Court told of murder most foul
GENTLE TEEN TORTURED AND MURDERED IN 2002
By JASON BOTCHFORD, TORONTO SUN
FOR THE first time, the public heard yesterday the monstrous story of 16-year-old Robbie McLennan's torture and murder. And his family said they are sure the sickening details of the case -- which they have carried silently and painfully for two years -- will shock their small Orangeville town, maybe even the province and this nation.
"It is one of the most brutal murders of this day and age," Robbie's stepfather Larry Rule said yesterday after a teenager, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
"And no one knows anything about it ... It will be quite shocking for a lot of people."
An agreed statement-of-fact was read out in a Brampton courtroom before the teen, whose identity is protected under the old Young Offender's Act. He will be sentenced in February.
HORRIFIC DETAILS
The teen was with Robbie on April 18, 2002, and played a vicious role, as over the course of three hours Robbie was killed.
He was raped, and then raped with a stick, forced to watch others have intercourse, burned at least five times with cigarettes, urinated on in his mouth, held down and kicked again and again, kicked so hard he had a boot imprint on his head, stoned with 10-kilo rocks, and then left for dead in a Caledon forest with more than 40 distinct injuries.
And his family said no one knows why.
"It was absolutely horrendous. This was a brutal torture," said Robbie's stepmother Cheryl McLennan.
In his Orangeville home town, Robbie was known as "the gentle giant," a six-foot, 16-year-old who loved sports, especially fishing.
He adored his younger brother.
"He was a big teddy bear," his mom Kathy Bradley said.
McLennan said she never even heard her stepson say a bad word.
"Robbie was always up to good," she said. "He was always a good, good kid. He was very naive and very trusting. He was always popping around looking for a new friend."
Robbie went to the forest the night he died with a 16-year-old acquaintance from Orangeville District Secondary School -- the teen who pleaded guilty yesterday -- and a transient couple he had just met from Scarborough, a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl.
They went to socialize and hang out. The others drank and did drugs. Robbie did not.
The 20-year-old drank so much he started to vomit, which made Robbie laugh, court documents show. That's when Robbie's nightmare began.
The court heard that the 20-year-old charged Robbie, kicking him and punching him. He then forced Robbie to perform fellatio on him, court documents say.
In one of the most gruesomely shocking episodes, the 20-year-old then urinated in Robbie's mouth and raped him while the others watched, court heard.
When he finished, the other 16-year-old boy forced Robbie to fellate him, afterwards raping Robbie with a stick as he spit on him, according to the agreed statement-of-fact.
When the rape ended, the transient couple had sex in front of Robbie before they began the beating that would end his life.
The trio beat on Robbie, one holding him down as others hit him with stones and sticks, leaving him begging for his life, the court heard.
The 16-year-old boy stood on Robbie as the couple took turns kicking him in the face. Each time they shouted at Robbie to look at their shoe before they kicked him.
The court heard that Robbie offered his jacket if they would let him live. The court heard he even promised to lie, vowing to tell people his many injuries were from a car accident.
It didn't help.
'FINISH HIM OFF'
The court heard that as Robbie lay helpless on the ground, the girl said "finish him off."
The two other males threw heavy rocks at his head. When Robbie was found the next day, two rocks had his blood on them.
Throughout the beating, the court heard, cigarettes were extinguished on Robbie to see if he was still alive.
A pathologist couldn't determine whether it was the kicks to the head or the stoning that killed him.
But they concluded that the death was not instant and ensued over a matter of hours.
The transient couple involved are scheduled to face trial in 2005.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/12/15/783180-sun.html
GENTLE TEEN TORTURED AND MURDERED IN 2002
By JASON BOTCHFORD, TORONTO SUN
FOR THE first time, the public heard yesterday the monstrous story of 16-year-old Robbie McLennan's torture and murder. And his family said they are sure the sickening details of the case -- which they have carried silently and painfully for two years -- will shock their small Orangeville town, maybe even the province and this nation.
"It is one of the most brutal murders of this day and age," Robbie's stepfather Larry Rule said yesterday after a teenager, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
"And no one knows anything about it ... It will be quite shocking for a lot of people."
An agreed statement-of-fact was read out in a Brampton courtroom before the teen, whose identity is protected under the old Young Offender's Act. He will be sentenced in February.
HORRIFIC DETAILS
The teen was with Robbie on April 18, 2002, and played a vicious role, as over the course of three hours Robbie was killed.
He was raped, and then raped with a stick, forced to watch others have intercourse, burned at least five times with cigarettes, urinated on in his mouth, held down and kicked again and again, kicked so hard he had a boot imprint on his head, stoned with 10-kilo rocks, and then left for dead in a Caledon forest with more than 40 distinct injuries.
And his family said no one knows why.
"It was absolutely horrendous. This was a brutal torture," said Robbie's stepmother Cheryl McLennan.
In his Orangeville home town, Robbie was known as "the gentle giant," a six-foot, 16-year-old who loved sports, especially fishing.
He adored his younger brother.
"He was a big teddy bear," his mom Kathy Bradley said.
McLennan said she never even heard her stepson say a bad word.
"Robbie was always up to good," she said. "He was always a good, good kid. He was very naive and very trusting. He was always popping around looking for a new friend."
Robbie went to the forest the night he died with a 16-year-old acquaintance from Orangeville District Secondary School -- the teen who pleaded guilty yesterday -- and a transient couple he had just met from Scarborough, a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl.
They went to socialize and hang out. The others drank and did drugs. Robbie did not.
The 20-year-old drank so much he started to vomit, which made Robbie laugh, court documents show. That's when Robbie's nightmare began.
The court heard that the 20-year-old charged Robbie, kicking him and punching him. He then forced Robbie to perform fellatio on him, court documents say.
In one of the most gruesomely shocking episodes, the 20-year-old then urinated in Robbie's mouth and raped him while the others watched, court heard.
When he finished, the other 16-year-old boy forced Robbie to fellate him, afterwards raping Robbie with a stick as he spit on him, according to the agreed statement-of-fact.
When the rape ended, the transient couple had sex in front of Robbie before they began the beating that would end his life.
The trio beat on Robbie, one holding him down as others hit him with stones and sticks, leaving him begging for his life, the court heard.
The 16-year-old boy stood on Robbie as the couple took turns kicking him in the face. Each time they shouted at Robbie to look at their shoe before they kicked him.
The court heard that Robbie offered his jacket if they would let him live. The court heard he even promised to lie, vowing to tell people his many injuries were from a car accident.
It didn't help.
'FINISH HIM OFF'
The court heard that as Robbie lay helpless on the ground, the girl said "finish him off."
The two other males threw heavy rocks at his head. When Robbie was found the next day, two rocks had his blood on them.
Throughout the beating, the court heard, cigarettes were extinguished on Robbie to see if he was still alive.
A pathologist couldn't determine whether it was the kicks to the head or the stoning that killed him.
But they concluded that the death was not instant and ensued over a matter of hours.
The transient couple involved are scheduled to face trial in 2005.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/12/15/783180-sun.html
