Montreal City Weblog

Kate 21:34 on 2020-12-16 Permalink Reply  

• Jebediah Pallendrome 01:14 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  Tends to happen when you don’t repent.

  That said, Con-U’s own internal investigation confirmed the rampant departmental plagiarism Fabrikant says set him off.

  It’s no excuse for murder, obviously, but this story has always had a Kafkaesque quality about it.

• Bill Binns 09:49 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  Gotta have some reluctant respect for Fabrikant. He could have played the game and been out ages ago, happily living his life alongside all the other convicted murderers who walk among us. Write a children’s book. Start talking about Jesus to anyone who will listen. Nope, he keeps that middle finger held high.

• Kevin 10:29 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  Those investigations also showed that Fabrikant lied about his background and made threats everywhere he was employed, including in the USSR.

• Kate 11:06 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  This is like a stopped clock being right twice a day. Fabrikant did turn out to be right about Concordia’s bad policies – at the time – in according credit on papers in its engineering department, but other things he did, including murdering four people (and not even the ones he was angriest at, but simply people who had the ill fortune to be present in the building that day), shows his real nature. And he’s never admitted he killed innocent people and taken responsibility for his actions. He should stay behind bars.

• Michael Black 11:23 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  He was never capable of “being nice”. He shot those people and thought he was justified. For him to change, he’d have to suddenly see very clearly what he had done. And he then probably couldn’t live with himself.

  Most of his postings were about how he was the victim. He couldn’t keep quiet, so he set up some method to get his message out, annoying the family of the murdered, but also ensuring he’d stay in. And it didn’t stop there, all his fussing in court to have his way really bugged the judges.

  As I recall, his postings slowed down, or stopped. I think some legal issue came up, as if he was lying low to present himself in a different light. But then the Dawson shooting made him post again. And it was an excuse to justify his killings.

  I think that was the end of his postings.

  He’s an old man with no friends. I actually thought he’d get out after 25 years and it’s three years after that. The only way he’s getting out is when he gets so old and frail the prison can’t handle him. And I assume he’ll land in some special facility for old prisoners, not a release.

• H. John 23:43 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

  @Jebediah Pallendrome
  It wasn’t plagiarism.
  It was including people’s names on academic papers to which they hadn’t actually contributed.
  He did it from the time he started working at Concordia.
  Fabrikant referred to himself as an “obedient scientific prostitute…”.
  He wanted to stop because he wasn’t getting what he wanted; and, he threatened to go to the newspapers or authorities unless he got a promotion.

  @Kevin
  No investigation, other than the newspapers, said he lied about his background or credentials. In fact the Cowan Report stated:
  “In fact, much has since been written about Dr. Fabrikant falsifying elements of various CV’s over the years. I have compared them, and the differences are largely explicable, if one examines the differences in academic ranks and degree granting systems between North America and the former USSR.”
  The University could not find one person who said that he or she had been threatened. People said they had heard he had threatened someone, but they didn’t know who.
  During his trial, Fabrikant asked each and every university employee who he called to testify if he had threatened them, or if they knew anyone he had threatened. The answer was always no.

  @Michael Black
  “…an old man with no friends.” And if today’s report of his latest court case is to be believed, no decent kosher soup.

  @Kate
  He chose the people he shot. People have suggested Matt Douglas was just visiting the Dean’s office, that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fabrikant has been clear he thought Matt was Dean Swamy’s close friend, and that Matt had been dropping by Fabrikant’s office to talk so he could report back to Swamy.

  I found it depressing that in December each and every news report when naming the four men he killed, then mentioned that he also shot a secretary – but didn’t name her. How difficult would it have been to say he shot 5 people, 4 of whom died. And to name all five.

  Her name was Elizabeth Horwood.

  Fabrikant called her as a witness at his trial, and asked her if at any other time had he ever threatened her.

• Kate 11:12 on 2020-12-18 Permalink

  Thank you very much, H. John, for the clarifications and corrections.

  The secretary has been named before, because I recognized her name when you mentioned it. In a sense maybe she should be glad she doesn’t get named – because she survived.