 Terry Schwarzfeld was murdered on a beach in the Barbados in February. The man charged with killing the Ottawa woman now faces charges in several other attacks including a rape. (File photo)
|
OTTAWA -- The 24-year-old Barbadian man charged with murdering Terry Schwarzfeld and raping a German tourist last July has pleaded guilty to robbing five tourists in the same section of Long Beach.
Curtis Joel Foster, an unemployed man from a rural area, was sentenced to two years in jail after he admitted robbing the tourists -- including a pair from Canada in August -- of $12,368 Barbadian worth of belongings since last August.
Foster will answer to the indictable offences -- Schwarzfeld's murder and robbery and the rape of the German tourist -- in Supreme Court at a later date.
THEFT CHARGE
Foster will be back in court April 2 for a theft charge against another Canadian tourist the day before Schwarzfeld and her daughter-in-law, Luana Cotsman, were attacked.
Schwarzfeld and Cotsman were strolling Long Beach the afternoon of Feb. 28 when a hooded man struck them down with a two-by-four. Cotsman survived, but Schwarzfeld, a respected volunteer in Ottawa's Jewish community, suffered brain damage and died in an Ottawa hospital three weeks later.
The day before Schwarzfeld and Cotsman were attacked, Montreal tourist Sharleen Benoit had her valuables stolen from her beach bag in the same area.
Benoit spotted a man watching her and her family at the exact spot Schwarzfeld was attacked. Moments later, her bag and valuables were gone.
Foster was known to Barbados police but they wouldn't reveal details of his previous criminal convictions, claiming criminal records aren't part of the public record in Barbados.
"I can't tell you that. He's been charged, in the past, with other crimes in the area, you know," Royal Barbados Police Force Assistant Commissioner Seymour Cumberbatch said.
The Barbados police force's assistant superintendent was expected to arrive in Ottawa last night and will meet with Schwarzfeld's family today so Cotsman can identify the rings and camera -- still containing images from their vacation -- which were seized during the arrest. An Ottawa police major crime investigator who is assisting with the Schwarzfeld post-mortem and the Barbados investigation was to meet the Barbadian investigator.
Foster was arrested Friday morning in his home in the neighbouring rural parish of Bayfield, St. Philip, on the island's southeast coast, about four miles from the scene of the crimes. During the arrest, officers found an imitation handgun they believe was used in the attack on Schwarzfeld and Cotsman.
A handcuffed Foster was led into an Oisten District courtroom yesterday afternoon wearing khakis and a long-sleeved, peach dress shirt. He admitted committing the five robberies.
"Yes, guilty," he told the magistrate who read the charges.
COURTROOM
Only four people -- three police officers and a journalist -- sat in the courtroom.
"He's been before the court previously and I didn't see any family with him," said Barbados police Sgt. Patrick Barrow, who's prosecuting the case.
Barbados High Commissioner to Canada Evelyn Greaves, Barbadian Tourism Minister Richard Sealy and Royal Barbados Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin were unavailable for comment.
Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman Daniel Barbarie said the department updated the Barbadian travel report March 5 -- a week after Schwarzfeld and Cotsman were attacked -- to warn travellers about crimes on Long Beach.
He declined to say whether that was because of information from the Barbadian government. "Intergovernmental conversations are confidential," he said.
Schwarzfeld's family wasn't aware of the other charges against Foster and declined to comment.
BETH.JOHNSTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
