Man once charged with murder sentenced for
obstructing justice
Trentonian
Local News - Friday, August 19, 2005 @ 10:00
BELLEVILLE – David Hansen has been sentenced to an additional 12 months house
arrest for obstructing justice by recanting, on the witness stand, a sworn
statement to police implicating another man in the murder of Deborah Larigee.
Larigee’s decomposed and partially skeletilized body was found in a ditch on
Aikins Road in Sidney on July 26, 2003. There was significant blunt trauma to
Larigee’s face but the cause of death could not be ascertained.
Police believe Larigee was murdered July 20, 2003.
An autopsy revealed she sustained major head injuries; one side of her skull was
crushed.
Donald Moir and Hansen were charged following an eight-month OPP investigation.
A second degree murder charge was withdrawn against Moir last November when
Justice Stephen Hunter determined there was insufficient evidence – given
discrepancies placed before the court in testimony by both Hansen and another
witness – to proceed to trial.
Hansen had initially been charged with accessory to murder but that charge was
withdrawn in favour of an “obstruct justice” charge.
Hansen, middle-aged and balding with a bushy mustache and wearing a blue,
pin-striped three-piece suit, was present while his fate was discussed openly
Wednesday in the Ontario Court of Justice (Belleville).
Hastings Crown attorney Lee Burgess said police took the unusual step to apply
for, and receive ministerial approval to unseal a pardon of Hansen’s criminal
record, showing he was convicted in 1981 for making a false accusation.
Burgess said Hansen “deliberately” thwarted the OPP murder investigation
after recanting a videotaped statement in which he claimed he assisted Moir to
dispose of Larigee’s body in a ditch on Bonisteel Road.
“At every step of the game the story changed; inconsistencies noted,”
Burgess said. “The seriousness and importance of telling the truth was made
known to him. He knew he had to tell the truth; that it was important to tell
the truth to police. His deliberate attempt to thwart this investigation should
be condemned by this court ... he obviously knows the truth of something about
it (in providing police with details matching evidence only they knew of).”
Burgess asked Hunter to impose a one year custodial sentence.
Hunter said it was obvious Hansen – held in protective custody at the Quinte
Regional Detention Centre in Napanee for six months while Moir was also housed
there – feared for his safety.
“Is there a difference between someone who wants to throw police off (an
investigation) and a person who tells the truth but recants out of fear?”
Hunter asked. “I have absolutely no difficulty coming to the conclusion that
he was legitimately afraid of Mr. Moir.”
Defence counsel Bob Graydon said a pre-sentence report completed on Hansen was
accurate.
Graydon called Hansen’s life “horrific” and “tragic since the time of
conception” but declined to go into detail.
He said Hansen is diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, hears voices, was
suicidal while in custody, and requires 11 different prescription pills daily.
Graydon said Hansen met Moir in July of 2002 while looking for street-level pain
medication for a 15-year-old condition.
Hansen feared Moir, but cooperated with police briefly because he wanted to
“feel important” Graydon said.
Hansen spent six months at the Quinte Regional Detention Centre in Napanee, and
has been trouble-free serving the last 10 months house under arrest on Palmer
Road in Belleville, Graydon added.
“I have a great deal of reluctance in one sense (in sentencing Hansen),”
Hunter said. “My instinctive reaction is that someone should be punished
severely for this brutal death. The court must resist the desire to inflict this
on Mr. Hansen, an individual whose needs and circumstances should be
addressed.”
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