Guilty plea in Tori Stafford murder can now be revealed
WOODSTOCK, Ont. — Eight-year-old Tori Stafford was abducted on her way home from school in April 2009 because she happened to be the first child her abductor spotted.
For three months, while more than 100 police officers pored over thousands of tips as to the whereabouts of the blond-haired Grade 3 student, and her family made desperate pleas for her safe return, the little girl's remains were buried in a garbage bag under a rock pile hours away from the spot where she disappeared.
It can now be revealed that Terri-Lynne McClintic, 19, has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the case. The surprise plea was entered in court on April 30 here in Woodstock, about 150 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
Until Thursday, the proceedings were kept secret under a publication ban. Anyone in court to witness McClintic's plea, including reporters, had been prohibited from revealing her guilty plea. But the Supreme Court of Canada Thursday said it would not hear an application by a lawyer for a man accused in the killing to extend that ban.
This is also the first time any details of the crime have emerged.
Ontario Superior Justice Dougald McDermid has sentenced McClintic to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years and ordered her to submit a blood sample to the National DNA Data Bank.
"No sentence imposed can take that pain away or bring Tori Stafford back," McDermid said to the courtroom packed with national media, McClintic's family and Tori's family — parents, grandmothers, aunts and uncles.
A previous charge of kidnapping was withdrawn when McClintic entered her plea. She had waived her right to a preliminary hearing. The primary basis upon which McClintic accepted responsibility for first-degree murder was that the girl's murder took place during the commission of the offence of kidnapping and forcible confinement.
At the hearing, McClintic, dressed in a black suit, her long brown hair tied in a messy bun, was led to the prisoner's box by a police officer. Her eyes were downcast and her voice low as she mumbled into a microphone that she wanted to enter a guilty plea because "a little girl lost her life."
The admission of guilt proved too much for some members of Tori's family, who ran out of the courtroom. Those who remained huddled together, crying and holding hands.
A pale McClintic hung her head in the prisoner's box as she read a three-page statement she had prepared.
"I didn't wake up on that morning thinking I was going to take a child," she said in a whisper. "Every day I think that maybe if I hadn't walked down the street that day, that precious little angel would still be here. Every day I ask myself why."
On April 8, 2009, the day Tori Stafford was kidnapped, McClintic went to Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock with the intention of abducting a child.
Tori, a little girl who loved shopping and butterflies, "happened to be the first child (McClintic) observed walking towards her from the school," according to an agreed statement of facts entered in court.
McClintic approached the girl and asked her if she would like to meet her dog, a Shih Tzu named Precious.
Tori, who also had a Shih Tzu, named Cosmo, agreed and trustingly took McClintic's hand and followed her, not knowing she was being led away to her death.
A grainy image of Tori walking away with McClintic was captured by surveillance video shot from a camera mounted at a high school across the street. It was the first time she had been allowed to walk the few short blocks home alone after school.
According to the statement, Tori was driven to a secluded location more than 130 kilometres away, north of Arthur Township.
On the way there, around 5 p.m., McClintic stopped at a Home Depot in Guelph and used cash to buy some garbage bags and a hammer. The girl was then driven north of Guelph to a deserted field off 6th Concession Road in Mount Forest, Ont. The vehicle was driven down an incline along a little-used laneway, over a culvert and up a slight hill, turning left in front of a large rock pile close to a stand of trees.
There was a light covering of snow on the ground that day in early April.
This was where Tori was killed.
The girl was struck several times with a blunt object. Her small body was then placed in a garbage bag and buried under a dozen rocks near a pine tree.
It wasn't found until three months later, on July 19, 2009, by a lone Ontario Provincial Police officer.
An autopsy determined that the cause of death was multiple blunt-force impact. The body was severely decomposed, and examiners had to use dental records to identify her. Also found with the body were a Hannah Montana T-shirt, a pair of butterfly earrings and parts of a headband — some of Tori's favourite things.
As McClintic read her statement to the court, she said she had been dealt "pretty low cards in the game of life" and admitted she was high onOxyContin pills when she took Tori.
"Every time I close my eyes, I'm flooded with the memories of that day. I will never forget what happened, the mistakes I made, the failure I was. A million tears will never be enough and a million words would never be able to express how truly sorry I am," she said. "I would give anything to be able to trade that amazing little girl places, but I can't, and man, that hurts."
The unemployed woman apologized a number of times for the killing and said her plea was about "justice for an amazing little girl."
"Enough people have been hurt as a result of this and I refuse to drag anyone through the proceedings of a trial," she said. "Spending the next few decades of life in prison is nothing compared to what Tori was robbed of . . . I am trying to make amends the only way I can by giving you my life today."
The Woodstock courtroom was under heavy police guard on April 30, with everyone attending the public proceedings ordered to turn over any recording devices, including cellphones.
The publication ban issued by McDermid prevented the media from reporting anything about McClintic's appearance in court for the scheduled hearing and drew criticism it was too sweeping in nature. A few weeks later, McDermid modified it but then had to restore the original sweeping ban because the defence attorney for a second accused person in the case, Michael C.S.
Rafferty, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Rafferty's lawyer, Dirk Derstine, argued that allowing the media to publish McClintic's plea and any details surrounding the case would jeopardize his client's right to a fair trial.
Iain MacKinnon, a lawyer representing the media, including Postmedia News, argued that the public's right to hear developments in the case superseded the arguments for keeping the ban in place.
Tori's disappearance had triggered a massive search involving a number of police forces, including Oxford Community Police and the Ontario Provincial Police. Thousands of tips came in to investigators.
Her estranged parents spoke to the media each day, pleading for the return of their daughter.
At times, arguments between the couple overshadowed the search for the little girl, with her parents seemingly blaming each other for her disappearance.
The case was highly publicized, with photos of the smiling young girl splashed across newspapers and on televisions across the country.
Tensions continued to grow and police were castigated for not having issued a provincewide Amber Alert when Tori went missing.
Police argued her disappearance did not meet the strict criteria for triggering an alert, such as a description of a vehicle, or knowledge of an
abductor, or any indication that the girl was in danger of serious bodily harm.
Since Tori's death, changes have been made to the system. Last year, guidelines were relaxed so police can issue an alert more quickly if it isbelieved a child is in any kind of danger.
McClintic has been co-operative with investigators since her arrest in early April. She assisted police in their search for Tori's body, and helped create sketches of the crime scene. Yet it was still difficult to locate the remains because the changing seasons affected the appearance of the terrain, and because at the time of Tori's death, McClintic was high on drugs.
Tori's disappearance and death have shaken the small city of Woodstock, population 35,000.
Her mother, Tara McDonald, said in a victim impact statement that she has thought about killing herself.
"My heart, mind, body and soul feel like I will never ever find peace or closure," she said. "A piece of me will be missing for the rest of my entirelifetime."
Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, read a touching statement on behalf of his son, who was not in court on April 30.
Daryn Stafford, 11, wrote that most nights he would crawl into bed with his mother and cry, thinking his sister's abduction was his fault because he hadn't walked her home from school that day.
He wrote that he doesn't trust strangers and won't go anywhere by himself, especially not the street where his sister was abducted.
"I lost my only sibling. She was the closest person to me," Daryn said in the statement. "Me and Tori could barely be apart for a weekend, let alone for a lifetime. Me and my sister were never apart, we were always together no matter what."
Rodney Stafford said he still feels anger and hate toward McClintic, but thanked her for helping police find his daughter's remains.
Stopping a number of times as he read his statement, Stafford said he will miss not being able to help his daughter choose a prom dress, see her get married, take her camping or even just ask her to hug her brother.
"Just what could have Victoria done so wrong 1/8sic 3/8 in her eight years that she deserved to lose her little innocent life?" he asked the court. "Nothing at all. Victoria was only ever guilty of being a little girl."
The second accused in the case, Rafferty, 29, also of Woodstock, faces a charge of first-degree murder and kidnapping. His trial is expected to occur in 2011. Both he and McClintic were arrested in May 2009
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Photo:
Undated photo of Tori Stafford.
Photograph by: Handout, Stafford family
(Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)
