Cities     Winnipeg

Winnipeg Murder (3 counts) and Theft        Roxanne Fernando, affectionately known to her friends as "Apple," moved to Canada with her mother from the Philippines in 2003. Roxanne worked as a banquet server at the downtown Radisson Hotel. She was pregnant, and her "pro-choice" boyfriend, Nathaniel Mark Plourde, had demanded that she have an abortion, but she refused. So he decided to eliminate her and their preborn child.        Roxanne and Plourde had met when they both worked at a McDonald's restaurant in Winnipeg, and she thought that he was the man of her dreams. When she became pregnant, he pressured her to have an abortion. At first she agreed, but then changed her mind.        As Crown attorney Brent Davidson said, "It would be the fetus that would drive the planned and deliberate killing of Ms. Fernando."        On February 15, 2007, Plourde, Jose Manuel Toruno, and a youth unnamed by the courts put their plan into action. Plourde offered the teenager $500 and a TV set to murder her. Roxanne had expected to exchange gifts with Plourde. She wrapped up a box of chocolates for him and got into his car, not knowing that her killer was hiding under a blanket in the back seat. Plourde told her that there was a surprise waiting for her in Little Mountain Park on the northwestern edge of Winnipeg.        There certainly was a surprise waiting, but not the kind she was expecting. When she got out of the car, Plourde and the teenager beat her with a large wrench about twenty times, bound her with tape, wrapped her in a blanket, and stuffed her in the trunk of the car. But then the killers heard movement and moaning from the trunk. The two men picked up a third man and paid him $120, stolen from Roxanne's purse, to help murder her.        The three then drove to a remote area in Northwest Winnipeg, dragged Roxanne out of the trunk and dumped her on the ground, then beat her to death with a hockey stick. Then her murderers buried her battered body in a snowbank, went to McDonald's to eat, and stopped for some cleaning supplies for the vehicle.        Roxanne's family and others searched desperately for her for several days until her body was found.        On October 23, 2007, the first of the killers, a 17-year-old boy whose name was not revealed due to his age under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced to only six years in prison and four years on probation for the brutal murder. He did not receive any jail time for killing Roxanne's preborn baby because Canada's primitive laws do not recognize even a full-term preborn baby as anything more valuable than a slab of meat. In fact, if the boy had stolen the television he was offered to kill Roxanne, he would have received punishment for theft — but none for killing a preborn child. Although he pretended to be remorseful in court, he had told another person in jail following his arrest that he should have raped Roxanne after murdering her.        Provincial Court Judge Marvin Garfinkel said that the unnamed youth's crime was nothing more than a "callous, well-planned execution. ... The circumstances of this crime are extremely aggravating. [The teen killer's] conduct is completely inexplicable."        Roxanne's mother Elisa said My life will never be the same again. I feel as if I have died with her, too. One will never know until it happens to them. I have gone through a tough life, being poor, and raised five children on my own. I didn't have a good life until my daughter sponsored me and Apple to live with her here in Canada. I thought it would be the beginning of a new and good life, and not the end of it. I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. She looked so happy when she left the house that night, all dolled up and carrying a Valentine present that we wrapped together. I jokingly asked if I can have one of the presents she had. I thought that was going to be one of the happiest days of my daughter's life. She even asked me to look out the window to see if I could see the car that was waiting for her outside. I said I could only see the headlights. I didn't know that would be the last time I was going to see and talk to my daughter. I feel so betrayed by this and regret that I let her go out that night. She had no idea she was in danger. I have so much regret and always the question of "What if?" My feelings of hurting are beyond imagination. I could write and speak about being hurt, but it will never end.        Roxanne's sister Ana Maria Deluz said that I remember when she was born. It was a very special date because I was celebrating my birthday. I was with my aunt, cousins and brothers celebrating when I found out my mom had given birth to a healthy baby girl. It made by birthday extra special because I found out I had a baby sister. I will never, ever forget that day because that's how my life of being a big sister began. I became a second mother to her. I took her under my wing, took care of her from the very beginning, since our mother had to work a lot. I have so many loving memories of her, from registering her first grade of school until graduating from elementary. I watched her grow up and that became part of my life and now that she's gone, it's like losing a part of myself. I miss her so much that I'm still hoping one day she'll walk through the door with a big beautiful smile on her face. She was the kind of person that would brighten up the house, always dancing and singing. She was a very caring person, too, always ready to lend a helping hand to those she loved, especially her family back home who she supported financially. There are absolutely no words to describe how it feels when someone you truly love is unjustly taken away in an instant. I am not who I used to be and probably never will be. There is a big hole in my heart, and my family's heart. I am now left with only memories of my sister and no words to adequately describe the depths of my sorrow. I not only lost a sister, but an irreplaceable friend. We knew each other like no one else does, and had an understanding that only sisters can provide each other. I have this feeling of regret because I brought her to Canada. I remember crying in front of a judge for permission for her to be able to live here so that she could have a better life. Now I am crying in front of a judge because her life was taken. Reference:  Mike McIntyre. "Price to Kill: $500 and a TV: 17-Year-Old Boy Gets 6 Years after Killing Woman Who Refused Abortion." The Winnipeg Free Press, October 24, 2007. Vandalism (3 incidents) and Death Threats (12 incidents)        On March 23, 2001, pro-abortionists vandalized the Crisis Pregnancy Centre of Winnipeg. They spray-painted over the windows of the building in huge yellow letters various pro-abort slogans and the words "Anti-Choice F—ers." They also threw at least a gallon of blood-red paint on the wall and surrounding area, making for a gruesome looking scene.        The director of the Centre, Juergen Severloh, said that this is the third such hate-motivated incident directed toward the CPC in the past year. Ten months ago he saw a similar graffiti attack with "pro-child, pro-choice" as the slogan and the next, a few weeks later, pro-aborts splattered paint all over the CPC.        The centre has received dozens of threatening phone calls, forcing the Severlohs to remove their name from the phone book. References:  "Canadian Crisis Pregnancy Center Vandalized." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, March 23, 2001; "Canadian Crisis Pregnancy Center Vandalized." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, March 25, 2001. To return to the introductory document, click here. To go to the Index for the pro-abortion violence database, click here. This document was updated on December 1, 2007.