They didn't go into exactly how the evidence was screwed up on last night's news but on this evening's news they revealed the reason the case against him was tossed and you won't believe it because it's so abyssmally stupid it just flabbergasted the whole province. The arresting officers didn't read him his rights and went on to interview him and he apparently confessed to the murder,it was after this that the cops got an epiphany that they had forgotten to read him his rights.The murderer was smart enough to know that they had given him a huge out and {wouldn't} repeat what he said before he was read his rights.

These idiots make the Keystone cops look like the top CIA operatives yet there hasn`t been a single word about any suspensions or demotions for this enormous uncomprehendable blunder.Needless to say Chrissie Pridham`s family is absolutely devastated and now feel very cheated and let down by our "justice" system.

Edit: I had neglected to put the word wouldn't before repeat which of course changes the whole context of what I had originally written.

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Well, clearly all the facts aren't presented here for review.

But, their mistake in not reading the offender's rights merely meant that the confession couldn't be presented as evidence, although a subsequent confession could have been.

People make mistakes... cops too. We don't know if there were multiple officers making the arrest - one thought the other had read his rights, etc.

But, no prosecutor will indict merely on the basis of a confession anyway... lots of people confess to crimes they didn't commit. There has to be corroberating evidence, either real or circumstantial.

Seems you're reacting to News reports rather than the known facts in the investigation/case.

cheers!

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In an interview the chief of police stated that they were confident that they had charged the right person and that there were no other "persons of interest" he also said that they had conclusive evidence that he was the guilty party and it's apparent that all of this must have been disallowed too.

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I'm sorry, but a police officer needs to know how to follow procedures, it's the majority of what they do. They're not there to think, that's what detectives are for. We're talking about the 'grunts' who make the initial arrest, they need to know better, or find a different job. And if everybody on the scene thought 'someone else' was reading his rights, then all of the officers on scene are substandard.

If you or someone you love is ever the victim of a crime and the case is thrown out due to police incompetence, you may feel differently.

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CBC News Report

Wow .... the guy walks.

Not sure if this is a touchy subject or not as I've never spoken to a Newfoundlander about this before but maybe it's time to start using the RCMP? They almost never goof up that badly.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Well of course you're correct... in theory. But again, ALL people make mistakes...

The protection of the Individual's Constitutional Rights is extremely important, especially so in our increasingly over-policed states whether it be local police or Public Safety Canada, or the Department of Homeland Security.

So much so, that this imperfect method is employed with the full knowledge that some Guilty may go free.

This is simply a sad incident where this came to pass. You can't really fix it, the next criminal investigation will bear the same odds of someone screwing up and all we can hope for is that they don't...

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

The reason why this case has me so riled is because I have first hand experience knowing what her family was going through just trying to live with the fact that she was brutally murdered but I could never begin to imagine how much anguish,rage,disgust and feelings of betrayal they must be experiencing now.I pray with all my heart that nobody I know ever has to go through what I went through and am still going through after 38 years and more especially what her poor family is going through.Her family's lives are ruined beyond repair-believe me and it is all down to nothing but neglect and downright stupidity.If he could die a thousand terrible deaths,they could never be placated after this abomination.

This is at least the 4th murder case these idiots have bungled-so far they have been put under the microscope for sending 3 innocent men to prison because they were too lazy or too inept to thoroughly investigate the cases and interestingly enough the lead investigator on the most outrageous and high profile one is now the chief of police.The idiot charged a young man who was heavily involved in getting kids off the streets and involved in sports,with murdering his mother-dispite inconsistancies and holes in the case that you could drive a truck through but they were put through the wringers after when it was discovered that they never shared this with his defence team as they knew that he most likely wouldn't be found guilty if they did.This was a young man who dozens said was incapable of such a thing because he and his mom were more like best friends,and these morons conspired to ruin his life just to get an easy conviction.With the likes of this cretin running the police department,it's no wonder that Chrissie Pridham's murderer-her abusive ex-husband got his case thrown out.We need a new police force because this crowd makes the Keystone Kops look like the CIA's top operatives.The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary should be disbanded and quite rightly deserves to be a laughing stock for all the world's police forces because they have proven without a doubt that they hardly have the skills to write parking tickets.

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@guitslinger:

I do hear what you're saying and can understand your frustration.

But no police force exists in Canada or the US without civilian oversight, whether it be a civilian council, city council, Mayor, Governor, Senator prosecutors or Judges.

If there have been as many instances as you describe, I suspect the fault lies with this oversight much more than the police themselves.

Hopefully, this will jump-start them into action.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Unless I'm missing something, oversight is not an issue here, Lightnin. The RCMP are a national Police force in Canada and they are overseen and they are typically very, very good.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

This is an incredibly sad situation, truly heartbreaking. When did this murder happen?

She was murdered in January 2007-on the 19th I believe-I was out of the province at the time so I can't quite remember the exact date .Regarding the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary they are pretty well an entity all to themselve answering only to the minister of justice and/or the premier-both of whom unfortunately are cerebral Lilliputians.

As a province we are intercoursed-for lack of a better word.Our health care system is currently almost down to 3rd world standards.The government is hell-bent on squandering billions on an unnecessary hydro-electric project and absolutely refused to give world renowned experts in the field who had huge misgivings about it,any time to speak and address the House of Assembly although they allowed those who sided with them all the time that they wanted.An now as a coup de grace the police force makes yet another monumental blunder.

We are looking more and more like a medieval fiefdom than a supposedly modern democratic province with one of the largest offshore oil reserves in the world.That's what happens when you get a perfect storm of an incompetent autocrat not only at the helm of the province but each minister of the Crown witha Ministerial Portfolio is an obtuse autocrat too.

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Hi guitslinger: well if they have conclusive evidence why don't they use it in court? Their failure to caution makes the confession inadmissible - for very good reasons - but that doesn't mean they can't produce other evidence... if they've got it.

If they don't do that then it means their other evidence is actually not conclusive at all. There's plenty of parts of the world we can look at to see convictions made just on the basis the police are "sure" they've got the right person: that's not where we want to go with our criminal justice systems in mature, freedom-loving countries.

I'm also a bit amazed to hear that you seem to have trial by TV interview. The court is the place for police to produce their case, if they have one; not the TV studio.

Cheers - C

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I'm an IT guy at work. If I made a mistake at work and accidentally licensed my business for 10 Microsoft Office licenses instead of 100, I would lose my job.

What about the police? What do they have to do to lose their jobs? I understand we're all human and we all make mistakes, but sometimes there should be consequences.

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Ceri the whole crux of the matter rests on the fact that all of the damning evidence that they had against him was illegally gathered, as the way the went about it was in violation of proper police protocols and his fundemental civil rights.The presiding judge had no other choice but to reluctantly dismiss the case against him in light of the fact that all the evidence had been tainted by being obtained illegally.The judge gave a scathing rebuke to the Three cops involved in scuttling the case.He also made it quite evident that he had no other choice but to free a murderer.So when a judge presumes that the accused is guilty, that speaks volumes.

BTW: Although the judge disallowed the evidence,he had in fact seen it and must have figured that there was enough to conclusively convict him of the murder and that's the reason I guess that he was so furious with the stupidity of the cops involved.I wouldn't even trust these fools to write parking tickets.

There was an in depth write up on the whole case in yesterday's paper and you should be able to read it here: http://www.thetelegram.com

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i know in my extremely small, simple mind that justice will be done. i am not religious and i am not violent. justice will be done. if the court won't do it, karma will.
i hate this kind of story. i know someone here has to agree with me.