Just Another Indian: A Serial Killer and Canada's Indifference

Christine Schmidt specializes in law and sociology at Laurentian
University.

In this disturbing book, Warren Goulding documents the failure of the
community, the justice system, and the media in addressing the sadistic
sex murders of four Native women in Canada. The lack of media coverage
of these murders was such that John Martin Crawford—a man who should
be one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers—is a virtually
anonymous figure. Goulding’s detailed account of the tragedy, from the
RCMP investigation to the appeals process after the conviction, gives
the reader a rare glimpse into policy issues and the inner workings of
the criminal justice system, raising critical questions about the
ability of present policy to deal with unclassified mental illness,
addictions, and a myriad of class and race issues. Goulding not only
alerts us to the dangers of pervasive social stratification in Canada;
he leaves us feeling disgusted with the role of our court system in
silencing the voices of Native victims.