Death in Armstrong

[imahoser]

I know nothing about law - but given he has been found to be connected to the sexual assault in 2004 AND the break in/assault on a local, I doubt they will consider the fact that he has no previous criminal record. If the cops would have done their job, He would be serving time NOW and maybe Taylor would still be with us. If only we could go back in time and put these criminals in front of a firing squad. We don't need this living trash polluting our children.

[Treblehook]

I know nothing about law - but given he has been found to be connected to the sexual assault in 2004 AND the break in/assault on a local, I doubt they will consider the fact that he has no previous criminal record. If the cops would have done their job, He would be serving time NOW and maybe Taylor would still be with us. If only we could go back in time and put these criminals in front of a firing squad. We don't need this living trash polluting our children.

I would be interested to know what you base your accusation that the cops didn't do their job in the first place, thereby paving the way for Taylor's murder!! They investigated the two previous crimes [Escort business assault in Kelowna and the home invasion assault in Cherryville] and published/circulated a composite drawing of the suspect from the Kelowna offence. Pretty damned interesting that people in Cherryville, subsequent to the arrest of Matt Foerster, have stated that they were pretty sure that the composite drawing from the Kelowna offence was Foerster who was living in their community. It seems nobody came forward to the police suggesting that perhaps they should take a look at this guy... nobody from the time the composite was circulated via the media following the offence in Kelowna. I wonder whether you think that any responsibility for this creep not being caught earlier lies with any of those people who didn't communicate their concerns to the police? I wonder if the victim [or the family of the victim] of the Cherryville home invasion actually told the police at the time of that offence that they thought the attacker might have been Matt Foerster? If they had, the RCMP should have looked at him at that time and he might well have been on their system and on their radar as it were. At any rate, what do you base your accusation on? And before I am accused of blindly supporting the cops, I do believe that if they screw up they ought to be held accountable. It is also right that people who make accusations ought to be in a position to back them up.

[CorkSoaker]

I know nothing about law - but given he has been found to be connected to the sexual assault in 2004 AND the break in/assault on a local, I doubt they will consider the fact that he has no previous criminal record.

My understanding is that unless his defense for some reason introduces his previous dealings the only time these could play a role is during sentencing. If he was not convicted on the previous offenses then they may not be introduced at all as far as I am aware.

If the cops would have done their job, He would be serving time NOW and maybe Taylor would still be with us. If only we could go back in time and put these criminals in front of a firing squad. We don't need this living trash polluting our children.

Everyone likes to dump on the cops. They work with limited resources at times and cases go cold or unsolved. It is unfortunate, but it happens. It would be erroneous of you to just conclude that the police did not do their jobs without knowing all of the details.

[Glacier]

It seems nobody came forward to the police suggesting that perhaps they should take a look at this guy... nobody from the time the composite was circulated via the media following the offence in Kelowna. I wonder whether you think that any responsibility for this creep not being caught earlier lies with any of those people who didn't communicate their concerns to the police? I wonder if the victim [or the family of the victim] of the Cherryville home invasion actually told the police at the time of that offence that they thought the attacker might have been Matt Foerster? If they had, the RCMP should have looked at him at that time and he might well have been on their system and on their radar as it were.

The problem is no one believed the girl when she said it was M.F. who attacked her. She had no proof other than his eyes and the sound of his voice, but when everyone tells you that you're wrong, your testimony tends to come across as pretty weak.

How do you know that no one from Cherryville called the police about the Armstrong murder? They received 100s of tips, and surely many of them were anonymous.

[imahoser]

Absolutely someone from cherryville called. I don't doubt that one bit. Cherryville lies between vernon and my hometown and Ive travelled hwy 6 many many times and have known some very great people from there.

Was there a composite sketch put out province wide after the 2004 incident? or the Cherryville assault? I sure didn't see it. And yes people like to dump on cops.. including myself at times. But they had this mans DNA, and description and he lives an hour away?? Could they have not matched Matthews DNA to his fathers since his father is known to police? Just seems mind boggling. Was the crime not severe enough to send out all the troops like in Taylors case?

[imahoser]

Treblehook I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am participating in an adult conversation here with the right to my opinion so don't get bent out of shape.

[Treblehook]

Treblehook I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am participating in an adult conversation here with the right to my opinion so don't get bent out of shape.

Firstly.. you most certainly did accuse the RCMP of not having done their job in the first place, and you linked that comment to the statement that maybe Taylor would be alive today had that not been the case. You comment in that post could not have been interpreted any other way. Second.. the police did [reportedly] have the DNA of a suspect in the Kelowna assault and they had a composite drawing as well. If the DNA of that particular suspect was not already in the national DNA bank, how do you suppose the police should have conjured up his identity? Finally... what have you gained by using a term like spinball? I don't think that bad manners adds anything to your participation in an "adult conversation". Do you?

[Treblehook]

I was perhaps hasty in stating that there were people in Cherryville who suspected that the image in the composite drawing was that of Matt Foerster. I made that comment because I am fairly certain there were people [in the news] credited with having said that when they saw the image, they thought it resembled this guy. Also, I believe that composite was initially made public shortly after the assault in Kelowna. When giving the whole thing further thought, I must agree that it was undoubtedly someone from Cherryville who tipped the RCMP off [after Taylor was killed] to the possibility that Foerster was the person in the composite. I sincerely hope that my initial post has not been too bothersome to some.

[imahoser]

Have you been to cherryville? They do not have cable TV out there, they don't even get delivery of a newspaper. How in the world does this composite get to folks out there in 2004? I live in Vernon and I have never seen that face before in my life until November and I watch and read news online everyday. Public awareness was MUCH louder this go around.

And maybe I watch too much TV, but if the father is known to police, would they maybe have his DNA to make a partial paternal match to Matt??

[imahoser]

vice versa..

[Glacier]

imahoser, you keep referring to the 2004 incident, but I think you have the your dates wrong. The 2004 incident was the home invasion in Cherryville where K. got physically assaulted (she was able to beat him back enough that it didn't turn into a sexual assault). The sexual assault took place at a Kelowna escort locale in 2005.

There is no reason they would have the father's DNA on file. Even if they did, they need an exact match, not a partial.

[imahoser]

oh my bad.. 2005. A partial match might have given them a clue where to find this freak. Thats all.

[Treblehook]

Reference the father being known to the police and DNA. If I understand it correctly [and I believe I do] being known to the police and having had a sample of your DNA taken for the national data bank are two entirely different things. In most cases, the collection of DNA and the retention of the DNA profiles is reserved for specific offences set out under the Criminal Code, and the sample is collected on an order of the court upon conviction for one of those offences. So, in this case as in many homicide and sexual assault cases, no DNA profile matching that of the perpetrator existed in the national data bank. You may recall that the police often ask family members to provide samples of their DNA to assist in the identification of human remains that can not be identified in any other manner. Anb example would be catastrophic air crashes with multiple fatalities.. Swiss Air. When Jennifer Cusworth was murdered in Kelowna after having attended a large house party, there were no suspects; so, the police in that case asked everyone who had attended the party to voluntarily provide samples of their DNA for elimination purposes. Some did, some didn't. Neil Snelson,who was eventually convicted of the murder, was one of those individuals who didn't.

[Ken7]

I would be interested to know what you base your accusation that the cops didn't do their job in the first place, thereby paving the way for Taylor's murder!! They investigated the two previous crimes [Escort business assault in Kelowna and the home invasion assault in Cherryville] and published/circulated a composite drawing of the suspect from the Kelowna offence. Pretty damned interesting that people in Cherryville, subsequent to the arrest of Matt Foerster, have stated that they were pretty sure that the composite drawing from the Kelowna offence was Foerster who was living in their community. It seems nobody came forward to the police suggesting that perhaps they should take a look at this guy... nobody from the time the composite was circulated via the media following the offence in Kelowna. I wonder whether you think that any responsibility for this creep not being caught earlier lies with any of those people who didn't communicate their concerns to the police? I wonder if the victim [or the family of the victim] of the Cherryville home invasion actually told the police at the time of that offence that they thought the attacker might have been Matt Foerster? If they had, the RCMP should have looked at him at that time and he might well have been on their system and on their radar as it were. At any rate, what do you base your accusation on? And before I am accused of blindly supporting the cops, I do believe that if they screw up they ought to be held accountable. It is also right that people who make accusations ought to be in a position to back them up.

Very well stated!! I think the comment has no grounds..sounds like great police work to me, and I know police work unlike the other poster.

[shfi1982]

Erm....

The composite sketch of the suspect for the Garden of Eden assault in 2005 was NOT released at that time.

The sketch was only released when the DNA evidence collected from Taylor's murder, matched the unknown DNA from the 2005 assault. This obviously resulted in tips which led to the arrest.

I don't know who the original poster was that said the cops didn’t do their jobs...but I 100% agree that they did NOT do their jobs.

I'm very sure I read in the media release of the composite sketch after the murder occurred that the composite had never been released before. I have lived in kelowna all my life, and I do not recall ever seeing that composite sketch before either.

In my opinion...if the police would have released the sketch in 2005 when the sexual assault occurred, and released it province wide, he would have been caught then and there because someone with side burns like that stands out!

That’s not to say some bleeding heart judge wouldn’t have let him off with a slap on the wrist, or that he wouldn’t have already been out...but being caught back then coulda stopped the path that took him to Taylor.

Just look at the pickton case...he coulda been stopped in 1997...but because the police bungled that and the prosecutors bungled that...pickton went on to kill at least another 19 women before he was finally arrested.

Maybe the cops that handled the 2005 case didnt care because of what the woman did for work, or how the assault occured? Thats how it looks to me anyways.