Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 28, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Respected businessman an escaped killer Sudbury ont. Up a Man who lived As a successful Sudbury business Man for More than 10 years is the object of a Canada wide manhunt today after police yesterday Learned he is an escaped murderer from an Ohio Penitentiary. Victor Benjamin 40, slipped away from authorities during a car Chase last thursday and police believe he Proba Bly had an intricate escape plan ready for the Day his time ran out in Sud Bury. He s got a Good head on said a detective working on the Case. He s no Benjamin s troubles began Jan. 2. 1980, when he called police to report the robbery of a Safe and 13 bars to pm one. Of his businesses. Police recovered the Safe with the door drilled open but the at least is still missing. Two months later Benjamin was charged with theft and mischief in misleading an officer in an investigation. His fingerprints were circulated among Law enforcement agencies arid the Fri alerted regional police to his True identity. On thursday police set out to arrest Benjamin at his Home in nearby Copper Cliff. But As they drove into town the Man sped away in his Creaner col ored Corvette Symbol of the Suc Cess he had achieved since walking away from a minimum Security Penitentiary in Columbus Ohio in 1869. During the Chase he leaped from the car and fled Down an Alley leaving his common Law wife behind the wheel. Unaware that Benjamin had left the vehicle police pursued the car and stopped it. Police said no charges have been Laid against the woman Susan Boyuk 31, because they believe she did t know Benjamin was a fugitive. He had told her he was from some where in Ontario and his parents were meanwhile Benjamin s estranged wife Mary has joined forces with Boyuk to keep his television and com Puter businesses afloat. The two Are friends and share a Mutual respect for Benjamin. We Are standing Boyuk said. And we will try to keep the businesses she described her Lover s departure As being like a death. But i Don t think wherever he s living you will Ever have to worry about him harming anyone. He is not a violent Benjamin was known As William killed when he was a Cloudy today 15 Cloudy tonight 3 Sun rises . Sets final 200 sets . For Home delivery 957-0550 or 942-2161 classified 956-2330 refuelling Stop for Columbia the space shuttle Columbia Riding atop a jumbo jetliner makes a Landing approach yesterday at tinker air Force base in Oklahoma for an overnight refuelling Stop before flying on to Cape canaveral today. The shuttle Boeing 747 landed smoothly in a Strong headwind. It had taken off from Edwards air Force base in California hours earlier. Belfast prepares for violence police leaves cancelled As Sands condition continues to deteriorate Belfast a with Ira hunger striker Bobby Sands reported near death the British government pre pared for strife torn Northern Ireland s worst violence in years. All police leaves were cancelled. Supporters of the jailed Irish Republican army member said his family has been told the next 72 hours Are crucial and he May die at any time. Today is his 59th Day without food at Maze prison near Belfast. The police rounded up 20 of Sands leading supporters yesterday and were holding them under the prevention of terrorism act. The act permits detention for a week without the filing of specific charges and the arrests were viewed As an attempt to reduce the number of organizers of demonstrations if Sands Dies. The Ira has warned of widespread violence in Northern Ireland and Brit Ain if Sands Dies because the British government refused to meet his de Mand to have convicted Ira terrorists treated As political prisoners. Protes Tant extremists said they will retaliate if the British army and the police cannot control the largely roman Catholic Ira. In Belfast yesterday a Booby trap bomb in a truck killed Constable Gary Martin 28, and injured three other police officers. The Irish National liberation army a faction of the Ira said it planted the bomb in a hijacked truck. The explosion occurred As the police were checking the truck. In London prime minister Margaret Thatcher consulted members of her Cabinet but gave no indication of re treating from her policy of no conces Sions to terrorism. Police tightened Security around 10 Downing st., her official residence and office and at other government buildings. Court takes a lenient View of Santa s Stag party gifts London ont. Up an insurance Salesman who played Santa Claus in the City s Santa Claus Parade was Given an absolute discharge yesterday for procuring two females whose sexual services were Given away As door prizes at a Stag party. Norman Rafuse 44, was charged last november for procuring women for illicit sexual Intercourse. The Stag was held after last year s Santa Claus Parade sponsored by the local Branch of the Jaycees. Provincial court judge e. H. A. Car son was told Rafuse s Only involve ment was to make two Telephone Calls to line up the women for the party. He was t with them at the party and was t paid for arranging their appear Ance. Rafuse who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge said he was asked to line up entertainment for the Stag party traditionally held after the Parade. Two prostitutes attended the party and their sexual services were raffled off to five persons As door prizes court was told. Authorities feared violence in Londonderry Northern Ireland s second largest City after the funeral today of a Catholic Paul Witters 15, who was hit in the Eye by a plastic Bullet during an anti British riot 10 Days ago. The youth died saturday. Sands 27, serving a 14-year sentence for possessing arms but elected to parliament in a special election april 9, has consumed Only water since he first refused food. Prison doctors debated taking him to the military Wing of Musgrave Hospi Tal 25 Kilometres from the Maze say ing he could be Given better care there if he decides to Call off his fast. Basil Cardinal Hume the roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster and Britain s senior Catholic prelate condemned Sands hunger strike after a visit to Londonderry. The hunger strike to death is a form of violence and surely cannot be condoned by the Church As being in Accord with god s he said. Sands started his fast to further the Ira s Long standing demand that its see Sands Page 4 Lyon Renews Constitution meeting Call by Cecil Rosner Winnipeg free press Thompson Premier Sterling Lyon said yesterday he has again asked prime minister Trudeau for an imme Diate Federal provincial meeting on the Constitution. The message on behalf of the eight premiers opposed to the Federal constitutional proposal should remove doubts that the provinces Are in any Way reluctant to negotiate he said. I be indicated we Are prepared to go to such a conference on five Days no the Premier said. Lyon made the comments As hear Rived Here yesterday for the annual Western premiers conference. The state of Federal provincial relations will be at the top of the Agenda when the pre Miers begin their formal talks today. The eight premiers have agreed on an alternative constitutional package which does not include a charter of human rights and provides for an amending formula which would allow some provinces to opt out of some amendments. Opposed to charter Lyon has said he is opposed to the charter because it strips the Manitoba legislature of jurisdiction it has had since 1870. Meanwhile attorney general Gerry Mercier said yesterday that about 140 pieces of legislation could be invalid ated by the Federal government s pro posed charter. If included in a new Constitution the charter would permit the courts to interpret whether certain pieces of legislation infringe on the guaranteed rights entrenched in the document. Mercier based his estimate on a research paper done by a team of lawyers hired by the Quebec govern ment. Manitoba has t compiled a list of Laws which could potentially be invalidated while the constitutional question will be an important subject at the pre Miers two Day meeting British Coluni Bia Premier Bill Bennett said it will not consume All the premiers time. He said one useful aspect about the Western premiers meeting is that it has never been a single Issue con Ference but has always dealt with a wide Range of concerns. The four premiers Are not politically aligned but find a common interest in a number of areas Bennett said. And Seldom before has it been so important for the Western leaders to bind together so they can be heard he added. The issues to be discussed Range from Grain handling and transportation to health manpower training and drought Relief. A report by Western finance ministers on Federal provincial Cost sharing and Transfer arrangements see Power Page 4 Macmaster Lyon jelled by Long count Thompson year s Western premiers conference is providing West Ern politicians with a Good Opportunity to become acquainted with Thompson but it s also putting Manitoba politicians knowledge of the province s third largest City to the test Premier Sterling Lyon told report ers yesterday Thompson was chosen As. The site of the conference because it is a Large Northern Centre arid an important mining Community in Manitoba Lyon went on to say Thompson is a vibrant and dynamic City with a population of about the pre Mier turned to labor minister Ken Macmaster to confirm the figure and his colleague who represents Thomp son constituency agreed. But Thompson mayor Don Mclean later confirmed the City s population has slipped to an estimated from a High of in thej970s, empty dormitories Are in evidence throughout Thompson which is Cele Brating its 25th anniversary As a City this year. The City was built after Inco decided to construct an integrated Nickel min ing and refining Complex Here in 1956. Recent cutbacks in. Employment. Levels at the mine a depressed Striction Industry and government rec Strain have Lead to a dim Ishing popu lation in the City. La urges inquest into youth s death by Brian Cole new Democrat la Wilson Para Siuk says inadequate staffing at seven Oaks Hospital May have played a role in the death of a youth who was treated there for injuries suffered in an explosion. In making the allegations Parasiuk called for an inquest into the april 16 death of Timothy Sama 16, to deter mine Why the youth had to be trans feed from seven Oaks to the health sciences Centre where he subsequently died. In an interview yesterday Parasiuk charged that the West Kildonan area Hospital s emergency room lacked Ade quate staff including specialist nurses and anaesthetists to Deal with certain cases. Sama died As a result of cuts to his jugular vein and to a major artery in his neck. We Don t know if the time lost in the Transfer caused the death. But obviously if he s Cut in the jugular vein time is of the Parasiuk said adding an inquest should determine whether time was a contributing Factor in the death. Attorney general Gerry Mercier said he would investigate whether his department deemed an inquest Neces sary. Health minister l. R. Bud Sher see la Page 4 slight favorite French polls and even the Stock Market have made Francois Mitterrand a slight favorite Over Valery Giscard d Estwing in upcoming presidential als sign pair Vince Ferragamo has signed to quarterback the Montreal Alou ettes and speedster James Scott has been signed by the club to catch his no fairy tale meet the real life victims of what social workers and psychotherapists Are dubbing the modern Day cinderellas. It is no fairy special look photography and Spring car care Are in focus in two special sections included in today s Index Ann Landers. 18 answers. 25 Billinkoff. 7 Bridge. 21 business.68 classified.39 comics.36 crossword. 18 deaths.2, 39 editorials entertainment.22 Horoscope. 20 Jumble puzzle.42 klady.23 movies.23 people.25 relax.25 sports. 63 sports record.67 stocks.70 sullivan.25 tempo.17 to listings.25 ;