From: jcs
Corporal Marie France Como, a 37-year-old military traffic technician stationed at CFB Trenton, was found murdered in her home in Brighton in November 2009 [08:44:00], [08:50:00], [08:57:00]. It was believed there was a sexual component to her crime [08:53:00], and she was raped and suffocated to death [09:02:00]. Colonel Russell Williams became the prime suspect for this infraction at the time of his interrogation [09:06:00], [09:09:00].
Initial Awareness of the Crime
Colonel Russell Williams stated he learned of Marie France Como’s death via an email sent by the staff at the base [14:47:00], [14:54:00]. He recalled seeing the email first thing in the morning after returning from meetings in Ottawa [15:05:00]. He had only met her once, shortly after he arrived at the base, when she was on a crew he was also on, likely in August or September [15:31:00], [15:43:00], [15:46:00], [15:51:00].
During his interrogation, when asked about his schedule around the time of the message, he repeatedly stated he could not remember the specific day of the week [16:08:00], [16:22:00], [16:34:00].
Evidence and Interrogation Strategy
In the interrogation, Detective Sergeant Jim Smith falsely stated that DNA found on Marie France Como’s body would be matched to Russell Williams [24:43:00], [24:48:00]. This was a deceptive tactic, as the DNA found on her body was not admissible due to its highly decomposed state, making genetic analysis virtually impossible before the era of next-generation sequencing [19:32:00], [19:35:00], [19:41:00], [19:45:00].
Russell Williams’ Confession
During his interrogation, Russell Williams confessed to the murder of Marie France Como:
“Marie France Como [35:00:00]. There was an open window in the basement of her house [35:10:00]. When she was away [35:14:00], I went in there a couple of nights before she came home [35:17:00]. She came home [35:23:00], looked around [35:23:00]. I went back in there [35:24:00] late at night when she was at home [35:26:00]. She was on the phone in her bedroom [35:29:00]. She actually discovered me in the basement [35:32:00]. She was trying to get her cat to come upstairs and the cat was [35:38:00] in the basement that seen me and was [35:41:00] fixated on me in the corner [35:43:00]. She couldn’t get the cat up so [35:45:00] she came downstairs trying to get the cat and [35:49:00] I’m not sure why she [35:53:00] came over to me I guess the cat was [35:56:00] staring at me and she was wondering [35:57:00] where the cat was staring at [36:06:00]. So when she spotted me I [36:06:00] had the same flashlight [36:10:00]. I subdued her [36:13:00], tied her up [36:19:00], not upstairs and [36:20:00] strangled her [36:20:00] later in the morning [36:35:00].”