A convicted rapist deemed a high risk to re-offend has been charged with killing a 17-year-old girl in Surrey, B.C.
Raymond Lee Caissie, 43, is accused of attacking Serena Vermeersch in what police called a "random crime of opportunity."
Vermeersch's body was found near railway tracks last week. She was last seen boarding a bus to head home, but when she failed to return, her mother reported her missing.
At a news conference on Monday, police had said Caissie's identity was protected by a publication ban, which was requested by his lawyer. But CKNW reporter Shelby Thom clarified that the ban covered evidence at a bail hearing, and not the accused's name and charges.
In 1991, Caissie was convicted of sexual assault with a weapon, robbery, and forcible confinement of a 21-year-old summer student in Abbotsford, reported The Province.
The court heard that Caissie has an anti-social personality disorder, was abused as a child, and spent much of his adult life in jail, said The Vancouver Sun. The judge remarked that a pre-sentence report showing little hope for rehabilitation was one of the "most pessimistic" she had ever read in her career.
As Caissie was led out of court, he muttered, "I'll see you in 22 years," according to The Province.
He was freed from prison in 2013, prompting a public warning that he was a high risk to re-offend.
"Caissie has maintained a varied pattern of offending, having offended both violently and sexually, in both an opportunistic and impulsive manner," said the warning issued by the RCMP. It added that he was living in Surrey.
"He’s been let loose in our community to victimize one of our residents," Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts told The Province after Caissie's release. "It seems to me they know he’s going to reoffend. Why on earth would you let him free?"
Homicide investigators arrested Caissie in Vancouver on Saturday.
