Lancecastor
Lit's Most Beloved Poster
- Joined
- May 14, 2002
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Q: Would you still meet an internet long distance lover...or has the Internet changed?
Discuss.
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Man charged in deaths of estranged wife, Dutch friend
By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau
Port Morien - This community is in shock after a woman and her Internet lover from Holland were gunned down Sunday night.
Dead are Jolene MacKinnon, believed to be 29, of Port Morien and Paul Sirks of the Netherlands.
Four shots rang out at about 8:30 p.m. outside the 1 1/2-storey home Ms. MacKinnon rented.
Later Sunday night, RCMP arrested Ms. MacKinnon's estranged husband, Allan MacKinnon, 37, in Port Hastings, near the Canso Causeway.
Mr. MacKinnon, of Donkin, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The Mounties, alerted by Cape Breton Regional Police, spotted Mr. MacKinnon's vehicle on the highway somewhere between Baddeck and Whycocomagh and followed it, then pulled the vehicle over.
Staff Sgt. Paul Doyle of Cape Breton Regional Police's major crime unit refused to say much about the double slaying as investigators are awaiting results of the autopsies.
He wouldn't confirm whether police have recovered a weapon, but one police source told this newspaper a gun was in the vehicle when it was pulled over, and the driver was arrested without incident.
"We're still sifting through details," Staff Sgt. Doyle said. "We're unable to confirm anything."
He did say the normally quiet communities of Port Morien and Donkin, where both MacKinnons are well-known, are in shock. The communities are about five kilometres apart, on the outskirts of Glace Bay.
"One thing we can assure the public is that we're out there, we're investigating . . . and have lots of manpower on this."
The slaying brought to four the number of murders in the past four weeks in Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
Steven Pardy, 44, died Oct. 6 from injuries inflicted with a rolling pin days earlier at an Ashby home in Sydney. And on Sept. 20, James Russell Matthys, 32, was stabbed to death on Ferry Street. Suspects in those crimes are before the courts.
There are a dozen officers working on the MacKinnon case, Staff Sgt. Doyle said, describing the horrific incident as an "isolated affair."
Mr. MacKinnon, who appeared sad and forlorn, said nothing when he was arraigned Monday afternoon. Some members of his family seated behind him quietly sobbed.
After a request from the accused's lawyer, Judge Brian Williston ordered him to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the East Coast Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Dartmouth. He's to return to court Nov. 20.
After court, defence lawyer Art Mollon described Mr. MacKinnon - an electrician by trade - as a "straightforward fella, a genuinely nice guy."
Mr. Mollon said his client had been receiving counselling for the past month or so after separating from his wife in March.
According to one source close to the case, Ms. MacKinnon had custody of their two young children, aged 6 and 4.
But her estranged husband, described by many Donkin residents as a "very loving father," continued to see them regularly.
According to the source and confirmed by one relative, the couple broke up after Ms. MacKinnon began corresponding over the Internet with a love interest. Mr. MacKinnon apparently expressed concern and anger when told his kids might be moving to Europe.
Neighbour Betty Martell was at the scene after the shootings and didn't get much sleep afterward.
"It's a darn shame," she said. "I feel so sorry for those little kids. . . . It's shocking for both families. If there's anything good in this, it's that the kids at least weren't in the home when this happened."
Mrs. Martell doesn't fear for her safety in Port Morien, a pretty beachfront community of about 600 that has very little crime.
"It wasn't like someone was shooting up the neighbourhood," she said as police continued to watch the house, overlooking the Port Morien sandbar on Cape Breton's east coast, and a nearby driveway, where they allege Mr. MacKinnon's vehicle was parked while he waited for Mr. Sirks to arrive.
It's not known how long Mr. Sirks was in the country before the murders, but one source said it was his first day. It's also not known whether it was Mr. Sirks' first face-to-face encounter with Ms. MacKinnon.
Other neighbours, who asked that their names be withheld, said they heard four shots, with a small delay between the first shot and the following three.
"I first thought people were shooting ducks," said one senior. "It's hard to believe. You just don't see things like this happen around here. . . . It's a real tragedy."
One police officer was overheard saying Mr. Sirks was gunned down in the driveway as he got out of his vehicle, and Ms. MacKinnon was shot when she ran out of her home screaming to see what had happened. Fresh tire marks scar the pavement directly leaving the driveway.
The Port Morien fire department also responded to the shootings. The 911 call was made by a next-door neighbour.
The couple's children are staying with Mr. MacKinnon's parents in Donkin. Mr. Mollon said the children are being "well looked after."
http://142.177.145.150/2003/10/21/bigthumbs/1039.jpg
Tera Camus Cape / Breton Bureau
Allan MacKinnon boards a van Monday en route to a 30-day psychiatric assessment. He is accused of killing his estranged wife Jolene MacKinnon and a Netherlands resident.
Discuss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man charged in deaths of estranged wife, Dutch friend
By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau
Port Morien - This community is in shock after a woman and her Internet lover from Holland were gunned down Sunday night.
Dead are Jolene MacKinnon, believed to be 29, of Port Morien and Paul Sirks of the Netherlands.
Four shots rang out at about 8:30 p.m. outside the 1 1/2-storey home Ms. MacKinnon rented.
Later Sunday night, RCMP arrested Ms. MacKinnon's estranged husband, Allan MacKinnon, 37, in Port Hastings, near the Canso Causeway.
Mr. MacKinnon, of Donkin, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The Mounties, alerted by Cape Breton Regional Police, spotted Mr. MacKinnon's vehicle on the highway somewhere between Baddeck and Whycocomagh and followed it, then pulled the vehicle over.
Staff Sgt. Paul Doyle of Cape Breton Regional Police's major crime unit refused to say much about the double slaying as investigators are awaiting results of the autopsies.
He wouldn't confirm whether police have recovered a weapon, but one police source told this newspaper a gun was in the vehicle when it was pulled over, and the driver was arrested without incident.
"We're still sifting through details," Staff Sgt. Doyle said. "We're unable to confirm anything."
He did say the normally quiet communities of Port Morien and Donkin, where both MacKinnons are well-known, are in shock. The communities are about five kilometres apart, on the outskirts of Glace Bay.
"One thing we can assure the public is that we're out there, we're investigating . . . and have lots of manpower on this."
The slaying brought to four the number of murders in the past four weeks in Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
Steven Pardy, 44, died Oct. 6 from injuries inflicted with a rolling pin days earlier at an Ashby home in Sydney. And on Sept. 20, James Russell Matthys, 32, was stabbed to death on Ferry Street. Suspects in those crimes are before the courts.
There are a dozen officers working on the MacKinnon case, Staff Sgt. Doyle said, describing the horrific incident as an "isolated affair."
Mr. MacKinnon, who appeared sad and forlorn, said nothing when he was arraigned Monday afternoon. Some members of his family seated behind him quietly sobbed.
After a request from the accused's lawyer, Judge Brian Williston ordered him to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the East Coast Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Dartmouth. He's to return to court Nov. 20.
After court, defence lawyer Art Mollon described Mr. MacKinnon - an electrician by trade - as a "straightforward fella, a genuinely nice guy."
Mr. Mollon said his client had been receiving counselling for the past month or so after separating from his wife in March.
According to one source close to the case, Ms. MacKinnon had custody of their two young children, aged 6 and 4.
But her estranged husband, described by many Donkin residents as a "very loving father," continued to see them regularly.
According to the source and confirmed by one relative, the couple broke up after Ms. MacKinnon began corresponding over the Internet with a love interest. Mr. MacKinnon apparently expressed concern and anger when told his kids might be moving to Europe.
Neighbour Betty Martell was at the scene after the shootings and didn't get much sleep afterward.
"It's a darn shame," she said. "I feel so sorry for those little kids. . . . It's shocking for both families. If there's anything good in this, it's that the kids at least weren't in the home when this happened."
Mrs. Martell doesn't fear for her safety in Port Morien, a pretty beachfront community of about 600 that has very little crime.
"It wasn't like someone was shooting up the neighbourhood," she said as police continued to watch the house, overlooking the Port Morien sandbar on Cape Breton's east coast, and a nearby driveway, where they allege Mr. MacKinnon's vehicle was parked while he waited for Mr. Sirks to arrive.
It's not known how long Mr. Sirks was in the country before the murders, but one source said it was his first day. It's also not known whether it was Mr. Sirks' first face-to-face encounter with Ms. MacKinnon.
Other neighbours, who asked that their names be withheld, said they heard four shots, with a small delay between the first shot and the following three.
"I first thought people were shooting ducks," said one senior. "It's hard to believe. You just don't see things like this happen around here. . . . It's a real tragedy."
One police officer was overheard saying Mr. Sirks was gunned down in the driveway as he got out of his vehicle, and Ms. MacKinnon was shot when she ran out of her home screaming to see what had happened. Fresh tire marks scar the pavement directly leaving the driveway.
The Port Morien fire department also responded to the shootings. The 911 call was made by a next-door neighbour.
The couple's children are staying with Mr. MacKinnon's parents in Donkin. Mr. Mollon said the children are being "well looked after."
http://142.177.145.150/2003/10/21/bigthumbs/1039.jpg
Tera Camus Cape / Breton Bureau
Allan MacKinnon boards a van Monday en route to a 30-day psychiatric assessment. He is accused of killing his estranged wife Jolene MacKinnon and a Netherlands resident.
