Ronald Glenn West

Background

Ronald Glenn West was a Toronto police officer and served as a traffic cop at Toronto Police 53 Division. He was off duty on the dates of the murders in 1970. He quit the force in 1972 after four years’ service.

Ronald Glenn West had a wife and sons. He later had a second wife and two teen boys from a first marriage that was never dissolved.

While serving an eight-year sentence for robbery, Ronald Glenn West was charged with first-degree murder in the 1970 sex slayings of nurses Helen Ferguson and Doreen Moorby. The case involved DNA evidence collected and preserved over the years, which was used to unravel the nurse slayings.

West was also under investigation in connection with a 1991 double murder at a picnic site just outside of Blind River, Ontario.

The offence

1970 murders of Doreen Moorby and Helen Ferguson

The first victim, Doreen Moorby, was killed at her rural Gormley home on May 6, 1970, while she was home alone with her 21-month-old son. Doreen Moorby was shot five times in the head and twice in the back with a .22-calibre gun. Her son was left unharmed.

Seven days later, Helen Ferguson was shot once in the head and twice in the back at her Palgrave home after she answered the door to a man. Helen Ferguson was 38 years old. Her nine-year-old son was unharmed in his bedroom. After hearing a knock at the door and a man’s voice, the nine-year-old then heard gunshots and later saw a man wipe the doorknob of fingerprints and then drive off.

The perpetrator in the 1970 murders was Ronald Glenn West, who was a Toronto police officer at the time.

1991 double murder at Blind River roadside park

Ronald Glenn West was described as a suspect in a 1991 picnic-area robbery in which two people were slain and another left for dead.

Gord McAllister was 62 years old and his wife Jackie McAllister was 59 years old. They were asleep in their motorhome at a scenic Blind River rest stop in Northern Ontario at 1 a.m. on June 28, 1991 when they opened their door to a man allegedly claiming to be a police officer. Jackie McAllister was killed instantly when the man opened fire with a rifle. Gord McAllister was shot in the back as he tried to escape but survived.

Brian Major, 29, of Elliot Lake, was shot dead in his car when he unwittingly stumbled upon the murder scene.

It was stated that the slayings occurred only a few kilometres from Blind River, where West lived with a second wife and two teen boys.

The gunman was described as entering with a rifle in each arm and saying: "I'm going to rob you, and then I'm going to kill both of you." Gord McAllister recalled telling reporters: "Going to kill both of you" was attributed to him in connection with the gunman’s statement. McAllister said he did not believe the man would kill them, but after the gunman took their valuables he began shooting.

McAllister said his wife was shot in the trailer and he was shot and left for dead outside the trailer. McAllister also said he saw the gunman fire shots into the windshield of a car that just happened by. Brian Major was described as "sadly 'in the wrong place at the wrong time,'" as recalled by McAllister, who also recalled the killer having stringy blond hair.

The man in the 1991 events was described as armed with a .22-calibre Lakefield Mossberg rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun.

1995 robberies spree

Ronald Glenn West was arrested in 1995 for a robbery spree in the Sault Ste. Marie area.

In Sault Ste. Marie court on Oct. 4, 1995, West pleaded guilty to what Ontario court Judge Lawrence Whalen called five “shocking” robberies, each one “coldly” and deliberately planned. In each case, West visited a home or business using a ruse that he wanted to buy something or needed some work done. In each robbery, the victim was alone and either old or female.

West visited Brian Langan in his Sault Ste. Marie home on May 25, 1995 after Langan advertised a hospital bed for sale. West left after consulting his wife pretext, but returned the next day. Brian Langan turned his back and never knew what hit him. Langan woke up on the floor with a bump on his head, a gag in his mouth, his face covered with an apron and his hands tied. West robbed Langan of a wallet, keys and $ 400. Since 1995, Langan had asked Correctional Services Canada (CSC) to advise him of West’s whereabouts. CSC told him he had been transferred to Joyceville maximum security prison.

On May 31, 1995, West struck the owner, Camillo Rovinelli, on the head three times with a steel wrench during a tour of a Sudbury rental apartment. When Rovinelli kicked at West in an attempt to fight him off, West pulled out a knife and threatened: "I need money ... I need money ... I need money." West ordered Rovinelli into a bedroom. When Rovinelli told West he feared bleeding to death, West replied: "You won't die, you're a tough guy." West tied Rovinelli’s hands and feet and left him in a closet. After hours of struggling, Rovinelli knocked some coat hangers off a shelf, managed to hook one around a lamp and break the bulb, and used broken glass to cut through his bindings.

On June 7, 1995, West entered the Holiday House gift boutique on Albert St. in Sault Ste. Marie. After chatting with clerk Mary Sarlo and telling her he was from Thunder Bay, he coerced her to a corner of the store, pulled out a gun, forced Sarlo to the floor, tied her hands and feet, and forced her into a closet. West went through Sarlo’s purse and removed jewelry from the display case.

On June 14, 1995, West entered Valentino Furs in Sault Ste. Marie, pulled a black handgun on a female clerk, tied her to a coat rack, put on a pair of surgical gloves, and stole numerous watches and rings worth $ 40,000.

Two days after the Valentino heist, West called a Sudbury-area man about masonry work but was told by the man’s wife, Paula Jones, that he wasn’t home. An hour later, West went to the house, and after Paula Jones let him in because the mosquitoes were bad, West pulled a gun. Before he gagged Jones with a rolled-up T-shirt and pulled three sweaters over her face, West put on a pair of yellow latex dishwasher gloves. West only got $ 15 and two cans of pop.

West’s spree came undone on June 20, 1995, when he went to the Money Pit Pawn Brokers in Sudbury and pawned a ring. A driver’s licence was used to identify himself, and it gave his Blind River address. The ring was one of those stolen from Valentino Furs.

Ten days later, a North Bay officer recovered numerous stolen diamonds and rings, again pawned using West’s driver’s licence. In the next few days, police found many stolen jewelry items in West’s house and vehicles, and a black replica handgun was also discovered. Many rings had been damaged by West in efforts to remove the precious stones.

When West was arrested in 1995 for the robbery spree, residents of Blind River were shocked. The community was described as one where people often did not lock their doors. West’s sons were placed in foster care after police showed up at their riverside home on Woodward Ave. and arrested their father.

Investigation

The nurse slayings of Doreen Moorby and Helen Ferguson were unravelled using DNA analysis of 29-year-old evidence.

Blind River Officer investigators probing the Moorby and Ferguson homicides refused to say whether there were links with the Blind River slayings. It was also stated that a Blind River OPP officer involved in the 1991 probe was working alongside Orillia-based major-crime-unit detectives.

OPP detectives searched West’s van and his home for links with the rest-area murders but found nothing.

Police were trying to determine if there were similarities in the way in which the Toronto murders, the Sault Ste. Marie robberies and the Blind River slayings were carried out.

When West was arrested in 1995, the police staked out his home for 48 hours, watching the suspect’s every move from a boathouse next door. West was on a cell phone outside when a half-dozen cruisers swarmed the property. His house was searched but nothing extraordinary was found.

Arrest

West was arrested in 1995 for a robbery spree in the Sault Ste. Marie area. Blind River residents were shocked by the arrest.

West was described as trying to pawn stolen rings and loose diamonds using his driver’s licence and his home address, and this was how he came undone.

Police showed up at Woodward Ave., where his sons lived, arrested their father, and put the boys in foster care.

Trial

Guilty plea to the 1970 murders

Ronald Glenn West pleaded guilty to the 1970 murders and was sentenced to two life sentences in prison on August 15, 2001.

Guilty plea to the 1995 robberies

In Sault Ste. Marie court on Oct. 4, 1995, West pleaded guilty to five “shocking” robberies. Ontario court Judge Lawrence Whalen described the robberies as “coldly” and deliberately planned.

Justice Whalen noted West had a previous record, but the offences were more than 20 years old. Whalen accepted that West had been able to lead a productive life free of crime for some considerable time and had been a family man. Whalen also took the long gap in West’s crimes and West’s age—48 at the time—into account when giving him eight years in prison.

Whalen further noted the vulnerability and the age of West’s victims, and said: "All (offences) involved violence and all imposed terror. "They were an outrage to the individuals and an outrage to the community," said Whalen.

Former police chief Barry King, now chief at Brockville, recalled how he advised Soo residents to lock their doors. King said: "This was vicious,".

Assistant Crown attorney Kelly Weeks recalled that the Valentino Furs robbery happened in the middle of the day and within a couple of blocks of the courthouse, and said: "It was as if the robber had no fear of police."

Sentencing

In Sault Ste. Marie court on Oct. 4, 1995, Judge Lawrence Whalen sentenced Ronald Glenn West to eight years in prison for the five robberies.

On August 15, 2001, Ronald Glenn West was sentenced to two life sentences in prison after pleading guilty to the 1970 murders.

Outcome

Ronald Glenn West was serving two life terms in prison after pleading guilty in 2001 to the 1970 murders of Doreen Moorby and Helen Ferguson.

It was also stated that because of the high risk for violence, West was kept in a private cell which he could not leave except to shower, shave and take a daily 20-minute exercise break in an interior yard.

Aftermath

A young constable involved in the investigation soon quit and moved away, and years passed before the murders were solved through DNA analysis.

Tenants of the West house later found stolen jewellery along with an old registration for a .22-calibre handgun and photos of a naked woman hidden in the bathroom. The .22-calibre handgun was described as the same used in the nurse murders in 1970.

In connection with the prison environment, a jail employee at the provincial Maplehurst Detention Centre in Milton said West would probably be assaulted by other inmates for being an ex-cop, being a suspected sex slayer, and for attacking seniors citizens.

Shelly Verreault, a foster parent to Joseph (now 18) and Gavin (17), said: "It's those who loved him and believed him who are most hurt by this,".

The judge’s remarks included that he accepted West had been a good and caring father and said: "I accept that he has been a good and caring father and that is to his credit," said Whalen.

It was stated that West’s former in-laws said it was his second wife, Rena, who looked after the kids.

Langan, 69, said: "I was a little concerned ... I like to know what I'm dealing with," after CSC told him West had been transferred to Joyceville maximum security prison.

Ruth MacMillan was quoted as describing elderly fear: "Elderly resident Ruth MacMillan recalled she was too afraid to go out at night."