Canadian True Crime - 55 Misty Cockerill and Tanya Smith - Part 2

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

[ Part 2 of 2 ] The conclusion to the story of The Abbotsford Killer. Find out who he was, how he was brought to justice, and where everyone is today.Thanks for supporting my sponsors!The current discount codes can be found hereFind out more about:+ BOOK: Rod Gehl's book "Through the Valley of the Shadow - The Search for the Abbotsford Killer+ The Papaya Podcast - GUEST APPEARANCE: Kristi's "behind the scenes" interview. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts here, or visit the website. Episode was released early November, 2019 and is called The One Where We Talk About Canadian True Crime with Kristi Lee.Credits:Research and writing: Stephanie MooreEditing and narration: Kristi LeeAudio editing, music arrangement, audio production, theme song: We Talk of DreamsDisclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True CrimeAll other credits and information sources can be found at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes on the page for this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi everyone! Before I start, if you're interested in hearing a little behind the scenes of my day-to-day, including my journey to Canada and my life outside the podcast, I was recently a guest on the Papaya podcast with Serena Cole. Now she is huge on Instagram as The Bird's Papaya and I find her so inspirational, so when I saw that she'd started a podcast I reached out to her to see if I could help promote it. And the next thing you know, I was on it. We had a lovely conversation, so if you're interested, check out the Papaya podcast, Like the Fruit. I've also included a link in the show notes. This podcast contains course language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing

nature. Listener discretion is advised. Where we left off, the killer had called 911 and the homicide task force tip line multiple times, making threatening and offensive comments. He'd ripped Tanya Smith's headstone from her grave, defaced it, and dumped it on a radio station network car. The police had released composite sketches and executed an orchestrated media plan designed to inspire him to make contact again. It didn't work, so they tried another plea through the media for people to come forward with information, playing those recorded calls on tape again. Only three hours after this plea was made, the task force received a call from a distraught

woman who thought the voice on the tapes sounded like her son. She explained that while her son's appearance did not match the composite drawing, he did drive a vehicle to match the description of the suspect vehicle. She said he also liked to fish at the Vetta Canal, the location where Tanya's body had been found. The woman went on to tell police that her son had also mentioned to family members that he'd attended Tanya's funeral. She declined to give her name, but she did give the name of her son, Terry Grant Driver, as well as his address and his birth date. He was 31 years old. She hung up. Police discovered he lived just one block from the Rotary Stadium payphone, where the fifth call had been placed.

This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 55. Later that afternoon, the woman called back with more information, like the fact that her son owned a police scanner, which he used frequently. And at a family gathering just five days before the attack on Misty and Tanya, he had an argument with his brother, where he said, Don't fuck with me. You don't know me anymore and you don't know what I'm capable of doing. Terry's brother had encouraged their mother to call in. As this was considered a high priority tip, the task force dispatched a nine-person surveillance team to Terry Driver's house. They waited. At 5.17pm, he arrived home in his car, a brown and tan 1982 Pontiac

Grand Prix, and his mother was right. While the car was similar to the suspect vehicle description, it was clear that Terry Driver looked nothing like the composite drawing. Even the updated sketch showed a balding man with dark hair and a dark moustache. But Terry Driver had a shortish red beard, wasn't balding, and his hair was a reddish brown. But this wasn't a deal breaker because research studies suggest that composite sketches are only useful around eight to 20% of the time, meaning that more than 80% of police sketches proved to be worthless. Still, it's worth a shot. The team decided to make a cold approach, which meant they would tell the suspect that he'd be named in a tip called into the task force

and ask for DNA and fingerprints to eliminate him from the investigation. In most cold approaches, the identified people are usually willing and anxious to get their name cleared. A member of the team knocked on the door. When Terry Driver answered, he was told that he'd been identified as a possible suspect. His first reaction was described as non-emotional and measured. He told the officers he'd worked at a local printing company for the last six years. On the last Halloween night when the fourth recorded call had been made, he said he was out trick-or-treating with his children. Unfortunately, his kids were only three and four years old, too young to give him an alibi. He did admit to fishing regularly at the

Vedder Canal. But when he was asked to provide fingerprints and DNA, he declined and entered the interview abruptly. The officer still wasn't sure whether he was a viable suspect or not. The next day, Terry Driver called the police officers and told them he was encouraged by his family, friends and co-workers to cooperate with authorities. However, he said he first wanted to retain a lawyer and get legal advice. He promised to get back in touch. While the police waited for Terry to voluntarily provide the proof necessary to eliminate himself from their suspect list, they were also investigating him behind the scenes. They discovered that Terry was one of four children. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a retired,

decorated Vancouver police officer. Terry was born with a mild brain abnormality that was diagnosed when he was just two, which caused him to have some behavioral issues. His mother would describe him as a disturbed child who, at a young age, was already uncontrollable. At two years old, Terry's parents took him to a hospital because he was displaying severe behavioral problems. His parents said they couldn't cope with his aggressive and destructive behavior and described him as unresponsive to any type of punishment. As he aged, he became abusive to his siblings and to small animals. At five years old, Terry began setting fires. And at the age of six, the drivers decided they couldn't take it anymore and

they surrendered custody of Terry to the Children's Foundation residential home, a care facility for children who were having complex challenges. The home assessed Terry as a fierce, angry little boy who constantly got into physical fights with smaller boys and girls. They said he was quick to hit, spit or throw anything within reach. He was continually loud and aggressive and repeatedly claimed he was planning to kill his mother. His social workers noted that Terry was more hostile towards women than men. After managing to ignite a stick and burn holes in the carpet, he was transferred to another residential home where the negative reports about his behavior continued. The new care facility said he was constantly fighting

with caregivers and other children, dumping garbage containers, tampering with parked cars, shoplifting and lying. He was described as constantly angry, high strung, belligerent and uncooperative with staff. His case file stated that he was lacking in self-control and was without a conscience. At the age of nine, after three years in care, the facility diagnosed Terry with a Tension Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. But they didn't feel like Terry was getting any better and suggested that he start staying with his parents on weekends with the goal of moving back home eventually. Shortly after the weekend visits began, the drivers said they just couldn't cope with Terry even just on weekends because

they were fearful for their three other children. Eventually Terry's parents divorced and at the age of eleven, Terry went to live with his police officer father. It was while living with his father that Terry became obsessed with the idea of becoming a police officer too. Terry's father had a police scanner which was something that became a sort of hobby for him and helped to retain his focus. He called his hobby scanner chasing and he liked to pretend he was a police officer chasing down suspects. He would also attend crime scenes and study police behavior. This hobby would continue to be a fascination into his adult life. Terry did continue to have brushes with the law as a minor, however the

charges never seemed to go anywhere. But once he got to his teens this started to change. At thirteen he discharged his father's gun and the bullet went into a neighbour's window. At fourteen he was caught throwing eggs and rocks at another neighbour's house and began breaking and entering into other houses nearby. At the age of seventeen he began working in a restaurant where he would barter with young survival sex workers trading food in exchange for sex. When they didn't want food he used a combination of shoplifting and breaking and entering to help pay for their services. He also liked to terrorize women who were passing by with full frontal flashings. In addition to his addiction to sex workers, Terry would

also set fires in dumpsters out of pure boredom. While he was arrested frequently for various crimes, he was never actually charged. This meant that the police's original profile was correct. Their suspect did have a past criminal history, but unfortunately without any legal consequences it meant that he wasn't in their system, which made it look like he'd previously been squeaky clean. Terry applied to become a police officer several times, but was declined because he couldn't pass the written exam. Eventually he entered a trade school to try and get into the printing industry. He was successful in this. When he was twenty-four he married a woman called Val who was thirty-two and they had two young

children together. Terry driver and his family had moved to the Abbotsford area four years before the attacks on Misty and Tanya. The police were still waiting for Terry to get back to them. He'd reassured his new lawyer that the police did not have his DNA or fingerprints at any of the crime scenes. After some discussion, Terry and his lawyer agreed to go in and provide fingerprints to the police department to eliminate himself as a suspect, but he still refused to give a DNA sample. The agreement was that the police could take his fingerprints in front of his lawyer and examine them against their evidence for elimination on the spot. Once Terry was eliminated as a suspect, the police had to agree to destroy the prints

immediately. It was clear that Terry did not want his fingerprints to remain on file. It was also obvious to police that Terry expected to be in and out of there in an hour and then go on with his life, and he seemed to think that he'd been careful. He clearly had no idea that he'd been careless in his preparation of the letter that he lobbed through the house window, taped to a heavy wrench. He was blissfully unaware that the police had recovered a fingerprint off the tape. Everyone stood around the small room while Constable Jerry Annis, the forensic identification expert, processed the fingerprints. According to Inspector Rod Gill, hardly a word was said other than the Constable's verbal direction on which way he intended to roll

Terry's prints onto the evidence card. Terry's lawyer, Jack Harris, later said he stood in the uncomfortable silence hoping that his client was telling him the truth, because typically he never would have allowed a client to voluntarily submit incriminating evidence. Once the prints were completed, Constable Annis took them over to a glass tin area in full view of Terry Driver and his lawyer. Using his magnifying glass, he went back and forth between the unknown prints from the tape, comparing points of identity. After what seemed like a lot longer than 20 minutes to Terry's lawyer, Constable Annis pronounced the prints a match. To the utter shock of his lawyer and likely to Terry himself, he was arrested for the

murder of Tanya Smith and the attempted murder of Misty Cockrell. Rod Gill said Terry sat and seemed to accept the results without a reaction. Terry Driver had taken what he thought was a calculated risk and he'd lost. While the manhunt was finally released, he finally over, the work wasn't done. The task force had to make sure that Terry Driver remained in custody until he could be convicted at trial. With warrants in hand, the team was able to get dental impressions and DNA samples, as well as a search of his home and car to see if there was any other evidence that could tie him to their case. As they gathered more evidence, the police were trying to keep the identity and arrest of their suspect out of

the press, at least for as long as it would take to get Misty Cockrell to do a photo lineup identification. They didn't want any media coverage tainting it. Unfortunately though, Misty wasn't able to pick Terry Driver out of a photo lineup as her attacker. But given the nature of her injuries and the severe head trauma she expected, it was not really a surprise. Investigators would have to rely on the physical evidence. The search of Terry's car revealed that the trunk liner had been removed and was missing. However, there was fibre evidence that matched fibres found on Tanya Smith's eyebrow. On May 4, 1996, the task force staged a press conference where they identified Terry Driver of Abbotsford, British Columbia as the man being

charged with the murder of Tanya Smith and the attempted murder of Misty Cockrell. The media went into overdrive and tracked down Terry's neighbours and co-workers to interview them. All were in disbelief that this innocuous looking family man was the Abbotsford killer. Terry's close friend, identified as Cliff in Rod Gill's book The Search for the Abbotsford Killer, was a fishing buddy who was repeatedly interviewed in the press. Cliff confirmed that he and Terry fished regularly at the Vedder Canal. In fact, on the morning that Tanya Smith's body had been found, Cliff said that Terry called him to say he was on the canal watching the police processing a crime scene. His fishing buddy had even heard the police tapes of the Abbotsford

Killer and on one occasion told Terry that he sounded like the voice he heard on the tape. Terry denied that it was his voice and Cliff believed him. The media also learned about Terry's scanner-chasing hobby. It was soon discovered that on the very night of Tanya and Misty's attack, Terry heard a report of a stolen bicycle and then saw the man on the stolen bike entering an apartment building. Terry called 911 and reported it to the police. A uniformed officer met Terry outside of the building and took his eye witness statement. The location of the building was only a few blocks over from the attack site, where Terry would jump in front of Tanya and Misty just 20 minutes later.

Because Terry always carried his cell phone with him during his scanner-chasing, the police were able to tie his location to many of the key locations in their case. For example, Terry's cell was found near the cemetery the night before Tanya Smith's headstone was dumped at the radio station. And in addition to calling his friend Cliff from the place where Tanya's body had been recovered, Terry also called two local media outlets to give them the heads up that a body had been found at the Vetta Canal. It was also discovered that Terry Driver's name had been mentioned before on the tip line. On October the 18th, four days after the attack and the day that Misty was conscious and telling her story to police officers,

an unidentified male called the tip line giving Terry Driver's name as a suspect. The caller said that Terry had been observed standing in his front room window in the nude and masturbating, as reported by a paper delivery girl. Because there was no other information provided, the tip was given a low priority by the tip line. The second link to the investigation was captured on the police surveillance videos during Tanya Smith's funeral. When they reviewed the tapes again, a short segment of it showed Terry Driver carrying one of his children in one arm and holding the hand of another small child while leaving through the back of the church. The DNA test results were in. They revealed that Terry Driver was a

perfect match to the DNA from the semen left on Tanya Smith's body, as well as the saliva left on her right breast. The probability of it being anyone other than Terry Driver was 1 to 1.7 trillion. In preparation for a trial, there's a process called disclosure or discovery, where the prosecution and the defense have to exchange all evidence, including evidence that might actually be in favor of the defendant. As the trial neared, Terry Driver's new legal aid defense lawyer Glenn Orris advised the Crown in writing that he would be offering an alternative suspect that the police had not yet investigated. According to the defense, the unknown male subject was seen that night in the area of the attack site. He was reported to be dressed in dark clothing

and was observed emerging from the hedge area where Misty and Tanya had been attacked before running north. In later interviews, the prosecution said they were initially stunned by the new development and allegation of an alternate suspect. It was during their follow-up questions that they discovered that this eyewitness with the potentially damaging testimony to their case was in fact Terry Driver himself. The prosecution got the feeling that this alternative suspect would end up playing a big part in the defense strategy. However, with Terry Seaman on Tanya's body and his bite impression matching both the bite mark and the saliva found on Tanya's right breast, this was going to be a tough sell to a jury.

Not to mention the recorded phone calls where Terry admitted to being the killer, which would negate the validity of his claims of an alternative suspect. Nevertheless, the prosecution now had notice of this defense strategy and they had to be ready for anything. As the court date approached, this defense strategy came into sharper focus. The crown was notified that the defendant had exercised his choice to have a trial by judge, rather than a trial by a jury of his peers. Depending on the nature of the case, an accused sometimes has a better chance of success with a sympathetic jury. But in this case, the defense stated they knew that a case involving the rape and murder of two teenage girls

is not exactly one that would bring about sympathy. The trial began in September of 1997, almost two years after the attacks. Terry Driver had pleaded not guilty to the charges of first degree murder of Tanya Smith and attempted murder of Misty Cockrell. The crown had decided not to pursue a charge of sexual assault on Tanya Smith for reasons that will come out later. The presiding judge was Justice Wallace Oppel, who regular listeners of the show might remember from the Robert Pickden episodes. In the few years before Terry Driver's trial in 1997, Justice Oppel had presented a report that investigated the circumstances that led to Robert Pickden being able to offend for so long.

The report was called the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. He was considered to be a very fair judge. On the prosecution side were the families and friends of Tanya Smith and Misty Cockrell. On the defendant side set Terry Driver's mother, brother and sisters. Despite the fact that two of them were involved in turning him into police in the first place, the entire family were now offering Terry their full support. In fact, they believed his alternate suspect story wholeheartedly. Terry's father and stepmother would also be in attendance supporting them. In their eyes, their son and brother was innocent. Terry's wife Val attended at the beginning, but then was noticed to be absent from the courtroom after that. More on her side of the story

later. The trial began with the defense making a surprising move. They decided to agree to a large portion of the prosecution's evidence as an agreed statement of facts, negating the need to call witnesses for each piece of evidence. The defense agreed that the semen on Tanya Smith's body belonged to Terry Driver and that he was responsible for the bite mark on her breast. He admitted to being the person who made the phone calls claiming to be the killer. He also admitted to stealing and defacing Tanya Smith's headstone and placing it on the radio station car. And lastly, he confirmed that he did write that letter taped to the wrench and he did throw it through a house window, negating the need for a fingerprint expert witness. With all of these

admissions, it looked like things were going to go very well for the crown. But that came to an abrupt end during the voir dire, which is like a smaller trial within a trial where each side argues for or against the admissibility of certain evidence. The defense decided to object to the admissibility of the content of the letter thrown through the window, saying that it was overly prejudicial towards their client. As you recall, in the letter, Terry said he was the killer, threw in a few vulgar insults and wrote, Here are a few more of my conquests. I told you it wasn't my first. The letter referred to three other unsolved murders 10 years before the attacks on Misty and

Tanya, as well as three similar assaults committed in the year before, one in the same vicinity as the attack on the girls. The last attack was just over two months beforehand. And in the letter, Terry Driver stated that he'd used the same baseball bat that he used to attack Misty and Tanya. From the prosecution standpoint, the letter confirmed a few key details and was obviously valuable to their case. During the voir dire, all three survivors of the most recent attacks were called to the witness stand. The goal was to have them confirm the details Terry had written in his letter and therefore prove a violent and sexually motivated pattern of behavior, which could be considered very strong evidence for his guilt. The defense argued that

the content in the letter wasn't relevant to the attack on Misty and Tanya, and could be considered prejudicial if it was allowed. Justice Oppel ruled mostly in favor of the defense. The court permitted only one sentence of the letter to be admitted into evidence, the sentence that referred to using the same bat that was used on Misty and Tanya. The ruling was of course disappointing to the Crown's case. However, based on the evidence already admitted by way of the agreed statement of facts, the Crown still felt like they had a solid case. But it was a voir dire, a trial within a trial, so with that out of the way, the real trial could begin. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level?

Squarespace 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 Squarespace because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It's important to have a website that looks good, and I was inspired by Squarespace's wide selection of clean and modern templates. They can be easily customized with pre-built layouts and flexible design tools to fit your needs. And you can even browse the category of your business to see examples of

what others have done. I used the built-in blogging tools to create a new page for each episode, and there are so many intuitive options from embedding an audio player so listeners can stream episodes to scheduling posts to be published on a certain date, an easily moderated comment section and automatically displaying recent episodes on the homepage. Every Squarespace website and online store includes 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. The crown's first witness was Misty Cockrell. In his book The Search for the Abadsford Killer, Inspector Rod Gale described how now, two years on, Misty was a confident 18-year-old who'd made a remarkable physical recovery, but taking to the stand was likely to impact her emotional strength. He said that her spirit of survival and strength of character were on full display. Quote, she was a survivor and a fighter who'd carried herself to this point. She would be a solid witness. Driver picked the wrong victim in this girl. Misty testified about encountering

Terry Driver and about having to witness her best friend being raped. She told the court about her own attempts to get the baseball bat and tried to put a stop to the attack herself. She recalled the portions of her violent assault that she could remember right up until she lost consciousness. As you'll recall, Terry Driver's phone calls included the claim that he'd given Misty a ride to the hospital. Misty's testimony said the opposite. She testified to waking up and using the chain link fence as a guide made her way to the hospital where she stumbled into the emergency room. When asked if her attacker was in the courtroom, she looked directly at Terry Driver, pointing at him definitively. Misty would say that during her testimony, he nodded his head

and smirked at her. During cross-examination by the defense, Misty was asked why she couldn't identify Terry Driver during the photo lineup and why her composite sketch looked nothing like him, in spite of the fact that she'd suffered life-threatening head injuries which took months to recover from. Calmly, Misty said that now she saw him in person, she had no doubt that he was the one responsible for the attack. After Misty's testimony came a long line of witnesses for the prosecution. Forensic experts testified about her cause of death drowning, the bite mark that had been matched to Terry Driver's teeth, the saliva and semen that matched the samples, fibres found on Tanya's eyebrow that were matched to fibres from the trunk of his car,

presenting the theory that the trunk was how she'd been transported from the attack site to the dump site, and she'd been alive for the whole journey. Further witness testimony provided evidence that Terry Driver had made phone calls to the police saying he was the killer and he was going to do it again. There was evidence of the radio station stunt with Tanya's stolen headstone dumped on the station vehicle, and there was the letter that he'd thrown through the window with reference to the baseball bat, the only sentence from that letter that was allowed as evidence. Despite those early setbacks as the crown reached the end of their case presentation, they said they felt complete confidence in their case.

It was time for the defense. In his opening statement, lawyer Glenn Orris said that a range of medical professionals were going to testify about Terry Driver's various medical conditions and disorders, including Tourette's syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder, and how they resulted in limitations to his thinking processes. The lawyer made it clear that they weren't going for a not criminally responsible defense, but that the expert testimonies were going to explain Terry's actions and reactions. But first up, Terry Driver took to the stand to explain his side of the story, including the detail of the alternative suspect. He began his testimony by explaining his hobby

of scanner chasing, describing it as listening to a police scanner while driving around looking for the corresponding locations. He said sometimes he even assisted in identifying and following suspects. According to Terry, on the night of the attack, he was out scanner chasing a report of a stolen bicycle and followed a man on the stolen bike to an apartment building in Abbotsford. He testified that he called 911 and reported the location at around midnight on the same night of the attack on Misty and Tanya. This part of the testimony was corroborated by police and cellphone records. After meeting a uniformed police officer at the location and providing his eyewitness statement, Terry said that he got back into his car, seemingly done for the night.

As he was leaving the location, he testified that he saw a suspicious looking man dressed in dark clothing coming out of a hedgerow and then running across the road. The man's behaviour and hurried escape indicated to Terry that he might have been doing something illegal, like perhaps breaking and entering into cars. Instead of chasing after the suspicious man, though, Terry said he instead pulled his car over and walked over to the row of hedges that the man had emerged from. He testified that he was surprised to see two girls lying unconscious on the grassy area at the corner of the solid hedges. He said that Misty was fully clothed and lying in a curled up fetal position. He testified that the other girl who he now knows

was Tanya was naked and lying on her back with her legs spread open. He added that he saw a bloody baseball bat on the ground next to them. Terry Driver said he knew he needed to call for help, but he said he couldn't use his own cell phone because he was worried that the police might mistakenly think he'd had something to do with the attack. So he decided it would be a better idea to drive a block away to a payphone and place an anonymous call. While driving away, he said that another thought popped into his head. He told the court that he came to the conclusion that no one else knew about the attack because he would have heard about it on his police scanner. This is despite the fact that he'd just tipped them off himself. In any event,

he went on to describe how he made an impulsive decision to quickly drive back to the area where the girls were to get in a quick sexual assault. He gave graphic details of his rape of 16 year Tanya Smith, including the hold back evidence of that bite mark on her breast. But he had an excuse for that. He said that Tanya abruptly had a seizure and began convulsing, which adultered him into accidentally biting her. According to Terry, after Tanya's convulsion had finished, he could no longer hear her breathing and believed that she was dead. But then he was worried that his saliva and semen would be found on her body. So he said he picked her up and put her in the trunk of his car along with her clothing. He also picked up the bloody baseball bat and took that

with him. This is of course in spite of his testimony that it was the unknown alternative suspect who committed the attack. So why would Terry driver need to put his hands on the bat and take it with him? He said Misty was still lying unconscious on the ground, so he loaded her on his front passenger seat and drove her to the front of the MSA hospital, where he left her to be found. This was of course in direct conflict with Misty's own story that she got herself to the hospital. Terry then said he drove to the Vedder Canal, where he dumped Tanya, hoping that the water would remove any DNA evidence he may have left. He said it never occurred to him that Tanya could still be alive. He went on to say that he discarded her clothing

near the river and drove off, throwing the baseball bat he said he didn't use into a nearby ditch. Obviously, the goal with this testimony was to remove the element of premeditation and reduce his own involvement down to sexual assault and manslaughter instead of first or second degree murder. As he spoke, Terry showed little to no emotion. Inspector Rod Gill would write in his book The Search for the Abbotsford Killer that Terry seemed cold and calculating as he recounted the events as if he were describing a walk in the park or a trip to the grocery store. He went on to say that he went to bed and listened to his police scanner, hoping that Tanya would quickly be found to give her family closure. When he didn't hear anything,

he said he waited for his wife to go to work and then took his two small children down to the canal to see if the body had been found yet. When he arrived, he found the police processing a crime scene. He then went on to explain his various phone calls, saying that because of the unique way his mind works and responds to stimuli, he began to get excited by the crime scene, which caused him to phone his friend Cliff and also two media outlets to let them know that a body had been found. He then said that once he heard the media asking for anyone who may have helped Misty to get to the hospital, he knew he had to call and help. Same with his subsequent calls when he gave the location of the crime. He was helping. On that occasion, he said he only identified himself

as the killer, so he'd be taken seriously. He was also asked about why he made several vulgar references to the evidence of the bite mark on the breast, and he said that he only said that so police would know it wasn't a prank call. He only wanted to offer help and assistance. According to Terry, by the time he later found out that Tanya had drowned in the river and was therefore still alive in his car, he decided that he must have been accidentally responsible for her death, and that's why he continued to identify himself as the killer. As for the other calls, with the vulgar and offensive details and threatening messages, he said that they were driven by his compulsive mental disorders that caused him to get caught up in the media frenzy

surrounding the case. He was excited by everyone talking about an elusive killer on the streets of Abbotsford. Sticking with his story that there was another attacker and he just stumbled upon the scene, Terry then went on to explain his thought process after the police had announced they had another suspect in custody, the man who was later cleared and released after a few months. Terry said he knew that suspect wasn't the one, but when he was officially released, Terry felt compelled to perform a stunt of sorts in an effort to help the police find the right man and keep media attention on the case, so that's why he stole Tanya's headstone. He said his original intention was to take it to the river where she'd actually died,

as a memorial, because he felt that that was the right place for it. But he went on to say that once he arrived at the river it was too crowded and it wasn't feasible to carry a 190 pound headstone down there anyway. So instead he left it at the radio station after etching the offensive messages and threats into it, all with the goal of giving police the incentive to find the real attacker of the girls. He also admitted to composing the letter that was attached to the wrench and throwing it through a window of a home in Abbotsford, explaining that it was just another way to help them get on the right track. At this point, the judge asked Terry's defense lawyer if he was in fact admitting that he was the one that had murdered Tanya Smith.

The lawyer explained that while his client was admitting responsibility for the 16-year-old's death, it was not intentional. The rest of Terry's driver's testimony consisted of him talking about his childhood, including his placement into a residential care facility at a young age. He testified that he had a high sex drive that began after his institutional caregivers had allegedly sexually assaulted him. He explained his anger at being isolated from his family during this time. He went on to mention that he'd been introduced to sex workers early in his adulthood and continued to use their services several times a week, right up until he was arrested for the attack on Misty and Tanya. He stated that as a result of

the sexual abuse he endured as a young child, his sexual fantasies fed a habit of compulsive masturbation. He further testified that despite this abuse and his diagnosis of ADHD, he was able to continue his education, graduate from a trade school and a printer-apprenticeship program, and get married and start a family. He said when he learned that Tanya had drowned, it felt like a kick to his stomach, and he only attended her funeral so he could pay his respects and personally apologize for failing to get her proper medical attention, all after he sexually assaulted her when she was unconscious, of course. He ended his testimony by again stating that his only motivation for all the threatening

phone calls was to help the police and their investigation. He said he only threatened to kill again to make them work harder to solve the case and find the real attacker. As Terry Driver's testimony concluded, it was clear that he and his defense team felt he had effectively eliminated the intent that is required to prove first-degree murder. Crown prosecutor Sean Madigan began his cross-examination of Terry in a rapid-fire manner, leaving little time for answers. He asked Terry if he was a rapist. Terry agreed. He also agreed that he bit the breast of a dying girl. Terry wouldn't admit to throwing unconscious Tanya into the river, again stating that he assumed she was already dead. When questioned, he admitted that he didn't go to any effort to

check to see if she was dead, like maybe checking her breathing. He also admitted that he had no medical training to be able to make such a judgment. He just threw her in the water, face down. Terry stated that he didn't take Tanya to the hospital because he didn't want to be involved, and also because he didn't sexually assault Misty, he knew there wouldn't be DNA on her and that's why he decided to take her to the hospital. Then he went on to defend his actions again. He only wanted to help. He was living up to the sensationalized media hype. He got caught up in the attention. He was feeding off the media attention and it was driving his impulsive behavior and actions. Prosecutor Sean Madigan then turned his attention to Terry's recent diagnosis

of Tourette's syndrome. Terry stated that he didn't really know what Tourette's was, or that he suffered from it until a psychiatrist diagnosed him in preparation for his defense. Under careful questioning, he admitted that while he was unknowingly suffering from the effects of Tourette's, he still managed to remain employed in a job that required technical skill, as well as get married and become a father. The crown then brought up the baseball bat, the only sentence from the note that was allowed to be referenced. Despite being asked numerous different ways, Terry refused to admit that he'd beaten the girls with a baseball bat, even though he said it in the letter. He stuck to his original story

of finding the bat next to their unconscious bodies, even though in his letter he'd referenced using it on prior victims as well. So which was it? Terry Driver admitted to playing a game of cat and mouse with the police, but he didn't know why he did it. He added that he hoped the expert witnesses would have some insights into his actions, but they would come later and next to the stand was his mother. Terry Driver's mother described him as a bad child. She said he was destructive, had emotional and behavioral problems, and wouldn't respond to any kind of discipline. She was afraid that he would burn down their home or hurt his siblings, and that's why they decided to have him institutionalized at such a young age. She had to choose the safety of her

other three kids over Terry. She testified that when he left the institution at the age of 11, he was still threatening to kill her. So as a result, Terry went to live with his father. Next, it was time to hear from the various experts who would speak to Terry's medical conditions and disorders. The court heard from Dr. Maught Dorn, an expert on Tourette's syndrome, which is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped and voluntary movements and vocalizations called ticks. Dr. Dorn testified that often, those with Tourette's also have obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, just like Terry had. The doctor went on to say that this often leads to an inability

to control strong urges, especially those of a sexual nature. Dr. Dorn added that people with these disorders often struggle with the inability to delay gratification and are constantly seeking stimulation and turmoil. Next, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Roy O'Shaughnessy testified about the extensive interviews he'd had with Terry Driver, explaining that while Terry appeared to have a conventional outward life with employment, a family and friends, he also had a secret inner life filled with uncontrollable compulsions. Dr. O'Shaughnessy testified that in his opinion, Terry didn't have a lot of self-awareness in terms of what motivated him, although he was deeply disappointed that he couldn't pass the written exam to follow his father's footsteps into the police force.

The psychologist agreed with the previous expert testimony that Terry had Tourette's OCD and ADHD and that the three disorders together inhibited his ability to learn proper social values or cues and also left him with strong sexual impulses, which he didn't know how to properly manage or control. Dr. O'Shaughnessy went on to say that Terry himself did confirm this and disclose to the psychiatrist that during his ordinary day, he would often excuse himself to go to the bathroom or into the bushes to masturbate. Despite Terry denying he had fantasies about rape, he did admit to having fantasies about, quote, having sex with unconscious women, which is of course rape anyway. The psychiatrist said that while he found Terry's behaviour

callous, he didn't find him to be a psychopath. The final expert witness for the defence was another forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Lay, who interviewed Terry six times and described him as an introverted loner who had experienced significant rejection all his life. His OCD and ADHD caused him to have a rare combination of both compulsiveness and impulsiveness. Dr. Lay supported Dr. O'Shaughnessy's theories that Terry had intense ambivalence towards authority, basically meaning he was both in awe of the police and also held them in high contempt. Collectively, the three expert witnesses for the defence described Terry as having a turbulent and disruptive childhood with issues of abandonment that led him to impulsive attention-seeking

behaviours, which weren't helped by his multiple disorders. After 19 days of trial, it was time for closing arguments. The defence summarised their case. Terry Driver was out scanner chasing, came across a man running from a scene and then found two unconscious girls. Because of his three disorders, he wasn't able to control his impulsive behaviour, which resulted in the rape and accidental drowning of Tanya Smith. It was again stated that Terry believed Tanya was already dead, so the necessary intent wasn't there to prove murder. The defence lawyer also mentioned the fact that Misty Cockrell wasn't able to pick Terry out of a photo lineup, and the composite sketches looked nothing like his client,

which proved the existence of an unknown suspect who was still at large. The Crown's closing arguments referred to Terry's testimony as being carefully crafted to hit the main points of evidence, but also to lessen his responsibility for first-degree murder. The Crown prosecutor said that his testimony lacked credibility and should be rejected in its entirety by the court. He ended by stating that Terry's own words in the letter and the phone calls he made were the actual truth, where he gloated about attacking both girls with a baseball bat and leaving Tanya at the Vedder River to drown. The Crown alleged that what likely happened was that Terry took Tanya to put in the trunk of his car, leaving Misty at the scene

unconscious. But when he came back to get her, she had escaped, and this was the only thing preventing him from dumping her into the canal too. On October 16, 1997, exactly two years and two days since the night that Misty Cockrell and Tanya Smith were violently attacked, Judge Oppel handed down his verdict. He found Terry Driver guilty of the first-degree murder of Tanya Smith and the attempted murder of Misty Cockrell. The families of Misty and Tanya were observed holding each other and crying tears of relief. Justice Oppel continued, this time speaking directly to Terry Driver, quote, I simply cannot find the words to describe and depict your horrible crimes. It seems to me you jeopardize the safety and security of a whole town. You attacked two

women who were enjoying life. They were on their way to a birthday party. What could be safer than that? They did nothing to you. You murdered Tanya Smith for your own sexual gratification. I cannot understand the motivation for these vicious and senseless attacks on these two innocent people. There is simply no excuse for what you have done. Justice Oppel said that Terry had shown no remorse and essentially dismissed his testimony, citing significant inconsistencies, like the fact that Terry claimed that he drove Misty to the hospital. Justice Oppel pointed out that Misty was covered in blood when she arrived at the hospital, yet there was none of that blood found in Terry's car and the baseball bat. If Terry wasn't the person who

attacked Misty and Tanya, then why did he take the bat with him and dispose of it? Justice Oppel also disputed Terry's measured actions after he sexually assaulted Tanya, proving that he wasn't panicking after the 16-year-old had apparently died in front of him. The judge didn't believe the expert testimony that having Tourette's OCD and ADHD provided an excuse for his crimes. If Terry Driver was telling the truth when he stated the only reason he made the phone calls was to help the police find the real attacker, then why didn't he ever mention that he saw another man fleeing the scene? Quote, arguably the most important piece of the puzzle. And finally, Justice Oppel referenced the inaccuracy of the composite drawings and Misty

being unable to identify Terry Driver from the photo lineup, saying that this was likely to do with the severity of her injuries. Justice Oppel sentenced Terry Driver to life in prison, without the possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder of Tanya Smith and 10 years for the attempted murder of Misty Cockrell, to be served concurrently or at the same time. After handing down the sentence, Justice Oppel stated, life means life. After the trial, a press conference was held with Misty Cockrell and her family, as well as the family of Tanya Smith. They were all relieved that Justice had been served, but Tanya's parents Gail and Terry pointed out that it didn't matter what the verdict was,

because their daughter was never coming back. In his letter, Terry bragged about committing three unsolved murders in Vancouver, 10 years before the attacks on Tanya and Misty. They were looked into, but ultimately there wasn't sufficient evidence to corroborate Terry's confession and warrant a prosecution. But after evaluating the three other attacks he mentioned in the year before Tanya and Misty, police decided that two of them had strong enough evidence to proceed to trial, with both of their names under a publication ban as survivors of sexual assault. As you'll recall, one of the survivors was a woman living in an outpatient

home for people with mental illness and was attacked while she was having an evening walk. She believed she may have been knocked out and the next thing she remembered was being dragged by her feet. She fought hard and kicked her attacker, and when a car came down the street, he suddenly let go and ran from the scene. The survivor went to the hospital to be treated for her injuries, but police discovered that later that same night, Terry Driver showed up to the same hospital, complaining that he'd fallen and landed on his hand. His wrist was x-rayed and it was discovered that he had a specific fracture that was unlikely to be the result of a fall. In fact, medical opinion

was that that kind of fracture was commonly seen from a direct blow to the wrist, or could have been the result of a forceful kick. The court found that following the assault, this survivor was in a fragile and emotional state. She already had schizophrenia, but as a result of her attack, she also developed post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, which manifested as paranoia that everyone she lived with was her attacker. Her caregivers described her as someone who was bright and alert, who changed into a person who was traumatized, frightened and extremely paranoid. The second charge was for the attack on the survivor who had left a downtown bar after a fight with her boyfriend. Police discovered that she'd just

arrived in Abbotsford from the province of Saskatchewan with her boyfriend. They were staying with family friends in the area and had gone to a bar that evening. After drinking heavily and the fight with her boyfriend, she decided to leave alone on foot with the intention of catching a taxi back to the place that she was staying. Instead, she woke up outside the hospital without her purse and zero recollection on how she'd become injured. And those injuries were serious. She had a deep gash in her head and a severe skull fracture, injuries that were consistent with a forceful blow from a baseball bat. The survivor suffered extensive blood loss and her injuries were considered life-threatening without immediate treatment. They were very similar to the injuries

suffered by both Misty Cockrell and Tanya Smith. As you'll recall, this survivor was of Norwegian descent, although she had a darker complexion which led Terry Driver to believe she was Indigenous, although it should be noted that Indigenous people, like all people, have varying skin tones. In his letter, Terry Driver said he took $200 out of her purse and backpack and then threw it up on the top of a brick retail store, evidence which was corroborated by the survivor. Also in his letter, he called the survivor a racial slur and added that he decided not to rape her, giving an excuse that was racist and highly offensive. As a result of the attack, she was left with a permanent scar and a large dent in her head. She also suffered permanent

brain damage and was left being unable to work and had to survive on a disability pension. The court found that her quality of life had been greatly diminished. At the trial for these attacks, Terry Driver's defense was that he was not guilty and he only had knowledge of the crimes because of his scanner-chasing hobby. He admitted to taking the money from the second survivor's purse but blamed that on details he'd received from listening into the scanner. He said he wasn't responsible for the attack, he just came upon the survivor afterwards and took advantage of the situation by stealing her backpack, similar to the excuse he gave for sexually assaulting Tanya Smith while she was unconscious. Again, he stated his motives for these supposed

false confessions in the letter were a desire for media attention and to further taunt the police. He said he was intoxicated with his ability to control the media and the police with sensational descriptions of events. It gratified his need for public attention. Ultimately, he was convicted for both assaults and after the convictions, the crown began proceedings to have Terry Driver designated as a dangerous offender. The dangerous offender designation was created to deal with especially violent, heinous, high-risk, repeat offenders who are much more likely to relapse if they were released back into society. Dangerous offenders are usually detained past their parole or release dates and they have parole hearings where the onus is on them

to prove that they're no longer dangerous to the Canadian public. The crown was successful. In 2000, Terry Driver was designated as a dangerous offender with a judge saying his crimes were brutal, repetitive and revealed an inability to control his sexual impulses. In 2001, Terry appealed his conviction, giving the reason that the original trial judge didn't properly consider the key evidence about the disorders Terry had and how they played into his impulses and decision-making. The panel took less than five minutes to reject the appeal. According to Rod Gill's book The Search for the Abbotsford Killer, Terry Driver will be eligible for parole in 2021 at age 57. He will have served 25 years of his original life sentence,

but of course, he'll still be a dangerous offender and the onus will be on him to prove that he's not dangerous anymore. Like fellow dangerous offender Paul Bernardo, Terry Driver is unlikely to ever be released, but what is likely is that every parole hearing they request will re-victimize their victims, survivors and their families. As you recall, Terry Driver's mother originally turned him in with the support of his brother, but his family ended up believing Terry's version of events, in which he just stumbled upon the crime scene then committed a quick rape because he saw a naked and unconscious teenage girl and wasn't able to control his sexual urges, and then he accidentally found himself responsible for her death. But believing him didn't stop his brother and mother

from applying for the reward money, which was being offered at the time that they turned him in. Because he was convicted based on this, a decision was made to pay them the money in 2003, after all Terry's appeals processes had been exhausted. In 2006, the media reported that Terry Driver had been moved from Maximum Security Kent Institution about 70 kilometres away from Abbotsford to the Pacific Institution Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford for treatment for undisclosed reasons. The family of Tanya Smith were bitterly disappointed that he'd been moved back to their community and they hadn't been notified. The assistant warden of Kent Institution apologized to the family and they accepted.

In 2011, Terry Driver's wife spoke out for the first time on an episode of the Investigation Discovery Show, The Devil You Know. It had taken 16 years for Val Driver to talk about how she and their two young children felt shunned by the community after her then-husband terrorized the Fraser Valley for seven months. First, she shed some insight into how she ended up married to Terry Driver. She said they first met as volunteers for the Boy Scouts Club. Val was 32 at the time and said she hadn't had much success in the dating world. She was starting to feel lonely and that her chance to become a wife and a mother, something that she desperately wanted, was getting away from her. Val called in sick for a Boy Scout event and was surprised when 24-year-old Terry

showed up to check on her. She said they talked for hours and essentially Terry never left. Val said that he was the first man to take an interest in her and the first person, besides her family, to say he loved her. Just three weeks later, they were engaged to be married. Val thought Terry was the answer to her prayers and as they went on to get married and plan for their family, she saw her dreams materializing. But it wouldn't take long for her to realize that instead of living a dream, she was caught in a nightmare. She spoke about how Terry quickly became controlling and would monitor her conversations, including when and for how long she could speak to her family. Val described Terry's short temper and how it often erupted

into violent behavior, throwing tables across the room and punching walls. Their new townhouse was soon riddled with broken furniture and holes in the walls. Terry threatened her and told her that if she ever left him, he would take their children. So she stayed. Luckily for her, Terry had hobbies that monopolized all of his free time. He went fishing a lot. Val said that sometimes he came home with catches and other times he didn't. His other hobby was of course his obsession with his police scanner. He took it everywhere, Val said, in the car to family events and he even put it in their bedroom at night. Val driver also spoke about Terry's spending problem, saying that she had to work two jobs just to keep up with his impulsive spending practices.

She spoke about the time when a neighbor called police saying Terry had been seen in the front window naked and masturbating. He told Val that he didn't do it and she believed him. But everything was starting to take a toll on her and her sister described her as starting to deflate as she realized that Terry wasn't the man she thought he was, that the life she dreamed of wasn't the life she was living. Shortly after he was arrested, Val said her world got even darker. She recounted how her close friends abandoned her and the community vilified her, assuming that she must have known her husband was a serial rapist and murderer. She had to live through her house being taped off so police could search it for evidence. She had to live through the high-profile trial

and Terry being found guilty. She wracked her brain the whole time, wondering what she had done wrong at home to make him go out and commit these crimes. The Vancouver Sun reported that their two young children were removed from her custody and taken to foster care, although it didn't provide any additional details on that. It took Val many years to rebuild her life and get the education she needed to become a teacher's assistant. She said it took even more time for her to realize that she wasn't to blame for her ex-husband's crime. Misty Cockrell is now around 40 years old and made a full recovery from her physical injuries, although she continues to suffer occasional after-effects from her brain injury.

She went on to volunteer as a victim support advocate for the Abbotsford Police Victim Services. She got a degree in social work with the goal of working professionally in that victim advocacy space. Misty also has two kids and named her first-born daughter after her friend, Tanya Smith. Misty still works in British Columbia as an outreach worker for victims of violence, and she's a compelling public speaker. In a 2014 speaking engagement, she spoke about the response she received when she first returned to school after Terry Driver's attack, which left her best friend dead. Quote, People didn't know what to say, then they did figure out what to say. They said it should

have been me that died. Some people even said we had it coming because of the way we were dressed. I'll be honest, it was a tough time. Misty went on to say that she, Tanya and the other survivors were victimized by Terry Driver. Quote, But as long as the focus stayed on him, we remained victims. It was hard to speak out at first, but as I did it more frequently, I realized I could give people a voice, people like Tanya. If people say I'm a victim, that's fine, but I prefer the term survivor. Thanks for listening. For more reading on this case, I recommend the book Through the Valley of the Shadow The Search for the Abbotsford Killer by retired inspector Rod Gill. It goes through the

case and the investigation from his perspective as the lead of the homicide task force. I've included links to it in the show notes. If you like the show, I'd love it if you could rate or review it on Apple Podcasts. I recently went down from a 5-star rating to 4.5 stars in Canada because a bunch of new listeners thought the show should get a new host. I mean, let's face it, they probably have a good point. But unfortunately, you're all stuck with me because after all, it is my show. I started this podcast from my closet and did everything myself in the early days. And today, nearly three years later, it's still an independent podcast. So if you do enjoy it, I'd be really grateful if you could leave me a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts.

This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched and written by Stephanie Moore, edited by me, and audio production was by We Talk of Dreams, who also wrote the theme song. The host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then.