Monday, July 14, 2014

Nathan O'Brien: Murder



Sad news...


It is now a murder case...updating...

Calgary police announcing murder case, drop Amber alert.

Chief Rick Hanson says a man has been arrested but he can’t identify him because he has yet to appear before a justice of the peace.
Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents, Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, haven’t been seen since June 29 after what police say was a violent incident in the Liknes house.
Hanson says their bodies have not been found but an Amber Alert issued shortly after they were reported missing has been cancelled.

36 comments:

S + K Mum said...

That is sad to hear :(

Anonymous said...

I was so sad to see this. I can't imagine what the family is going through.

Anonymous said...

"July 14, around 10: 30 a.m.: CBC News learns that Douglas Garland — who had been named as a "person of interest" in the disappearance of five-year-old Nathan and his grandparents — is back in police custody. At a police press conference Monday afternoon, the Calgary police say they will be laying murder charges in the case. Police say they will not name the suspect until the charges are laid."

trustmeigetit said...

Does anyone know if Douglas is related to the family?

Anonymous said...

Yes, he is related. Also, a business deal between him and the Grandpa had recently gone bad.

Kit said...

A justice of the peace?

Juliette said...

Trustme, this is the info and the link that describes DG...

Garland’s sister is in a common-law relationship with a member of the Liknes family.

In addition to Garland’s family connection to Alvin Liknes, sources have said the two were in business together several years ago but it ended acrimoniously.

Police have said the business arrangement is just one of several avenues investigators are exploring.

Here is the link I got this info from:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/14/douglas-garland-arrested-again-in-connection-with-nathan-obrien-amber-alert-and-missing-grandparents/

trustmeigetit said...

OT



Myra Lewis mother speaks.

http://www.wjtv.com/story/25581402/exclusive-raw-interview-with-myra-lewis-mom



“Theres a struggle out here for me and my family right now. They just don’t know what we are going through out here. With OUR baby being gone and my children are with someone body else and not in the home with us. “

Long pause as she is seen with tears running down her face.

“I just want all of them, they just don’t understand what I’m going through. I just want my children. My life would be better. I just want them. That’s all I want. I just want them to come home to me. So, I can continue to raise them and help them be the….what they wanna be in life. I just want them to come home. I miss them so much, it’s been 2 months. I just want them so bad. I just want them.



What I find most interesting is she groups them all together. Myra was supposedly kidnapped yet she does not speak out for her. Her other kids were taken from the home, but that can be temporary. They are alive and she knows where they are. Myra is “missing” as far as we know yet she doesn’t speak out directly for her.



There is nothing either about what the kids may be going thru. Espeically Myra if she was
“kidnapped”. She only speaks for her. Which is still better than separating herself. But this article while it is short, seems she only cares for herself.

Anonymous said...





OT

There is a video link below where they took the same type of car Justin was driving that day and also put a car seat in where Cooper was to show you that you really could not turn your head with out seeing the car seat and the childs head. Sure does add to his guilt even more.



http://www.hlntv.com/video/2014/07/11/nancy-grace-justin-ross-harris-recreate-hot-car-setup?clusterId=#videoplayer

Anonymous said...

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-missing-pregnant-womans-ex-indicted-192741828.html


a story you covered

Unknown said...

Terrible news about Nathan, I was so hoping that he had been spared.

It's encouraging to see arrests in both Nathan and Charli's cases, even without their bodies being recovered. Finally some prosecutors with backbones!

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry. I was afraid this would be the case. :(

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic BBM

The ex-boyfriend of a Maui woman who was five months pregnant when she disappeared in February has been indicted on charges of killing her and torching her SUV to cover up the crime.

Steven Capobianco of Maui is expected to be served with an arrest warrant on Monday at Maui Community Correctional Center, where he has been held since last month in an unrelated case.

A Maui grand jury on Friday indicted Capobianco on a second-degree murder charge in the death of 27-year-old Carly Scott, who has never been found.

Capobianco is the father of Scott's unborn child and has adamantly denied hurting her.

Family members last saw Scott in February at her sister's Haiku home. The Makawao woman's burned 1997 Toyota 4Runner was later found on the island's north shore.

Capobianco also was indicted on an arson charge.

Before the vehicle was located, police found Scott's dog in the nearby community of Nahiku. Police later began investigating her disappearance as a homicide.

Capobianco has told Hawaii News Now he saw Scott on the night that her family says she vanished, but had nothing to do with her disappearance.

He said Scott picked him up and drove him to his pickup truck, which had broken down in Keanae.

He said that after he fixed his truck, Scott was driving behind him, but he lost sight of her and figured she arrived safely at her destination.

When Capobianco was asked if Scott had any ememies, he replied: 'That's hard for me to say. I didn't hang out with her very often. But, I mean, she had kind of a mouth on her - I could see her pissing somebody off.'

Capobianco couldn't be reached for comment on Monday at the jail, where he's being held on $500,000 bail on charges including terroristic threatening and prohibited deadly weapons.

Prosecutors are expected to seek $2 million bail for the murder case.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2692000/Missing-pregnant-womans-ex-indicted.html



Nic said...

It takes a very evil person to kill a little boy like Nathan O'Brien. From the outset, Nathan's dad was very clear that Nathan was no suppose to be there. Nathan is a victim of circumstance (whatever that may be). His dad was so poignantly clear how nice his little boy was. That as he got older, he was the only person he knew who got "nicer". What a sad loss. I'm so deeply saddened to hear this news.

Prayers for the O'Brien and Liknes family. God speed for all.

Nic said...

Juliette, thank you for posting that update. It's good to hear there is movement in Carly Scott's case.

New England Water Blog said...

The "hot car challenge" video http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/07/nc_man_sits_in_hot_car_hoping_to_end_car_deaths.html

Anonymous said...

Heartbreaking news about Nathan and his grandparents. What a cold, heartless person to murder little Nathan. RIP and fly with the Angels.

Anonymous said...

Steven Capobianco's story didn't make sense. Glad you covered the story and analyzed his words. Deception was there. Justice may be slow, but it is now being served.

Anonymous said...

I hope that the parents of the suspect will help the police with this investigation. It was said that they were away camping, but if they went camping after the police came to search their home, they might know something. The suspect's associates might also have some idea of where he went after the family disappeared. Did he have some sort of place in the countryside that was meaningful to him -- some place like Cardston? I hate to think of the alternatives: fire, chemicals, etc. What else has he done that no one knows about?

~mj said...

Oh my! Seeing how close that car seat was to the driver and in the link me of vision.... It made my stomach turn. Poor baby Cooper.

~mj said...

*line of vision

jevon paul said...

sad case, evil person(s)

Anonymous said...

Douglas Garland is clever enough to keep his mouth shut. He may decide to talk if he can get his lawyer to work a deal in exchange for preferential treatment in custody, reduced charges, etc. He may decide not to talk at all, as a murder conviction without a body is much harder to prove. No doubt he has calculated his odds, if he's as intelligent as we've been led to believe. I still think some stupid mistake will be his downfall.

Katprint said...

From "Who is Calgary triple-murder suspect Douglas Garland?" http://globalnews.ca/news/1451758/who-is-calgary-triple-murder-suspect-douglas-garland/

"Federal court records show Garland has a criminal history in British Columbia. In a 2005 judgment, Garland was charged for producing his own amphetamines in 1992. He left Alberta for Vancouver and assumed the name of a dead person: Matthew Kemper Hartley—a 14-year-old Alberta boy who died in a 1980 car crash.

Garland applied for a social insurance number and driver’s licence with the alias and, “conducted all his activities in Vancouver under the name Matthew Hartley,” wrote the judge.

Garland worked at Can Test Ltd. and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) until he was arrested in 1999. He pleaded guilty to the drug offences and the charges in connection with his assumed identity, and served 39 months in a federal prison in 2000."
...
"Garland was officially charged with two counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of the Likneses and one count of second-degree murder in the death of O’Brien late Monday night. Police said in general terms, a first-degree murder charge suggests premeditated intent while a second-degree charge does not."

Very sad.

Katprint said...

More information, including an excellent detailed timeline, can be seen here: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/15/douglas-garland-silent-to-questions-on-where-bodies-might-be-as-he-arrives-to-be-charged-with-murders-of-missing-calgary-family/

It looks like they identified him as a likely suspect pretty early on, with local surveillance camera footage being especially helpful in pinpointing him and his green Ford pickup truck. He was initially charged identity theft based on evidence discovered when the residence he lives in on his parents' farm was searched, then he was allowed to make bail with very strict restrictions. I'm betting they had already planned to re-arrest him and file the murder charges after giving him a chance to go back and check on the bodies he had dumped (as murderers often do.) I think there was no amount of time that he was not under close surveillance by law enforcement during the several days he was out on bail.

Nic said...

My husband made an interesting point about the outcome of Nathan's Amber Alert. He basically said that getting back at the grandparents is one thing; but you have to wonder why he would want to hurt the O'Brien's so badly (by killing Nathan).

This outcome is beyond sad. My prayers go out for this family.

Katprint said...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/07/man-questioned-in-disappearance-of-nathan-obrien-charged-with-possessing-false-id/

"The man who was questioned in the mysterious disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes, appeared in court Monday on the unrelated charge of possessing a false ID belonging to a long-deceased boy from Cardston, Alta.
...
This weekend’s search is not the first time authorities have descended on the Garlands farm, nor is it the first time Douglas Garland has been caught using the ID of Matthew Kemper Hartley, who died in a car crash in 1980 at age 14."

Question: If you're no longer a fugitive from justice using some dead guy's ID, in fact you were previously busted for identity theft involving that same dead guy, why would you still need fake ID claiming to be that dead guy? Answer: So you can collect employment insurance benefits you earned while pretending to be the dead guy.

"His time on the lam was the subject of a bizarre epilogue years later, when he fought the federal government in court over employment insurance benefits.

Douglas Garland had collected EI benefits after being fired by Can Test Ltd., a Vancouver laboratory firm where he worked in 1992-97. The government later ruled t his earnings weren’t insurable because worked under a false identity.

He appealed that decision to the Tax Court of Canada — and won, after a trial where he represented himself.

In 2005, Justice Campbell Miller ruled although he had concealed his identity, he performed legitimate work and the deceit should not negate his ability to collect benefits."

Anonymous said...

Off Topic: I was wondering if you guys could look at (maybe analyze) the statements made by the guy sueing for the $100,000 reward money in the Molly Bish case. The comments can be found in article below.

This article is from today's T&G:

WORCESTER— A former police officer who sued the district attorney's office in an effort to collect a $100,000 reward offered in the Molly A. Bish case told a jury today the reward money was "an afterthought."

Timothy S. McGuigan of West Brookfield testified in Worcester Superior Court that his main motivation in launching an unofficial investigation into the disappearance of Ms. Bish, a 16-year-old who vanished from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond in Warren on June 27, 2000, was to bring her abductor to justice.

Mr. McGuigan, a former police officer in North Brookfield and Sturbridge, led investigators to Ms. Bish's bathing suit on a Palmer hillside in 2003. The discovery led authorities to the missing teen's remains, but no one has been charged in her death.

Mr. McGuigan, who said a hunter told him about seeing the bathing suit the previous fall, is trying to collect a $100,000 reward offered by the district attorney's office in the Bish case. He filed suit against District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. in 2009, after Mr. Early and his predecessor, John J. Conte refused to pay him the money.

Mr. Conte and Mr. Early, who are both on the witness list in the case, maintain that the reward money, donated by several private citizens, was intended for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ms. Bish's killer.

In his opening statement to the jury Monday, Mr. McGuigan's lawyer, Leonidas Chakalos, referred to a poster that was distributed by the Polly Klaas Foundation, a nonprofit California corporation, offering the $100,000 reward "for information leading to Molly."

If the district attorney's office was in disagreement with the terms of the reward as stated on the posters, which were displayed in state police barracks and other public places, it should have had them removed from "the public domain," Mr. Chakalos told the jury.

Assistant Attorney General Helene Kazanjian, representing Mr. Early, said in her opening that posters and other forms of publicity authorized and distributed by the district attorney's office and state police clearly stated that the reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ms. Bish's abductor.

The 47-year-old Mr. McGuigan, a father of three who now works as a truck driver, said he developed a strong interest in the disappearance of Ms. Bish while employed as a North Brookfield police officer in 2000 and later began conducting his own, unauthorized investigation when publicity about the case appeared to subside.

"You have to keep it going. You have to talk to people," Mr. McGuigan told the jury.

"I found Molly Bish. I found Molly Bish because I talked to a lot of people," he said.

"A reward was never a motivating factor...It was about bringing a child home," Mr. McGuigan said under direct examination by Mr. Chakalos.

Under cross-examination by Assistant Attorney General Anne Sterman, Mr. McGuigan agreed that he didn't actually find Ms. Bish.

"I found the point of origin where I knew Molly would be, her bathing suit," he said.

Mr. McGuigan testified that he had also had a strong interest in the case of another missing child, Holly Piirainen, and that at one time he was considering writing a book about the two cases.

"I was very much driven to bring these girls home," he said

Shown a series of posters and press releases from Mr. Conte's office concerning the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ms. Bish's abductor, Mr. McGuigan said he did not recall seeing them before applying for the reward money.

Anonymous said...

Just the fact the man had prior convictions as he did (not being prejudice except in this particular case) and the fact he held a grudge; cirled around the area several times like a buzzard is telling of something bad about to happen.

Anonymous said...

The print media is holding back information outlining Garland's criminal career from before the era of the identity theft, and some very embarrassing information (for the RCMP) concerning Garland's employment during the time he was "on the run". This will likely be republished once and if Garland is convicted. I'm sure the print media's lawyers don't want to prejudice a trial.

Garland got his start during his teen years, if memory serves me correctly. It is safe to say that he might be able to outsmart the police, but he is also likely to trip up on the details.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was no help at all to the investigators. Someone like this might have associates who can be persuaded to talk. His past business venture would have required a network of some kind.

Katprint said...

@Anonymous July 15, 2014 at 10:49 PM

My likely scenario: He knew they had a big yard sale earlier that day. While he was stalking them, he may have seen them sell some nice, expensive things. He expected them to have a lot of cash on hand because that is how purchases at yard sales are usually done. He intended to burglarize their house and steal the money, but something went wrong leading to the violent, bloody struggle the police found evidence of. Perhaps they heard something and woke up, perhaps Nathan heard something, woke up then went and woke up his grandparents, perhaps Garland couldn't find the money so he woke them up and demanded the money from them directly, perhaps he used Nathan as a hostage, etc.

Anonymous said...

Everybody's looking for bodies.

The family went missing on June 29, as far as I know.

On July 2, Garland's neighbours in Airdrie reported and/or noticed that there was burning (incinerator) going on at the Garland farm all day--another post says 2 days.

Yet another comment by Garland's neighbor said that the greenhouse lights at the Garland farm were on for some time in the middle of the night, July 2, which was unusual.

It makes me sick to even say it, but, perhaps, they can't find the bodies because there are none.

Could this moron have incinerated the corpses then "redistributed" the small minute remains in potting soil, distributing ashes from the incinerator throughout or even throughout the property?

Disgusting, perverse--yet, is it so far far-fetched?

Why else would the incinerator have been going for two days? Why the greenhouse lights on all night in the middle of the night--when the neighbours said that this was "out of the ordinary" or not as usual.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, the Dellen Millard case could answer your question.

Anonymous said...

What's in Mexico that the police want to find?

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Police+Mexico+part+investigation+into+deaths+Nathan+Brien/10091353/story.html

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

How crazy is it that your theory is now coming to fruition. Sounds like you were bang on :(. What a terrible end to such a tragic event. I hope they are all atleast resting peacefully together ❤️❤️❤️