Canadian Lawyer

January 2011

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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scenes Behind the I n what may have been the biggest murder case of his career, criminal defence lawyer Michael Edelson had no opportunity to unsheathe his most potent weapon. Known for his ability to cripple key Crown witnesses with cutting cross- examination, Edelson struck no blows. His cli- ent, 47-year-old David Russell Williams, a for- mer colonel in the Canadian air force and commander of the country's largest airbase, took the remarkable step of pleading guilty to two charges of first-degree murder. "This plea was extraordinarily unusual because only a handful of people in Canada have ever pleaded to first-degree murder and he may be the first ever to plead to two first-degree mur- ders," says Edelson, a founding partner of Edelson Clifford D'Angelo Barristers LLP, a small Ottawa firm with a history of defending high-profile clients. Williams also pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, two counts of forcible confinement, and 82 break-ins. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The former military leader and pilot, who had flown aircraft carrying royalty and prime ministers, raped and killed two women: Jessica Lloyd, 27, who worked at an agency that co-ordinates school bus schedules, and Marie- France Comeau, 38, a corporal in the Canadian Forces who worked with Williams at Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Williams broke into their homes, bound the women, and assaulted them. He documented the lengthy attacks with 26 JAN UARY 2011 www. CANADIAN Lawye rmag.com Lawyers in the Russell Williams case open up about defending the rapist and murderer. By ROB TRIPP Fred Th ornhill / Reuters STRINGER Canada / Reuters

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