Human foot in suspicious package at Conservative Party HQ

[Jeff]

It didn't wash up on the coast of BC, so this foot gets its own thread.

Human foot found in ‘suspicious package’ at Conservative Party HQ on Albert St.

May 29, 2012 2:38 PM

Access to the headquarters was cut off after the fire department’s haz-mat team was called in to investigate a suspicious package at the building.

Police officers are reportedly guarding the main doors to the Conservative Party offices on the 12th floor.

Reports says two men in white jumpsuits and masks exited the building around 1:45 p.m. pushing a large barrel.

The officers moved their attention the 12th floor after more than a dozen emergency vehicles and the haz-mat team arrived to investigate the suspicious package at the building.

The Conservative Party of Canada did not answer calls for more information about the situation.

Ottawa Police say they are still investigating a suspicious package at 130 Albert St. and would not confirm whether the 12th floor was under quarantine.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story.html?id=6696127

[Wombaticus Rex]

Is this a signifier, then? I need to talk to some weird friends. Hmm.

[Nordic]

But how do you know it didn't wash up on the coast before it was sent?

How DO you know this, Mr. Wells? Hmmm?

[justdrew]

but is it a left foot or a right foot?

[Bruce Dazzling]

Maybe it means that Luca Brasi sleeps with Dr. Scholl.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Maybe it means that Luca Brasi sleeps with Dr. Scholl.

A nearly unforgiveable pun, that's impressive work.

[Bruce Dazzling]

Maybe it means that Luca Brasi sleeps with Dr. Scholl.

A nearly unforgiveable pun, that's impressive work.

I'll be here all week.

Don't forget to try to borscht!

[Jeff]

This could get stranger before it's done.

Torso found in trash in Montreal, police inquire into possible Ottawa connection

MONTREAL - Police were combing through garbage in Montreal after the discovery of a severed torso and were inquiring into whether there might be a link to a more high-profile body part discovery Tuesday.

They sifted through a heap of garbage in the city's west end to see if they might turn up any missing limbs after a decayed torso was discovered in a suitcase.

They were also contacting colleagues in Ottawa — where, also Tuesday, a foot was found in a suspicious package mailed to the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Montreal discovery was made by a concierge who was looking into complaints about a terrible odour coming from behind a building. The decomposing remains were found at 10:15 a.m. It's unclear how long they had been there.

Police say it's too early to know whether the remains are male or female. An autopsy will be needed for further information.

Meanwhile, police are contacting colleagues outside the province while also having set up a tent to investigate the local trash pile for clues.

"We are taking the information from Ottawa also to make sure, if parts are missing here in Montreal, whose foot is missing in Ottawa?" said Const. Daniel Fortier.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada ... 58965.html

The foot had been mailed, not simply dropped off, as I'd presumed:

The sealed package, containing what appeared to be a human foot with blood stains on it, was delivered to the front desk by Canada Post. The package wasn’t addressed to a specific person, but to the Conservative Party of Canada.

Police were called around 11:30 a.m. after the woman at the office’s front desk partially opened the package.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Updat ... story.html

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Stranger and stranger. Leaves me scratching my head.

[barracuda]

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[DrVolin]

At first glance, it looks like the robocall people might be a very serious lot, and they might be asking the party to call off the dogs.

[Jeff]

At first glance, it looks like the robocall people might be a very serious lot, and they might be asking the party to call off the dogs.

Could be. Perhaps a precedent from 2008:

Severed ears, fingers sent to Kyrgyz officials

Severed ears and fingers have beene sent in packages to three high-ranking government officials in Kyrgyzstan.

The body parts were sent to the presidential administration chief, the director of the competition monitoring agency and a member of the electoral commission, opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev today told the Delo N newspaper.

"It is a warning," Tekebayev said.

"The finger means: 'Don't put your hands where they don't belong'. It is surely motivated by a shift in influence within politics and the economy. The ear means be obedient."

Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian former Soviet republic, has been rocked by waves of political unrest since a popular revolt in March 2005 which toppled former president Askar Akayev and brought President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to power.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/wo ... 93842.html

[DrVolin]

Oh great. Now Harper is in with the Russian mob.

[Jeff]

Oh great. Now Harper is in with the Russian mob.

And here we all thought it was the Chinese.

A few more details in this update:

Ottawa police are probing the gruesome delivery of a severed human foot to the headquarters of Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party, a bizarre act that a former RCMP criminal profiler says appears designed to intimidate the governing Tories.

A female Tory Party office staffer opened the sealed box late Tuesday morning to find the foul-smelling item encased in a bloody plastic bag. A hazmat team called to the scene on Albert Street briefly isolated between 10 to 12 people before determining there was no health hazard present.

One Conservative Party source said the package, a simple white box with a red cartoon heart drawn on it, arrived by Canada Post.

Another source said the box also contained a message but this could not be corroborated and a Tory Party source contradicted this. An Ottawa police spokesman refused to comment.

Former Mountie investigator Glenn Woods said it is the first time he’s heard of a Canadian political party being the target of such a horrific act. “This is the kind of stuff you might see in developing countries where you have dictatorships and coups.”

Mr. Woods, who retired from the RCMP as director of its behavioural sciences branch, said the extremely public stunt – “a very desperate fanatical act to get a point across” – doesn’t sound like something the mafia would stage.

“Organized crime generally will keep a low profile. They would never do something like this to bring [attention],” Mr. Woods said. “Their motivation is money. Short of making an example of someone who, for instance, is an informer, I have never seen then get involved in this kind of thing – particularly with a political party.”

...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le2446647/

[Canadian_watcher]

The news just reported that a second body part - a hand - was at a nearby Canada Post addressed to the CP HQ, as well.

I don't know ... something about this story bothers me. Police are saying they have ' no clues ' in this case. Surely anyone could tell from which PO the pkg originated by simply reading the shipping form stuck to the front of any package mailed with Canada Post. The name field must have been filled in, as well, albeit probablyy with fake information. Also, the news said the secretary accepted and opened the 'blood soaked box'.. Really? And wouldn't it have smelled it's been hot, and CP is not known for its speed.

Just some questions, that's all. Could just be horrible reporting and the police playing it close to the vest.