I have shared this story with you in previous blog posts (Possible Closure After Two Decades: A Families Worst Nightmare, Possible Closure After Two Decades: A Families Worst Nightmare Part 2).
I am so proud of my sister for sharing her story with the world. The courage & strength it had to take to revisit this horrible event in your life, is inspirational.
Here is her segment on CBC Winnipeg News from Tuesday, March 22.
Showing posts with label Candace Derksen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Candace Derksen. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Possible Closure After Two Decades: A Families Worst Nightmare (PART 2)
Today the lawyers in the Candace Derksen are providing their closing statements and the jury is expected to deliberate tonight. There is a lot of concern that the jury will come back with a not guilty verdict due to the DNA evidence. This is the worst fear ever.
This man, Mark Grant, has turned so many peoples lives upside down. Including my family. This man needs to be kept behind bars FOREVER. His history of sexual violence against women is lengthy & he refuses to get any help. Can someone with this kind of violent history ever get help?
Here is an article I found online, care of WinnipegFIRST
______________________________________________
Mark Edward Grant has a history of violence against women.
Photo Credit: Manitoba Justice
• Posted: May 16th 2007, 17:38 / Written by: Kathleen Martens
• Tagged as: national parole board, mark edward grant, homicide, news
He blames his hatred of women on his mother and sister, and has a 20-year resume of crime to show for his anger.
Mark Edward Grant, who today was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of schoolgirl Candace Derksen, has served time for three rapes and choking to overcome resistance.
Grant, now 43, was 21 when Derksen disappeared on her way home from school in November 1984. She was in Grade 7, and froze to death while awaiting rescue from a remote shed on an Elmwood industrial property where she was left with her arms and legs bound.
Derksen's body was found six weeks after she disappeared. She was 13.
Grant was interviewed by police along with nearly 100 other people, police said today, as part of their initial investigation but was not considered a suspect. Since then National Parole Board documents obtained by winnipegFIRST.ca show Grant has been in and out of prison.
He confided to the board his anger toward women erupted as early as 14 when he sexually assaulted a young female although he was never charged with the crime. The board labelled him "predatory" and noted "unsophisticated and vulnerable post-pubescent female children" were at risk with him on the street.
"...The board concludes you are likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person...You have an established pattern of violent and sexually deviant behaviour dating from 1983," the board observed in 1995.
"The board is satisfied that, if released, you are likely to commit a sexual offence involving a child before the expiration of the sentence you are now serving," the board wrote in rejecting one of Grant's requests for early release.
Grant did not win early parole on any of his prison terms, and at one point the board revoked his full parole. But documents show he always served two-thirds of his sentence as required by law and the board had no grounds to hold him further.
Grant was resistant to sex offender treatment in prison, the document says, but did make strides in improving his literacy skills. He was diagnosed as a schizophrenic while behind bars.
A psychological assessment of November 1994 notes Grant had emotional baggage around the issues of anger control, rejection, emotional stability, loneliness and unstable relationships.
"...You admitted at the hearing that your hatred of women was related to behaviour of your mother and sister, but refused to discuss it further."
Nine days after serving one sentence, Grant re-offended and sexually assaulted an underage prostitute, the documents show. He was last imprisoned in 2001 and in 2002 the board wrote he was having hallucinations that encouraged him to be aggressive and sexually violent.
He has been a free man since 2004, although Winnipeg police had him under surveillance for a time because he was a sex offender.
Here is Grant's criminal resume:
*Grant was first imprisoned in February 1992 on a four-year sentence for sexual assault.
*He was freed on statutory release in March 1994 under special conditions.
*His statutory release was revoked in September 1994.
*He was to be freed in May 1995 but the Correctional Service of Canada took steps to keep him in custody until November 1995.
*Prior to the end of that term, he was convicted of sexual assault and overcome resistance resulting in an aggregate sentence of 12 years and 10 months effective November 1991.
*He was held in custody until his sentence expired on Sept. 26, 2004.
_________________________________________
It was in 1992 that Mark was sentences for the rape of my sister, as you can see he only got 4 years for that assault. It still makes me so angry that is sentence was so short. He gets 4 years, my sister gets a life sentence having to deal with the aftermath of this assault. To this day she still has issues in many facets of her life that all lead back to this horrible incident in her life.
My thoughts & prayers are with both the Derksen Family & my sister. I am sickened to my stomach that you both have to relive such a horrific time in your lives. Even if he is found not guilty, I hope you will have some inner peace and closure knowing what we ALL know, that this man is a killer. I am trying my best to have total faith in the justice system, but some faith will be lost if Mark Grant is found not guilty.
This man, Mark Grant, has turned so many peoples lives upside down. Including my family. This man needs to be kept behind bars FOREVER. His history of sexual violence against women is lengthy & he refuses to get any help. Can someone with this kind of violent history ever get help?
Here is an article I found online, care of WinnipegFIRST
______________________________________________
Mark Edward Grant has a history of violence against women.
Photo Credit: Manitoba Justice
• Posted: May 16th 2007, 17:38 / Written by: Kathleen Martens
• Tagged as: national parole board, mark edward grant, homicide, news
He blames his hatred of women on his mother and sister, and has a 20-year resume of crime to show for his anger.
Mark Edward Grant, who today was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of schoolgirl Candace Derksen, has served time for three rapes and choking to overcome resistance.
Grant, now 43, was 21 when Derksen disappeared on her way home from school in November 1984. She was in Grade 7, and froze to death while awaiting rescue from a remote shed on an Elmwood industrial property where she was left with her arms and legs bound.
Derksen's body was found six weeks after she disappeared. She was 13.
Grant was interviewed by police along with nearly 100 other people, police said today, as part of their initial investigation but was not considered a suspect. Since then National Parole Board documents obtained by winnipegFIRST.ca show Grant has been in and out of prison.
He confided to the board his anger toward women erupted as early as 14 when he sexually assaulted a young female although he was never charged with the crime. The board labelled him "predatory" and noted "unsophisticated and vulnerable post-pubescent female children" were at risk with him on the street.
"...The board concludes you are likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person...You have an established pattern of violent and sexually deviant behaviour dating from 1983," the board observed in 1995.
"The board is satisfied that, if released, you are likely to commit a sexual offence involving a child before the expiration of the sentence you are now serving," the board wrote in rejecting one of Grant's requests for early release.
Grant did not win early parole on any of his prison terms, and at one point the board revoked his full parole. But documents show he always served two-thirds of his sentence as required by law and the board had no grounds to hold him further.
Grant was resistant to sex offender treatment in prison, the document says, but did make strides in improving his literacy skills. He was diagnosed as a schizophrenic while behind bars.
A psychological assessment of November 1994 notes Grant had emotional baggage around the issues of anger control, rejection, emotional stability, loneliness and unstable relationships.
"...You admitted at the hearing that your hatred of women was related to behaviour of your mother and sister, but refused to discuss it further."
Nine days after serving one sentence, Grant re-offended and sexually assaulted an underage prostitute, the documents show. He was last imprisoned in 2001 and in 2002 the board wrote he was having hallucinations that encouraged him to be aggressive and sexually violent.
He has been a free man since 2004, although Winnipeg police had him under surveillance for a time because he was a sex offender.
Here is Grant's criminal resume:
*Grant was first imprisoned in February 1992 on a four-year sentence for sexual assault.
*He was freed on statutory release in March 1994 under special conditions.
*His statutory release was revoked in September 1994.
*He was to be freed in May 1995 but the Correctional Service of Canada took steps to keep him in custody until November 1995.
*Prior to the end of that term, he was convicted of sexual assault and overcome resistance resulting in an aggregate sentence of 12 years and 10 months effective November 1991.
*He was held in custody until his sentence expired on Sept. 26, 2004.
_________________________________________
It was in 1992 that Mark was sentences for the rape of my sister, as you can see he only got 4 years for that assault. It still makes me so angry that is sentence was so short. He gets 4 years, my sister gets a life sentence having to deal with the aftermath of this assault. To this day she still has issues in many facets of her life that all lead back to this horrible incident in her life.
My thoughts & prayers are with both the Derksen Family & my sister. I am sickened to my stomach that you both have to relive such a horrific time in your lives. Even if he is found not guilty, I hope you will have some inner peace and closure knowing what we ALL know, that this man is a killer. I am trying my best to have total faith in the justice system, but some faith will be lost if Mark Grant is found not guilty.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Possible Closure After Two Decades: A Families Worst Nightmare
I was only 14 years old when news of a missing girl by the name of Candace Derksen was all over the news. The community she lived in was very close to my community and I remember all the volunteers getting together to search for this girl, the same age as me. The search was a success, but the outcome, not so much. This poor 13 year old girl was bound & dead in a shed in a industrial area in the community. This really hit home & had my little 14 year old mind racing. The world was not a pretty place, nor was it safe. This murder went unsolved for decades and left a void in many Winnipegers hearts.
5 years later my sister suffered a rape by a horrible man by the name of Mark Grant. He was caught & arrested immediately and a trial was to follow. I still remember the day I saw him sitting in court, I never felt so much anger towards one person. The pain & suffering he put my sister through, she is still suffering from the wounds of this attack to this day, I wished him dead.
He went to jail and we went on living & doing our best to heal and move forward from this horrible event in our lives. A few years ago the Winnipeg Police contacted me looking for my sister. Ofcourse, I asked why, and they explained they needed to talk to her about her case & Mark. At the time my sister did not want anything to do with it, she did not contact the police. Then the news hit our family via facebook that Mark Grant was arrested and accused of the murder of Candace Derksen. OMG...I have never been hit with news so horrible to knock me off of my feet, this was the first time. Speechless. Breathless. All that kept running through my mind was "OMG he could have killed my sister".
I was once again contacted by police to get in touch with my sister. This time she found the strength to call them. The details of the conversation could not be shared with me, for obvious reasons.
The trial started today, could this possibly be the closure that so many people have waited over 2 decades for. I sure hope so. My thoughts & prayers go out to the Derksen Family during this very difficult time. It is horrible that we are all going to have to relive this horrible event during this trial, but the outcome, I hope, will allow official closure.
My thoughts are also with my sister, to be reminded of a very, very difficult time in your life is very hard & considering the circumstances, it is justifiable to be feeling the way you do. I love you and know you have the strength to learn from this & move forward.
I have included a link to 63 different news articles about this murder & Mark Grant. I am sure you will all be following this trial as closely as me.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/search/?keywords=Candace+Derksen&sortBy=-startDate&search_submit=Go&searchSubmitted=y
You can also follow the live tweets from the trial here: CoveritLive Event - Derksen Trial: http://tinyurl.com/4umk35s
5 years later my sister suffered a rape by a horrible man by the name of Mark Grant. He was caught & arrested immediately and a trial was to follow. I still remember the day I saw him sitting in court, I never felt so much anger towards one person. The pain & suffering he put my sister through, she is still suffering from the wounds of this attack to this day, I wished him dead.
He went to jail and we went on living & doing our best to heal and move forward from this horrible event in our lives. A few years ago the Winnipeg Police contacted me looking for my sister. Ofcourse, I asked why, and they explained they needed to talk to her about her case & Mark. At the time my sister did not want anything to do with it, she did not contact the police. Then the news hit our family via facebook that Mark Grant was arrested and accused of the murder of Candace Derksen. OMG...I have never been hit with news so horrible to knock me off of my feet, this was the first time. Speechless. Breathless. All that kept running through my mind was "OMG he could have killed my sister".
I was once again contacted by police to get in touch with my sister. This time she found the strength to call them. The details of the conversation could not be shared with me, for obvious reasons.
The trial started today, could this possibly be the closure that so many people have waited over 2 decades for. I sure hope so. My thoughts & prayers go out to the Derksen Family during this very difficult time. It is horrible that we are all going to have to relive this horrible event during this trial, but the outcome, I hope, will allow official closure.
My thoughts are also with my sister, to be reminded of a very, very difficult time in your life is very hard & considering the circumstances, it is justifiable to be feeling the way you do. I love you and know you have the strength to learn from this & move forward.
I have included a link to 63 different news articles about this murder & Mark Grant. I am sure you will all be following this trial as closely as me.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/search/?keywords=Candace+Derksen&sortBy=-startDate&search_submit=Go&searchSubmitted=y
You can also follow the live tweets from the trial here: CoveritLive Event - Derksen Trial: http://tinyurl.com/4umk35s
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