The lead investigator in the Russell Williams case says that even though the former military commander has been sentenced to life in prison for murder, police continue to probe whether he may have committed additional crimes.
OPP Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas wouldn't say where the investigation is focusing, or what other crimes police believe Williams may have committed. But Nicholas confirmed in an interview with CTV's Catherine Lathem on Wednesday that a full-time investigation team continues to work on the case.
Lathem said police are probing whether the former colonel's crimes may stretch back earlier than 2006 in Canada and abroad.
"They're concerned that Williams travelled all over the world in his job," Lathem said. "They're going back looking at places he's been across the country, places he's been around the world, working with other police departments to see whether there are any other victims out there."
A former military pilot and former commander of Canada's largest airbase, Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in October for the sex slayings of Jessica Lloyd and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau.
He also pleaded guilty to 82 break-and-enters and thefts, as well as two counts of sexual assault on other women.
In a chilling revelation, Nicholas also disclosed Wednesday that a female police officer visited Lloyd's Belleville, Ont., home the same night that Russell Williams was waiting to trap her.
The officer knocked on Lloyd's door after spotting a suspicious vehicle parked in a field near her home -- a Nissan Pathfinder owned by Williams, police would learn later.
Williams was hiding in the backyard, waiting for his chance to enter the home and for Lloyd to return home later that night. When the officer did not get a response after knocking at the door, she made sure the house was secure and left the scene.
Williams broke in through her patio door after Lloyd returned home and went to sleep. For hours, she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and eventually brought to Williams' cottage in nearby Tweed, Ont. Williams strangled Lloyd and later dumped her body in a field near his cottage.
Nicholas said that the officer's actions observations helped nab Williams much more quickly than would otherwise be possible.
"Her observation on that evening… was able to assist us in narrowing down the vehicles we were looking for from 20 to probably 3, which included Russell Williams' vehicle," Nicholas said.
The officer, who Nicholas described as "young," felt there might be something suspicious about the vehicle sitting in the field, which he said is "not uncommon in a rural setting."
The officer also looked to see if anyone was outside the home, but did not see Williams.
"We're very proud of the officer, of her observations," Nicholas said. "Obviously, she didn't know then what she knows now and if she did, I'm sure she would have taken further steps to find out what that vehicle was. And that's something she has to live with and she's dealing with and she feels very bad. We're supporting her 100 per cent."
Just over a week after Lloyd was reported missing, police announced that they had arrested Williams in connection with her murder. He was also charged with murdering Comeau, a military flight attendant who was killed the previous fall, and with the sexual assaults of two other women in the same region.
Two months after the initial charges were laid, the OPP announced that they had charged Williams with 82 additional offences, which related to dozens of break-ins in Eastern Ontario.
In October, Williams pleaded guilty to all of the charges that had been laid against him in a Belleville court. He admitted to raping and killing both of his murder victims and to sexually assaulting two other women.
In an agreed statement of facts, prosecutors revealed that Williams started breaking into homes and stealing underwear and other personal items from his victims. He often posed in the clothing he stole, using a camera to document everything he had taken.
Over time, Williams began committing sexual assaults and murders.
Police chose not to notify residents that a sex predator could be on the loose until a second woman was attacked in the area. Nicholas said that in future, police will warn the public earlier.
"Unfortunately in Tweed, Russell Williams went undetected and not one of the break and enters was reported to police," he said.
Williams is now serving a life sentence in Kingston Penitentiary.
The military has stripped him of his rank and burned the Canadian Forces uniforms he used to wear.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
