Victim of cross-dressing Air Force One commander who raped and murdered two women speaks about her ordeal

Victim of cross-dressing Air Force One commander who raped and murdered two women speaks about her ordeal

 

As her attacker faces having to spend the rest of his life in jail, Laurie Massicotte speaks on TV for the first time about the night of the attack and her relief that she wasn't one of the ones who was killed.

Russell Williams was sentenced to life in jail last year after he admitted to 88 lurid sex crimes, including two counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement and 82 break-ins and attempted break-ins.

On paper and in appearance, he was not only a handsome, upstanding Canadian citizen, but an Air Force Colonel who had flown jets carrying both his country's prime minister and the British Royal family.

But appearances can be deceiving. 

Russell Williams was a gifted pilot who escorted the Queen and prime ministers, and was hand-picked by military brass to lead Canada¿s largest air force base

 

Laurie Massicotte speaks on TV for the first time about the night he attacked and her relief that she wasn't one of the ones who was killed

For under the surface, Williams' crime spree spanned over three Canadian communities where he broke into homes, stole women's lingerie, tried them on, photographed himself, masturbated on their beds, took pictures and eventually raped and murdered.

Ms Massicotte speaks out about her ordeal for a programme made about Williams entitled  'Name, Rank and Serial Killer?' which will be aired on CBS tomorrow night. 

She recalls watching TV and dozing off, next thing she knew someone had thrown a blanket over her head and she could feel something like a harness around her neck.

She told CBS: 'Something was choking me around my neck. ... It was just like a bad dream. He said to me, "I need to take some pictures of you". The next thing I feel, he sliced my clothes off. He was gonna to kill me.'

Victims: Williams pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Jessica Lloyd, left, and Corporal Marie France Comeau, suffocating both of them

She was subjected to a three-and-a-half hour ordeal where he stripped her, made her get into various poses and sexually assaulted her.

Ms Massicotte said she has finally found it in her heart to forgive her killer as he had spared her life, though she hopes he spends the rest of his life behind bars, as she too will have to spend the rest of her life getting over the ordeal.

The married Air Force One Colonel's crimes shocked everyone as he had been seen as an elite officer and a gifted pilot with a spotless record.

Williams was caught after he was stopped at a random road block because the tyres in his car matched the tread marks at the scene of his latest crime in a spree that began in 2007.

After a nine-hour interrogation, Williams finally broke and confessed.

Col Russell Williams like to take photos of himself in his victims underwear after he broke into their house, he would sometimes masturbate on their bed

 

Russell Williams is pictured here to the right of the Queen after he was allocated the job of being her pilot

At the more petty scale of his criminal activity he stole women's lingerie and nightwear from their homes.

At its height, he murdered and raped two women, in one instance taping his victim's nose and mouth shut and watching her die, recording himself in the process.

During Williams' court trial, the audio tape of Corporal Marie France Comeau's last breath was played as they listened to her begging him for her life.

She said to him: 'Have a heart. I've been good all my life. I don't want to die.'

He told her to shut up before watching her suffocate.

Days later he was signing a condolence card for her father - a 45-year veteran of the military - on behalf of the Canadian forces.

Two months after that, another local woman, 27-year-old Jessica Lloyd, went missing. 

He later admitted to murdering her.

In all of the cases he photographed himself in his victims' underwear.

Police said Williams was so obsessive in his collection of undergarments that he had to burn some of his trophies in a field to make room for more.

It was also said he had broken into at least a dozen bedrooms of girls under the age of 18, including one shared by 11-year-old twins, court heard. One 12-year-old girl found a message from Williams typed on her computer screen: 'merci'.

The programme looks out the profile of an outstanding citizen and commander, and the sick life of crime he hid, possibly for more than 20 years.