Canadian True Crime - Kimberly Proctor [1]

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

A two-part series — The comprehensive story of 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor, and the two classmates she thought were her friends.*Additional content warning: this series includes graphic and distressing details of a murder and sexual assault, and brief mention of sexual assault against a child and cruelty to animals. This series examines a number of issues related to the dynamics of teenage relationships in the online era, and utilizes case files released by police, news archives, and relevant studies, statistics and scholarly articles. Our goal is to highlight common manipulation tactics employed by abusive people, the pitfalls of navigating consent, boundaries and rejection, mental health, nature vs nurture and more. This case is closely related to our previous episode, Cherish.Please respect the privacy of those involved in this case.Monthly donation:This month, Canadian True Crime has donated in Kimberly’s memory to BC SPCA Wild Arc, the wildlife rescue organization she planned to start volunteering with.Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast.Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening. Hi there, and welcome back to Canadian True Crime. This is part one of a two-part series about a particularly devastating case related to our last episode about the murder of Cherish Oppenheim. Today's case has been constantly requested by listeners over the years, and as I'll get to in just a second, it's not because there's a lack of existing coverage. A few years back, Kimberly's father published an open letter to express his outrage about Canada's criminal justice system. Mr Proctor wrote that he was caught by surprise when the trial judge

asked him if there were any details the family wanted kept from the public. Quote, I said, do not hold back anything. We wanted the entire country to know exactly what these two monsters had done, end quote. There was no way for Kimberly's family to predict that her story would be picked up by various online content farms and exploited on mass for views and downloads. coverage has often been reduced to a sensationalized summary that focuses on the most shocking details, as though the real people devastated by this crime are simply characters and a fictional story, wrapped up and clickbait thumbnails and served to audiences craving their next murder story. We've pieced these episodes together from court documents, news archives,

and multiple case files released by the police. We aim to highlight many important issues. arising from this case that the general public could benefit from knowing about, like the dynamics of teenage relationships in the online era, navigating consent, boundaries and rejection, common manipulation tactics employed by abusive people, mental health, nature versus nurture, and youth violence, to name a few. Our sincere condolences to Kimberly Proctor's loved ones and anyone else affected.

We've decided to respect their private, at this time and ask that you do the same. So with that, it's on with the show. An additional content warning, this series includes graphic and distressing details of a murder and sexual assault, and while not the focus of the case, there is brief mention of sexual assault against a child and cruelty to animals. Please take care when listening. On a cool March morning in 2010, 18-year-old Kimberly was still in bed when her mother came to say goodbye before leaving for work. The family lived in Langford, a small city of about 40,000 people located on South Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Kimberly and her family were in good spirits because just the day before, she'd been told she had enough credits to graduate from high school.

school. This was a big deal because her journey to graduate hadn't been an easy one. She was a homebody according to her loved ones, a fairly quiet, family-oriented person with a big heart and a passion for animals. Kimberly took pride in caring for an eclectic mix of pets that included mice, hamsters, rabbits and lizards. She'd been obsessed with cats when she was younger and wore cat ears to school every day, even as kids at school teased her about it, meowing at her in class. She didn't let that change her. But Kimberly also had other struggles at school. She was sincere, authentic and earnest, traits that were greatly appreciated by her close friends.

But unfortunately, also made her vulnerable to bullying by angsty kids looking for someone to take their own problems out on. She also had attention deficit disorder, ADHD inattentive type, a disorder that impacts a person's ability to plan, organize, make decisions and complete tasks, among other things. This often caused her feelings of anxiety and panic, as her mother Lucy would later tell journalist David Kushner for a Vanity Fair article. Desperate for a way to help their daughter,

Kimberly's parents ended up enrolling her at Pacific Secondary School, an alternative school for secondary students with unique needs that had not been met by mainstream schools. The school population included a mix. There were students like Kimberly who were neurodivergent or had learning needs that weren't compatible with mainstream school. There were students who had children of their own and others who were at that school because of behavioral or conduct

concerns. High school is always a roller coaster ride as young people try to figure out who they are in relation to their peers and the world around them. But this school looked promising and Kimberly soon made some new friends. Before long, she was known as the peacemaker and the problem solver. Her friends loved her jokes and her silly sense of humor. As a homebody, Kimberly stayed social with chats via messenger apps and social media. The cat ears long gone. She became known for punctuating her sentences with two arrows to represent cat whiskers. Kimberly reportedly found her groove at this new alternative school,

so the day her family learned she would be graduating, there was much to celebrate. There was, of course, also the prom and the prom dress, the icing on the cake. Kimberly had already looped in her grandmother to help her design and make it. She was still considering her options for after she graduated, but one thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to start volunteering at a local wild animal rehabilitation centre. Kimberly Proctor had a lot to be optimistic about.

The morning after the good news about graduation, she was still asleep when her mother came to say goodbye. Kimberly had no classes that day, so Lucy kissed her goodbye, whispered that she loved her and let her daughter keep sleeping. She deserved it. Lucy had a rough idea of what Kimberly was going to be doing that day. In the mid-afternoon, she had a babysitting job, and after that she planned to come home and start working on that prom dress. Later on, Lucy called Kimberly. at home, expecting that she would be back by then. No one picked up, and her cell phone went

straight to voicemail. Lucy would say that she immediately had an uneasy feeling, like something was up, but there wasn't much she could do than wait and hope her daughter would reach out soon. When the phone did ring, it was not the news she was hoping for. Kimberley hadn't shown up for her babysitting job. This was extremely out of character, so Lucy called the police immediately to report her daughter missing. That was about 9pm on the Thursday night. Friday morning, there was still no sign of Kimberly. Investigators spent the day speaking with her family members, friends and acquaintances, but the daylight hours passed and by evening, there was still no sign her and no news. It came after midnight when the RCMP was alerted to a grim discovery made by a

pedestrian on the well-known Galloping Goose Trail. Formerly a railway line that was converted to an outdoor recreation trail in the 1980s, the Galloping Goose Trail winds across the southern tip of Vancouver Island for about 55 kilometers, connecting with many other parks and trails. rails in the area. And on that Friday evening, a person had been walking along the galloping goose, and as they approached the Millstream Creek bridge, they spotted something next to the creek. It appeared to be charred human remains. The RCMP determined the remains likely belong to a woman, but were otherwise completely

unidentifiable, and nothing more was found at the scene that might indicate who she was. The case was immediately classified as a homicide and the remains were sent for autopsy and possible identification. At the time, there were 29 missing persons cases in South Vancouver Island and the RCMP reviewed each one to see if anything fit. They soon came across the file for 18-year-old Kimberley who had only been reported missing the previous night. They immediately contacted her parents to let them know the distressing news

and asked them for Kimberly's hairbrush and dental records for DNA testing and comparison. As they waited for the results, investigators continued to get as much information as they could, canvassing residents in the area where the remains were found. Screams had been heard and some residents detected a strange odor, but didn't consider it overly noteworthy. The area was known to be frequented by teenagers. A statement was released to the media saying the RCMP didn't want to alarm anyone, but the person or persons responsible for this heinous crime was still at large.

Investigators had yet to identify any suspects, and because the remains hadn't been identified yet, they had little way of knowing whether the attack was targeted or completely random, so women and teenage girls were warned to be cautious when walking along the galloping goose or any other community trails. As far as anyone knew, the last time Kimberly had been seen was by her mother that morning when she was asleep, and none of their neighbours had seen or heard anything unusual that day. But then a BC Transit bus driver came forward to say that he had a person fitting Kimberly's description on his bus that morning,

wearing a distinctive black hoodie with a large number 13 in red on the front. She also had distinctive shoes on converse high tops that were pink, blue and green. There was no one else that could be but Kimberly. The bus driver said she got off his bus. at about 10.30 that morning and gave the bus stop location details to the RCMP. Now that they knew Kimberly had caught the bus somewhere that morning, her family launched a public appeal,

saying they had no idea where she was going and who she was hanging out with. They urged the public to come forward if they had any information to share, or if anyone else had seen a person matching Kimberly's description, 5 foot 1, petite, with shoulder-length auburn hair, brown eyes and a nose ring. On Monday, an RCMP inspector visited Kimberly's family with devastating news. A comparison of DNA and dental records had confirmed that the remains belong to Kimberly Proctor. Her cause of death was homicide by asphyxiation, but there was more. The autopsy showed she suffered unamaged.

imaginable terror right up until her death. She had been the victim of a brutal sexual assault and torture. As Kimberly's loved ones struggled to comprehend what had happened to her, and investigators turned their full attention to finding out who was responsible, the news was announced to the public. Dozens of Kimberly's family members, friends and classmates, gathered at the scene where her remains had been found. They laid flowers, photos and teddy bears, lit candles and hugged each other.

On Tuesday, March 23rd of 2010, four days after Kimberly had last been seen, the RCMP advised the public that there was still no suspect in custody. Whoever was responsible for the attack was still at large. So an area of the Galloping Goose Trail was closed off for a dive-trial. team to enter Millstream Creek, which flowed under the bridge, but found nothing of note. By this point, there were reportedly more than 40 investigators from different law enforcement agencies assigned to work on the case. They started taking a deeper look into Kimberly's school life and social media posts. They'd been alerted to the fact that two months earlier, she had posted

on Facebook that she'd met an amazing guy and then, Days later, she referred to him as her boyfriend, but within weeks she had changed her status back to single, explaining, quote, I had to leave the guy because he was a psycho with really bad anger issues. Meanwhile, a Facebook page set up in Kimberly's memory soon amassed over 2,500 followers. Tips and information started flooding in, with almost 200 leads for investigators to follow up on. But soon, they started to realize that much of it amounted to schoolyard rumors, teenage gossip and speculation, not actual fact. One of the rumors was that Kimberly's murder was linked to a website

for people interested in the goth subculture called Vampirefreaks.com. Today, the website is known for selling clothes and accessories, but at the time, it included a forum or message board for you. users to communicate, and Kimberly set up a profile under the handle Dead Kitty Cat. Her profile page is still available on the internet wayback machine, and in her About Me section, she wrote that because she was small for her age and sometimes struggled to fit in, she lived in fear of other girls. Her bio read, quote, I have a bad history of being bullied. I'm actually scared of teenage girls. I never know which ones are going to bully me because a lot of the time the people who picked on me were

girls I'd never seen before. The rumour swirling around about what may have happened to Kimberly included implications that because she was known to visit a website dedicated to goth subculture, she must in some way be at fault for her own murder. Before long, an RCMP spokesperson stepped in to squash those rumors. quote, Kimberly did absolutely nothing to deserve this. This could have been anyone's daughter. In 2010, law enforcement agencies were starting to discover

that social media could be a useful investigative tool, but one that can also impede investigations happening in real time. The RCMP pleaded with the public to consider the consequences of giving police false information. After a week of no helpful leads, the press reported that investigators had launched a search in and around the area of Glen Lake, which intersects with the galloping goose trail. Now because Glen Lake is about five kilometres by road away from the Millstream Creek Bridge where Kimberley's remains had been found, many people wondered how investigators had been prompted

to search that specific area. At the time, there were no answers forthcoming. A celebration of life service was held for Kimberly on Sunday, April 18th, 2010, exactly a month after she was murdered. Her obituary described a kind-hearted girl who had a true love for animals. Quote, Kimberly was very social and cared deeply for her friends and family. She was always willing to help people in need. In lieu of flowers, donations were made to the SPCA or Wild Arc Society,

the Animal Rehabilitation Group Kimberly had been hoping to volunteer with. The media respected her family's request for privacy, so there was little reporting about her memorial. But it would later be revealed that Kimberly's killer was among those who attended the funeral. As it turned out, the RCMPP. had already identified two suspects and had been actively surveilling them. At the end of the service, they watched one of them walking to his car with a skip in his step. More and more weeks went by with no public updates on the investigation into Kimberly Proctor's murder.

It seemed as though the case was slowly turning cold. The RCMP announced they believed teenagers who were part of her social circle of, school had been withholding information and urged them to come forward with anything they might have that could help the investigation. Then, on May 27th, more than two months after Kimberly's murder, there was unusual activity seen at a house located not far from Glen Lake, the part of it that intersects with the Galloping Goose Trail. That's the same area about five kilometers away from where Kimberly's remains had been located. The house was clearly being examined by a forensic team,

seen in white hazmat suits, scanning the interior of the house with ultraviolet light. CTV News reported that the residents of that home left when the search started, and the RCMP clarified that it was not those residents who were the focus of the warrant, but the home itself, adding that this was, was just one small component of their entire investigation. And then it was publicly announced that suspects had been identified. The RCMP couldn't disclose their identities

or how they connected them to Kimberley, but they wanted the public to know that Kimberly's murder was not random, and they strongly believed there were more people who knew exactly what happened to Kimberly and who was involved, but were reluctant to come forward. Another public plea was issued for information. Quote, we need those people to think of Kimberly's family.

They deserve to have all the answers about what happened to her. A few weeks later, the RCMP announced the arrest of two males for the premeditated murder of Kimberly Proctor. They were aged 16 and 18. No charges were announced at the time. At a press conference to announce the arrest, a spokesperson said that Kimberly was familiar with her killers, and investigators did not believe that bullying was an important factor in her murder. What happened to Kimberly was horrendous and disturbing, among the worst cases they'd seen,

and they thanked the community for their cooperation in the investigation. In response to this news, Kimberly's parents, Fred and Lucy Proctor, recorded a video thanking friends, family and members of the community for their support and spoke of the hell they'd been living since Kimberly went missing. They described her as a great kid with a big heart who was gentle to a fault and whose loss had left a huge void in their lives. Kimberly was deprived of the chance to graduate, grow into a woman, get married, have children and maybe one day look back and laugh at the ups and downs of her teenage years.

Quote, we'll never know what she could have become or would have been or what future we would have had with her. They said that all they can hope for now is justice for Kimberly. Before long, it was announced that the two males had been charged with first-degree murder, forcible confinement, sexual assault, and indignity to human remains.

People flock to social media and other online forums to express their grief and shock, not just at what the shocking collection of charges suggested had happened to Kimberley, but that the two males charged with committing such a horrific and depraved crime were two teenagers. And the question on everyone's mind was why? Even though the two suspects had been charged, investigators had only scratched the surface when it came to gathering evidence. They knew there was much more to the story, so they continued to follow leads. Although one of those teenagers had turned 18 by the time he was arrested,

he was 17 at the time of Kimberley's murder, making them both minors under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, so both their identities were protected under publication ban at the time. Behind the scenes, the two teenagers attended the same alternative school as Kimberly. Pacific Secondary was a school for kids whose needs weren't being met by mainstream school, but it appears that their needs were in a completely different category to Kimberleys. Both of them had been identified by the local school district as high-risk students with troubled backgrounds. Cameron Moffat was the older one. 17 at the time of Kimberly's murder.

He would be described as a hulking, goth type who didn't do well at school and was planning on joining the military one day. Cruz Wellwood was 16 and physically much smaller than his friend, a typical scrawny-looking teenager with wispy overgrown brown hair and glasses. An investigator would describe him as looking about as threatening as Harry Potter. But his youthful, innocent presentation hid the fact that he was reportedly highly intelligent, potentially gifted, and very calculating. It could be considered a diabolical meeting of the minds when Cruz Wellwood met Cameron Moffat in grade five.

They bonded over a mutual dislike of their art teacher and became firm friends after that, according to the Vanity Fair article by David Kushner. The two soon discovered they also shared a love of computers and video games. Cruz saw Cameron as an older kid who seemed cool and experienced, and Cameron would say he loved Cruz as a brother. Soon, they started skipping school to play fantasy role-playing games like World of Warcraft. When they did show up, they were always in trouble for something. When Cruz was confronted with a frustration or chat,

his reaction was often described as volatile and confrontational. School officials observed anti-social behavior, described him as rude and arrogant, verbally abusive, and sometimes physically violent. The older of the two, Cameron, engaged in behavior that was considered dangerous and destructive. He was frequently in conflict with someone, whether it be a family member or someone from school, and he'd reportedly been suspended twice at one school and expelled from another before he started at Pacific Secondary. As time went on, Cameron and Cruz started committing more and more offences. They saw opportunities for conflict and fighting wherever they went.

While they'd both been arrested before, both Cruz and Cameron had managed to avoid charges for any serious youth offences. That is, until they were arrested for the premeditated murder of their classmate. Investigators had seized both of their computers and cell phones for forensic analysis, tracking their online footprint which included the things they'd searched for on Google and Wikipedia. Much of their conversation was via computer on messaging apps, particularly MSN chat, which was popular at the time. Investigators worked towards getting old transcripts of instant messages there.

In the meantime, they came across a blog post that Cruz Wellwood published to a WordPress site in February of 2009, just over a year before Kimberley was murdered. The heading he gave it was, A Grain of Salt, Early Warning Signs of a Serial Killer. Cruz wrote that the list was just an observed pattern. and it's unlikely that anyone will meet all the criteria. But quote, The peculiar thing is, I meet all 14 criteria.

The post itself consisted of a list of 14 signs that included bedwetting until adolescence, fascination with fire and abuse of animals. Cruz, who was 15 years old at the time, also wrote that serial killers often have a high-eye-key. Q, yet do poorly at school, and from an early age they often have an intense interest in voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic pornography, which depicts the infliction of physical pain or humiliation designed for sexual gratification. He wrote that people who become serial killers

are often abused physically, mentally or sexually as children. They resent their parents and often suffer mental health issues themselves, including suicidal tendencies. Today, we know that the criminality involved in serial killing is a lot more complex than a simple list of traits like this suggests, but in the 1990s and 2000s, there were many lists like these circulating that were of great interest to the general public.

Other things Cruz wrote on his list of serial killer early warning signs were that 90% of serial killers are male. They have an unstable family that often has criminal or psychiatric histories, and as children, they are often abandoned by their fathers. Cruz wrote that he believed he met all the criteria in the list he put together, but added, Apparently though, meeting all criteria makes it unlikely for the subject to be a serial killer. I suppose only time will tell. Although, if I become a homicidal maniac, it will be on my own terms because of my own actions. I'm not having some statistic predetermined my fate. My life will be determined by my own

action and sentience. Cruz Wellwood ended his blog post by casually stating that the whole list should be taken with a grain of salt. When investigators started reviewing the MSN chat they saw that Cruz and Cameron started having frequent conversations with Kimberly just a few months after Cruz published that serial killer post. Although they all attended the same alternative school, it was only after Kimberly started dating another student who will call Josh that she was introduced to a new circle of friends. Her new boyfriend Josh was friends with Cruz, and through that connection, Kimberly became friendly with Cruz as well as Cameron. The MSN chat logs revealed that in May of 2009, about 10 months before Kimberly's murder,

Cameron told her he was interested in her, but he would wait until she was single. Kimberly laughed at the joke but didn't reciprocate the flirting. Cameron warned her that he was very impatient, quote, it isn't easy waiting for a beautiful young woman such as yourself. A few days later, he messaged her to tell her she looked good at school that day, like she always does. She thanked him for the compliment, but again, didn't reciprocate. Again and again, Cameron complimented Kimberly on her looks.

He called her one of the most beautiful things he'd seen. But over the next few months, the comments got more. sexual, Cameron joked that he stole Kimberly's house key, quote, So I could come see you tonight to show you some real fun. Oh, funny, was all she said in reply. He told her that she looked sexy and radiant in the top she was wearing, and he might feel the urge to hit on her. Again, she dismissed his comments by implying that for teenage girls,

being hit on by teenage boys was par for the course. Then, out of the blue, Cameron asked if he could see Kimberly's breasts. She said no. He fired back with a question about what she would have done if he kissed her, and she said she would have been shocked. Cameron tried a new tactic, telling Kimberly he didn't just want sex with her he was interested in a real relationship. She joked some more and then changed the subject, saying she was bored.

He replied, Come here, I'll show you how to have fun. And she again laughed it off as a joke. Awkward joking around might not be the most effective way to deal with unwanted romantic advances from teenage boys, but for teenage girls, it's often the least risky option and sometimes the safest. Of course, no one likes to be rejected,

but according to multiple research studies and scholarly archery, articles linked in our show notes, some men and young men lash out aggressively in response to romantic rejection because they perceive it as a threat or insult to their masculinity. According to one author, quote, a man of honor is expected to do something when romantically rejected, merely walking away and accepting the rejection is not an option. Adolescent boys in particular are often dealing with hormone-fellant. fueled emotional intensity and a heavily influenced by peer pressure combined with pop culture stereotypes that portray aggression as a masculine response to romantic rejection. And if in their

formative years, their self-concept or the way they view themselves as a person hasn't been influenced or shaped in a healthy way, they can perceive romantic rejection as a negative, combative response, an outright challenge to who they are as a male. And in response, they may feel a need to defend their honour by lashing out aggressively, from verbal insults and stalking behavior to physical and sexual violence, and even murder. The MSN chat logs pick up in August of 2009, about seven months before Kimberly's murder. By this point, there was ongoing conversation with both Cameron and Cruz, and much of it was about a big party coming up. Kimberly messaged Cameron to ask where the party was being held.

Chat log showed Cameron telling her that the party was in his pants and she was on the VIP list. He explained that when she showed up, she would be rewarded with a cream-filled lollipop. Kimberly took it as a joke and opened a separate chat window to tell Cruz about the comment. He responded, quote, I happen to own that brand of lollipop as well. In response, Kimberly said there was no such lollipop and commented to the effect that she knew it was a sexual joke. Cruz told her not to mind Cameron because he'd been drinking Scotch and NyQuil cough medicine. The three continued to joke about the topic, with Cameron chiming in on the other chat window with suggestive comments that escalated to such a point that Kimberly asked if he was

on something because she was officially creeped out. Cameron said to her, well, you said you wanted my lollipop. Kimberly said that wasn't at all what she said or meant. Cameron told her that her boyfriend Josh would not agree and threatened in a joking tone to show him their chat logs. He even used the word blackmail, adding, quote, So you'll do what I want or I'll show him, and I don't think that will make your relationship go too well. Do you understand? Do you? Answer the fucking question.

Kimberly replied that she didn't know what he meant. What seemed to be a casual joke was morphing into something completely different. It was clear that she didn't like it. Cameron told her that all he wanted, wanted her to do was, quote, get on webcam and take off your shirt, that's it. Then I'll leave all this alone and you can date him. And if you don't, I'll make sure he's dumped you by the end of the week.

All Kimberly typed was WTF. What do you gain out of this? At one point, Cameron played the whole thing down, saying he was just looking to be entertained. He added, quote, I'll get to see a show I don't even think I'll remember, so it doesn't matter. Propositioning a person and then insulting them when they don't give the desired response is a classic move straight out of the fragile ego playbook.

But for the person on the receiving end, it still hurts and it's hard not to take it personally. Kimberly asked Cameron to stop talking like this. if he sabotaged her relationship with her boyfriend, she wouldn't talk to him again. He asked her to take her shirt off a few more times, and after a few more refusals, she asked again, Why are you doing this? You've never acted this way before. At this point, he moved to a different tactic. He typed that he was bored and asked,

What's up? As though this was the start of their conversation and everything before it never asked. actually happened. Kimberly was taken back by this comment, What's up? I'm upset. Cameron asked her why, and she said it was obviously because of the conversation they had just had. He acted surprised. What was she on about? He insisted he hadn't said anything. When she referred him to everything he'd been saying to her for the last 20 minutes in MSN chat, his constant offensive requests and the blackmail attempt, his only response was to type a single question mark.

Then on the next line, he typed, Dude, the power's been out for like an hour, I didn't say anything to you. In response, Kimberly typed, You were just threatening to make it look like I cheated when I did nothing wrong and then tell my boyfriend shit to make him leave me. Cameron replied, Why would I do that? Again, he claimed that the power had been out.

Kimberly hadn't been interested in Cameron Moffat when he was overtly and crudely coming on to her, and she certainly wasn't interested after he baited her into a sexually suggestive conversation and then threatened to use it to break up her relationship if she didn't show her breasts on webcam. And not only did he denounce. deny blackmailing her, but just minutes later he denied saying any of those things altogether.

This conversation is an illustration of Davo, the term for a series of tactics an offender might use when confronted about their abuse, whether it be sexual, physical, psychological or a combination. Darvo is an acronym for deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender, and it's often used to confuse and silence a victim. When an offender is first confronted about their abusive actions or behaviour, they will often outright deny that it happened at all. Denial is a form of gaslighting, a type of emotional abuse in which the offender repeatedly downplays

or denies the abuse ever took place. That didn't happen. I never did that. I'm a good person. Why would I do that? This leads the victim to question their own sanity and judgment, which takes the heat off the offender, and that's exactly what they want. Public knowledge of gaslighting as emotional abuse is more mainstream these days, but back in 2010, we were much more vulnerable to it simply because there was less public understanding about what it was. Gaslighting obviously works extremely well when the victim's own means.

memory is the only documentation of the abusive behavior, but it also works when there is actual evidence of it. After all, we see it happening through the media every day, with politicians and world leaders overtly denying things they did or said which are captured on the record, distorting facts and information which are easily disproved and trying to shift the blame. And that brings us to the second Davo tactic, a tux. After the offender tries to gaslight the victim by denying the accusation, they may choose to go on the offensive and attack them in an effort to discredit and undermine what they're saying. There might be insults of the victim's character, intelligence, mental health or emotional

state. You're overreacting because you're too sensitive. You're imagining things like you always do. You're crazy. You seem all over the place. I'm really concerned about you. After going on the attack, the offender might move on to the third Davo tactic, reverse the roles of victim and offender. Now they create a fictional narrative portraying themselves as the victim and the actual victim as the offender.

This is your fault. You made me do this. You seduced me. Now you're trying to ruin my life. Why are you doing this to me? All of these tactics are designed to take the focus off the offender by making the victim question themselves and their own reality. Cameron Moffat had started with outright denial of typing those offensive requests and trying to blackmail Kimberly. When that didn't work, he casually accused her of trying to mess with him, as though she made up a story that he'd tried to blackmail her into showing him her breasts, just to get him in trouble.

But Kimberly wasn't going to back down and told him to look back on the chat logs to see the conversation they'd just had. It was all there. In response, he gaslit her again, claiming their conversation only started a few minutes earlier when he typed, I'm bored, what's up?

Obviously, the power hadn't gone out as he claimed. But before Kimberly had a chance to reply, he quickly invented an excuse to exit the chat and evade further questions. Two days later, Kimberly suddenly received a new message from Cameron. He called her Honeybun and told her he loved her as though their previous conversation never happened. This was a clear attempt at another gaslighting technique called love bombing, showering her with compliments and attention so that she would forget she was angry with him. Kimberley wasn't wowed by Cameron's attempt to love bomb her. It was so out of left

field that she asked him if he'd taken something or if he'd been hit in the head. He said no and told her he just hadn't had the nerve to tell her he loved her until now. He asked her if she would have his baby. She replied, what, that's an odd thing to ask. The conversation moved to the next topic. But it was actually Cruz that Kimberly would find herself developing a bit of a crush on. Kimberly had become friends with Cruz Wellwood and Cameron Moffitt through her boyfriend Josh, but they broke up after just a few months and she was heartbroken. Like many teenage breakups, there was some drama, and Kimberly turned to her friends for comfort.

Cruz and Cameron checked in to see how she was, showering her with compliments. But Cruz was a lot more subtle in his approach than Cameron was. The chat log show Cruz talking Kimberly through her breakup, telling her that she was too good and trusted too easily. He said that because of this, he felt like he could be completely honest with her. He told her, You're nice.

It wouldn't be fair to lie to you. They exchanged stories about their lives and their insecure. Kimberly said that because she was short and petite, lots of people thought she looked younger than what she was. Cruz told her he thought being short was cute, but said he understood how she felt because he was also small in stature and people bugged him about his height a lot. In another chat, Kimberly told him about a time where someone insulted the way she looked. Cruz said he couldn't believe it.

Quote, You're beautiful the way you are. He clearly has no taste in women. Kimberly said thanks in response and then told Cruz she was thinking of dyeing her brown hair red. He told her he thought it was beautiful the way it was. Cruz confided in Kimberly that people thought of him as wild and a loose cannon, and he admitted that he did used to be violent and explosive.

He said he had huge people issues, so it was easy enough to put on a mask and play pretend, be a troublemaker. And although he still has those issues with people, he told Kimberly he'd learned what makes them tick. Quote, It's like everything clicked and I grew so much mentally, like I'd been meditating for years or something. Cruz and Kimberly became quite close,

and when her language started to indicate she may be developing feelings for him, he quickly picked up on it and asked her to go to the movies with him and some friends. Afterwards, in another chat, she typed that she liked hugs and was sad she didn't get one from him the day they went to the movies. Cruz said he didn't have a chance because she left in a hurry, but he promised to make it up to her in full, 10 times over. She flirted back casually, joking or hinting about sex in a typical way that teenagers. do. But Cruz latched onto it and took it to the next level. He told her it wasn't fair for her to bring up sex because, quote, it makes me want to show you how it's really done. She replied,

LOL, I'm sorry, and then changed the subject. The chat log show that in late September of 2009, about six months before Kimberly was murdered, she messaged Cruz to tell him that she found something funny and he interrupted with quote what was hold on let me guess you mean when I patted your pubic region she said no that was awkward please don't do that again he replied I didn't mean to it must have been extremely difficult for Kimberly to navigate these conversations with Cruz and Cameron she came across as authentic considerate and straightforward but they always found a way to twist her words and intentions in a way that made her deeply uncomfortable. Yet the chat log show that she was being mindful to tread very carefully about expressing her

discomfort, because that could trigger even more aggression. Cruz Wellwood was not known for excellent attendance at school, but Kimberly started to notice that he was missing more and more days. She messaged him to ask if every was okay, and he told her that he had personal anxieties and home stress. She replied, Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope things get better for you, hon, that sounds rough. A few weeks after this, it appears that Kimberly agreed to start dating crews, but after just a week, she broke up with him via text message. The chat log show that he obviously wasn't happy that she ended the relationship,

but he channeled his feelings into a complaint that she did it via text message instead of just calling him. Kimberly apologized profusely and told Cruz she just wanted to be friends. She carefully and gently told him that he was an awesome guy and would make a great boyfriend to any girl,

but she just wasn't over her ex-boyfriend Josh. Cruz insisted he didn't care. Don't worry about it. There's absolutely no sense in getting upset, either of us. When Kimberly described herself as a pussy for not telling him to his face, he said, Don't be. I don't care. But he clearly did. The next month, November of 2009, the chat logs had a different tone. Cruz Wellwood had started to become decidedly hostile towards Kimberly, which like didn't surprise her given their breakup, but so too had Cameron Moffett.

By this point, it had been four months since he tried to blackmail her into taking her shirt off on camera. Clearly thinking the situation was behind them, Kimberly messaged Cameron to ask why he was upset. Was it because he was angry that she broke up with Cruz via text? He said no. The chat logs from two weeks. weeks later, on November 17th, contained two things of note. First, a notation that on that day, Cameron changed his MSN chat username to necrophile experience, followed by the following explanation, quote, What it is to fuck the dead promises represent your list ensuing dreams of a sky so red.

Next, Kimberly messaged Cameron later that day to tell him that she was devastated because her pet rabbit had passed away the night before. She likely thought he would console her, but the only thing he said was that he thinks rabbits are evil because one urinated on him once. Kimberly told him that hers had two. His response to this was, quote, You have death urine on you. You're going to die. next. Kimberly wrote dot dot dot followed by her trademark arrow cat whiskers and then Cam, you're nuts. She may have responded in a joking way, but she was really upset by how two

people she considered friends were treating her. A few days after that conversation with Cameron, Kimberly messaged Cruz. She asked him, why are you guys picking on me? I didn't do anything to you guys. There was no reply. The side of Cruz she saw before, the warm, caring person who confided in her about his own insecurities and what he'd learned about personal growth was gone. She tried again, asking him to respond. This time, he did. Cruz wrote, I was talking to someone more important. Honestly, I don't care enough to pick on you. If I was picking on you, I was picking on you, I was. would have torn you apart mentally, you would probably kill yourself. Kimberly was clearly getting sick of the games and told him to just do it then.

He replied, quote, I could show you things about yourself that would ruin your very grasp on existence and reality, but it would require more time than I care to invest. I have better things to do. Conversation over. Cruise's responses amount to other forms of. gaslighting. He evades her questions by being deliberately vague and responds with a word salad of pseudo-intellectual jargon, convoluted language, over-complicated phrases and

unrelated tangents. Tactics like these allow an abuser to maintain a sense of superiority as they avoid taking accountability for their behavior. And the person on the receiving end is left feeling confused, disoriented and unable to pinpoint the truth. The next day, Kimberly received another message from Cruz completely unprompted. He clearly wanted her to know just how much he didn't care about her and started the message, quote, Would you mind not talking to me? I have more important matters to attend to. Kimberly pointed out that he was the one who messaged first

and asked, why are you in Cam being like this? I deserve to know why you guys are suddenly being assholes to me. Cruz told her, You deserve nothing. Kimberly wanted to know why. Quote, what's going on? What did I even do? I didn't do anything wrong, so why are you and Cam suddenly treating me like this?

There was no response. Fine, be an asshole now, Kimberly said. She told Cruz he was heartless and she didn't feel bad about dumping him via text anymore. He deserved it. She decided to bring up something she'd been keeping in since her rabbit's death. She reminded Cruz that he had accused her of killing her rabbit when she was clearly upset at the time. She told him that was really cruel. In response, Cruz accused her of just wanting the pet rabbit for her own entertainment.

Quote, "'If it dies, just get a new one, right?' She asked him again, quote, "'I'm not here to fight with you over nothing, Cruz. Why are you being like this all of a sudden? It makes no sense, and honestly I don't know what I did wrong.' His response was, "'You're not capable of fighting.

I don't care enough to explain myself to you.'" Kimberly had once considered Cruz and Cameron to be good friends. They made her laugh, and it seemed so nice and supportive after her breakup with Josh. But the next minute, they were as cold as ice, making her feel utterly worthless. And the worst part was that they refused to tell her why. That was the end of November of 2009.

Christmas came and went, and it was time to celebrate, because January 1st of 2010 was also Kimberly's 18th birth day. Her family had affectionately called her Baby New Year all her life. Evidently, she'd put the drama with Cruz and Cameron behind her and was moving on with her life and focusing on her next big goal, graduating from high school. Earlier in the year, there was a potential new love interest on the scene, that guy she mentioned on her Facebook page.

But soon after, she posted that she ended the relationship, because of his anger issues. She added that she never actually met him in person because he lived too far away. Behind the scenes, Cruz Wellwood and Cameron Moffitt had been sliding down a dark path for years, much darker than anyone could have imagined. After meeting in grade five, they'd already spent years bonding over a shared interest in computers and video games, particularly online fantasy games. But Cruz would later state that it was Cameron, the older of the two, who first introduced him to pornography,

and by the time he was 13 years old, he was watching violent and sadistic sexual content. The pair started skipping more and more school to play video games like World of Warcraft. They would set fire to things for fun, watch porn, and discussed their own violent sexual fantasies. They fantasized about rape and bondage, and it also experimented with drinking blood and bodily fluids,

according to David Kushner's Vanity Fair article Murder by Text. That all happened in the years before 2010, and at the time that Kimberly was murdered, Cruz Wellwood was 16, and Cameron Moffat was about to turn 18. The MSN chat logs reveal that in mid-March, two days before Kimberly's murder, Cruz sent a message to an unnamed friend asking, What would your opinion on me be if I killed, raped or brutalized someone? The friend said they'd be angry and then asked who he was planning to murder and why.

Cruz answered, Random person, shits and giggles. That's where we'll leave it for part one, Thanks for listening. Part 2 will be available to all in a week, and for those listening on premium feeds, look out for early ad-free release. Visit Canadian Truecrime.cai to see the full list of resources, evidence released by the police, the various studies and statistics we relied on to write this series, and anything else you want to know about the podcast. Canadian true crime donates monthly to those facing injustice, and that includes animals. This month we have donated in Kimberly's memory to BC-SPCA Wild Ark, the Wildlife Rescue Organization she planned to start volunteering with.

Wildark cares for injured, sick, orphaned and distressed wildlife with the goal of releasing recovered animals back into the wild. And according to their website, more than 80% of the animals admitted are in trouble because of something related to human activity. Learn more at SPCA.BC.c.c.c.com. Research was by Enya Bazanette and me. Audio editing was by Eric Crosby, who also voiced the disclaimer. Our senior producer is Lindsay Eldridge and Carol Weinberg is our script consultant. Writing, narration and sound design was by me, and the theme songs were composed by We Talk of Dreams.

I'll be back in a week with part two. See you then.