← The Expert Witness from Uncover
The Expert Witness from Uncover
S32 E7: Plausible, Intelligent and Ruthless | Sea of Lies
00:39:59
<p>The trial attracts media coverage across the globe. Sheena finally has her moment on the stand, with Albert’s fate resting in her hands. Nearly 30 years on, Sam explores what’s happened to Albert Walker and the victims he left behind.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/your-guide-to-uncover-where-to-start-1.7471316" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Your guide to Uncover: Where to go next</strong></a></p>
Loading summary
Transcript87 lines
- [00:00]
Jamie Poisson
Hey, this is Jamie Poisson, and I host another CBC News podcast called Front Burner. I've been listening to World Report for years now. It's the perfect way to get a sense of what's going on in Canada and around the world in just 10 minutes. Front burner is a bit different. We dive deep into one story every day. Often it's one of the stories you might hear on World report explored over.
- [00:20]
Sam Mullins
20 or so minutes.
- [00:22]
Jamie Poisson
If you're looking to round out your listening diet, check us out.
- [00:25]
Sam Mullins
Find Front Burner wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast.
- [00:35]
Sheena Walker
Our barrister made the decision that he wanted to open the trial with Sheena.
- [00:41]
Sam Mullins
My Lord, the first witness I'm going to call is Sheena Walker. There was an audible gasp as everyone looked to the back door in disbelief. Most of the reporters weren't expecting Sheena Walker to be on the witness stand at all, let alone be first. And she was all alone, because even though Officer Brian Slade had been with her every step, preparing her for this moment, he was not there in the courtroom to see it. I didn't go into court because they.
- [01:14]
Sheena Walker
Were worried that she might keep staring.
- [01:16]
Sam Mullins
At me for reassurance and the defense might pick her up and think, well, who is this person? And try to get a little chink in the armor. Yeah. I was asked not to. As she moved toward the witness box, all eyes were on her, none more intently than those of her father. His eyes seemed to be reaching out, determined to meet hers, but he was boxed out by the body of a support worker. Sheena stumbled as she went up the step, was sworn in, and then when the clerk whispered something that only she could hear, she took the hard candy out of her mouth and wrapped it tightly in a napkin. Your full name is Sheena Elizabeth Walker, Correct. And you were born in Canada? Correct. Was it your choice to accompany your father to England? Yes. You used fake names. Why? My mother was after custody of my siblings and after my father for financial support. As prosecutor Charles Barton steered her through, Sheena answered every question with conviction. Detective Ian Clenahan was there in the courtroom.
- [02:32]
Detective Ian Clenahan
She was very, very calm, very determined, and stood there and gave it like it was. And we knew what she could say, we knew what she'd already told us, and it was a matter of her getting that out in court.
- [02:46]
Sam Mullins
Sheena was only on the stand for a short period of time that day, but she was able to cover a lot of ground. Meeting Elaine and Ron, taking their names, she and her father posing as a married couple. Ron moving back to England. And then the key timeline detail. Sheena said that the last time she ever saw Ron Platt was at Christmas 1995. About six months later, in June 96, Walker told her that Ron had given up and had traveled across to France to the Bordeaux region. Sheena told detectives that on July 20, during their holiday in Devon, Walker went for a solo sale for the entire day. A month after that was when Officer Peter Redmond called Walker to inform him that Platt's body was found in the channel. Sheena was in the room when he called him and described her father as seeming shocked. And what happened then after the police first called your dad? We made plans to move. But the most important detail. Barton wanted Sheena to tell the jury the reason the police were so keen to have her on the stand that they worked with the RAF to make it possible. That, of course, was saved for last. When was the last time you talked to your father? He asked me to change my testimony. He asked me to say that I knew Ron was in Devon and that I was supposed to know that Ron had been on the boat as well. And with that, the first day was done. It had been a gutsy move to open with Sheena, but the guts Sheena showed on the stand were all anyone was talking about.
- [04:34]
Detective Ian Clenahan
On the first day of his murder trial, the key witness against him was his daughter.
- [04:38]
Jamie Poisson
Albert Walker's eyes were fixed on his daughter throughout her testimony. But the young woman who once masqueraded as her father's wife never even looked in his direction.
- [04:48]
Sam Mullins
She was very poised, very composed, very mature, if I may say so.
- [04:54]
Jamie Poisson
Tomorrow, Sheena Walker will take the stand once more, this time to answer questions put by her father's defense team.
- [05:01]
Sam Mullins
We're going to see Richard Ferguson, who is among the best criminal lawyers in the United Kingdom, do his thing, if you will. Foreign I'm Sam Mullins, and this is Sea of lies from CBC's uncover. Episode 7. Plausible, intelligent, and ruthless. As Sheena took the witness stand on the second day of her cross examination, one reporter noted that she seemed even more grounded than the day before. She glanced in her father's direction, but his eyes were no longer on her. Whether he had resigned himself to the realization that he no longer had any sway over her or his attorney, Richard Ferguson, had coached him to stop eyeballing her so intensely. His eyes were elsewhere. As Ferguson took the floor, the defense began by getting Sheena to reconfirm something that came up the day before. That it was indeed her idea to accompany her father to Britain. And that she left Canada of her own free will. It was he then led her to confirm that she knew Platt to be a depressive and someone who had become disenchanted with England. And that she had heard there was a plan in place for Ron to move to France to start a new life. That was right. But the point Ferguson seemed most determined to amend from her testimony was the same one her father had called her from prison to amend. Ferguson posited that her father had called her in Essex from Devon on July 9th and told her about the best day of sailing in his life and that he had told her that Ron was with him on the boat. She said no, that call never happened. And then she said Ron was impartial to water. Ferguson then turned to paint the phone call from prison in a new light. He said that her father wasn't telling her to make up a story for his benefit. He was merely helping her to more accurately remember the truth. But Sheena's story was solid as a rock. After Albert told her Ron had gone to France in June, there was not another mention of him and certainly no time where her father had said he was hanging out in Devon with Ron. When Ferguson was done with his questioning before the judge let her go, he turned to Sheena for clarification on her comment about Ron being impartial to water. She said he didn't like water. He didn't swim. He didn't like getting on a boat, even a large boat. With that, Sheena's testimony was done. But the judge needed one more thing before they moved on. He turned to both attorneys to address the elephant that had entered the courtroom ever since Sheeana had said that she was posing as her father's wife and had become pregnant. Yes, because you're going to ask as a jury member, what is the relationship? He said, it is obvious that there were matters raised that were not explored in detail. Are you absolutely comfortable that all the matters relevant to the jury's case have been heard? Both agreed they had nothing further. He's on trial for murder, not for anything else. The paternity of Sheena's two children was information that never entered the public record. In the center of the storm, she had been credible and poised. While it was obvious that Ferguson had been coached by his client to poke holes in her testimony, Sheena's clear eyed denial of knowing that Ron had been in Devon painted a damning picture of Albert Walker. He had intentionally left Sheena, the person he was most honest with, in the dark about Ron Platt's. Final movements. And there's really only one reason he would do that. Sheena was free to step down, as the detectives who had been on the case for two years were left in awe of her.
- [09:25]
Detective Ian Clenahan
I think she'd seen the light, hadn't she? She'd been under his spell for so many years. Once that spell was broken and he was taken away from her, I think then she became aware of how wrong everything was and how manipulative he was. And, yeah, I think she made that conscious decision to step out from him and say, look, this is it. This is the end of me being ruled by him. We were all delighted with how she managed to stand up to it. Just the fact that she had the courage to stand up and fight against their father after what he put her through. I thought it was fabulous.
- [10:02]
Sam Mullins
Sheena had delivered the prosecution an undeniably strong start. How severely damaged, maybe even reduced to tatters to some extent do you think the defense is right now? They are badly hurt at the outset. I think if you're on the prosecution side, you're really, I think, sending a message to the jury. What you're saying is, if this man is capable of this, he's probably capable of anything. Anything you hear from him may not be true. And there were still 35 witnesses to go. One after the other. The jury heard from everyone related to the case. Fisherman John Coppock, who discovered Ron's body, the coroner, Detective Redmond Clenahan, the residents of Little London Lane, his colleagues at his therapy business. And then finally, it was Elaine's turn.
- [10:56]
Elaine Boyce
I'd actually gone for counseling beforehand, and I was explained what to wear and how to ground myself.
- [11:03]
Sam Mullins
Naturally, Elaine was riddled with anxiety until a police officer told her, no need to worry, just be Elaine. So when she got into the witness.
- [11:13]
Elaine Boyce
Box, I actually did okay. Yeah. I actually went in there feeling quite. Quite powerful, if that's the right word. It's not the right word. Really powerful, but, yeah, it'll do.
- [11:24]
Detective Ian Clenahan
She was able to really display to the court the motive behind it, the fact that he saw this as an opportunity. She kind of explained to the jury, the court, how they benefited him and the jury, I think, were able to see and form, yeah, that is a good motive to kind of to get them out the country. And Ron couldn't explain to the court and Elaine, she was able to speak on Ron's behalf and explain to the court exactly why Ron. Ron had to be disposed of, if you like. And it was quite compelling. Yeah.
- [12:03]
Sam Mullins
The jury were then presented by admitted relevant facts agreed to by both sides, Namely this little detail that Walker ran a financial company in Canada and is being sought by authorities for stealing over $4 million from his friends, clients and partners. The prosecution then ended with a focus on the forensics. A tidal expert explained that the body could only have been found where it was if it had entered the water out at sea. Next, the jury were told that there were microscopic bits of metal from the anchor Walker bot that were found in the fibers of Platt's belt. Platt's fingerprints and hair were discovered in the cabin of Walker's boat, Lady Jane, and that the GPS had been turned off on the evening of July 20, when the lady Jane's coordinates were virtually exactly where the fishermen discovered Ron's body one week later. Mic drop. And with that, everyone turned to the defense and to Albert Walker.
- [13:08]
Detective Ian Clenahan
He's listening to this scenario all coming together, and he's probably thinking, at that point, I really am in trouble. Yep.
- [13:15]
Sam Mullins
Most attorneys would advise their client in the situation, even when you're perceived to be losing, not to take the witness stand. Exposing yourself to cross examination is no joke. And most defendants will wilt under the pressure of a talented prosecutor like Barton. But most defendants are not Albert Walker.
- [13:37]
Richard Ferguson
Oh, high drama this morning. Richard Ferguson, the defense qc, had quite a considered preamble where he looked directly at the jury and he told them, you will hear very shortly from Albert Walker. But what I want to say to you is that the prosecution case is really a list of maybes. The prosecution have propounded a load of theories and speculation.
- [13:58]
Sam Mullins
Albert Walker had sat for days biting his tongue as Sheena and Elaine and neighbors and colleagues, one after the other, effectively painted him in the least flattering and most incriminating of lights. According to them, he was a liar, a ruthless, duplicitous villain.
- [14:17]
Richard Ferguson
If he is guilty, this is a man throwing a gigantic dice. This is a huge gamble.
- [14:23]
Sam Mullins
Everything he'd gotten in life, earned or not, was by persuading people that he was an honest and caring man. It didn't matter what people in his Canadian past or what his daughter or police or what the press or barristers thought of him. All that mattered was the jury, and he was determined to change their minds. These mere eight women and four men, regular citizenship, held the rest of his life in their hands. Walker knew that no reasonable person would have thought that he was innocent after what they'd heard thus far. But he also knew that he possessed a gift and therefore a punter's chance. Ferguson called his client to the stand.
- [15:12]
Richard Ferguson
So then he goes into the witness box. Smart dark suit, red and blue striped tie. This is a distinguished looking man, grey hair, full beard, crossed his legs, cradled his chin between thumb and forefinger and looked very at ease, I'm bound to say.
- [15:28]
Sam Mullins
And so for the next several hours, he had the opportunity, with strategic prompts from his attorney, to present his version of his time in England, beginning in December 1990. He told the jury that he didn't want Sheena to join him in the uk, but she pleaded he bought Elaine and Ron the tickets to Canada not because he needed to steal their identities, but simply because he couldn't afford to pay Elaine's salary anymore. And Canada was his dear friend Ron's dream. And it was Sheena's idea for them to first pose as husband and wife. Ron knew that I was posing as him. He had willingly given me his ID to do just that. And yes, yes, I am on the run from Canada for financial crimes, it's true, but I never would have done anything to hurt my friend Ron. At intermittent breaks, all the reporters would run outside to do a quick hit for television.
- [16:30]
Jamie Poisson
Walker talked without any obvious embarrassment about the process of taking Platt's identity.
- [16:35]
Richard Ferguson
What he said, in essence, in the first hour or so of presenting his version of events, is, I am a crook, but I'm not a killer.
- [16:42]
Sam Mullins
His story was a meandering, hairy one, filled with tangents. Ferguson tried to keep him on track, but Albert seemed to relish finally having the stage to himself. He smiled often, tried to keep it light. And it was obvious to those in the courtroom, like Elaine watching from the gallery, that his confidence was growing as he went.
- [17:07]
Elaine Boyce
And there was a point in, in his evidence when they, they stopped for a break. And in that break, he sat there in his suit, looking like a perfect gentleman businessman. And he scans and he's looking around the court cool as a cucumber, and he catches my eye and I actually think, I'm going to beat you. I'm going to beat you, mate. And I tried to stare him out and I stared and I stared and he stared as well. And I couldn't do it any longer, just had to turn away. So he beat me. He beat me.
- [17:43]
Sam Mullins
But when he reached the part of the story of most consequence, everyone in the courtroom leaned forward. Because this is where the prosecution and defense's stories were most at odds. The prosecution had alleged that Walker killed Ron on July 20, but Walker claimed that the last full day he spent with Ron was ten days before that. Walker's story was that he'd enlisted Ron to help him sail the Lady Jane all the way from Devon to Essex. But when they set out on July 9, they immediately had trouble. Their plan was to sail the first 60 miles to a place called Portland Bill. But Ron Platt got seasick and then, in the choppy waters, had hurt himself. They had to abort the trip and turn the Lady Jane around the next day. Walker had said, maybe it's best that you just go to France, and gave Ron enough money to be on his way. And he alleges that he never saw him again after that. He claimed that he told all this over the phone to Sheena that night, but he said that Sheena tends to forget things. Ferguson ended his time with Albert in the witness box by asking him to describe the nature of his relationship with Ron. When he became overcome with emotion, Walker said, he was a friend, somebody I felt a responsibility to. To take care of. I have never hit anyone in my life, nor have I ever been hit by anyone in my life. I'm a very passive person. I had no reason in the world to kill him or ever harm him. He began sobbing and saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Clinahan watched from a seat.
- [19:34]
Detective Ian Clenahan
I do remember him crying when he started to shed some tears over the fact that how could anyone possibly think that he could hurt anyone, let alone his best friend, Ron Platt?
- [19:47]
Sam Mullins
His version drew to a close and the general impression was that he'd done what he'd set out to do. He offered a clear and plausible version of events.
- [19:58]
Richard Ferguson
He's giving the performance of his life, and he's certainly a smooth talking, charming man, if indeed he is guilty of all those fraud offences back in Canada. I can quite understand why, because he's a very believable man. But whether the jury will believe him, well, we shall know, hopefully early or the middle of next week.
- [20:15]
Sam Mullins
The easy part for Walker was done, but all the while, he was regaling the jury with the whirlwind tale of the six years in question. Barton, the prosecutor's pen, never stopped moving. He got his crack at Walker the next afternoon, which happened to be July 1, Canada Day. Barton began his cross examination by honing in on Walker's story about this aborted sailing trip he claimed to have had with Ron. He asked, did you call the Coast Guard about the sailing trip you took on July 9, 1996? Yes, Walker said. You were sailing from the River Dart to Portland Bill was the plan. Do you know the distance from Dartmouth to Portland, Bill? Walker said, I Don't know, Barton asked. For a ballpark, Walker said, I haven't the faintest idea. Interesting. Also interesting, Barton pointed out, was that there was no record of him calling the coast guard on the 8th, 9th, or 10th. Barton pivoted to the fact that Ron's three suitcases were filled with clothes and personal belongings and were found in Walker's storage unit. How could Platt exist in his new life in France without his clothes? He was emigrating, claimed Walker.
- [21:40]
Jamie Poisson
The prosecution's cross examination of Albert Walker was relentless. Prosecutor Charles Barton portrayed Walker as a pathological liar. The lies are tumbling out, aren't they, Mr. Walker? Barton said as quickly as you can think of them. No, Walker said. There's no lies there at all.
- [21:59]
Sam Mullins
Barton demolished the supposed sailing trip to Essex just in the first 20 minutes and posed to the jury that July 9th wasn't about moving a boat. It was, he argued, Walker's first botched attempt at killing Platt. From there, things only got worse for Walker. When Barton asked if Walker's adoption of Ron Platt's name was intended to be permanent, he hesitated for a moment before answering yes. When Barton pointed out that he seemed unsure, Walker said, some things aren't permanent. To which Barton bellowed, surnames often are. Barton posited a simple idea of motive that Ron Platt, returning from Canada, was a problem for Walker.
- [22:48]
Jamie Poisson
In a highly charged exchange this afternoon, Bar Barton pressed right to the heart of his argument. Did you not foresee the risk that he might expose you in this country? Barton asked Walker. No, Walker said. And jeopardize your money and your liberty? No. Then Barton snapped, you took the opportunity on the boat to render him unconscious, didn't you? No, I didn't, Walker said. Then, quietly, Barton said the plan took longer, but it was the work of a moment to consign him to the deep. Walker replied, I did not murder Ron Platt. He was a friend of mine.
- [23:26]
Sam Mullins
The only thing you forgot, said Barton, was the Rolex. Barton's cross examination of Walker was a complete disaster for the defense. In Barton's final words to the jury, he chose to praise Sheena. He said, what a job for a daughter. She came over to nail the fundamental lie that he knew where Ronald Platt was at all material times. He knew Ron was down on the dart. Just imagine the scope of the story that he could have constructed had Sheena not come to testify. Barton then put the jury one final thing that he thought warranted their consideration. There had been a series of unmistakable strikes of luck that had led them all here to this courtroom. The killer had forgot the Rolex, the coppock's miraculous discovery of the body, the police knocking on the wrong door, the anchor not selling at the boot sale. Each of these carried meaning by virtue of their unlikelihood. It was as if someone or something was watching over them, guiding them to be the ones to bring this man to justice. Hi, I'm Steve Patterson, host of the Debaters, a comedy podcast where Canada's funniest comedians debate the world's silliest topics, like maple syrup versus honey. Your suggestion that syrup is only good on pancakes. That's so untrue. There are a million different things you can use maple syrup on.
- [25:12]
Detective Ian Clenahan
2. Give me two other things.
- [25:14]
Sam Mullins
Forget the million crepes. That's French for pancake, buddy. That's the bare knuckle round, everybody. That just got sticky. Listen to the debaters wherever you get your podcasts. Before sending them to deliberate, Judge Butterfield addressed the jury. He said that while the prosecution had presented a case nearly solely of circumstantial evidence, that they should consider all these factors not in isolation, but in combination. He said, now take your notebooks and pencils into the jury room with you. But above all, take with you your common sense and your knowledge of the world. And then for all involved, it was nail biting time.
- [26:05]
Elaine Boyce
It had to be unanimous, a unanimous verdict. And I thought, oh, gosh, this is going to be hard. What if one person, what if that little old deer in that corner decides that he might be innocent?
- [26:16]
Sam Mullins
The general rule in cases like this is the longer the deliberations, the, the better the outcome for the defense.
- [26:23]
Elaine Boyce
Everybody went to the local cafe in the courtyard there and were all waiting and speculating.
- [26:29]
Sheena Walker
Normally in a murder case, you would anticipate them being out for maybe a day, maybe a couple of days, but.
- [26:37]
Sam Mullins
In this case, it just took them the lunch break.
- [26:41]
Elaine Boyce
And then the red light had gone on.
- [26:45]
Sheena Walker
So when they announced that the jury were returning to court, nobody was prepared for that because it was literally so quick.
- [26:53]
Elaine Boyce
And we all rushed back up to the court and I remember thinking to myself, there's only one person in the public gallery that this really, really affects. And I thought, that's me. I said, I know, really hope. I hope and pray that it's unanimous.
- [27:09]
Sam Mullins
Walker was led back upstairs from his holding cell.
- [27:12]
Sheena Walker
The tension is just, you cannot believe, electric, absolutely electric.
- [27:21]
Sam Mullins
With everyone in their places, Walker was ordered to rise.
- [27:25]
Detective Ian Clenahan
The foreman stands up and the clerk asks, you know, have you got to a verdict that you're all agreed on? Yes, we have.
- [27:33]
Sam Mullins
And the clerk Asks, how did you find the defendant, Albert Johnson Walker, guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
- [27:47]
Sheena Walker
And there's just audible gasps all around the room. I mean, you can physically feel the intakes of breath around the room and a wave of just huge relief.
- [27:59]
Sam Mullins
Two years of diligent police work, two hours of deliberation. It was the biggest victory some of these officers would ever be a part of.
- [28:10]
Detective Ian Clenahan
And then it's like kind of everything's crossed, and then the foreman says, guilty. And that's it. Yeah, you can't whoop and holler, can you? But you can inside the old British stiff upper lip and all, isn't it? But yeah, we get a party that night. We weren't going to let that go without a party.
- [28:29]
Sam Mullins
At the end of everything, Judge Butterfield addressed Walker directly. You are convicted of murder. It was, in my judgment, a callous, premeditated killing designed to have eliminated a man you used for your own selfish means. He became an inconvenience and then a threat to your continued freedom. He was expendable and a danger to you, and he had to die. The killing was carefully planned and cunningly executed with cheerful, chilling efficiency. You covered your tracks so effectively that only the merest chance led to any suspicion falling upon you. You are plausible, intelligent and ruthless, posing a considerable threat to anyone who stands in your way. You may go down.
- [29:20]
Elaine Boyce
I remember looking at him and thought he just looked like a lost little boy. He looked like a naughty little boy that was in the corner being told off. He didn't look as arrogant as he had done through the trial. So that was a good moment. Yeah. Yeah, it was. What a relief. Can you imagine what it would have felt like if he'd have got away with it?
- [29:42]
Jamie Poisson
Platt's former girlfriend, Elaine Boyce, could not contain her delight at the verdict.
- [29:46]
Elaine Boyce
But I feel really happy that the jury's come to the correct decision. I mean, they really have.
- [29:52]
Sam Mullins
Elaine strode out of the courthouse toward the cameras, a caricature of joy. Sheena left the trial and country the same way she had entered them undetected. She was whisked away, and thus her public life had concluded. There's no trace of Sheena Walker, for those trying to find her. And her ability to remove herself and her children from the public eye so thoroughly is something I consider to be a success story. In her teenage years, she was untraceable, thoroughly erased and reinvented by her father. And when she came out the other side, it seems she was able to fly under the radar just as effectively. But this time, perhaps to protect her own children. And I have a great deal of respect for that. How poetic that in the end it was the women in his life, the women he had targeted, bullied, manipulated, coerced and taken advantage of in every way possible. It was them and the courage of their testimony that undid him.
- [31:05]
Sheena Walker
Nothing prepares you then for the next part, which is the enormity of the media coverage. Soon as that guilty verdict comes in, then the story just goes huge. The following morning, it was front page of every national newspaper.
- [31:23]
Sam Mullins
For the police in Devon and Essex who had lived and breathed this case, it was a career defining win and it was justice for Ronald Platt.
- [31:33]
Detective Ian Clenahan
When you think about it logically, how we've got from there to there is unbelievable. Unbelievable. And it truly is. If you really think about it, you just think, how did we do that? And I keep going on about luck, but you know, yeah, everything we touched turned to gold.
- [31:49]
Sam Mullins
I'm not someone who believes in things like luck or fate or the hand of God, but maybe I just needed to hear the right story.
- [31:57]
Sheena Walker
I genuinely think Walker could have literally got away with murder. There was an element of luck on our side. I've always said that you create your own luck.
- [32:11]
Sam Mullins
Albert Walker was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for the first 25 years, the most severe possible punishment. It was unequivocal justice for Ron Platt and those who knew and loved him.
- [32:31]
Elaine Boyce
How do I want him to be remembered? As the kind and compassionate person that he was. He was very kind and very compassionate and he was the perfect gentleman. Unlike Albert Walker, of course. He was the perfect gentleman and he was always a gentleman, a very gentle soul. Didn't deserve to have his life taken like this. Yeah, I don't know why, but quite often the people that get murdered are the good, the kind, the generous. And yet I just don't understand it. I can't get my head around it. Can't get my head why people kill other people when they. When they're gentle souls. Just can't get me around it. I don't suppose I ever will, really.
- [33:17]
Sam Mullins
So in 2023, when we embarked on making this series and we began our research, we learned that Walker was not only still alive, but that a couple months earlier he was granted day parole somewhere in Canada. We tried to arrange an interview with him, but were rejected every which way. And I get why. He once gave a CTV journalist an interview from behind bars in 1998, one that didn't end well for him. It's also the only recording of his voice that we have.
- [33:51]
Elaine Boyce
What do you think happened to Ronald Blatt?
- [33:53]
Sam Mullins
I don't know.
- [33:54]
Detective Ian Clenahan
I really don't know. I mean, you know, we brought up.
- [33:57]
Sam Mullins
The issue of, you know, perhaps, you know, he committed suicide. Suicide. But.
- [34:04]
Detective Ian Clenahan
You just don't know.
- [34:07]
Sam Mullins
The victims of his crimes were so appalled by his apparent lack of remorse in the interview that they mobilized to write victim impact letters to the parole board pointing to his ongoing lack of accountability. So he wouldn't talk to us. But when someone applies for parole, whether they're granted it or not, all board decisions are publicly accessible. And in the case of Albert Walker, I was shocked by how much one can glean through reading them. After serving his first eight years in England, Albert was transferred to the Canadian penitentiary system in 2005, where the paperwork describes him mostly as an exemplary inmate. He was transferred to minimum security in 2017, where he participates in a seniors group and Bible study. He was once written up for contraband for having a pack of cigarettes. And one time he was reprimanded for helping his peers fill out their tax forms, which he's not allowed to do for obvious reasons. Walker is described as being an active participant in the rehabilitative programming on the inside, where he was taught to recognize his possible risk factors of re offense. Things like having access to large sums of money bad. Or losing his religious faith bad. In these programs, Walker was also taught to watch out for thinking errors that had plagued him in the past, namely these. Everyone does it. I won't get caught, and I deserve this. All in all, though, reading through the details of his engagement and good behavior, it's not surprising that he was granted day parole in June 2023, a fact that we relayed to Ron Platt's one surviving family member, his little brother Jeff. Where is he now? Because I've lost track of him.
- [36:13]
Detective Ian Clenahan
So he, as of August last year.
- [36:17]
Sheena Walker
Is now on day parole in Canada.
- [36:23]
Detective Ian Clenahan
Wow.
- [36:24]
Richard Ferguson
So, yeah, so.
- [36:27]
Sam Mullins
That'S coming to an unsatisfactory end. Many of the folks we talked to were disappointed to hear about Walker's day parole. But then a few months later, we learned that his day parole was revoked for a very simple reason. The man cannot stop lying. Of great concern to the board reads, the decision is that you continue to misrepresent your criminal behavior. Walker was caught downplaying the severity of his fraud offenses. In conversation, he'd characterize Walker Financial mainly as a legitimate business venture that simply didn't work out. But that wasn't all. He was also caught trying to lead a church service while the chaplain was on leave. And concerningly, the decision goes on to say you, case management team noted concerns that you were asking others to refer to you as David, one of your aliases you used in the uk. You also continue to claim that, contrary to the evidence presented at your trial, that the victim of the murder first attacked you even 26 years after his conviction. For the man who could convince anyone of anything when it comes to convincing a parole board that he takes accountability for his actions, he can't. He can't, cannot. And there's a reason why the language in the parole decision says that he has, quote, long standing personality features that are unlikely to ever completely go away. Personality features like a marked lack of empathy and a propensity to be manipulative. But to really understand why after all these years, Walker still can't own what he did, I turn to the person who perhaps knew him best, Sheena. In the only TV interview she ever gave to CTV News in 2005, Sheena said this of her father.
- [38:46]
Jamie Poisson
I think that he's evil.
- [38:48]
Sam Mullins
And I know a lot of people would describe him as a sociopath or a con artist, but for me personally, I think he's evil. Albert Walker is 79 years old. He is still behind bars. Sea of Lies is produced by what's the Story Sounds for cbc. It's hosted and written by me, Sam Mullins and produced and reported by Alex Gatenby. Mixing and sound design is by Ivan Eastlee. From what's the Story Sounds. Our executive producers are David Waters and Darrell Brown at CBC Podcasts. Emily Kinnell is our digital Coordinating producer. Eunice Kim is our story editor. Our senior producers are Andrew Friesen and Damon Fairless. Our cross promo producer is Amanda Cox. Our video producers are are Evan Agard, Tamina Aziz and John Lee. Our podcast artwork was designed by Good Tape Studio. Special thanks to the CBC Reference Library and special thanks to Rachel Heinrichs. The executive producers are Cecil Fernandez and Chris Oak. Senior manager is Tanya Springer, Arif Nurani is the director and Leslie Merklinger is the Executive Director of CBC Partners Podcasts Uncover will be back with an all new season next month. Between now and then, consider listening to one of the many excellent seasons that came before Sea of Lies. My personal favorite is the Village, which is Season three. In it, host Justin Ling explores the numerous cases of missing and murdered men in Toronto's gay community dating back to the 1970s. I've asked other former Uncover hosts about their favorite seasons. Click on the link in this episode's show. Notes to see what they have to say and to find your next listen. For more CBC Podcasts, go to CBC CA Podcasts.