Sordid' but 'Understandable under the Circumstances': Kohnke, Croft, and Wilson, 1967

• Author: Constance Backhouse
• Pages: 227-262



E ChapterF

SORDIDBUT

“UNDERSTANDABLE UNDER

THECIRCUMSTANCES

KohnkeCroftandWilson

TthebodyofanAboriginalwomanonAprilset

in motion a train of events that displayed Canadian cr iminal justice at its most

callous core. It was a frosty Sunday morning when the body of Rose Marie

RoperaseventeenyearoldmemberoftheEsketemcFirstNationAlkaliLake

Band, was found. Small in stature, she weighed less than a hundred p ounds.

Herbaeredandnudebodywaslyingfacedownontheiceandmudneara

garbage dump on a lonely logging road between Williams Lake and Lac La

Hache, in Cariboo County, central interior British Columbia. The RCMP indi

catedthatRosehadsueredabrokenneckbruisesandcutsTheyhad

yet to determine whether she was sexually assaulted as well.

Sexual assault culminating in homicide was not uncommon in Canada.

Somemenchokedsuocatedstabbedbeatorstrangledwomenandgirls

inaneorttofacilitaterapeorindecentassaultOthertimestheykilledtheir

victimsinaviolentfrenzyaerthesexualaackorinaneorttoavoid

being caught. Such acts could lead to charges of murder, which, if proven,

could result in capital punishment or mandatory li fe imprison ment.

A murder conviction required proof that the accused had intended to

cause death, or intended to cause bodily harm that he knew was “likely

tocausedeathandwasrecklesswhetherdeathensued

 Even if the as

sailant had no desire to cause death or bodily harm, he could be convicted

ifhedidsomethingforanunlawfulobjectthatwaslikelytocausedeath

ThelawalsorecognizedanoenceofconstructivemurderIfanaccused

wasintheprocessofcommiingaseriouscriminaloencesuchasrape

ﾆﾆﾌCarnalCrimes

or indecent assault, and intentionally caused bodily harm to facilitate that

crime, he could be convicted even though he had no wish to kill his victim,

and had no idea that death was likely to result.

Where the Crown was unable to prove murder, but the court was still

of the view that there had been a culpable homicide, the accused could be

convicted for the lesser crime of manslaughter, for which life imprisonment

was the maximum sentence. Where the evidence did not establish culpable

homicide, reduced verdicts could include rape, indecent assault, assault caus

ing bodily harm, common assault or, in extreme cases, accidental homicide

resultinginanacquial

Courtesy of t he Esketem c Land Set tlement O ce, PO Box  , Williams La ke, BC, VG V.

Panoramic view of the Al kali Lake Reserve

SordidbutUnderstandableundertheCircumstancesﾆﾆﾍ

A Tragic Childhood

RRSandraArchiehaswrienInourculturethe

greatest honour to bestow on anyone is to tell stories about them. Should you

decidetotellRosesstoryshewillbehonouredthatmostpeoplewillhear

thetruthofhershortlifeRoseMarieRoperwastheeldestchildofJacobB

RoperandPatriciaGeorgeRoperHerpaternalgrandmotherwasChristine

HainesandthefamilytraceditsheritagetoShuswapChilcotinandScoish

ancestry. The Roper family lived at Alkali Lake, an isolated reserve located

kilometressouthofWilliamsLakeinhauntinglybeautifulmountainous

ranching land covered with forests and fed by t he Fraser River.

The lands around Alkali Lake and Williams Lake had traditionally be

longedtotheShuswappeopleAertwothirdsoftheShuswappopulation

werewipedoutinsmallpoxepidemicsthewhiteselerswhofollowedthe

CaribooGoldRushinthemidnineteenthcenturyhelpedthemselvestothe

land, despite the absence of treaties and in blatant disregard of Aboriginal

title. Aboriginal resistance proved futile. Five men from the neighbouring

Chilcotincommunitywereconvictedandhangedwhentheireortstopre

Courtesy of Sandra Archie

The Fraser River landsc ape between the Alkal i Lake and Dog Creek reserves