OTTAWA - Col. David Russell Williams was once among Canada's most successful military officers. He commanded a sprawling air base essential for Canada's military mission in Afghanistan, and he sometimes was the pilot of government jets that carried Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other dignitaries overseas.
But the police have now accused Williams of leading a double life, as an air force commander and a serial sexual predator. After arresting him in February in connection with two murders and two sexual assaults, the police on Thursday added 82 additional criminal charges , most of which involved lurid sexual details.
Most of the new charges involve break-ins in Ottawa, where Williams and his wife live, and in communities near the air base that he used to command, which is known as Canadian Forces Base Trenton. No details about the burglaries were provided during a brief court hearing on Thursday, and officials with the police departments investigating the case declined to elaborate.
But John R. Williams, the mayor of Quinte West, Ontario, where the air base is located, said several residents had been told by the police that Williams was suspected of having broken into their homes and taken women's lingerie.
The Ottawa Citizen reported previously that the police had seized 500 women's undergarments during a week-long search of Williams' house in Ottawa in February.
"Some people who have been contacted didn't even know that he or anyone else had been in their house," said the mayor, who is not related to the colonel. "It's really weird."
The unusual tread pattern on the tires of his sport utility vehicle caused police investigators to link him with a crime scene, authorities said.
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