Province The Prince George Citizen - Saturday, October 18,1997 - 5 Family of Abbotsford killer divided over verdict Father accepts Terry Driver’s guilt, others say he’s wrongly convicted of murder VANCOUVER (CP) — Grant Driver accepts the verdict that will send his son Terry to prison for at least 25 years for the rape-killing of 16-year-old Tanya Smith. But others in the family maintain the man convicted as the Abbotsford killer is not guilty of first-degree murder. Terry Driver, 32, insists he raped but didn’t murder Smith two years ago after coming upon her naked, beaten body off a street in Abbotsford, a Fraser Valley city east of Vancouver. He claims she died during the sexual assault and, scared, he dumped her body in a river. At most, his lawyer argued, Driver was guilty of manslaughter. After Driver was convicted Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court, his brother Don warned the real killer is still on the loose. But their father Grant, a decorated retired Vancouver police officer whom Terry wanted to emulate, refused to second-guess Justice Wally Op-pal’s decision. “The judge listened to the evidence, and he made a decision based on what he heard, and I accept it,” said the father. “What I believe doesn’t matter. But Terry will always be my son, I love him.” Prosecutor Sean Madigan said Friday the Crown will not apply to have Driver designated a dangerous offender because it would add no more time in prison. People convicted of lesser crimes but labelled dangerous offenders can be kept imprisoned beyond a set term, subject to periodic review. The varied reactions to the verdict indicate the enormous pressures on the Driver family. “We’re all victims here,” said the killer’s brother. “This has affected all our families.” Grant Driver has maintained a stoic reserve through the trial, struggling to maintain rigid control over his feelings and words. After the verdict, he sought out Smith’s parents to shake their hands. His wife Trudy, Terry Driver’s stepmother, embraced the mother of Misty DON DRIVER Cockerill, Tanya Smith’s friend, whom Driver was convicted of trying to kill. Don Driver has responded differently — seeking out the media, roundly criticizing the police and the Crown and proclaiming his brother’s innocence. Other family members have mostly maintained a numbed distance in court, flashing anger at reporters and trading barbs with members of the Smith family. Tanya Smith’s father, Terry Smith, recalled leaving the courtroom when Driver was testifying and saying to an Abbotsford police officer: “This guy’s a cold-blooded killer.” He realized Driver’s sister was behind him, he told the Vancouver Sun. “She said, ‘We think he’s an exceptional person,”’ said Smith. “I told her I didn’t think he was exceptional for raping and killing my daughter. She said, ‘It’s your fault for letting her out at night.’” Driver’s relatives face harsh judgment in Abbotsford, a city of about 100,000. A family friend described one of Driver’s relatives as “a basket case. “She can’t even go to the Safeway because of what people say to her.” Driver’s wife, Valerie, a soft-spoken bank teller, knew nothing of his obsession with prostitutes and was described by a forensic psychiatrist as “overwhelmed” by the revelations about her husband. Described by psychiatrists as a loner like her husband, she married him in 1990. While Driver could be affectionate with his children — now aged five and six — he grew increasingly critical of his wife, comparing her with other women. Friends say she is now seeking a divorce. Don Driver acknowledged his brother should face years in prison for his admitted sex assault of Smith. But despite all the evidence against his brother, he said another person struck the first blows at Smith and Cockerill. “I know my brother and he would never be violent, except in defence of his family,” he said. Driver’s parents were actually the ones who turned him in. Don Driver and his mother recognized his voice on recordings of taunting phone calls made to police and later broadcast by the media. PRE-CHRISTMAS INVENTORY SELL OUT! TO THE BARE WALLS! FINAL PLANS ARE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY TO MOVE OUR VISIONS EXISTING INVENTORY, SO THEY CAN START RRINGING IN ALL THEIR NEW CHRISTMAS STOCK. IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS MASSIVE TASK, VISIONS PRINCE GEORGE HAS BEEN INSTRUCTED TO EMPTY THEIR WAREHOUSE OF ALL DISCONTINUED AND CURRENT INVENTORY. HELD© FRI. 10-9: SAT. 10-6: SIA.I2-5 s IT’S A TOTAL SELL OUT OF INVENTORY REGARDLESS OF COST OR LOSS! 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