View from the StripBy Casey Lessard
Warning: graphic details of the Rivera and Regier murders follow. Discretion is advised.
If there is any reason people feel uneasy about the Jesse Imeson trial, I suggest it is this: we still have no explanation for why Jesse Imeson decided to kill Carlos Rivera, and Bill and Helene Regier. At least Imeson has an explanation for the former, claiming that Rivera was sexually assaulting him by performing fellatio as he slept. That’s certainly possible; no one has the right to touch you without your permission, let alone perform oral sex on you. Imeson claims he woke up to see Rivera performing said act, and strangled Rivera to death with his belt. He told Lindsay Glavin that another guy did it, and that he watched as Rivera’s “eyes went white and blood bubbles came from his nose.” Later, he told a Quebec police officer, “the gay guy, if I had to do it again, I would do it.” With regards to the murders of Bill and Helene Regier, his lawyer relayed an apology at his Oct. 27 trial, telling the Regier family that he didn’t intend to kill Bill and Helene. His alleged lack of intent in the Regier case, and crime of passion argument in the Rivera case seem to have saved him from facing first degree instead of second-degree murder charges. But this is where I get confused. Why did the crown believe anything Imeson said? He has already proven himself to be a liar and a con artist. In fact, everything he says is suspect, especially his insulting and ridiculous apology. No one witnessed the murders except Imeson, so I suppose we have to take into consideration his testimony. Fine, believe the method, but doubt the rationale. I will never believe that Imeson did not intend to kill any of his victims, especially the Regiers, whose hands he had tied so they would be helpless. Bill was tied to the posts and rafters holding up the house, and Helene was securely bound on the floor. Neither of them was going anywhere, and Imeson would have had many hours to flee. So why do it? Why pull the trigger, not once, but many times until they were more than dead? It’s disgusting to think of Imeson’s rationale for the act, and the fact that they were in a harmless state tells me that he had intent. Apparently, he had plenty of time to think about it. And if this is the way he approached a murder he “didn’t intend” to do, how did he approach Carlos Rivera? We will never know. There is some consolation in the fact that Jesse Imeson is locked up for the next 25 years. It’s the most our justice system can do. So why does he seem pleased? I can’t help feeling that he believes he’s still in control, and that he’s going to be remembered. On the latter point, at least, he’s right. However, unlike the heroic demon he seems to hope we will recall, I’ll just remember him as a bottom-rung loser who tried to bring others down. The Rivera and Regier families won’t forget him either. Fortunately, they won’t have to look at his face for another 25 years, and then, as Carol Denomy says, they “will remain vigilant to ensure in 25 years that Jesse Imeson remains behind bars.” We should all do the same.