Warning: this story contains references to sexual assault that could be disturbing to some readers.
A Surrey man with an extensive criminal history has been charged in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Serena Vermeersch.
Raymond Lee Caissie, 43, has been charged with second-degree murder. It’s not the first time he’s been charged with a violent crime.
In 1991, Caissie kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman who was working at Abbottsford’s Tretheway House museum. After forcing her to withdraw her daily limit from an ATM, he raped her again and left her in a field near the U.S. border, gagged and tied to a tree.
The details of his prior crimes are known because they were shared in court and reported in the news at the time. In 1992, Caissie pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, two counts of robbery, and one count of forcible confinement. He was sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison, a sentence that ended last year.
In June 2013, the month of his release, Surrey RCMP issued a warning to the public about him. It called him a “high-risk sexual and violent offender” who “has maintained a varied pattern of offending, having offended both violently and sexually, in both an opportunistic and impulsive manner.”
The conditions of Caissie’s release required him to remain in British Columbia unless given written permission to travel. He was also prohibited from possessing knives, firearms, imitation firearms, controlled substances, or “any tool or device that can be used for the purposes of restraint.”
A search and rescue team found Vermeersch’s body in the 14600-block of 66 Avenue on Sept. 16.
Vermeersch was reported missing by her mother that morning. She was last seen boarding a transit bus at the corner of 64 Avenue and 128 Street on the day before her body was found. Her family realized something was wrong immediately.
“She was very much dedicated to her family, she kept in touch with her family on a regular basis,” Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokeswoman Staff-Sgt. Jennifer Pound said at a news conference Thursday.
On Monday, Pound read a statement provided by the family.
“We’re currently receiving the support we need from friends and family in the face of Serena’s passing,” she read. “We appreciate the concern and kind words we are receiving, but we respectfully ask that our privacy remain undisturbed.”
The case had veteran police officer Surrey RCMP Chief-Supt. Bill Fordy expressing his anger.
"Nothing angers me more than innocent people becoming victims of crime," Fordy said Thursday. "And in this particular case we have 17-year-old girl who had the rest of her life to live and she has been taken from her friends and her family."
Asked at Monday’s press conference whether he thought his department would benefit from additional resources, as some have called for in the wake of Vermeersch’s murder, Fordy said that was an oversimplification of the problem.
“Every time I’m asked that question, I have always said I would like more resources,” he said. “A number of different social pressures and challenges fall to the police as the service provider of first resort as opposed to last resort. We are actively engaged in a number of partnerships and working groups in an effort to try to solve those problems before the police or the justice system is engaged.”
Caissie is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 2.
