Murder of Tori Stafford

{{short description|2009 murder of eight-year-old girl in Canada}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Tori Stafford

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = {{nowrap|Victoria Elizabeth Marie Stafford}}{{cite web|url=http://www.obittree.com/obituary/210595/stafford-victoria.php|title = Victoria Elizabeth Marie Stafford – ObitTree|access-date=2016-07-26}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date|2000|7|15}}

| birth_place = Woodstock, Ontario, Canada

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|4|8|2000|7|15}}

| death_place = Mount Forest, Ontario

| death_cause = Murder by blunt trauma

| body_discovered = July 19, 2009
Mount Forest, Ontario

}}

Victoria Elizabeth Marie "Tori" Stafford (July 15, 2000 – April 8, 2009) was a Canadian girl who was abducted, raped, and murdered by Michael Rafferty and Terri-Lynne McClintic. Her body was found three months later in a wooded area in rural Ontario. The subsequent investigation and search were the subject of massive media coverage across Canada.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/rex_murphy/rexpov_title.html|title=Canada Mourns Tori|last=Murphy|first=Rex|date=May 21, 2009|publisher=The National|format=WMV|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528222059/http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/rex_murphy/rexpov_title.html|archive-date=2009-05-28|url-status=dead|access-date=2016-07-26}}

The police response to the situation as it developed, as well as their failure to announce an Amber alert was criticized by the public, and has been the focus of a review of the Amber alert system in Canada. The circumstances of her death were unknown to the public until a publication ban was lifted in December 2010.

Abduction, murder, and investigation

At about 3:30 p.m. on April 8, 2009, Stafford left Oliver Stephens Public School to go home,{{Cite web|url=http://www.cp24.com/i-believe-victoria-was-targeted-stafford-s-father-1.401610|title='I believe Victoria was targeted': Stafford's father|access-date=July 26, 2016|date=May 26, 2009}} and was captured on security camera at 3:32 p.m. being led down Fyfe Avenue, Woodstock, by a woman.{{cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/Police+release+composite+sketch+woman+sought+Stafford+abduction/1522222/story.html|title=Police release composite sketch of woman sought in Stafford abduction|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=canada.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424022420/http://www.canada.com/Police+release+composite+sketch+woman+sought+Stafford+abduction/1522222/story.html|archive-date=April 24, 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=July 26, 2016}} When she failed to return home, she was reported missing by her mother at 6:04 p.m.{{Cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Victoria+Stafford+trial+Michael+Rafferty+first+raise+police+suspicions/6601478/story.html|title=Victoria Stafford trial: Michael Rafferty was not the first to raise police suspicions|last=Nguyen|first=Linda|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|publisher=Postmedia Network|location=Ottawa, Ontario, Canada|date=May 10, 2012|access-date=July 26, 2016|archive-date=October 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004225953/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Victoria+Stafford+trial+Michael+Rafferty+first+raise+police+suspicions/6601478/story.html|url-status=dead}}

Suspicion initially rested on Stafford's mother, Tara McDonald, as she had waited two hours to report her daughter missing, even though her walk home from school was only a few blocks. She had been trying to look for her daughter at friends’ and relatives’ houses but did not find her. At around 6:00pm, Tara went to police for help and filed Tori as being a missing person. McDonald was suspected of being the woman in the security footage, which McClintic later confessed to. In an interrogation, McClintic told investigators she lured Stafford to a vehicle with promises of showing her a puppy.

Five days after Stafford's disappearance, police called off the ground search, and her classmates returned to school the next day.

The case was featured in the April 25, 2009, episode of America's Most Wanted.{{Cite web|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2009/04/25/victoria-stafford-disappearance-featured-on-americas-most-wanted/|title=Victoria Stafford Disappearance Featured On America's Most Wanted|date=2009-04-25|website=CityNews|access-date=2016-07-26}} The initial investigation was led by the local police, and was later turned into a joint investigation with the Ontario Provincial Police, switching from a missing person investigation to an abduction case.{{cite web | title=Timeline: Victoria 'Tori' Stafford murder - Toronto | website=Global News | date=Dec 2, 2013 | url=https://globalnews.ca/news/216561/timeline-victoria-tori-stafford-murder/ | access-date=Nov 17, 2019}}

On May 20, 2009, police charged Michael Thomas Christopher Stephen Rafferty, 28, with first-degree murder and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, with being an accessory to murder (in addition to lesser charges) in the abduction and suspected murder of Stafford.{{cite web |url=http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/569490|title= A murder, two accused, but no body |publisher= Hamilton Spectator|access-date= 2010-05-17|date= 2009-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116004027/http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/569490|archive-date=January 16, 2010|author=Susan Clairmont}} Ontario Provincial Police indicated that Stafford's mother was familiar with McClintic.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tori-stafford-s-mother-knew-1-of-2-suspects-arrested-in-her-killing-1.798916|title=Tori Stafford's mother knew 1 of 2 suspects arrested in her killing|date=May 20, 2009|publisher=CBC}} McClintic assisted the police search for the remains of Stafford after her arrest, and her lawyer stated that her client, "wants Tori's family to know she is trying hard to find her body".{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mother-of-tori-stafford-doesn-t-think-suspect-can-help-police-1.792418 |title=Mother of Tori Stafford doesn't think suspect can help police |date=May 22, 2009 |publisher=CBC |access-date=December 26, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527140345/http://www.cbc.ca:80/canada/story/2009/05/22/police-search-tori459.html? |archive-date=May 27, 2009}}

On May 28, 2009, McClintic's charges were altered to a first-degree murder charge and an unlawful confinement charge, and it was announced that the accused would be tried separately.{{cite news|title = 1st-degree murder charge laid against McClintic in Victoria Stafford killing Accused to be tried separately; Rafferty's lawyer hints at deal for McClintic|publisher= CBC News|date= 2009-05-28|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/1st-degree-murder-charge-laid-against-mcclintic-in-victoria-stafford-killing-1.785564|access-date=2009-05-28}}

On July 21, 2009, police confirmed that remains found near Mount Forest two days earlier by Detective-Sergeant Jim Smyth{{Cite news|last=Blatchford|first=Christie|date=2012-03-30|title=Christie Blatchford: A sketch and a hunch led Jim Smyth to find Tori Stafford's body|language=en|work=National Post|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-a-sketch-and-a-hunch-led-jim-smyth-to-find-tori-staffords-body|access-date=2021-10-30}} were those of Stafford.{{Cite web|url=http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/opp-confirm-they-have-found-victoria-stafford-1.418667|title=OPP confirm they have found Victoria Stafford|date=21 July 2009 |access-date=2016-07-26}} Stafford's body was naked from the waist down, wearing only a Hannah Montana T-shirt and a pair of butterfly earrings that she had borrowed from her mother; it was subsequently confirmed that she had both of those on at the time of her disappearance. Her lower half was significantly decomposed.{{cite news|last=Aulakh|first=Raveena|title=Tori Stafford's body too badly decomposed to determine 'sexual interference' (updated)|url=http://www.ourlondon.ca/news-story/1357355-tori-stafford-s-body-too-badly-decomposed-to-determine-sexual-interference-updated-/|access-date=2016-08-09|newspaper=London Community News|date=April 3, 2012|location=London, Ontario}} During an autopsy, it was determined that she had suffered a beating which caused lacerations to her liver and 16 broken ribs, and her eventual death was the result of repeated blows to the head with a claw hammer.{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/court-in-tears-as-mcclintic-says-she-inflicted-fatal-blows-to-tori-stafford/article533710/ |title=Court in tears as McClintic says she inflicted fatal blows to Tori Stafford |last1=Appleby |first1=Timothy |last2=Morrow |first2=Adrian |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=March 13, 2012 |access-date=January 3, 2021}}

Trial

{{Infobox court case

| name = R. v. McClintic

| court = Superior Court of Justice

| image =

| imagesize = 100px

| citations = {{cite CanLII|litigants=R. v. McClintic|court=onsc|year=2010|num=2944}}

| full name = Regina v. Terri-Lynne Ruth McClintic

| date decided = May 19, 2010

| judges = Dougald R. McDermid

| italic title = no

}}

McClintic was scheduled to make an appearance in court on April 30, 2010, but a publication ban was imposed by the judge on the events of the day.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/803405--ndp-justice-critic-slams-publication-ban-on-tori-stafford-case|title= NDP justice critic slams publication ban on Tori Stafford case|publisher= Toronto Star|access-date= 2010-05-17|first=Katie|last=Daubs|date=May 1, 2010}} The publication ban was lifted on December 9, 2010, revealing that McClintic had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.{{cite news |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/top-court-allows-media-to-reveal-stafford-case-plea-1.583933 |title=Top court allows media to reveal Stafford case plea |publisher=CTV News |date=December 9, 2010 |access-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618094445/http://www.ctv.ca:80/CTVNews/TopStories/20101209/stafford-publication-ban-101209 |archive-date=June 18, 2012}} McClintic was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years and was held at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario.{{cite web|author=Flanagan, Ryan|url=https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/features/inside-gvi/life-in-prison-behind-the-barbed-wire-at-grand-valley-institution-1.3601895|title=Life in prison: Behind the barbed wire at Grand Valley Institution|publisher=CTV News|date=2017-09-26|access-date=2018-09-21}}

{{Infobox court case

|name = R. v. Rafferty

|court = Superior Court of Justice

|image =

|imagesize = 100px

|citations = {{cite CanLII|litigants=R. v. Rafferty|court=onsc|year=2012|num=703}}

|full name = Regina v. Michael Thomas Christopher Stephen Rafferty

|date decided = January 31, 2012

|verdict = Guilty on all counts

|judges = Thomas A. Heeney

|italic title = no

}}

On March 5, 2012, Rafferty's trial for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and first-degree murder of Stafford commenced. On May 11, 2012, at 9:18 p.m. ET, the jury found Rafferty guilty on all charges. Four days later, he too was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.{{cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4747864/michael-rafferty-tori-stafford-maximum-security-transfer/ |title=Michael Rafferty, co-killer in Tori Stafford murder, moved from maximum to medium security facility |last=Connolly |first=Amanda |publisher=Global News |date=Dec 10, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2021}}

Claiming that the "judge's instructions to the jury were flawed", Rafferty appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on July 26, 2012. The 30-day deadline to appeal had passed by the time the papers were received, but this was attributed to his "inability to use the telephone to contact legal counsel,"{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/02/michael-rafferty-appealing-conviction-tori-stafford-murder/|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120803075300/http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/02/michael-rafferty-appealing-conviction-tori-stafford-murder/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 3, 2012|title=Michael Rafferty appealing conviction in Tori Stafford murder case |publisher=National Post |access-date=2012-08-02|date= 2012-08-02}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1236173--michael-rafferty-appeals-conviction-in-tori-stafford-murder |title=Michael Rafferty appeals conviction in Tori Stafford murder |last=Aulakh |first=Raveena |publisher=Toronto Star |date=August 2, 2012 |access-date=January 3, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/michael-rafferty-appeals-tori-stafford-murder-conviction-1.1185040|title=Michael Rafferty appeals Tori Stafford murder conviction |publisher=CBC News |access-date=2012-08-02|date=2012-08-02}} and an extension was requested. Rafferty's appeal papers appear to have been filed from Kingston Penitentiary. An extension to his appeal was granted.

On June 10, 2013, Rafferty appeared by video in a bid for his appeal. He was turned down for Legal Aid for his appeal process. On August 12, Rafferty had his court date postponed until September 10, 2013. The appeal was set in motion in December 2013, but as of January 20, 2016, no materials had been filed.{{cite web|url=https://lfpress.com/2016/01/20/child-killer-raffertys-slow-mo-appeal-raises-eyebrows|title=Child killer Michael Rafferty's slow-mo appeal raises eyebrows|first=Randy|last=Richmond|date=January 20, 2016|website=The London Free Press}} On October 24, 2016, Rafferty appeared at his appeal hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. The appeal was quickly dismissed the same day.{{cite web|url=https://lfpress.com/2016/10/24/michael-rafferty-convicted-of-killing-tori-stafford-begins-appeal-today|title=Parents of slain Woodstock girl relieved after appeal by killer dismissed|first=Randy|last=Richmond|date=October 24, 2016|website=The London Free Press}}

Aftermath

In October 2018, McClintic was controversially moved to the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan, run by the Correctional Service of Canada. She was granted the move because she self-identified as an Indigenous person, but whether she is actually Indigenous has not been confirmed and has been disputed by a family member.{{cite web|website=Global News|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4494078/terri-lynne-mcclintic-tori-stafford/|date=2018-09-27|access-date=2018-09-28|last=Connolly|first=Amanda|title=Corrections official stands by decision to transfer McClintic to healing lodge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928000858/https://globalnews.ca/news/4494078/terri-lynne-mcclintic-tori-stafford/|archive-date=2018-09-28|url-status=live}} The lodge, a minimum/medium-security prison, is unfenced but monitored 24 hours a day with video cameras.

The Conservative MP Candice Bergen introduced a motion in Parliament to condemn and overturn the decision. The motion generated a day's acrimonious debate and was defeated 200–82, with all Liberal MPs voting against it. Under increasing public pressure, Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale issued an order for Correctional Service Canada to review the decision and the general policy.{{cite web|website=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mcclintic-conservative-motion-house-stafford-1.4848586|date=2018-10-03|access-date=2018-10-04|last=Harris|first=Kathleen|title=After heated debate, hurled insults, Tory motion to overturn child-killer's transfer to healing lodge defeated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004090540/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mcclintic-conservative-motion-house-stafford-1.4848586|archive-date=2018-10-04|url-status=live}} On November 7, Goodale announced that McClintic would be returned to a federal prison, and regulations for transferring long-term prisoners to healing lodges would be made stricter.{{cite news|newspaper=National Post|date=2018-11-08|title=After public outcry, Liberals to return child killer McClintic to prison and toughen transfer rules|last=Richmond|first=Randy|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/local-news/healing-lodge-transfers-from-prison-to-be-restricted-federal-liberals/wcm/00c3a17d-a974-4b89-b069-a50fcb07878e|access-date=2018-11-08}} She was transferred to the multi-level Edmonton Institution for Women.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mcclintic-healing-lodge-stafford-prison-1.4897105|title=Child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic transferred from healing lodge to Edmonton prison|first=Kathleen|last=Harris|work=CBC News|date=2018-11-08|access-date=2018-11-08}}

References

External links

{{Wikinews|Ontario investigators search for the body of Victoria Stafford | Mothers around the world on Mother's Day | Eight year old Victoria Stafford of Ontario missing since Wednesday}}

{{cite news|url=http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2882995|title=Terry-Lynne McClintic pleads guilty to killing Tori Stafford|last=Richmond|first=Randy|work=The Beacon Herald|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719220253/http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2882995|archive-date=19 July 2011|url-status=dead}}
{{Find a Grave|37334263|Victoria Stafford}}

Category:2000s missing person cases

Category:2009 in Ontario

Category:2009 murders in Canada

Category:April 2009 crimes in North America

Category:April 2009 in Canada

Category:Child abduction in Canada

Category:Formerly missing Canadian people

Category:Incidents of violence against girls

Category:Missing person cases in Canada

Category:Murder in Ontario

Category:Rape in Canada

Category:Violence against women in Ontario