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.
Showing posts with label jury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jury. Show all posts
Friday, November 4, 2011
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.
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...
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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