Alexander Kalichuk - Lynne Harper Murder

Lynne Harper Murder

In 1957, Kalichuk transferred to RCAF Station Aylmer, about an hour away from Clinton. However, Kalichuk made frequent trips back to Clinton, where Lynne Harper's father was the senior supply officer, as his residence was a 20 minute drive from the Clinton air station.

About three weeks before Lynne Harper's murder, Kalichuk was arrested and charged by the Ontario Provincial Police for attempting to lure three young girls into his car outside St. Thomas, Ontario. The charge was dismissed shortly afterward, just 12 days before Lynne Harper was murdered, but the judge gave Kalichuk a warning regarding his behaviour.

On the same day Harper disappeared, June 9, 1959, air force medical officers held a discussion regarding Kalichuk's drinking and behaviour. Around this time, Kalichuk's probation officer advised air force officials of another incident of indecent exposure involving Kalichuk in the Town of Seaforth, not far from the Clinton base.

On July 2, three weeks after the murder of Lynne Harper, Kalichuk was hospitalized due to "overwhelming anxiety, tension, depression and guilt", as reported in RCAF documents.

Police were warning about the activities of an unidentified molester who was preying on young girls from a car. Through all of it however, including the murder of 12-year old Lynne Harper, Sgt. Kalichuk managed to avoid particular attention as a suspect.

In 1959, Sgt. Kalichuk had requested a transfer back to RCAF Station Clinton, but given the recent murder of Lynne Harper, senior officers at Clinton were worried about having a known sexual offender in their midst, thus he was instead posted to the nearby RCAF Station Centralia. Sgt. Kalichuk finally got his wish to return to RCAF Station Clinton in 1965.

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