Convicted serial killer Clifford Olson dies in hospital
Posted September 30, 2011 4:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Convicted serial killer Clifford Olson, the self-proclaimed “Beast of B.C.” has died in a Quebec hospital at the age of 71, the sister of one of his victims told News95.7 in Halifax on Friday.
Brigitte Kozma, elder sister of murder victim Judy Kozma, told the Rogers station that Corrections Canada contacted her Friday to inform her that Olson had died.
Corrections Canada confirmed his death in a news release, saying Olson died of “apparent natural causes” at the institutional health care centre of the Archambault Institution in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines.
Earlier this week, Corrections Canada informed victims’ families that Olson was near death from cancer.
Olson had served nearly 30 years for a slew of sex assaults and murders on teens and children near B.C.’s Lower Mainland. He killed eight girls and three boys.
He pleaded guilty to all 11 murders just days into his trial in January 1982.
Families of Olson’s victims had to painfully endure his presence in the media spotlight over the years, as he sought attention with outrageous statements and behaviour. At his first parole hearing in 1997 he claimed responsibility for more than 100 other murders.
He applied for early release again in 2006 and 2010, saying he had inside information regarding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Public outrage reached a peak last year when it was reported that Olson had been collecting more than $1,100 a month in Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments since turning 65.
The federal government suspended the payments.
