Man confessed to undercover cops, Crown tells jury
Videotaped evidence expected to be played in court for 1978 murder case of Monica Jack
The man accused in the murder of Monica Jack more than 40 years ago confessed to undercover police that he abducted, raped and then strangled the 12-year-old girl, a prosecutor said Monday.
Garry Taylor Handlen, who was 31 years old at the time of the May 1978 slaying of the Merritt-area girl, has pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder.
In his opening statement, Crown counsel Mark Sheardown told a jury that at the time of the slaying, the young girl had gone for a bicycle ride on her new bike into the town of Merritt.
Monica, who was a few weeks shy of her 13th birthday, was returning home along the highway south of Nicola Lake and heading for home, he said.
When she didn’t return, her family tried to locate her. The girl’s bike was found by her older brother in a part of the road where there was a pullout.
Her mother reported the girl missing to police, who launched a search that failed to find her.
Sheardown said that witnesses provided a description of a vehicle, a truck camper, that was seen in the area. One report had the bike being seen across the road from the truck.
A witness heard someone crying out in a high-pitched voice that was thought to be that of a girl, the prosecutor told the jury.
On May 30, 1978, Langley RCMP went to Handlen’s residence and photographed a truck camper at his property.
The next major development in the case came in June 1995 when a forest contractor discovered what appeared to be a human skull that had been burned, on a mountain just north of Merritt, said Sheardown.
The Crown will be seeking to establish with the help of dental records that the remains were those of Monica Jack, he said.
In 2014, RCMP launched the undercover operation against Handlen, who at the time was living in the small Ontario town of Minden, in cottage country north of Toronto.
The undercover operation spanned many months and involved numerous scenarios in which a fictitious criminal organization recruited Handlen to carry out simulated crimes.
“You’ll hear how Mr. Handlen started doing more work for the organization, such as participating in loan-sharking, debt collections, dealing in counterfeit goods and other activities,” said Sheardown.
Handlen was eventually introduced to the “crime boss” who advised him that police were investigating him for the murder of Monica Jack, said the prosecutor.
The accused confessed to grabbing the girl, putting her in his camper, taking her up a hill, having sex with her and then strangling her, said Sheardown.
“Thus Mr. Handlen confessed to the abduction, rape and murder of Monica Jack. During his confession, Mr. Handlen provided further details about what he had done. The videotape of that interview is a crucial piece of evidence in this case.” The videotaped confession may be played in court as early as Tuesday.