"The documentary states that after Waudby's initial interview, she was left alone in the room with photographs from Jenna's autopsy.
She was told things would be easier for her if she confessed, that she would be granted bail and wouldn't go to jail.
When Lemay came back for the second interview, Waudby told him she couldn't remember a 20-minute period from that night.
She never said she hit Jenna. She said she remembered swinging her arms, and didn't remember if she hit Jenna or not.
That statement matched the timeline Smith provided. Waudby was charged with second-degree murder."
REPORTER SARAH DEETH: PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: It is clear from the evidence called at the Goudge inquiry that Brenda Waudby - an utterly innocent individual who's baby daughter had been murdered by her babysitter - had been required to plead guilty to a charge of child abuse under provincial legislation before the Crown would withdraw the the second-degree murder charge on the basis of medical opinions which showed she could not possibly have committed the crime. It is also clear that Dr. Charles Smith's opinion that there were injuries which preceded the attack on Baby Jenna - which led to her being wrongfully charged with murder - was also the basis for the provincial charge, along with what the police claimed to be a confession. Instead of receiving the sympathy and compassion she deserved as a grieving mother whose baby daughter had been murdered, Ms. Waudby, a grieving mother, was herself charged with the horrific crime and not surprisingly became a pariah in her community. Brenda Waudby has been given a raw deal by Ontario's criminal justice system. We can only hope that the Court will strike the plea that she felt compelled to make in the circumstances, allow her to call the fresh evidence which she says clears her of this offence, and go the rest of the distance necessary to fully clear her name.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG.
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"It only took about seven minutes to label Brenda Waudby as a child killer," the Peterborough This Week story by reporter Sarah Deeth published earlier today by the Peterborough Examiner under the heading, "Public gets to see police interviews of wrongfully accused Brenda Waudby in new documentary," begins.
"During her second interview with city police Det. Const. Dan Lemay, a sobbing Waudby said she couldn't remember a 20-minute time period the night before her daughter, 21-month-old Jenna, died," the story continues.
"That was enough for police. She was charged with killing her daughter.
The interview was part of Global TV's one-hour documentary, A Mother's Ordeal, which aired Friday night.
The documentary follows Waudby's 10-year ordeal, beginning with the moment she returned home in January 1997 to find emergency vehicles parked outside her house.
Narrated by former Global anchor Kevin Newman, the documentary pulled no punches.
Critical of police, the media and the community, Newman repeatedly states that many were quick to judge and never questioned the police investigation.
The show included interviews with former MP Peter Adams, Toronto Star journalist Harold Levy, CHEX-TV reporter Graham Hart, Waudby's lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick, Waudby and her daughter Justine.
Included in the footage are clips from Waudby's two interviews with police following her arrest.
She had opted not to call a lawyer before speaking with investigators.
It also revealed that city police conducted an internal review of the initial investigation and determined that it was competent and open-minded, despite the fact that their case against Waudby was weak right from the get-go.
"Police investigators still felt very strongly that Brenda was responsible for Jenna's death," the review states, "but there was not enough evident to pursue charges against her. The babysitter had co-operated throughout the investigation and remained consistent in his story and the fact that he did not do anything to cause Jenna's death."
Waudby admits to struggling, as a parent, at the time of Jenna's death.
Struggling with a deep addiction to cocaine, both Jenna and Justine were taken from her, at her request, by the Children's Aid Society while she sought treatment for her addiction.
"I know I was a bad mom," she said during the show. "At that point in my life I was a horrible mother."
After six weeks, her children were returned to her. Two months later, Jenna was killed.
The documentary states that police fingered Waudby for the crime almost immediately, based on her poor history as a parent and drug user.
The documentary revealed Waudby failed a lie detector test and showed how police relied heavily on the opinion of Dr. Charles Smith, the man then considered to be the leading child pathologist in the province.
Smith's opinion on when Jenna received her injuries constantly wobbled, the documentary states, yet police persisted in their investigation against her.
Included in the footage are excerpts from Waudby's two interviews with Lemay immediately following her arrest for Jenna's murder.
Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, Waudby rarely looked up and cried during both sessions.
She repeatedly denied hitting or killing Jenna.
Never raising his voice Lemay repeatedly asked her to tell him what really happened.
"Maybe something else happened," he said, as Waudby crosses her arms and cries.
"Brenda, look at me. What happened there?" He asked.
The documentary states that after Waudby's initial interview, she was left alone in the room with photographs from Jenna's autopsy.
She was told things would be easier for her if she confessed, that she would be granted bail and wouldn't go to jail.
When Lemay came back for the second interview, Waudby told him she couldn't remember a 20-minute period from that night.
She never said she hit Jenna. She said she remembered swinging her arms, and didn't remember if she hit Jenna or not.
That statement matched the timeline Smith provided. Waudby was charged with second-degree murder.
But as the documentary stated, Smith was dead wrong.
Jenna died of injuries she received that night, when her 14-year-old babysitter was looking after her.
The documentary states Smith insisted there was no evidence of sexual abuse, though doctors and staff at the local hospital noted signs of trauma on Jenna's body, and recovered a hair from her pubic area.
A rape test was never performed, the documentary states, nor did police ask for one.
Other members of the medical community disputed Smith's claims.
Police also never shared their information with the Children's Aid Society. The documentary states that CAS approached Smith for information when Waudby was pregnant with her third child.
"I guess I'll be doing his autopsy as well," was Smith's response.
CAS workers seized Waudby's son from her as soon as he was born. Investigators eventually realized Smith was wrong, but that information was never shared with Waudby.
Instead, the Crown attorney announced that the murder charge against her would be stayed, on the condition that she plead guilty to a charge of child abuse.
But, as the documentary shows, a cloud of suspicion always hung over her head; many felt that someone had gotten away with murder.
And until December 2006, someone had — her babysitter, who can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
He was sentenced to 22 months in jail and was released in 2008.
Waudby is currently fighting to appeal her child abuse conviction."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3112962
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
