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In his 2013 application to transfer to a Canadian prison, he claimed he’d only snapped Ratanaprakorn’s neck in self-defence. Now he says he had nothing to do with her death.
“I do not believe Mr. Karas’s claim that he was not involved in the murder and dismemberment of Ms. Ratanaprakorn,” Ducharme said. “To give any credence to Mr. Karas’s claim of innocence in this regard would be to accept there was a conspiracy involving employees of the hotel where he was living, the Thai police and the Thai prosecutors.”
After his sentence was reduced, Karas returned to Ontario in 2017. He didn’t waste much time getting back to the life he knew.
On Nov. 10, he hit up the Bank of Montreal on Queen St. E. According to the agreed statement, he pulled what looked like a handgun and told the teller to hand over the cash or “I’m going to blow your f—ing head off.” He got away with $5,155.
In the next three robberies, Karas dressed as a construction worker, complete with dust mask, helmet and orange vest. In his last heist, he made off with $19,645 and (US)$2,893 from a Waterloo CIBC after threatening to shoot the employees with his (fake) firearm.
“These were not crimes borne out of need, economic desperation or addiction,” Ducharme said. “Rather, these robberies were simply crimes of greed.”
Given his substantial criminal history, the prospects for his rehabilitation are slim, the judge concluded. “Mr. Karas is an extremely dangerous man who poses a serious threat to society.”
And so behind bars he will remain, with lots of time to work on that chapter of his autobiography he’s entitled “Redemption.”
mmandel@postmedia.com
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