Mystery Illness on Train Claims One Life, 6 Others Being Treated

UPDATED:

A Via Rail passenger train, en route from Vancouver to Toronto, Canada is under quarantine, after a 60-year-old woman died from a mysterious flu-like ailment. Another passenger was airlifted to hospital, while five others with similar symptoms are being treated on the train.

“However, the death of the 60-year-old woman does not appear to be connected to the other six passengers who became ill, said Rob Knox, detachment commander at the Ontario Provincial Police in South Porcupine.”

I can’t wait to find out what happened here. I originally suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, but that’s obviously not the case.

Constable Marc Depatie said in an interview that officials were still trying to determine what caused the illnesses on the train and how they are linked to the fatality. “We don’t know if the element is viral or bacterial or a case of food poisoning.”

We’ll find out eventually, I hope.

The train was carrying 246 passengers and 30 crew members.

[sources: City News and The Globe and Mail]

Update: Josef Fritzl Wanted to Keep Elisabeth Away from Bad Influences

“The twisted mind of Josef Fritzl has been laid bare in a prison interview in which he defends the 24-year imprisonment and rape of his daughter Elisabeth.”

These are the highlights:

“I grew up in the Nazi times, and that meant the need to be controlled and respect authority. Yet, despite that, I am not the monster that I am portrayed as in the media.”

On Planning the Crime:
“I guess it must have been around 1981 or 1982 when I began to build a room in my cellar as the cell for her. I got a really heavy concrete and steel door, that worked with an electric motor and a remote control that I used to get into the cellar. It needed a number code to open and close. I then plastered the walls, added something to wash in and a small toilet, a bed and a cooking ring, as well as the fridge, electricity and lights.”

On Why He Imprisoned Elisabeth:
“Ever since she entered puberty, Elisabeth stopped doing what she was told. She just did not follow any of my rules any more. She would go out all night in local bars and come back stinking of alcohol and smoke. She even ran away twice and hung around with persons of questionable moral standards, who were certainly not a good influence on her. I always had to bring her home, but she always ran away again. That is why I had to arrange a place where I gave her the chance—by force—to keep away from the bad influences of the outside world.”

On Raping Elisabeth:
“I knew that Elisabeth did not want the things I did to her. I knew that I was hurting her, but the urge to finally be able to taste the forbidden fruit was too strong. It was like an addiction.”

On Letting Elisabeth Go:
“With every week that I kept my daughter prisoner, my situation just got more crazy, and, really, it is true, I often thought of whether I should let her out or not. But I just was not capable of making a decision, even though, and probably because, I knew that every day that passed made my crime that much worse.”

“But I was afraid of being arrested and of having my family and everyone out there find out about my crime—and so I postponed my decision again and again. Until one day it was really too late to free Elisabeth and take her upstairs.”

On Elisabeth’s First Pregnancy:
“Elisabeth was, of course, very worried about the future, but I bought her medical books in the cellar, so that she would know when the day came what she had to do, and I arranged towels and disinfectants and nappies.”

On His Cellar Family:
“In reality I wanted to have children with her. I was looking forward to the offspring. It was a beautiful idea for me—to have a proper family, also down in the cellar, with a good wife and a couple of children.”

“After the birth of Felix at the end of 2002, I even gave Elisabeth a washing machine as a present so she did not have to wash her own clothes and that of the children by hand.”

“I always knew over 24 years what I did was not correct, and that I must be mad to do something like this. Yet despite that, at the same time, it just became a matter of course that I lived my second life in the cellar.”

“I am sorry to say I did tell them that they would never get past the door because they would be electrocuted and they would die.”

On His 1967 Rape Conviction:
“I do not know what drove me to do that. … It’s really true I do not know why I did it. I always wanted to be a good husband and a good father.”

Read the rest here and here.

Also see my previous posts:
Man Keeps Daughter in Cellar for 24 Years, Fathers 7 Children

Update: Elisabeth Fritzl “Mentally and Physically Frail”

Josef Fritzl: More Details Emerge

Elisabeth Fritzl Forced to Complete Her Own Dungeon

Woman Gets Job Back after being Fired from Donut Chain for Giving Baby a Free Timbit

An “overzealous” (read: idiot) Tim Hortons manager in London, Ontario fired Nicole Lilliman on Wednesday, for giving the 11-month-old child of a regular customer one free Timbit—or “a blob of dough”—as Jennifer O’Brien of cnews, so aptly put it.

But the single mother of four, who’s been employed by the donut chain for three years, was reinstated today, after Tim Hortons’ head office intervened. However, she’ll now be working at a different location.

“I have been fired for giving a baby a Timbit,” she said. “It was just out of my heart—she was pointing and going ‘ah, ah. . .’ I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy.”

Apparently, “Timbits [sometimes called donut holes in the US] are often doled out to dogs and children,” and Ms. Lilliman had completely forgotten about the incident, until she was called into the manager’s office two days later.

Unbelievably, she was ambushed by THREE managers who said she’d been caught on video, giving free food to a child. (According to some reports, Timbits sell for about 16 cents each.)

Then they fired her for THEFT!

Anyway… glad to see she got her job back.

[story sources: theglobeandmail.com and cnews]

[photo source: timhortons.com]

Cat with Cancer was Rotting to Death - Owner Pleads Guilty

Misty was dying of cancer. She had a large open wound on her neck and was literally rotting to death.

But 47-year-old Raymond Lewis Power, of Edmonton, Canada says he “loved” his cat so much, he didn’t want to have her euthanized—despite the horrific agony she was obviously in.

What a callous and stupid man.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Some people have no business owning animals or having children.

According to media reports of the trial, in May 2005, Mr. Power took his 18- or 19-year-old cat Misty to the vet, because she had an open wound on her neck (about the size of a quarter). Mr. Power was told she likely had cancer, and to return with Misty if her wound didn’t heal.

But Mr. Power did not return, even though, by March 2006 “the open wound was the size of a fist, the cat’s trachea was exposed and rotting” and was emitting a nasty odour.

Finally, Mr. Power took Misty to the Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) and left her there to be euthanized.

Because of Misty’s “huge open wound,” which had obviously been festering for quite some time, the EHS called in animal abuse investigators.

During his trial, Mr. Power denied knowing that his cat had been suffering. But, after being shown photos of her rotting wound, he changed his story.

Mr. Power pleaded guilty to “causing or permitting distress to an animal” and…
- was fined $500 under the Animal Protection Act;
- was put on probation for one year;
- is required to perform 40 hours of community service;
- must seek treatment and counselling; and
- is banned from having any pets for five years.

The judge recommended that Mr. Power’s community service be with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and said…

… it is important to prosecute and punish pet abusers because the animals cannot communicate or get themselves help, and therefore they need protection.”

No kidding.

[story source: cnews; cat poster from allposters.com]

Elisabeth Fritzl Forced to Complete Her Own Dungeon

[above photos: young Elisabeth and young Josef]

More and more information is coming to light about poor Elisabeth’s never-ending nightmare.

An article in the mirror.co.uk reports that:

“Josef Fritzl forced daughter Elisabeth to help create the vile dungeon where he kept her as a sex slave for 24 years. As he neared [the dungeon's] completion, Fritzl forced his daughter to help him drag a 300 kg [661lb] concrete and steel door to the cellar. She was then drugged and handcuffed as he fitted it into place. It was only when she woke up manacled to a pole, alone and in the darkness, that the terrible truth dawned on her.”

“Elisabeth, 42, told police she was kept in a single room for the first nine years of her captivity where their children had to watch as Fritzl repeatedly raped her.”

For months she was kept on a dog-lead chained to a wall.

She “banged on the walls and screamed until she could no longer speak. Only when she needed the toilet did Fritzl free her from the shackles.”

“Elisabeth told officers how she quaked with fear every time she heard the door click as her dad came down for his vile sex sessions. He beat her if she struggled, so she soon stopped putting up a fight.”

When she became pregnant with Kerstin in 1989, he refused to take her to hospital.

Police believe Fritzl was planning to expand his dungeon and build “punishment cells” for his prisoners.

[Elisabeth's mother Rosemarie (holding baby), Elisabeth circled on the right, next to her brother Josef Jr.]

[Photos from dailymail.co.uk.]

Christian Pastor Charged with Sex Crimes

Yet another example of a “man of God” abusing his power and leading a double life…

Cnews reported today that an 18-year-old Canadian woman says Daniel Cormier, “the head of an obscure Christian church in Montreal” began sexually abusing her when she was just nine years old.

Crazy Cormier is claiming he married the girl on her 10th birthday.

He is also charged with sexually abusing another child.

Read the full story here.

Josef Fritzl: More Details Emerge

Various sources are reporting that Josef Fritzl is possibly being investigated for an unsolved rape and murder of a teenage girl, who disappeared in 1986—her body found wrapped in plastic and dumped at a lake, close to where Josef and Rosemarie owned a campsite and guesthouse.

Josef may also have had a prior rape conviction in the 1960s.

Furthermore, some are speculating he may have had an accomplice in his daughter’s captivity. Apparently, police had received an anonymous tip, saying Josef had imprisoned his daughter. But, from what I’ve read, it isn’t clear when, during the past 24 years, this tip was actually received, nor when it was investigated. Police say, “neither technical nor biological traces of any other person [were found] in [the] cellar.”

Also, since Josef spent three weeks in Thailand in 1994, he may have required someone else to feed his prisoners while he was away. Plus, the door to the dungeon weighed 300kg, so it is assumed he would have needed help hinging it into place.

The dungeon contained a generator for electricity, a washing machine, a freezer, and an oven. Apparently, Josef spent hours there watching videos with the children, while Elisabeth cooked.

Elisabeth has divulged that, prior to being imprisoned, Josef began sexually abusing her at the age of 11, raping her in the cellar, in his car, and during walks in the forest. She even ran away from home a couple of times, but was returned to her sadistic father by police.

When she turned 18, Josef drugged her, dragged her into the cellar, and handcuffed her to a metal pole; keeping her in the dark for weeks—visiting only to rape her or provide her with food.

According to CNN. com, Josef’s sister-in-law has disclosed that every day at nine in the morning Josef would go into the cellar and often remain there all night, telling his wife he was working on engineering plans.

The released children did not have any books, and are said to communicate with noises that are “a mixture of growling and cooing.” They are anaemic, have weakened immune systems, vitamin D deficiencies, and cramped posture.

Sources say, when five-year-old Felix saw the moon he pointed to it and said: “Is that God up there?” When he first saw a cow, he made excited gurgling sounds, and when he saw the sun, he made a squeaking sound and covered his eyes.

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, but I get the feeling little Felix is going to recover and lead a normal life.

[sources: telegraph.co.uk; independent.co.uk; CNN.com]

[photo source: Josef in Thailand, timesonline.co.uk]

[see my previous posts: "Man Keeps Daughter in Cellar for 24 Years, Fathers 7 Children" and "Update: Elisabeth Fritzl Mentally and Physically Frail."]