Deceased/Not Found Canada - Alvin, 66, & Kathy Liknes, 53, Nathan O'Brien, 5, Calgary, 30 June 2014 - #8

[ElleElle]

I think that depends. I live on a rural farm property and have rented a wood chipper twice in the last year. Some trees, when felled, trimmed or whatever, can be cut for firewood (many of us still have at least one wood-burning stove or fireplace). But many others, which do have value as far as the property goes, are useless for chopping. I have numerous cedars that serve as boundary markers between different areas, and several other species of tree that are good for shade but their wood does not burn well. A chipper is very useful; you feed into it all the fallen branches, tree trimmings, storm-damaged limbs, dead wood that has fallen down, even odd bits of lumber or furniture you want to get rid of. It turns the whole lot into a mulch that can be used in flower beds, between rows in vegetable gardens, to fill in marshy spots, and so on. If you can't do your own chipping to get the mulch or wood chips you need, you have to buy them.

I don't have horses but neighbours who do are always looking for wood chips. I think they use them in the horse paddocks, not sure.

Everytime I hear/read the words "wood chipper", I think of the movie Fargo.

 

[DaisyBlantyre]

I keep trying to type something, but there just aren't any words, only feelings that I can't even really put into words.

Why anybody, why the grandparents, why Nathan? Why NATHAN ??

My heartfelt condolences, prayers and hugs to the families of Alvin, Kathryn, and sweet little Nathan

:rose::rose::rose:

I understand sillybilly, I thought I had prepared my heart for the inevitable and was keeping my mind clinical, but when I heard the news today I was devastated.

People in Calgary are going to the house in Parkhill and leaving flowers, etc. to let the O'Brien and Liknes families know they are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.

 

[ElleElle]

I think Nathan because: A. He knew the killer. B. A threat that AL/KL could not follow through with.

 

[Janeumayer]

RSBM

He was re-arrested sometime Monday morning after he was asked to leave a local hotel. Garland had been staying at the hotel as part of bail conditions stemming from an unrelated charge."


http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/man-to...ents-bodies-not-found-1.1913168#ixzz37Uk9ilaE

Thanks for supplying the link, Otto!

 

[DaisyBlantyre]

This isn't a direct quote but didn't at some point during the press conference the police chief say something along the lines of - these are the only things the POI will be charged with at the minute but they will be looking into unsolved previous cases ... could it be that because of this case it may come to light that this was not the first time 'he' has committed murder?


Yes, he did say something to that effect. I was going to bring that up myself. I believe he was suggesting that it would be negligent of LE if they didn't look at other unsolved cases with an eye to this suspect. I'm paraphrasing, but I did hear that.

Well we do have more than a few unsolved cases here in Calgary so I hope they look long and hard, it's a stretch to believe that this could be the first time he's committed murder.

 

[ElleElle]

Well we do have more than a few unsolved cases here in Calgary so I hope they look long and hard, it's a stretch to believe that this could be the first time he's committed murder.

Yesterday, I thought he was a just a POI, today, I have a feeling there are more skeletons in the closet with DG.

JMO

 

[rizzo0904]

Why didn't their house alarm go off? I just armed mine, hence the thought.

 

[lucipurr]

Meh so many people have alarms yet so few actually use them, especially the SW, usually a very very safe area in Calgary.

 

[roseofsharon]

Why didn't their house alarm go off? I just armed mine, hence the thought.

I wondered if the perp entered and hid in the home during the estate sale. Some sidesplits have a crawl space. I guess we'll never know if DG's dna was found anywhere in the home though. imo

 

[DaisyBlantyre]

Why didn't their house alarm go off? I just armed mine, hence the thought.

The sign was still on the door, "Come on in", so perhaps they hadn't locked the doors? Or didn't arm the system for the night?

I don't get it but after 6 break-ins on my (very short) street last August and September I live like I'm Fort Knox, barricaded in, at all times, day or night.

 

[DaisyBlantyre]

I wondered if the perp entered and hid in the home during the estate sale. Some sidesplits have a crawl space. I guess we'll never know if DG's dna was found anywhere in the home though. imo

If he had done that JO could have been a victim as well.

 

[otto]

Why didn't their house alarm go off? I just armed mine, hence the thought.

Someone noticed, and commented, very early on that the lights were still on in the house the day that the disappearance was discovered. This led to the belief that the attack occurred shortly after the couple was alone, with Nathan, at the house ... and before they went to bed.

 

[Tealgrove]

I wondered if the perp entered and hid in the home during the estate sale. Some sidesplits have a crawl space. I guess we'll never know if DG's dna was found anywhere in the home though. imo

Oh we'll know; but not until the trial. LE will spend the next year or so putting all the pieces together and then we'll know about all the businesses dealings, relationships, business, personal or otherwise. Most, if not all of our questions, will be answered and I fear that it will be very sad.

 

[Orangeboy]

So very very sad.

Back when the farm was first being searched there was some talk about the cadaver dogs searching the area. I distinctly remember one of the reporters tweeting that a dog sat down in the middle of the field and the area was marked. Another web-sleuther pointed out that when a cadaver dog does this it is a BIG deal. I tried to search the thread for the post(s) but couldn't locate it. Does anyone have any insight on this and what the flags and markers could mean?

 

[garbagetweet]

Police might have asked the hotel to ask him to leave just to see what he would do. They might have done this because they intended to arrest him.

"Douglas Garland, 54, was questioned in connection with the missing family in early July after being arrested on an unrelated charge.

He was re-arrested sometime Monday morning after he was asked to leave a local hotel. Garland had been staying at the hotel as part of bail conditions stemming from an unrelated charge."


http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/man-to...ents-bodies-not-found-1.1913168#ixzz37Uk9ilaE

I don't believe that police could ask the hotel/motel to kick out DG in an attempt to follow him. This would be something along the lines of entrapment and not permissible.

 

[MsDoe]

Someone noticed, and commented, very early on that the lights were still on in the house the day that the disappearance was discovered. This led to the belief that the attack occurred shortly after the couple was alone, with Nathan, at the house ... and before they went to bed.

Hadn't heard about the lights before, but I had wondered whether he was outside, waiting for JO to leave.

What I keep wondering about it that I find it strange that the neighbours didn't hear anything, or notice anything going on. The houses are so close together, it just seems strange. In our neighbourhood, the neighbours notice everything. One day, I cam home in a cab from work because I had caught a virus and was feeling unwell, and the neighbour who lives opposite called to ask whether everything was okay because she had noticed the taxi. Just odd that there could be bloodstains near the driveway, and no one noticed a thing.

 

[Tealgrove]

So very very sad.

Back when the farm was first being searched there was some talk about the cadaver dogs searching the area. I distinctly remember one of the reporters tweeting that a dog sat down in the middle of the field and the area was marked. Another web-sleuther pointed out that when a cadaver dog does this it is a BIG deal. I tried to search the thread for the post(s) but couldn't locate it. Does anyone have any insight on this and what the flags and markers could mean?

They were placing numerous flags and I believe they were orange. I'm guessing that each time a flag was placed it indicated a scent marker.

When cadaver dogs, drug dogs, bomb dogs make a hit, they are taught to indicate that they have made a hit. In some cases, they sit. In other cases they sit and paw the ground. Some dogs are taught a down stay. When they do this they are communicating that they smell what they have been trained to smell.

I watched a golden retriever at the airport one day. The dog circled and circled around people and bags. The dog abruptly sat beside me with his paw on the bag of the person who was standing beside me. The customs agent looked at the owner of the bag and said, "This dog only sits for one reason. Do you know why this dog is sitting with it's paw on your bag?" The guy nodded and before you knew it, he was in handcuffs and being led away.

I also think that some of the flags were marking out grids that had been searched.

There was a lot going on in those fields.

 

[Red Viewfinder]

Do you remember early on when an Airdre neighbour stated that there had been smoke coming from burning at DG's for 2 days after the abduction? I asked my dad about that and he said that it is not the right time of year for burning, especially considering all the hot, dry weather we have been having. Most farmers burn brush in the spring and would not burn garbage in the middle of a heat wave. Even if DG did dispose of those dear bodies that way, it is still really difficult to completely destroy bone. I wonder if LE discovered bone fragments with DNA on the property and that is why they have evidence that the 3 are dead without bodies.

 

[Dangeross]

I think forensics came back which confirmed. We know about the drag marks outside of the house. So what took place inside. IMO they were all murdered in the house and moved. That's just my opine tho.

It came back and it wasn't from blood, it was from another substance that confirms they would be deceased, the police knew this from day 1 they just didn't know it was from 3 people.

 

[LoisLane]

I am curious if the L house is close to the Stampede grounds and if fireworks would be heard from that neighbourhood, that night.