LINDSAY TRIAL: Killer returns to Kamloops courtroom
The son of a former Edmonton police chief who last week admitted under oath to murdering his girlfriend in Alberta last summer will return to a Kamloops courtroom on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
Mark Lindsay stood trial last week in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on charges of aggravated assault, robbery and possession of a dangerous weapon — all of which stemmed from a September 2011 incident in which the 25-year-old admittedly stabbed an undercover RCMP officer in Barriere.
The undercover Mountie was attempting to gain Lindsay’s trust as part of a Mr. Big operation — elaborate stings designed to convince suspects to confess to crimes.
Lindsay was being targeted because police suspected he was involved in the disappearance of his former girlfriend, Dana Turner.
Turner, 31, went missing in Edmonton on Aug. 14, 2011 — two days after Lindsay finished serving a 50-day jail sentence for stabbing her in the head with a paring knife.
In court last week, Lindsay admitted to murdering Turner and to stabbing the undercover Mountie.
He also confessed on the stand to stabbing his Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre cellmate, 21-year-old Michel Fougere, twice in the same eye — the crime for which he is slated to stand trial this week.
According to Lindsay’s testimony, all of the stabbings could be attributed to a group of serial killers that had been trying to kill him for three years.
He said Turner and the undercover Mountie were both members of the group, as was Fougere’s father.
Lindsay also spoke about “psychic communications” and phone calls from the serial killers.
Based on those statements, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley ordered Lindsay to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether the motive for the attack on the undercover officer can be attributed to a mental disorder.
Court heard a similar order is expected to be made following this week’s trial.
Lindsay would then undergo a 30-day in-custody assessment at a psychiatric hospital in Port Coquitlam.
If doctors find Lindsay to have been suffering a mental disorder at the time of the stabbings, Dley could find him not criminally responsible by way of a mental disorder.
He would then be handed over to the B.C. Review Board for disposition.
Lindsay is also charged with second-degree murder in Alberta for Turner’s death.
He is slated to appear in a Red Deer courtroom for a preliminary inquiry in January.
Father breaks silence
Lindsay’s father — a former Edmonton police chief and current deacon in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton — broke his silence and issued a statement on the weekend, asking for prayers for the families of everyone involved.
The statement, signed by John Lindsay and his wife, Louise, states the family is “greatly saddened” by the events, and by the details laid out at the Kamloops Law Courts last week.
“Please pray for Dana, her mother and family, and all those who mourn her,” the statement reads.
“Please also pray for everyone else affected by what has happened, and for our son Mark and our family.”
None of Lindsay’s family members have been present at any of his court appearances in Kamloops, dating back to September 2011 and including last week’s trial.
In the statement, the Lindsays say they love their son, but have been unable to attend court due to illness.
The entire statement can be read online at kamloopsthisweek.com.
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