Victoria (Tori) Stafford, 8 - Canada, Murdered. The trial of Michael Rafferty

[Kip]

Well, the only good thing about the jury not having this evidence will be that if the jury finds MR guilty, it will confirm to them that they made the right decision.

[Jezreel]

Guilty guilty guilty on all charges!

[Jezreel]

There was ab eruption of cheers at the courthouse as they read the verdict, the jury found Rafferty guilty on all counts, 1^st degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault causing bodily harm. Sentencing on tuesday but its an automatic life sentence of 25 years with no chance of parole.

[Lady Cop]

more.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-girl.html

[Kip]

I just got home this evening and found this terrific news. A job well done by police, prosecutors, and jury.

In the photo in the Daily Mail of the defense attorneys answering questions after the verdict was read, the female attorney looks like she's smiling - I wonder if on some level she was happy MR was convicted.

[koko]

Guilty guilty guilty on all charges!

wonderful! Jezreel -- any idea if he would be separated from most of the prison population for his safety? I think sometimes they do that here in the states when someone has been convicted of a repulsive crime against a child (or children) as other prisoners don't take kindly to the ones who fuck with kids. I'm just curious.

more.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-girl.html

from that article:

Tori’s father Rodney Stafford said he had mixed emotions upon hearing the verdict.
He said he ‘wanted to scream in the courtroom, but I just couldn’t… at the same time (I felt) a sense of loss because Tori’s not coming home,’

so sad. great that tori's kidnappers/rapist/killers are convicted and behind bars but there's only so much 'closure' that can be brought to the family. The details still kind of make my stomach twist into knots.

[Jezreel]

Koko, he will probably be put in segregation, if he gets sent to Kingston pen (which is supposed to be closing in a couple of years) he will most likely most likely be hanging out with Paul Bernado and Russell Williams who are also sick murderers.
In Rafferty's police interrogation tape that was released on Thursday, Det Smyth said they are housed in glass cells so he and Bernado can make googly eyes at each other! Haha that man is a great detective.

Kip, you're right I just looked at the photo and she is smiling, I would hope they are happy that he got convicted knowing what they know about him. Derstine didn't seem too upset when he spoke to the media after the verdict.

In the interrogation videos on the London Free Press sight Rafferty is so arrogant and seems so sure he wouldnt get convicted, guess he thought he found the perfect scapegoat.

[heartbreaker6713]

I am so happy( i don't know if this is the right word to use) to hear of the verdict. The father's reaction is sad to know that the closure he receives is bitter sweet. It's a final door closing knowing his little girl will never come home again and walk through that door but Rafferty won't walk through another front door of a home either. At least as i understand what he is facing in his upcoming sentence. I hope that would bring some peace for him, it won't erase the horror he and his family have endured or the missed memories he'll never have with his little girl but i hope it helps.

[Jimbone]

Segregation? Ugh.

This mutant needs to be in general population. The horror that little girl endured demands his anus spend the rest of its life as a cell block's Lincoln Tunnel.

The stupid whore accomplice deserves the same fate. Tori didn't get to strike a deal... put this piece of garbage in general population too. Let the hardcore girls make a hand puppet out of her every minute of her miserable life.

[Jezreel]

I am so happy( i don't know if this is the right word to use) to hear of the verdict. The father's reaction is sad to know that the closure he receives is bitter sweet. It's a final door closing knowing his little girl will never come home again and walk through that door but Rafferty won't walk through another front door of a home either. At least as i understand what he is facing in his upcoming sentence. I hope that would bring some peace for him, it won't erase the horror he and his family have endured or the missed memories he'll never have with his little girl but i hope it helps.

Nope Rafferty won't be walking through a front door again, its an automatic life sentence of 25 years with no chance of parole. I very much doubt that after he serves that time he will ever get parole.

He is one sick fuck, searcches on his computer also included incest, babies for sale naked epileptic naked, naked batean girl etc.... I think it was 12 or 13 women came forward saying he has a penchant for choking.

Rodney I'm sure will continue to work hard to make Canada safer for all children, I hope this help him as this chapter closes.

[Jezreel]

Segregation? Ugh.

This mutant needs to be in general population. The horror that little girl endured demands his anus spend the rest of its life as a cell block's Lincoln Tunnel.

The stupid whore accomplice deserves the same fate. Tori didn't get to strike a deal... put this piece of garbage in general population too. Let the hardcore girls make a hand puppet out of her every minute of her miserable life.

I agree but he won't get put in gen pop,he will be housed with other like killers.
I read a couple of articles about the max security section at kingston and it sounds horrendous, the plexiglas cells are tiny, prisoners throw faeces and urinate everywhere, 23 hours a day stuck in a tiny glass box. Rafferys worst fear of losing his life is coming true, he is not going to handle it well,he will suffer and for that at least I'm thankful.

On another note, his sentencing is shortly, 6 victim impact statements will be read, including one from Tori's big brother and rafferty will have an oppurtunity to speak which I doubt he will, the its bye bye monster.

[Lady Cop]

brother speaks, daily mail report here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tence.html

[Kip]

At least the family will have 25 years before they'll have to start testifying at parole hearings (if Rafferty survives that long).

[Jezreel]

Wow the brother Daryn's statement was heartbreaking. If you read through the uncles statement (rob stafford) the first letter of each sentence spells out 'fuck you'.
I am so totally surprised that rafferty actually spoke, of course he maintained his innocense. Also he directed at statement at tara saying that he wow give her the pieces of the puzzle if she wanted to talk with him alone! He really is sick. I heard on the news that he is in millhaven for assessment and will be sent to Kingston, so I guess he will be hanging out with paul bernado and russell williams, all sick bastards together.

[Jezreel]

Here is a pretty candid interview with Rodney and his mother Doreen, the heartbreak and anger is apparent, they didn't hold back, and Doreen said that Rafferty was at the very first candlelight vigil that was held for Tori 4 days after she went missing. Worth a watch.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featu...3010314001


Randy Richmond of the Lonond Free Press who in my opinion has done a brilliant job of reporting Tori's story from the very beginning wrote a great article about Tori and why she will always matter.

Snippet: A few nights ago, almost in tears, my wife said to me:

"So this is it? Once the trial is over we're all supposed to just forget about Tori? When it's all over, she's really gone and no one remembers her again?"

The first answer I gave to my wife is one I believe to be true.

"I think people will remember her."

The second thing I said is something I know to be true.

"I'm going to miss her."

That is, I know, a strange thing for someone who never met Tori Stafford to say.

Today, you'll read how Tori's death ripped apart the lives of those closest to her. The strength of her family astonishes.

I'm exhausted and scarred merely from thinking and writing about her death. But I'll try my best here to explain why Tori will always matter to me, and the thousands and thousands of other Canadians touched

More: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffe...62406.html
____________________________________________________________
A video essay that tells the story of Tori Stafford from April 8, 2009, the day she was abducted, to May 11, 2012, the day Michael Rafferty was convicted of first degree murder, abduction, and sexual assault.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffe...57316.html

This picture says so much

[Jezreel]

Well the SOB is appealing

CBC - Michael Rafferty is appealing his first-degree murder conviction in the killing of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, the eight-year-old girl who disappeared near her home in Woodstock, Ont., more than three years ago.

Rafferty received a life sentence after he was found guilty of first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping following his 2½ month trial in a London courthouse earlier this year.

In the document, filed with the Court of Appeal of Ontario on July 26, Rafferty says "the jury failed to apprehend the evidentiary requirement to convict for first-degree murder." He also says Justice Thomas Heeney failed to properly instruct the jury. - The judge took a lot of time and care over his charge, I don't think that will fly. I also believe the jury fully understood what constitutes first degree murder here. Hell Even the stupid idiot himself said after the victim impact statements that he was a big part of why Tori wasn't here today!

Rafferty also writes that he missed the 30-day deadline to appeal because he had difficulty accessing a telephone to contact legal counsel.

Rafferty says he would prefer a trial by jury, if a second trial is ordered.

The application appears to have been filed from Kingston Penitentiary. - Haha bet he's having fun with Bernado and Williams in that shithole.

Rafferty was found guilty on May 11 after more than a day of deliberations but Justice Heeney was criticized for excluding certain character evidence collected by the police, including that Rafferty had used his computer to search for child pornography.

That information was deemed inadmissible because police failed to get proper search warrants when accessing data on Rafferty’ laptop.