Tree Poisoner off scot free

[misterchill]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060105/tree_poisoning_060105/20060105?hub=Canada

CBC radio just announced that the judge sided with her.

This REALLY pisses me off.

I can't believe the judge felt she has already suffered enough. I haven't had a chance to heckle her yet.

This was the most despicable thing that's happened in my neighborhood in years, and she doesn't get a criminal record, community service, a fine, anything. NOT EVEN A SLAP ON THE WRIST.

She says she's used $50,000 of her own money to replace and look after the trees. HOW CAN THAT BE? Apparently a replacement cost of ONE of those trees that age is upwards of $100,000.

She created a scar in one of the most beautiful parts of my city, and it will take 20 years for that beauty to return.

[misterchill]

You're nuts.

Shut up, moron. :-0

Some lady poisons a few trees and you're infuriated, but everyday acres upon acres of trees are clear cut from this planet.

Worst part of it, it's companies doing it, and they're not getting caught and fined, they're making huge profits from it.


Did I say that I enjoy clearcutting? No. Anyone who is irresponsible to the environment really ticks me off.

But this has nothing to do with our forests anyways. This is someone severly harming the beauty of a park, the aesthetics of millions of visitors a year, for her own vanity of having a nicer view. SHE ALREADY HAD A MILLION DOLLAR ONE.

[misterchill]

Where does it say that?

It's her lawyer who says that.

Sentencing hasn't occurred yet (well it probably just was, but isn't posted in this article), chillax homie. :lol:


Again, she hasn't even been sentenced (from the info in that article), she's only been found guilty.


Like I said, I JUST HEARD ON CBC RADIO she got an absolute discharge.

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_,matheson20060104.html

;)

[gilboman]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060105/tree_poisoning_060105/20060105?hub=Canada

CBC radio just announced that the judge sided with her.

This REALLY pisses me off.

I can't believe the judge felt she has already suffered enough. I haven't had a chance to heckle her yet.

This was the most despicable thing that's happened in my neighborhood in years, and she doesn't get a criminal record, community service, a fine, anything. NOT EVEN A SLAP ON THE WRIST.

She says she's used $50,000 of her own money to replace and look after the trees. HOW CAN THAT BE? Apparently a replacement cost of ONE of those trees that age is upwards of $100,000.

She created a scar in one of the most beautiful parts of my city, and it will take 20 years for that beauty to return.

in addition to the humuliation...she has paid 50,000 already..what more do you want? jail time :|

[itsmypostoffice]

she's fortunate her age played a role in the sentencing. here in toronto a homeowner must contact the city and file for permission to remove a tree from their OWN property. that's the new reality of urban green space and local neighbourhoods are happy to patrol & report law-breakers to police & city officers.

[gilboman]

she's fortunate her age played a role in the sentencing. here in toronto a homeowner must contact the city and file for permission to remove a tree from their OWN property. that's the new reality of urban green space and local neighbourhoods are happy to patrol & report law-breakers to police & city officers.

but even in toronto, you wont get a criminal record or pay anywhere near 50,000 or forced to sell your home and close your business if you illegally remove a tree

[misterchill]

So you guys think that a little public humiliation is a fine enough sentence? It's not like she's just some crazy old lady. She knew exactly what she was doing. Witnesses say they saw a lady and two men. She purchased the poison from the states because it's not allowed in Canada.

She is one of Vancouver's more prominent socialites. She owned a really upscale interior design shop/studio named J Interiors. She felt she had to sell it because of this.

She sold the house before the cops arrested her. When she bought it, it apparently cost 600 grand, and when she sold it, it was a million and a half.

And she's a victim?

[misterchill]

but even in toronto, you wont get a criminal record or pay anywhere near 50,000 or forced to sell your home and close your business if you illegally remove a tree

For the record, I'm pretty certain she sold her condo well before she was accused. Everyone just assumed it was one of those people in that one building.

[Evil Techie]

yeah i think she needs to be sentenced to some more fines

if anyone has been to english bay, they will notice that most of the trees there are pretty healthy and is part of the scenery that just about all vancouverites love so much

except the one she poisoned which we all can easily identify now

[Piro21]

So just because she's rich and well known simple embarassment and having to replace what she destroyed is considered enough of a punishment? That's stupid.

[Byrns]

She paid $50,000 to replace the trees. That money would buy a hell of a lot of saplings.

There are worse crimes that get much lighter penalties than this...

[gilboman]

So just because she's rich and well known simple embarassment and having to replace what she destroyed is considered enough of a punishment? That's stupid.

she paid more than she destroyed. 50,000 buys more than 4 trees.

so what do you think is the punishment for killing 4 trees be? 4 rose bushes? :lol: it's not because she is rich or well known that she got discharged. people get discharged for a lot more than killing 4 trees.

[misterchill]

she paid more than she destroyed. 50,000 buys more than 4 trees.

so what do you think is the punishment for killing 4 trees be? 4 rose bushes? :lol: it's not because she is rich or well known that she got discharged. people get discharged for a lot more than killing 4 trees.

50 thousand comes nowhere near replacing these trees. The ones she bought are young trees that look like an eyesore, and will for years to come. She could have spent twice as much and it would have been MUCH better.

This entrance to the country's most famous city park was defamed and even though she's rich she gets away with it.

[JohnB]

Did she cut down a crub or a syn or a fents.

Or just the trea ?

[zero64]

So what. She killed a couple trees. There are probably a few billion more in B.C.

[misterchill]

So what. She killed a couple trees. There are probably a few billion more in B.C.


What would you do if someone chopped down all the trees in your yard?

This was *my* backyard. Up until a couple months ago, if I looked out my window I could see those trees. I walk past that area almost every week on my way to the park or the seawall.

[Ojam]

What would you do if someone chopped down all the trees in your yard?

This was *my* backyard. Up until a couple months ago, if I looked out my window I could see those trees. I walk past that area almost every week on my way to the park or the seawall.

I'll tell you what, we just cut down 3 full size trees in my backyard a few weeks ago, I'll go find them and expresspost them to you along with what’s left of the roots and stumps some duct tape for you to tape them back together, hey maybe even some compost from our compost pile for you to plant them in and you can look at these trees all day long.

[derevaun]

I'm glad people threw feces at her window. Her halfassed apology statement was such bs, "I apologize for trying to GET MY MONEY'S WORTH", it almost sounds as though she's trying to excuse her sneaky behaviour.

[zero64]

Were they on your property?

What would you do if someone chopped down all the trees in your yard?

This was *my* backyard. Up until a couple months ago, if I looked out my window I could see those trees. I walk past that area almost every week on my way to the park or the seawall.

[Blunt]

Find out where she lives now and keep on throwing that bagged fecees at her!!!

Now, that is real justice!
;)

[cotye89]

Were they on your property?

Technically, isn't it *all* our property? It's a public park right? That means she took something from each individual person in Vancouver.

[blackhawk]

Maybe Svend gave her a few pointers! Maybe thats his judge :lol:


It is kinda strange for the left coast to pick people over trees, seriously, it is a beautiful park that belongs to everyone and trees take forever to replace.

She shouldn't be able to buy her way out and have no record and she obviously is so self centered and a bit strange to kill trees to see trees further away.

[misterchill]

Maybe Svend gave her a few pointers! Maybe thats his judge :lol:


It is kinda strange for the left coast to pick people over trees, seriously, it is a beautiful park that belongs to everyone and trees take forever to replace.

She shouldn't be able to buy her way out and have no record and she obviously is so self centered and a bit strange to kill trees to see trees further away.

LOL, you're such a card.


This is on the edge of the water; she poisoned the trees to see more of the ocean.

And it isn't picking people over trees. It's standing for a different issue, other than people. What's wrong with that?

[Jim123]

I wonder if her "improving" the waterfront view from her condo affected the selling price of $1,695,000? If so, she may have made a lot of money on the whole deal.

[dgmorr]

Wow, that's stupid. So she cut a few trees down.

I just cut all the plum trees down in my backyard because I didn't want to pick up the plums every year.

Using the poison is just sneaky though. What's wrong with a good old saw?

[robattoronto]

B.C. tree assassin walks free

By MARK HUME

Friday, January 6, 2006 Page A1

* E-mail Mark Hume
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VANCOUVER -- A prominent businesswoman who killed three trees on Vancouver's Beach Drive to get a better view of English Bay received an absolute discharge yesterday in British Columbia Provincial Court.

June Gordenia Matheson, 72, pleaded guilty to one count of committing mischief over $5,000 - but Judge Ellen Gordon gave her a discharge after hearing how much she had suffered through public ridicule.

Vancouver news media treated the case of the Beach Drive tree killing as a major crime, and Ms. Matheson became the target of hate mail, death threats and taunts.

"The public outcry in this case had a remarkable denunciatory effect," Judge Gordon said. "She has been humiliated."

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The court heard that some time between March 10 and June 10 of 2004, Ms. Matheson, a businesswoman with an enviable reputation, crept out into the night, drilled the trees with a ¾-inch auger and poured in a mix of herbicides she'd smuggled across the U.S. border.

Ms. Matheson had lived in her Beach Avenue suite for more than 20 years. She didn't like it when, after she moved into the building, trees were planted on a grassy knoll across the street, blocking the view from her $1.7-million home.

Alarmed neighbours, who loved the oaks, maples and London planes that shaded their street, quickly brought the sick trees to the attention of park board staff.

Soon, a full-blown crime scene investigation was under way. Investigators found holes drilled into the bases of five trees.

"Foliage was late and unhealthy and nearby grass was dying, suggesting that they had been poisoned," Crown counsel Ralph Keefer told the court.

"Using a newly purchased turkey baster, liquid was extracted from several of the various holes and analyzed," Mr. Keefer said. "These samples were found to contain glyphosate and triclopyr, two non-selective herbicides capable of killing most plants. They are found in American brand-name herbicides . . . none of which are readily available in Canada."

Word that the trees weren't sick from natural diseases but had been deliberately poisoned spread through the neighbourhood.

It wasn't long before fingers were being pointed at Ms. Matheson's balcony.

Mr. Keefer told court one neighbour told police she'd seen Ms. Matheson and a friend acting suspiciously around the trees one evening, close to midnight.

"The accused crossed to the bike path near the affected trees, and while the male paced back and forth on the bike path . . . the accused was seen to bend down in the area of each of the affected trees," Mr. Keefer said.

Ian Donaldson, Ms. Matheson's lawyer, said that even before she was arrested, his client became the focus of public outrage - with people hurling insults, rocks and bags containing dog excrement at her balcony.

He said Ms. Matheson was forced to sell both her suite (for $1,695,000) and her business, J Interiors, (for an undisclosed amount) because of public antipathy.

Mr. Donaldson said she was remorseful and had already paid the park board $29,000 to replace the dead trees and donated another $20,000 to support reforestation work throughout Stanley Park.

Outside court, Mr. Donaldson read from an apology she'd written.

"I found myself in a situation I never dreamed imaginable," he quoted her as saying. "I thought only selfishly about my view. . . . What I now realize is how wrong it was. . . . If I could change the mistake I made, I would."

He said she now lives in a house with no view and sorely misses being able to look out to English Bay through the trees.



Globe and Mail : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060106/BCTREE06/TPNational/?query=tree

[robattoronto]

So yes I do agree that what she did was terrible. She was sneaky and was irresponsible with the environment just to get a better view from her home. But what I don't agree with the title is that, she did not get "off scott free".

She has gone through series of public ridicule. Hate mail, death threats, taunts, people hurling insults, rocks and bags containing dog excrement at her balcony, sold her $1.6M suite and her business, paid $29,000 to replace the dead trees and donated another $20,000 and issued a public apology.

Well I can imagine how that can effect a 72 yr old woman.

So yeah, I don't agree she got off scott free. I think she has gone through enough and she is apologetic about what she did. Y'know some people DO learn from their mistakes you know. Yeesh.

And yeah, I do agree with Fastfokker that there are much more worse environmental crimes commited by big companies for profit which makes this woman's incident a tiny drop in the bucket.

And the "shut up, moron" part, that was uncalled for. She has every right to voice her opinion as much as you do.

[Rogue_77]

Honestly, sounds like she's only sorry 'cuz she got caught.

Hell, part of her repayment was a donation. Couldn't she just write that off during tax season?