Russell Williams David Russell Williams ( born March 7 , 1963 ) is a convicted murderer , rapist , and former Colonel in the Canadian Forces . From July 2009 to his arrest in February 2010 , he commanded CFB Trenton , a hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad and the country ' s largest and busiest military airbase . Williams was also a decorated military pilot who had flown Canadian Forces VIP aircraft for dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II , Prince Philip , and the Governor General and Prime Minister of Canada . On February 8 , 2010 , he was relieved as the base commander at CFB Trenton due to criminal charges . He was formally charged by the Ontario Provincial Police , pursuant to the Criminal Code of Canada , with two counts of first - degree murder , two counts of forcible confinement , two counts of breaking and entering , and sexual assault ; another 82 charges relating to breaking and entering were later added . On October 21 , 2010 , Williams was sentenced to two life sentences for first - degree murder , two 10 - year sentences for other sexual assaults , two 10 - year sentences for forcible confinement , and 82 one - year sentences for breaking and entering , all to be served concurrently . The life sentences mean Williams will serve a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility . Since he has been convicted of multiple murders , Williams is not eligible for early parole under the so - called " faint hope clause " of the Canadian Criminal Code . On October 22 , 2010 , Williams was stripped of his commission , ranks , and awards by the Governor General of Canada on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff . His severance pay was terminated and the salary he received following his arrest was seized , although he is still entitled to a pension . Subsequent to his conviction , his uniform was burned , his medals were destroyed and his vehicle crushed and scrapped . Personal life . Williams was born in Bromsgrove , England , to Cedric David Williams and Christine Nonie Williams ( née Chivers ) . His family emigrated to Canada , where they moved to Chalk River , Ontario . His father was hired as a metallurgist at Chalk River Laboratories , Canada ' s premier nuclear research laboratory . After relocating to Chalk River , the Williams family met another family , the Sovkas , and they became good friends . The families would spend a lot of time together . Williams ' parents divorced when he was six years old and soon after , Nonie Williams married Jerry Sovka . During this time Williams took on the name Sovka from his stepfather Dr . Jerry Sovka , and moved again to Scarborough , Ontario . While in the Scarborough Bluffs area , Williams began high school at Toronto ' s Birchmount Collegiate , but finished at Upper Canada College . He delivered " The Globe and Mail " newspaper and learned piano . By 1979 his family had moved to South Korea , where Sovka was overseeing another reactor project . Williams completed his final two years of high school as a boarding student at Toronto ' s Upper Canada College while his parents were in South Korea . In his final year in 1982 , he was elected as a prefect for his boarding house . On June 1 , 1991 he married Mary Elizabeth Harriman , who is an associate director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada . According to Williams ' biography that had been posted on the Department of National Defence website , he was a keen photographer , fisherman and runner , and he and his wife Mary Elizabeth were avid golfers . The couple moved to Orleans , a suburb of Ottawa in July 2006 . By then Williams had been posted to the Directorate of Air Requirements at the National Defence Headquarters . He served at the Airlift Capability Projects Strategic ( CC177 Globemaster III ) and Tactical ( CC130J Hercules J ) , and Fixed - Wing Search and Rescue . In December 2010 , Williams ' wife began the process of filing for divorce , together with a request to have any of her financial and medical information sealed by the court . Military service . Williams was regarded as a model military man over the course of his 23 - year career . He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1987 after graduating from the University of Toronto with an economics and political science degree . He received his flying wings in 1990 , and was posted to 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School , based at CFB Portage La Prairie , Manitoba , where he served for two years as an instructor . Promoted to captain on January 1 , 1991 , Williams was posted to 434 Combat Support Squadron at CFB Shearwater , N . S . in 1992 , where he flew the CC - 144 Challenger in the electronic warfare and coastal patrol role . In 1994 , he was posted to the 412 Transport Squadron in Ottawa , where he transported VIPs , including high - ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries , also on Challengers . Williams was promoted to major in November 1999 and was posted to Director General Military Careers , in Ottawa , where he served as the multi - engine pilot career manager . He obtained a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2004 with a 55 - page thesis that supported pre - emptive war in Iraq , and in June 2004 , he was promoted to lieutenant - colonel and on July 19 , 2004 , he was appointed commanding officer of 437 Transport Squadron at CFB Trenton , Ontario , a post he held for two years . From December 2005 to May 2006 , Williams also served as the commanding officer of Camp Mirage , a secretive logistics facility believed to be located at Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai , United Arab Emirates that provides support to Canadian Forces operations in Afghanistan . He was posted to the Directorate of Air Requirements on July 21 , 2006 where he served as project director for the Airlift Capability Projects Strategic ( C - 17 Globemaster III ) and Tactical ( CC - 130J Super Hercules ) , and Fixed - Wing Search and Rescue ( CC - 127J Spartan ) , working under Lieutenant General Angus Watt at this posting . In January 2009 , he was posted to the Canadian Forces Language School in Gatineau , Quebec , for a six - month period of French language training , during which he was promoted to colonel by recommendation of now - retired Lieutenant - General Angus Watt . On July 15 , 2009 , Williams was sworn in as the Wing Commander at Canadian Forces Base Trenton by the outgoing Wing Commander Brigadier General Mike Hood . CFB Trenton is Canada ' s busiest air base and locus of support for overseas military operations . Located in Trenton , Ontario , the base also functions as the point of arrival for the bodies of all Canadian Forces personnel killed in Afghanistan , and the starting point for funeral processions along the " Highway of Heroes " whence their bodies are brought to Toronto for autopsy . Williams has been described as an elite pilot and " shining bright star " of the military . He had flown Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh , the Governor General of Canada , the Prime Minister of Canada , and many other dignitaries across Canada and overseas in Canadian Forces VIP aircraft . Investigation and arrest . Jessica Lloyd , 27 , vanished on January 28 , 2010 . Investigators identified distinctive tire tracks left in snow near her home . One week after her disappearance , the Ontario Provincial Police conducted an extensive canvassing of all motorists using the highway near her home from 7 pm on February 4 , 2010 , to 6 am on the following day , looking for the unusual tire treads . Williams was driving his Pathfinder that day — rather than the BMW he usually drove — and an officer noticed the resemblance of his tire treads . These were subsequently matched to the treads near Lloyd ' s home . On February 7 , 2010 , the CFB Trenton base commander was at his newly built home in Ottawa , where his wife lived full - time and he lived part - time , when he was called by the OPP in Ottawa and asked to come in for questioning . During the 10 - hour interview he confessed to the numerous crimes of which he was later convicted . Early the next morning Williams led investigators to the woman ' s body in a secluded area on Cary Road , 13 minutes away from where he lived . Williams was also charged in the death of Corporal Marie - France Comeau , a 37 - year - old military flight attendant based at CFB Trenton , who had been found dead inside her home in late November 2009 . Along with the murder charges , Williams was charged with breaking and entering , forcible confinement , and the sexual assault of two other women in connection with two separate home invasion s near Tweed , Ontario in September 2009 . According to reports , the women had been bound in their homes and the attacker had taken photos of them . Williams was arraigned and remanded into custody on Monday , February 8 , 2010 . The Canadian Forces announced that day that an interim commander would soon be appointed to replace him ( Dave Cochrane took over 11 days later ) , and removed his biography from the Department of National Defence website the following day . Hours after the announcement of Williams ' arrest , police services across the country reopened unsolved homicide cases involving young women in areas where Williams , a career military man , had previously been stationed . According to news reports , police began looking at other unsolved cases based on a full statement that Williams gave to police . A week after his arrest , investigators reported that , along with hidden keepsakes and other evidence they had found in his home , they had matched a print from one of the homicide scenes to his boot . In addition to the four primary incidents , the investigation into Williams includes probes into 48 cases of theft of women ' s underwear dating back to 2006 . In the searches of his Ottawa home , police discovered stolen lingerie that was neatly stored , catalogued , and concealed . In April 2010 , Williams was placed on suicide watch after he tried to kill himself by wedging a stuffed cardboard toilet paper roll down his throat . Confession . On February 7 , 2010 , Williams was interrogated at Ottawa Police Service headquarters by Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth , a member of the Ontario Provincial Police ' s Behavioural Sciences Unit . The interview started at 3 p . m . and by 7 : 45 p . m . he was describing his crimes . The interrogation lasted approximately ten hours . Excerpts of the confession were shown in court at Williams ' sentencing hearing on October 20 , 2010 . In the confession , Williams gave details of his crimes , including the sexual assaults in Tweed and 82 break - ins and thefts . Some of them occurred in Ottawa homes within walking distance of his Orleans , Ontario home where he lived with his wife . Other break - ins and thefts occurred in Belleville , and in Tweed , where the couple had had a cottage since 2004 . He also told police where they could find evidence , including hidden keepsakes , inside the Ottawa home . The couple had moved to a new house two months before he was interrogated by police . He told Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth where police could find the thousands of images he took of Lloyd and Comeau and the two women he sexually assaulted . He then identified on a map where he dumped Lloyd ’ s body . A video of the interrogation was made available to the public and was posted online by several newspapers and on YouTube . Court proceedings and trial . Williams appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville , Ontario via video link from the Quinte Detention Centre on July 22 , 2010 , where his next court appearance was set for August 26 . Again via video link , Williams waived his right to a preliminary inquiry and thus had his next appearance scheduled at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for October 7 , 2010 . Williams ' lawyer stated then that his client would plead guilty to all charges filed against him . On October 18 , 2010 , Williams pleaded guilty to all charges . On the first day of Williams ' trial and guilty plea , details emerged of other sexual assaults he committed , including that of a new mother who was wakened with a blow to the head while she and her baby were asleep in her house . The first day of trial revealed that Williams also had pedophilia c tendencies , stealing underwear of girls as young as nine years old . He made 82 fetish - related home invasions and attempted break - ins between September 2007 and November 2009 . Williams had progressed from break - ins to sexual assaults with no penetration to rape and murder . He had kept detailed track of police reports of the crimes he was committing , logged his crimes , kept photos and videos , and had even left notes and messages for his victims . In a break - in into the bedroom of a 12 - year - old , he left a message in her computer saying : " Merci " ( " Thank you " in French ) . He had taken thousands of pictures of his crimes , and had kept the photos on his computer . Crown Attorney Robert Morrison presented numerous pictures of Williams dressed in the various pieces of underwear and bras he had stolen , frequently masturbating while lying on the beds of his victims . Some of the photos presented on the first day of his trial were published in several newspapers . As some newspapers explained , although troubling , the photos were published because they capture the essence of the crimes of Williams and show the true nature of his crimes . Among the news media that published some of the released photographs were " The Montreal Gazette " and " The Toronto Star " . Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert F . Scott sentenced Williams on October 22 , 2010 , to two concurrent terms of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years . The Canadian Forces stripped Williams of his rank , and later dishonorably discharged him . Before his discharge , he was visited and examined by a military doctor in Kingston Penitentiary , as all outgoing military personnel must undergo a medical examination . Williams ' uniform was burned and his medals were also later cut into pieces , his commission scroll ( a document confirming his status as a serving officer ) was shredded , and his Pathfinder was crushed and scrapped . Williams currently collects a $ 60 , 000 annual military pension . In May 2010 , he and his wife also split their real estate holdings , leaving Williams the sole owner of their cottage in Tweed and his wife the sole owner of their Ottawa townhouse . Williams refused to pay $ 8 , 000 in victim surcharge fines , resulting in action being taken against him by a collection agency . Williams was initially incarcerated at Kingston Penitentiary , in the prison ' s segregation unit . After the prison began the process of closing , he was moved to a maximum - security prison in Port - Cartier , Quebec . Adaptations . A TV movie adaptation of the Russell Williams case , entitled " An Officer and a Murderer " and with American actor Gary Cole in the lead role , was premiered on Lifetime Network on July 21 , 2012 . The Movie Network premier was planned in August , but was cancelled following the reaction to the US premiere . An episode of was inspired by the story , although the culprit was a successful , if disturbed , US Secret Service Agent .