Canadian True Crime - 04 Douglas Garland

Starting point is 00:00:00 Theoretically, Douglas Garland would be 129 years old before he can apply for parole. He'll serve his sentences for the murders of Alvin and Kathy Lickness and Nathan O'Brien one after the other. Justice David Gates called Garland's crimes a case of cunning, cruel abduction, torture and murder. It's been pivotal, it's been brutal, it's been difficult. I think people are going to feel some sense of relief in the outcome now, but it's a story that's going to stick with Caligarians for a long time yet.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Welcome to the Canadian True Crime Podcast, Episode 4, Douglas Garland. This is Christy. This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. I wanted to tell you about another True Crime podcast that you'll absolutely love if you haven't already heard about it. It's called They Walk Among Us and it's dedicated to UK True Crime.

Starting point is 00:01:08 It's one of my favourite podcasts ever and is huge in the UK and probably the US. But, I was randomly looking at my podcast category in iTunes, Canada and discovered that my podcast rates a bit higher than theirs, which was a huge surprise to me. So maybe there's a bunch of Canadian listeners who haven't really discovered it yet. So if you haven't listened to it, make sure you check it out, it's called They Walk Among Us. I'll post a link to the Canadian True Crime Facebook page. Speaking of social media, I'm now on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:01:40 If you are too and wanted to follow me, it's at CanadianTCpod. You probably won't remember that, so I'll post a link in the show notes and on my Facebook page too. And as per last time, I'll do my thank yous after the episode. It was Sunday, June 29th, 2014, in a neighbourhood in South West Calgary, Alberta. A couple were holding an estate sale. Alvin Lickness and his wife Kathy were selling up and leaving the pleasant split level house that called home for more than a decade.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Alvin, age 66, was a golfer who was ready to retire. An intelligent man, he was described as an original thinker who had filed several patents since the mid-70s. His most recent inventions focused on ways to prolong the life of natural gas and oil wells by removing water. His workmates described him as, quote, a great guy to work with. He'd achieved some moderate success for some of his inventions, had taken on debt for others, and so far was yet to strike the big one.

Starting point is 00:02:52 But like most entrepreneurs, Alvin wasn't afraid to take risks. He took lessons on how to fly a plane, how to jump from one, and underwater diving. His friends and family described him as kind, quit-witted, gracious and loyal. His wife Kathy was 53 and a licensed real estate agent in Calgary, although she hadn't practiced for a few years. Her Facebook page described her as a website marketing and search engine optimization specialist. Kathy was known to love dancing, especially with her husband, and she loved her family and animals.

Starting point is 00:03:27 Kathy's friends and family described how she accepted people without prejudice or judgment and was one of those people who was always there for those in need. Her and Alvin had a great relationship and it was evident that they loved each other very much. Their plan in the lead-up to retirement was to downsize and move to Edmonton, Alberta, where they would split their time between there and a place they had in Mexico. That hot Calgary weekend, they held an estate sale and had seen between 200 and 400 people walking through their house looking for cheap used items, as people do.

Starting point is 00:04:04 In the day, their daughter Jennifer O'Brien and her two younger sons came over to keep them company and help out. Maximus was one and his older brother Nathan was five. With blonde wavy hair, sparkling brown eyes and a cheeky smile, Chatterbox Nathan charmed many of the interested buyers there with his endearing personality. He loved to dress up and was obsessed with superheroes. His mum Jennifer said that she didn't need to buy him actual clothes, just costumes. Nathan and his brothers loved their grandparents and after the sale was over, Jennifer and

Starting point is 00:04:39 her two youngest boys stayed and they enjoyed a Chinese dinner together. Nathan asked if he could sleep over. Tired after a busy day, Jennifer decided that they would all just stay the night. Before bed, they all cuddled up on the couch and watched a movie together. Jennifer went to bed with little Max at around nine o'clock but he was tossing and turning so at about eleven p.m. she decided to leave and take him home to see if he would sleep better in his own bed. She and Max left five-year-old Nathan sleeping at his grandparents' house, locking the door

Starting point is 00:05:12 behind them. The next morning, she called her mum Kathy to arrange a time to go and pick up Nathan. Her mum didn't answer. Jennifer didn't think much of it but decided to go over to the house anyway. When she arrived, she found the front door open. Worried, she cautiously stepped inside. She immediately saw pools of blood and hand marks of blood on the wall in front of her. Her first thought was, quote, something was really wrong here, something really bad has

Starting point is 00:05:43 happened here. She said the whole house was like a bloody scene, with pools of blood on the side of the bed, the wall and all throughout the kitchen. Frantically, she searched the house looking for any trace of her family but came up empty handed. Distraught, she went outside and called her husband. She then called police who told her to get into her car and lock herself in. When they arrived shortly after, they immediately seized her shoes because they were covered

Starting point is 00:06:11 in blood and hair. Police searched the house thoroughly, keeping in mind that five-year-old Nathan may have been in hiding. They didn't find him. Instead, they found blood-soaked mattresses in the master and spare bedrooms. The beds were missing their sheets. There were drag marks that led outside the door of the house and bloody footprints leading in the garage where they stopped in a pool of blood.

Starting point is 00:06:38 In the corner was a bloodstained dumbbell and a constable found a tooth in the back hallway where it exited out to the east side of the house. A second tooth was eventually found along with an earring which ended up being matched to Kathy Lickness. It was evident that an extremely violent incident had taken place there. There were also no signs of forced entry. At first, the police opted not to issue an amber alert for Nathan because they didn't have a description of a suspected abductor or a vehicle, one of the key criteria.

Starting point is 00:07:11 However, as evening fell and with no more information, they decided to go ahead with it anyway, reporting to the public that Nathan had disappeared under, quote, mysterious circumstances with his grandparents. According to news reports, while investigators were optimistic the three were still alive, they did fear for their safety. The public was told the home was not in the condition that typically it would have been left in and there were signs that the homeowners did not leave on their own volition. The police added there were no custody issues and the grandparents weren't considered suspects.

Starting point is 00:07:47 The search then expanded to include 250 to 300 officers from every investigative department of the Calgary Police Service. Many of them returned to the house the next day to continue looking for evidence. As part of this search, they canvassed the neighborhood, conducted a grid search and interviewed family members and associates, placing special attention on anyone who may have attended the estate sale. It was an all hands on deck operation with round the clock investigation. By the end of the first day, they had compiled a list of six people of interest, including

Starting point is 00:08:23 a local sex offender, a man who had shot Alvin Licknes' daughter years before, a former house guest of the Licknes' and three disgruntled former employees of Alan Licknes. Over the coming days, investigators were assigned to interview each person and one by one they were all eliminated as possible suspects, except for one, Douglas Garland, who will come into the story later. The day after the disappearances, Nathan's parents, Jennifer and Rod O'Brien, also the daughter and son-in-law of Alvin and Kathy Licknes, made an emotional public appeal for Nathan's safe return.

Starting point is 00:09:02 Rod was choking back tears as he spoke and Jennifer stood next to him with her hand on his shoulder, looking stoic. It was evident that they were both emotionally spent and exhausted. Firstly, Nathan's father Rod spoke directly to Nathan, telling him how much they loved him, quote, to every star and back, and described Nathan as their superhero and said that they were going to bring him home very soon. Then he asked whoever has Nathan to find it in their hearts to drop him off so that he can be rescued and reunited with his brothers and his family.

Starting point is 00:09:37 Lastly, Nathan's mother Jennifer reiterated how much they loved him and told him they can't be with him right now, but he was with the next best people to take care of him, his grandparents. Behind the scenes, the police were working with tips, talking to those who attended the estate sale, continuing to canvas the area and working on getting CCTV and home security footage. They were able to gather and personally review up to 60 videos retrieved from businesses and homes in the neighbourhood, with one nearby resident having six cameras. Video surveillance showed a vehicle and a shadowy figure on the street near the Lickness

Starting point is 00:10:15 home just after 3am on the night of the sleepover. The older model green Ford F-150 truck circled the Lickness house and stopped. Two hours later, the truck was found on CCTV footage on a nearby roadway. It was easy to identify the vehicle because it had a cargo light on that illuminated the truck bed. But this time, there was something different in the truck bed, something large and white. Further video showed the truck on a major route heading north through Calgary and two hours later, video picked it up again and this time the large white object was gone. Police released images of a green Ford pickup truck to the public and said they believed

Starting point is 00:10:58 the unidentified driver may have some information. Prior to this, the public didn't really know much about the crime, it was all a bit of a mystery. At this time, the police also released information saying that a violent incident took place at the Lickness home. Alvin Lickness had an adult son, Alan Lickness, who was in a relationship with a lady called Patty Garland. Patty saw the notice about the truck and thought it was similar to that of her older brother, Douglas Garland. She contacted the police and gave them a picture of her brother's truck. Patty had been estranged from her brother for over a year. She was in town because of the disappearance of her partner's parents, Alvin and Kathy Lickness.

Starting point is 00:11:44 She said she was in the foyer of her parents' home when her brother, who also lived there, arrived. He came in the door, he glared at me for probably 20 seconds, and then he went downstairs, she said. The police matched her brother's truck with that on the surveillance footage and descended on a property near Airdrie, just north of Calgary. They recovered the green truck and took Douglas Garland in for questioning, releasing the brief details through the media referring to him as, quote, a person of interest. Straight away, the media went into a frenzy trying to figure out just who Douglas Garland was and how he was connected. They dug up court records and found that Garland had a criminal past involving drugs and identity

Starting point is 00:12:28 theft, and Calgary police confirmed that his sister was in a relationship with a member of the Lickness family. A police spokesman said that sightings of the three missing people had been reported across Canada and police still hoped they would be found alive. The Amber Alert still remained in place. The next day, police began an extensive search of Douglas Garland's acreage residents where he lived with his parents. They also asked property owners nearby to search their acreages for anything that appeared out of place. They scoured several fields nearby with dogs, sent divers into a pond, and spent days searching three local landfills. The media continued to dig up more information on Douglas Garland's

Starting point is 00:13:13 past, but as yet nothing came up to link him to the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Lickness and their grandson Nathan. Ten days after the disappearance, police said they were probing business dealings and the Lickness family as part of their investigation, but didn't provide any further information. And later that day, about 500 people attended a candlelight vigil at a community centre near the Lickness home. The following day, July 11th, 2014, Douglas Garland appeared in court on identity theft charges unrelated to the missing person's case. At the end of his bail hearing, he was released but with a number of conditions. The first was that he needed to provide a new address for where he was staying since

Starting point is 00:13:57 the search was still ongoing at his farm. Also, he was to return to court on the Friday. He was still listed as a person of interest in the missing people case. On July 14th, two weeks after the disappearance of the three, police said that two charges of first degree murder and one charge of second degree murder were pending in the case. The body still hadn't been found. They didn't immediately identify the suspect because charges hadn't been laid yet. The media contacted Jan Holmgren, Mount Royal University Criminology Professor to comment on the situation. She said that given what was known about the scene of the disappearance, at the two week mark, police would have to make an inference about the fate of the missing

Starting point is 00:14:43 people. Quote, We know that people can only go on without so much amount of blood. Based on that evidence, they would have been able to say that if those people didn't receive that urgent medical care, somebody died. Holmgren went on to speculate about the difference in charges. Two first degree and one second degree. Quote, They have evidence an individual went to the house for the purposes of committing that crime. For the second degree murder charge, the individual might not have known there was a little boy in this house and didn't have the premeditated component to have planned that murder. But in the commission of committing the alleged planned crimes, the person is presumed to have also murdered the little boy. As for the

Starting point is 00:15:28 absence of bodies, though such cases are unusual, it doesn't preclude a murder charge in Canada. Retired Toronto homicide detective Dave Perry said that a prosecution can still build a solid case. Quote, It's not really about not having a body. It's about how much evidence they have without a body. Later that day, it was announced that it was in fact Douglas Garland that was charged with the crimes and the Amber Alert was lifted. Douglas Robert Garland is a balding, unassuming looking man with glasses and an average build. At the time of his arrest, he was 54 years old. Already in custody, Garland was led to an arrest processing unit in handcuffs in a heavily publicized walk across the parking lot known as a perp walk for the parading of suspected perpetrators.

Starting point is 00:16:19 Media were at the event which lasted almost a minute and a half, enough time for a television reporter to ask Garland questions. He kept his head down as he walked and ignored her. After the spectacle, several local lawyers were up in arms complaining about the perp walk of a man in a system that is supposed to respect the presumption of innocence. They accused police of intentionally parking far away from the building for notifying media in advance and of staging more officers than needed. They called it an intentional public shaming and humiliation that may have had an impact on Garland's right to a fair trial. When contacted by media, Pat Noll, a professor of law at the University of Calgary, said that

Starting point is 00:17:04 allowing members of the public to witness perp walks may reassure citizens and lead to additional tips from the public. Quote, it demonstrates that police are doing their job and apprehending offenders and in some instances, although a person may see a photograph or a sketch of a person, when they see them on actual news on television, that can trigger a memory. Calgary police declined to comment. Douglas Robert Garland was the oldest of three children born to Archie and Doreen Garland and grew up on a small farm near Airdrie, Alberta, north of Calgary. I couldn't find any sources for his date of birth, but working back from his current age, he would have been born in around 1960.

Starting point is 00:17:46 Most of what we know about Douglas Garland's history comes from court records and parole documents. They revealed that he was an intelligent person, but someone who had struggled with mental health issues. Douglas attended Camrose Lutheran College for a Bachelor of Science before switching to medical school at the University of Alberta. He lasted there a year before he had a breakdown and left. Court records revealed that he faced weapon and assault charges in the 80s and 90s, but they were dropped. In 1992, he was arrested following a police raid on his parents' property. He'd been operating an amphetamines lab there. He made one court appearance and then fled to British Columbia, a neighbouring province to Alberta. There, he stole the identity of

Starting point is 00:18:36 Matthew Kemper Hartley, a 14-year-old boy who died in a car crash in Southern Alberta in 1980. Under this name, he lied about having a science degree and the right experience and managed to get a job at a lab testing pesticides, herbicides and organic compounds. It turns out he was able to fake it until he made it and he was eventually promoted to supervisor. But after four years, he suffered another breakdown and was fired in 1997. Two years later, while he was working at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, RCMP or Mounties finally caught up with him over the theft of a tractor trailer and the old drug charges were brought back into the fold. He told the court at the time that he had been traumatised after causing what he described as a horrific accident

Starting point is 00:19:29 after falling asleep behind the wheel years earlier. He pled guilty to his previous two counts of trafficking and was sentenced to 39 months in prison plus an additional month for the stolen tractor trailer. The Parole Board of Canada granted him accelerated release after only six months but ordered a psychologist and psychiatrist to closely monitor him afterwards. His mental health played a role in the crimes, the board said, but a psychologist determined that Garland had quote little violence potential to others. The Canada Revenue Agency then went after Garland for employment insurance benefits he claimed after losing his laboratory job, arguing he'd been using a fake name and fake social insurance number so wasn't entitled to the benefits. Acting as his own lawyer,

Starting point is 00:20:19 Douglas took the agency to court in 2005 and actually won his case, with the judge saying that despite the fraud, Garland had performed his duties well at the laboratory position and deserved the government payments. The judge went on to describe Douglas as an intelligent but troubled man who quote, acknowledged that he made some not very well thought out decisions. Douglas' mother Doreen said later that he had no friends and seemed troubled. Court records also state he suffers from a tension deficit disorder. Little was revealed publicly as to what Douglas was doing between 2005 and 2014 when the disappearances occurred, but in this time he did move back to his parents' property in North Calgary.

Starting point is 00:21:06 So we know that his sister was in a relationship with Elvin Lickness's son, Alan. However, there was another link between Douglas Garland and Elvin Lickness, which would come out at the trial. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Square Space makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose Square Space because it's an all-in-one platform that

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Starting point is 00:22:39 SEO tools to help you maximize your visibility in search engines and I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools helping me better understand who's visiting the site, where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial and when you're ready to launch use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. On Tuesday July 15th the day after Douglas Garland was arrested hundreds of green balloons were

Starting point is 00:23:35 released into the sky across Calgary in honor of missing five-year-old Nathan and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy. Relatives friends and community members gathered at a park across the street from the O'Brien home to release the balloons a tribute that was repeated in communities across the province of Alberta. Nathan's mother and father Rod and Jennifer O'Brien wept and held each other and their eldest son Luke as they watched the balloons fly away. They had to accept that their middle son Nathan and Jennifer's parents were not coming back. On October the 28th 2014 four months later the family announced a foundation in Nathan's name to help benefit children. Nine months after the disappearances an aerial photographer was randomly looking through his

Starting point is 00:24:26 photos when he saw something ominous. He looked up the location and time and worked out they were taken while he was flying over the Garland property. The date the photo was taken was the exact day that Kathy and Alvin Lickness and their grandson Nathan were reported missing. He immediately took what he found to the police. Two months later at Douglas Garland's pre-trial hearing in May 2015 it was announced that the second degree charge for the murder of Nathan O'Brien was upgraded to a first degree charge. Although the body still hadn't been found the murder trial for Douglas Garland began on January 15th 2017. Crown prosecutor Vicky Faulkner opened its case by telling the jury that the couple and their grandson were violently snatched in the night and taken to a rural property

Starting point is 00:25:18 where they were killed and their bodies burned. Quote the three individuals were violently removed from their beds and taken to the Garland farm and killed. The court heard that over a number of days investigators combed through several properties surrounding the area near Audrey north of Calgary where Garland lived and what they found at the property was a burn barrel still smoldering that contained bones and a small tooth. A tiny piece of burned flesh was found in the grass beside the barrel. DNA belonging to Alvin Lickness and little Nathan was found on a hacksaw in one of the buildings on the Garland property. Kathy Lickness's DNA was found on meat hooks. A bag discovered in one of the outbuildings on the property contained handcuffs, a dagger and a leather baton. A search

Starting point is 00:26:08 of a trailer in the yard found a mix of men's and women's clothing as well as a bag full of adult diapers which appeared to be from a Calgary hospital. Under cross examination Nathan's mother Jennifer O'Brien recounted how on the day she discovered the scene she somehow knew she would never see her son and parents again. Quote from what I saw and what my heart told me I knew my family was murdered. People kept telling me that no they could be missing which raised my hopes but deep down I knew they were murdered. The crown then called in nearly four weeks of evidence about 1400 pieces of evidence were gathered by investigators although only 89 were presented in court. The evidence established the most likely motive for the crime which is where the link

Starting point is 00:26:55 between Alvin Lickness and Douglas Garland was revealed. Almost a decade before the murders Alvin was in the middle of inventing an experimental pump for the oil and gas sector and hired Douglas Garland to do some work on it. According to testimony from Alvin's son Alan Lickness also the partner of Douglas's sister Patty he said he'd known Douglas and recommended him to his father. At first the two seemed to get along well however their relationship soured when Douglas started becoming difficult and wouldn't answer the phone so Alvin let him go from the business. Alan Lickness testified that his father paid Douglas for his work Alvin then finished the pump he invented and filed the patent in his name which apparently angered Douglas. In cross examination

Starting point is 00:27:44 Alan Lickness said that Garland never threatened his father quote he's not confrontational at all if anything he's sneaky. Douglas Garland's father Archie Garland said that Alvin didn't pay his son the money that he was owed he said that he told Douglas that it was just a quote bump in the road and you can't win them all but the anger lingered. Over the next 10 years the pump that was patented never made any real money for Alvin Lickness but Douglas Garland held a petty grudge which festered and led to a plan to murder Alvin and Kathy. Police seized a hard drive hidden in the rafters of the house where Douglas lived and found that Douglas conducted internet searches to keep tabs on Alvin and Kathy and as he learned they were about to move away his plan was taken

Starting point is 00:28:34 up a notch he conducted frequent searches under both of their names and their upcoming estate sale. There were downloads on killing and how to dispose of a human body the police found manuals on doing autopsies and different ways to kill including the most effective weapons and medical preparation in order to affect a kill. They also found methods on the best ways to dispose of a human body including dismemberment using a hacksaw, eliminating identifiers such as teeth and hands, how to bury and incinerate bodies and also ways to speed up the incineration process. Google searches included most painful torture, human dissection, blood stain pattern test and blood removal solution. On the hard drive police found photos of Kathy Lickness who the crown

Starting point is 00:29:25 said Douglas Garland was known to have fantasized about. Also found were documents relating to Alvin Lickness's business and his address, a folder called Gore with 87 photos of dead and dismembered people, a book called How to Kill Without Joy The Complete How to Kill Book and 18 documents on killing and murder. Police also found fetish type photos of men and women restrained while wearing adult diapers and lastly they found a lot of research into lock picking specifically on the lock found at the Lickness home which as you recall had no signs of forced entry. The hard drive showed no research on Nathan. The crown's theory was that the five-year-old quote tragically happened to be at home that night and Douglas incorporated him into his

Starting point is 00:30:17 already meticulous research plan. Despite all of this Douglas Garland's defense lawyer Kim Ross repeatedly said the crown didn't prove Garland caused the deaths. Forensic evidence didn't turn up any DNA belonging to Douglas Garland in the Lickness home. The crown came back that it was a quote mistake-free crime scene. Police found several Tyvek suits at the crime scene similar to the ones that forensic investigators wear so that they don't contaminate a scene with their own DNA or footprints. The crown brought up that they found rubber boots at the Garland house with DNA from all three victims found on the boots along with Douglas's DNA. Also the fact that there was DNA evidence from all three victims found on the Garland farm. Alberta's chief medical examiner Dr

Starting point is 00:31:08 Elizabeth Brooks Lim told the court that they found human bone fragments in the ash from the burning barrel at Douglas's house. She said they'd been burned for a significant amount of time and were very charred. During cross-examination Dr Brooks Lim said she consulted with a forensic anthropologist who said that the majority of the bone fragments belong to an animal but there were fragments within that were likely to be human particularly one or two fragments that could have been from a child under five years as well as several fragments that could have come from an older adult or adults. She also said that a human body burned at a temperature of a thousand degrees Celsius or 1800 Fahrenheit can literally turn to ash in two hours. The court heard from a blood

Starting point is 00:31:57 pattern analyst who said it was determined that Kathy Lickness and her grandson Nathan O'Brien were attacked in a spare bedroom. Kathy was hit with a blunt instrument that caused a significant impact and loss of blood. Quote, there was at least one impact with a liquid blood source. It's my opinion that Kathy was on the floor at the time of impact when these stains were made. There was a significant impact to create the stains that were there. The crown pointed out the bloody handprint of a child on the wall which indicated Nathan was bracing himself while walking through the home. It was also noted that Alvin Lickness' blood trail suggested he was trying to fight off his attacker on the way out. Quote, they were not going out willingly. They were still alive.

Starting point is 00:32:45 The aerial photographer who discovered the ominous pictures took the stand. He testified that he'd been taking aerial survey photos with a survey plane equipped with cameras worth $1.5 million and take pictures every three seconds. He just happened to be flying over the Garland farm the day that Alvin, Kathy and Nathan were reported missing, a fact that was described as dumb luck. The court showed the pictures to the jury, several of whom were visibly shocked. It showed the bodies of two adults and a child from a distance. The bodies of the two adults appeared naked except for some white material which the crown indicated were adult diapers. The body of the child was much less clear because of its size. The bodies were lying in the grass

Starting point is 00:33:35 next to a burning barrel that was giving off smoke and there was what appeared to be a shadow of a person standing nearby. Members of the victims' families clung to each other for support in the public gallery and Justice David Gates immediately ordered a break after the images were shown. The photographer went on to say that another series of photos of the Garland farm was taken about 26 hours later. They showed that by then the bodies were gone. In closing, prosecutor Shane Parker said, quote, Douglas Garland is all about domination. He neither forgave nor forgot. He stewed. About the aerial photos, he went on to say, quote, it was a devastating image to see the deceased in this manner. It is devastating and conclusive

Starting point is 00:34:24 evidence to find Douglas Garland guilty. Parker cautioned the jury to be wary of conspiracy theories, like faking a death, a murder, suicide or whisking away Nathan, quote, you can rightly conclude that all three are deceased. In fact, only fragments were found, not whole bodies. Garland did not want you to have the information the corpses would have provided. After five weeks, the trial drew to a close on February 16, 2017. It took the jurors just over nine hours to reach a verdict of guilty on all three counts of first-degree murder. Before sentencing, the court heard the family of the victims read their victim impact statements. Nathan O'Brien's parents said the overlying feeling for years was gray and dismal. Jennifer

Starting point is 00:35:15 O'Brien said that they had trouble finding joy in the simple pleasures of life, knowing she would never feel joy 100% again. She said she took comfort in the fact that he will be locked behind bars for life and that he'll never hurt a family like theirs again. Nathan's father, Rod O'Brien, said it was impossible to ever formulate any words to describe the pain and loss of what their son had to endure or the devastation that was left behind by never being able to see their son again. He went on to describe what happens in the afterlife to those who choose evil in life, finishing his statement with, quote, a life sentence on earth is nothing compared to what waits for you. Alvin and Kathy's son, Jeff Lickness, said he missed his mom with

Starting point is 00:36:03 her unconditional love and unbiased advice, and his dad was as caring as anyone he'd ever met. He said his parents were taken from him when he needed them the most. Douglas Garland, who never showed any remorse or emotion throughout the trial, was sentenced to life without parole for 75 years until he's 129 years old. Upon sentencing, Justice David Gates said, quote, it is difficult to conceive a more cunning, cruel, and horrific set of circumstances of assault, abduction, torture, and murder. The horror and terror you visited on these three innocent people extends almost beyond the boundaries of ordinary human comprehension. The circumstances defy description. He went on to describe the murders as,

Starting point is 00:36:52 quote, brutal and senseless and planned. He said there were no mitigating circumstances offered at the sentencing hearing and said that Garland offered no remorse or regret. Hours after being sentenced, Garland was sent to the Calgary Remain Center located in the city's northwest, where he was promptly assaulted by four prisoners aged 18 to 34. He was taken to hospital with soft tissue injuries to his face and body and went back to the Remain Center. On March the 6th, 2017, Douglas was transferred from the Calgary Remain Center to Edmonton Institution, also referred to as Edmonton Max. Again, hours after arriving, he was attacked by an unconfirmed number of prisoners there. Sources confirmed he was found

Starting point is 00:37:42 breathing but unresponsive in his cell at approximately 9 p.m. He was later described as being in stable condition. Nathan's parents, Jennifer and Rod O'Brien, continue to be heavily involved in the Nathan O'Brien Children's Foundation. They've already staged two charity events called Superhero Sports Decathlon in honour of Nathan's love of superheroes. Thanks for listening and thanks also to my good friend Julie for suggesting this case to me. If you have the time, I'd love it if you could leave me a good review on iTunes or even my Facebook page. So now to the thank yous. To those who left posts and sent messages on the Canadian True Crime Facebook page or emailed me, Becky, Savannah, Art, Ricky, Leanne, Ross and Chris. Those who left a

Starting point is 00:38:53 five-star review on the Facebook page, Linda, Jessica, Camio, Tyler and my good friend Joanna, thank you guys. And those who left five-star iTunes reviews, Fasty Blasty82, these names crack me up, H. Flyerman, CrossID87, Ricky from Toronto and Bozer. And a huge thank you to all of you people again who I've seen recommending this podcast to people. Erica, Jill, Taske, Kylie, Camio and of course TJ who recommends me constantly. Thanks guys. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. If you have any story suggestions, please feel free to send them to me. Thanks again and see you soon.

Canadian True Crime - 04 Douglas Garland

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