Sunday, November 6, 2011

Comment of the week

What about her assault on her poor, defenseless eyebrows. Another two years for that at least.



A comment on this Province article online.

logans
3:41 PM on 11/4/2011
What about her assault on her poor, defenseless eyebrows. Another two years for that at least.

Gratitude for justice after 19 very difficult years

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PROVINCE - NOVEMBER 6th, 2011 - KEITH FRASER
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19-year ordeal ends for dead woman's kin
 
Jean Ann James, 72, killed friend in 1992, not eligible for parole for 25 years



Family members of murder victim Gladys Wakabayashi, who say they have waited 19 years for justice, were gratified to see a jury render a guilty verdict Friday.

After less than a day of deliberations, the B.C. Supreme Court jury found Wakabayashi's friend, Jean Ann James, guilty of first-degree murder for the June 1992 slaying.

Justice Catherine Bruce imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

The 72-year-old Richmond woman had little reaction to the verdict.

But several members of the victim's family were obviously relieved.

"We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who contributed so much and helped us so much," Susanna Yang, Wakabayashi's sister-in-law, said outside court, thanking the Vancouver police, the RCMP, the judge and the jury for a "wonderful job."

"We just think that the justice system works even after this amount of time, that something like this can come to fruition and that the long arm of the law is a true statement," said Doran Aisenstat, Wakabayashi's son-in-law.

Yang said the past 19 years had been "very difficult," but the family never gave up.

The verdict in the sensational trial followed about three weeks of evidence, the most compelling of which was James' taped confession to undercover cops.

The body of 41-year-old Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire, was found in her Shaughnessy home.

No charges were initially laid, and the case lay cold for nearly 15 years, until Vancouver police reviewed the file and launched a year-long undercover operation aimed at getting a confession from James.

The so-called Mr. Big operation took James through dozens of scenarios in which she was asked to perform tasks for what she was told was a criminal organization. She told undercover cops that she had no conscience and was willing to do anything for them.

At the end of the operation, James was told that there was a "big score" in which she could share in a $700,000 windfall for helping commit an unspecified crime.

James travelled to Montreal, where she was confronted by the "crime boss," an undercover cop, who demanded that she come clean about the murder of Wakabayashi.

In a confession captured on videotape and played for the jury, James explained calmly that she discovered Wakabayashi "screwing around" with her husband, Derek James.

"I slit her throat," she told the fake crime boss, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

James said she used box cutters to slash her friend across the throat and cut her on the legs in a bid to find out details of the infidelity.

James said she disposed of the murder weapon in a dumpster on the other side of town and threw her clothes in a school incinerator.

She said she used gloves during the crime, left nothing behind and never told her husband about it.

Though police had her as a suspect, she said she'd been to the Wakabayashi home several days before the murder to visit her friend and that "my fingerprints were all over the house."

"I didn't like the police coming around, but I wasn't shook up about it," she said.

James' lawyer, Aseem Dosanjh, argued Mr. Big confessions are by their very nature unreliable, some would say "notoriously" unreliable.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Friday, November 4, 2011

I can tell

I can tell that this story interests a LOT of people, probably for different reasons. So far today over 600 people have visited this blog, 4000 people since the trial started. That's a lot considering this is a local cold case murder that is over 20 years old.

Thankfully, thank every and any God or devine spirit you believe in, Jean James is now in jail! Some justice for Gladys and her family. They have been so very patient, and trusting - in a system that failed them initially.

Who am I and why do I have a blog about this murder, and moreso this crazy woman, Jean Ann James? Will this blog die out and end now that Jean James has gone to jail for a murder she committed 20 years ago?

No. The is so much more to this story!! Her story.

I can tell you I have known about this murder since almost day one.
I can tell you I have been in the company of Derek and Jean James - no, I am not friendly with them.
I can tell you that there is so much more I can not tell you... Yet.

I have no intention of dragging Gladys Wakabayashi's name throughout the mud - or make constant reference to her rich father, like the papers felt they needed to do, as though that was the only validation stamp on her life - she suffered a fate that was not hers to suffer.


I want to tell you of a woman so evil that she regularly did wrong and created a life that was built on deceit.

Let's remember, the bulk of the information given at trial was referring to the sting that caused her to be recorded confessing. Very little information was given regarding the actual crime or the weeks, months and years before and after the murder.

I bet Derek James is sleeping better tonight than he has in 20 years. No presents from Jean to worry about.

"Boxcutter Murder"

I want to say that Kim Bolan @The Vancouver Sun provided excellent coverage through the trial.

Jury convicts Jean Ann James of Boxcutter Murder.

Jean Ann James expressed no emotion Friday morning when a jury found her guilty in the first-degree murder of Gladys Wakabayashi.

At 72, she will likely spend the rest of her life in jail with an automatic sentence of 25 years to life.

Yet she didn’t break down and cry, or express anger, or regret. She looked straight ahead and then she walked away with a sheriff to her new life in prison.

On the other hand, Gladys Wakabayashi’s family did break down. Her sister-in-law Susanna, cried and smiled. She hugged prosecutor Kerr Clark outside court. A family friend said “justice at last.”

Wakabayashi’s throat was slit with boxcutters about 9:15 a.m. on June 24, 1992. For years, James kept her dark secret, even when police searched her house a week or so after the crime. But she was lured by an undercover operation where a number of officers posed as members of a crime ring that embraced the eager James in its activities. She eventually confessed to a skilled operative posing as the crime boss in chilling detail, saying she felt no regrets about killing her former friend.

James’ lawyers had suggested she fabricated the confession using details from newspaper articles at the time. But a jury saw it differently. They deliberated for less than eight hours before convicting her.

It took 20 years to get 25 in jail


Doran Aisenstat and Susanna Miu (Yang) react to verdict in the Jean Ann James murder trial. on Friday, November 4, 2011 in Vancouver.
Photograph by: Glenn Baglo, PNG


Family members of murder victim Gladys Wakabayashi, who say they have waited 20 years for justice, were gratified to see a jury render a guilty verdict Friday.

After less than a day of deliberations, the B.C. Supreme Court jury found Jean Ann James, a friend of Wakabayashi, guilty of first-degree murder in the June 1992 slaying.

B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Catherine Bruce imposed on James, 72, the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

The Richmond senior had little reaction to the jury's verdict.

But several members of the victim's family were obviously relieved.

"We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who contributed so much and helped us so much," Susanna Yang, Gladys' sister-in-law, said outside court.

She thanked the Vancouver police, the RCMP, the judge and the jury for a "wonderful job."

"We just think that the justice system works even after this amount of time, that something like this can come to fruition and that the long arm of the law is a true statement," said Doran Aisenstat, Gladys' son-in-law.

"It doesn't stop. If a crime is committed, justice is going to be served."

Yang said the past 19 years had been been "very difficult" but the family never gave up.

Aisenstat said he wasn't surprised at James' reaction, calling her a "cold individual, without a conscience," as the accused had portrayed herself to undercover cops.

"For her to have had the life she has had for the last 19 years, knowing what wad in her history, it's obviously a huge vindication for us."

The verdict in the sensational trial followed about three weeks of evidence, the most compelling of which was James’s taped confession to undercover cops.

It was 19 years ago that the body of 41-year-old Wakabayashi was found in her home in the posh neighbourhood of Shaughnessy.

No charges were initially laid by Vancouver police and the case lay cold for nearly 15 years, until police reviewed the file and launched a year-long undercover operation aimed at getting a confession from James.

The so-called Mr. Big operation took James through dozens of scenarios in which she was asked to perform tasks for what she was told was a criminal organization.

During one scenario, in which undercover cops stage a kidnapping, James is asked what they should do with the victim.

She responds that they should cut his “knackers” off.

James also told undercover cops that she had no conscience and was willing to do anything for them.

At the end of the operation, James is told that there is a “big score” in which she can share in a $700,000 windfall for helping commit an unspecified crime.

She travels to Montreal, where she is confronted by the “crime boss,” an undercover cop who demands that she come clean about the murder of Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.

In a confession captured on videotape and played for the jury, James explains calmly that she discovered Wakabayashi “screwing around” with her husband, Derek James.

“I slit her throat,” the accused told the fake crime boss, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

James says she used box cutters to slash her friend across the throat and cut her on the legs in a bid to find out details of the infidelity.

“I just went around to her and confronted her about it and she lied to me ... She just started laughing in my face and I just got furious and I did it.”

The accused said she disposed of the murder weapon in a dumpster on the other side of town and took her clothes and threw them in a school incinerator.

She said she used gloves during the crime, left nothing behind and never told her husband about the crime.

Though police had her as a suspect, she said she’d been to the Wakabayashi home several days before the murder to visit her friend and that “my fingerprints were all over the house.”

“I didn’t like the police coming around, but I wasn’t shook up about it,” she said.

In final submissions to the jury, Crown counsel Kerr Clark argued that James was in a jealous rage when she murdered her friend.

Her husband had had other affairs, but the accused’s anger was heightened by the fact that Wakabayashi was a trusted friend, said Clark.

James’s lawyer, Aseem Dosanjh, argued Mr. Big confessions are by their very nature unreliable, some would say “notoriously” unreliable.

He noted there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence and submitted that it was a “false-confession case.”

(Article above from the Province online & photo from Vancouver Sun online.)

GUILTY, James looked calm

Vancouver Sun...

Jean Ann James found guilty of 1992 Vancouver murder

James looked calm after learning jurors had reached a verdict after eight hours of deliberations


VANCOUVER -- A jury convicted Richmond senior Jean Ann James of first-degree murder Friday in the slaying of a woman she thought was sleeping with her husband back in 1992.

James looked calm after learning jurors had reached a verdict after eight hours of deliberations.

James, 72, was found guilty of slitting the throat of Gladys Wakabayashi, 41, on June 24, 1992.

Her lawyers had argued she falsely confessed to an undercover police operative posing as a crime boss who offered her the chance to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in his gang.

Justice Catherine Bruce urged jurors Thursday to carefully consider whether the evidence supports the Crown or defence versions of the murder of the heiress.

The jurors began deliberations about 3 p.m. Thursday after a four-week B.C. Supreme Court trial.

Bruce spent the much of Thursday summarizing both the defence and prosecution positions, as well as the witness testimony during the sensational murder trial at the Vancouver Law Courts.

Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire, was found in the master suite of her home at 6868 Selkirk Street in Vancouver by her estranged husband and 12-year-old daughter.

James was a suspect from the beginning, though there was no forensic evidence linking her to the slaying. In 2007, the unsolved homicide unit mounted an undercover operation targeting James.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

I'm sorry, what?!

From The Sun article walker today...

And she reminded jurors about testimony related to the other “scenarios” with the undercover operatives, including a fake kidnapping and beating in October 2008 of someone who owed the gang money.

Witnesses said James was not rattled by the kidnapping or apparent injuries of the victim and told the operatives they didn’t go far enough with the man. “When he had gone, Ms. James said that he got off too easy, she did not like his attitude and suggested that she could put raw meat on his crotch and let her dogs eat it off,” Bruce said. “She had never done this before, but believed that her dogs would have lunged at the meat.”

The judge also noted that James had said “she would curl [the victim’s] penis with a curling iron.”

“When asked about her suggestions as to what to do with [the victim,] Ms. James replied that they should cut his knackers off,” Bruce said.


Who thinks they are talking to major criminals and feels they need to - again and again and again, at different times - seem like bad-ass granny that would do stuff like this because they fear bad-ass-bubba in the corner, or could use an extra $233,333?! I could certainly use $233,333... But would I feel pressured to seem like I could do these things in order to get the money knowing I would actually, for real, have to do similar things?!

Let's remember Jean James kept choosing to involve herself with these "criminals" and clearly was not that scared of them on that fact alone. But to go so far as to say she was intimidated by them and so falsified a confession to them?!

As far as Jean getting details wrong in her confession tape...

Would you tell a crime boss you are trying to impress that you threw out the bag of clothes in a random dumpster on the east side? No, you want to sound smarter than that!

Would you tell him that you walked around the house leaving bloody footprints? Or washed the weapon off in the bathroom? No, again, trying to impress him I doubt you want to seem that dumb.

The details she "got wrong"... They only make her seem smarter than she was. Yet, she still outsmart the investigators back in the day.

A little earlier today on the Sun site...

Fate of Vancouver senior accused of slitting woman’s throat in jurors’ hands
 
Fact woman willing to do illegal activities not proof of guilt in Shaughnessy murder, judge says


-- Did Richmond senior Jean Ann James slit the throat of a woman she thought was sleeping with her husband back in 1992?

Or did the 72-year-old falsely confess to the murder after an undercover police operative posing as a crime boss offered her the chance to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in his gang?

Justice Catherine Bruce urged jurors Thursday to carefully consider whether the evidence supports the Crown or defence versions of the June 24, 1992 murder of heiress Gladys Wakabayashi, 41.

The jurors began deliberations about 3 p.m. Thursday after a four-week B.C. Supreme Court trial.

Bruce spent the much of the day summarizing both the defence and prosecution positions, as well as the witness testimony during the sensational murder trial at the Vancouver Law Courts.

Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire, was found in the master suite of her home at 6868 Selkirk Street in Vancouver by her estranged husband and 12-year-old daughter.

James was a suspect from the beginning, though there was no forensic evidence linking her to the slaying. In 2007, the unsolved homicide unit mounted an undercover operation targeting James. They used several police officers posing as employees of an organized crime ring who befriended James over several months and involved her in a series of criminal activities before she finally confessed to the murder in a Montreal hotel room on Nov. 27, 2008.

The gang offered her $233,333 of the expected profits from a “job,” as well as the chance for her aspiring actor son Adam to get a role.

“Ms. James was treated to lavish restaurant meals and entertainment and given gifts to show her that the organization was rich and powerful,” Bruce noted. “The two most important carrots held out to encourage Ms. James to be part of the criminal organization were the prospect of a large score that could be a third share in $700,000 or more, and the prospect of furthering Adam’s acting career.”

Bruce told jurors to review a videotape of James’ confession, paying close attention to James’ demeanour and details of what she claimed.

And she reminded jurors about testimony related to the other “scenarios” with the undercover operatives, including a fake kidnapping and beating in October 2008 of someone who owed the gang money.

Witnesses said James was not rattled by the kidnapping or apparent injuries of the victim and told the operatives they didn’t go far enough with the man. “When he had gone, Ms. James said that he got off too easy, she did not like his attitude and suggested that she could put raw meat on his crotch and let her dogs eat it off,” Bruce said. “She had never done this before, but believed that her dogs would have lunged at the meat.”

The judge also noted that James had said “she would curl [the victim’s] penis with a curling iron.”

“When asked about her suggestions as to what to do with [the victim,] Ms. James replied that they should cut his knackers off,” Bruce said.

The judge also warned jurors that they couldn’t use the fact James was willing to do illegal activities for the fake organization as proof of her involvement in Wakabayashi’s murder.

Bruce said defence lawyer Aseem Dosanjh argued his client’s confession was false and that she was under pressure to please the man she thought was a crime boss.

“The defence argues that the alleged confession to the crime boss cannot be regarded as in any way reliable for a host of reasons,” Bruce said. “There were many complicated reasons why Ms. James would lie about the murder.”

The defence said James “was also under financial pressure and would greatly benefit from her one third share in $700,000. She was fixated on this big score,” Bruce noted.

The defence also pointed to inconsistencies in James’ confession, like a comment that she burned her clothes at a school incinerator and never went into the master bathroom.

“She lied about her finances being rosy; there was no incinerator at the Tyee School where Adam attended in 1992 contrary to Ms. James statement that she burned her clothes in an incinerator at the school, there was a shoe print and blood splatter in the bathroom of the deceased’s residence but Ms. James said she did not go into the bathroom,” Bruce summarized.

She also summarized the Crown’s position, which urged jurors “to call upon your collective wisdom and experience to understand the evidence in this case and to draw common sense inferences from that evidence.”

“The Crown’s theory is that Ms. James believed her husband was having an affair with the deceased and her anger and her jealousy led her to murder the deceased in a horrific manner,” Bruce said. “The Crown argues that its theory is borne out by the confession Ms. James made … during the crime boss interview and, further, that this confession is supported by other independent evidence in many respects.”

Latest from the Sun...

Fate of Accused Killer Jean James in Hands of the Jury

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce gave her charge to jury Thursday in the Jean Ann James first-degree murder case. The jury is now deliberating.

The Richmond senior is charged with slitting the throat of her friend Gladys Wakabayashi on June 24, 1992. The trial heard James believed her husband Derek was sleeping with Wakabayashi,s the 41-year-old daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.

The Crown said that in a jealous rage, James was determined to get rid of her rival and carefully plotted the crime, telling Gladys she had a gift for her and arriving at Wakabayashi Selkirk Street home with box-cutters and a murderous plan.

James finally confessed what she did to undercover cops posing as a crime ring in a so-called “Mr. Big” sting in 2008. She was arrested and charged a short time later.

Her lawyer, Aseem Dosanjh, pointed out inconsistencies between what James said to police and the evidence from the crime scene. He said she falsely confessed because she wanted to earn money from the ring due to financial stress she was under.

Over the three-hour recitation of the evidence at the four-week murder trial, Bruce highlighted the testimony from the various witnesses and told the jury to carefully consider what both the Crown and defence presented.

This trial has been so sensational that the courtroom was packed every day. Members of the public jostled to get a seat and some were left listening to the evidence from the hallway through the open door.

Tick, tick, tick

I wonder who is more shaken waiting for the verdict right now, Derek or Jean James?

If she is found guilty, I wonder if the judge will sentence her right away or set a date for sentencing?

Considering it has been 19 years waiting for this, waiting a few more hours or days shouldn't be so hard.

I feel like I'm holding my breath.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow the judge will give the jury some final instructions and send them on their way.

What are they thinking right now?

What are you thinking right now?

How long do you think the jury will deliberate?

What if Jean Ann James goes free?

The friends and family of Gladys Wakabayashi - along with MANY other people - have been waiting for this day to come. Patiently.

I guess after holding your breath, questioning the system and/or your God, and stewing with emotions for 19 years... waiting until that jury comes back to court with a verdict could be either that slow-motion moment before the final wound is inflicted or a the deepest breath you ever took before a sigh of relief.

Jury to begin deliberation after further instruction, TOMORROW

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PROVINCE - NOVEMBER 2nd, 2011 - KEITH FRASER
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Defence cites flaws in Mr. Big sting at murder trial of Jean James


The motive for Jean Ann James murdering her friend was that she was in a jealous rage over news Gladys Wakabayashi was having an affair with her husband, a prosecutor argued Wednesday.

During final submissions, Crown counsel Kerr Clark told a jury that James, 72, felt betrayed after discovering the affair and drove to Wakabayashi’s Shaughnessy home.

He said the evidence from a confession James made to undercover cops shows that she used a box cutter to slit her friend’s throat.

“Jealous rage and betrayal is a very good reason for someone to be very, very angry,” he told the jury.

Clark noted James herself confessed that she had a plan and acted deliberately, methodically destroying all evidence of the crime.

James has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the June 1992 slaying of Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.

No charges were initially laid in the police investigation but the file was re-opened in 2007 and an 11-month-long police sting launched.

James is captured confessing to the murder at a meeting with a police undercover officer posing as a crime boss at a Montreal hotel in November 2008.

Clark said there may be some discrepancies in the details James gave of the murder, but he argued that was understandable given the passage of time.

He said there was evidence James’s husband, Derek James, had had other affairs but that the accused’s anger at Wakabayashi was heightened by the fact she was a friend, not a stranger.

“One thing that’s very clear is that this was a very, very violent attack. It’s a crime that only can be committed by someone with exceeding anger and resentment.”

He added: “It appears it was almost an attempt at a decapitation.”

Aseem Dosanjh, James’s lawyer, told the jury police stings like the one targeting his client result in confessions which, by their very nature, are unreliable and which some would say are “notoriously” unreliable.

“I want to be clear, this is not a DNA case, this is also not a fingerprint case. This is a false-confession case.”

Dosanjh said the lack of hold-back evidence — evidence that would only be known to the killer — should raise a reasonable doubt for the jury. client made a

“If the design of the undercover operation has flaws in it, that should raise concerns and that would raise a doubt.

“And if the police put too much pressure on a 69-year-old woman, that is a flaw and should also raise a doubt.”

Dosanjh argued the police investigation that led to the “so-called” confession lacked reliability safeguards.

“Mrs. James’s version of events in that video recording is just not reliable. It’s not reliable because she did not do this crime.

“She is making up a story, putting together various pieces of second-hand information she had available to her and trying to make it all seem consistent and impressive.”

B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Catherine Bruce told the jury she expects to give them final instructions on Thursday before they begin deliberations.

Gladys Wakabayashi

I have been wanting to post a photo of the victim, Gladys Wakabayshi, but I have found no photos that I feel do her justice.

I want to put a face to a name and help paint a portrait of a lady who was (probably) attacked by a trusted friend.

Someone who played piano, was loved by the few friends she had, attended charity events, helped her daughter with school work, had grace and was soft spoken. I don't know that she was any of these things (Okay - we know she played piano), but I imagine her to be a lovely woman who didn't deserve friends like Mr. & Mrs. James.

How they twisted her life into a tale of jealousy impaled into her legs is a sad tale to tell.

I look forward to a day when I can help create balance in our minds as to Gladys Wakabayashi being more than a victim.