Despicable Crime

[Vancouver Femme Fatale]

A single mother with her 3 children, a boy 8; and two girls 10 and 13 were murdered last night at around 3:40 am by some person who no longer, in my opinion, deserves to be on this earth.

The mother worked graveyard shifts at night and odd jobs during the day, anything to provide for her kids. The man who called in the fire watched in horror as a burning man ran from the house to a restaurant across the street. He was another son, 18, who's now in critical condition. His girlfriend who was staying over at the house also died.

Police are being tight-lipped but they have said they consider it an arson fire, with multiple points of ignition, and that it was fueled by gasoline. The man who called it in saw two explosions, and it's being said they found two melted jerry cans near the house.

And you know what? This mother had brought her children here from the Congo for a better life. God knows what they saw in the slaughter there. When her husband and the children's father, still in the Congo was told he fainted. They worked so hard and got so far. And then this.

How could anyone be so cruel, and so cowardly? This makes me so angry and sad.

 

[papasmerf]

sad as it is. It likely was a one of the people involved in the fire who started it

 

[booboobear]

And you know what? This mother had brought her children here from the Congo for a better life. God knows what they saw in the slaughter there. When her husband and the children's father, still in the Congo was told he fainted. They worked so hard and got so far. And then this.

How could anyone be so cruel, and so cowardly? This makes me so angry and sad.

It always makes me extremely sad and pissed of when someone kills a mother and her kids it's bad enough say if a ex husband kills his wife but you can at least say he had some twisted reason but to kill innocent kids is inexcusable.

 

[Vancouver Femme Fatale]

It likely was a one of the people involved in the fire who started it

Yes, unfortunately, stats back you up. There were two older children who were away from the house that evening.

It always makes me extremely sad and pissed of when someone kills a mother and her kids it's bad enough say if a ex husband kills his wife but you can at least say he had some twisted reason but to kill innocent kids is inexcusable.

Totally. Three kids dead. One kid severely burned, and a visiting teenager also dead. It's interesting that her husband is back in the Congo. He couldn't have done it himself, but one wonders if he was somehow connected anyway. Another angle may be the visiting girlfriend. She was Indo-Canadian, and we've seen some pretty extreme reactions here to Indo-Canadian daughters dating someone non-Indian.

 

[phogNphriction]

Here's a link.

www.thestar.com

5 die in B.C. townhouse fire
`Suspicious' blaze kills mom, children who came from Congo
Neighbours report explosion before flames engulfed home
May 16, 2006. 01:00 AM
STEVE MERTL
CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER—A mother who brought her children from war-torn
Congo in the late 1990s was killed in a suspicious fire at
a public housing project yesterday, along with her two
sons and two daughters.

A sixth person was taken to hospital with severe burns
from the blaze, which neighbours say began with an
explosion.

Vancouver police said autopsies will be needed to
positively identify the victims, which could take some
time.

Police and fire officials began a meticulous
investigation, treating the area as a crime scene.

Friends who arrived in tears identified the mother as
Adella Etibako, a well-liked woman who worked as a mall
cleaner and whose younger children were welcome playmates
for other kids in the complex. Her six children ranged in
age between 8 and 22.

Police and fire officials refused to release any
information about the investigation, including a possible
motive in setting the family home on fire.

"We certainly believe that there's been a flammable
liquid used. We don't know what that liquid is at this
time," said Capt. Rob Jones-Cook of the Vancouver Fire
Department.

An 18-year-old son who lived at home survived the blaze.
Police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning could not confirm he
was the hospitalized victim, saying investigators have
not been able to get a positive identification.

The eldest child, a 22-year-old daughter, did not live
at home. She arrived distraught at the fire scene late
yesterday morning.

Neighbours in the sprawling Skeena Terrace complex say
they heard an explosion before fire quickly engulfed the
three-level corner townhome around 4 a.m.

"I heard a boom," said Doreen Brideau, who lives in one
of the units down the street and said she heard an
explosion sometime after 3 a.m.

Her son Bryan Lino, 19, said he was working on his
computer and thought he smelled smoke before the
explosion.

Fanning said police, who were first on the scene,
"started kicking in doors and getting everybody out — a
very frantic scene."

A total of 22 people were taken to temporary shelter,
an emergency social services spokeswoman said.

Police cordoned off several blocks of the city's east
side — including a major commuter artery overlooked by
the home — during morning rush-hour traffic and a
nearby school was closed for the day.

Friends say Etibako apparently brought her children to
Canada in the late 1990s. Her youngest was born in Congo.
The children's father remained in the African country.

A sobbing Mary Kabongolo said Etibako was always
friendly, always smiling.

"Everybody liked her," she said. "Her kids were my kids'
friends. It's crazy... You wake up and they tell you
they're all gone."

Kabongolo said the Congolese community in Vancouver
isn't very big but it's "big enough for us to be there
for each other.

"For us, it's a big loss because it's never happened.
It's a tragedy. I don't know what to say. I don't how
to explain to my kids that they won't see their friends
anymore. It's very difficult."

The family moved to Skeena Terrace three or four years
ago from a home in the nearby suburb of Burnaby.

The 234-unit housing complex is an aging but tidy
development but neighbours say crime is becoming a
problem.

Police were called to Etibako's unit 17 months ago to
investigate a stabbing at a New Year's party. There
was no immediate indication the fire had any connection
to the stabbing,(sic)

I concur with your assessment Vancouver Femme Fatale.
This crime is absolutely despicable.

According to a CityTv report today, police investigated
the throwing of a Molotov cocktail at the townhouse
complex on April 30th, although they are not saying yet
whether they think this incident is related.

In any case, at the moment it is being investigated as
a case of Arson, meaning the police do not believe the
fire was caused accidentally.

Locally, there have been several recent incidents in
Richmond Hill involving the throwing of Molotov cocktails
at houses and other property. So far, no one has been
seriously injured or killed.

 

[Papi Chulo]

Locally, there have been several recent incidents in
Richmond Hill involving the throwing of Molotov cocktails
at houses and other property. So far, no one has been
seriously injured or killed.

Last week, some kids on an overpass in BC threw a molotov cocktail onto the highway below.

 

[phogNphriction]

If you play with fire, you will get burned.
Let's hope those responsible do, literally or
figuratively (take your pick).

 

[phogNphriction]

CP24 reports the 'flammable liquid' was gasoline,
applied to exterior walls. Sounds evil.

Excuse the double post, I got distracted

 

[Vancouver Femme Fatale]

They're now trying to determine if the Etibako family was specifically targeted, or if it was random. There's also been mention by one of the reporters that one of the family members was supposedly to be testifying in an upcoming criminal case.

The whole city is right pissed and disgusted, and the cops are throwing a lot of manpower at the case. As one reporter said, "So, now we've got a mass-murdering arsonist loose on the streets?" So people are also scared as hell.

The cops have now put out a call for anybody who may have noticed someone buying gasoline in containers in the area, on Saturday or Sunday night which kind of tells you they know it was gasoline, and that they did find jerrycans.

 

[Papi Chulo]

As one reporter said, "So, now we've got a mass-murdering arsonist loose on the streets?" So people are also scared as hell.

Nicely worded by the media to help create paranoia

I think it is a little pathetic that people are scared as hell... There was one fire. Maybe they would have reason to be scared if there had been more than one.

 

[Vancouver Femme Fatale]

Actually, there was. Somebody tossed a Molotov a block down in the same complex two weeks ago. They don't know if both incidents are related. Myself, I doubt they are. Arsonists don't tend to change it up too much.

That reporter's a damn lazy bastard...what he should have said was;

"So, now we've got a mass-murdering arsonist loose on the streets, who's possibly right behind you, right now!!!

I think the reason people are scared, especially in the Congolese community, is because it's got to occur to folks there's at least an outside chance it could be race-related