In by far the most contemporaneous of my case studies, I have been researching the case of Shawn Lamb, a man charged, but not yet convicted, of serial murders.
The Shawn Lamb case is also a hotbed of communications between Lamb himself and the media, and has proved to be an incredibly interesting area of research.
Native American-born Lamb was born Darrell Dokus on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reservation near Ontario in 1959 according to information found recently by CBS News. He was, however, removed from the care of his teenage mother at a very young age and placed into a non-aboriginal foster family.
This was part of a government programme which took place in the early sixties, in order to “give aboriginal children a better way of life.” This programme has since been widely criticised and no longer exists, but it certainly left a legacy on the newly-baptised Shawn Lamb.
Lamb is reported as having suffered physical, sexual, and psychological abuse throughout his childhood, and attempted suicide at just 10 years old, when he mixed a handful of painkillers with soda.
He also started drinking at the age of nine, and had developed into a very heavy drinker by the time he reached his 16th birthday.
He was a constant runaway, and absconded from his foster home many times, before dropping out of high school in the tenth grade.
His late teenage years were awash with drug addictions (heroin and cocaine) and petty crime. His life continued on this downward spiral and he spent much of his twenties and thirties behind bars.
2008 was a turning point for Lamb, as he discovered his aboriginal roots, and was granted an Indian status card. This was also around the time that Lamb made his first approaches to the press.
He wrote the first of four letters to journalist Colleen Simard, detailing his past and giving information regarding his newly found roots. Despite the tragic story of his life, nothing was to come of this, or any of his letters, until his eventual arrest for the murders of three women.
The main thing that struck a chord with Colleen Simard was a visit he paid to her in her offices a few months after she received the letters.
I have chosen to tell the story of this visit using Colleen’s own words from her excellent article “Alone with Shawn Lamb” which appeared recently in the Winnipeg Free Press.
Was it the same Shawn Lamb I’d met?
There were two reasons why I remembered him: his 2008 letter to me and his visit.
The letter was an 11-page “story of my life.” It detailed a childhood of severe abuse, foster care and jail.
He was part of the ’60s scoop that put thousands of aboriginal children into CFS care. He said he found out about his Ojibwa and Chipewayan heritage 11 years before and found hope in native spirituality.
He said he was going to try living a positive life once he got out of jail.
I think it was a few months later when Lamb paid me a visit at my office on Selkirk Avenue where I was publishing Urban NDN.
It was a sunny day and I was alone. I thought he was my son coming up the stairs.
Lamb looked like an ordinary white guy. I thought he had the wrong address until he introduced himself.
He was friendly enough but had that tense, “just got out of jail,” vibe. He kept looking around as if he expected someone to come up behind him.
I was a little surprised by his fair appearance and long, scruffy, dirty blonde hair. But he was unassuming and polite.
At the time, he didn’t seem much taller than me. He looked taller in news photos now, making me doubt it was him.
He made me a little nervous. It wasn’t the ex-con thing; I’ve known many jailbirds throughout the years. I’ve just learned to always be on guard when I’m alone with a man — even if it’s just for an elevator ride.
I was uneasy but made sure he didn’t notice. I played it cool. We talked a bit about his past and what he was doing now. He said he was taking a class somewhere down the street.
Then he did something that worried me. He said he had something to show me and turned away to dig in his bag.
Oh great, I thought — he’s going to pull out a knife or something creepy.
I glanced at my desk. I decided I’d whip my stapler at him if he tried anything.
I was relieved when he just pulled out a book and some papers. The book was about his home reserve and its history.
He showed me a few pages and spoke proudly of his heritage.
We talked about his letter. He told me he was still afraid to visit his birth family on the rez. I told him he should go in spite of the difficulty, that he had an important story to tell and should think about writing a book.
I kept hoping someone would show up. Eventually, my son came in.
Lamb told me he had to get going. It bothered me that he took his bag but forgot his book. He never came back for it.
That’s all I remember.
— — —
My mind was racing. Was it really the accused serial killer I met that day?
I locked my doors and sat glued to the news all day.
Finally a photo of the suspect appeared. It looked like the guy but I wasn’t 100 per cent sure. If I could find that letter I’d know for sure.
— — —
More facts about Lamb unravelled in the news and they matched what I remembered.
The next day, I started digging around in my basement, tearing boxes of papers and files apart. I’d done some major recycling and threw out a bunch of Urban NDN stuff.
Maybe I threw away the letter Lamb — or whoever that guy was — had written to me.
I was about to give up when I spotted a stack of boxes tucked away in a corner.
There it was. A name jumped right off the page: Shawn Lamb. The hairs on my arm stood on end and I half-ran, half-stumbled upstairs. There was no denying it now.
“Was it him?” my son asked.
“Yes,” I said.
I started reading. There were four letters in total. I couldn’t believe it. My mind is still boggled today. What would have happened if my son hadn’t shown up?
My heart goes out to the families of those three lost young women.
If there’s a lesson to be learned from meeting an alleged serial killer it is this: He was just like anybody you’d meet, and he could have been anyone.
Please trust your instincts, even if you think you might look foolish. Take care of yourself, and never trust anyone completely. You could meet someone today and not have a clue about what they are capable of.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/alone-with-shawn-lamb-160934265.html
This fascinating article shows a side of Shawn Lamb which few people have ever seen, the bewildered and lost man searching for his roots.
However, there is another, less pitiful side to Lamb.
This is a man with 109 convictions, many for robbery, theft, assault, threatening behaviour and fraud. Despite his plight to find his past, his present was extremely violent.
He also served four years for a sexual assault, a crime which he was to commit again in 2011.
This time, his crime bore traits which rang bells across the law enforcement community as being extremely similar to those seen in a trio of killings in Manitoba, Winnipeg.
Lorna Blacksmith, 18, was found fairly recently in a yard on Simcoe Street, Manitoba, she was allegedly killed in January 2012.
Lamb has also been charged with the December 2011 killing of 25-year-old Carolyn Sinclair, whose body was discovered in March.
The third victim, Tanya Nepinak, was reportedly killed last September. Her remains haven’t been found.
Since his interrogation and arrest, Lamb has, again, turned to the press to tell his story. He made a phone call from his remand centre to the Winnipeg Free Press to claim that he is innocent of a number of other murders linked to him by police, but would not give a direct answer as to whether he was guilty of the three murders for which he is charged.
Once again, I will let the Winnipeg Free Press take up the tale, this time in a fascinating article by Mike McIntyre.
Accused serial killer Shawn Lamb says he knows what triggered a massive Winnipeg police sweep of downtown and West End yards, buildings and Dumpsters.
“I imagine they’re out there looking for one thing. They’re looking for bodies,” Lamb told the Free Press Thursday in an exclusive 20-minute telephone interview from the remand centre. “They have a list with so many names on it.”
But Lamb — who was charged this week with killing three young Winnipeg women in the past nine months — denied suggestions he could be linked to any other unsolved homicides in Winnipeg or across Canada.
“I’ve given them voluntary DNA, not to include myself but to exclude myself,” he said. “The police are going to say what they’re going to say.”
Lamb, 52, was arrested last Thursday on a sex-assault charge against a 36-year-old woman. He spent more than 48 hours in custody, going through a grilling marathon interrogation with homicide investigators, before the three charges of second-degree murder were laid.
“The main thing for me is the victims. There are many people who are suffering out there,” Lamb told the Free Press. He said police likely also want to show “their goodwill” to the community by making such a public display of their search.
Police discovered the body of one of Lamb’s alleged victims, Lorna Blacksmith, 18, in a yard on Simcoe Street last Thursday. She was allegedly killed in January. Lamb has also been charged with the December 2011 killing of 25-year-old Carolyn Sinclair, whose body was discovered in March.
The third victim, Tanya Nepinak, was reportedly killed last September. Her remains haven’t been found.
Lamb said police also confronted him with the names of dozens of other young Manitoba women who have been killed or have gone missing.
There are also ongoing investigations in other provinces to determine whether Lamb, a drifter, could be connected to any cold cases.
“I hope everyone who’s responsible will be caught,” said Lamb. He was asked to clarify if that meant there are many killers still walking the streets.
“Exactly,” he replied. “It’s a sad thing for the victims and their loved ones. There are so many questions.”
Lamb was specifically asked if he plans to fight the allegations he killed Blacksmith, Sinclair and Nepinak. He refused to give a direct answer.
“I’m definitely going to fight to make sure this is done properly,” said Lamb. He said that means his “charter rights” must be upheld, but he offered no further details.
Lamb said he was speaking to the Free Press without the consent of his defence lawyer, Evan Roitenberg. He decried the conditions at the remand centre, where he is confined to a maximum-security segregated cell 23½ hours per day.
“I know I’m not getting out of here any time soon,” said Lamb. “I don’t have a radio, I’m last on the list to get a newspaper. I get out for half an hour a day to shower and use the phone, that’s it.”
His conversation with the Free Press had to be cut short because his daily allotment of time outside the segregated cell was about to expire.
Still, Lamb expressed concern about some of the limited news coverage he’s been able to catch, wondering why media outlets are focusing so much on his tragic background.
As reported earlier this week, Lamb has 99 prior convictions dating back to 1976 in four provinces and 11 cities. They include multiple acts of violence, meaning he has spent much of his adult years in and out of custody. His most serious sentence was four years for a sexual assault in Peace River, Alta., in 1992.
The Free Press has also published excerpts of Lamb’s various writings, parole reports and court-ordered assessments into his background.
They paint a picture of a highly intelligent man with bipolar disorder who harbours anger over neglect and abuse he says he experienced at the hands of several important women in his life.
Lamb also expressed interest in writing a self-help book and working with at-risk youth to steer them toward a better life. He admits to struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.
Lamb was seized from his now-deceased biological mother’s care at the age of two as part of the Sixties Scoop, taken from his First Nations community and raised by a white family in Ontario. He claims his foster mother, who is no longer alive, sexually and physically abused him while also introducing him to alcohol when he was nine.
He makes similar claims against his estranged stepsister, saying she molested him as a young child.
Lamb told the Free Press Thursday he was recently able to visit the grave of his birth mother for the first time during a visit to Ontario last month.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/theyre-looking-for-bodies-160801085.html
Is Shawn Lamb a serial killer? Or is he a convenient scapegoat for the police and public? Only his eventual trial will confirm either theory.
One thing is for sure. This is a man who knows how to use the press to his advantage.
This article will be updated as and when any new information is released.
Many thanks to the Winnipeg Free Press.
This video shows the original news broadcast of the arrest of Shawn Lamb.
Red Ink Letters 