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00:03This program is rated 14-plus and contains scenes of violence and mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:15On a day off from school, this sidewalk near Corinne's townhouse would be filled with children's laughter.
00:21But today, a somber mood has moved into the neighborhood.
00:25Corinne, if you're watching, please dial 911. You know it. Please.
00:30Come home. Please, babe. Come on, punky. Phone us. Do something, punky.
00:37I was just hoping that they'd both find her, that she was still alive.
00:42Today, it was confirmed. Corinne was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and smothered to death.
00:53The task now is to find Corinne's abductor.
00:57Each of them has just a license number on them.
01:00The police were absolutely flooded with tips, and it was driving the two investigators.
01:04This was their first big case.
01:06It was utterly overwhelming.
01:09The fact that it's been almost 14 months now and it hasn't happened again might lead some to believe that
01:15our suspect is no longer here.
01:17It wasn't until a decade later, thanks to new technology, the police decided, let's take another look.
01:37Welcome to Crime Beat. I'm Anthony Robart.
01:40Tonight, teams of police and volunteers hunt for any trace of Corinne Gustafson, known affectionately by her friends and family
01:48as Punky, a six-year-old girl who goes missing while playing in her yard.
01:53But it would be years before the terrifying truth finally emerged.
02:06It was a sleepy Sunday morning on the Labor Day weekend in 1992.
02:12A hint of the changing season hung in the air.
02:17It was a chilly day.
02:19It was a quiet morning.
02:21One of the ones that was up with me and Ray and Corinne.
02:25Families in this northeast Edmonton neighborhood were settling in to a new school year.
02:32In Rundle Park Village, six-year-old Corinne Punky Gustafson bounded out of her townhouse, eager to play with her
02:40friend, just two steps away from the porch.
02:44Got up in the morning.
02:45She was already out playing with the neighbors.
02:49I told Corinne to come and have breakfast, and then she wanted to go back outside.
02:57My dad just got out of the hospital the day before, and I forgot to go get him some stuff.
03:03So I said, okay, I'll be right back.
03:06And you gave her something, right?
03:08I gave her a $2 bill.
03:10I went to Bingle the night before, and I said, if I win, we'll give his money, and we'll go
03:17to the store together.
03:19I left the door, and I went to my dad's.
03:22I was just getting a coffee when I looked out the door and couldn't see her or that neighbor girl,
03:33Lindsay.
03:33I went running to the next door, and she said, Lindsay's here, but Corinne's gone.
03:44So I ran all over the neighborhood looking for Corinne.
03:49Lindsay told me that Corinne was taken.
03:54I told the neighbor lady to call the cops while I was out looking for her.
04:01Ray had phoned and asked if Punky came with me, and I went.
04:06We said no, and he said, well, then somebody took her.
04:12So I hurried up, jumped in my dad's truck, and I took off, and I went home, and she wasn't
04:18there.
04:22I just went crazy.
04:23I just banged my head and just telling her, I want my girl back.
04:30And I come home, and she was crying, and I told her that I went, looked all over the neighborhood.
04:41She just didn't, couldn't be found.
04:46I just wanted to break down the tears.
04:50I couldn't get it in my mind who it would have been.
04:56She was playing at the door when I left the door, and she asked me where I was going.
05:00And I said I was going to go to the bus bus to fix the TV, and I was going
05:04to come back and take a shopping.
05:08And she said, I'll see you after.
05:10And I said, yeah.
05:11And that was it.
05:12That was the last time I seen her.
05:14You don't know what's happening.
05:16And I cried and cried and cried.
05:18Kept on saying, I hope, you know, whoever took her would drop her off.
05:24She would find her way home, or somebody would find her.
05:29Police soon arrived at Rundle Park Village.
05:32After speaking with the young witness and Punky's parents, they launched their investigation into the abduction of Corrine Gustafson.
05:40Apparently, the guy just grabbed her and put his hand around her, and also, she couldn't scream.
05:47And Corrine, Dad loves you. Mom loves you.
05:51Please come home.
05:53I'm just waiting, hope that she's alive.
05:58I'm able to come home.
05:59Once we found out it was an abduction, we went full gear.
06:03It was like, okay, somebody's abducted this little kid, and all they had to go on was the five-year
06:07-old's testimony,
06:08but that was enough to get police moving, and us too.
06:12As soon as we put that on the 6 o'clock news, it was, our phone lines just lit up.
06:17The switchboard lit up.
06:19It was terrifying.
06:19We didn't have stories like that very often that happened here in Edmonton.
06:23The whole city was checking all the parks in our neighborhood.
06:29I was just hoping that they'd both find her.
06:34A playmate is the only person who saw Corrine Gustafson picked up and taken away Sunday afternoon by a man
06:41with three earrings in his left ear.
06:43Somebody in his early 20s with a light brown skin, with light, actually brown hair, short on the side, short
06:52on the top,
06:53and apparently there's some white stripes, something that died probably on his hair.
07:00She did call him the boogeyman.
07:02Punky's friend called him the boogeyman.
07:03That's how she saw him.
07:05This was any parent's worst nightmare.
07:07At that time, there were no Amber Alerts.
07:09Everybody was just, well, we have to find this little girl.
07:12Like, what has happened to her?
07:13I think everybody was just sitting on pins and needles.
07:16Police received a tip from a young neighbor who said they saw a man get into a blue van with
07:22a little girl that morning.
07:24So you're driving around looking for a blue van.
07:26Hey, could it be that one?
07:28Well, it could be that one.
07:29I got to know roads in the city that they didn't even know existed.
07:32And I did every dirt road, cow pasture, just looking for a blue van.
07:43You recognize that girl?
07:44She's about your age and looks almost kind of like you with long blonde hair.
07:48Corinne is six years old.
07:50She has blonde hair and is approximately four feet tall.
07:53When she disappeared, she was wearing a purple full-length coat, black and white polka dot pants, and white runners.
07:59She goes by the nickname of Punky.
08:02Corinne, if you're watching, please tell 911.
08:05You know what?
08:06Please, come home.
08:08Please, babe.
08:09Come on, Punky.
08:10Phone us.
08:12Do something, Punky.
08:16None of the men in this group have ever taken part in a search like this, nor do they know
08:20the little girl.
08:21But they're out here for one simple reason.
08:24They care.
08:25You can't have nothing more important than to go out and look for somebody else's child, you know?
08:29That's the way I feel.
08:29Halfway through those trees, one at the top of the trees.
08:33Well, I've got two kids of my own, and yeah, I'm sure most people tend to have an uneasy feeling
08:39when it involves a defenseless young child.
08:43This is her graduation picture from kindergarten, and she just started grade one this year. She's six years old.
08:51They were going through hundreds of volunteers.
08:54They organized to go through ravines and neighborhoods, and they were looking for this little girl.
09:02I remember the intensity of that time.
09:06Hi, good afternoon.
09:06I remember there was a raft of really horrible murders at that time in Edmonton.
09:13Do we have to keep our kids in the house? Because, you know, somebody, some wacko, to put it nicely,
09:18has, you know, decided to terrorize the neighborhood.
09:21Whoever has her, um, can you please bring her home? Because I never know, and I want her to come
09:26home.
09:28I'm not a self-sleeper. Like, I'm a very light sleeper, so any little noise, I wake up.
09:34Because I kept on hearing footprints in the house. We always thought that would be Corrine's footprint.
09:42Her saying, Mommy, I'm home. It meant nothing.
09:58Welcome back to Crime Reads.
10:00A little girl has been snatched from her parents' yard, the only witness, her five-year-old friend.
10:07Now, panic grips the city of Edmonton as hundreds of volunteers join the search for little Corrine,
10:13clinging to hope that she'll be found alive.
10:18We now return to Jamie Dahl with Stolen. The Boogeyman Took Punky.
10:30She was my baby. I have my oldest daughter, and then my son, and then I had Corrine.
10:37And her, her nickname was Punky.
10:40Her hair had sticking up all over the top.
10:43And we'd seen that movie show of Punky Brewster, and we called her that Punky all the time.
10:54What was she like?
10:56Uh, lovable. She loved, like, even bugs, ants. She was just an old-going girl.
11:08She always wanted to be outside, doing things. She always wanted to ride her bike.
11:15She was just, she was so bubbly and cheery that, uh, yeah. She just, you're drawn to her. That's what
11:21it was.
11:21She was just starting grade one?
11:23Yeah, just starting grade one. She liked it. She wanted to go. Even on, like, on that weekend, she said,
11:33I'm going to school. No, it's a weekend. You don't go to school on the weekends.
11:36On a day off from school, this sidewalk near Corrine's townhouse would be filled with children's laughter. But today, a
11:43somber mood has moved into the neighborhood.
11:45I hope, you know, whoever took her, would drop her off. She'll find her way home, or somebody will find
11:53her.
11:56I was just hoping that they'd both find her.
12:04But she was still alive.
12:12RCMP were called to the Sherwood Park Industrial Area at a quarter to five.
12:18Two days after Punky disappeared, the agonizing hours of searching came to a grinding halt.
12:26A horrific discovery was made on the outskirts of the city, less than 10 kilometers from her home.
12:32A passerby found the body in this storage lot behind a trucking firm.
12:36The owner of the company, who refused an interview, said the body was that of a young girl.
12:42Someone who worked there came and he saw something. He thought it was like a doll covered in mud and
12:49dust, is how he put it.
12:51And he immediately went to the police and reported it.
12:55The body was found clothed. I don't know whether it was partially clothed or fully clothed, but clothed.
13:01And the clothing does match the description of Karine Gustafson's clothing.
13:05The body was found between two truck trailers.
13:08After a crime scene investigation, the body was taken away by the medical examiner's office for an autopsy.
13:19Shortly after, police made a visit they had hoped they'd never have to make.
13:25They just knelt in front of Karine and they said, you know, I'm sorry we found her and she's gone.
13:31And that's, and then you know, Karine was screaming in her head.
13:36And then it didn't take long after that I had to take Karine to the hospital because I thought she
13:40was going to have a nervous breakdown.
13:41I always banged my head against the wall. I was doing everything. So they tried to calm me down and
13:49I couldn't.
13:51My heart went right out of my chest. It's like somebody tore a heart out of my chest.
14:01And they told me that they found her.
14:09Punky's dad and uncle rushed to the trucking yard. Then eventually, the morgue.
14:16I just wanted to hold her and just wanted to go see what she had to go through.
14:24Wondering what she felt when she died.
14:34I just couldn't get through my mind. I just wanted to get revenge.
14:43It's when they came and gave us the news that they, that she was deceased.
14:52I think that's when the light and the life of pretty much everybody in that household just disappeared for a
15:00while.
15:02And then you kind of go numb.
15:04The body of the little girl has been positively identified as Karine Gustafson.
15:17Today, it was confirmed. Karine was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and smothered to death.
15:24It scares the hell out of me.
15:27You know, it's kind of hard. How do you say your friend ain't coming back to school? It's really hard.
15:32Students have an understanding this morning that, that Karine is gone from us and she is, she is dead.
15:38And, and she won't be with us any longer.
15:40What is normal after, after we've lost one of our children.
15:47I'm sorry.
15:48You gotta go.
15:49I know that's fine.
15:50I know that's fine.
15:51I know that's fine.
15:51I know that's fine.
15:52I know that's fine.
15:52Thanks to all the volunteers.
15:54That's all I have to say.
15:56Thanks.
15:59To all the people in the city.
16:01I'm helping.
16:02No more.
16:03I can't take your back.
16:05You got her?
16:07Okay.
16:07She was just here five minutes before and looked in the patio window and I see.
16:12I was like, oh, my God.
16:12She was right there and then all of a sudden she was gone.
16:15It's a nightmare.
16:17Cops are going to get you pretty soon or one of these days.
16:21You woke there.
16:23I'll just see me.
16:25You look at this because you are going to hurt.
16:29This was national news by this time as soon as her body was found.
16:33Everybody wants to know who is the monster behind this.
16:36Where is he?
16:36And will he strike again?
16:38A few days after Karine's little body was found,
16:42her parents were interviewed once again by police.
16:46They put us in a little room at the police station there and asked us a bunch of questions.
16:53And it was hard.
16:57I told him I didn't have nothing to do with it.
17:00I couldn't understand why I'm being questioned and taken away from the family.
17:21Welcome back to Crime Beats.
17:23Two days after six-year-old Punky Gustafson disappeared from outside her northeast Edmonton home,
17:28her lifeless body was found in a trucking yard.
17:32That was police hunt for her killer.
17:34Her family has the painful task of saying goodbye.
17:40We now return to Jamie Dahl with Stolen.
17:44The Boogeyman Took Punky.
17:55Weighed down in shock and grief, one week after the murder,
17:59family, friends and members of the public packed into an Edmonton church to say goodbye.
18:04To take someone's life to destroy this beautiful gift that God has given
18:10is the most evil act that a human being could ever commit.
18:19Just because the light went out doesn't mean she is gone.
18:23She will be in our hearts now and forever.
18:30Investigators told us that they had surveillance at the funeral.
18:34Maybe it's somebody that's sitting and watching.
18:37Were you scared that it could happen again?
18:39Yeah.
18:41The task now is to find Corrine's abductor.
18:44Police are scouring the area for any possible clues.
18:48They found a few tire tracks, but that's about all.
18:50What they'd really like to find is the pair of white canvas runners Corrine had on when she was kidnapped.
18:56They're missing.
18:57Besides that, police have only a sketchy description of a suspect to go on.
19:01A darker skinned individual with dark hair, five foot six to six foot tall, slim build,
19:06with a patch of white hair on the crown of his head, three earrings in his left ear,
19:12with a blue and white jacket and possibly glasses.
19:15Police have already received more than 300 tips on the abduction.
19:19The stumbling block is that the only eyewitness to the incident is a five-year-old girl.
19:23When Punky disappeared from her northeast Edmonton neighbourhood,
19:26witnesses believe the suspect fled in a blue van.
19:29But when searching the Sherwood Park trucking yard where Punky's body was found,
19:33police were able to lift tire tracks, not from a van, but from a second vehicle.
19:38At the scene where Corrine's body was found, these tire prints were found.
19:43These tire prints cannot come from a van.
19:46Police believe the killer dumped the body from a car,
19:49a car similar to a Dodge Aries, Chevrolet Cavalier, or a Ford Tempo.
19:54So each of them has just the, just the license number on them.
19:57Just follow those up.
19:58When they come back, just the attached report goes into the box right here.
20:02The police were absolutely flooded with tips.
20:04And it was driving the two investigators, Terry Elm and Al Sove.
20:10Like they were, these were young guys.
20:12This was their first big case.
20:14And it just, it was utterly overwhelming.
20:17Investigators Terry Elm and Albert Laher agreed to sit down with us
20:21to discuss intricate details of the case.
20:24They politely declined an on-camera interview,
20:27saying the memories are still too triggering to relive in front of the lens.
20:32Both men had children close in age to Punky at the time,
20:36and added while they were able to watch their kids grow up, Punky didn't get a chance.
20:41You know that these officers, the men and women of the police force,
20:45they took that case home every night to their families too.
20:48And then they, they never let it go.
20:50You could see it was mentally draining.
20:54In this room in the police station,
20:5650 officers a day work on the case full time, following up tips.
21:00It's an important case to police,
21:02and they're not ruling out any means necessary in solving it.
21:05I'm going to forward this to homicide.
21:07Police were relentless in their pursuit of the killer,
21:10from sending out questionnaires to offering a $40,000 reward
21:14for information leading to an arrest.
21:17Okay, cameras rolling.
21:18Even reenacting the gruesome story on camera,
21:22hoping to ignite anything to help capture the suspect.
21:28Police and actors are recreating the crime,
21:30complete with a Kareem Gustafson look-alike.
21:33Crime stoppers, that would run every single night in our 6 o'clock news.
21:36I'm just trembling inside right now, just thinking about it.
21:39I just couldn't believe it.
21:41Especially in broad daylight, you know.
21:44But anyway, I hope they get the sicko that did it.
21:4823 days have passed since Punky's body was found.
21:51Three dozen police are hunting the killer around the clock.
21:57Punky's picture was wallpapered across the province.
22:00The billboard campaign was huge.
22:02It just swept right across Edmonton.
22:04Do you have any information at all leading to something
22:08that would lead to the arrest or finding a suspect?
22:10It was hard.
22:11It was hard.
22:13Even with my kids, when we took a bus and,
22:15Mom, this is Corrine, yes.
22:20Every bus had a picture.
22:22And what it said was, somebody out there knows.
22:26Because I was the one that said it.
22:27That somebody out there knows.
22:29It was just eerie.
22:31This is the worst imaginable crime.
22:33Her picture, her pretty little face,
22:35is on the front of every newspaper.
22:37It's just, it made people crazy.
22:40How can this evil be in our city?
22:42It was an awful time in Edmonton.
22:44And it haunted people.
22:49Meanwhile, investigators were still dissecting
22:51every inch of the scene where Punky's body was found.
22:55Police discovered a pubic hair on Corrine's ankle.
22:58But scientists were unable to get a full genetic profile
23:01of the suspect.
23:02The technology just wasn't there.
23:04It wasn't all the killer left behind in the trucking yard.
23:09They also found his shoe prints
23:12with the baseball cleats in them.
23:14He tried to hide the evidence,
23:17the tire tracks and his own footprints.
23:19But he was in such a hurry
23:20that he didn't do a very good job.
23:23So they were able to get really good look
23:25and pictures of footprints and tire tracks.
23:29It was the same cleat, the same shoe size
23:33that was found at her home in northeast Edmonton
23:36when she was grabbed.
23:38So they found the same one in soft mud
23:40beside the houses that she was taken from.
23:43They determined that it was probably
23:44something called a mitre brand baseball cleat.
23:47And they started to go through every one
23:51who had played baseball in that area at the time.
23:53There had been a baseball tournament.
23:54So they tried tracking everybody down.
23:56Based on the evidence and the type of crime,
23:58police believed they were dealing with a solo perpetrator.
24:02We're working on that Corinne Gustafson homicide.
24:04You guys see you play baseball?
24:06Yeah.
24:06Size eight feet, huh? So you know about it then.
24:08Were you in a tournament all that weekend?
24:10While some officers checked with baseball teams,
24:13the search for the suspected vehicles,
24:16that car with bald tires and a blue van carried on.
24:21They run on a diet of phone tips.
24:24This is tip 2849.
24:26A blue van that hasn't moved since September.
24:29Turns out it's been cleared before.
24:32Good evening and thanks for joining us tonight.
24:34Four months after Punky died,
24:36two of Edmonton's largest television stations
24:39came together for an unprecedented half-hour special.
24:43This is such a horrific story.
24:45Let's get CFRN together with ITV.
24:49Global was ITV at the time.
24:51And let's team up and put all the resources,
24:54get all the police and let's really go.
24:56It was January of 1993.
24:59It was about a two day period in the time
25:01between when Corinne was abducted and they found her body.
25:04What happened in that two day time period?
25:07Was she killed at the site where you found her?
25:09So we don't know exactly how long she'd been there ever.
25:12We do know that she wasn't killed at that location.
25:14We do believe that Corinne was killed at another location, yes.
25:20I was talking to one of the detectives.
25:22I remember thinking and I looked at him and I said,
25:25do you think the killer might be watching us right now?
25:27And he looked at me and he went,
25:28there's a very good chance the killer's watching us
25:31right now as this broadcast is happening.
25:33And a chill just went up my back now thinking about it.
25:55I think the minute after they found her in the trucking yard was,
26:02I was put to the top of their list because I know the area.
26:06I gave them my DNA.
26:09I gave them a police report as to where I was the night before
26:12and what I was doing up until the time.
26:14I think these guys are grabbing it.
26:16Ron Davies emerged from his six hour interrogation with police,
26:19badly shaken and angry.
26:21I got 15 nephews and nieces.
26:26If they think I'm capable of doing that to one of them,
26:30they're crazy.
26:31There's no way.
26:32How many times were you brought in?
26:34I don't know, five, six times.
26:37There's one interrogation that he will never be able to shake.
26:41They threw all the pictures across the table of her laying
26:45underneath that trailer in the mud.
26:50Her body just plain as day right there.
26:53And it was like,
26:56I did not need to see that.
26:59That's the one thing the family never got to see until that day
27:03at the RCMP when they threw all the pictures.
27:06You see that tiny little body.
27:15And then it was like,
27:18he slaps his hands on the table and he says,
27:21you know you did it.
27:23Let's confess so we can close this case
27:26and I can get on with another one.
27:30Police said they had 400 suspects,
27:32but months went by with no concrete leads.
27:36Action.
27:37American program Unsolved Mysteries even came to town.
27:41Police hoped it would cast a wider net in their search for evidence.
27:45The fact that it's been almost 14 months now
27:47and it hasn't happened again might lead some to believe
27:51that our suspect is no longer here.
27:53We're not at the point where we can say that yet.
27:56Investigators told us they traveled far and wide to follow up on tips.
28:00Detective Terry Elm said he even flew to an advanced forensic lab in England
28:04with the hair sample found on Punky
28:07to see if it was connected to another suspect
28:10in a similar case in British Columbia.
28:13It wasn't a match.
28:15They had just intense pressure,
28:17mostly put up by themselves, but other cops too.
28:19Everyone had a theory, everybody, you know,
28:22get out, you guys are young cops,
28:24get out there on the street more, bang on the doors,
28:26bang some heads, you know, the old school thinking.
28:28Like they were doing everything.
28:30They were being heavily criticized from within the force
28:33from other people, more experienced police officers
28:35about not solving this.
28:37For Punky's parents, grief grew into desperation.
28:42Parents supposed to go before the kids died.
28:52I just felt like her being dead.
28:57I just didn't have nothing to live for.
29:01What were some of the thoughts you were having?
29:04I was going to jump over the bridge.
29:06I was going to go do something so I could be with Carmine.
29:15Towards the end, you know there's still police officers out there
29:19that think you did it.
29:20He says, we could put this all to rest if you would just agree
29:23to doing a polygraph.
29:25I went in and did the polygraph and he came back out
29:30and he says, you passed the polygraph.
29:32I said, I told you I would.
29:33I had nothing to do with it.
29:35Without any leads, the case went cold.
29:38And then new technology brought new hope ten years later.
29:44Thanks to new developments in DNA technology and testing
29:48and the DNA data bank, they were able to go back.
29:51The police decided, let's take another look.
29:57Punky's family was the first to hear what police believe
30:00could eventually solve the decade old murder.
30:03The PCR test had come into being so they could use smaller
30:07and smaller bits of DNA to identify killers.
30:12And they just thought, well, let's just give it one more go.
30:15Let's send all of Punky's clothing in to get it tested one more time
30:20at this new lab that's at the forefront of these new techniques.
30:25And let's see if they can find anything.
30:26And they did.
30:27They found a DNA sample on Punky's panties.
30:31When I talked to the scientist who eventually came up with the complete profile,
30:36he says, Terry, I've got your killer.
30:41And I'll tell you, I'll tell you, that was the best news I'd heard in years.
30:46We are sending DNA samples to the lab, so we're hopeful that by reviewing these tips
30:53and from any information we may now receive that will be compared to the profile we have.
31:00One week later, the family marked the 10th anniversary of Punky's death.
31:05She was buried on my son's birthday.
31:10It's going to be hard on him.
31:12It's only going to take one tip that it will catch the guy that did this.
31:15We live for the day that they catch him.
31:19And six months later, that day finally arrived.
31:24About ten years after the murder, new technology allowed investigators to create a DNA profile
31:30of Punky's killer, but nobody matched it.
31:33Then came federal legislation allowing for the creation of a national DNA data bank.
31:38Many convicted criminals became compelled to offer a DNA sample, including Clifford Slay,
31:44convicted of a different crime.
31:46And then came word Slay's DNA.
31:49That's the DNA profile of Gustafson's killer.
31:53I just cried.
31:56I had hope all day, every day.
31:59I thought this would be the day that the former ringer said that they caught the guy.
32:04And it happened.
32:09Punky's 20-year-old sister, Roseanne, promised her baby sibling the family would never give up hope.
32:15We just went to the grave site every year and just paid to show her how much we loved her
32:21and how much we were wishing that we would catch the guy.
32:24Big relief.
32:25I tell you, those 10-pound bricks are off my shoulders.
32:29This is the, by far, the best day I've had in over a decade.
32:3340-year-old Clifford Slay was already serving a 13-year sentence for two sexual assaults and forcible confinement at
32:42the Bowdoin Institute, south of Edmonton.
32:44There was 26 convictions in all.
32:46He was clearly a psychopath.
32:48Just a cold, machine-like human being who did not experience regular emotions.
32:54According to parole board documents, Slay had amassed 26 convictions.
32:59Mostly for property-related offences, impaired driving, breaches of trust, escape unlawful custody, and numerous violent offences.
33:09With his most concerning behaviour involving his pattern of predatory sexual assault.
33:16Police first met Slay weeks after Punky's murder.
33:20Not as a person of interest, but a potential witness.
33:24Two months after the crime, they sent a detective to where Slay was moving with the woman he was with.
33:34And she had told the police in one of the tips that her boyfriend, Clifford Slay, said, oh, he had
33:42been out driving around that morning and he saw someone who he thought might have done it, someone in a
33:46van.
33:47So they went and they tracked down Clifford Slay.
33:50And they asked him about that story and he denied anything about that.
33:54He had come to our attention earlier on in the investigation from another investigation that was unrelated.
34:04In the spring of 1993, while detectives were interviewing Slay about one of the sexual assault cases, they brought up
34:12the Gustafson case and asked for a DNA sample.
34:15Something they had been asking a lot of potential suspects to provide.
34:20They also searched Slay's home.
34:23They found a baseball cleat in the closet, but when they took it to forensic, it didn't match.
34:29His story was that he was babysitting for relatives and they checked out.
34:34And because of that and the cleat, he was taken off as a suspect, essentially.
34:42He was right there in front of them, but his family ended up covering up for him.
34:47They came up with an alibi, so that kind of led police to go, well, maybe we don't have the
34:52right guy.
34:52Let's keep looking in another direction.
34:55With the DNA match secured, investigators told us officers confronted Slay's former partner, who had provided an alibi.
35:02She admitted Slay hadn't been with her the whole weekend.
35:16Welcome back.
35:17About a decade after Punky Gustafson's murder, the creation of a national DNA databank finally gave police a match to
35:25her killer.
35:26Now, it was time to confront the man they believed was responsible, already serving time for other crimes.
35:34We now return to the conclusion of Stolen.
35:38The boogeyman took Punky.
35:44Police paid Clifford Slay a visit in prison.
35:47They set the stage, letting him know his DNA was on Punky's clothes.
35:52They also took another DNA sample at the request of the Crown.
35:56It didn't take long for Slay to unravel.
36:00What did you talk about?
36:01What did you say?
36:05Well, she asked me where I was taking her.
36:09Okay.
36:13The only way I ever called her, I just ignored her.
36:16I didn't answer her.
36:20It wasn't a conversation.
36:26I didn't say that between her and she just gone quiet.
36:29I just wanted to try as far as if I could understand her.
36:32I just dropped off and just leave.
36:35But when I realized that there was no traffic in this area, it seemed very secluded, you
36:41know, I just had to put on myself to, um, I guess, have sex up there, you know, you
36:51don't use the terminology, it's written for me.
36:53I had no intention to kill it.
36:55You had no intention to kill me.
36:56My hopes were that somebody would find me.
36:59Right.
37:08I think that was some of the first times that we had really heard what had happened to,
37:14uh, to Punky Gustafson and through the words of the man who had done it.
37:1840-year-old Clifford Matthew Slay is now facing first-degree murder charges in connection to the death of Punky
37:24Gustafson.
37:25I got the first view of him when they drove him down into the police department in the backseat of
37:32that car.
37:33Slowly, just enough to get the, so that the media and that could get his picture.
37:39Looking at him at that point, I thought, that guy has no soul.
37:44His eyes are just dark.
37:51The trial was set for May 9th, 2005.
37:57Punky Gustafson's family walked into the law court's building together, prepared to face the little girl's alleged killer for the
38:04first time.
38:05Any thoughts this morning, Sarah?
38:08Dressed in blue overalls, Slay heard the charges against him.
38:12First-degree murder and kidnapping.
38:14Charges in connection with the disappearance of six-year-old Corrine Gustafson back in September 1992.
38:20Punky's mother quietly stared at Slay in the prisoner's box while other family members openly wept.
38:26In a surprising move, Slay pleaded guilty to kidnapping, not guilty to aggravated sexual assault, and tried pleading guilty to
38:33manslaughter.
38:34But the Crown didn't accept the manslaughter plea, opting to continue with the first-degree murder trial.
38:39The whole trial took a bit of a turn.
38:41He's now admitting that, yes, I was there.
38:44I caused the death of Punky Gustafson.
38:46The question now is, did he murder Punky Gustafson?
38:50In court, he just sat there, was sitting on his arms and his head down, never moved the whole time.
38:56If I could have, I would have smacked him.
38:59And that was why I just wanted to get at him, to make him suffer pain like she did.
39:04I always wanted to just, you know, strangle him, do something to him.
39:12Punky Gustafson's family left court stunned.
39:15The description of the young girl's injuries forced some of them to leave the room,
39:19and some jurors, to tears.
39:22The forensic examiner thought the most likely cause of death was from the rape itself,
39:28from internal bleeding from the rape.
39:30Essentially, she was raped to death by Clifford Slay.
39:41Clifford Slay had got into a fight with his common-law partner.
39:45He was very mad at her and wanted to go and hurt her.
39:48His partner had a young daughter.
39:51And so his idea was that he was going to go and sexually assault his common-law partner's daughter.
39:56But the problem with that plan was that she wasn't there right then.
40:00So, instead, he just went out to look for somebody else.
40:04She's sitting in her yard, playing with a friend.
40:06He describes how he just goes and snatches her.
40:09Slay told investigators he took Corrine simply because she was the closest to the fence.
40:16To have that confirmation and to see just how random this was,
40:21a bit of a jaw-dropping moment in a case filled with jaw-dropping moments.
40:27Two weeks after the trial began on May 25, 2005, a verdict was reached on the eve of Karen's birthday.
40:37We caught him, and she can rest in peace now.
40:41Okay.
40:42They said first degree.
40:44It just felt like it was a big load off of our shoulders.
40:50Relief now.
40:51Finally come to an end.
40:53We're able to see justice done.
40:55I think you guys are always part of our family.
40:57Always welcome.
40:58I was in homicide unit for 10 years, and this was the case I followed right through.
41:03And I had the opportunity to continue on with the investigation even after I retired.
41:08So, yeah, you know, because of that, I have some closure with it as well.
41:15Clifford Slay was given the maximum sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
41:21The most dramatic moment of the sentencing hearing came when Slay addressed the court.
41:26Slay started by saying, I just want to apologize and say I'm sorry.
41:31Then, for the first time in the trial, Clifford Slay showed some emotion.
41:34He began crying.
41:35At that point, Punky's cousin stood up in the back of the courtroom and said,
41:39Don't cry for us. We don't need your remorse.
41:42It's over now. He's a little bastard.
41:44He shouldn't be able to go back to court.
41:47He should be serving time.
41:49Okay, that's it.
41:51Please get out of here.
41:53You tore our family apart, and now we get our justice, and I hope that you rot and rot.
42:03For me, it's a few moments in the courtroom.
42:06You know, having a daughter and thinking about that crime that has a big emotional impact on me.
42:17But for them who lived it, it would be overwhelming to talk about it again, to think about it.
42:27You know, even after 30 years, it still hurts.
42:30You see kids doing certain things that she used to do, and then you think, what she would be like
42:37today, right?
42:38So, it never goes away. It's there. The pain's there.
42:42I wouldn't know what she would be like today if she would have gotten married, you know, and had kids.
42:50What do you miss the most?
42:51Her hugs, saying goodbye, goodnight, and I'll see you later.
43:00This is the walkway, where he took her from.
43:07Ah, baseball members.
43:15That $2 bill Karen gave Corrine the last time she saw her, was found by police still folded up in
43:22Punky's little coat pocket.
43:24I told them I want, I want, they thought that I wanted her clothes. I want no. I want that
43:29$2 bill. So they put it in a frame for me.
43:36In 2015, Ray had Punky's body moved to the small Alberta town of Castor, two and a half hours away
43:42from Edmonton.
43:43It's where most of his family members are buried. He's already picked out his final resting place.
43:50Right here, right next to her. She's the love of my heart. I'll never get over it. Even the odds
44:02have to take it to my grave.
44:06This is Corrine's tree that they planted for her and her memory.
44:19While Karen now has to drive a long distance to visit her daughter's grave, she finds solace here on the
44:25grounds of Punky's old school.
44:28Corrine is watching over us at this time.
44:33Wherever I go, I think she's out there.
44:36But she's our angel now.
44:42Clifford Slay can apply for parole in 2028.
44:47Corrine Gustafson's family has vowed to do everything they can to prevent that from happening,
44:53as they continue to keep the memory of their beloved Punky alive.
45:00Thank you for joining us tonight on Crime Beat. I'm Anthony Robart.
45:06Want more episodes of Crime Beat? Listen to the Crime Beat Podcast.
45:10Now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favourite podcast.
45:16And for past episodes of Crime Beat, go to the Global TV app, visit GlobalTV.com or check out our
45:24Crime Beat YouTube page.
45:29We'll see you next time.
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