Sex killer’s neighbours mowing his lawn — but not ‘for him’

OTTAWA — He’s the last guy you’d expect to see cutting the grass at sex killer Russell Williams’ lakefront cottage.

After all, he is the father of a preteen girl whose bedroom and underwear were defiled in an overnight lingerie break-in that lasted more than two hours, with the disgraced colonel taking photographs of himself wearing the 12-year-old daughter’s panties and, later, masturbating on her bed.

The colonel had been a dinner guest from time to time, had taken the man’s daughters tubing on Stoco Lake near Tweed, Ont., and was considered a friend.

Still, you can see the father mowing Williams’ lawn week in, week out.

“I’m not cutting the grass for him (the colonel). I’m doing it for the neighbourhood, so his place doesn’t look shabby,� the father told the Citizen.

“Definitely doing it to keep up property values in the neighbourhood,� the victim’s father said.

His house was one of 82 homes targeted by Williams in Orléans, Tweed and Belleville, Ont.

The break-in at his place, like some 60 others, went undetected until they were contacted by Ontario Provincial Police. Most of the break-ins were on the other side of midnight, when homeowners were out of town. The police only found out about the lingerie break-ins when the former colonel freely detailed them in a 2010 interview with a detective.

Because the ex-colonel kept computer records of all his break-ins, police easily zeroed in on all the target addresses — including that of the man who now cuts his grass.

The records, described by authorities as ‘complex’, included a listing of the panty ‘trophies’ he stole only to later box and bag.

When Williams, born March 7, 1963, accumulated too much lingerie he twice drove to the outskirts of Ottawa and burned his ‘trophies’ in a farmer’s field.

The man who now cuts the grass for the convicted killer and rapist had no idea his 12-year-old daughter’s bedroom had been defiled by Williams until the police came calling.

“When I found out, let’s just say I wasn’t a happy camper,� said the father, whose name is shielded by a publication ban.

The father of the victim, who attended some of the Williams’ court hearings, said he sought permission from the ex-colonel’s wife through a mutual friend, before he started mowing their lawn. “Everything has been done with permission and (the colonel’s wife) said she was grateful,� he said.

Since Russell Williams was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and killing of two women, one of whom worked under him at CFB Trenton when he was a base commander, the man said the ex-colonel’s four-season cottage has become a murder-tourism attraction.

“These days, there are still at least five to six people who come to visit the colonel’s place. There was one time where a girl actually posed at the front door to his place while her father, or someone who looked like her father, took pictures of her. There are people who keep coming by and they always slow down and check out the property,� he said.

Larry Jones, a neighbour and once considered a suspect in the rape and killings case, also cuts the ex-colonel’s grass. His wife told the Citizen that he doesn’t want to comment about it.

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