GUILTY on all 3 Counts!!! Post-Verdict Thread

I hope the Stafford's find some kind of closure here. I am so glad that the verdict was so solid.

puppyraiser said:

Saw this retweet and thought it was very appropriate:
Oprah Winfrey ‏ @Oprah
“@lynnkthompson:"Creative people understand-in the end it all works. Don't doubt in the darkness what u have learned in the light!” so true.

Creative thinkers were on the jury and totally understood the darkness and evil sitting before them in that courtroom.

Thank You Crown, LE and the London 12 - may Tori's light continue to shine down upon you and guide and comfort you through your life's journey.

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Beautifully put!! Thank you!

And a big thank you to Swedie for your positivity as we waited for the verdict. I think it was after the jury went out to Mt. Forest, you commented on the beautiful purples that seemed to light a picture of Tori's rock and the trees standing guard around it. I loved that comment! With all of the horrible imagery we had during this trial I'm greatful that I will most remember the light in Tori's smile, the look on Tara's and Rodney's faces after the verdict and the light surrounding that special spot.

I just went back to do a little reading on the excellent coverage of this case and the trial-I didnt realize that the judge gutted the heart of the case. Kudos to the jury for seeing MR for what he was and is anyway.

Good Morning Team Tori!!

It's a beautiful sunny day across Canada in more ways than one!


To all the great moms here, hope you all have a Wonderful Mother's Day weekend!!! Hug your kids!! xoxo

http://www.985fm.ca/





http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photos/vic...-woodstock-girl-victoria-photo-155334716.html

Mods please allow this one picture. Thank you xoxo




It's so good to see them with some relief and sense of joy after 3 long years.


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photos/vic...-woodstock-girl-victoria-photo-153504322.html

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself and for others. While i am still rejoicing part of me wants more. I want the public to know exactly what Rafferty did. Every detail. I want people to know what Monsters walk amongst us. I want especially young Mothers to know what they need to think about before inviting a man into their lives and their child's. I want Canada to wake up that these crimes are here and they are happening to us. No longer can we think they only happen afar. I want laws to change. I thank God for the verdict and the fact that TLM confessed. Can you imagine the reign of terror and how many more victims had these two not been arrested. Now i feel better. I just had to get it off my chest.

What a journey, I have been waiting for 3 years to say this.
Good things finally came someone else's way, Tori's way.
Finally, justice for Tori and all those who love her.

Mark Carcasole ‏ @MarkCarc1010
Happy to see #ToriStafford's family happy, if even for a day. & congrats to the investigators and Crown who did excellent work on this case.

Francis D'Souza ‏ @cityfrancis
Judge called #Rafferty verdict "just" based on the evidence. He then personally met and thanked jurors privately after.

Francis D'Souza ‏ @cityfrancis
#Rafferty will officially be sentenced Tues after Victim impact statements are read but punishment is automatic life

London Free Press ‏ @RaffertyLFP
Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Just love this tweet!

Love, love, love this article in the Toronto Sun by Michele Mandel :

"Bye-bye, Michael Rafferty.

You can wipe that smirk off your face now — the cocky smile you wore throughout your trial, so sure you were that you were going to be acquitted of these heinous crimes.

As if you had outsmarted us all.

A fan of CSI, you had wiped your Honda clean at that Cambridge carwash, disposed of Tori’s clothes and your own, threw out the back seat in your car and tried to wipe your BlackBerry clean.

You had buried Victoria Stafford in garbage bags beneath hundreds of pounds of rocks, left that bludgeoned child hidden and alone at the end of a remote country lane more than two hours from the people who loved and missed her, figuring she could never reveal the cruel horror you hammered down upon her.
Oh, but that innocent girl could not rest until she brought you to justice.

And she has now, she has.

How smug you were....


more at link

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/11/time-for-rafferty-to-wipe-that-smirk-off-his-face

I've realized that in the end the jury believed that MR was in fact the one to strike the hammer as many of us here suspected and believed ourselves. They also listened closely, as we did to TLM's first confession. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am that they got it right. We have laughed together, cried together, vented together, prayed together.

Just stopped by this morning to wave hello to everyone So very happy for the verdict last night and hope that Tori's family can now find some Peace ~

It's a glorious morning... of to the garden centre for some flowers.... they most certainly will be purple ! Looking forward to Tuesday's finale - I know there are many waiting to wave goodbye to Mikey..... I take great satisfaction in knowing that he will most likely be moving in very close to Bernardo (who stole our precious one ) .... Googley eyes partner as Smyth says - yep.... there is some satisfaction.... some indeed.

Bravo said:

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself and for others. While i am still rejoicing part of me wants more. I want the public to know exactly what Rafferty did. Every detail. I want people to know what Monsters walk amongst us. I want especially young Mothers to know what they need to think about before inviting a man into their lives and their child's. I want Canada to wake up that these crimes are here and they are happening to us. No longer can we think they only happen afar. I want laws to change. I thank God for the verdict and the fact that TLM confessed. Can you imagine the reign of terror and how many more victims had these two not been arrested. Now i feel better. I just had to get it off my chest.

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I'm hoping Rodney will continue his quest to fight crime against children. Sadly, it took Tori's life to raise awareness. Rodney was inspirational in making changes to the Amber Alert system, he also raised funds for missing children. He is very much an advocate to Tori's Law and hopefully that will come into effect in the not too distant future.

Reporters love him. People love him. He has a gift and I think he can continue this fight to save our children from these monsters. I would stand behind him 100%.

In the meantime, there is a lot we as citizens can do to make the changes. Get more involved with your local governments (provincially and federally).

Our kids are our future and they need us to stand up for them.

TLM gets credit from me for doing one good thing in her life, in spite of the horrible childhood she had ... she took MR off the streets. With or without TLM, MR was eventually going to assault young girls and the one thing TLM did is ensure that it never happens again.

Will MR be locked up at Kingston or is there a possibility he'll end up somewhere else?

CP24 has a live news conference with the Mayor of Woodstock and the Police Chief on now.

Today I feel relieved that this monster is gone and hopefully away from computers and children and people in general for the next 25 years (hopefully more).
I also feel sorrow. For everything that brought us to today.

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Altho it will not bring Tori back or prevent this from happening again, still, I am happy that justice was served!! First time I saw Tori's face on the missing poster, I ignored it because I had just followed Brandon Crisp's case and I was really hoping they would find him alive but they didn't and that kind of devastated me. Not quite 6 months later, Tori was in the news. I tried to ignore it for 2 two weeks, then I couldn't ignore her anymore.

I, like alot of others and her parents were devastated when we found out she had been murdered and in the way she was murdered, to me it was unthinkable that someone could do this to a little child. To me, it is unthinkable that someone can take anyone's life and in any case should spend the rest of their lives locked up.

We followed Tori's case for 3 years, and found out some very bad stuff during those three years, and most recently in Rafferty's trial. I saw alot of people on the fence about Rafferty's guilt on the three charges.

Going on to yesterday. It was hard not to respond when the verdicts came in. I saw how everyone was so afraid because of the information that came out after the jury was sequestered. For some reason, I never thought he wouldn't be found guilty. I knew Tori was going to get justice. I had my moment of doubts that he might not be found guilty of sexual assault, but I knew from the questions the jury asked, that they had already found him at least guilty of kidnapping and that in itself would mean a life sentence.

I felt so sorry for the jury not knowing that information. But I do understand now why the judge ruled it out and it is also one less point that Rafferty can appeal. Even without this information, the jury was able to see the evidence for what it was, it was extremely damning IMO.

I knew Tori was going to get justice, I never doubted she would. God and Tori lead them to the right decision, and they did make the right one.

I quit smoking three months ago, I don't know how many times I've wanted to light up during this trial. but still smoke free since January 10th!

I hope Alison and her baby is doing ok, I'm sure she must've had it by now ?