The RCMP was unaware of the alleged drug use by the man charged with killing a 17-year-old Surrey girl – even though prison psychiatrists warned that those drugs would make him lose “total control.”
Down-and-out neighbours of Raymond Caissie in Surrey's Whalley neighbourhood told CTV news they saw him use heroin and crystal meth, and that he sometimes seemed high.
“He was on welfare I think, did a hustle here, a hustle there. He wasn’t working or anything like that,” said a woman named Jade, who stayed in a lean-to next to Caissie’s second-floor apartment above a strip mall.
One man, who gave his name as “Azzy” said he and Caissie did time in maximum security Kent Institution. Now outside, he claims they did drugs together.
“I was an acquaintance. Sold him drugs. Things like that,” Azzy said. “Meth, down, I don’t think he smokes crack.”
Caissie served 22 years in prison after the brutal multiple rape of a university student in 1991. He was held to the end of his warrant expiry date as the parole board deemed him a high risk to reoffend.
“If released you will likely commit an offence causing another person serious harm or death,” wrote the Parole Board in 2012.
A prison psychiatrist observed that Caissie had a short fuse, and while he was willing to participate in rehabilitation programs they made little difference outside of the classroom, where he was involved in an assault on an inmate and several drug offenses.
“Mr. Caissie is aware that when he loses these substances he loses total control,” the official wrote.
As for Caissie’s mindset during his crimes: “He discussed how he used sexual fantasies to act out and commit his offense. He stated that replaying them made it easier for him to step over the line and commit a sexual assault.”
The RCMP issued a public warning about Caissie when he was released in 2013, and noted he was subject to a section 810 order with conditions to avoid drug use. Caissie served jail time after two failures to report to his probation officer in November and a theft from a Winners store in October.
But then he was quiet for a few months. The RCMP say they didn’t know about any behavior that would result in a breach, including drug use.
“We have no information to suggest he was in breach of any 810 condition prior to VERMEERSCH being reported missing,” said Ed Boettcher in a statement.
Criminologist Rob Gordon said that authorities may have monitored Caissie closely after his release, but after a few months with no problems they had other priorities.
“I suspect the surveillance got lighter and lighter as time passed. Corrections probably thought he was a lower risk,” he said.
Caissie is now charged with murdering teenager Serena Vermeersch last Tuesday. Her body was found along the railway tracks in Newton.
News of the crime reached Ottawa, with Justice Minister Peter McKay speaking to reporters in the House of Commons.
“The Vermeersch family are grieving and they want to hear that offenders will be held fully accountable,” he said.
This murder is another frightening crime for Surrey, said community activist Darlene Boyer, who is among those organizing a rally for Surrey this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Newton Seniors Centre.
“We’re horrified about what is going on and mainly it feels like it’s the revolving door of justice,” Boyer said.
Caissie was born to an alcoholic mother and an abusive father, prison records say. He attacked his teacher in Grade 5 and by age 14 his mother said she could not control him and surrendered him to the foster care system.
“Surrounded by negative peers and gangs, he turned to drugs and violence in order to fit in and survive. This had consistently led him in and out of juvenile jail and prison,” the prison records say.
“I’m comfortable in jail,” Caissie told one psychiatrist. “I’m used to it. I know where I stand in here. If that’s what it takes, I shouldn’t be out.”
