canada’s worst serial killers.
It’s unclear whether or not a motive for William’s killing sprees will ever be identified. Unlike most of these people, he’s run away from the notoriety of his salacious acts and has not been interested in making money or becoming famous based on his case.
A portion of William Fyfe’s case that I briefly mentioned previously is his connection, and suspected identity, to also being the so-called “The Plumber Rapist.”
Between 1984 and 1987, after William’s fifth murder and years prior to his second killing spree in 1999, several women in the downtown Montreal area began reporting being raped by a man who posed as a plumber. His MO was to knock on the door and tell the female victim that the building owner or manager hired him to inspect the pipes in their apartment. The suspect dressed the part and appeared sincere, so the victims would let him in. Once the door was opened, he would immediately force the women to the floor and rape them.
None of the women were killed, and he did not steal from their homes. Montreal Police, after similarities were drawn between the murders committed by William in 1999 and the serial rapes between 1984 and 1987, believe that perpetrator to be William. However, he was never charged with any of the rapes and never confessed to raping anyone in the downtown Montreal area. The fact William posed as a handyman and knocked on the doors of the victims he would later murder, then sexually assaulted several of them, seems to indicate strongly that William was probably responsible for the rapes between 1984 and 1987. Nevertheless, even if he were linked to these terrible crimes, he’d never receive additional prison time based on Crown Law. Yes, it still blows my mind.
William Fyfe should never step outside a prison or psychiatric ward ever again. Canadian prisons, similar to those in the United States, are not suited for the rehabilitation of serial killers. I personally believe there is no way to rehabilitate a person like William Fyfe, or any serial killer, for that matter. When someone snaps and goes that far away from being civilized, there is no going back to what society defines as “normal.” My research, experience, and science confirm this. The mental and physical damage William plagued the community with will never go away. The families of the victims will never completely heal. I continue to be haunted by the unknown of what William did for twenty years, between killing sprees, and hope one day soon he decides to speak about everything he’s done. The ball is in his court, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’d sure like to take it from him.
Author's note:
I attempted to interview William Fyfe but was unable to because he’s currently in a psychiatric facility and the medical staff would not allow a meeting. One of the main players in this case, Commander Andre Bouchard, with Montreal Police Services, had recently retired and was also unavailable for interview. As such, holes exist in William’s life story, primarily from his adolescent years.
About Crimes Canada: True Crimes That Shocked the Nation
This is a multi-volume twenty-four book collection, (one per month, each approximately 100 to 180 pages) project, by crime historian Dr. Peter Vronsky and true crime author and publisher RJ Parker, depicting some of Canada’s most notorious criminals.
Crimes Canada: True Crimes that Shocked the Nation will feature a series of Canadian true crime short-read books published by VP Publications (Vronsky & Parker), an imprint of RJ Parker Publishing, Inc., one of North America's leading publishers of true crime.
Peter Vronsky is the bestselling author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters and Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters while RJ Parker is not only a successful publisher but also the author of 18 books, including Serial Killers Abridged: An Encyclopedia of 100 Serial Killers, Parents Who Killed Their Children: Filicide, and Serial Killer Groupies. Both are Canadians and have teamed up to share shocking Canadian true crime cases not only with fellow Canadian readers but with Americans and world readers as well, who will be shocked and horrified by just how evil and sick “nice” Canadians can be when they go bad.
Finally, we invite fellow Canadians, aspiring or established authors, to submit proposals or manuscripts to VP Publications at Editors@CrimesCanada.com.
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Other Books in Crimes Canada
* * *
1. Robert Pickton: The Pig Farmer Killer by CL Swinney (March 2015)
2. Marc Lepine: The Montreal Massacre by RJ Parker (April 2015)
3. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka: The Ken and Barbie Killers by Peter Vronsky (May 2015)
4. Shirley Turner: Doctor, Stalker, Murderer by Kelly Banaski (June 2015)
5. Canadian Psycho: The True Story of Luka Magnotta by Cara Lee Carter (July 2015)
6. The Country Boy Killer by JT Hunter (August 2015)
7. The Killer Handyman by CL Swinney (September 2015)
8. Hell's Angels Biker Wars: The Rock Machine Massacres by RJ Parker (October 2015)
http://www.CrimesCanada.com/
About the Author
Chris Swinney is an active Homicide Detective in the San Francisco Bay area. His writing includes the bestselling 'Bill Dix Detective Series', which he based the books on his experience as a cop and the first book in Crimes Canada - 'Robert Pickton: The Pig Farmer Killer'.
Chris is a big time supporter of Teachers, Parents, Law Enforcement, Doctors, Nurses, Firefighters, American Troops, Juvenile Diabetes Research, and children. He spends time volunteering for his church, at schools, he coaches, and every once in awhile he gets to go fly fishing.
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Sources
1http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/fyfe-william-patrick.htm
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiQhacaErFk
3Robert Pickton: The Pig Farmer Killer, by Chris Swinney, released March 1, 2015
4http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/very-very-ordinary-man-one-of-worst-serial-killers/article1034872/