Titan disaster: federal Fisheries Department was part of previous OceanGate mission
The department confirmed Thursday that in the summer of 2021, a staff member boarded a vessel 'associated with OceanGate' to participate as an observer during a mission off Newfoundland.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Prosecutors may appeal to Supreme Court on 1979 missing child Etan Patz case
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors said Friday they might appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to preserve a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz, a bewildering case that went unsolved for decades. A federal appeals court recently overturned the conviction of Pedro Hernandez, the former convenience store clerk who became a suspect over 30 years after the New York City first-grader vanished. The appeals court ordered him freed unless he's retried 'within a reasonable period.' Prosecutors asked the appeals court Friday to hold off sending the case back to a lower-level federal judge to set a retrial date. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office wrote that it is 'currently determining whether to file a petition' to the Supreme Court this fall. A message seeking comment was sent to Hernandez' lawyers. He already has been tried twice — his 2017 conviction came after a prior jury couldn't reach a verdict. Etan disappeared while walking little more than a block to his school bus stop. He became one of the first missing children pictured on milk cartons, and his anguished parents helped reshape how American law enforcement agencies responded to missing-child cases. Other parents, meanwhile, became more protective of children over the years after Etan's case and others. No trace of Etan was ever found. After many years, his parents eventually had him declared legally dead. Investigators scoured the city, and even overseas, for leads. But no arrests were made until 2012, when police got a tip that Hernandez — who worked in Etan's neighborhood when the boy was last seen — had made remarks in the ensuing years about having harmed or killed a child in New York. Hernandez then told police that he'd offered Etan a soda to lure him into the basement of the shop where Hernandez worked. The suspect said he then choked the boy and put him, still alive, in a box and left it with curbside trash. Hernandez's lawyers say he confessed falsely because of a mental illness that sometimes made him hallucinate. The attorneys emphasized that the admission came after police questioned him for seven hours without reading him his rights or recording the interview. Hernandez then repeated his admission on tape, at least twice. The trials happened in a New York state court, but the Hernandez appeal eventually wound up in federal court. At issue was the trial judge's response to jurors' questions about whether they had to disregard the recorded confessions if they found the first, unrecorded one was invalid. The judge said no. The appeals court said the jury should have gotten a more thorough explanation of its options, which could have included disregarding all of the confessions.
2 days ago
Federal Fisheries Department was part of previous OceanGate mission
The federal Fisheries Department is shedding new light on its relationship with OceanGate, the American company behind the deepsea Titan submersible that imploded south of Newfoundland in 2023, killing all five people aboard. The department confirmed Thursday that in the summer of 2021, a staff member boarded a vessel associated with OceanGate to participate as an observer during a mission off Newfoundland. The purpose was to learn more about OceanGate, the department said in an email. Upon conclusion of the mission, it was determined that [OceanGate's] priorities did not align with the department's scientific objectives, and a further relationship was not pursued. No other details were provided about the trip. When asked if any federal employees raised safety concerns about OceanGate, a department spokesman said safety for submersibles does not fall within the department's mandate. The department was not involved in risk assessment or operational oversight of any subsequent missions, the spokesman said in an email. Earlier this week, the U.S. Coast Guard released a report (new window) that concluded the tragedy on June 18, 2023, could have been prevented had OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush heeded safety warnings and calls for independent inspections and certification of the submersible. Rush was among those killed when Titan split apart as it descended near the Titanic, about four kilometres below the surface of the North Atlantic. Safety procedures at OceanGate, a private company based in Washington state, were critically flawed and there were glaring disparities between safety protocols and actual practices, the coast guard's report said. The 300-page report also revealed that in May 2021, Canada's Fisheries Department had written a letter of support to Rush, saying the department wanted to collaborate with his company to assess its submersibles for scientific research. Only portions of the letter were included in the coast guard report. The Fisheries Department sent a copy of the letter on Wednesday, along with a statement that suggested its initial discussions with OceanGate were routine. Fisheries and Oceans Canada [DFO] routinely expresses interest in scientific collaboration with a wide variety of potential partners, a spokesman said Wednesday in an email. In early 2021, DFO had a series of exploratory discussions with OceanGate. The [May 2021] letter was sent to summarize the discussions that took place and the potential for the department to work with the company, beginning in 2021, to determine the applicability of its marine research systems. The letter, dated May 19, 2021, makes it clear that department officials were keen to work with Rush and his team. DFO Maritimes Region is pleased with the discussions with OceanGate, the offer to participate in 2021, and the unique opportunity being offered to Canadian scientists and conservation efforts. The letter also mentions possible funding from Ottawa. The department spokesman also confirmed in the Wednesday email there were discussions about having a staff member board the submersible on an expedition to the Titanic, almost 700 kilometres south of Newfoundland. But he said that never happened. The department did not explain why the relationship with OceanGate was eventually terminated or mention its collaboration on another vessel until pressed for details the next day. Besides DFO's letter of support in 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard's investigation found no evidence of any actual collaboration or funding. The submersible's implosion also killed French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood. In June, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the independent agency had completed its investigation report, which at the time was being reviewed.
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
'Despicable' attack on female pedestrian in downtown Windsor nets U.S. motorist jail
'Other like-minded need to hear the message,' a Windsor judge said in sentencing a U.S. man in a case of intimate partner violence. Doug Schmidt Published Aug 08, 2025 • Last updated 29 minutes ago • 2 minute read The Superior Court of Justice in Windsor is shown on March 31, 2025. Photo by Dan Janisse / Windsor Star Describing as 'despicable' what an American motorist did in downtown Windsor — intentionally targeting and running down a woman with his vehicle — a judge nevertheless couldn't side with the Crown's contention the crime deserved a long prison sentence. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The prosecution had sought a term of incarceration of up to eight years for the act of intimate partner violence, but Superior Court Justice Kelly Gorman told a sentencing hearing Wednesday that level of punishment was 'simply not supported by the case law.' At an earlier court hearing, the defence had described the Crown's call for a four- to eight-year prison term 'grossly disproportionate' to the crime. The judge handed Shermere Coulston-Hawkins, 24, an 18-month sentence, the punishment the defence had called for. After being given 847 days credit for 591 days spent in actual pre-sentence custody (based on a standard 1:1.5 formula used by the courts), the offender had effectively served his jail sentence. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The victim, a Belle River woman with whom the Philadelphia man had been communicating with online before visiting Canada for the first time, had been fighting at Devonshire Mall on their second date, on Dec. 23, 2023, over contents on her cellphone. Coulston-Hawkins later confessed to having choked her at the mall, an attack that was interrupted by a passerby. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Originally charged with seven criminal offences, including attempted murder, forcible confinement and aggravated assault, the young American pleaded guilty instead in May to lesser charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and assault. Coulston-Hawkins, now 24, had been in custody since his arrest the day of the attack. An aggravating factor to the crime had been that he simply abandoned the seriously injured victim on the ground after striking her with his vehicle. The judge also noted mitigating circumstances, including that he surrendered himself to police after attending the Windsor hospital where the woman was being treated. The 'most important factors in such cases as this one,' the judge said, was sending a message to the community of denunciation and deterrence. 'Other like-minded need to hear the message,' said Gorman. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More The judge also sentenced Coulston-Hawkins to three years probation, during which he is prohibited from being in Canada. But any other conditions normally attached to probation orders can't apply here — they don't carry into foreign jurisdictions like the United States. The court heard Coulston-Hawkins had taken an anger management course during his lengthy period in pre-sentence custody. The plan on Wednesday was to turn him over to federal immigration authorities and deport him back to the U.S. A tiny bit of Coulston-Hawkins will remain in Canada, however. Justice Gorman ordered him to submit a blood sample for a DNA databank used by Canadian police agencies to help solve crimes. dschmidt@ Toronto Blue Jays Editorials Tennis Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA
