Joanna Jolly

Red River Girl details the murder of Tina Fontaine, an indiginous teenager in Canada, and attempts of the Winnipeg police to bring her killer to justice. It is written by Joanna Jolly, a journalist. It felt different to a lot of the other true crime books that I've read; I think the female perspective here helps a lot. Often true crime books can feel clinical at best, voyeuristic at worst. This book feels more sensitive, especially in the first half which focuses on Tina's life in the weeks before her murder.

The book has brilliantly descriptive writing, giving it a strong sense of place.I have never been to Canade but I but can see/feel it. And it really evokes the darker side of Winnipeg. Canada in the mainstream media is often shown as somewhere wonderful and enlightened (often by people comparing it to the US), but, as books like this show, Canada has its own problems with racism and the effects of a history of colonialism (the same can be said of the UK, somewhere else that has often been held up as being 'better' than the US). The book focuses on the plight of Indiginous women in canada. This is Tina's story but not just Tina's story. It is the story of systematic racism against the Indiginous community. In the last few years, the media has finally been talking about the missing and murdered Indiginous women, and the systemic racism that's swept under the rug.
Tina's case was unusual in regards to the amount of press coverage that these cases usually get. The women usually get forgotten. There is a quote from the book that I felt really summed up the attitudes. 'We really feel like because we're Indigenous people in Canada, we're not taken seriously. They just think that no one is waiting for us, that nobody cares about us, that we're disposable'. Bernadette Smith, sister to Claudette who disappeared in Winnipeg in 2008. Although Tina's case is the one the book follows, Jolly mentions other cases as comparisons.

Like any true crime book, the story of events up to the murder are detailed, followed by investigation and trial. However, this is interspersed with commentary on the political and social climate, including the activism undertake by members of the Indiginous community. There is a heavy focus on the family and Tina, and the book really dives deep into socio ploitical reasons why Tina, and other indiginous women, are vulnerable. How the effects of colonialism, which is often seen as ancient history by white people, still show as scars on the Indiginous community, with a lack of family support and children being bounced around foster homes, families in poverty, and the drugs, drink, and sex trade that comes with poverty and racism.

The second half of the book talks in detail about Raymond Cormier, the man who was tried for Tina's murder, but not convicted. There is a lot of detail into the actions of the police, and the intricacies of the investigation. I would have liked more exploration into the police that found Tina shortly before her body was discovered, but let her go despite her missing person status, because this was such a major failure of the system.

All in all, this is a moving and insightful book about both Tina's case and the wider issues. I will definitely be doing some wider reading on the subject as it would be good to hear Indigenous voices as well.… (mehr)

The Red River Girl: The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine by Joanna Jolly is a 2019 Viking publication.

If this case got any media attention here in the US, I don’t recall it. This true crime case is centered around Tina Fontaine, an indigenous teenage girl, whose body was discovered in the Red River in Winnipeg, Canada. Searchers were looking for another person, they feared had died, when they found Tina’s body.

Tina’s case brought attention to the shocking number of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, when it made national headlines.

Here, journalist Joanna Jolly follows Tina’s case from the discovery of her body to the stunning trial of the man accused of murdering her. The primary focus of the book, however, is on the investigation, which eventually led to an arrest. There is also some focus on the Canadian system, many blame for having failed girls like Tina. The trial brings the case to a surreal close.

This is a very frustrating and sad book. As an American, I’m not at all familiar with Canadian laws, or their social system, but the core issues at play are very familiar, unfortunately.

The author did a terrific job of highlighting the challenges law enforcement faced and pointing a light of the various social and political issues that could no longer be shoved under the carpet.

The only downside to the author’s straightforward, journalistic style and approach, was that it didn’t leave much room for the reader to get to know Tina in a more personal way. Bringing the victim to life, might have driven the point home in a more forceful, emotional way, making it harder to forget this case and others like it.

The conclusion and outcome of the case was riveting and utterly gut punching! Although I knew ahead of time what the outcome would be, I still sat with my mouth hanging open trying to digest it all.

Overall, this is a very absorbing true crime book. For me, it was also a learning experience. The book is very effective, well researched and organized. True Crime enthusiast, no matter which country you hail from, should read this book!

4 stars… (mehr)

Thorough Overview of a Grim Story
Review of the Penguin Viking paperback (2019)

Red River Girl is a very thorough overview of the police investigation of the murder of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, who was found in the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 10, 2014. A circumstantial case was built on around a suspect who was subsequently charged but was found not guilty by a jury.

Fontaine's death may have been prevented if she had been rescued from sex worker victimization in an earlier opportunity by police (the two officers involved have subsequently left the police force) but the work by the murder investigation seems to have been a mostly thorough effort. Unfortunately there was no forensic evidence to tie the suspect to the crime and no confession was ever obtained despite a long term undercover operation. The single main piece of physical evidence was that the body had been found in the river wrapped in a duvet cover which was subsequently identified as being similar to one owned by the suspect. Even that evidence was not presented at the trial though, due to the presumed unreliability of the witnesses.

Joanna Jolly's book grew out of her own BBC World Service Assignment report Canada's Red River Murders from April 2015. She has assembled a thorough overview of this sad case which unfortunately will likely remain unsolved.… (mehr)