Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Surrey/North Delta Leader 3
Laura Szendrei’s killer named Court judge rules Wyatt DeBruin, 21, can now be identified, but his image is still protected by Kevin Diakiw THE KILLER of Laura Szendrei can now be identified, a
Surrey Provincial Court judge has ruled, making Wyatt DeBruin’s name public. Szendrei, a student at Burnsview Secondary School, was 15 years old when she was attacked in North Delta’s George Mackie Park near 110 Street and 82 Avenue on Sept. 25, 2010. DeBruin was arrested and charged in February 2011. During his trial, the court heard that DeBruin awoke on the morning of the attack with an urge to have sex, and headed down to Mackie Park. It was there he laid in wait, until Szendrei walked passed. Upon seeing her, DeBruin told her the chain came off his bike and he asked her for help. She agreed to assist. LEADER FILE PHOTO Then he attempted to subdue her by putting a looped zap strap around her neck, but she eluded him. He then Laura Szendrei, 15, was killed in North Delta’s Mackie chased her and clubbed her with a pipe. Park in 2010.
She died in hospital that evening. Because he was a youth (just a week shy of his 18th birthday) at the time of the attack, the media was banned from identifying him. Even after a judge sentenced him as an adult last October, giving him life in prison, his name was still protected under the publication ban. Until Thursday. DeBruin, 21, can now be named, however, his image is still protected from publication. Szendrei’s mother Rachel said after DeBruin’s sentencing it’s one of her greatest wishes that the accused be named. “I now want to see his name out there,” she said. Szendrei’s grandmother Betty Rotaro said after sentencing the murder has been a harrowing experience for the family. “We can’t even say (Laura’s) name any more,” Rotaro said, adding the pain is too deep. As to the sentence given her killer, Rotaro said, “He got what he deserved.” kdiakiw@surreyleader.com
Light installed at site of fatal crash City of Surrey is placing a fully marked pedestrian crossing at 128 Street and 69 Avenue by Kevin Diakiw
FIVE MONTHS after a teenage girl was killed while walking across a road in Newton, the city is installing a set of pedestrian lights at the accident location. On Sept. 18, 2013, Amarpreet Sivia, 16, was walking across 128 Street at 69 Avenue, near Princess Margaret Secondary School – where she was a student – when a motorcycle hit her and two other girls. Sivia did not survive the accident. In wake of the accident, there was a new call for a lighted crosswalk at that location. In July 2011, the City of Surrey embarked on a study of the engineering requirements of all school areas within the city. That included the strip along 128 Street that serves Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Princess Margaret Secondary where the collision occurred. The study concluded that a crosswalk would be needed just south of 72 Avenue on 128 Street, according to Surrey’s General Manager of Engineering Vincent LaLonde. The study found there was a high amount of pedestrian traffic at 72 Avenue (where there’s a lighted crossing) and also at 70 Avenue, which both have commercial areas that attract students. The determination was to build a crosswalk 150 metres south of 72 Avenue in 2014. The initial investigation, police said, has indicated the driver was in the slow lane when it changed lanes and went around another vehicle before colliding with the students. The investigation continues. kdiakiw@surreyleader.com
Sex assault victims sought Joel Scarff used social media to connect with youth by Kevin Diakiw
MOUNTIES ARE calling for any more potential victims in a sexual assault case. Joel Scarff, 38, of Coquitlam, was arrested on Jan. 2 and charged with four counts of sexual interference and two counts of invitation to sexual touching on people who were under 16. He is alleged to have used social media to meet and date women where he subsequently met younger Joel Scarff people. Although he lives in Coquitlam, he is known to have frequented various areas throughout the Lower Mainland.
Based on the method that Scarff is alleged to have met his victims, Mounties are concerned that there may be more of them that have yet to come forward. Following his last court appearance on Jan. 23, Scarff was released on several conditions. He can have no contact with his alleged victims. He is also prohibited from attending areas where young people can expect to be present (parks, playgrounds, and schools) or being employed or volunteer in a position that involves trust or authority with young persons. Scarff ’s next scheduled court appearance is set for Feb. 6 at Surrey Provincial Court Surrey RCMP are asking that anyone who has any further information about him to contact the Surrey RCMP’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offence Unit at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Poetry in a pan
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
Simon Fraser University Creative Services employee Frank Campbell gives the address to the haggis – a traditional Scottish savoury dish – during a Robbie Burns Day celebration at the university’s Surrey campus on Friday.