Kenneth James Purcell
December 25, 2005
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada
In addition to these news items, see also the Canadian taxi driver homicide notes regarding Kenneth Purcell.
Cab driver killed in Christmas Day stabbing in Dartmouth, N.S.
MELANIE PATTEN
2005-12-25 22:17:42
DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) - A stabbing has claimed the life of a cab driver in Dartmouth, N.S., who was found on Christmas Day in an area other drivers consider dangerous.
Police found the victim in a residential area Sunday shortly after 8 a.m., but had made no arrests, said spokeswoman Theresa Brien.
The man, whose name was not released at his family's request, was pronounced dead in hospital, though it wasn't clear whether he was still alive when police arrived.
Brien said the driver apparently called his dispatch centre and told them he had been stabbed. The dispatcher then called police.
Police were investigating whether a customer was involved, Brien said.
"It's believed that he was working (when he was stabbed)," she said.
"We are exploring the possibility that he might have had a fare a little bit earlier in the morning and determining whether or not that fare could be connected."
Brien said it was an especially tragic time of year.
"Our condolences go out to the family," said Brien. "This is a tragic event at anytime of year, but certainly more so at Christmas."
Several areas near where the victim was found were cordoned off as police investigated.
The cab was removed from the scene and taken to a police compound for further examination.
At least two officers, a police car and a forensic investigation van could be seen on Churchill Drive.
A local resident, who didn't want to be named, said stabbings and fights had once become commonplace in her neighbourhood, but that local developments and partnerships had tried to clean up the area.
She said she was shocked when she heard someone had been killed.
"I've not heard anything like this in, God, years," said the woman. "That's way out in left field somewhere."
A local cab driver, who also didn't want to be named, said the area where the victim was found is "very dangerous."
"I don't like it when a customer gets in and says 'go to Churchill Drive in Dartmouth,' " he said.
The 40-year-old driver, who has been driving a taxi for six years, said his car is equipped with a global positioning system receiver, which could let the dispatcher know where he is on the job.
"As a taxi driver, you don't know who you'll pick up next."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) December 27, 2005 Cabbie stabbed to death By WITH CATHY Between dispatching calls and being the bearer of the worst kind of news, John Burns spent most of Christmas Day absorbing the utter shock of being the last person to speak with a cab driver killed Sunday morning. The driver, who was 62 with three grown children, was stabbed repeatedly in his car while working in the Westphal area of Dartmouth. He was pronounced dead after being taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. The man's identity is being withheld pending notification of family members. "I'm kind of dealing with the fact that, I think, I was the last person he talked to," Mr. Burns said later Sunday afternoon at Bob's Taxi and Blue Bell Taxi stand on Wyse Road. "His exact words (were) 'I've just been stabbed in the lungs 11 times by a black man. Please send help.' " Mr. Burns said he radioed the driver at 7:45 a.m. to ask him to pick up a fare at the Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive and drop him off at 14 Churchill Crt. At about 8:15 a.m., the cabbie radioed the dispatcher for help. "I immediately called 911 to get the help out there as soon as I could. I just wish we could (have gotten) it a little quicker," a visibly shaken Mr. Burns said. "But I don't know if it would have made a difference." Mr. Burns said he told the cab driver to pull over at Chebucto Ford Sales, a car dealership at the corner of Main Street and Caledonia Road, and wait there for police and an ambulance to arrive. "And then I couldn't raise him on the radio anymore," he said, adding emergency personnel found the victim in his taxi at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street, in the parking lot of a small red brick building next to the dealership. By late Sunday morning, the parking lot of Metro Karate Training Centre at 211 Raymoor Dr. was one of three small areas in the Dartmouth neighbourhood that the Halifax Regional Police-RCMP integrated major crime unit had cordoned off with yellow police tape. A handful of police vehicles, including a forensic identification unit and a mobile command unit, were parked along Raymoor Drive as investigators examined the cab a Buick Le Sabre inside and out, taking numerous photographs and marking potential evidence with yellow tags. The older model sedan, Blue Bell Cab roof light 320, faced the building with its front doors wide open, revealing red stains on the greyish-blue driver's seat and what appeared to be a thin streak of blood along the door frame, which two female investigators carefully measured with an L-shaped ruler. A tow truck hauled the taxi cab away shortly before 1 p.m. Theresa Brien, a Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman, said it was being taken to the police compound at the station on Gottingen Street. One man who lives near the karate training centre, which was decorated for the season with red and green decorations and a wreath, said he wasn't surprised to look out his window Christmas morning and see cop cars and an ambulance driving up and down his street. "What a day for it to happen on," said the neighbour, who didn't want to be named. "This is normal for this area, though." He said nearby Churchill Drive, off Caledonia Road, where the parking lot of modest-looking apartment complex called Tara Place was also cordoned off by police, is "probably one of the worst places in Dartmouth." A bright yellow jacket, apparently covering something on the ground, lay in the middle of the building's parking lot, while an RCMP patrol car remained running next to the cordoned-off area after noon. Around the corner, at 14 Churchill Crt., at least five police SUVs, vans and cars were parked outside a large, reddish-brown apartment building, its front entrance blocked off by police tape. An officer led a police dog on a leash out of a snowy, wooded area that runs behind the Churchill Drive apartments to the Churchill Court address. Ms. Brien said police responded to the Main Street and Caledonia Road area at about 8:15 a.m. "We were responding to a call from the cab company's dispatch to our communications centre. It was a report of a cab driver possibly suffering from stab wounds," she said outside 14 Churchill Crt. later Sunday. "When we arrived, we actually located the cab at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street, where we found the cab driver suffering from multiple stab wounds." Ms. Brien could not provide confirmation of the identity of the victim. "At this time, the family is requesting that we do not release the name of the victim." Although it's "early in the investigation," Ms. Brien said police are looking at "the possibility that the driver may have had a fare a little bit earlier in the morning that . . . could be connected to the crime." "Certainly, our hearts go out to the family of the victim as well as all the colleagues of that particular cab company," she said. Mr. Burns kept his mind occupied Sunday by taking calls in the dispatch office but was also the one who had to tell the company's other cabbies about their friend's death. "It's terrible," Mr. Burns repeated quietly. "I'm a relatively new dispatcher and I've never even had minor problems happen." Mr. Burns said he's also been a cab driver for four years but was hesitant about getting back on the road Christmas night. "I don't even know if I want to today. . . . I'm going to just because I need to; I need the money." He said the cabbie who died "was a very nice man" and lived on Portland Street in a building owned by the cab company. Calvin DeMont, owner of the taxi company, described the victim as a "perfect person" who would never say a bad thing about anyone and would always try to avoid an argument at all costs. "I'm sure if this fellow had demanded money, he would have passed it over," Mr. DeMont said in a telephone interview from his Dartmouth home Sunday afternoon. He has known the driver for at least 35 years and estimated that he had worked for the cab company for at least 25 years. The stricken cabbie often volunteered to work holidays to give younger drivers a chance to be with their families and so he could make a little extra money and tips, he said. The first thing that went through his mind after hearing the tragic news was "Why (him)? It's hard to believe anyone would do something like this to another person on Christmas morning." The company's owner said the other drivers are very upset. "A few of the fellows went out there to try and find him. They knew he was in trouble and tried to locate him." Mr. DeMont said driver safety is always on his mind but he doubts much could have been done to help in this case. "If someone takes a knife to you and is stabbing you, it's almost impossible to do anything about it." ( klipscombe@herald.ca) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) December 27, 2005 Cab company seeks means to increase safety for drivers By JENNIFER STEWART Staff Reporter In an attempt to curb violence against taxi drivers and improve response times when something does happen, a Dartmouth cab company is installing global positioning systems in all its vehicles starting Jan. 1. Calvin DeMont, one of the owners of Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi, said Sunday he hopes the move will save some lives. "When a car, a fella, is in trouble, we'll know exactly where he is," said Mr. DeMont, who was clearly still shaken by the slaying of one of his drivers earlier that day. Police found the body of a cab driver in his taxi at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street in Dartmouth early Sunday morning. The man had been stabbed. Mr. DeMont admitted that the global positioning system wouldn't have prevented the attack but said it might have got help to the man quicker. "If somebody's stabbing you, it's pretty hard to do anything about it," he said. "But as soon as somebody's in trouble, the stand would be notified, and we'd know exactly where the car is so we could go over right away." Unfortunately, violence against cab drivers is not uncommon in the metro area. In the past four years, two drivers have been murdered, including this victim, with at least another four violent attacks reported to police. Last October, John Hibbs, 58, was beaten to death outside a Lower Sackville building, apparently after he refused to take a passenger. Leroy Downey, 50, has been charged with manslaughter in the Satellite Taxi driver's death and will stand trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court next October. In March 2003, former Bob's Taxi driver Ronnie Lambert was shot in the head, leaving him legally blind and unable to drive. Ricardo Whynder, 17 at the time of the crime, was convicted in adult court and sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison. In September 2002, a Casino cabbie was stabbed in an early morning robbery. At that time, Halifax Regional Police said it was the third vicious attack on a metro taxi driver in the past 15 months, including that on Mr. Lambert. In June 2001, Halifax cab driver Michael Tran suffered severe brain damage and was paralyzed after being repeatedly stabbed from behind by his passenger. Mr. DeMont said the taxi industry has looked into other safety devices to protect its drivers but he doesn't place much confidence in them. Bob's and Blue Bell has experimented with Plexiglas safety shields between the driver and passengers, he said, but customers often objected to them. "We've tried them before, and the customers would phone and say they wouldn't want a car with a shield," he said. "Besides, the shield wouldn't protect you if someone really wanted to get at you." He said the shields, paid for by the driver, not the company, are an expense many in the business can't afford. "Every time you trade in your car, you'd have to get a new one or get it modified. It would be ongoing, a real expense." When asked about installing debit and credit card machines to cut down on the amount of cash cabbies have on hand, Mr. DeMont was once again doubtful. "It's quite an expense, so whether the drivers will go for it or not, I don't know," he said. Bob's and Blue Bell operates close to 200 cabs in Dartmouth and its outskirts. Mr. DeMont said all the vehicles will have the global positioning systems by early January. ( jstewart@herald.ca) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Halifax Regional Police/RCMP News Release December 25, 2005 (12 p.m.) The HRP/RCMP Integrated Major Crime Unit is investigating a homicide in Dartmouth. At approximately 8:15 a.m. Police responded to a report of a cab driver who had possibly been stabbed in his car in the Main Street and Caledonia Road area. Upon arrival, they discovered the cab driver suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was transported to hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead. At the request of the family, the name of the victim is being withheld. Anyone with information regarding this incident or who saw anything out of the ordinary in the Main Street and Caledonia Road area this morning is asked to call investigators at 490-5016 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). -30- Incident #05-113074++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Teen arrested after taxi driver stabbed in Nova Scotia
Mon, 26 Dec 2005
CBC News
Police say a 17-year-old has been arrested after a taxi driver was stabbed to death on Christmas Day in Dartmouth, N.S.
Police officials said Monday that the teenager had not yet been charged, but was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Police officers found the man in his vehicle with several stab wounds at about 8 a.m. AST on Sunday.
He was parked in a rough neighbourhood of Dartmouth, which is on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour.
The driver apparently called his dispatch centre and told them he had been stabbed.
It wasn't clear whether he was alive when police found him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The victim's family asked that his name not be released.
Before the arrest, police said they would be investigating to see whether he was stabbed by a passenger.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC News
(Canada)
December 27, 2005
Teen to be formally charged in death of Dartmouth cab driver:
police
Last Updated Tue, 27 Dec 2005 17:16:04 EST
CBC News
A 17-year-old will appear in Halifax youth court on Wednesday
morning to be formally charged with the slaying of a taxi driver
on Christmas Day, police said Tuesday.
The youth will face the charge following the stabbing death of
Kenneth James Purcell, 62, of Dartmouth, N.S., Theresa Brien
of Halifax Regional Police said in a release issued Tuesday.
Brien said the youth, who cannot be named under the Youth
Criminal Justice Act, is being held at a young offender facility
until the court appearance.
He was arrested without incident following the stabbing on
Sunday in Dartmouth, which is on the eastern side of Halifax
Harbour.
Police said Purcell had called his dispatcher for help Sunday
morning, saying he had been stabbed.
He was found a short time later, at 8 a.m. AST, in a Dartmouth
residential area, and was suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Purcell was later pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.
* FROM DEC. 26, 2005: Teen arrested after taxi driver
stabbed in Nova Scotia
Before the arrest, police had said they were looking into whether
a passenger was involved.
Purcell is the second cab driver killed in the Halifax area in a
year and a half.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC Nova Scotia
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 28, 2005
Teen charged in cab driver's death
Last updated Dec 28 2005 01:19 PM AST
CBC News
A 17-year old has been formally charged with second-degree
murder in the slaying of a taxi driver in Dartmouth, and the
Crown is seeking an adult sentence.
The teenager is accused of killing Kenneth Purcell, 62, who was
found stabbed in his cab on Christmas Day.
When the teen made a brief appearance in youth court
Wednesday, Crown attorney Frank Hoskins said he plans to seek
an adult sentence. That could lead to tougher penalties if the
teen is found guilty.
"I can tell you that we've made the decision that we feel this is an
appropriate case to seek an adult sentence," said Hoskins.
The 17-year old, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal
Justice Act, will stay at the youth jail in Waterville until his next
court appearance Jan. 18.
Police say Purcell called his dispatcher for help Sunday morning,
saying he had been stabbed. Officers found him a short time
later in a Dartmouth neighbourhood, suffering from multiple stab
wounds.
Purcell was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.
The teenager was arrested late Sunday afternoon near Highfield
Park in Dartmouth.
Purcell's death has shaken his colleagues and spurred calls for
safety measures for cab drivers.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC Nova Scotia
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 28, 2005
Taxi drivers mourn slain colleague
Last updated Dec 28 2005 08:59 AM AST
CBC News
Taxi drivers in the Halifax region are shaken up after a colleague
was stabbed to death on Christmas Day.
Police officers found Ken Purcell, 62, in his vehicle at about 8
a.m. Sunday in the Main Street and Caledonia Road area of
Dartmouth.
He had apparently called his dispatch centre and told them he
had been stabbed.
Purcell had been driving cabs for Bob's and Bluebell taxis in
Dartmouth for almost four decades. Colleagues say he made a
point of being careful, especially after he was robbed at gunpoint
five years ago.
"He would never argue or fight with anybody. He was a good
person," said Calvin DeMont, Purcell's boss and landlord.
Cab driver George Cooper, who knew Purcell for 38 years, said
he spoke to him just a few hours before he was killed.
"You pick up somebody, you take them to where they want to go,
and next thing you know, you're in big trouble. That's what
happened to Ken," Cooper said.
Early in the investigation, police said they would be checking to
see whether Purcell was stabbed by a passenger.
Francis MacKenzie, leader of the Nova Scotia Liberals, is calling
on the government to pay for a protective shield in each taxi to
separate the driver from passengers in the backseat.
But Cooper dismisses that idea, even though he says Purcell is
his fourth friend who has been killed driving a cab.
"If somebody gets in my car and tries to do that to me, I'm going
to do what it takes to get out of it," Cooper said.
A 17-year-old is scheduled to appear in youth court Wednesday
to be charged with second-degree murder in Purcell's death.
The teen was arrested Dec. 26 outside a home in Highfield Park
in Dartmouth.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Chronicle-Herald
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 28, 2005
Deadly encounter
Police unsure how Dartmouth taxi driver met the person who
stabbed him to death
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
Police are still trying to find out how taxi driver Ken Purcell and
his killer came together in Dartmouth on Christmas morning.
"We're still exploring the circumstances of how the crime was
committed," Theresa Brien, spokeswoman for Halifax Regional
Police, said Tuesday.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder
in the stabbing death of the 62-year-old driver.
Police aren't sure if the killer called a Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi to
a Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive. Someone
called a taxi at about 7:45 a.m. and the fare asked to be taken to
14 Churchill Ct., but Ms. Brien wouldn't confirm if Mr. Purcell
died at the hands of the passenger.
"How the suspect came in contact with the victim is one of the
areas we are continuing to focus on," she said.
The victim called his dispatcher at about 8:10, saying he'd been
stabbed. He was later found in his cab at the corner of Main
Street and Raymoor Drive.
Police arrested the teenager outside a Highfield Park address
late Monday afternoon and said he would appear in Halifax youth
court this morning.
Ms. Brien wouldn't say what led police to make the arrest or if
they had recovered a weapon. She did say police are not looking
for other suspects.
Don Purcell, the victim's brother, said the arrest provides some
relief but family members hope the case is bumped up to adult
court, where there is potential for a much longer sentence.
"If he wants to play the tune, then he's got to dance with the
piper," he said.
The victim's niece, Susan, said the community has rallied
around her family and she's grateful for the help.
"I was floored I wasn't expecting it at all," she told Global TV
news. "It's awful that this occurred on Christmas, but then to
have everybody come together" is heartening for the family, she
said.
Tina Blackburn, a Bob's dispatcher, said fundraising efforts are
underway to assist the Purcells. She told Global that people
"want to do something for the family, and the monetary donation
is pretty much all that they can do."
Don Purcell said he was home with his wife on Christmas
morning when a taxi dispatcher called him at about 8:25 a.m. to
say his brother had been stabbed and there was no pulse. He
rushed to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and a
doctor told him his brother had died.
Afterward, Don Purcell, who has another brother in Moncton and
a sister in Halifax, went to his son's place to watch a
granddaughter open gifts. Because the girl is just seven, the
family didn't tell her the news, so everyone had to act as though
nothing had happened.
"We had to go out with a brave face," he said.
He said his brother's three children are having a variety of
difficulties, preventing the family from setting a funeral date.
Daughters Patricia and Dawn are in Edmonton caring for their
mother, Sally McLellan, who is Ken Purcell's ex-wife. She is near
death and the daughters don't want to leave her side.
"They want to be here but they just can't chance it," Don Purcell
said.
Meanwhile, son Sean Purcell, a millwright in Ontario, is working
extra-long hours for the next few days before leaving for the
funeral. Had he not done this, his plant would have been forced
to close and others would have been out of work during his
absence, Don Purcell said.
Don said his brother started driving a taxi almost 30 years ago,
after rule changes requiring survival training for workers on oil
rigs drove him out of that industry. The job involved guiding
helicopters onto landing pads, but a fear of water kept Ken from
completing the survival training. Had he kept that job, Ken would
have been on the Rowan Gorilla I when it sank in December
1988. The 26 crew members were rescued after a horrifying
night in a lifeboat, but Don said his brother would have rather
gone down with the rig than spend a night in a small boat.
He said Ken had never been robbed as a cabbie and enjoyed
meeting people.
Don had met some cab drivers through his brother and has been
touched by their response to the murder. They are trying to raise
money to ease the burden on Ken's family, despite their own
financial constraints.
"They are a tight-knit family," Don said.
( darsenault@herald.ca)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Chronicle-Herald
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 29, 2005
Murder suspect knifed man in 2002
Teenager charged in cab driver's stabbing death
By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
A 17-year-old charged with murdering Dartmouth taxi driver Ken
Purcell on Christmas Day stabbed another cabbie three years
ago.
The boy, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal
Justice Act, was arraigned in Halifax youth court late Wednesday
morning on a charge of second-degree murder.
Wearing a white T-shirt, black sweatpants and sneakers, the
clean-cut boy with close-cropped hair sat quietly in court and
showed no expression during the brief hearing.
The courtroom was packed with media, police and large groups
of supporters from the boy's family and the victim's family. There
were no signs of tension between the two family groups as they
mixed in the lobby after the hearing.
At one point, the victim's brother touched the boy's mother on
the arm and spoke a few words to her quietly. She turned her
head toward him and said, "Thank you."
Mr. Purcell, a 62-year-old driver for Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi,
was found in his car at the corner of Main Street and Raymoor
Drive in Dartmouth. He'd been stabbed.
It's believed the killer called a taxi to a Needs convenience store
on Highfield Park Drive at about 7:45 a.m. and asked to be
driven to 14 Churchill Ct.
At about 8:10 a.m., Mr. Purcell called his dispatcher saying he'd
been stabbed.
On Sept. 6, 2002, when the boy was just 14, he stabbed Halifax
cabbie Joginder Singh once in the chest. His plan had been to
rob a taxi driver to get money to settle a drug debt. When Mr.
Singh requested his fare, the boy pulled out a steak knife he had
hidden in a sock, stuck it into the driver's chest and ran off.
The boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possessing a
knife for a purpose dangerous to the public peace. At his
sentencing three months after the crime, he pleaded for
forgiveness and asked the court to give him one more chance.
He was sentenced to 18 months in custody, to be followed by a
year on probation, and he was banned from owning or
possessing weapons for two years after his sentence expired.
At that time, the boy's mother said her son had been a good boy
who wanted to be a preacher until he started to rebel at age 13
and was drawn toward the "gangsta" lifestyle. He had been
brought up in a Christian household and the woman said she had
tried to home-school her boy and keep him away from bad
influences.
She was in court Wednesday for her son's arraignment.
Mr. Singh could not be reached Wednesday but his son, who
answered the telephone, was nearly speechless to hear that his
father's attacker has been charged in Mr. Purcell's death.
He said his family had been discussing the murder just the night
before and had wondered among themselves what the chances
were that the same boy might be involved.
Mr. Singh has since made a full recovery and has returned to
driving cabs, his son said.
In court Wednesday, Crown attorney Frank Hoskins put the court
on notice that if the teen is convicted of killing Mr. Purcell, the
Crown will seek to have him sentenced as an adult.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Hoskins said he would not discuss
the circumstances of the case other than to say: "We feel it's an
appropriate case to seek an adult sentence."
After the hearing, Mr. Hoskins met with the Purcell family to
discuss the court process with them.
The maximum adult sentence the boy could face for second-
degree murder would be 10 to 25 years, Mr. Hoskins said. The
maximum youth sentence for the same crime would be seven
years, he said.
The boy is to return to court Jan. 18 for a bail hearing.
( djeffrey@herald.ca)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC Nova Scotia
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 29, 2005
Group looks at taxi safety features
Last updated Dec 29 2005 09:04 AM AST
CBC News
A taxi advisory group in the Halifax region is considering various
safety measures after a cab driver was slain Christmas Day.
The taxi and limousine advisory committee is looking at
installing cameras in cabs, putting plexiglas shields to separate
drivers from the backseat, and having the passenger pay a
portion of the fare before the drive.
Former committee chair Wayne Adams said it's time for the
government and cab drivers to come together and find a way to
make taxis safer.
"Every single time a driver picks up a fare he or she is
vulnerable," he said. "If [people] don't feel comfortable getting in
a vehicle with a shield then perhaps they should find another
mode of transportation."
The advisory committee is scheduled to meet Jan. 18, the same
day a 17-year-old is due to return to court to face a second-
degree murder charge in the death of Kenneth Purcell.
Purcell, 62, was stabbed 11 times. Police officers found him
behind the wheel of his cab in a Darmouth neighbourhood at
about 8 a.m. on Christmas morning, after he called his
dispatcher for help.
Purcell was pronounced dead at hospital.
The Crown is seeking an adult sentence for the 17-year-old
charged.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Chronicle-Herald
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
December 31, 2005
Accused killer's mom: Boy needs help
Teen arrested six times for weapons, drugs but 'every time . . .
they let him go'
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
The mother of a 17-year-old boy charged in the Christmas Day
killing of Dartmouth cabbie Ken Purcell said she's been urging
the criminal justice system for months to get her son off the
streets.
"My husband and I have been in the courts for quite some time,
all summer long, trying to get them to hold my son and to even
give him some kind of psychiatric evaluation," the Dartmouth
woman said in an interview Thursday.
Mr. Purcell, 62, a driver for Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi, died from
multiple stab wounds after picking up a passenger at the Needs
convenience store in Highfield Park in Dartmouth.
Police arrested the boy without incident on Boxing Day and
charged him with second-degree murder.
In September 2002, the same boy pleaded guilty to aggravated
assault and a weapons charge for stabbing Halifax cab driver
Joginder Singh in the chest. The boy was sentenced to 18
months in custody and a year on probation and was banned from
possessing weapons for two years.
Mr. Singh recovered and is still driving a taxi.
The woman said her son has been arrested about six times since
summer for carrying drugs, guns or knives or for other reasons,
and he cannot live at home.
"He came here and he threatened my life and his stepfather's
life," said the woman, who cannot be named because it would
identify her son, whose identity is protected under the Youth
Criminal Justice Act.
She said her son pleaded guilty last month to making those
threats and she gave the judge a letter pleading for the boy to be
held in custody or treated at a hospital. He was not in custody
and was due for sentencing in February, she said.
"Our pleas didn't mean anything," she said. "It seems as if our
Youth Criminal Justice Act protects criminals more than it
protects the rest of us in society.
"My biggest thing is that I would like people to know that the
system didn't help him. Every time he was arrested, they let him
go."
The woman said she is not making excuses for her son's
behaviour.
"I do believe that people choose the things that they do, but you
do get cases where people do need help," she said.
She said that at one point a doctor had found a treatment option
but her son didn't want to take it, and "by law, he had to be
willing to go on his own."
Catherine Latimer, director general of youth justice policy for the
federal Justice Department, said from Ottawa on Thursday that
the Youth Criminal Justice Act is intended to limit the number of
young people in jail, "but not when they've committed a violent
offence."
She said Canada once had one of the highest rates of youth
incarceration among western countries, but many of those young
people hadn't committed serious crimes so the laws were
changed.
Without getting into the specifics of this case because it's before
the courts, Ms. Latimer said she thinks the boy's mother might
have been looking for child welfare or another type of
intervention "because the child was out of control."
"That doesn't mean that he was necessarily committing acts
where the appropriate penalty would have been a custodial
sentence."
Ms. Latimer, noting that the teenager hasn't yet been sentenced
for threatening his parents, said there is nothing stopping the
courts from keeping him behind bars until his day in court.
"There is absolutely no prohibition against pre-trial detention
providing it's a violent offence," she said. "If it's a non-violent
offence, then it would have to be an exceptional circumstance."
She defended the penalties imposed on young people, noting
that youth court judges can, in some circumstances, impose
adult sentences.
If the boy is found guilty in Mr. Purcell's killing and sentenced as
an adult, he would get a life term with no eligibility for parole for
a period of at least 10 years as determined by the court.
Because of the murder charge, he would be sentenced as an
adult unless the Crown applied to have him sentenced as a
youth, in which case the maximum term would be seven years,
including four in custody.
The boy's mother said she doesn't object to her son facing an
adult sentence if he is found guilty.
"I don't have a problem with it per se, but the only thing I would
say is I hope that they (the courts) can own up to their
responsibility (for) all the times when we asked them to get him
help and they refused."
The woman met briefly with Mr. Purcell's family members in
court Wednesday and said they are amazing.
"They are the sweetest people that I've talked with in a long
time," she said. "We're just sorry that their family has to suffer
what they're suffering right now."
Spokesman Richard Perry of the provincial Justice Department
wouldn't discuss the case but noted that Justice Minister Michael
Baker is working to change the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Mr.
Baker also approved an inquiry into the questionable release
from custody of another Dartmouth teenager last year. The boy
later stole a car, got into a police chase, ran a red light and
crashed into the car of Halifax teacher's aide Theresa McEvoy,
killing her.
"We've been quite concerned with the provisions of that act," Mr.
Perry said. "The minister has done a fair amount of lobbying with
his federal and provincial counterparts to see some elements of
it changed."
Mr. Purcell was called at about 7:45 a.m. Christmas Day to take
a fare from Highfield Park to an apartment building at 14
Churchill Ct. in Dartmouth. He called a dispatcher at about 8:10
a.m. to say he'd been stabbed, and he was later found in his car
on Raymoor Drive near Main Street.
His funeral will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Peter's Roman
Catholic Church in Dartmouth.
( darsenault@herald.ca)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Following several items are forwarded by Norman Beattie]
HCH Dec. 30 2005 front page
Accused killer’s mom: Boy needs help
Teen arrested six times for weapons, drugs but ‘every time . . . they let him go’
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
The mother of a 17-year-old boy charged in the Christmas Day killing of Dartmouth cabbie Ken Purcell said she’s been urging the criminal justice system for months to get her son off the streets.
"My husband and I have been in the courts for quite some time, all summer long, trying to get them to hold my son and to even give him some kind of psychiatric evaluation," the Dartmouth woman said in an interview Thursday.
Mr. Purcell, 62, a driver for Bob’s and Blue Bell Taxi, died from multiple stab wounds after picking up a passenger at the Needs convenience store in Highfield Park in Dartmouth.
Police arrested the boy without incident on Boxing Day and charged him with second-degree murder.
In September 2002, the same boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge for stabbing Halifax cab driver Joginder Singh in the chest. The boy was sentenced to 18 months in custody and a year on probation and was banned from possessing weapons for two years.
Mr. Singh recovered and is still driving a taxi.
The woman said her son has been arrested about six times since summer for carrying drugs, guns or knives or for other reasons, and he cannot live at home.
"He came here and he threatened my life and his stepfather’s life," said the woman, who cannot be named because it would identify her son, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
She said her son pleaded guilty last month to making those threats and she gave the judge a letter pleading for the boy to be held in custody or treated at a hospital. He was not in custody and was due for sentencing in February, she said.
"Our pleas didn’t mean anything," she said. "It seems as if our Youth Criminal Justice Act protects criminals more than it protects the rest of us in society.
"My biggest thing is that I would like people to know that the system didn’t help him. Every time he was arrested, they let him go."
The woman said she is not making excuses for her son’s behaviour.
"I do believe that people choose the things that they do, but you do get cases where people do need help," she said.
She said that at one point a doctor had found a treatment option but her son didn’t want to take it, and "by law, he had to be willing to go on his own."
Catherine Latimer, director general of youth justice policy for the federal Justice Department, said from Ottawa on Thursday that the Youth Criminal Justice Act is intended to limit the number of young people in jail, "but not when they’ve committed a violent offence."
She said Canada once had one of the highest rates of youth incarceration among western countries, but many of those young people hadn’t committed serious crimes so the laws were changed.
Without getting into the specifics of this case because it’s before the courts, Ms. Latimer said she thinks the boy’s mother might have been looking for child welfare or another type of intervention "because the child was out of control."
"That doesn’t mean that he was necessarily committing acts where the appropriate penalty would have been a custodial sentence."
Ms. Latimer, noting that the teenager hasn’t yet been sentenced for threatening his parents, said there is nothing stopping the courts from keeping him behind bars until his day in court.
"There is absolutely no prohibition against pre-trial detention providing it’s a violent offence," she said. "If it’s a non-violent offence, then it would have to be an exceptional circumstance."
She defended the penalties imposed on young people, noting that youth court judges can, in some circumstances, impose adult sentences.
If the boy is found guilty in Mr. Purcell’s killing and sentenced as an adult, he would get a life term with no eligibility for parole for a period of at least 10 years as determined by the court. Because of the murder charge, he would be sentenced as an adult unless the Crown applied to have him sentenced as a youth, in which case the maximum term would be seven years, including four in custody.
The boy’s mother said she doesn’t object to her son facing an adult sentence if he is found guilty.
"I don’t have a problem with it per se, but the only thing I would say is I hope that they (the courts) can own up to their responsibility (for) all the times when we asked them to get him help and they refused."
The woman met briefly with Mr. Purcell’s family members in court Wednesday and said they are amazing.
"They are the sweetest people that I’ve talked with in a long time," she said. "We’re just sorry that their family has to suffer what they’re suffering right now."
Spokesman Richard Perry of the provincial Justice Department wouldn’t discuss the case but noted that Justice Minister Michael Baker is working to change the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Mr. Baker also approved an inquiry into the questionable release from custody of another Dartmouth teenager last year. The boy later stole a car, got into a police chase, ran a red light and crashed into the car of Halifax teacher’s aide Theresa McEvoy, killing her.
"We’ve been quite concerned with the provisions of that act," Mr. Perry said. "The minister has done a fair amount of lobbying with his federal and provincial counterparts to see some elements of it changed."
Mr. Purcell was called at about 7:45 a.m. Christmas Day to take a fare from Highfield Park to an apartment building at 14 Churchill Ct. in Dartmouth. He called a dispatcher at about 8:10 a.m. to say he’d been stabbed, and he was later found in his car on Raymoor Drive near Main Street.
His funeral will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Dartmouth.
( darsenault@herald.ca)
[Photo caption]
The parents of a teenage boy are seen in their son’s bedroom three years ago when he was convicted of stabbing a cab driver in the chest. The Dartmouth boy has been in trouble with the law several times since then and now faces a charge of second-degree murder after another taxi driver was stabbed to death on Christmas Day. (File)
[Original photo file name: TK-PAREN_Provincial_12-30-05_O31J4DS.jpg / new: purcell01.jpg]
==============
HCH Dec. 30 2005 Letters
Voice of the people
HRM must step in
I think that HRM council has to jump into the taxi industry, for the sake of the drivers, and demand that all cabs have a safety system such as exists in big cities in the U.S.A., where there is a protective glass between the customers and drivers.
They must pass this at council level and make it a part of having licences renewed. The lives of the drivers are very important to companies, families and the people of Halifax. Please, council, get the ball rolling right away!
Fred Bishop, Dartmouth
==========
Senseless killing
I used to be a taxi driver for Bob’s/Blue Bell. I was shocked when I heard the news of a former co-worker killed in the Westphal/Woodlawn area. Unfortunately, for a taxi driver, every fare could be your last. And will anything be done to protect these drivers? Not a chance.
As a taxi driver, you are looked down on by most in the community as low-lifes who can’t get a better job. In fact, most of the drivers are heroes already in life retired army and navy personnel or people just looking to support a family and make a few dollars.
These men and women are out there every day, sometimes for 12 or more hours, and during snowstorms, taking doctors, nurses and sick people to the hospital. They’re out there at 2 a.m., helping to keep drunk drivers from killing your loved ones. And then someone kills one of these drivers, for what? The $30 or $40 he might have had in his pocket?
I hope whoever did this gets what they deserve. My sympathy goes out to the family of the victim, and to the other drivers.
Denis Lane, Moncton
============
Barriers to crime
I find the attitude of Calvin DeMont, an owner of Bob’s Taxi and Blue Bell Taxi, to be somewhat bewildering. In a Dec. 26 article, he expresses a lack of confidence in the Plexiglas barriers and debit/credit card readers as methods of reducing the occurrences of violence against taxi drivers, one as a physical barrier and the other by removing the motive of large amounts of cash on hand.
The taxi drivers whom I have hired in London, New York and other places seem to disagree with him, as they all had both of these items in place. In London, the cabs have come from the factory with the barriers since the 1960s, I was told by a cabbie on a visit. Police departments worldwide seem to swear by the barriers as a way to protect their officers from back-seat occupants intent on doing them harm.
Mr. DeMont said the barrier wouldn’t stop anyone if they really wanted to get at you. True, but the few seconds’ delay might be enough for a driver to get out of harm’s way, or the barrier itself might deter some people from trying anything. No solution is foolproof, but there must be some merit to these items since taxi drivers in other places seem to be employing them.
As for the cost being too high, people’s lives have been lost and others changed forever. Isn’t that price enough?
Jason Crawford, Dartmouth
==================
Safety measures
Here are ideas that could help prevent attacks on taxi drivers:
When a caller phones for a cab, the dispatcher should ask for the number from where the call comes, and check and record that number.
No passenger should be allowed in the front seat.
A steel mesh separator should be put between the seats.
A video cam should be mounted to record the passenger.
The passenger must pay through a small slot in the mesh separator upon entering the cab.
If the owners install a positioning system, a "panic button" could be installed in the cabs to silently send an urgent call for help to the dispatcher, who would call 911. In minutes, the police could be at the scene.
When potential killers are aware that there is little chance of escaping such measures, they would likely stop.
Lorne Perry, Dartmouth
====================
HCH Dec. 29 Front
Murder suspect knifed man in 2002
Teenager charged in cab driver’s stabbing death
By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
A 17-year-old charged with murdering Dartmouth taxi driver Ken Purcell on Christmas Day stabbed another cabbie three years ago.
The boy, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arraigned in Halifax youth court late Wednesday morning on a charge of second-degree murder.
Wearing a white T-shirt, black sweatpants and sneakers, the clean-cut boy with close-cropped hair sat quietly in court and showed no expression during the brief hearing.
The courtroom was packed with media, police and large groups of supporters from the boy’s family and the victim’s family. There were no signs of tension between the two family groups as they mixed in the lobby after the hearing.
At one point, the victim’s brother touched the boy’s mother on the arm and spoke a few words to her quietly. She turned her head toward him and said, "Thank you."
Mr. Purcell, a 62-year-old driver for Bob’s and Blue Bell Taxi, was found in his car at the corner of Main Street and Raymoor Drive in Dartmouth. He’d been stabbed.
It’s believed the killer called a taxi to a Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive at about 7:45 a.m. and asked to be driven to 14 Churchill Ct.
At about 8:10 a.m., Mr. Purcell called his dispatcher saying he’d been stabbed.
On Sept. 6, 2002, when the boy was just 14, he stabbed Halifax cabbie Joginder Singh once in the chest. His plan had been to rob a taxi driver to get money to settle a drug debt. When Mr. Singh requested his fare, the boy pulled out a steak knife he had hidden in a sock, stuck it into the driver’s chest and ran off.
The boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possessing a knife for a purpose dangerous to the public peace. At his sentencing three months after the crime, he pleaded for forgiveness and asked the court to give him one more chance.
He was sentenced to 18 months in custody, to be followed by a year on probation, and he was banned from owning or possessing weapons for two years after his sentence expired.
At that time, the boy’s mother said her son had been a good boy who wanted to be a preacher until he started to rebel at age 13 and was drawn toward the "gangsta" lifestyle. He had been brought up in a Christian household and the woman said she had tried to home-school her boy and keep him away from bad influences.
She was in court Wednesday for her son’s arraignment.
Mr. Singh could not be reached Wednesday but his son, who answered the telephone, was nearly speechless to hear that his father’s attacker has been charged in Mr. Purcell’s death.
He said his family had been discussing the murder just the night before and had wondered among themselves what the chances were that the same boy might be involved.
Mr. Singh has since made a full recovery and has returned to driving cabs, his son said.
In court Wednesday, Crown attorney Frank Hoskins put the court on notice that if the teen is convicted of killing Mr. Purcell, the Crown will seek to have him sentenced as an adult.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Hoskins said he would not discuss the circumstances of the case other than to say: "We feel it’s an appropriate case to seek an adult sentence."
After the hearing, Mr. Hoskins met with the Purcell family to discuss the court process with them.
The maximum adult sentence the boy could face for second-degree murder would be 10 to 25 years, Mr. Hoskins said. The maximum youth sentence for the same crime would be seven years, he said.
The boy is to return to court Jan. 18 for a bail hearing.
( djeffrey@herald.ca)
[Photo caption 1]
Friends and family of taxi driver Ken Purcell leave a Halifax court on Wednesday after the murder suspect’s arraignment.(JEFF HARPER)
Original filename: jh122805cab3_Provincial_12-29-05_O31IPM3.jpg / New: Purcell02.jpg
[Photo caption 2]
A teenager accused in the fatal Christmas Day stabbing of cab driver Ken Purcell is escorted to a court appearance on Wednesday.(JEFF HARPER)
jh122805cab1_Provincial_12-29-05_O31IPM1.jpg / New: Purcell03.jpg
===============
HCH Dec. 28 Front
Deadly encounter
Police unsure how Dartmouth taxi driver met the person who stabbed him to death
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
Police are still trying to find out how taxi driver Ken Purcell and his killer came together in Dartmouth on Christmas morning.
"We’re still exploring the circumstances of how the crime was committed," Theresa Brien, spokeswoman for Halifax Regional Police, said Tuesday.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of the 62-year-old driver.
Police aren’t sure if the killer called a Bob’s and Blue Bell Taxi to a Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive. Someone called a taxi at about 7:45 a.m. and the fare asked to be taken to 14 Churchill Ct., but Ms. Brien wouldn’t confirm if Mr. Purcell died at the hands of the passenger.
"How the suspect came in contact with the victim is one of the areas we are continuing to focus on," she said.
The victim called his dispatcher at about 8:10, saying he’d been stabbed. He was later found in his cab at the corner of Main Street and Raymoor Drive.
Police arrested the teenager outside a Highfield Park address late Monday afternoon and said he would appear in Halifax youth court this morning.
Ms. Brien wouldn’t say what led police to make the arrest or if they had recovered a weapon. She did say police are not looking for other suspects.
Don Purcell, the victim’s brother, said the arrest provides some relief but family members hope the case is bumped up to adult court, where there is potential for a much longer sentence.
"If he wants to play the tune, then he’s got to dance with the piper," he said.
The victim’s niece, Susan, said the community has rallied around her family and she’s grateful for the help.
"I was floored I wasn’t expecting it at all," she told Global TV news. "It’s awful that this occurred on Christmas, but then to have everybody come together" is heartening for the family, she said.
Tina Blackburn, a Bob’s dispatcher, said fundraising efforts are underway to assist the Purcells. She told Global that people "want to do something for the family, and the monetary donation is pretty much all that they can do."
Don Purcell said he was home with his wife on Christmas morning when a taxi dispatcher called him at about 8:25 a.m. to say his brother had been stabbed and there was no pulse. He rushed to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and a doctor told him his brother had died.
Afterward, Don Purcell, who has another brother in Moncton and a sister in Halifax, went to his son’s place to watch a granddaughter open gifts. Because the girl is just seven, the family didn’t tell her the news, so everyone had to act as though nothing had happened.
"We had to go out with a brave face," he said.
He said his brother’s three children are having a variety of difficulties, preventing the family from setting a funeral date.
Daughters Patricia and Dawn are in Edmonton caring for their mother, Sally McLellan, who is Ken Purcell’s ex-wife. She is near death and the daughters don’t want to leave her side.
"They want to be here but they just can’t chance it," Don Purcell said.
Meanwhile, son Sean Purcell, a millwright in Ontario, is working extra-long hours for the next few days before leaving for the funeral. Had he not done this, his plant would have been forced to close and others would have been out of work during his absence, Don Purcell said.
Don said his brother started driving a taxi almost 30 years ago, after rule changes requiring survival training for workers on oil rigs drove him out of that industry. The job involved guiding helicopters onto landing pads, but a fear of water kept Ken from completing the survival training. Had he kept that job, Ken would have been on the Rowan Gorilla I when it sank in December 1988. The 26 crew members were rescued after a horrifying night in a lifeboat, but Don said his brother would have rather gone down with the rig than spend a night in a small boat.
He said Ken had never been robbed as a cabbie and enjoyed meeting people.
Don had met some cab drivers through his brother and has been touched by their response to the murder. They are trying to raise money to ease the burden on Ken’s family, despite their own financial constraints.
"They are a tight-knit family," Don said.
( darsenault@herald.ca)
[Photo caption 1:]
Ken Purcell’s family said the Dartmouth man loved driving a cab and meeting people. He was stabbed to death on Christmas morning. (Contributed)
ew122705kenpurcell_Provincial_12-28-05_O31IJM6.jpg / New: Purcell04.jpg
============
HCH Dec. 27 Front
Police get suspect in stabbing
Investigators search Dartmouth apartment building for leads
By JEFFREY SIMPSON Staff Reporter
Halifax Regional Police picked up a suspect in the stabbing death of a taxi driver, police spokeswoman Theresa Brien confirmed Monday night.
Police spent Monday investigating at two Dartmouth apartment buildings as they searched for a suspect.
Ken Purcell, 62, of Dartmouth died Christmas morning from several stab wounds after picking up a passenger who asked to be driven to 14 Churchill Ct. from a Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive at about 7:45 a.m. Mr. Purcell managed to drive away from the scene of the attack and radio the dispatcher at Bob’s Taxi and Blue Bell Taxi for help, reporting that he had been stabbed in the lungs 11 times.
Police found him behind the wheel of his car at about 8:15 a.m. and he was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
Police believe the customer is connected to the crime, Ms. Brien said earlier Monday.
"We’re exploring the possibility," she said. "We can’t get into any details on the fare because it would jeopardize an ongoing investigation."
Police were looking around the grounds of a Churchill Drive building and had two of their vans parked in front of Pine Green Park Estates, an eight-storey apartment building a short distance away at 14 Churchill Ct. An officer was standing outside apartments 316 and 416 in the Churchill Court building while major crime investigators spoke to the manager and superintendent. Neither the manager nor the superintendent would comment to a reporter.
But a young man and woman who appeared to be in their teens or early 20s confirmed that police were investigating in their apartment. They declined to provide their names or comment further.
Residents of an apartment near 316 said that unit had been occupied for about three months by a young couple who have a baby girl and continuously blast bass-heavy music and have visitors at all hours of the day and night.
"It keeps the kids up sometimes and everything," said a neighbour named Erika, who didn’t want her last name published. "They’ve had a lot of complaints."
Erika said that one night when someone from her apartment asked them to turn down the music, the woman who lives in 316 responded by cranking it up, although her boyfriend later apologized.
"They’re OK," Erika said. "He’s a bit more decent than she is.
"We hardly know them."
The couple was around for much of Sunday and police had spoken to them inside the apartment "for a while," Erica said.
But police on Monday told Erika’s boyfriend, Michael, who also didn’t want his last name published, that they were waiting for a search warrant.
Erika and Michael said they didn’t hear any commotion coming from the apartment on Christmas night with the police around.
"I saw no lights on at all last night and heard no ‘boom, boom, booms,’ " Michael said. "It’s kind of senseless what happened. Then again, you look at the area you’re in.
"The police, they try to do their best, but you got druggies, you got pimps, you got pushers."
Bruce Misener, who lives in a ground-level apartment next to the lobby and front doors of the building, said some officers left the building at about 4 p.m. on Sunday with a young person who wasn’t wearing handcuffs but was obviously being escorted out.
Until police knocked on Mr. Misener’s door Christmas morning, he wasn’t aware anything had happened.
"We were sitting there opening gifts and at first I thought that there was just somebody out back walking their dog — not realizing it was a canine unit," he said. "We’ve never seen any trouble.
"Just when you think you’re living in a fairly good neighbourhood, something like this has to happen."
Ms. Brien wouldn’t confirm that police were seeking warrants to search the apartments.
"We are speaking to people in relation to this crime," she said. "People have come forward with information.
"This is a very tragic incident at any time of the year, but even more so at Christmas."
After being stabbed, Mr. Purcell managed to drive to the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street in the Westphal area of Dartmouth. Police and paramedics found him in the parking lot of a small red brick building next to a car dealership.
Calvin DeMont, an owner of Bob’s Taxi and Blue Bell Taxi, said other cabbies were shaken by the stabbing, especially because it happened during a time of day that’s normally considered quite safe.
"We expect trouble through the night but never in the morning," he said.
Mr. DeMont said he knew Mr. Purcell for about four decades. The slain cabbie started out selling dispatch radios to the taxi company for Canadian Marconi before spending 35 years behind the wheel.
Mr. Purcell also rented an apartment from Mr. DeMont on Portland Street in Dartmouth.
"He was a good person, very easy to get along with," Mr. DeMont said. "He would never argue or fight with anybody.
"He enjoyed driving a taxi and meeting people."
Mr. Purcell has three grown children who live in Alberta, Mr. DeMont said.
Bonnie Cleveland, a former driver who is now a dispatcher at the cab company, lives in the same building as Mr. Purcell and helped look after him when he suffered heart problems and had an operation about a year and a half ago, said her daughter, Tina Blackburn, who is also a dispatcher.
"We just made sure he was all right after his surgeries and stuff like that," Ms. Blackburn said.
"My mother, she cooks, so if she cooked stew on Sunday she’d bring him down a bowl — you know, that kind of stuff."
Ms. Blackburn said she’d known him for about 13 years and her mother had known him for about 32 years.
"He was a really nice guy and he wouldn’t hurt a fly — ever," Ms. Blackburn said.
"And he wouldn’t say a bad thing about anybody — ever."
Russell Young, who drives a cab for the same company, said most taxi drivers went home after hearing of their friend’s death.
"I was quite surprised it actually happened to him because he was never a troublemaker," Mr. Young said. "He would give the money up if he was being robbed or not being paid.
"He wouldn’t have put up a struggle."
Mr. Young said he wasn’t surprised that a Statistics Canada report this year ranked Halifax first per capita in violent crime, with 157 violent incidents per 1,000 people.
He was once robbed at gunpoint on Easter Sunday and hasn’t answered calls to the Churchill Court area for five years.
"It’s that bad," he said. "Everybody knows that certain parts of Dartmouth and Halifax are steadily getting worse and police are doing what they can do, but they can’t be everywhere."
( jsimpson@herald.ca)
=================
HCH Dec. 26 Front
Cabbie stabbed to death
By WITH CATHY
Between dispatching calls and being the bearer of the worst kind of news, John Burns spent most of Christmas Day absorbing the utter shock of being the last person to speak with a cab driver killed Sunday morning.
The driver, who was 62 with three grown children, was stabbed repeatedly in his car while working in the Westphal area of Dartmouth. He was pronounced dead after being taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.
The man’s identity is being withheld pending notification of family members.
"I’m kind of dealing with the fact that, I think, I was the last person he talked to," Mr. Burns said later Sunday afternoon at Bob’s Taxi and Blue Bell Taxi stand on Wyse Road.
"His exact words (were) ‘I’ve just been stabbed in the lungs 11 times by a black man. Please send help.’ "
Mr. Burns said he radioed the driver at 7:45 a.m. to ask him to pick up a fare at the Needs convenience store on Highfield Park Drive and drop him off at 14 Churchill Crt. At about 8:15 a.m., the cabbie radioed the dispatcher for help.
"I immediately called 911 to get the help out there as soon as I could. I just wish we could (have gotten) it a little quicker," a visibly shaken Mr. Burns said. "But I don’t know if it would have made a difference."
Mr. Burns said he told the cab driver to pull over at Chebucto Ford Sales, a car dealership at the corner of Main Street and Caledonia Road, and wait there for police and an ambulance to arrive.
"And then I couldn’t raise him on the radio anymore," he said, adding emergency personnel found the victim in his taxi at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street, in the parking lot of a small red brick building next to the dealership. By late Sunday morning, the parking lot of Metro Karate Training Centre at 211 Raymoor Dr. was one of three small areas in the Dartmouth neighbourhood that the Halifax Regional Police-RCMP integrated major crime unit had cordoned off with yellow police tape.
A handful of police vehicles, including a forensic identification unit and a mobile command unit, were parked along Raymoor Drive as investigators examined the cab a Buick Le Sabre inside and out, taking numerous photographs and marking potential evidence with yellow tags.
The older model sedan, Blue Bell Cab roof light 320, faced the building with its front doors wide open, revealing red stains on the greyish-blue driver’s seat and what appeared to be a thin streak of blood along the door frame, which two female investigators carefully measured with an L-shaped ruler.
A tow truck hauled the taxi cab away shortly before 1 p.m. Theresa Brien, a Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman, said it was being taken to the police compound at the station on Gottingen Street.
One man who lives near the karate training centre, which was decorated for the season with red and green decorations and a wreath, said he wasn’t surprised to look out his window Christmas morning and see cop cars and an ambulance driving up and down his street.
"What a day for it to happen on," said the neighbour, who didn’t want to be named. "This is normal for this area, though."
He said nearby Churchill Drive, off Caledonia Road, where the parking lot of modest-looking apartment complex called Tara Place was also cordoned off by police, is "probably one of the worst places in Dartmouth."
A bright yellow jacket, apparently covering something on the ground, lay in the middle of the building’s parking lot, while an RCMP patrol car remained running next to the cordoned-off area after noon.
Around the corner, at 14 Churchill Crt., at least five police SUVs, vans and cars were parked outside a large, reddish-brown apartment building, its front entrance blocked off by police tape. An officer led a police dog on a leash out of a snowy, wooded area that runs behind the Churchill Drive apartments to the Churchill Court address.
Ms. Brien said police responded to the Main Street and Caledonia Road area at about 8:15 a.m.
"We were responding to a call from the cab company’s dispatch to our communications centre. It was a report of a cab driver possibly suffering from stab wounds," she said outside 14 Churchill Crt. later Sunday.
"When we arrived, we actually located the cab at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street, where we found the cab driver suffering from multiple stab wounds."
Ms. Brien could not provide confirmation of the identity of the victim.
"At this time, the family is requesting that we do not release the name of the victim."
Although it’s "early in the investigation," Ms. Brien said police are looking at "the possibility that the driver may have had a fare a little bit earlier in the morning that . . . could be connected to the crime."
"Certainly, our hearts go out to the family of the victim as well as all the colleagues of that particular cab company," she said.
Mr. Burns kept his mind occupied Sunday by taking calls in the dispatch office but was also the one who had to tell the company’s other cabbies about their friend’s death.
"It’s terrible," Mr. Burns repeated quietly. "I’m a relatively new dispatcher and I’ve never even had minor problems happen."
Mr. Burns said he’s also been a cab driver for four years but was hesitant about getting back on the road Christmas night.
"I don’t even know if I want to today. . . . I’m going to just because I need to; I need the money."
He said the cabbie who died "was a very nice man" and lived on Portland Street in a building owned by the cab company.
Calvin DeMont, owner of the taxi company, described the victim as a "perfect person" who would never say a bad thing about anyone and would always try to avoid an argument at all costs.
"I’m sure if this fellow had demanded money, he would have passed it over," Mr. DeMont said in a telephone interview from his Dartmouth home Sunday afternoon.
He has known the driver for at least 35 years and estimated that he had worked for the cab company for at least 25 years. The stricken cabbie often volunteered to work holidays to give younger drivers a chance to be with their families and so he could make a little extra money and tips, he said.
The first thing that went through his mind after hearing the tragic news was "Why (him)? It’s hard to believe anyone would do something like this to another person on Christmas morning."
The company’s owner said the other drivers are very upset.
"A few of the fellows went out there to try and find him. They knew he was in trouble and tried to locate him."
Mr. DeMont said driver safety is always on his mind but he doubts much could have been done to help in this case.
"If someone takes a knife to you and is stabbing you, it’s almost impossible to do anything about it."
( klipscombe@herald.ca)
With Cathy Von Kintzel, staff reporter
[Photo caption:]
A pair of Halifax regional police identification unit constables gather evidence on the driver's side of a Blue Bell cab in a parking lot on Raymoor Drive in Dartmouth on Sunday. The driver died after suffering multiple stab wounds in the Christmas Day attack. (Tim Krochak / Staff)
tk122505taxi1_Provincial_12-26-05_O31IA22.jpg / New Purcell05.jpg
=================
HCH Dec. 26 2005 Front
Cab company seeks means to increase safety for drivers
By JENNIFER STEWART Staff Reporter
In an attempt to curb violence against taxi drivers and improve response times when something does happen, a Dartmouth cab company is installing global positioning systems in all its vehicles starting Jan. 1.
Calvin DeMont, one of the owners of Bob’s and Blue Bell Taxi, said Sunday he hopes the move will save some lives.
"When a car, a fella, is in trouble, we’ll know exactly where he is," said Mr. DeMont, who was clearly still shaken by the slaying of one of his drivers earlier that day.
Police found the body of a cab driver in his taxi at the corner of Raymoor Drive and Main Street in Dartmouth early Sunday morning. The man had been stabbed.
Mr. DeMont admitted that the global positioning system wouldn’t have prevented the attack but said it might have got help to the man quicker.
"If somebody’s stabbing you, it’s pretty hard to do anything about it," he said. "But as soon as somebody’s in trouble, the stand would be notified, and we’d know exactly where the car is so we could go over right away."
Unfortunately, violence against cab drivers is not uncommon in the metro area. In the past four years, two drivers have been murdered, including this victim, with at least another four violent attacks reported to police.
Last October, John Hibbs, 58, was beaten to death outside a Lower Sackville building, apparently after he refused to take a passenger. Leroy Downey, 50, has been charged with manslaughter in the Satellite Taxi driver’s death and will stand trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court next October.
In March 2003, former Bob’s Taxi driver Ronnie Lambert was shot in the head, leaving him legally blind and unable to drive. Ricardo Whynder, 17 at the time of the crime, was convicted in adult court and sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison.
In September 2002, a Casino cabbie was stabbed in an early morning robbery. At that time, Halifax Regional Police said it was the third vicious attack on a metro taxi driver in the past 15 months, including that on Mr. Lambert.
In June 2001, Halifax cab driver Michael Tran suffered severe brain damage and was paralyzed after being repeatedly stabbed from behind by his passenger.
Mr. DeMont said the taxi industry has looked into other safety devices to protect its drivers but he doesn’t place much confidence in them.
Bob’s and Blue Bell has experimented with Plexiglas safety shields between the driver and passengers, he said, but customers often objected to them.
"We’ve tried them before, and the customers would phone and say they wouldn’t want a car with a shield," he said. "Besides, the shield wouldn’t protect you if someone really wanted to get at you."
He said the shields, paid for by the driver, not the company, are an expense many in the business can’t afford.
"Every time you trade in your car, you’d have to get a new one or get it modified. It would be ongoing, a real expense."
When asked about installing debit and credit card machines to cut down on the amount of cash cabbies have on hand, Mr. DeMont was once again doubtful.
"It’s quite an expense, so whether the drivers will go for it or not, I don’t know," he said.
Bob’s and Blue Bell operates close to 200 cabs in Dartmouth and its outskirts.
Mr. DeMont said all the vehicles will have the global positioning systems by early January.
( jstewart@herald.ca)
==============
[End of articles forwarded by Norman Beattie]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CBC Nova Scotia (Halifax, Nova Scotia) January 3, 2006 Cabbies pay tribute to slain colleague Last updated Jan 3 2006 04:13 PM EST CBC News About 100 cab drivers wound their way through the streets of Dartmouth Tuesday in a tribute to colleague Ken Purcell, who was stabbed to death Christmas morning. The drivers gathered at the Sportsplex and made their way to St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church for Purcell's funeral. Tina Blackburn, a dispatcher at Bob's Taxi, remembers her colleague fondly. "He was a really nice guy [who] worked every day, all day long into the night, would do anything for you, go anywhere as far as the calls were concerned," Blackburn said. About 100 cab drivers came to say farewell to Ken Purcell Purcell, 62, had been driving cabs for Bob's and Bluebell taxis in Dartmouth for almost four decades. Early Christmas morning, he called his dispatcher for help. Police found him in his car around 8 a.m. in the Main Street and Caledonia Road area. He had been stabbed 11 times. "Hardly a week goes by that we are not reminded that we live in a very violent society," Rev. Owen Connolly said during the service. Ken Purcell's ashes are brought out of the church Purcell's death has left many people in the taxi industry on edge and prompted some to think more about safety. Charles Burnell has a new camera in his cab that takes pictures of his passengers, an extra measure he hopes makes any would- be attacker think twice. "It's scary. Guys just want to come out and make a living and we can't do that. I wouldn't blame some of these if they don't want to drive at all anymore," Burnell said. The taxi and limousine advisory committee in the Halifax region is considering various safety options for cabs, including cameras and Plexiglas shields to separate drivers from passengers. Committee members will discuss cab safety on Jan. 18, the same day Purcell's accused killer is scheduled to appear in court. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, has been charged with second-degree murder. He's been remanded to the youth jail in Waterville. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jan. 3, 2005 From Daily News Would you pay a quarter to save a life? Of course you would. So let's demand that Halifax regional council make it a legal requirement for every cab in the municipality to have a protective shield. It only cost taxi passengers in Winnipeg an extra 25-cent surcharge - for about 18 months - to pay off the shields the Manitoba capital made mandatory in 2003. Coupled with in-cab cameras introduced a year earlier, the shields reduced the number of assaults against taxi drivers by a whopping 79 per cent. Winnipeg mandated the security measures after a cabbie was stabbed to death in 2001. Kenneth Purcell, 62, isn't the first metro cab driver to be killed or maimed on the job, but hopefully our government officials will come to their senses and follow Winnipeg's lead in light of the Dartmouth cabbie's horrible Christmas Day murder. Mayor Peter Kelly likes the idea of shields, but he wants the city's taxi committee to examine what's worked in other cities, and discuss options with the industry and police. "It's time that a long, hard serious look at finding a way to make the job as safe as possible," he said. The public wants taxi drivers to have more protection, Kelly said, and they also want cabbies' families to have some assurance that their loved ones' lives aren't in danger. He doesn't think passengers would begrudge paying a small surcharge for safety gear. Kerry Morash, Nova Scotia's labour minister, is also a shield supporter. "I certainly agree that the shielding gives the cab driver additional protection, and I'd certainly be in favour of any taxi company that's looking to install them," he said. Morash isn't considering legislation on the issue. He said Purcell's murder should spur cab companies examine how to best protect their employees, which is a legal obligation under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act. Charles Burnell, a driver with Casino Taxi, says Winnipeg has the right idea. Winnipeg doesn't employ the full, fixed partitions used by New York City cabs or police departments. Cabbies there use a small, clear plastic shield that straps to the back of the driver's seat and curves slightly around the driver. It doesn't extend to the passenger seat. The retail price of the basic model is only $495. "That would be the ideal thing: the camera and that partial divider," Burnell said. He doesn't like the notion of making full partitions mandatory, arguing they are more expensive, intimidating to some passengers, and could be costly to modify and re-install when a cabbie buys a new car. Burnell suggests the best compromise might be for regional council to require a camera or a partial shield in each cab, with the individual driver making the choice. He bought a camera for his wheelchair-accessible minivan after Purcell's murder. Burnell believes cameras improve driver safety, because passengers are less likely to act violently if they know they are being recorded. I'm not convinced. Convenience stores have security cameras, but they don't do much to protect clerks against thugs with guns, knives and metal pipes. A camera might help police track down someone who's stabbed a cabbie - if the picture is good enough - but I'd rather see a barrier that prevents the knife from reaching the cabbie in the first place. Winnipeg-style shields should be mandatory, with cameras as a secondary option. Peter Kelly and Kerry Morash should make it the law as swiftly as possible. Otherwise, history tells us another tragedy isn't just a possibility, it's a certainty. SHIELD SUCCESS Full protective shields became mandatory in 1996 for the 1,151 licensed taxis in Baltimore, Md. (pop. 640,000). Three years later, North Carolina State University studied how well the barriers performed. The numbers speak for themselves. Cabs w/shields Assaults on drivers 1991 5 per cent 203 1997 100 per cent 25 Reduction in assaults - 88 per cent David Rodenhiser thinks full consultation and consideration over whether to make shields mandatory should take all of about 10 minutes. He lives in Dartmouth. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) January 4, 2006 Path of forgiveness Mourners at funeral of slain taxi driver urged to help curb violence By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter Hundreds of mourners gathered inside a Dartmouth church Tuesday to remember slain taxi driver Ken Purcell were told that our society is violent and forgiveness is the proper response. Rev. Owen Connolly officiated at the 40-minute funeral for Mr. Purcell, a divorced 62-year-old father of three who was fatally stabbed in his Bob's/Blue Bell taxi in Dartmouth on Christmas morning. The next day, Halifax Regional Police charged a 17-year-old boy who had pleaded guilty to stabbing a different cab driver more than three years ago - with second-degree murder. Dozens of cab drivers from every company in the area drove en masse Tuesday morning to St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church on Maple Street. They gathered at the Dartmouth Sportsplex before making their memorial drive and sat together for the service, taking up about five rows in the church. With the church decorated with poinsettias, garland and other signs of the Christmas season, Father Connolly mentioned the cabbies and Mr. Purcell's grieving family before delivering a homily that focused on the man's bloody death. "Hardly a week goes by that we are not reminded that we live in a very violent society," he said before telling the congregation that bigger prisons and harsher penalties aren't the solution because "violence begets violence." He said society was even more violent in Jesus' time, but He chose the path of forgiveness and love. Father Connolly asked everyone to do their part to combat violence by showing zero tolerance for it, even in movies and sports and on playgrounds. On a positive note, Father Connolly commended the families of both Mr. Purcell and the suspect because of a brief exchange of sympathies they shared in provincial court on the day of the boy's arraignment. "This has been one of the bright lights in an otherwise dark tragedy," he said. Mr. Purcell's son, Sean, of Stratford, Ont., was the only one of his children able to attend the service because his daughters Patricia and Dawn remained in Edmonton to care for their ailing mother, Sally McLellan, their father's ex-wife. The suspect is due back in court Jan. 18 for a bail hearing. ( darsenault@herald.ca) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jan. 6, 2005 From Daily News Mandatory shields in taxis would keep them all safe from violent passengers Kenny Purcell's murder is a glaring, tragic example of what happens when governments fail to fix problems. We've known for years that the sentences meted out by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the Young Offenders Act before it, have failed to protect the public from violent, remorseless teenagers. The federal and provincial governments haven't invested in the counselling and training programs and facilities needed to reform those teen offenders who can be reformed. And federal law doesn?t allow for the lengthy incarceration of those who are beyond rehabilitation. Whatever counselling the 17-year-old accused of killing Purcell received in the past, it apparently failed horribly if, of course, he is guilty as charged. Back in September 2002, the same boy, then 14, drove a 15-centimetre steak knife into the chest of another cabbie. The blade punctured the liver of Casino Taxi driver Joginder Singh, but did not kill him. The boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the Singh stabbing, and received 18 months in a youth jail, followed by a year of probation with counselling. If he did, indeed, repeat his crime this time with even more tragic results then his counselling and time in custody were both grossly inadequate. And Kenny Purcell paid with his life for the justice system's failures. The government has also failed, at the provincial and municipal levels, to make any effort to protect cab drivers from violent passengers. Cabbies are wounded, maimed or killed by their fares every year in Halifax, yet the government has done nothing. Every taxi should be required by law to have a protective shield separating the driver from back-seat passengers. It wouldn't be foolproof, because drivers would still be vulnerable to assaults from outside the car when they roll down the window, but it would protect them from being attacked by surprise from behind. Some cabbies say passengers don't like the look of the shields. Too bad. They'll get used to them. I've been in a couple of cabs that have them, and they didn?t bother me. It costs about $1,000 to install a shield, which is too expensive for many drivers. The government should set up a program to lend cabbies the money, which would be paid back within four years with interest charged at prime or less. The price should also be a tax-deductible business expense. Of course, politicians talk about shields after every serious attack, but nothing ever gets done. They talked about it after Adam Emmanuel Diggs, 17, slashed Michael Tran's throat in 2001, causing Tran to be paralyzed by a massive stroke.They talked about it after Ricardo Whynder, 17, shot Ron Lambert in the back of the head, nearly killing him and leaving him permanently impaired, in 2002. They talked about it after the 17-year- old who was in court yesterday charged with Purcell's second-degree murder stabbed Joginder Singh. But, each time, they did nothing. Look at the result of their inaction. It's impossible to imagine anything more tragic than Kenny Purcell's grandchildren happily unwrapping their Christmas gifts, while he slumped in his car, bleeding to death alone. David Rodenhiser has been writing about cab drivers and convenience store clerks being beaten and murdered since 1989. He lives in Dartmouth +++++++++++++++++++++++ CBC Nova Scotia (Halifax, Nova Scotia) January 18, 2006 Passengers could pay for cabbie safety Last updated Jan 18 2006 03:21 PM AST CBC News A taxi driver from Halifax County says a 25-cent surcharge could help pay for safety equipment in cabs. "I figure that an extra 25 cents out of your pocket to save my life isn't too much," said Hari Boggs, a member of the group that regulates the cab industry in the Halifax region. The taxi and limousine advisory committee met Wednesday in Halifax for the first time since a cabbie was stabbed to death on Christmas Day. Ken Purcell, 62, called his dispatcher for help around 8 a.m., saying he had been stabbed. Police found him in his car in a Dartmouth residential neighbourhood. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Cabbie Ken Purcell was stabbed to death on Christmas Day. Cabbie Ken Purcell was stabbed to death on Christmas Day. The stabbing prompted many people in the taxi industry to think more about safety. The advisory committee quickly amended its agenda, adding a discussion about safety features like protective shields and cameras for cabs. Boggs supports one suggestion to charge passengers 25 cents a ride to pay for the cost of a removable shield, as is the case in Winnipeg. "I'm out there giving a service, picking people up all the time. If it wasn't for cab drivers, then customers would have to take the bus or walk," he said. Derek Mathers, owner of Yellow Cab, said his drivers are concerned about the cost of installing equipment if it becomes mandatory. He wants the decision to be left up to each driver. "Financially, they have to buy these items upfront, and many drivers don't have $1,000, $500 to buy these items," Mathers said. The committee will meet again next month to continuing talking about cab safety. In the meantime, municipal staff will research other examples from North American cities. As members were discussing how to better protect drivers Wednesday, the 17-year-old accused of killing Purcell appeared briefly in court. The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is charged with second-degree murder. He'll spend the next month in jail before returning to court Feb. 21.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
March. 29, 2006
From the Herald
'Dangerous' teen sent away for 90 days
A 17-year-old boy charged with the Christmas Day killing of Dartmouth cabbie Ken Purcell was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in custody on a host of unrelated charges including threatening his parents with a knife.
Commenting on the teen's psychological and presentence reports, Halifax Youth Court Judge Marc Chisholm said it appeared he "is not open to receiving help at this time in his life."
The boy, whose name is banned from publication, had earlier pleaded guilty to 10 offences between April and November 2005. They included threatening his mother and stepfather, possessing a knife for a purpose dangerous to the public, common assault on the young mother of his child, breaking into the home of an ex-girlfriend and violating five court orders.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act allows incarceration only if offences are violent or consistently violate court orders.
Judge Chisholm ruled the threats on the teen's parents with a weapon and the number of court breaches opened the door to jail. The 90-day sentence includes 60 days in the youth facility at Waterville and 30 days under community supervision.
The muscular teen, wearing a black undershirt, blue jeans and a cross on a chain around his neck, picked at his fingernails and muttered to himself and to sheriff's deputies sitting beside him during most of Tuesday's proceedings. He blew a kiss to a relative on entering and leaving court.
At least twice he questioned the accuracy of some of the contents of the presentence and psychological reports.
Judge Chisholm also placed the boy on 12 months probation on the other charges, ordered him to provide a DNA sample to a national databank and barred him from possessing firearms for at least five years.
Crown attorney Terry Nickerson described the teen as an aggressive and "dangerous individual" without remorse who has a substance abuse problem and is involved in a criminal lifestyle. Even his parents considered their son to be "violent," Mr. Nickerson added.
Defence lawyer Joe Cameron said his client hung around with "a negative element" and for the last three years had lived outside the family home. He said some of that time was spent in custody on other matters.
Judge Chisholm described the two court reports as extremely negative, noting the boy is bitter, angry, untruthful, intimidating, manipulative and had learning and behavioural problems at schools before being expelled from Dartmouth High.
He noted the boy's parents believe their son has a mental disorder and no longer want him at home.
The teen faces a preliminary hearing in May on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Mr. Purcell. The 62-year-old driver for Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi died of stab wounds after picking up a passenger in Highfield Park in Dartmouth.
In September 2002, the boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge for stabbing another cab driver in the chest. He was sentenced to 18 months in custody and a year's probation.
---------------------------------
March. 29, 2006
From Daily News
Stabbing suspect has little remorse
COURT - He doesn't suffer from psychosis, hallucinations or delusions. But he is callous, intimidating, deceptive, manipulative, extremely angry and bitter. A young man who feels he's been dealt a bad hand.
Halifax provincial court got a glimpse yesterday into the mental state of the 17-year-old accused in the Christmas Day killing of a Dartmouth cab driver.
The sources of the appalling account are a pre-sentence and psychiatric report. They were presented at the teen's sentencing hearing on previous charges unrelated to the stabbing of Ken Purcell.
The youth fidgeted perpetually in court yesterday. His tight black tank-top exposed an athletic frame with heavily muscled arms. He muttered under his breath throughout the hearing; smiled and smirked occasionally; bowed his head. At times, he paid attention. At others he appeared distracted.
The 10 charges include several breaches, a break and enter into an ex-girlfriend's home and an assault against the mother of his child. The most significant case involves the teen threatening his mother and step-father while brandishing a knife.
In all, he received a 90-day sentence - 60 days in jail with an option to spend the remainder in the community. Probation is to follow.
Crown attorney Terry Nickerson called the psychiatric assessment one of the most negative he'd read. It portrayed a young man with little remorse, who only seems sorry when he gets caught. It appears obvious the teen is dangerous, said Nickerson. The guilty pleas were the only mitigating factors he could find.
The youth's lawyer noted a drug problem and conduct disorder. Joe Cameron said the youth hung out with criminals he now calls snakes.
His mother believes her son is paranoid and might be suffering from a mental disorder, Judge Marc Chisholm said during his remarks. The teen, he said, admitted something is not clicking in my head.
In 2002 the youth, then only 14 years old, drew a knife from his sock and stabbed cab driver Joginder Singh.
He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and released about a year later.
The three-month sentence handed down yesterday is likely a moot point. The youth is currently being held at the Waterville youth facility pending the outcome of his second-degree murder charge. The preliminary inquiry isn't due to begin until May 9.
Chisholm ordered an alcohol and drug prohibition, and said the teen should be offered schooling and vocational training. To this, the youth raised both hands and gave a thumbs up. He blew a kiss to a family member as he left the courtroom.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
May 9, 2006
From Halifax Herald
Inquiry begins into case of teen charged in murder
A preliminary inquiry in the case against the teenager charged with killing Dartmouth cabbie Ken Purcell on Christmas Day started Monday in Halifax youth court.
The 17-year-old, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is charged with second-degree murder.
The 62-year-old driver for Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi died of stab wounds after picking up a passenger in Highfield Park in Dartmouth.
The preliminary inquiry is scheduled to wrap up May 19. Evidence presented at the hearing is banned from publication.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) May 19, 2006 Dartmouth teen pleads guilty to killing cabbie 18-year-old with history of violence "not open to receiving help' judge By BRIAN HAYES Court Reporter A Dartmouth teen who'd already assaulted one taxi driver pleaded guilty Thursday to the Christmas Day slaying of cabbie Ken Purcell. The boy, who turned 18 last month, can't be named because he was a 17-year-old young offender when he killed Dartmouth taxi driver Ken Purcell last Christmas morning. The teen appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for plea after having been committed to trial in youth court earlier this month on the second-degree murder charge. He remains in custody and a sentencing date will be set June 8. Mr. Purcell, a 62-year-old driver for Bob's and Blue Bell Taxi, died of stab wounds after picking up a passenger in Highfield Park in Dartmouth. In September 2002, the teen pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge after stabbing Halifax cabbie Joginder Singh in the chest that month. He was sentenced to 18 months in custody and a year's probation. In March, the boy was sentenced to 90 days on a host of unrelated charges including threatening his parents with a knife. Commenting on the teen's psychological and presentence reports, youth court Judge Marc Chisholm said at sentencing that it appeared "he is not open to receiving help at this time in his life." He described the two reports as extremely negative, noting the boy is bitter, angry, untruthful, intimidating, manipulative and he had learning and behavioural problems at schools before being expelled from Dartmouth High. The judge noted the boy's parents believed their son had a mental problem and no longer wanted him at home. The boy had earlier pleaded guilty to 10 charges laid between April and November 2005. They included threatening his mother and stepfather, possessing a knife, assault on the young mother of his child, breaking into the home of an ex-girlfriend and violating five court orders. The Youth Criminal Justice Act allows incarceration only if offences are violent or consistently violate court orders. Judge Chisholm said the threats the boy had made against his parents with a weapon and the number of court breaches he faced opened the door to him going to jail. The 90-day sentence included 60 days in the youth facility in Waterville and 30 days under community supervision. The boy was also placed on 12 months' probation on the other charges, was ordered to provide a DNA sample to a national database and was barred from possessing weapons for five years. Crown attorney Terry Nickerson described the teen as an "aggressive and dangerous individual" without remorse who has a substance abuse problem and is involved in a criminal lifestyle. Even his parents consider their son to be "violent," he said. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) July 3, 2006 Guilty teen fights adult sentencing Lawyer says law violates rights of 18-year-old who admitted killing Dartmouth cabbie By STEVE BRUCE Staff Reporter A Dartmouth teen who has admitted killing a taxi driver on Christmas Day should not automatically be sentenced as an adult, his lawyer says. Youth Criminal Justice Act provisions that young people who commit certain violent offences be given adult sentences violate his client's charter rights, lawyer Chandra Gosine said Thursday after the 18-year-old made a brief court appearance in Halifax. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge will hear Mr. Gosine's charter application on Jan. 2, with sentencing set for Feb. 5-6. Mr. Gosine said the Crown should have to prove at the February hearing that an adult sentence is necessary for his client, who can't be named because he was 17 when he stabbed Dartmouth cabbie Ken Purcell to death on Christmas morning. "It's a disadvantage for any young person to be in a federal institution," the lawyer said. "They're victimized there. They're raped there. They're beaten up there." The teen pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder. If sentenced as an adult, the teen would face life in prison with no chance of parole for at least seven years, Mr. Gosine said. The sentence as a youth would be seven years, consisting of four years in provincial custody and three years under supervision in the community Mr. Gosine said the youth act's "presumptive offence" provisions requiring adult sentences for murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault have been struck down by appeal courts in Quebec and Ontario but upheld in British Columbia. He said the Supreme Court of Canada has been asked to hear at least one of the cases, but it's unclear when that hearing will happen. In the meantime, Mr. Gosine said, "that is the issue we have to bring before the court here. It hasn't been decided in Nova Scotia yet, so this will be the first opportunity to do so." Crown attorney Terry Nickerson said the contrasting decisions in the other provinces show "it's a live issue across the country. "Because there are different decisions at the court of appeal level, it has to be decided" in the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Nickerson said. "If some other case on the same point were to decide the issue, then our court would be bound by that decision." Mr. Purcell, a 62-year-old driver for Bob's/Blue Bell Taxi, was killed after picking up a passenger in Highfield Park in Dartmouth. Hundreds of mourners, including dozens of cab drivers who arrived in a procession, attended the Jan. 3 funeral. Rev. Owen Connolly told the congregation that forgiveness is the proper response to violence and commended the families of both the victim and the accused for exchanging sympathies in court at the boy's arraignment. Don Purcell, the victim's brother, said Thursday his family understands the reasons for the legal delays, but "we'd like this to be over." He said it's important that members of his family be in court each step of the way. He said he's already written a victim impact statement for the sentencing hearing - "a pretty hard thing to write" - and wants the court to know what kind of a man his brother was. The Dartmouth teen has been in custody since his Dec. 26 arrest and has a lengthy criminal record that includes another assault on a taxi driver. In September 2002, the boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge after stabbing Halifax cabbie Joginder Singh in the chest that month. He was sentenced to 18 months in custody and a year's probation. This past March, he was sentenced to 60 days in custody and 30 days under supervision after pleading guilty to 10 charges, including threatening his parents with a knife. Mr. Nickerson told the youth court judge the teen was an aggressive and dangerous individual without remorse and had a substance abuse problem. The judge said it appeared the boy "is not open to receiving help at this time." But Mr. Gosine said Thursday there is still hope for his client - if he isn't sentenced as an adult and locked up in a federal institution. "He's a very personable, quiet young man," Mr. Gosine said. "Federal prison would be detrimental to his rehabilitation."
++++++++++++++++
Halifax Herald May 16, 2007
Psychologist: Cabbie killer unmoved
Court hears teen has yet to deal with fatal 2005 attack, or 2002 assault
By JENNIFER STEWART Court Reporter
The Dartmouth teenager who repeatedly stabbed Ken Purcell and left him to bleed to death in his taxi in 2005 has yet to come to terms with what he did, a clinical psychologist testified Tuesday.
In fact, Harpreet Aulakh told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Richard Coughlan, the boy has never dealt with what caused him to attack another metro cab driver three years before Mr. Purcell’s death.
"There has been no movement toward understanding what triggers led up to that incident," Ms. Aulakh said, referring to the 2002 aggravated assault on Joginder Singh of Halifax.
The boy served 18 months and one year probation for that incident.
Ms. Aulakh said the 19-year-old, who was 17 when he stabbed Mr. Purcell, was reluctant to talk about the murder during their three sessions together.
Although the teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last May, she said, his ability to take responsibility for his actions was "quite poor."
Mr. Purcell, a father of three grown children, was a cab driver for Bob’s/Blue Bell Taxi when he was stabbed to death by his teenage passenger on Christmas morning in 2005.
The 62-year-old Dartmouth man picked up the boy at a Dartmouth convenience store on Highfield Park Drive at about 7:45 a.m. About a half-hour later near Churchill Drive, Mr. Purcell radioed for help, saying he’d been stabbed repeatedly in the chest.
He was pronounced dead in hospital just before 9 a.m.
Ms. Aulakh said she was able to piece together the teen’s version of events after spending a couple of hours with him.
She said it seems the boy told Mr. Purcell he had only $10 to get to Churchill and asked him to drive quickly. When Mr. Purcell appeared to slow down, she said, the teen became angry.
Ms. Aulakh said the teen also claims Mr. Purcell called him a racial slur, which he said pushed him over the edge.
"Basically, he said he was so angry at that point that he took out the knife and attacked him," she told the judge.
During her assessment, Ms. Aulakh said, she determined there are a number of scenarios that trigger a violent response in the teen, including if he feels threatened or thinks he’s being lied to. His abuse of alcohol and drugs often enhances these feelings, she said.
The Crown argued Tuesday that the teen, who has been in custody at a youth facility since Dec. 26, 2005, has reached a standstill in his rehabilitation. The boy has completed all the anger management courses available and there are no programs geared specifically toward violent young offenders.
That, paired with the savageness of the offence, has Crown attorneys Terry Nickerson and John Feehan pushing for an adult sentence.
As an adult, the teen would face life in prison with no chance of parole for at least seven years, while a youth sentence would mean seven years, consisting of four years in provincial custody and three years under supervision in the community.
Justice Coughlan is expected to make a decision on sentencing today.
( jstewart@herald.ca)
+++++++++++++++++++++
Halifax Herald May 15, 2007
Stiffer penalty for cabbie killer
Judge rejects teen’s bid for youth sentence
By JENNIFER STEWART Court Reporter
A Dartmouth teen’s attempts to secure a youth sentence in the 2005 murder of cab driver Ken Purcell were quashed Monday when a judge dismissed the claim that his rights would be violated if he is sentenced as an adult.
Chandra Gosine, who represents the 19-year-old, recently challenged provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act that state young people who commit violent offences, such as murder, should receive harsher penalties.
Mr. Gosine argued that automatically sentencing his client as an adult would be a violation of his charter rights.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Richard Coughlan disagreed however, and launched right into the three-day sentencing hearing for the teen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last May.
Mr. Purcell, a father of three grown children, was a cab driver for Bob’s/Blue Bell Taxi rl 320 when he was stabbed to death on Christmas morning in 2005.
The 62-year-old Dartmouth man picked up the boy, who was 17 at the time, at a Dartmouth convenience store on Highfield Park Drive at about 7:45 a.m.
About a half an hour later near Churchill Drive, Mr. Purcell radioed for help, saying he had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest.
He was pronounced dead in hospital just before 9 a.m.
Family members and friends of both the teen and Mr. Purcell crowded the courtroom on Monday.
One woman sobbed as Crown attorney John Feehan read the facts of the case to the judge.
The woman clutched two photographs, one of herself with Mr. Purcell, the other of the smiling man alongside a panting dog.
The Crown called four witnesses Monday, including psychologist Stephen Gouthro, who assessed the teen last March.
Mr. Gouthro described the boy as "extremely polite" and "charming," but at the same time said he seemed "quite guarded" about what he wanted to disclose.
"He was trying to present an overly positive picture of himself," Mr. Gouthro told the judge.
The teen, who has been in custody since Dec. 26, 2005, has already served time for another assault on a taxi driver.
In September 2002, the boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge after stabbing Halifax cabbie Joginder Singh in the chest. The boy was sentenced to 18 months in custody and a year’s probation.
The sentencing hearing continues today in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
(jstewart@herald.ca)
++++++++++++++++
May 15, 2007
From The Daily News
Youth may be sentenced as an adult for stabbing cabbie to death at 17 Court
A young man who at 17 killed taxi driver Kenneth Purcell may be sentenced as an adult because of the seriousness of his crime and previous offences.
The man, who is now 19, but cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty last May to second-degree murder after stabbing Purcell multiple times on Christmas Day in 2005.
The defendant appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court yesterday for the first day of his sentencing hearing.
During the Crown attorney's statement of the facts, members of Purcell's family wept quietly.
"John, I've been stabbed 11 times in the lungs," the Crown read from a report that included a conversation between Purcell and the dispatcher at Bob's Taxi on the day he was killed.
Proportionate sentence
Judge Richard Coughlan told the court it would be up to defence attorney Chandrashakhar Gosine to prove his client should be sentenced as a youth, and not an adult.
"A sentence should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the responsibility of the young person," Coughlan said.
He said young people are sometimes sentenced as adults in the interest of protecting the public or when the facts warrant a more severe penalty.
The young man was previously convicted, at the age of 14, in the 2002 stabbing of Casino Taxi driver Joginder Singh.
During yesterday's trial, Crown counsel called psychologist Stephen Gouthro, who met with the defendant several times in March 2006 to administer psychological tests.
The psychologist described the young man as hostile, resentful and mistrustful of others.
He said he portrayed himself in an unrealistically favourable light and had difficulty acknowledging basic human faults and weaknesses.
In his final analysis, Gouthro told the court he considered the young man a high risk to re-offend.
"He demonstrated little remorse for the charges he was facing at that time," he said.
Forensic psychiatrist Aileen Brune assessed the defendant during the same time period.
She went into extensive detail about his history of substance abuse with ecstasy, cocaine, alcohol and anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium.
She said the young man seemed to have a conduct disorder that presented itself in repeated violations of social norms and the rights of others, but there were not sufficient signs that he suffered from any sort of mental illness.
Good behaviour
Brune told the court the defendant behaved well while in custody at a Nova Scotia youth facility.
"The fact that he's been behaving well there ... suggests that he will continue doing so," she said.
The defendant, clad in sweat pants and a basketball shirt, sat relaxed, smiling and winking at a young woman sitting in the back row of the courtroom throughout the day's hearing.
She smiled back, and when court was adjourned for the day, he blew her a kiss.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CBC Nova Scotia (Halifax, Nova Scotia) June 14, 2007 Widow urges adult sentence for cabbie killer Last Updated: Thursday, June 14, 2007 | 11:01 AM AT CBC News A Nova Scotia woman hopes the teenager who stabbed her cab- driver husband to death in Dartmouth will be sentenced as an adult. A judge is considering how to sentence the 19-year-old man, who was 17 at the time he killed Ken Purcell in December 2005. But there were more delays in court Wednesday and the sentencing hearing will resume later in June. "The system is taking too long because I don't think it's taking into consideration what we are going through," Purcell's widow, Kelly-Anne Goode, said Wednesday. Purcell picked up his last customer at a convenience store in Dartmouth early Christmas morning. A fight ensued and Purcell was stabbed 14 times. He died a short time later. The teen, who cannot be named due to his age at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty in 2006 to second-degree murder. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Richard Coughlan must decide whether the teen should be sentenced as a youth, which would mean four years in jail, or as an adult, which means a minimum of seven years. The teen's previous convictions are key to that decision. When he was 14, the boy went to youth jail for stabbing a cab driver, who survived the attack, the judge has heard. The teen, who claims he stabbed Purcell after the cabbie used a racial slur, also has a history of alcohol and substance abuse, court was told. A psychologist has testified he is a high risk to reoffend. The defence asked the court Wednesday to hear new information about programs available for the teenager in various jails, causing more delays and frustration for Purcell's widow. Goode said she doesn't believe a new program is going to work for the teen. "It's tying up court time," she said. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) July 18, 2007 Judge quashes subpoena by cabbie killer's lawyer By JENNIFER STEWART Court Reporter A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday that a Correctional Service Canada employee will not be forced to testify in the sentencing of the Dartmouth teenager responsible for murdering cabbie Ken Purcell. Justice Richard Coughlan quashed a subpoena that would have compelled Kent Merlin to give evidence on 19 young offenders who were sentenced as adults for first- or second-degree murder. "The proposed evidence does not help me," Justice Coughlan said. Chandra Gosine, who is representing the 19-year- old who stabbed Mr. Purcell to death two years ago, had requested a wide range of information from Mr. Merlin, including the names and arrest dates of each of the 19 offenders, how many times each has applied for parole, the number of times each one was denied or granted parole and the total number of deaths in federal institutions across the country. Darlene Lamey, representing the federal Justice Department, argued that the information Mr. Gosine was seeking was irrelevant to this teen's sentencing. She also pointed out that Mr. Merlin would not be able to access most of the information because of privacy laws. Provincial Crown attorney John Feehan took the argument further, suggesting that the subpoena was "a fishing expedition" that could delay the sentencing process for months. A sentencing hearing for the teen, who was 17 when he committed the crime, began in May, although charter arguments were heard as far back as June 2006. Mr. Purcell was a driver for Bob's/Blue Bell Taxi when he was stabbed to death on Christmas morning in 2005. The 62-year-old father of three picked up his teenage passenger at a convenience store on Highfield Park Drive in Dartmouth at about 7:45 a.m. The pair got into an argument over the $15 fare on the way to a Churchill Drive residence. The fight ended with the teen stabbing Mr. Purcell repeatedly in the chest and taking off. The teen was arrested a day later and charged with first-degree murder. The Crown later dropped the charge to second-degree murder, and the boy pleaded guilty in May 2006. The Crown is pushing for an adult sentence, which would mean life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years. Mr. Gosine wants a youth sentence, which would mean four years in provincial custody followed by three years under supervision in the community. Justice Coughlan will hear closing arguments Aug. 21. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) August 22, 2007 Teen killer gets life 19-year-old who stabbed cab driver will be eligible for parole in 7 years By JENNIFER STEWART Court Reporter | 5:25 AM They sat on opposite sides of the courtroom for months, but two families thrown together by the murder of a Dartmouth cab driver two years ago shared tearful hugs Tuesday after the fate of the teenage killer was finally decided. The quiet 19-year-old with a dimpled smile was sentenced as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years for the brutal stabbing death of Kenneth James Purcell on Christmas morning in 2005. "I know it's wrong, what I did," the Dartmouth teenager, who cannot be named, told Justice Richard Coughlan when given a chance to speak in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. "I take full responsibility." The teenager then glanced in the direction of the Purcell family, seated across the courtroom. "I?m sorry for what happened," he said. "I messed up." Normally, when an adult sentence is imposed on a young offender, the person's identity can be released. However, defence lawyer Chandra Gosine requested a new publication ban that would extend until the end of the 30-day appeal period. Lawyers for several media organizations, including The Chronicle Herald, argued the application. But Justice Coughlan granted an interim ban, which could be lifted as early as Aug. 31. It's been more than a year since the teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sparing his family and Mr. Purcell?s the pain of a trial. The sentencing process has still taken months, due mostly to a charter application by Mr. Gosine and the lengthy list of witnesses who testified on everything from the teenager?s psychological and drug problems to the programs available to inmates at youth, provincial and federal institutions. Mr. Gosine had been pushing for a youth sentence for his client, who was 17 when he committed the crime. The penalty would have meant four years in provincial custody, then three years under supervision in the community. Justice Coughlan went with the Crown?s recommendation of an adult sentence of life, noting that a youth sentence does not provide the time or flexibility to deal with the teen?s extensive problems. "The evidence is clear, if (the teen) responds to treatment, it could take years," the judge said in his decision. Mr. Gosine called the adult sentence "harsh and excessive" and plans to appeal the decision. The teenager, who suffers from paranoid personality disorder, has had numerous run-ins with the law since he began drinking and doing drugs at age 13. He has previous convictions for break and enter, uttering threats, possession of a weapon, possession of cocaine and numerous assault offences. Probably the most disturbing was in 2002, when the teen stabbed another cab driver, Joginder Singh, once in the chest. He served 18 months and one year probation for the aggravated assault. Clinical psychologist Harpreet Aulakh, who interviewed the teen, testified in May that the boy has yet to come to terms with why he attacked either of the men. The court also heard evidence that on Dec. 24, 2005, the teenager had told a friend that he was waiting for someone to "cross him," so he could shoot or stab the person. The teen said he liked the feel of the knife going in and out of the cab driver, referring to the assault on Mr. Singh. On Dec. 25, 2005, at 7:26 a.m., the teenager was caught on tape entering a convenience store on Highfield Park Drive in Dartmouth. He called Bob?s/Blue Bell for a taxi and was picked up by Mr. Purcell at 7:45. On the way to a Churchill Court address, the teenager got into an argument with Mr. Purcell over the $15 fare. He then stabbed Mr. Purcell repeatedly in the chest and left the father of three to bleed to death. Mr. Purcell was pronounced dead in hospital just before 9 a.m. Crown attorney Terry Nickerson opted not to play the 911 tape of Mr. Purcell?s call for help, when he reported being "stabbed 11 times in the lungs by a black man." The medical examiner later determined that Mr. Purcell suffered between 14 and 16 stab wounds. After the decision, members of Mr. Purcell's family hugged and comforted the teen's mother, who broke down in tears outside the courtroom. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ CBC Nova Scotia (Canada) August 29, 2007 Teen appeals adult sentence for killing cabbie Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 | 10:29 AM AT CBC News A 19-year-old Dartmouth man who killed a cabbie on Christmas Day 2005 wants his sentence reduced. The teen, who can't be named under a temporary publication ban, was sentenced last week as an adult to life in prison with no parole eligibility for seven years on a charge of second-degree murder. Defence lawyer Chandra Gosine has filed an appeal of his client's sentence with the province's highest court. Gosine wants the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to substitute a youth sentence, which would mean less time in jail for his client and more access to treatment programs. The teen stabbed taxi driver Ken Purcell, 62, 14 times in a dispute over the fare for a cab ride from Highfield Park to Churchill Drive in Dartmouth at about 7:45 a.m. Christmas morning. The teenager has been in custody since being arrested and charged with Purcell's death the day after the stabbing. He pleaded guilty in May 2006. The sentence was handed down by Justice Richard Coughlan last week. Crown attorneys pushed for the teen to be sentenced as an adult because a youth sentence would have meant only four years in jail. At the time, Kelly-Anne Goode, Purcell's girlfriend, said the sentence was appropriate given the brutality of the crime. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Halifax News Aug 29.2007 Teen convicted of cabbie stabbing appeals sentence RICHARD CUTHBERTSON The teen who killed cab driver Kenneth Purcell is appealing his adult sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years. Documents filed Monday list eight grounds of appeal that seek to overturn the adult sentence and replace it with a youth sentence. No date has yet been set for the case to be heard in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Two of the grounds deal with the issue of reverse onus. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the most severe offences, such as murder and manslaughter, are considered presumptive. That means a young person automatically receives an adult sentence for such crimes, unless they can prove why a youth sentence should be imposed. During the sentencing hearing, the teen's lawyer, Chandra Gosine, argued such reverse-onus provisions are unconstitutional. Gosine said the onus should be on the Crown to prove why a youth should receive an adult sentence. Justice Richard Coughlan disagreed, and ruled the provision should stand. Purcell was stabbed to death in his cab on Christmas morning in 2005. The teen pleaded guilty to second degree murder last year. He was sentenced last week. In sentencing the teen as an adult, Coughlan said that a youth sentence simply wasn't long enough to hold the teen accountable. The appeal of the adult sentence says that Coughlan was wrong when he found the Crown had proven the teen needed an adult sentence: "The sentence is clearly inappropriate given the circumstances of the offence and the circumstances of the offender," reads the appeal. In an interview yesterday, Gosine said there are other cases of teens being charged with second-degree murder who received a youth sentence. A youth sentence for second-degree murder amounts to seven years: four of those are spent in custody, with the remainder under supervision in the community. The teen's name is currently under a publication ban. The ban was extended by Coughlan after the youth was sentenced last week. Lawyers from various media organizations are planning to argue against the ban on Friday. rcuthbertson@hfxnews.ca ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) September 29, 2007 Ban lifted on cabbie killer's name By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter The Dartmouth teenager who killed taxi driver Ken Purcell on Christmas Day 2005 can now be named. Until now, the media could not identify Garmen Davison Smith. But that all changed Thursday when a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal judge dismissed an application for a new publication ban on Mr. Smith's identity until an appeal of his sentence is decided. His appeal is set for Feb. 13, 2008. Mr. Smith, now 19, was 17 when he stabbed Mr. Purcell to death in Dartmouth. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May 2006 and, under provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced last month as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years. On Sept. 20, Mr. Smith?s lawyer, Chandra Gosine, had argued that removing the ban now would harm the teen's chances of rehabilitation if he wins his appeal and is given a youth sentence. But media lawyers argued that the evidence to back up that argument just doesn?t exist. Mr. Purcell, a father of three grown children who drove for Bob's/Blue Bell Taxi, was stabbed after he and the teen got into an argument over a $15 fare. The teen stabbed Mr. Purcell at least 14 times in the chest before fleeing. He was arrested the following day and has been behind bars ever since.
This news digest is for informative purposes only. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings on this site are made available without profit for research and education.
[ Back to top ]