NFL
NATURAL COMPANIONS
Saints beat Eagles
Wine and chocolate are a new taste sensation B1
B4
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
TUESDAY, NOV. 6, 2012
Father guilty of killing daughter JULIAN THOMSON, 22, PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN THE DEATH OF ZARIA MCCALL BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF A young Red Deer man accused of killing his baby girl is to be sentenced today. Zaria McCall, born July 27, 2011, died of severe head trauma at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton at 12:45 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2011, just hours after her father shook her violently and then threw her to the floor in a fit of rage. Julian Oliver Thomson, now 22, turned himself in at the Red Deer City RCMP on Dec. 1 and pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Justice Earl Wilson in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Monday. Court heard on Monday that Thomson had broken up with the baby’s mother, Victoria McCall, but the two were still living together so they could share parenting duties. In reading a statement of facts agreed to by the Crown and defence, Crown prosecutor Jason Snider said Thomson had grown frustrated with his former girlfriend, who had gone to Edmonton the day before the incident. He and Zaria had spent the afternoon of Nov. 25 with a friend, who left at about 5:30 p.m., just a few
Contributed photo
Zaria Jean Rose McCall. minutes before the babysitter was due to arrive. The sitter came to the basement apartment to find Thomson attempting to dress the baby, who was obviously injured, but was not crying.
The babysitter immediately called her husband, who then drove them to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. Zaria was transferred by STARS air ambulance to the Stollery Children’s hospital. An autopsy report showed severe head trauma, including three fractures in her skull and extensive internal bleeding. Zaria’s mother and other family members were unable to control their tears as they read how the violent death of her baby had broken their hearts and destroyed their lives. McCall said she can’t sleep without help and, when she does, she suffers nightmares. Her mother, Christy McCall, glared briefly at Thomson before taking her place at the podium. “It is all I can do to help (my daughter) through this nightmare,” said McCall. Thomson sat quietly in the prisoner’s box, his face pale and his head slightly bowed, showing no outward reaction throughout the hearing. Defence counsel Patty MacNaughton said her client also suffers deeply from his actions and has made no attempts to deny his responsibility for the death of his baby. “I can’t tell you how many times he has expressed his sadness and regret over this momentary lapse. He loved the child and the mother,” said MacNaughton.
Please see SENTENCE on Page A2
CAREY VICTORIOUS
CAPITAL BUDGET
Draft focuses mainly on core projects BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer city council will take a critical eye to a $105-million capital budget starting today. The budget proposes to invest mainly in core infrastructure projects. The nine-person council is expected to take all day discussing the proposed 2013 capital budget items, including road and intersection improvements, upgrades to water and wastewater infrastructure and crown paving. Council will only consider projects planned for 2013, multi-year projects beginning in 2013 or projects that need additional funding in 2013. City manager Craig Curtis said this year’s budget includes a number of projects that are related to core infrastructure, including roads, water and wastewater, and electrical, light and power. He said those items have to proceed because they go hand in hand with the residential expansion to the northeast and the industrial expansion to the northwest. Curtis said most of the capital costs will focus on rebuilding and accommodating growth. “The majority of our costs are very much growth-related,” said Curtis. “When we have these huge expansions of our water and wastewater plants, those are the things that are driving both our budget and any borrowing we do.” Last year, council approved a $94.8-million capital budget that included a number of city centennial projects, including the Red Deer curling rink, the spray park, the skateboard park and the Timberlands Branch Library. “We have some tremendous opportunities with the whole Riverlands area and access road into Riverlands is one of the biggest capital projects,” said Curtis. “So really the expansion of the downtown toward the river, the burial of the power line is key to our vision.” Mayor Morris Flewwelling said there is likely to be no major tweaks to what administration is recommending in the budget. “It’s pretty reasonable,” said Flewwelling. “It’s varied. It’s got expenditures in all our major areas.” The big-ticket item is the proposed $9.49-million acquisition of the school site and recreational land in northwest Red Deer. The 60-acre site at 67th Street and 30th Avenue will give the Red Deer Public School District and the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools 20 acres for future schools. Flewwelling said now is the time to lay out the plan for what is likely to be a major recreation facility for the northeast quadrant.
Please see BUDGET on Page A2
PLEASE RECYCLE
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Chelsea Carey of Morden, Man., takes a shot as she takes on the Jennifer Jones rink in the women’s final at the Red Deer Curling Classic on Monday. Carey’s rink won 7-3. Please see related story on page B4.
Local Red Cross volunteers rush to assist Hurricane Sandy victims BY RANDY FIEDLER ADVOCATE STAFF
SUPERSTORM AFTERMATH
Two Red Deerians are in the New York area helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. Garry Jacobs and Allan Works left Sunday for Newark, N.J., to join 10 other Canadian Red Cross volunteers in supplying disaster relief services to the thousands left homeless in the storm’s wake. Jacobs is a 20-year Red Cross volunteer who helped Californians in 1994 following a severe earthquake and Puerto Ricans following that island’s 1998 hurricane. Works is a three-year volGarry Jacobs unteer who accompanied Jacobs to Slave Lake to help after the town’s devastating 2011 fire. Both men will spend the next three weeks helping provide people with basic needs such as shelter, clothing, food and family reunification. Sandy left more than 100 people dead in 10 states. Half a million people in New York State are still
without power, and more than 800,000 were without power in New Jersey a week after the storm. Matthew Sawatsky, disaster management co-ordinator in the Red Cross’s city branch, said Red Deer has 12 international response volunteers and who goes is often based on availability. “Both have significant training to cover where they’re needed, anything from front-line work to shelter management. It comes down to them wanting to help.” Demand is waning for relief services, Sawatsky said, with only 4,100 people spending Sunday night in 71 Red Cross shelters in seven states, compared to more than 12,000 who stayed over Friday night. Still, rebuilding will take time and money, and donations are pouring in to the Red Deer office. “We’ve had lots of donations coming in by phone and Cornerstone Youth Theatre donated all the proceeds from (Sunday’s) Chronicles of Narnia show,” said Leigh Baker, Red Deer’s Red Cross community development co-ordinator. Donations can be made online at www.redcross. ca, by calling 1-800-418-1111 or 403-346-1241 locally of visiting the city branch at #105, 5301 43rd St. rfiedler@reddeeradvocate.com
WEATHER
INDEX
Chance of flurries. High 2.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
LOCAL
CANADA
FRIENDS OF SUNNYBROOK TAKE OVER FARM
MONTREAL MAYOR QUITS AMID SCANDAL
Friends of Sunnybrook Farm Society have become the official owners of the popular agricultural attraction. C1
Montreal’s mayor has resigned in the midst of a corruption scandal, becoming the highest-profile political casualty of the controversies currently rocking Quebec. A6