Uncover - S11: "Carrie Low VS." Epilogue: A Death in Dartmouth

Episode Date: November 1, 2021

Carrie’s criminal case is upended by a homicide.

This is a CBC Podcast. to ensure that we didn't do anything to jeopardize that. There were also other as yet unnamed suspects who we didn't want to lose sight of. And we wanted to stay as focused as possible on Kerry's experiences with police and the justice system. But for this update, he'll have to be named. Here's what Halifax Regional Police have confirmed. On November 13, 2021, at 1.47 a.m., Halifax Police responded to a call. It was in a residential neighborhood in Dartmouth, at a property just a five-minute drive from the bar that Carrie reported she was abducted from. This night, police were looking into reports of a, quote, unresponsive man. The next day, police identify the man as 35-year-old Alexander Joseph Frederick Thomas.

Thomas is the man being tried for sexual assault and forcible confinement in Carrie's case. Now, he is dead. The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner's Service has ruled his death a homicide. That same morning, Carrie says police called her. It was RCMP Sergeant Brian Fitzpatrick. He was calling to

let me know that there had been an update on my file and the accused was deceased, that the coroner has confirmed his identity. And that basically he wanted me to come in for questioning. That before they could proceed with the investigation into this homicide was to question me. And something about to the effect that, you know, wanted to get things straight before it all went through the media. Sergeant Fitzpatrick, the current lead in the investigation into Carrie's rape, wanted Carrie to come into the police station to be questioned.

Lawyer Mike Dull advised her not to. Carrie tells me what happened next. I talked to police and Fitzpatrick understood and then had said, well, we have two questions for Carrie. And one, where was she Friday night? And two, did she know this was going to happen before it happened? I'm not going to lie. I was terrified. I was shocked. Like my intellectual brain tells me, of course, yes, I understand. I'm accusing this person of, you know, a crime against me.

Yes, I need to intellectually understand that this is a process the police have to do and rule people out. I got it. But in the same sense, it's like, how could they even imagine that me as a human and who I am as an individual would actually be involved with something like this. And then it became scary. And I'm telling you right now, my mind went a thousand different directions, terrified, worried that they were going to come beating down my doors to try and arrest me and drag me in there to talk to them. Carrie tells me that she knows nothing about the crime.

And Dulles says he told this to Sergeant Fitzpatrick. On Tuesday, November 16th, a hearing was previously set at the provincial court in Dartmouth. After Thomas was murdered, the court kept that date to officially dissolve the trial. previously set at the provincial court in Dartmouth. After Thomas was murdered, the court kept that date to officially dissolve the trial. Defence counsel Mark Bailey arrives in the courtroom with five members of Thomas' family, including the accused's brother, who confirmed the death.

Constable Jarrell Smith is not present, nor is Carrie or her legal team. The courtroom is silent. Judge Tax enters, and within a few short minutes, the legal process is over. He says, It is a truly unfortunate way that any case ends. No one gets to determine guilt or innocence. He then formally dismisses the two charges

and court concludes. Afterward, the two Crown prosecutors in the case speak to media. Certainly we, as Crown attorneys, there's a merit to having a hearing held and there's merit to it for both parties, for all parties and for the public and for the justice system.

For it to end this way is very tragic for all different kinds of reasons and unfortunate for both Ms. Lowe, terrible for Mr. Thomas's family, and unfortunate for the justice system and the hearing process. Then, flanked by Thomas's brother and wife, Defense Counsel Mark Bailey speaks to reporters. It's a very unfortunate result. Nobody wants to be in this position that we're in today. It's a tragic circumstance.

And unfortunately, that's just where we find ourselves. Nobody wins here. After the hearing, I meet with Carrie and Emma Halpern at the Elizabeth Fry offices. You know, Tuesday, we were going into court and we were going to hear information on this case that I had been waiting for for so long. And then three days before court, this person ends up deceased to be murdered.

Took me down the path of, what is going on? path of what is going on like what is going on here is this is this a coincidence is this just a strictly a coincidence or is this something that people are making sure that people are being eliminated so no more can come out in this case because again all along it's been being shut out and doors slammed in my face and you know Jarrell coming forward and you know working for me and then going to defense and all of this was going to come to a head and now it forward because the accused is now gone and the criminal case is dead. Over. So it went from, are there people, the other people involved, or do they have something to do with this? Did the police have something to do with this? Or was this just an unfortunate accident? Or was this, you know, a lot has been going on in my mind.

At this point, police have released no information about suspects or motives in the murder investigation. Emma Halpern says once again, this case has taken an almost unbelievable turn. It's really hard to find words to describe how I feel about this. The word that has come up over and over again through this process is unprecedented. But this is even more than that because unprecedented, I don't think, really gives the emotional weight of everything. And this is a horrifying set of circumstances that has just made all that much more difficult to process because someone has been killed.

And there are people who are suffering right now because of that loss. there are people who are suffering right now because of that loss. Carrie says she's grappling with the complexity of this reality, not only for herself, but for others. I held on hope that through this criminal process, whether or not he could be found guilty in a court of law, that there would be still more information coming out on what exactly happened that night. And I always held on to the belief

that one day I would get some answers. And now I lost that. And the first thing I start feeling is guilt because it's not about me right now. It's about him and his family need to grieve and mourn the loss of their loved one. No matter how I feel about this person. So I'm struggling.

I'm struggling between what this means for me. And every time I go down that, I start crying because I'm like... This isn't the justice I would have wanted, that's for sure. I've been trying my best to stay away from the media, social media, people's comments. And it's hurtful to see people lashing out and saying this person got what he deserved and da-da, you know. That doesn't help me. Because that's not who I am. I just hope people can stop and take a pause before they start commenting on social media

and really consider that there's a family out there and they need time to grieve, no matter what. Meanwhile, on Monday, Kerry received an email from Sergeant Fitzpatrick with the latest on her case. Here's what she told me he wrote. This is still an active investigation. This is a priority case, you know, the same song and dance. And again, I have no faith that they're even at all pursuing other people.

I contacted Sergeant Fitzpatrick and requested an interview. He declined. Halpern says despite everything that's taken place she believes Carrie's story will lead to change. One thing I will say is there's not one question in my mind about whether or not Kerry will be continuing. This will not stop Kerry. Kerry will be continuing her work, and we will be at her side continuing this work to bring that call for justice

because I had the great privilege of sitting at Kerryyside and watching her through this three-year journey and watching her develop her strength and her vision and her power and her ability to bring people together for change and to move above and beyond the harm and the trauma and to give space for all those who have hurt and been hurt to hear from them to hear their voices and to start gradually slowly one day at a time building a different better system. True justice.

True justice. With the criminal trial now abruptly over, Kerry is turning her attention to her civil case, alleging police misconduct in her investigation with lawyer Mike Dahl. I said to Mike today, like, now we need to push forward. They've been shutting me out for so long and now now they can't, and let's go forward. Let's get some disclosure here without redactions, and let's see what has really been going on. Let's move forward, because this is now about the police.

This is about the police failures. It's about what they've done to me. This is where I'm going to find some sort of justice for all this. this is where I'm going to find some sort of justice for all this. I'll be covering Carrie's civil case as it moves forward, and will continue to follow her story and report any major updates as they unfold. As of today, there have been no arrests in the homicide of Alexander Joseph Frederick Thomas. On Monday, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Police said the investigation is still in its early stages.

They were unable to say if the homicide was related to Carrie's case. This series is produced by Janice Evans and Nancy Hunter, and written by me, Maggie Rahr. Mixing and sound design by Evan Kelly. Our digital producer is Emily Cannell.

Fact-checking by Emily Mathieu. Theme music by Aqua Alta. Legal advice from Danielle Stone. Our senior producer is Chris Oak. And the executive producer of CBC Podcasts is Arif Noorani.