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• since 1854 Amalgamated 1999 with CLARINGTON THIS WEEK • i. Press run 21,900 . Going to the 'O' Sports, Section B 44Pagesxg§^ Wednesday, May 8, 2002 Acura offers nid Wheel transit heels Pull out Pair get 15 THOMAS KU Former students sentenced in death of school owner CLARINGTON - Two men have each been sentenced to 15 years in jail for manslaughter in the May 2001 death of a Bowmanvillc private school owner. A Brampton court pronounced pronounced sentence Monday on Suo Zhiyang and Wang Feng, years for manslaughter both 20. The Chinese visa students, students, who once attended Thomas Ku's Great Lakes College, College, were convicted in the kidnapping and death of Mr. Ku, 48. Mr. Ku's burned body was found last May in a field near Peterborough two weeks after he was abducted from his Mississauga Mississauga home after returning from the Bowmanvillc campus of his school. Mr. Zhiyang and Mr. Feng were originally charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and forcible confinement confinement at a preliminary hearing hearing in February. Mr. Ku was diabetic, but because of the condition of his body, an autopsy was unable to determine a cause of death. The court was left with the agreed statement of facts that Mr. Ku likely died while bound and gagged in a trunk the same day lie was kidnapped. kidnapped. Mr. Zhiyang and Mr. Feng had apparently pretended he was still alive and continued continued to pursue a $100,000 ran som. Justice Bruce Duncan agreed the crimes were mado worse because Mr. Ku's body was burned, which also added to the horror experienced by his family. Mr. Ku had been carrying $5,000 (US), which was given to him for a school trip to China. The money was later found in Zhiyang's bank account. account. At the sentencing, Judge Duncan balanced the age and lack of criminal records of the accused with other facts of the case, including that the abduction abduction was planned at least 10 days in advance and the pair continued pursuing a ransom after he had died. He also said the two men showed no remorse remorse until caught and told police police a false story of handing Mr. Ku over to someone else. Both Mr. Zhiyang and Mr. Feng received two years' credit credit for time served and will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of their sentence. - Torstar News Service Bethesda House looking for bigger home Women's shelter kicks off $400,000 fund-raiser BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer BOWMANVILLE - For the past seven years, Bethesda House women's shelter has run on a dream and a shoestring budget in a run-down house barely adequate for its purpose. Today, as they kick-off a $400,000 fund-raising campaign, campaign, those working at the refuge for abused women arc hopeful the dream is about to become a reality. The organization organization has a conditional offer on a new bigger and brighter facility facility and the stable funding required required to serve those who need it. Bethesda House has $400,000 committed by the Ministry of Community, Family Family and Children's Services for the facility's purchase and a goal to raise matching funds to meet the $800,000 cost and make required changes to prepare prepare it for its new use. "For the last seven years we have been lobbying the Province to become a fully- funded shelter," says Executive Director Karen Mayson. As of Dec. 1, the shelter began receiving receiving provincial operating funding. Prior to that, the shelter was technically run as a women and children's hostel because it did not have accreditation, or the money that comes with it, as a shelter for abused women and children. But with community support, it managed to offer counselling and assistance to those fleeing abusive homes. Although the capital startup startup grant and the operating funds from the Province are great news for the shelter, there is still much work to be done, says Ms. Mayson. "We are hoping to open in September or October of this year," she says. "It will make the capital fund-raising even more challenging because of the short time frame." The Clarington community and lobbying efforts of local politicians, including Durham MPP John O'Toole and Clarington Clarington council, bailed Bethesda Bethesda House out of a financial crisis crisis a couple of years ago. Now, Ms. Mayson says, the shelter hopes the community can come through for it again. This time though, the reward reward will be much greater than keeping a sinking ship afloat. The new facility is somewhere women can go with their children, children, not only for physical refuge, but to begin the healing process. "The average stay at the shelter is six to eight weeks," she says. "Living in tight quarters quarters is trying for everybody. We've tried to find a place where our families wouldn't have to share space; they'll have their own rooms. We'll have program space. "We considered the option of building a house," relates Ms. Mayson. "There were set See NEW page A10 ANDREW IWANOWSKI/ Statesman photo Coming in for a landing OSHAWA - Jeun Engelage (right) of Durham Christian High School tries to gain possession possession of the ball from G.L. Roberts' Monique Musial during a LOSSA senior girls' soccer soccer game. Durham Christian.prevailed, posting a 3-1 win. Time the opponent for Marc Hall BY MIKE RUTA Staff Writer DURHAM -- Calling the case "one of the most difficult I've experienced since my appointment appointment to the bench nine- and-a-half years ago," Justice Robert MacKinnon said Tuesday Tuesday he would try his best to deliver a decision in the Marc Hall case by prom night Friday. Friday. The Oshawa student is seeking an injunction from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Justice to stop the Durham Catholic District School Board and Michael Powers, principal of Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School, from preventing him and his boyfriend from attending the school's May 10 prom as a couple. The Whitby courtroom heard submissions Monday and Tuesday from lawyers on both sides of the issue. Peter Lauwers, representing representing the board and Mr. Powers, said those decisions to deny Mr. Hall's request "were clearly clearly based on denominational grounds" and in that context are protected by the Canadian constitution and immune from scrutiny under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Freedoms. However David Corbett, Mr. Hall's lawyer, argued preventing preventing a same-sex couple from attending the prom is not essential 'to maintaining the Catholicity of a Catholic school, and thus is not subject to protection by the Constitution. Constitution. Teen needs help with medical bills Senior, 74, strapped after donating housing costs BY CRYSTAL CRIMI Staff Writer CLARINGTON - Vivian Daniel, who came to southern Ontario with dreams of finally having a normal face, is finding out time and money could be his biggest obstacles. Vivian, 17, left Tobago and came to Canada last October for what was supposed io be one-time surgery at the Hospi tal for Sick Children to remove a massive, non-life-threatening, facial tumour. When doctors here examined examined him, they realized the expected expected four weeks of medical attention he was thought to require require will in fact last two full years. Now the Herbie Fund, a non-profit organization which helps children from foreign nations nations gel medical care, is coming coming to the realization Vivian's treatment will cost a lot more than originally anticipated. "The Herbie Fund is asking for help," said Bowmanvillc resident Leonora Nicholls, 74. Mrs. Nicholls wrote to the Hospital Hospital for Sick Children and the Herbie Fund for three years, pleading for help after she met the boy several years ago while on vacation in Tobago. Mrs. Nicholls, who will take contributions from anyone who can offer assistance, is also soliciting soliciting the Caribbean Children's Children's Foundation in Tobago for financing for Vivian's surgery. "If the Caribbean Children's Foundation doesn't help, I don't know what will happen; 1 really don't know," said Mrs. Nicholls. Vivian's medical bills are staggering. See MEDICAL pane A10 VENUS AND VIVIAN DANIEL Inside Eft Stateiman WHERE TO FIND IT Editorial Page A6 Sports B1 Classified B6 DRIVE CLEAN GIVE US A CALL General 579-4400 Distribution .. .579-4407 Death Notices .683-3005 Sincerely Yours 1-800-662-8423 Web site durhamregion.com General FAX .. .579-2238 Newsroom FAX .579-1809 ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •An official mark of the Province of Ontario used under licence. Whitby - Oshawa 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E., WHITBY LOCAL (905) 666-1772 jt-iorurm. www.honda1.com You choose the two NO CHARGE items that best suit your needs. 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