The Death of Donna Whalen

by Michael Winter

  He’d been taken to supper by Constable Kelly. When he left supper that evening he tried to escape his custody. Leander was running towards the Village Mall. He was dressed in a winter coat and jeans. Constable Kelly apprehended him within three minutes and he escorted Leander back to the car where they had a chat, phoned in for instructions on what to do, and they continued on to the lock-up. He did not struggle at all with Constable Kelly, he started crying.

  He wanted to get away, he didnt know where he was going or what his intentions were—it was more of an impulsive action than anything. He has made no other attempts to escape custody.

  LEANDER DOLLYMONT LETTER TO EUGENE DRISCOLL

  Hi Eugene. I guess you’ve heard the details of my escapade. Well my philosophy is you can only stick out your neck so much for people. I thought I loved him but from the way his lawyer attacked me in court he used me. The final questions involved everything from being a male slut to my being of an aggressive nature. I feel I left Jim Lythgoe with short straws to pull at. If Sheldon wants to play hardball I’m willing. I never asked for this and when testifying against Sheldon I could have cried every time I looked at him. Despite everything I still want to be friends with you. I miss you and I want you to write me. Tell me what kind of a dance Bertha Troke is doing now that her son is out of the closet. I’m going to tell your mom where I am to. You are my sweetheart Eugene but I’m never coming back, this was the big break for me. Love Dolly.

  LEANDER DOLLYMONT POSTCARD TO SHELDON TROKE

  Quick think of a number between one and ten you lose take off your clothes. Sheldon, this is a little reminder of the night you pissed on the floor. I should have left it on my slipper. I dont think I would be like him in the cartoon picture and say Rats. More like can I have it. I think about you all the time and hope you are doing okay. I have no doubt that youre innocent. I was out with Kim Parrott the other night and I told her there were two things you were not capable of, your charge and being my boyfriend. She laughed for nearly an hour. Call me on Monday at four oclock. Dolly.

  SHELDON TROKE

  The card with the strange-looking cat on the front. You got an iron sink and the toilet is all built in together and you got two buttons there for pushing the water and the water comes up this way. You have a lot of trouble with the water. You push it and sometimes it squirts right up on the floor. Now if that’s after happening and someone walks in the cell and walks in it and says what’s that? You say that’s piss.

  Dolly thought Paul Troke was gorgeous. Then a couple of days later, he was going around saying he thought Paul was gorgeous until he seen Sheldon. Sheldon was on the range and there was a guy on remand getting moved and Dolly was saying I hope he gets moved over here.

  Dolly used to make gestures towards Sheldon and to other inmates. No one really paid no attention to him. There was times you’d be sot down watching TV and Dolly’d come over and he’d put his hands on your shoulders and start rubbing your shoulders and you’d tell him to get away from you. One time Sheldon was sick—he was sot at the table saying to the inmates that he havent even got enough energy to get a shower or a shave and Dolly said if you were mine, you would never have to do that, and Sheldon had to call him aside and tell him a joke is a joke, but dont go getting carried away.

  Sheldon got a good few years in a federal institution and everything you do goes on your record. You’ll find a lot of stuff on his record that’s after happening, but you will not find any homosexual activity.

  Dolly wrote this: There are two things you are not capable of. Your charge and being my boyfriend. That is correct. There’s lots of occasions Sheldon asked inmates how to spell a word and he got four dictionaries in his cell down there and a thesaurus.

  He was in the SHU and a guard called him over to the bubble and handed him a piece of paper and said this is your lawyer’s secretary. Give her a call and call collect. Sheldon didnt recognize the number, but he phoned it and a woman answered the phone. The way this phone works, you give your name to a machine and the machine cuts in and asks the party would they accept the call and sometimes you got to wait for a second and then you push a number and there’s people that would swear on the operator of the machine and this woman did swear and Sheldon couldnt see Jim Lythgoe’s secretary getting on like this and then he knew it was Dolly. Dolly was drinking. He was after talking to Eugene Driscoll. That’s when he got this postcard. He was up in the country with Eugene Driscoll. Witless Bay.

  EUGENE DRISCOLL

  Eugene met Leander at HMP. Eugene was coming out from Unit 2 when he heard a woman talking and he looked to see who it was and it was Leander. He did not like Leander Dollymont, as he was an obvious homosexual. But after a time he accepted him for what he was. They had to go to a federal institution. They went on a plane from St John’s to New Brunswick, to the Atlantic Institute in Renous. They were at Renous for about a week when Leander was transferred to Springhill. Eugene wasnt in Springhill very long. He was there for about three days and got in some trouble and had to be shipped back to the Atlantic Institute.

  He saw Leander again when he was released from Renous and returned to St John’s. For the three days they were first at Springhill there were some guys from Halifax who were on Leander’s back. Eugene didnt like guys from Newfoundland getting threatened by guys from Halifax. Eugene said to Leander once walking to lunch to stay close to him and dont mind these guys from Halifax. So he became his protector. Eugene, outside of prison, met Leander at the Capitol Lounge. Leander frequented the bar quite a bit.

  LEANDER DOLLYMONT

  Leander dropped in to the Capitol Lounge every second day. There’s an early curfew on Emmanuel House. He had to be in at eleven. Sometimes he drank at the Capitol Lounge. Sometimes he didnt have money and didnt drink. He wouldnt term them a rough crowd, it was a quiet bar. He met Joey Yetman down there. Joey asked him where he was getting the money, did he have a cheque machine. He said he had family sending money on a regular basis, that he was also receiving Social Services.

  Joey thought, due to all the fraud Leander had done, he must have a cheque machine and he wanted access to it so as to make a series of cheques which would have been filled out and Joey could go into stores and cash them himself. Joey questioned him a bit to say come on now give me that cheque machine. Leander said that a friend had the cheque machine and that friend was gone to Halifax. He was stalling him. Leander never received any money for prostitution. If he told that to Joey, it was in a joke. Leander often left Capitol Lounge and came back. He was very good friends with the bartender, he probably darted back five and six times a day, but it was never for prostitution. Yes he left the bar with men he’d met at the bar. He even had onenight stands, but he never received any money for sexual activity. On a couple of occasions when they laughed about the activity at the Capitol Lounge Leander made a joke about turning tricks, but Leander never performed an act of prostitution. Joey drew the wrong conclusion.

  LEANDER DOLLYMONT LETTER TO SHELDON TROKE

  Hi Sheldon, sitting here sipping on a beer. I guess you heard I went on the hop from parole. The fuck with them. All they wants is a rope on you and keep pulling on it so I said fuck ye pull on this and I packed my clothes and took off. But I said I would keep in contact and I will. Every thirty days fucking parole officers shoving you back in jail so I’m not saying I won’t finish the time but I’m having a ball first. I hope you are doing fine, there is a guy here with me that knows you but I can’t put any names on this letter. I’m a fugitive, but the Labatt’s Blue tastes good and the hell with parole. I was speaking with a good friend of mine the other day who is a priest. I told him to remember you in his prayers, but knowing all them priests he might only imagine having you in the sack. In the next month I guess you will be having your preliminary. I hope it goes well. I never knew you were called slicker. When I was told that I said he’s a slicker alright in more ways than one. Remember the night you had me spelling the words for you, you burnt out fucker. I was
going with this guy for a couple of weeks, a moose hunter. Lord fuck, I spent two weeks out in his camper, parole and girlfriends going nuts, not that it’s any Jesus odds to me. I hope you are taking care of yourself, always remember Dolly is thinking about you. You are one person I see a lot of good in. Tell Joey I said hi. I see his dad all the time. Tell him me and his dad came from Gander one morning, walked in on his wife seven in the morning, his dad called me a tramp, anyway take care, and fuck off and let me go drink, kiss, hug, Dolly.

  JOHN NOFTALL

  Leander moved to Riverbend in April. There’s six inmates to each housing unit. This is minimum security. When you first move to Riverbend, you enter the dormitory. Then you move to a section called day parole—it’s an overflow for the housing unit. Then youre into a unit where youre assigned a job. They have microwave ovens, washer, dryer, central vac, wall to wall carpeting. You cook in your own house, like they bring the food materials to your house and a couple of inmates will cook a meal.

  One evening Leander was by the dorm and John asked him was he interested in moving into their house. They had an inmate leaving. Leander told him he didnt have any problem where he moved so John asked Leander to make a request to staff that he be placed in the house. John also went and seen the house man, Royce Opel.

  Inmates in the house had a meeting before Leander moved in, which was very natural to do, and made a decision on him moving in. Riverbend Institution is very much like society, it’s based on inmate input and inmate requests are looked at, but Leander did make the request.

  Leander didnt deny his homosexuality to anybody while he was at Riverbend.

  John Noftall was moved out of Riverbend Institution for coming into Leander’s room late at night in just his underwear. It was about three oclock in the morning. There had been problems ever since Leander moved into the house. John Noftall had been imposing on Leander, and the staff at Riverbend were very concerned for Leander’s welfare. Mr Noftall was a sexual offender who had denied all forms of treatment.

  Well, that’s Leander’s story. But John Noftall is living common-law and has a child of his own. When his wife and son were visiting at Riverbend the warden took the boy out to the farm to see the animals. The visits were relaxed and wide open. You pick up a pay phone and call for Chinese food or pizza and spend lots of time with your family. Leander will say that John Noftall’s wife had left him and gone to BC because John had been looking into windows of neighbourhood women while they dressed. That’s Leander’s story.

  Leander made a formal complaint to the prison of sexual harassment. The prison acted upon the complaint and placed John in medium security. But the truth is Leander ended up in John Noftall’s room. Walking by a picnic table where John was with some other inmates, Leander was called over and there was a discussion about Leander being in his room.

  Every night Leander and John spent time together in his room before bed because there was six bedrooms to a house and sometimes Leander went in Florentine Patia’s room and talked to Florentine, sometimes he went in John Noftall’s and talked to John.

  Leander shared knowledge with John Noftall about the case of Sheldon Troke. He didnt tell John Noftall he was an informant. He gathered it when Leander came back to testify, that is one of the reasons that Leander’s scared of ever returning to eastern Canada.

  LEANDER DOLLYMONT

  There was an inmate at Riverbend, Donny Thole, who was from St John’s. Leander was very scared of something leaking out about Sheldon Troke. John Noftall had been giving Leander a hard time on why he was in western Canada, so he devised a story to tell him to cover his ground: Leander left the Eastern Prison section because Sheldon Troke had a conversation in Leander’s cell about a murder. The cell was bugged but Leander was denying to police having known anything and he didnt want to testify. So they separated him and Sheldon by putting Sheldon in the eastern section and Leander in western Canada but he was never going to testify. That was Leander’s story.

  JOHN NOFTALL

  John robbed two pharmacies to obtain prescription drugs and there was a convenience store next door to one of the drug stores and he robbed the convenience store and one of the customers in the store. He had a drug habit. There was three of them doing the robbery and John stole the drugs and the other two guys were convicted of robbing the tellers in the store.

  While in prison he was having a confrontation with an inmate by the name of Bear Melaney and John was stabbed in the thigh. He pulled the knife out of his leg and stabbed Bear in the chest. This was Christmas Day. He proceeded to go to his cell, fix his leg and then he didnt talk about what happened until a year and a half later. He spoke with his attorney. He gave him the circumstances. He didnt have any intentions of killing this man.

  Two others were charged with the offence and the judge dismissed the charges on them. They said these two people were acting as a lookout so John could kill this gentleman—that was a theory that the prosecution had. But that’s not what happened. John was sentenced to six years concurrent with the four years he was already serving.

  He was released on day parole. He went to Vancouver. Him and a friend robbed a man on the street. Two years for that.

  He has given evidence against individuals and undergone a name change. His wife of seven years and his son and himself are in the witness protection program. He’s living now in Riverbend, which is minimum security. There are no fences or guns. If anybody wanted to walk away they could. It’s pretty well known as the elite prison institution in Canada.

  It was common knowledge at Riverbend that Leander Dollymont was a prison informant. He had written statements against inmates at Riverbend and had them removed. He asked John if he could close the door and close the window to the room, it’s a very small window. He had something very important that he needed to get off his chest.

  Leander came in and sat on the chair beside the bed and told a story about a psychologist at Springhill. Leander was in Springhill and he was transferred to Stoney Mountain because he told the psychologist that he had suspicions a man by the name of Sheldon Troke was involved in the killing of his wife. So they moved him to Stony Mountain, which is a medium security prison in Manitoba.

  John asked if Sheldon had been charged and Leander responded no I dont think so. Sheldon Troke was having a relationship with him on the street in St John’s, they were lovers, but they had a falling-out because Sheldon Troke was spending more time with his common-law wife and their children than he was with Dolly. John asked him, Do you really think that Sheldon Troke killed his wife? and Dolly said no I know he did not kill his wife but I want to put the son of a bitch away forever.

  John said dont you think youre going to get yourself in some kind of trouble if you take the stand under oath and you perjure yourself? Dolly said he didnt have any concerns about that—Sheldon was a piece of shit. He described some scenes of the murder. A car abandoned on a dead-end street and some clothes with blood in the car. It was the victim’s vehicle. No blood matched Sheldon Troke’s blood. There were no witnesses against Sheldon Troke on the murder charge. Dolly was the only one who knew Sheldon’s whereabouts on the day of the murder.

  If you go to court and testify under oath you can end up doing seven years. Dolly says well it’s my word against his and I’ll go into that courtroom and I’ll tell it my way. John said well Dolly you could end up in jail for a long time. Leander settled down then and said well then I’m not going to go and testify at all. That’s all John can recall from that night. The officers told Leander to go to his own room. Eight hours later John was removed from the institute because Leander accused him of assault. John was moved to a medium security prison in Prince Albert.

  Leander never told John that Sheldon Troke and himself were cellmates or had even shared the same penitentiary or anything taking place in a cell and the cell being bugged.

  John is in this Riverbend Institution under the witness protection program. The last thing he’s going to do is try to find out i
f somebody else is. In Riverbend if there’s even a verbal complaint made about an inmate assaulting another inmate he’s removed. Sixty-seven percent of the inmates in Riverbend are sex offenders and the other thirty percent are known informants. It’s not an institution where it’s kind of like we’re all in the same category here.

  John was sent to Riverbend for a sex offender treatment program for voyeuring and looking into windows. His son was a year old and they were called in to a pediatrician’s office. Their son suffers from a rare disease and he was to die within six months. John started drinking again, he was using some drugs, he was very upset and didnt share the emotions with his wife.

  John Noftall’s identity has been changed. They’ve been relocated, so to talk about things that he’d done in the past to other inmates could possibly lead to them finding out who he really was.

  He took it for granted that what Leander said was true. When John went inside the wall he found out there were several allegations made against him by Leander Dollymont. Then he saw Dolly getting a suit for court. He was going to court in the next couple of days. John was concerned and he talked with his attorney in Prince Albert. John told him he had some information about a murder trial in Newfoundland, the accused’s name was Sheldon Troke, and that Leander Dollymont was going to falsely testify in court.

  There was a hundred-thousand-dollar contract put out on John’s wife and his son and himself in Vancouver and John has serious concerns about being here today, not knowing whether there’s a ban on his testimony. But when a man comes to you and tells you he’s going to testify on another man and get him convicted of a crime he didnt commit and possibly spend the rest of his life in jail, that’s something that concerned John very much and he felt that he had to do the right thing there.