Russell Williams

David Russell Williams (born March 7, 1963) is a Canadian serial rapist, murderer and former colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

David Russell Williams was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, on March 7, 1963, to Christine Nonie (née Chivers) and Cedric David Williams.

His family immigrated to Canada, settling in Chalk River, Ontario.

Williams' father was hired as a metallurgist at Chalk River Laboratories, a Canadian nuclear research laboratory.

After this relocation, the Williams family met another family, the Sovkas, and they became good friends.

Williams' parents divorced when he was six years old, and soon after his mother married Dr. Jerry Sovka.

During this time, Williams took his stepfather's name and moved again to Scarborough, Ontario, a borough of Toronto.

While living in the Scarborough Bluffs area, Williams began high school at Birchmount Collegiate but finished at Upper Canada College (UCC).

He delivered the Globe and Mail newspaper and learned to play the piano.

By 1979, his family moved to South Korea, where Sovka was overseeing another reactor project.

Williams completed his final two years of high school as a boarding student at UCC while his parents were in South Korea.

In his final year in 1982, he was selected as a prefect for his boarding house.

Williams then studied economics and political science at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), where another notorious Canadian murderer, Paul Bernardo, was coincidentally two academic years ahead of him.

Williams graduated from UTSC with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986.

There, he engaged in pranks against his roommates, picking locked doors and hiding in rooms for hours to surprise the occupants.

Williams joined the Canadian Forces in 1987, received his flying wings in 1990 and was posted to 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, based at CFB Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, where he served for two years as an instructor.

Promoted to captain on January 1, 1991, Williams was posted to 434 Combat Support Squadron at CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia, in 1992, where he flew the CC-144 Challenger in the electronic warfare and coastal patrol role.

In 1994, he was posted to the 412 Transport Squadron in Ottawa, where he transported VIPs, including high-ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries, also on Challengers.

Williams was then promoted to major in November 1999 and was posted to Director General Military Careers in Ottawa, where he served as the multi-engine pilot career manager.

Williams earned a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2004 with a 55-page thesis that supported pre-emptive war in Iraq.

In June 2004 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and the following month he was appointed commanding officer of 437 Transport Squadron at CFB Trenton, Ontario, a post he held for two years.

From December 2005 to May 2006, Williams also served as the commanding officer of Camp Mirage, a secretive logistics facility believed to be located at Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that provided support to Canadian Forces operations in Afghanistan.

Williams was posted to the Directorate of Air Requirements on July 21, 2006, where he served as project director for the Airlift Capability Projects Strategic (C-17 Globemaster III) and Tactical (CC-130J Super Hercules), and Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue (CC-127J Spartan), working under Lieutenant General Angus Watt at this posting.

He is currently serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years for two murders, committed in November 2009 and January 2010.

From July 2009 until his arrest, Williams commanded CFB Trenton, Canada's largest military airbase and a hub for the country's foreign and domestic air transport operations.

He was also a decorated pilot who had flown Canadian Forces VIP aircraft for dignitaries and heads of state.

In late January 2010, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) discovered evidence implicating Williams in the disappearance and death of Jessica Lloyd, and suspected links to two other crimes that had been committed in close proximity to his previous home in Tweed, Ontario.

On February 7, Williams was interrogated on video by OPP investigator Jim Smyth and confronted with the evidence of tire tracks and boot prints at Lloyd's house.

Over the next ten hours, Williams gave a detailed confession of the sexual assault and murder of Lloyd.

He also confessed to the sexual assault and murder of Corporal Marie-France Comeau, as well as at least two other cases initially.

Subsequent investigation into Williams brought further confessions and revealed evidence of detailed notes and photographs stored at his home.

Evidence showed he had broken into at least 82 houses to steal women's and girls' underwear, which later escalated to sexual assaults and later still to the rapes and murders.

Williams was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of forcible confinement, two counts of breaking and entering and sexual assault.

Another 82 charges relating to breaking and entering were later added.

On October 21, 2010, Williams was sentenced to two life sentences for first-degree murder, two 10-year sentences for other sexual assaults, two 10-year sentences for forcible confinement, and 82 one-year sentences for breaking and entering, all to be served concurrently.

The life sentences mean Williams will serve a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility.

Because he was convicted of multiple murders, he is not eligible for early parole under the "faint hope clause" of the Criminal Code.

Following charges being made in February 2010, he was relieved of his duties.

Following his conviction in October 2010, he was stripped of his commission, ranks and awards by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff.

Williams' uniform, documents and military equipment were destroyed by the Canadian military.