POLICE INVESTIGATE DEATH OF YOUNG HORNBY ISLAND MUSICIAN
-Thurs. Nov 19/09
“We're a little concerned people will take matters in their own hands,” said Const. Tammy Douglas. “We're asking them to please call the police with any concerns they have.”
The person has not been arrested or charged and does not have any conditions on their release.
No one else is in police custody, in relation to the sudden death on Wednesday morning.
“This is a tragic event, really,” said Douglas. “There are some very distraught people on Hornby Island.”
A forensic autopsy on Gale's body is scheduled for Friday to determine the cause of death. And RCMP are expected to know more about whether foul play was involved after the autopsy results are known.
The person was released Thursday morning, about 24 hours after Tempest's body was found in the waters at Ford's Cove.
Hornby residents pulled together to lease clubhouse space at the local ballpark for a spontaneous mourning session last night.
People on Hornby described Gale as an energetic young woman who moved to the island at age 13 and was well known through her teens for her creativity and spirit. In recent years, she had emerged as a talented artist tackling everything from sculpture to performance, most notably spoken poetry and music.
Gale travelled around the island on a unicycle, recited poetry from stilts and adopted a punk-inspired Gothic look. But friends say she also had a strong sense of social justice, which she combined with a "circus energy."
"She would recite poetry on stilts while juggling," said Tony Law, Hornby Island trustee on the Islands Trust. "She always got people's attention."
He said Gale was blossoming as a musician after years of experimenting. "It was wonderful to see," said Law. "She was very well loved and well embraced by this community."
Gale's website lists Mount Shasta, Calif., as her birthplace and says she began performing in her parents' battery- and solar-powered band, The Killer Bagels.
According to Tempest's site, she had created art pieces from metal, bone and "whatnot" and exhibited in galleries on Hornby, Denman and Vancouver islands, as well as Vancouver and Montreal.
Michelle St. Pierre of Hornby Island said Gale always spoke her mind on social-justice issues.
"She wasn't afraid of confrontation. She didn't let fear stop her," said St. Pierre. "She did more in her years than most of us do in 70 or 80."
Comox Valley RCMP have released the person of interest they were questioning in relation to the sudden death of Tempest Gale.
-Will Thomas photo
There's a hole in the cove in the world in our hearts
The disc spins... She sings she chants she lives on always
Comment: “While living on Hornby island a few years ago, I bumped into Pest (her local moniker) a number of times and was always taken with her eccentric perspective on life. Her performances were honest, off-beat, unsettling, quirky and always engaging. Her youthful zest for life was contagious and she will be missed by all who knew her. Her parents are wonderful people and the whole family were an engaging and positive force in the community. An extremely sad event.” [CBC Nov 19/09]
Residents of the close-knit community of Hornby Island are grieving after the mysterious death at the marina early Wednesday of a well-loved, free-spirited 25-year-old performance artist.
The RCMP said it had not ruled out foul play in the death of Tempest (Pest) Grace Gale. She was a gardener, musician, poet, unicyclist, and stilt-walker.
Gale's body was found at the Ford's Cove Marina, where she lived on a boat, either alone, or with her boyfriend, Steph Desjardins. Residents of the island said Gale's parents, Mike and Jazzmyre Gale, lived on a boat in the same marina.
Matthew Fredbeck, who owns Ford's Cove Marina and lives 500 feet from the dock, said he was awoken by screams from Michael Gale, the father of Tempest Gale, at 7:45 a.m.
"The scene on the dock was, there she was, Pest," Fredbeck said. "The boyfriend had found her, and she was dead. The father was screaming, and it was a horrible thing." [Vancouver Sun Nov 19/09]
MAN HELD AFTER HORNBY ISLAND MUSICIAN'S BODY FOUND AT SHORELINE
Hornby Island residents are shocked by Wednesday's sudden, mysterious death of an "extremely talented and loved" musician and poet.
Matthew Fredbeck, owner and manager of Ford's Cove Marina, said he heard Gale's father, Mike, screaming, "Murder! Murder! My daughter!" at about 7:15 a. m.
Fredbeck said a man had been stalking the family and making them feel uncomfortable. The man had only recently arrived on Hornby Island but had spent time there years ago in a group home.
By the time Fredbeck got down to the dock, the young woman's body had been pulled from the water and was lying on the dock still dressed in heavy winter gear.
He saw no sign of injury.
Gale, who played the electric guitar and banjo, described her music as "folk punk" on her MySpace page. She had opened for bands D.O.A., No Means No, C.R. Avery and Ember Swift.
"I think at her core there was a deep musical talent as a singer, musician and a wonderful writer, a very creative writer," said Tony Law, a Hornby Island elected trustee.
Gale would perform at the farmer's market and various community events and she hosted a monthly open-mic night at the Joe King ballpark clubhouse for community members
"She came from a musical family," said Law. "She moved here with her parents a few years ago and she was very active in performance art, including juggling, stilt-walking, unicycle riding. But most impressively as a poet and musician."
Gale began her career as a performer with her parents in the band Killer Bagels in Mt. Shasta, Calif.
"She was pretty warm-hearted and at the same time very brave and willing to challenge people's thinking on issues," said Law.
"She was a deep and creative thinker/performer.
"It's a very small, close-knit community," said Law of the island's 1,000 permanent residents. "Everybody knows each other and she was a young person of considerable talent, so it seemed that just about everybody knew her." [Times-Colonist Nov 19/09]
DONATIONS for Jazzmyre & Michael can be made to special account at Union Bay Credit Union
THANK YOU, TEMPEST
FOR MAKING OUR WORLD BETTER
WE ARE SO BLESSED BY YOU
GRACE “TEMPEST” GALE
1984-2009
[HOMICIDE] IN PARADISE - Friday Nov. 20/09
The worst fear of some 900 people living on normally tranquil Hornby Island was that someone had [killed] beloved musician and entertainer Tempest Grace Gale.
That fear came true on Friday when RCMP said an autopsy concluded her death was caused by foul play and the first murder investigation in recorded history is now on at the Island paradise..
Island residents are stunned by the news even though they all believed that is exactly what had happened when the body of the 25-year-old was fished out of the water on Wednesday morning, 45 minutes after her boyfriend and parents made a frantic search of the dock area where they lived.
“As a result of the autopsy, foul play is suspected and this investigation is being treated as a homicide. Details on the cause of death will not be released at this time,” said Const. Tammy Douglas.
“On Wednesday, they searched for about 45 minutes, then they found her in the water at the edge of the dock - the water there is about 20 feet deep,” said marina owner Matthew Fredbeck.
Police immediately took a man in his 40s into custody and questioned him before letting him go. The man was feared by Islanders because he had been there in his juvenile years during a time when there was a group home there for troubled youth.
On Thursday police escorted “the person of interest” to his boat so he could pick up some belongings and then let him go his own way. Cops may conduct a forensic examination of the 40-foot boat that they are holding back.
The man had returned to Hornby about a week ago, said FredbeckSince then the man had stalked Gale's father and mother to the point where they sought shelter at a friend's house overnight. He had also traded insults with the young woman who ultimately ended up killed.
“He was pretty overwhelming to everyone, just an obnoxious person, he stalked her parents because he thought someone had spilled Coca-Cola on his boat,” said Fredbeck, who owns the Ford's Cove Marina
The man also brought his boat over in summer and this time the weather prevented him from continuing his journey so he docked his boat at the same place where Gale and her family lived. There were a number of insults traded back and forth between Gale's family and the man.
“Police need a witness to this,” Fredbecksaid.
“She was a very popular girl who was loved by everyone.”
[vancouverite.com Nov 20/09]
HORNBY ISLAND DEATH RAISES RESIDENTS' FEARS -Friday Nov. 20/09
Some residents of Hornby Island in B.C.'s Strait of Georgia say the death of a popular local artist has heightened fears and concerns about the lack of police and mental health services in their community.
After Gale's body was discovered, police took the man into custody as a person of interest but released him Thursday without charges or conditions. His release has made some on the island concerned.
"This person of interest was known to behave in odd and bizarre ways, and say strange things and to confront people and to pick arguments with people," Hornby resident Judith Lawrence told CBC News.
Police said the man's activities had never been reported to them.
"Even though we don't have a year-round presence on the island, it is important that everything is reported so that we have a good idea of what's going on," said RCMP Const. Tammy Douglas, media liaison in the Comox Valley detachment on Vancouver Island.
[CBC Nov 20/09]
RESULTS OF AUTOPSY LEAD TO HOMICIDE IN GALE'S DEATH ON HORNBY
An autopsy has been completed on 25-year-old Tempest Grace Gale of Hornby Island and police say they are treating her death as a homicide. A man police called a “person of interest” apparently had been antagonizing people from one end of peace-loving Hornby Island to the other, locals say.
Matthew Fredbeck, owner of Ford's Cove Marina said Garth Edward Newmeyer, identified as the person of interest, “was constantly abrupt and abrasive and obviously a troubled person."
"There was a total paranoia and fear about this person,” said Fredbeck, 44. “This is our darkest hour.”
He left the island in the mid-1980s, but would return a couple times a year either with his power boat or van and would usually leave a swath of trouble in his wake. Fredbeck said Newmeyer came to the marina last summer and trouble soon followed.
Newmeyer suspected someone sprayed his boat with Coca-Cola.
“Garth started obsessing about it and figured the parents [Mike Gale and Jazzmyre Corrigan, who live on a boat in the same marina] were responsible,” said Fredbeck.
Fredbeck said Newmeyer drove his van very quickly along the island's narrow roads.
“The day before Tempest was found, I noticed Garth's van in the parking lot and it would leave and come back six times in one hour,” Fredbeck said.
“He was looking for the parents because he knew they rode bicycles.”
Gale's parents became so afraid, they moved off their live-aboard on Tuesday night and went to stay with a friend.
“He got so aggressive,” said Fredbeck. “He was still obsessing about the Coke incident.”
Fredbeck said Gale's parents are very distraught after the death of their 25-year-old daughter - the trio all played together in the family band called Killer Bagels. “I got a call from her mom this morning,” Fredbeck said. “They are beyond upset. She was their only daughter.”
The parents lived on a boat in the same marina as Tempest and her boyfriend , who's from Quebec.
“Steph is devastated,” Fredbeck said. “They had been going out for the three years I have owned the resort. They were a really nice couple.”
On her MySpace page, Gale, who was born in Mt. Shasta, Calif., described herself as “an artistic maelstrom whose expression is as multifaceted as her origins.” [Province Nov 20/09]
Live-and-let-live philosophy may be enabling problem behaviour, residents fear
The death of Hornby Island artist and personality Tempest Grace Gale, now considered a homicide, has residents of the live-and-let-live community rethinking their laid-back lifestyle.
“We have prided ourselves on being a tolerant community and a place that allows people to be themselves,” said Island trustee Tony Law. “But I think that what a number of us have been aware of for a while is that there is a place where tolerance can end up being enabling of behaviours that could present problems.”
while it has been reported and rumoured by residents on the island that a man was stalking and acting erratically toward the Gale family in the weeks leading up to the death, no one reported the man to police.
“This older man, he smelled intoxicated, he came and he disturbed everybody here and gave me a 15-minute lecture on not joining any gangs on Hornby,” said Max Nawrot, who works at Ford's Cove General Store. “I thought he was making a joke.”
Websites promoting the island describe it as a “recreational paradise,” home to a “tightly knit community.” A tourist brochure even reminds visitors that “Canadian laws still apply” on the island.
Bed and breakfast owner Alisa Aiken, a Hornby island resident for 22 years, said there is an unspoken law about accepting people on the island. She said that when there are problems with people, it is common for residents to speak to them or simply let them be.
“Everybody accepts people and I think that's what happened here- everyone thought, 'Okay, this guy's a bit nuts but I'm sure he'll just go away,' ” Aiken said.
She believes Hornby Island residents will no longer accept people if they are being disturbing, but phone the police.
Bed and breakfast owner Michelle Easterly said people from all walks of life come and go on the island and people are tolerant of different lifestyles.
But Gale's homicide has raised a sense of doubt in people's minds, said Easterly, who has lived on the island for 25 years.
“How do we deal with still wanting to be tolerant but also try to be discerning when someone puts the hair up on our back? When someone is causing problems, how do we deal with it? Do we take down people's licence plates? I guess that's what's left in her wake.”
Easterly said residents often wouldn't call police because they didn't want to get someone in trouble.
Law said that because RCMP presence isn't permanent on the island, the community usually works out its own problem before calling police. He said he hopes the community will reconsider how to respond to troubled behaviour while still maintaining its open spirit.
A spirit altar - a space adorned with art, photos and words of remembrance - has been set up at Joe King Memorial Ballpark, where Gale regularly emceed raucous musical events. Volunteers are making sure that visitors to the altar have access to counselling services and food.
The Union Bay Credit Union, along with other local businesses, are accepting donations to help the Gale family cover funeral costs.
Other community members have been answering phone lines for people who need a friend to talk to about the death, and have been driving the island's main road island to increase the feeling of security.
The island's artistic community has been putting its talents to use, putting up hand-written notices in flowing, artistic script urging people to look for evidence - especially clothing or fragments of clothing.
A hand-drawn sketch of a “person of interest” has been posted on a telephone pole to raise awareness. The poster includes a description of the man as 5-feet-8 inches tall, well-dressed in a blue shirt and pants and wearing double-insulated boots. [Vancouver Sun Nov 22/09]