0:00

Canadian True Crime is a completely

0:02

independent production funded mainly through advertising.

0:04

You can listen to Canadian True

0:06

Crime ad-free and early on Amazon

0:08

Music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts,

0:11

Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often

0:13

has disturbing content and coarse language.

0:15

It's not for everyone. Please take

0:17

care when listening. Hi

0:19

everyone and welcome back to Canadian

0:22

True Crime. I hope you're well.

0:24

Today's case took place in the

0:26

Canadian border city of Windsor, Ontario,

0:29

which lies directly across from the

0:31

US city of Detroit, Michigan. The

0:33

two cities are separated only by

0:36

a river about two kilometers wide.

0:39

This story centres around the 1990 disappearance

0:41

of a

0:43

seven-month-old baby and how lurid

0:45

headlines on both sides of

0:47

the Detroit River quickly turned

0:49

the baby's teen parents

0:51

into sordid celebrities. It's

0:54

also a story about how the

0:56

stark differences between Canadian and American

0:58

news coverage played a pivotal role

1:00

in the way this crime, and

1:02

the stories about this crime, played

1:05

out. An additional

1:07

content warning. This case

1:09

is about the death of a baby

1:12

and there is brief mention of domestic

1:14

violence and animal abuse. Please

1:16

take care when listening. And

1:18

with that, it's on with the show. July

1:26

17, 1990

1:29

was a hot one in Windsor, Ontario.

1:32

Not record-breaking hot like it had been

1:34

two years earlier, when the temperature broke

1:37

just above 40 degrees Celsius,

1:39

a heat record that holds to

1:41

this day. No, that Tuesday

1:44

morning in 1990, it was 23 degrees, partly cloudy

1:46

and a little muggy, a

1:51

typical summer morning for Canada's

1:53

southernmost major city. In

1:57

the western neighborhood of Sandwich, at

1:59

about 9am, 19-year-old Raymond

2:01

LaRoche and his 15-year-old girlfriend

2:04

Sandra Soulier stepped out of

2:06

their third floor apartment to

2:08

check on their laundry. They

2:12

left their 7-month-old baby Raymond in

2:14

his crib with a bottle. The

2:17

laundry room was located on

2:19

the main floor of their

2:21

small brown brick three-story apartment

2:23

building on Peter Street. The

2:26

street runs parallel to the Detroit River

2:28

which is just a few blocks away.

2:31

It ends at

2:33

the iconic Ambassador Bridge which

2:35

links Windsor to Detroit. The

2:39

young couple would tell police they'd been

2:41

in the laundry room for about half

2:43

an hour. When they returned

2:46

to their apartment Raymond LaRoche didn't

2:48

even notice his son baby Raymond

2:50

was gone at first. He

2:53

thought maybe Sandra was playing a joke on

2:55

him or that a relative had

2:57

come and taken the child without telling them.

3:01

He would tell a Windsor Star reporter

3:03

quote, I started to get

3:05

a real bad feeling in my gut but

3:07

I don't think he's dead I think he's

3:10

in a house somewhere I know

3:12

he's still alive. Raymond

3:17

then speculated about how the baby

3:19

might have been abducted. He

3:22

pointed out the building's lack

3:24

security adding that resident

3:26

children often left the main door

3:29

propped open. Sandra

3:31

suggested that someone might have spotted

3:33

their baby on the balcony where

3:35

they frequently played with him. Her

3:38

stepfather Larry speculated that whoever

3:40

took the baby is probably

3:42

someone who can't have kids

3:44

of their own. By

3:49

that Tuesday afternoon 25 police officers

3:53

were on the case combing

3:55

through the working-class neighborhood lifting

3:57

lids off garbage cans and

4:00

beating the brushes. Baby

4:02

Raymond was described as blonde and

4:05

blue eyed with one lower tooth

4:07

and a small bruise on his

4:09

forehead reportedly caused when

4:11

a toy mobile hanging over his

4:13

crib fell on him. By

4:17

nightfall nothing. No

4:20

leads, no clues, no

4:22

witnesses. The next

4:24

day the extended family held a

4:26

vigil in the small apartment waiting

4:29

for any news from police.

4:32

Sandra's distraught mother Susan hung a

4:35

banner over their balcony that said,

4:38

I want my boy back. Soon

4:42

neighbors started talking to the

4:44

press about Raymond and Sandra

4:46

painting a picture of two

4:49

seriously troubled teens. Remember

4:51

they were just 19 and 15 at the time. One told

4:56

the Windsor Star that even though they'd

4:58

only been living in the building for

5:01

two weeks they fought all

5:03

the time. The

5:05

landlord at their previous apartment told

5:07

the same paper the two had

5:09

been evicted for rowdy behavior. She

5:12

said she'd often called the police

5:14

on Raymond. She added

5:16

that Sandra frequently appeared to have

5:19

bruises all over her face. She

5:22

could hear their baby screaming during

5:24

their fights. Then

5:26

there was the odor coming from their

5:29

old apartment. It was

5:31

so bad that the landlord called

5:33

the Humane Society. They

5:36

discovered dead ferrets in a

5:38

cage and an apartment overrun

5:40

with cats. Raymond

5:42

also kept a pet piranha

5:44

in a tank reportedly feeding

5:46

it hot dogs. Sandra

5:49

was not immune to their

5:51

neighbors criticism. One neighbor

5:53

recalled running into her getting off a

5:56

bus and offered to hold the baby

5:58

while she folded up the straw. Sandra

6:01

said it was freezing cold that day

6:03

and a bottle had spilled on the

6:05

baby, soaking him. He

6:07

would have only been a few months old at

6:09

that time. Another

6:12

neighbour, who was 20 years old

6:14

with a three-year-old child and twins

6:16

on the way, told Detroit News,

6:18

quote, if I can get

6:20

my hands on her, I'd like to

6:22

rip her apart, end quote. Reportedly,

6:26

Raymond LaRoche had already been

6:28

on probation for a robbery

6:31

conviction when his baby went

6:33

missing, so he was known

6:35

to the police. Investigators

6:38

asked the young couple if they

6:40

would take a lie detector test,

6:42

and at first they agreed, but

6:45

after speaking to a lawyer, they

6:47

changed their minds. At

6:49

the time, turning down a lie

6:51

detector test would likely have been

6:53

considered an indication of guilt, in

6:56

the court of public opinion anyway.

6:58

But it's worth mentioning that just three years

7:00

earlier in 1987, the Supreme Court of Canada

7:05

had found polygraph results to

7:07

be unreliable, unnecessary and risky

7:10

as evidence and criminal trials.

7:14

Polygraphs or lie detector tests

7:16

don't reveal or prove deceit,

7:18

they only indicate a change

7:20

in stress levels that have

7:22

been scientifically debunked but are

7:24

still used as an investigation

7:26

tool. Raymond said

7:28

he had the feeling that the police were

7:30

trying to separate him and Sandra to get

7:32

them to turn on each other. He

7:35

told a reporter that he, quote,

7:38

hated when they started playing games.

7:41

What began to emerge amidst the

7:44

frantic search for this missing baby

7:46

was a dark picture of violence

7:49

and squalor. At the

7:51

centre, two teenagers barely able to

7:53

take care of themselves, let alone

7:56

their seven month old son. 8am

8:10

Thursday, 48 hours after

8:12

baby Raymond was first reported

8:15

missing. Three men

8:17

from the Windsor side of the

8:19

Detroit River headed out on a

8:21

small boat for a day of

8:23

fishing. They planned to drop anchor

8:25

near Amersberg, a few miles south

8:27

of Sandwich. One

8:30

of them, a man named Russell,

8:32

lived only a few blocks from

8:34

the Peter Street apartment building and

8:36

was aware of the drama brewing

8:38

in his neighbourhood. He

8:40

would say that he and his two

8:43

friends had planned to spend the whole

8:45

day out on the river but the

8:47

weather turned bad so they headed back.

8:50

Near the shore, Russell spotted what

8:52

he thought was a doll bobbing

8:54

in the river rushes. As

8:57

they steered closer to the bank,

8:59

they realised it wasn't a doll.

9:02

It was the body of a baby floating

9:04

on its back, arms flung

9:06

above its head, tangled

9:08

in the rushes. Russell

9:12

immediately thought of the missing

9:14

baby. The three men

9:16

moved the body to shore so it

9:18

wouldn't float away, covering it

9:20

with a plaid shirt to protect it

9:22

from further exposure. They

9:25

called the police and the tiny

9:27

body was taken to Windsor's Grace

9:29

Hospital to be formally identified. Later

9:33

that night, the Windsor star would run

9:35

a photo of two of the men.

9:38

Both were visibly shaken, eyes

9:40

cast down, mouths set in

9:42

grim lines. But

9:44

if the search was over, the drama

9:47

was just beginning. The

9:52

evening news on both sides of

9:54

the border featured stories of the

9:57

gruesome discovery. By 6.30pm. An

10:00

unruly crowd of about a hundred

10:02

and fifty people began to gather

10:04

outside the P the street apartment

10:06

buildings were Raymond and Sandra lived.

10:09

Some. Of them chanted baby

10:11

Killers under the balcony. Cameras.

10:14

From major Canadian news outlets

10:16

as far away as Toronto

10:18

in every major Tv channel

10:21

in Detroit. Da said the

10:23

building small loan. The.

10:25

Crowd grew so large police were

10:27

called to disperse it. And.

10:29

To escort Sandra to the hospital

10:32

to identify the body. People.

10:34

Yelled hang your ass bitch

10:36

and baby murderer at the

10:38

fifteen year olds who was

10:41

reportedly two and a half

10:43

months pregnant with the couple's

10:45

second child. Sandra.

10:48

Stepfather Larry have it in

10:50

the foyer of the building

10:52

calling the crowd vultures. But

10:54

he also told reporters that heed

10:57

advice his daughter to tell the

10:59

police if she knew anything. Tell

11:01

now he said or your boys

11:03

be changed. The

11:06

body was indeed her son

11:08

baby raymond. Not. Much

11:10

else was reported about how he

11:12

might have died. Just. Sit

11:14

there with scratches all around his

11:16

eyes which could have come from

11:18

being tossed around in the river.

11:21

More. Would be nine after the

11:23

autopsy which would have to be

11:25

conducted at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital.

11:28

Now. The investigation shifted from

11:31

a possible kidnapping to

11:33

unlikely homicide. This. Whole

11:35

saga was taking a toll on the

11:38

fifteen year old mother. Sandra.

11:40

Reportedly hadn't eaten in

11:42

four days. She. Was

11:44

so distraught. Her mother had suggested

11:47

checking her into the hospital while

11:49

she was they identifying the body,

11:51

but she refused. After

11:54

returning to the apartment it was

11:56

Raymond turned to see his son's

11:58

body. Later. He told

12:00

the Windsor Star quite. I. Didn't

12:02

believe it until I was there

12:04

myself. I seen him and that was

12:07

my boy. It

12:10

was these kinds of candid close

12:12

to score it's that had begun

12:14

to captivate the press and the

12:16

public. Raymond was like

12:19

one of the perpetrators from an

12:21

episode of Cops, a wildly popular

12:23

reality Sorry that had they booed

12:26

on Detroit T just a year

12:28

earlier on a towel available to

12:30

Windsor audiences as well. In.

12:33

The Show: handheld cameras are

12:35

embedded with police units across

12:37

the Us. Drug best domestic

12:40

violence assaults it was all

12:42

captured by Shaky Camera is.

12:45

Audiences. Were relieved by

12:47

police chasing perpetrators down streets

12:50

and alleys. Some find the

12:52

perpetrators faces were blurred out.

12:54

Be could hear anger and

12:56

humiliation in their voices. Cops.

13:00

Would go on to be one

13:02

of the longest running shows in

13:05

television history. The back In Nineteen

13:07

Ninety, local viewers on both sides

13:09

of the board out would just

13:11

becoming accustomed to the roar, unfiltered

13:14

trite of unscripted T V. And.

13:16

Raymond. Off the cuff remarks

13:19

and emotional outbursts were ratings

13:21

gold. As was

13:23

his tendency to break out into

13:25

a grin at a time when

13:27

most other parents and his position

13:29

would be beside themselves. Julia

13:33

Jackson, a reporter from Detroit

13:35

Channel Fifty, said it was

13:38

an unusual for her station

13:40

to cover Canadian stories for

13:42

American audiences, but this kind

13:44

of story, a very dramatic

13:47

story, was very unusual for

13:49

Windsor. friday

13:53

morning after the baby's body was

13:56

identified the couple's picture was splashed

13:58

across the front page of the

14:00

Windsor Star on top of the

14:03

fold. It was above

14:05

news about the ongoing standoff

14:07

in Oka between the Mohawks

14:09

and Quebec Provincial Police, which

14:11

had been dominating the headlines

14:13

that summer. In

14:15

the photo, Raymond and Sandra are

14:17

sitting on their plaid catch. He's

14:20

wearing only a dark undershirt.

14:23

His arm is casually slung

14:25

around Sandra's shoulders. He

14:28

is gaunt but fixated on his face

14:30

while he chats on the phone, reportedly

14:33

to his lawyer. Raymond

14:36

is quoted in the article saying, we'll

14:38

find the persons that did this, it will

14:40

all come out in the end. He

14:44

added that he was relieved that his

14:46

baby son's body was found, saying

14:48

quote, now I know no

14:50

weirdo is holding him. Raymond

14:53

later told the Detroit Free

14:55

Press quote, I know I

14:58

didn't do it. I know she didn't do

15:00

it. I don't have to prove myself to

15:02

nobody. Let the police do their work. The

15:06

couple now was in a kind

15:09

of limbo, still attracting intense media

15:11

attention, still the target

15:13

of anger and suspicion from neighbors

15:16

and still insisting on their

15:18

innocence. They stuck

15:20

to their story that someone came

15:23

into their apartment that Tuesday morning,

15:25

stole their baby from his crib

15:28

and killed him. The results

15:30

of the autopsy would determine the

15:32

police's next move. Sandra

15:53

Sullier had been with Raymond LaRoche

15:55

for two years. They first

15:57

met at a high school Halloween day.

16:00

when she was only 13 years old.

16:03

At the time she was a typical

16:05

teen, hanging with friends and singing in

16:07

the church choir but she fell

16:10

hard for Raymond who was 17 when

16:13

she met him. She told

16:15

a friend that she wanted to get married

16:17

and start a family with him right away.

16:20

Just five months after they

16:22

met Sandra became pregnant with

16:24

baby Raymond. They said

16:26

it was planned. Before

16:32

she gave birth she was assigned

16:34

a caseworker from the Children's Aid

16:36

Society in Windsor whose job

16:38

was to help young unwed mothers

16:40

prepare for the arrival of a

16:43

baby. By

16:45

all accounts Sandra's mother and

16:47

stepfather were both active in

16:49

her life and doted on

16:51

their grandchild and while

16:53

they thought she was in a bad

16:55

situation living with Raymond there seemed to

16:58

be no getting her away from him.

17:02

After Sandra identified her son's body

17:04

and refused a hospital stay to

17:06

deal with her own declining health

17:09

her mother finally secured

17:11

a court order that

17:13

forced her to have

17:15

a 72-hour medical evaluation.

17:17

While in the hospital

17:19

Sandra's family also retained

17:21

their own criminal lawyer

17:23

Patrick Duchamp to represent

17:25

her. When reporters

17:28

asked Raymond if this said anything

17:30

about the case he told them

17:32

we're sticking together. Though

17:35

police still insisted the 19-year-old

17:38

father wasn't a suspect they

17:40

began to informally stop by

17:42

and question him. Raymond

17:45

told reporters police asked him all

17:47

sorts of questions about his drug

17:49

and alcohol use and

17:51

even the meaning of the

17:53

pentagram tattooed on his shoulder.

17:55

The five-point star is

17:57

often associated with witchcraft.

18:00

and the occult. Raymond

18:02

claimed that Sandra's stepfather had

18:04

drawn the tattoo on himself.

18:07

He joked to a reporter that when

18:09

police asked if he worshipped the devil

18:12

he told them quote oh

18:14

yeah all the time. The

18:18

funeral for baby Raymond LaRoche

18:20

the following Wednesday began with

18:22

a high-speed car chase breathlessly

18:24

detailed on the front page

18:26

of the Windsor Star. The

18:29

normally press-friendly couple had tried to

18:31

keep the details of the funeral

18:33

private. They snuck out

18:35

the side door of their Peter Street

18:38

apartment in an attempt to evade reporters

18:40

still camped out on the lawn. Here's

18:43

how the Windsor Star described the scene

18:46

on its front page. A

18:48

wild chase through the city ensued with

18:50

a Windsor Star staff car, a reporter

18:52

from the Toronto Star and a crew

18:54

from Global TV in pursuit. The car

18:56

carrying Soulier and LaRoche raced back to

18:58

the city's west end weaving through the

19:00

side streets. It's

19:03

a news story that reads like it

19:05

was ripped out of a Bonnie and

19:07

Clyde script except they weren't bank robbers.

19:09

They were two teenagers attending the

19:12

funeral of their dead baby at

19:14

the church where Sandra once sang

19:16

in the choir. But

19:19

curiously after the service her

19:21

own priest told a reporter

19:23

he didn't notice anyone break

19:25

down during the proceedings. Later

19:31

that night things hit

19:33

a fever pitch when Raymond's

19:36

own father Michelle LaRoche gave

19:38

an explosive interview to WXYZ

19:41

TV in Detroit. He

19:43

told the reporter that his son had

19:45

actually admitted to him that he killed

19:48

Raymond. Michelle

19:51

said Raymond quote went out

19:53

of control and that he

19:55

insisted it was an accident.

19:58

Then Michelle said his son had

20:00

the body ditched. The

20:03

passive language implied that someone else

20:05

had been involved in the crime.

20:08

This story put Canadian news

20:10

outlets in a difficult position

20:12

and it highlighted the radically

20:14

stark differences in libel laws

20:16

on either side of the

20:18

Detroit River. Under

20:21

US law the burden of proof falls

20:23

on the subject of a news story

20:25

to prove it's false. In

20:28

Canada the onus is on the news

20:30

outlet to prove that it's true and

20:33

while WXYZ's reporting from Detroit

20:35

Michigan was highly criticized by

20:38

media experts in Canada audiences

20:40

and Windsor Ontario ate it

20:43

up. They demanded

20:45

to know why CBC or

20:47

other Canadian news outlets weren't

20:49

reporting these so-called facts as

20:52

well. The Canadian news

20:54

outlets did report Michelle

20:56

LaRocher's inflammatory statements under

20:59

the guys that they had to

21:01

give Raymond the opportunity to deny

21:03

his father's allegations and

21:06

Raymond denied them vociferously.

21:09

He called his father unreliable and

21:11

out for revenge adding quote he's

21:13

a burnout he's trying to be

21:15

a hero don't believe everything you

21:18

see on TV. That

21:21

news of course unleashed the

21:23

local Peter Street vigilantes this

21:26

time they were out for blood. 30

21:28

people reportedly followed Raymond

21:30

to the store that night

21:32

chanting kill him and get

21:35

him. Raymond said one

21:37

of them pulled his coat over his

21:39

head and assaulted him but that he

21:41

got away without a scratch. An

21:45

onlooker was quoted in the Windsor Star

21:47

saying give me a 30-30 rifle

21:49

with the scope and I'll take him

21:51

out right now. It's

21:54

hard to blame Canadian viewers for

21:56

being more drawn to American news

21:58

outlets now covering covering this sordid

22:01

story nightly. Being unshackled

22:03

from Canadian libel laws, their

22:06

stories were more salacious and

22:08

entertaining, filled with details Canadian

22:10

journalists had to, by law,

22:13

leave out, like a father

22:15

accusing his son of murdering

22:17

his grandchild. Some

22:20

news outlets even nicknamed the

22:22

victim the River Baby. After

22:26

that dramatic episode, the

22:28

Windsor Stars editor-in-chief, Carl

22:30

Morgan, published an emotional

22:32

op-ed. It was both

22:34

an indictment of the American news

22:36

for broadcasting the accusations and

22:39

an explanation for why the Canadian press

22:41

was given no choice but to respond

22:43

to them. He wrote,

22:46

quote, By going on TV to

22:48

make his allegations, Michel

22:50

LaRoche created a new set of

22:52

events that created a story within

22:55

a story. The man wasn't accusing

22:57

some mysterious stranger passing in the

22:59

night. This was his son.

23:02

That alone becomes a newsworthy event.

23:04

Then the son says his father

23:06

can't be believed. Once

23:08

the father made the allegations, the

23:11

son had a right to respond.

23:13

It would have been unfair not

23:15

to allow that to happen, but

23:17

it was impossible to report the

23:19

response without reporting what he was

23:21

responding to. The police

23:23

department calls a press conference, once

23:26

more vaulting the events into the

23:28

public domain. The

23:31

Windsor Stars editor-in-chief closed his

23:34

op-ed by writing, the reality

23:36

is, regardless of your personal

23:39

feelings, no one has been

23:41

charged by police with a single thing

23:44

until that happens and until that

23:46

person has been found guilty. In

23:48

the eyes of the law, he or she

23:50

is as innocent as you or I. News

24:01

reporting is a competitive business and

24:03

no one in print or broadcasting

24:05

likes to be beaten to a

24:07

story. That presents a special problem

24:09

these days when a flick of

24:12

a dial brings US television programs

24:14

into Canadian living rooms. In

24:16

Windsor, viewers have been demanding to

24:19

know why their stations have been

24:21

lagging behind the Detroit media on

24:23

the baby deaths story. Newsroom

24:25

staff have been trying to explain

24:27

to call us how libel and

24:29

slander laws differ between the two

24:31

countries. In

24:34

that same CP article, University

24:37

of Windsor journalism professor Stan

24:39

Cunningham speculated that the damage

24:41

done by the news coverage

24:44

was incalculable. He

24:46

added, quote, It's very hard now

24:48

for any of us to maintain

24:50

an open mind and an objective

24:52

attitude. They've poisoned the climate of

24:55

justice for that young couple. A

25:01

few days later, Raymond and

25:03

Sandra left town. If

25:05

not for their safety, said family,

25:07

then at least for their sanity.

25:10

They needed to get away from the

25:12

cameras and reporters. They

25:14

decamped to nearby Holiday Beach

25:16

about 40 minutes away

25:19

in Amersberg. The

25:21

Windsor star followed them there, noting that

25:23

the couple had made some friends with

25:25

people their age and that Sandra played

25:28

with their young children. But

25:31

their peaceful sojourn only lasted a

25:33

few days. Out of

25:35

the spotlight and away from the

25:38

cameras, Raymond admitted to a Windsor

25:40

star reporter that he grew bored.

25:42

The couple returned home. It

25:45

was the last night of freedom Raymond

25:47

would have for a long while. the

26:00

next day several police officers

26:02

dressed in plain clothes descended

26:04

on the Peter Street apartment

26:06

to finally arrest Raymond LaRoche.

26:08

When they let him out

26:10

of the building and handcuffs

26:12

a small crowd started to

26:14

clap and jeer. Sandra

26:17

was arrested too. So

26:20

what prompted police actions on

26:22

that day? The

26:24

autopsy report came back from Toronto

26:27

Sick Kids. It laid

26:29

out in plain shocking details

26:31

that seven-month-old baby Raymond had

26:33

suffered a violent death and

26:35

that he was likely dead

26:37

before he was placed in

26:39

the river. He had

26:42

bruises all over his body and

26:44

signs of strangulation around the neck.

26:47

He also had a perforated heart, a

26:50

ruptured liver and severe trauma to

26:52

the abdomen and head. Any

26:55

one of those injuries would have

26:57

been catastrophic according to the coroner.

27:00

Baby Raymond had them all. Police

27:04

worried that once the public learned

27:06

about the grim details of the

27:09

baby's death there would be even

27:11

more unrest. So on August

27:13

3rd of 1990 17

27:16

days after his infant son

27:18

went missing Raymond LaRoche was

27:20

charged with his second-degree murder.

27:23

Sandra was charged with mischief

27:25

and for misleading police. While

27:28

she was immediately remanded into

27:30

her parents care Raymond

27:32

was denied bail. He would spend

27:35

the rest of the time before

27:37

trial in the old Windsor jail.

27:41

This time the court wasn't messing

27:43

around with the press coverage. The

27:46

judge issued a publication ban

27:48

on any details stemming from

27:50

the bail hearing or any

27:52

pretrial hearings and threatened offending

27:54

media outlets with contempt of

27:56

court charges. The

27:58

judge pointed to the U.S. US media

28:00

in particular, despite having no

28:03

jurisdiction over their reporting and

28:05

no real way to hold

28:07

them accountable. He

28:09

announced that Raymond LaRoche was entitled

28:11

to a fair trial and the

28:13

only way he was going to

28:15

get it was if the press

28:17

didn't poison the well. The

28:21

band worked on the Windsor side of

28:23

the border and there was a sudden

28:26

drop off of salacious headlines. The

28:28

only notable exception was one

28:31

interview published a couple of

28:33

months into Raymond's jail stint

28:35

when the 19-year-old told Windsor

28:37

Star reporter Scott Burnside that

28:39

he intended to marry Sandra.

28:43

There had been rumours that Raymond's

28:45

mother encouraged Sandra to marry

28:47

her son under some

28:49

mistaken idea that this would

28:51

somehow prevent her from testifying

28:53

against him. But

28:55

other than that, the only

28:57

stories that appeared were paragraphs

28:59

here and there updating readers

29:02

on Raymond's legal proceedings. With

29:05

Raymond in jail and Sandra with her

29:07

parents under court order not to speak

29:09

to him, things on Peter Street were

29:12

quiet for the first time in weeks.

29:15

There was nothing left to do but wait

29:17

until the trial which was set

29:19

to begin early the following year 1991. Then

29:25

came another twist. Raymond's

29:29

preliminary hearing began in January

29:31

of 1991 which would determine

29:34

if there was enough evidence

29:36

to go to trial. On

29:39

day one, during the testimony

29:41

of an unnamed witness, Raymond

29:44

reportedly broke down crying. These

29:47

were the only details reporters could

29:49

reveal since the proceedings were still

29:51

under a strict publication ban. The

29:55

preliminary hearing resumed in February

29:58

but before these proceedings even

30:00

got underway, Raymond's lawyer

30:02

and the Crown prosecutor held

30:04

a last-minute meeting behind closed

30:07

doors. Raymond was

30:09

now represented by local

30:11

legend Don Tate, a

30:13

notoriously flamboyant criminal lawyer

30:15

who often took on

30:18

high-profile cases, usually

30:20

ones involving bikers and

30:22

gang members. Tate had

30:24

a knack for keeping his clients

30:26

out of prison or bargaining for

30:29

reduced charges. Rumours

30:31

of a plea bargain quickly spread

30:33

in the crowded courtroom. The

30:37

two lawyers re-emerged, this time

30:39

with Raymond in tow. He

30:42

reportedly winked at his mother and

30:44

waved to Sandra, her second pregnancy

30:47

showing by now. Then

30:49

he stood and faced Judge Saul

30:52

Nozincip and pleaded guilty to the

30:54

lesser charge of manslaughter and for

30:57

lying to the police. This

30:59

was a stunning turn of events. There

31:02

would be no trial. The

31:06

judge asked Raymond if he understood

31:09

the ramifications of a guilty

31:11

plea. Raymond said yes,

31:13

he did. The publication ban

31:15

was lifted so Canadian news

31:17

outlets could now report about

31:20

the actual events that led

31:22

to Raymond's arrest and the

31:24

CBC could finally air a

31:26

jaw-dropping behind-the-scenes documentary it had

31:29

long been prepping. The

31:31

documentary made clear that while

31:34

American News was reporting out

31:36

all sorts of unverified details

31:38

about the murder, turbo-charging viewer

31:40

impatience with the investigation and

31:42

amping up vitriol against the

31:45

teen parents, Windsor

31:47

police had been quietly building

31:49

their case against Raymond LaRoche.

31:53

In the CBC documentary,

31:55

lead investigator Murray Sennett

31:57

told reporter Colleen McEdwards

31:59

that Police had immediately

32:01

suspected Raymond of murdering the

32:03

baby. It wasn't hard to

32:05

see why. The documentary re-aired

32:08

an interview with a young couple

32:10

on their couch, before the body

32:12

of their infant son had been

32:14

found. In it,

32:16

Raymond says he believes his son

32:18

has only got so much time

32:20

because, quote, he's hurt and he

32:23

misses his dad. The

32:26

19-year-old breaks out in what can

32:28

only be described as a shit-eating

32:30

grin for a second, before reeling

32:32

himself in to add, and his

32:34

mum too. Raymond

32:37

says they miss their son very

32:39

much and chuckles as he says,

32:42

he's a cute little guy. His

32:45

odd and inappropriate behaviour, in addition

32:47

to the story he and Sandra

32:49

told about the circumstances that led

32:52

to their baby's so-called disappearance, suggested

32:54

to Windsor Police that the young

32:56

couple likely knew a lot more

32:58

than they were letting on. Especially

33:02

Raymond. But

33:05

they had no evidence, no witnesses,

33:08

nothing that directly linked Raymond to

33:10

the murder. Not yet.

33:13

They were waiting for the autopsy report.

33:16

Or a confession. So

33:18

they played it cool, telling

33:20

journalists that the investigation was

33:22

ongoing and that they still

33:24

had no suspects. Here

33:27

say, wasn't good enough for an arrest.

33:31

Raymond's father, Michelle LaRoche's claim on

33:33

US TV that his son had

33:35

confessed to killing the baby wasn't

33:38

good enough either. In

33:40

fact, days before senior LaRoche

33:42

had gone on WXYZ TV

33:45

with that inflammatory interview, he

33:47

had also told Windsor Police

33:50

that same story according to

33:52

the lead investigator. But

33:54

again, this was hearsay. While

33:57

there are exceptions that may allow certain people to be arrested, he's

33:59

not certain hearsay evidence to be

34:02

admitted at trial, for example, a

34:04

direct statement of an accused person

34:06

admitting to the crime, it's

34:09

not enough for an arrest. And

34:12

neither were the stories of Raymond's

34:14

past violence and drug and alcohol

34:16

abuse. None of it was

34:19

enough to charge him with anything. The

34:22

documentary also showed a troubling

34:24

scene with Sandra's mother, Susan,

34:27

and her step-father, Larry. During

34:29

a surprise appearance at police

34:32

headquarters, they talked about a

34:34

time Raymond had killed a kitten

34:36

in front of them by repeatedly

34:38

throwing it against the walls of

34:40

their apartment. Susan

34:42

added that her daughter was regularly

34:44

covered in bruises on her face

34:47

and body, but when she confronted

34:49

Raymond about it, he

34:51

insisted she had no proof he

34:53

was abusing Sandra. Another

34:57

friend told an officer that

34:59

she witnessed Raymond's abuse firsthand,

35:01

describing a distressing incident where

35:04

he threw baby Raymond at

35:06

Sandra after first blocking her

35:08

from comforting the crying infant.

35:12

The Windsor Star was also

35:14

able to fully report details

35:16

from the preliminary hearing that

35:18

were previously under publication ban,

35:21

including the fact that Raymond

35:23

broke down crying during lead

35:26

investigator Murray Sennett's testimony. Sennett

35:29

was describing a time when police

35:32

had made one of their unofficial

35:34

visits to Raymond's apartment in the

35:36

days leading up to his arrest.

35:38

He said they found him, quote, in

35:41

a strange state of mind. Raymond

35:44

began asking him a series

35:47

of what-if questions, describing a

35:49

hypothetical accident that might have

35:51

involved his baby. The investigator

35:54

prompted Raymond to say more

35:57

if there had been an

35:59

accident involving the baby. he

36:01

asked Raymond, what would you

36:03

do? Senate testified that in

36:05

response Raymond threw a pillow on

36:08

the floor and pretended to resuscitate

36:10

it by violently punching the pillow

36:13

over and over again. One

36:15

of the other officers present pointed out

36:17

to Raymond that those kind of aggressive

36:20

moves could actually do a lot of

36:22

harm to a baby. The

36:26

police felt it was as close to

36:28

a confession as they were likely going

36:30

to get. This violent incident combined

36:32

with the shocking autopsy report

36:35

that found baby Raymond had

36:37

bruises all over his body,

36:39

signs of strangulation, damaged organs

36:41

and severe head trauma was

36:43

the evidence they needed to

36:45

finally make an arrest. Lead

36:49

investigator Murray Sennett also referred

36:51

to the police's first meeting

36:53

with Raymond LaRoche after the

36:55

baby was reported missing testifying

36:57

that after just 20 minutes

37:00

they knew in their gut that his

37:02

story about the kidnapping was a lie

37:05

but they only ever had

37:07

circumstantial evidence. Plus

37:09

they wanted to be a

37:11

hundred percent certain about how

37:13

Sandra was involved, if at

37:15

all. Sennett added quote, all

37:18

of our investigators were united

37:20

and believing LaRoche was the

37:22

author of the death. One

37:24

problem was how Sandra may

37:26

have participated, we almost had

37:28

to eliminate her first. He

37:32

also testified that he agreed with

37:34

the reduced charge of manslaughter in

37:36

exchange for Raymond's guilty plea because

37:39

in the end they never really

37:41

had a lot of evidence. They

37:44

even tried bugging the apartment to

37:46

no avail. In

37:48

fact Sennett said, had the

37:50

baby's body never been sound

37:52

it's unlikely any arrest would

37:54

have ever been made. He

37:57

described the situation as quote, in

38:00

which you had a whodunit but you

38:02

had very little evidence." But

38:06

Raymond wouldn't officially admit to the

38:08

crime until he'd been in jail

38:10

for three months. He

38:12

finally broke down one day and

38:14

tearfully told his then new lawyer

38:16

Don Tate that he did

38:18

it, that he was solely

38:21

responsible and that he had accidentally

38:23

killed his son in a drunken

38:25

rage because the baby wouldn't stop

38:27

crying. The

38:32

Windsor Star reported that the lawyer

38:34

then laid out Raymond's options. If

38:37

he went to trial on second-degree

38:40

murder charges he stood a good

38:42

chance of being convicted and that

38:44

he'd be sent to jail for

38:46

a long time. Tate added quote,

38:49

whether I changed the venue from

38:51

Windsor to Toronto or Windsor to

38:54

Sudbury it wouldn't have made any

38:56

difference because everyone had heard about

38:58

this particular case, everyone

39:00

had heard about Raymond LaRoche and

39:03

everyone had made up their minds

39:05

end quote. After

39:10

Raymond confessed that's also reportedly

39:12

when Tate first met with

39:14

the Crown prosecutor to discuss

39:16

the possibility of reducing the

39:19

charges from second-degree murder to

39:21

manslaughter. At

39:23

Raymond LaRoche's sentencing hearing

39:26

on February 18th 1991,

39:28

Judge Saul Nozenchuk finally

39:30

read his full confession

39:32

out loud to another

39:34

crowded courtroom. Another

39:37

warning to listeners, the details

39:39

that follow are disturbing. The

39:42

judge began reading quote, it

39:44

was hot in the apartment. I remember

39:47

the baby was crying a lot and would not stop.

39:50

All I remember is hitting the baby with my fists.

39:53

I was in a rage and suddenly I stopped

39:55

when I heard Sandra screaming at me. It seemed

39:57

like a dream. Raymond

40:00

said after the beating he put the

40:02

baby in his crib and gave him

40:04

a bottle. The rest of

40:06

the details he said were hazy because

40:08

he had drunk almost a case of

40:11

beer that day. Judge

40:14

Nosanchuk continued reading Raymond's

40:16

statement. He

40:18

seemed okay at the time. It was

40:20

only a short time later when Sandra screamed that

40:22

he was not breathing. I looked

40:24

and he was turning blue. I grabbed

40:26

him and started screaming at him to start breathing.

40:29

I kept shaking him but he wouldn't wake up. I

40:32

kept pushing on his chest over and over again

40:34

but he would not breathe. I

40:37

kept yelling, he's dead, he's dead. I remember

40:39

standing up with him and falling down because I

40:42

was so drunk. I

40:44

don't know if I fell on him or not but he was

40:46

in my arms when I fell. I knew

40:48

he was dead. Then

40:51

came perhaps the darkest part of

40:53

the story. After they

40:55

knew baby Raymond was dead, Raymond

40:57

and Sandra brought his tiny body

40:59

out to the balcony and pretended

41:01

to play with him. It was

41:05

all a ruse to give neighbors

41:07

the impression that the baby was

41:10

alive the night before his parents

41:12

knew he was going to mysteriously

41:14

disappear. One

41:16

witness had told police that they thought

41:19

the baby was a little overdressed for

41:21

July. Another witness said

41:23

at one point Raymond dangled the

41:25

baby upside down by the legs

41:28

and that the baby had

41:30

seemed quote oddly lifeless. The

41:33

judge continued with Raymond's statement.

41:36

The hearing ended with Judge Nosanchuk speaking directly to

41:38

Raymond saying, The

41:43

killing of your own son is one of

41:45

the most serious types of offenses imaginable. You

42:00

were in a position of trust and

42:02

you failed that trust in a miserable

42:04

way. You were pathetically

42:06

unequipped to be a parent." Raymond

42:12

LaRoche was sentenced to 10 years

42:14

in prison. The maximum

42:16

for manslaughter is life in

42:19

prison, so critics, including Raymond's

42:21

own father, complained

42:23

that he got off easy. Raymond's

42:26

lawyer disagreed. John

42:28

Tate said he'd hoped for an

42:30

even shorter sentence, but all the

42:33

toxic media attention fueled public hatred

42:35

against Raymond to such a degree

42:37

that it made it impossible for

42:39

him to seek any kind of

42:41

leniency. Tate pointed

42:43

his finger directly at WXYZ

42:46

in Detroit, which reportedly won

42:48

an award for their coverage

42:50

of the story. Raymond

42:53

would be eligible for parole after 40

42:56

months, but before he

42:58

was shipped out to begin serving

43:00

his time at Millhaven Institution in

43:03

Bath, Ontario, he granted yet another

43:05

interview to the Windsor Star. In

43:08

it, he thanked his mother and

43:10

his lawyer who he said inspired him to

43:13

want to pursue a law degree while in

43:15

prison. He said he

43:17

was aware he'd be heading to a

43:19

place that didn't take kindly to child

43:21

abuses, but he wasn't afraid,

43:23

telling the reporter, quote, I'm not

43:25

worried, I'm a man of being

43:27

through it. And

43:31

while Sandra was under a court order

43:34

not to contact Raymond, he

43:36

left the reporter with the impression that

43:38

the two of them had made plans

43:40

to move out west when he got

43:42

out, and that he expected Sandra to

43:45

visit him in prison with their baby

43:47

daughter. At that point, the

43:49

baby was due in just a few

43:51

weeks. That

43:53

never happened. So

44:14

what happened to Sandra Sullier?

44:17

A little over a year to

44:19

the day after her son was

44:21

killed, Sandra was placed on probation

44:23

after pleading guilty to the charge

44:25

of misleading the police. This

44:28

meant her name was now under publication

44:30

ban as a young offender. From

44:33

that point on, the Windsor Star

44:35

referred to her as a young

44:37

mother, a young offender, and more

44:39

poignantly, a girl, reminding

44:42

readers that she was and had

44:44

always been the other child at

44:46

the centre of this horrendous crime.

44:51

In sentencing her to probation, the

44:54

judge told Sandra that her crime,

44:56

quote, "...shot the conscience

44:58

of an entire community. In

45:01

a short lifetime, you have suffered

45:03

the greatest loss that can befall

45:05

any parent, the loss of a

45:07

child. You found yourself

45:09

under the influence of Mr. LaRoche

45:12

and unable to exercise any independent

45:14

thought or will." By

45:19

this point, 16-year-old Sandra and

45:21

her now four-month-old daughter were

45:23

living in foster care. It's

45:26

unclear how she ended up there since

45:28

it appeared that she had a decent

45:30

relationship with her own mother and stepfather,

45:33

but according to her foster parents,

45:36

Sandra was enjoying her second baby,

45:38

though had bouts of difficulty dealing

45:40

with the loss of her first.

45:44

She had also been assigned four

45:46

workers from Children's Aid to help

45:48

her learn better parenting schools. She

45:51

had plans to place the baby in

45:53

daycare so she could return to school

45:55

in the fall. Roche,

46:00

his time in prison was marked

46:02

by bouts of violence, committed by

46:05

him and against him. It

46:07

was also marked by long stays

46:10

and solitary confinement, often

46:12

by his own request, and

46:14

sometimes as punishment for bad

46:17

behaviour. After

46:19

serving a third of his

46:21

original 10-year sentence, the now

46:23

23-year-old was eligible to apply

46:26

for parole. He'd spent

46:28

less than three and a half years

46:30

in prison. At

46:32

his first hearing, the parole board

46:34

referred to a list of infractions.

46:37

They first asked him why he

46:39

had threatened to stab his cell

46:41

partner during his first year in

46:43

prison at Millhaven Institution. Raymond

46:47

claimed that his cellmate was

46:49

a homosexual pedophile, that's a

46:51

quote, and that he shouldn't have

46:53

been placed in a cell with him. The

46:56

board also made reference to an

46:58

attack committed against Raymond. When asked

47:01

about the exact nature of that

47:03

attack, he admitted something happened but

47:05

that he was not quote, fully

47:08

raped and claimed that any violence

47:10

he committed was in his own

47:12

defence. Raymond

47:14

had a new lawyer by now

47:16

and he added that his client's

47:18

mental health had declined after that

47:20

attack. Then

47:22

the parole board asked about

47:25

the psychiatric reports which described

47:27

Raymond as delusional and having

47:29

bipolar disorder. Prison

47:31

doctors reported that he claimed to be

47:33

a miracle worker of some kind who

47:35

could see into the future and

47:38

although he was required to take

47:40

anger management classes, he reportedly

47:42

didn't get much out of them. Nor

47:45

did he seek treatment for substance

47:47

abuse while in prison. Then

47:50

the board asked him questions about

47:53

killing his infant son to determine

47:55

if he'd changed or if he

47:57

could express remorse. Raymond

48:00

told the board that he didn't think

48:02

he was an angry person by nature.

48:05

He claimed he had lost his

48:07

cool that one time, but only

48:09

after drinking 18 beers

48:11

in six hours. He

48:13

said the baby wouldn't stop crying even

48:15

after he picked him up, which

48:18

he admitted might have hurt his

48:20

feelings. When

48:23

asked if he'd ever been violent with

48:25

Sandra, Raymond also admitted,

48:27

quote, I smacked her

48:29

a couple of times. Never anything

48:31

where she would require hospitalization. He

48:35

also reportedly told a parole

48:37

board member new details about

48:39

his childhood, which he

48:41

initially described as the best anyone

48:43

could ask for. But now

48:46

he claimed his father, Michelle LaRoche,

48:48

had beat him and his mother

48:50

before they separated when he was

48:53

five. He then described

48:55

growing close to a man assigned to

48:57

him from the Big Brother organization, but

49:00

he died of cancer when Raymond was around

49:02

12. It was

49:04

something he said he never got over. Raymond

49:09

LaRoche was denied parole. Lost

49:12

in a year later in 1995, he lost yet

49:14

another bid. This

49:18

ruling stated, quote, in

49:21

the board's view, you are an

49:23

angry and immature and disturbed young

49:25

man who needs a great deal

49:27

of professional care by mental health

49:30

specialists. Raymond

49:32

LaRoche's lawyer would later state his client

49:34

did not seem to receive the mental

49:37

health help he needed, or at least

49:39

not enough of it. During

49:43

his first two years at Millhaven

49:45

Institution, his growing anger and frustration

49:47

was evident in a series of

49:49

letters he sent to Sandra that

49:52

were later published by the Windsor

49:54

Star. In them, Raymond

49:56

expressed his desire to marry Sandra when he

49:58

got out of the building. and

50:01

for them to continue having children

50:03

until they had another son. He

50:05

talked about lifting weights to become a

50:08

quote lean mean fighting

50:10

machine. He

50:12

also demanded that Sandra bring their

50:14

baby daughter to visit his mother

50:17

in Windsor more often. Then

50:19

he demanded she write him back

50:21

threatening her with violence if she

50:23

was cheating on him. He

50:25

wrote, I want you to start writing

50:28

me letters and sending me cards and pictures and stuff.

50:30

I want you to start calling my mother

50:32

at least once a week and I want you to

50:34

call her today. You better not be

50:36

fooling around on me or you'll end up like

50:38

Jackie Robine. Jackie

50:40

Robine was an 18 year

50:42

old Windsor woman who was

50:44

shot and killed by her

50:46

boyfriend in February 1991. The

50:48

same month Raymond pled guilty

50:51

to his crimes. His

50:54

next letter was equally unhinged.

50:57

He warned Sandra that she better be

50:59

taking care of their daughter or quote,

51:02

you will pay when you get out. You

51:04

act like you don't care or love me anymore. You

51:07

wait bitch. You think you're the

51:09

boss because I'm in jail. I'm out in 36 months.

51:12

You will answer to me. I will track

51:14

you down. You can run, but you can't

51:16

hide. Sandra's

51:21

mother Susan kept the letters and

51:24

sent them to the parole board

51:26

before Raymond's first hearing back in

51:28

94. She asked the board

51:31

to order him to stop sending them

51:33

to Sandra. She said her

51:35

daughter wanted nothing to do with Raymond

51:37

and was trying to live a better

51:39

life. The letters

51:41

stopped after

51:46

his stint at Mill Haven institution.

51:49

Raymond LaRoche was sent to

51:51

Kingston Penitentiary and then Walkworth

51:54

institution near Peterborough. In

51:56

February of 2001, a little over a month After

52:00

the Windsor Star published excerpts of

52:03

his prison letters, Raymond was

52:05

scheduled to be released on full

52:07

parole after serving out his full

52:09

10 year sentence. As

52:12

many feared, he was heading home

52:14

back to Windsor. Raymond's

52:17

imminent arrival stirred up strong

52:19

emotions in the city. The

52:22

Windsor Star spoke with an old

52:24

neighbour who still lived in the

52:26

same Peter Street apartment building. He

52:29

stated that Raymond better not get in

52:31

his face. The neighbour

52:33

also admitted that he had once been

52:35

part of the mob that had gathered

52:37

on the lawn chanting for Raymond's arrest

52:40

and claimed he even took a swing

52:42

at him way back then but missed.

52:45

Another neighbour said she heard rumours that

52:47

people would be after Raymond, that he

52:50

wouldn't be safe there. The

52:53

now 29 year old Raymond LaRoche,

52:56

whose dark hair had grown down

52:58

past his shoulders, would

53:00

eventually move in with his mother. But

53:03

he was first required to report to

53:05

the Windsor jail. Police

53:08

asked the court to place

53:10

several restrictions on his movements,

53:12

citing his poor psychiatric reports

53:14

and multiple complaints from both

53:16

Sandra's family and his own.

53:19

Those threatening letters he sent to Sandra

53:22

had come back to haunt him. By

53:25

then, Sandra had reportedly married

53:27

again, had at least one

53:29

more child and changed her

53:31

name. But police still

53:33

worried for her safety. They

53:36

were certain that Raymond would

53:38

offend again. Judge

53:41

Nosanchuk, the same judge who had

53:43

sentenced him, agreed with police and

53:46

placed a number of restrictions on

53:48

Raymond, including a requirement for

53:50

him to report to a parole officer

53:52

every week. He

53:55

was also not permitted in places that

53:57

served alcohol or allowed to take care

53:59

of children under the age of 14. He

54:03

had to enroll in a substance

54:05

abuse treatment program and seek ongoing

54:07

psychiatric care for his mental illness.

54:11

And if he wanted to leave

54:13

the area for any reason at

54:15

all, he had to give police

54:17

72 hours notice. Most

54:19

importantly, Raymond was forbidden

54:22

from ever reaching out to

54:24

Sandra or anyone in her

54:26

family. He was also forbidden from

54:28

reaching out to his own father.

54:32

Raymond agreed to all of the

54:34

conditions adding, quote, I don't

54:36

want anything to do with them. I have no

54:38

interest in any of them and I don't

54:40

want to be around them. I have no

54:42

intention of breaking the law. I just

54:45

want to lead a normal life. The

54:51

next time Raymond LaRoche was in the

54:54

papers was four years later on February

54:56

16th, 2005, almost

54:59

14 years to the day

55:01

that he killed his baby. The

55:04

Windsor Star published a short article

55:06

with the headline traffic stop next

55:09

to a picture of the then 33 year old. He was standing

55:13

by a police cruiser, his back

55:15

to the camera and his long

55:17

hair in a ponytail. An

55:20

officer seated in the car is writing

55:22

him a ticket for having too much

55:24

snow on his windshield. The

55:26

end of the article details Raymond's

55:29

reply after being asked what he'd

55:31

been doing with his life since

55:33

being released from prison. He

55:35

said, quote, I'm just going day

55:37

by day. Raymond

55:40

LaRoche's last lawyer, Robert De

55:43

Petrio, would later be quoted

55:45

saying that life after prison

55:47

was difficult for his client.

55:49

He said Raymond was very mentally

55:52

ill and would sometimes call and

55:54

leave strange messages on his phone.

55:57

Quote, it's a sad situation.

56:00

He needed significant psychiatric treatment,

56:02

which I don't believe he

56:04

ever got. The

56:06

lawyer added that Raymond had moved to

56:08

Kitchener for a time to restart his

56:11

life, but he always

56:13

returned home to Windsor. The

56:17

last ever mention of Raymond LaRoche and

56:19

the Windsor Star was in 2012, seven

56:21

years after he

56:24

was ticketed for having too much snow

56:26

on his windshield. The

56:28

headline was on the front page, under

56:31

the fold. It read, Baby

56:34

Killer LaRoche Dead. On

56:38

September 19th 2012,

56:40

the lifeless body of Raymond

56:42

LaRoche had been found in a

56:45

rooming house in Windsor's West End,

56:47

just a few miles from the

56:49

old Peter Street apartment building. He

56:52

was about 40 years old. At

56:56

the time, the press reported that the

56:58

cause of his death was unknown and

57:00

there were no more follow-up reports about

57:02

that story. But

57:04

Murray Sennett, former lead police

57:07

investigator now retired, has confirmed

57:09

that Raymond LaRoche died of

57:11

a drug overdose. As

57:15

for Sandra, who changed her name, Sennett

57:17

also tells us that she and her

57:20

family have been unable to be contacted

57:22

for at least a decade. He

57:24

believes that she has likely left the

57:27

city of Windsor. The

57:34

1990 killing of seven-month-old baby

57:36

Raymond in Windsor, Ontario is

57:39

a shocking enough story on

57:41

its own. It's also

57:43

a story about how the system

57:45

not only failed to protect a

57:47

vulnerable baby, but the other child

57:50

at the centre of this horrendous

57:52

crime, the baby's own mother. At

57:55

15 years old, Sandra Sulliare was

57:58

a victim herself. both

58:00

mental health issues and domestic

58:02

violence. Not to

58:04

mention the vitriolic headlines and mob

58:07

violence sparked by the intense gaze

58:09

the media placed on this crime

58:11

and her troubled boyfriend. It's

58:14

the kind of story that we imagine

58:16

might be told differently today, perhaps

58:19

with greater sensitivity to the

58:21

evident problems plaguing the young

58:23

couple. But

58:25

in revisiting this story, it's not

58:28

difficult to imagine how much worse

58:30

these teens might have fed in

58:32

the era of social media.

58:56

This episode has been written from

58:58

the news archives, most notably the

59:00

Windsor Star and the Toronto Star.

59:02

We'll be posting many of the

59:05

news clippings and photos mentioned in

59:07

this episode on the Canadian True

59:09

Crime Facebook and Instagram pages, as

59:11

well as a link to watch

59:14

that jaw-dropping CBC documentary. They don't

59:16

make them like that anymore, that's

59:18

for sure. For the full list

59:20

of resources we relied on to

59:23

write this episode and anything else

59:25

you want to know about the

59:27

podcast, visit canadiantruecrime.ca. The

59:30

podcast donates monthly to those

59:32

facing injustice. This

59:34

month we have donated to the

59:37

First Nations Child and Family Caring

59:39

Society which works to ensure the

59:41

safety and well-being of First Nations

59:43

youth and their families. Learn

59:46

more at fncaringsociety.com.

59:50

Lisa Gabriel researched and wrote this

59:52

episode. Her editing was

59:55

by Eric Crosby who also voiced

59:57

the disclaimer. Our senior

59:59

producer is Lindsay Eldridge and

1:00:01

Carol Weinberg is our script

1:00:03

consultant. Narration and sound design

1:00:05

was by me and the theme songs

1:00:08

were composed by We Talk of Dreams.

1:00:11

I'll be back soon with another

1:00:13

Canadian True Crime episode. See

1:00:15

you then.