WALKERTON, Ont.

Mary Ann Russwurm had a gut feeling that her 15-year-old daughter was taken when she disappeared more than 23 years ago on her way to school.

Russwurm’s hunch was confirmed Tuesday when Anthony Edward Ringel, 47, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Christine Harron, whose body was never found.

The OPP, who have had Ringel in their sights for 12 years, used undercover officers who moved into a trailer park where he was living to elicit a confession in one of Southwestern Ontario’s highest-profile cold cases.



Christine Harron (File photo)

Harron disappeared May 18, 1993, while walking to John Diefenbaker secondary school in Hanover where she was a Grade 9 student.

Her mother told The Free Press in 1997: “I feel she’s been taken. I thought that right from the start.” According to an agreed statement of facts read in court Tuesday by Crown attorney Robin Flumerfelt, OPP investigators recorded “detailed confessions” by Ringel in the winter of 2013.

Ringel told the undercover officers he was feeling “sexually frustrated” and “opportunity knocked” when he saw Harron walking through her favourite park in Hanover on her way to school, Flumerfelt said.

Ringel forced her by the arm through a wooded area to a remote spot on the Saugeen River. He pushed her into the fast current. She went under and was carried downstream but Ringel caught up with her on the other side.

Ringel restrained her and with her arms trapped behind her by her jacket he had sex with her over her protests that it hurt.

He told undercover police that Harron “should have screamed” because there were others in the park, Flumerfelt said. Saying “a 14-year-old (sic) should know better,” Ringel said the sexual assault “wasn’t all his fault.” He told the officer “if you were a female wouldn’t you struggle?”

Ringel told the undercover officer “even though she said she wouldn’t tell anyone, it doesn’t always work out that way, so I decided she’s gotta be done” because both lived in the same town and she could point him out. He said he didn’t know her name.

Ringel suffocated Harron, face down in the water and mud while she struggled, Flumerfelt said.

He left her body on the riverbank and fled. But fearing Harron’s body would be discovered, he returned the next day and covered it with sticks and logs and debris to hide it. Harron’s body was never found.

A forensic expert said the body likely decomposed until only bones were left by winter. The bones were likely swept away when the Saugeen River flooded in spring.

Wearing a large blue suit jacket, Ringel listened with a pained expression as the facts were read. His long, receded brown hair was draped over his left shoulder.

When Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan asked Ringel if understood by pleading guilty to murder that he was admitting he caused Harron’s death, Ringel remained silent but nodded several times.

He grew emotional, with his lips held tightly together and his face flushed, then confirmed verbally he did understand. Ringel declined the opportunity to speak before he was sentenced.

Russwurm told the court how her daughter’s murder has had ongoing, devastating consequences for her.

“I’m stuck in the past, wondering if there was something I could have done to prevent it. And I miss her so very much.”

Russwurm said she suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. She has been to counselling and will be on medication for the rest of her life, she said.

“I don’t know what possessed someone to be so sick and cruel to do something this horrible to a child, with her whole life ahead of her. I cannot get through the night without suffering from nightmares of her calling out for help and I cannot reach her in time.”

She turned directly toward Ringel and told her she wanted answers and wanted to speak with him personally.

“I pray that no one will ever forget her and that maybe some good can come out of this, and other children will be more careful not only around strangers but also people they know.”

Tuesday’s appearance was the second time Ringel had appeared in court on a charge of murdering Harron.

In August 2004, he made a 911 call and told a police officer he killed Harron.

“Ringel’s family members confirmed that Ringel had admitted to his crime to them,” Flumerfelt said.

Ringel was committed to trial in June 2005, following a preliminary hearing. But on Oct. 20, 2006, after pretrial motions and on the day a trial date was to be set in Walkerton, the murder charge against Ringel was stayed for 12 months due to the inadmissibility of evidence.

In 2012, the OPP renewed its investigation into Harron’s disappearance. Police working undercover befriended Ringel after moving into his trailer park.

He has been in custody since he was arrested Feb. 27, 2013.

Conlan sentenced Ringel to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years, less about five years presentence custody.

Conlan said he wished Harron’s family and friends some form of closure and “some sense of peace.”

Speaking directly to Ringel, Conlan said, “You have begun the road of rehabilitation today. It’s never too late.”

Just before Ringel was led away, Conlan said, “Mr. Ringel, you’ve done the right thing today.”