Magda Konieczna

Man charged in tot’s slaying

appeared in The Record July 4, 2005

A provincewide search for 22-month-old Donovan Clubb of Chatham, missing since Thursday, ended early yesterday with the discovery of a child's body near a tree-lined Cambridge road.

"Those remains we believe to be that of Donovan Clubb, but we are waiting confirmation from an autopsy," Waterloo regional police Insp. Bryan Larkin said at a press conference yesterday.

The body was found in a wooded area near Langdon Drive and Blair Road.

Shawn Palmer, 36, the boyfriend of the child's mother, was charged with first-degree murder and abduction at a bail hearing yesterday. He was arrested in Kitchener shortly after midnight on Friday.

Donovan's father Matt Clubb said he feared the worst when Palmer was arrested without the child.

"I just keep hoping it's just a dream. That I'll be able to see him, I'll be able to hold him again," Clubb, 21, said yesterday in an emotional interview with CTV.

"I don't want to believe that this has really happened. I just miss him so much."

Clubb said he has not seen his son since about February because of a court order.

Police said Palmer and the toddler left last Monday for a fishing trip to Simcoe County, north of Toronto. They were expected to return to Chatham Wednesday.

Palmer is believed to have connections in both communities.

"Donny's mother was well aware that Donny was going to go away for a period of time," said Chatham-Kent police Insp. George Flikweert.

"What they did there, we're not 100 per cent sure, but they were there for several days."

Donovan's mother Courtney Catton, 21, went to bed Wednesday night believing her son was back home, sleeping in the basement, police said. She reported him missing shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday.

An Amber Alert was issued because the boy was believed to be in danger. Waterloo regional police, who have had Palmer in custody since Friday, would not say who found the child's body or led them to the woods between the Grand River and the Whistle Bear Golf Club.

After yesterday's bail hearing, Palmer was turned over to Chatham-Kent Police, and will have a second bail hearing on Wednesday. The investigation will be shared by the two forces.

Waterloo regional police arrested Palmer at 237 Borden Ave. S. in Kitchener, but do not believe he lived there, said Larkin.

But several neighbours said Palmer had been living on Borden Avenue for a few months. Casey Peters, who lives next door, said she believes Palmer was a friend of the owner or just a boarder. She also said she saw a boy, likely Clubb, with Palmer in his car Monday.

"The kid looked content," Peters said.

Bryan Runions lives three doors down from the Borden Avenue home.

"Nobody knows nothing," he said. "We were sleeping," when the arrest occurred. "I woke up and they were taking the chap out."

He said the street is a quiet one, and neighbours usually keep to themselves. He added that the owner of the house has not been back since the arrest.

"He seems like a straight guy," Runions said. "In the year and a half he lived here, I think I saw him twice."

He did say, though, that there have been big parties at the house recently.

"In the last two weeks they've been partying pretty heavy, so whoever moved in had a big influence."

The house where Palmer was arrested was cordoned off with police tape yesterday.

In Chatham, neighbours on Edgar Avenue, a quiet side street where Donovan and his mother lived, said Palmer had been staying regularly with Catton for the past few weeks.

Rosaire Sterling and his wife Ruth said they prayed for the child yesterday morning at their church. They have lived in the house across the street for 37 years and recalled seeing the energetic child playing in front of his home.

"He used to play right on the road, but my three granddaughters played in the back," he said. "I used to holler at the mum to pull him in. It's a calm street, but there's still a bit of traffic."

But he said he was stunned when he heard of the discovery yesterday morning.

"These people didn't cause any rumpus," Sterling said. "They were good people."

Neighbours and well-wishers began placing flowers in front of Catton's house, roped off with yellow police crime scene tape, shortly after news of Donovan's death broke. Police would not release details about the condition of the body or how long they believe the child had been dead.

Pam Clubb, the boy's grandmother, was overcome with grief. "I have a picture of him in a bathtub, he looks so beautiful . . . I've been looking at it and all I want to do is hold him, but I can't," she said.

"When he would cry, I would take him to the kitchen window and he would look outside and he would laugh, but that will never happen again."

Langdon Drive was closed to traffic while the investigation continued. Police were asking residents to prove they lived on the closed part of the road before letting them pass.

"We're in the early hours of investigation at the crime scene," Larkin said.

Palmer's car is also being examined by police investigators. They also would not say whether there are other suspects in the case.

Larkin said the discovery of the child's body was difficult for the investigating officers, many of whom had been working around the clock on the case.

"When you have a child involved, there's a different sense of emotion," he said. "The majority of us have children or nieces and nephews."

The family was working on plans to hold a funeral for young Donovan either tomorrow orWednesday, but no details had been finalized, Catton's sister Brittany said.

"We plan to honour him," she said.