IN the summer of 1995, a quiet Canadian community was shattered by a crime so horrific that it remains one of the the country’s most haunting tragedies.
Jonathan Thimpsen, an innocent seven-year-old, fell victim to a brutal murder fueled by the dark satanic delusions of Sandy Charles, 14.
Charles led Jonathan into the woods in La Orange, Saskatchewan, with the help of his eight-year-old pal, William Martin.
The pair inflicted unimaginable violence on the helpless boy – stabbing him multiple times, striking him with a rock and a beer bottle before mutilating his body.
Charles – who was obsessed with the horror Warlock – believed committing the crime would bring him closer to Satan.
Now episode one of Killer Kids, a new documentary series which airs on Monday, sheds light on the nightmare murder that shocked a nation and asked questions about the influence of violent images on children.
Chilling crime
Jonathan’s family realised he had gone missing on Sunday, July 9, 1995, and immediately called the cops to report him missing.
Police frantically searched for clues that could help them locate Jonathan.
Alongside a search party, missing person’s posters were plastered all over the town pleading for information on Jonathan’s whereabouts.
Volunteer groups went door to door in the community, which has a population of about 5,000, and searched in wooded areas.
But what they could not know was that a day before, he had fallen into the grips of twisted teenager Sandy Charles, who was on the prowl for a victim so he could carry out a deadly Satanic ritual.
Len Carlson, the officer in charge of the investigation explains his attempts to trace Jonathan’s steps.
“I attended to a location where it was determined he had last been seen and that was with Sandy Charles and another friend of Sandy’s,” he explains.
“They were involved in a ball game, the three of them in the backyard of Sandy Charles’ house.”
According to investigators, Charles, who had turned 14 just two days before the murder, used the ballgame to lure Jonathan to his home.
When asked by investigators, Charles claimed he had played with Jonathan two weeks ago but had not seen him since.
However, after investigators widened the search on July 11, little Jonathan’s body was discovered, shocking even the most experienced detectives.
He was found lying on the ground with horrific injuries, including a knife wound in his eye, which revealed the severity of the fatal attack.
On questioning, Charles and his accomplice both initially denied any involvement in Jonathan’s murder, they soon buckled and admitted they had killed him.
Len says: “It was through an interview with Sandy Charles that the details of this horrific crime were identified.”
That was when the horrendous circumstances of Jonathan’s death were laid bare.
In the documentary Robin Ritter, the senior prosecutor in the case says: “Sandy Charles had selected this boy for killing. His criteria was that he was looking for a male unbaptised virgin child.
“He selected Jonathan Thimpsen because he didn’t believe that Jonathan had a father and his belief was that without a father, that meant he was not baptised. That’s why he was looking for this particular boy.
“While they were playing baseball, he purposefully hit the ball into the bushes behind the house.
“When he hit the ball into the bushes, he told Jonathan Thimpsen that they would have to go into the deeper parts of the woods to search for the ball.”
Charles led Jonathan to a spot he had already scouted and kept weapons he would use to kill.
While there, Charles and Martin launched a vicious attack on Jonathan, who died a slow and painful death.
Robin adds: “It was a brutal murder. He tried a number of ways to kill Jonathan Thimpsen. I believe the first way he tried to kill him was by breaking his neck.
“He found that was not as easy as it may appear on television. He stabbed Jonathan Thimpsen, he smothered Jonathan Thimpse. He struck him over the head with a rock.”
Charles attacked Jonathan with so much intensity that the knife he used broke in his eye socket.
It was a brutal murder. He tried a number of ways to kill Jonathan Thimpsen. I believe the first way he tried to kill him was by breaking his neck. He found that was not as easy as it may appear on television. He stabbed Jonathan Thimpsen, he smothered Jonathan Thimpse. He struck him over the head with a rock.”
Robin Ritter
Determined to finish what he started, he went home to fetch another knife and continued his barbaric mission.
He then removed seven patches of Jonathan’s flesh from his legs, abdomen, and back.
After storing the flesh in a can, they later dragged Jonathan’s corpse slightly further into the woods.
Although cops were relieved that they knew exactly what had happened to Jonathan, they were now keen to determine what Charles’ motives were.
Evil influence
As Len continued to interrogate Charles, he learned that he had immersed himself in the world of magic and evil.
“As he became comfortable talking to me I got to know him a little bit more and he had some very strong, almost chilling beliefs and those had some influence on this crime,” Len says.
One of Charles’ beliefs was that every thousand years, Satan was released into the Earth.
Len adds: “With Sandy’s desires to be a disciple of Satan, he felt that committing a crime of this nature would place him in his good books and would allow him entry into the world of Satan.”
He continues: “The manner in which this crime was committed and how he identified Jonathan Thimpsen as his victim and how he removed the flesh with the intention of consuming the rendered fat was as a result of the movie, The Warlock.”
In the film, released in 1991, a wizard who is later revealed as the son of Satan earns the ability to fly by eating the flesh of children who are not baptised.
Like the movie’s main character, Charles – who watched the film on numerous occasions in the days before the murder – believed he had to make a sacrifice.
Child killers
- Mary Bell – At 10, Mary Bell murdered two boys, Martin Brown (4) and Brian Howe (3), in Newcastle in 1968. She strangled them and left a chilling confession in taunting notes. Her case remains one of the UK’s most infamous examples of child killers.
- Jon Venables and Robert Thompson – These 10-year-olds abducted and murdered 2-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool in 1993. They tortured him and left his body on a railway track, sparking national outrage and debates about child criminal justice.
- Jesse Pomeroy – Nicknamed the “Boy Fiend,” Jesse Pomeroy, at 14, killed two children in Massachusetts. His victims were tortured, and his young age shocked even 19th-century America.
- Eric Smith – At 13, Eric Smith lured 4-year-old Derrick Robie into the woods in New York, where he strangled and bludgeoned him. His case was notable for the seeming lack of motive.
- Sharon Carr – Dubbed the “Devil’s Daughter,” Sharon Carr, aged 12, stabbed 18-year-old Katie Rackliff several times in Surrey. She later boasted about enjoying the killing in her diary.
- Lionel Tate – In Florida, 12-year-old Lionel Tate beat 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick to death, claiming it was a wrestling accident. The case became infamous as he was sentenced to life without parole, though it was later reduced.
- Graham Young – At 14, Graham Young poisoned his stepmother with antimony and experimented on other family members, earning the nickname “The Teacup Poisoner.” His fascination with toxicology continued into adulthood.
Investigators discovered the extracted flesh in the basement of Charles’ home when they executed a search warrant.
While Charles was charged with Jonathan’s murder, his accomplice did not suffer the same fate as he was still a minor.
Although he had just turned 14, the horrific nature of the crime meant that Charles had to be tried in adult court.
He faced life in prison without the possibility of parole before serving five to ten years, per Canadian laws.
At the trial, his lawyers argued that he was not responsible for the murder. Instead, they pinned the blame on the horror movies, and the occult. He pled not guilty citing that he was mentally unwell.
While sitting in the witness box, Len noticed several unsettling things, including how long Charles had grown his finger nails.
He says: “When I was making submissions to the court, Sandy Charles would often groan or moan in a disturbing way. And with his long fingernails, he would scratch the wood of the prisoner’s box.
“It was quite disconcerting to go for days with this behaviour just a few feet behind me.”
Charles’ lawyers said his difficult upbringing, combined with the occult and devil worship was what drove him to kill Jonathan.
Born to a 17-year-old single mother, he was forced to babysit his two younger siblings at an early age while his mother struggled to make ends meet.
To support his mother, he also took on a job as a paperboy. But when he became a teenager, his loved ones began noticing several changes.
He became increasingly withdrawn and distanced himself from the friends he used to have.
Robin says: “Up to this point in time he appeared normal. His teachers had no idea that anything like this would ever happen. His mother had no idea that anything like this would have happened.
“The only hint might have been that he liked to associate with much younger children.”
But it turned sinister when Charles began to hear voices. He also believed there were ghosts in his room who were telling him what to do.
He also developed a keen interest in horror movies and started getting involved in the occult. He also had an Ouija board which he used to communicate with spirits.
Charles also had days where he had suicidal thoughts and complained about having severe headaches.
But Robin says in the documentary: “I think this case dealt with a young man who was suffering from a delusion. It’s a mental health issue.
“There certainly was an aspect of the movie Warlock and the gruesome killing that took place in the movie as related to the acts that Sandy Charles did.
“But I can’t say that the occult, devil worship, or anything like that had anything to do with the murder of Jonathan Thimpsen. This was a delusional young man who committed a horrible crime.”
At the end of the trial, the judge found Charles not criminally responsible for the murder, citing mental incapacity. He managed to escape jail and was sent to a psychiatric facility.
Shortly after his sentence, he tried to escape when the wardens made a blunder. After a large manhunt, he was apprehended and taken back into the facility.
In June 2000, he was once again back in court for attacking a nurse. He was sentenced to a day in solitary confinement for the crime.
