Sandra’s Book
A Mom’s Story
Sandra Martins-Toner
By Dan Ferguson – Surrey North Delta Leader
Updated: September 16, 2009 9:39 AM
Sandra Martins-Toner would drive by the house of the woman charged with ordering the killing of her 16-year-old son Matthew, hoping to catch Katherine Quinn violating her bail conditions.
Quinn was living with her parents less than 10 blocks from Martins-Toner’s Vancouver home.
“I honestly don’t know what I would have done had I come face-to-face with her.” Sandra Martins-Toner writes in The Last Six Minutes, an account of her son’s murder and the arrest and trial of accused killers Quinn and Quinn’s boyfriend Robert Allan Forslund.
The grieving mother would find out.
It happened during a break in the trial at the New Westminster courthouse when Martins-Toner opened the door to a women’s washroom and ran into Quinn.
“My body began to shake; it took everything in me to physically control myself,” Martins-Toner writes.
“I stared into her cold, evil eyes and yelled, ‘You child killer!’”
Since it came out in August, The Last Six Minutes has sold 10,000 copies and a second printing is planned.
“I’m extremely thrilled about the reception the book has had,” Martins-Toner says. “It’s been incredible.”
She will be signing copies in Surrey on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. at the Chapters Strawberry Hills bookstore at 12101 72 Ave.
The date is Matthew’s birthday. He would have been 21.
The title refers to the length of the SkyTrain security video that recorded her son’s final moments.
Martins-Toner says she has never watched the video and never will.
Matthew Martins was walking by a late-night Whalley house party on July 2, 2005 when there was a confrontation with Quinn, one of the partygoers. In the scuffle, Quinn suffered what doctors called a minor cut under her left armpit.
Martins fled, with Quinn’s boyfriend Forslund in pursuit. Forslund caught up with Martins at Surrey Central station. One witness to the brutal attack testified that Quinn urged Forslund on, saying “if you love me, you’ll kill him.” Both Forslund and Quinn were found guilty of second-degree murder by a B.C. Supreme Court jury in April 2007.
Quinn’s conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered after the appeal court found the judge at the first trial mis-instructed the jury on the issue of whether Quinn encouraged or assisted in the murder. Quinn is now free on bail. Her re-trial is set for April 6, 2010.
Martins-Toner is planning to take a leave of absence from Families Against Crime and Trauma (FACT), the group she founded to lobby for victims’ rights, to attend the proceedings.
For more information about the book, check http://thelastsixminutes.com
dferguson@surreyleader.com
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Book tells a harrowing story
A Mothers Loss & Quest for Justice
Complaining about the Canadian criminal justice system has become something of a national pastime. It seems not a day goes by that we don’t hear of yet another chronic, habitual offender being released on bail only to rack up another couple dozen offences while awaiting trial. And then, of course, when the trial finally comes, he’s given some form of community supervision that allows him to continue to chalk up multiple more crimes, leaving countless victims in his wake.
We’re also inundated with endless coverage of serious charges being downgraded or dropped altogether simply on account of the system’s litany of inefficiencies and blunders. Nothing keeps talk show hosts, newspaper columnists and other commentators in business more than exposing a justice system in need of a complete overhaul.
Still, all this is a drop in the bucket compared to the horrific experiences that victims and families of victims must endure. Endless delays, bail decisions that defy common sense and a tendency to be completely left out of the loop are just a few of the many traumatizing processes victims are likely to confront. Sometimes they’re victimized by a system that was never designed to accommodate or even be attentive to victims of serious crime in the first place. Other times they suffer at the hands of legal practitioners who see victims as nuisances and irritants who should lick their wounds, go away and mind their own business.
One of the most heart wrenching and insightful accounts of what it’s like to lose a loved one to a crime of violence is told in a just released book, The Last Six Minutes – A Mother’s Loss & Quest for Justice. Sandra Martins-Toner’s son, Matthew, was brutally murdered in a senseless display of recreational violence in 2005 at the Surrey Central Skytrain Station. He was hopelessly physically outmatched and never had a chance.
The title of the book refers to the last six minutes of 16-year-old Matthew’s life, all captured on a surveillance camera.
The book recounts the seemingly never-ending anguish, grief and torment a family in such a situation experiences. We all know the system is completely obsessed with protecting the rights of the accused and tending to their needs and comfort. But, as Sandra reveals in painstaking detail, there is absolutely no corresponding effort or component to even begin to consider the interests of victims.
It’s become somewhat of a tired cliche but there is no shortage of truth to the old adage that victims of serious crime are victimized first by the offender and then by the justice system. Among the most disturbing revelations in the book, Sandra tells how friends and family of the offender were able to threaten, intimidate and mock her during the court process with seeming immunity.
One would be hard pressed to read the book and come away with any other conclusion than the revelation that our justice system is a disgrace.
We’re all somewhat complicit in allowing judges and lawyers to hijack and claim the justice system as their own personal domain. Hopefully, Sandra’s book will encourage people to make an effort to reclaim justice as a cherished value and process that belongs to all of us.
- John Martin is a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley and can be contacted at John.Martin@ufv.ca.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOLARLXOmBM
Click the link to view the video
Ted Colley, Surrey Now
Published: Friday, July 10, 2009
The last six minutes of Matthew Martins’ young life were captured — in all their horror — by a security camera outside Surrey Central SkyTrain station.
The camera recorded the unimaginably vicious murder of the 16-year-old boy at the hands of Robert Forslund, 28 at the time of the killing. Forslund is serving life for the murder. His girlfriend Katherine Quinn, now 27, was also convicted of second-degree murder for aiding and abetting Forslund, but has been granted a new trial after an appeal court panel found fault with the trial judge’s instructions to the jury.
Those six minutes also provided the title of a book written by Sandra Martins-Toner, the murdered boy’s mother.
The Last Six Minutes: A Mother’s Loss and Quest for Justice is Martins-Toner’s attempt to give her dead son a kind of immortality, to ensure he will never be forgotten. Writing the book also served as catharsis for its author.
Matthew’s murder set her adrift in a heretofore unknown and frightening world where young boys die for apparently trivial reasons, and mothers can do nothing to save them.
Matty’s death left his mother struggling with guilt, fear, sorrow and a deep, burning hatred for those who took him from her. There were days when Martins-Toner’s mind was filled with dark fantasies of taking violent revenge on her son’s killers. There were days, many days, of overwhelming despair, days when Martins-Toner felt unable to go on.
She admits to thinking about ending it all, but thoughts of her family stayed her hand. There were her two surviving sons, Mitchell and Braydan, and she was pregnant with Chhaya, her daughter. There was David, her husband, and her sisters.
“Suicide? I can’t say I never thought about it, but I couldn’t. It would have hurt too many others. There were times I, honest to God, thought this is not worth it, all the pain,” she told the Now.
“You can’t see two months — even two days — ahead. You just can’t.”
And then there was Matty. Martins-Toner believes one day she and her son will be together again in Heaven, a place her religion teaches is denied to suicides. She won’t do anything to jeopardize that reunion.
“One day, when it’s my time, I’ll be with Matty.”
Until that day, Martins-Toner realized, she had to find a way to live in this world and with the reality of his death.
Her experiences dealing with the criminal justice system eventually led her — with the tireless assistance of David and others — to the formation of Families Against Crime and Trauma, a victim’s advocacy group dedicated to helping others in similar circumstances contend with the aftermath of violent crime. FACT also lobbies governments for changes to laws it believes work too much to the benefit of criminals and too little for victims and their survivors.
Martins-Toner credits Wallace Gilby Craig, a former provincial court judge, with setting on that path. Craig gave her a book, Victims: Orphans of Justice, that told the story of a family’s toils in the criminal justice maze after falling victim to crime.
“It was, I think, written in the ’80s, and when I read it, I thought, ‘Nothing has changed.’ That’s when I started to think about reaching out to others to let them know they’re not alone, that there are others like them out there.”
When Matty was killed, Martins-Toner was plunged into a world she knew nothing about, a world where victims don’t always count for much. She didn’t know how the system worked or how to find out. FACT was created to change that.
“I decided right from the start that I was going to be heard. I wanted everyone there to understand that’s not a file number you’re holding, that’s my little boy, and he was loved.”
Martins-Toner got lucky. The prosecutors who handled the murder case have been very sympathetic, going to great lengths to keep her in the loop.
Others haven’t been so fortunate, so FACT is there to help.
“We reach out to other families and guide them through the process. Some people think it’s healthier to put things behind you and move on. Matty was my best friend and I can’t do that. If I hadn’t done this, hadn’t reached out to others, I think I would have already lost my mind,” Martins-Toner said.
“From the beginning, it’s always been, what can I do to keep Matty’s story alive? I don’t want him to have died in vain. I want his death to change things.”
FACT’s profile is growing with every day and, thanks to his mother, the life and death of Matthew Lee Martins is in no danger of being forgotten.
Martin-Toner’s book is due for release in bookstores in later this summer and is available now online atl
http://www.aaspirationspublishing.com/the-last-six-minutes.html
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Order your Book Today, and Make a difference!
I wanted to let you all know that you can now order your very own copy of “The Last Six Minutes – A Mothers Loss & Quest for Justice.”
The books will be available across Canada at many of your bookstores, and shopping centres, but should you want to have one before then, you can order it right online.
Just click this link to place your order.
I want to thank everyone that has helped me in making this book a reality. I hope that you will all purchase one today!
Proceeds from the sale of these books will go to F.A.C.T.
I pray that by sharing my story with the world, that my beloved Matthew will never be forgotten…..
Sandra Martins-Toner
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Grieving Mother Writes Book to Help Others Cope
The Last Six Minutes – A Mothers Loss & Quest for Justice
Losing a child to murder is something no parent or family should ever have to endure, but for Sandra Martins-Toner and her family, it became a reality. On July 2nd, 2005, Sandra’s eldest son Matthew was brutally murdered in Surrey, BC.
Matthew’s tiny body was beaten beyond recognition by a 28 year old man and his 24 year old girlfriend. The diminutive boy was killed for nothing more than his personal belongings and perhaps a few dollars in his wallet.
Just days after their son’s murder, Sandra and her husband David made a conscious decision to speak out to the media about their sons’ senseless and tragic death.
Matthew Martin’s killers have been tried, convicted and sentenced, but Sandra Martins-Toner and her family can’t escape their grief, and the overwhelming sense of loss. They have channelled their anguish into affirmative action for victims. “The Last Six Minutes” is the true account of the random and violent murder of 16 year old Martins, and his family’s journey through the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Now the family is faced with the killers appeal, and the torment of perhaps being subjected to yet another lengthy trial.
Sandra began journaling her feelings and all the family was experiencing from the moment her son died and has stated that it wasn’t until after the trial that she decided to try and pull it all together to share with others.
Sandra feels that by being able to put pen to paper, she has been able to keep her sons’ memory alive, not just for herself, but for the many other families who may one day regrettably find themselves in the same situation. There are relatively few books of this type written from the victim’s point of view, thus giving her even more reason to soldier on with her book.
Matthew’s murder became a highly publicized case in British Columbia. Reporters branded the crime “The Skytrain Killers,” or “Skytrain Murder.” Sandra and her husband David believe that Matthew might have survived had there been better security at the Skytrain Station. This began there fight with Translink to see that the most innocent, and vulnerable would be protected from those who prey upon the weak. Sandra, David and MLA Adrian Dix spearheaded a successful campaign for increased security measures on the transit system, and won.
Public interest in the case remains strong, due to the extensive media coverage of the tragedy. The murder of a youth by two adult offenders struck a nerve with the community, and triggered the creation of a public advocacy group founded by the parents of the slain boy. Families Against Crime & Trauma, (F.A.C.T.) is an advocacy/lobby group for victims of violent crime, which has received national attention.
Publisher, Anjali Sondhi of Aaspirations Publishing Inc. in Toronto, ON, recalls the moment she first received the manuscript, ‘The Last Six Minutes,’ by Sandra Martins-Toner. Her initial reaction as a mother was that no one should ever have to live through this, and her second reaction was that this was a story that needed to be told.
Anjali was inspired by the fact that out of the depths of sorrow and death came action, and that is a powerful statement and message. A message that needs to reach out to society at large, that as human beings and parents it is our duty to ensure a safer place for our children. Senseless deaths such as Matthew’s should not happen ever again. And if by reading ‘The Last Six Minutes,’ one such death is prevented because of heightened awareness or tougher laws, or better security than we have achieved what we set out to do.
Both parents now speak regularly in the media, and are consulted by regional victim’s service agencies for their assistance with presentations. Sandra and David are frequently invited as guest speakers at universities, colleges, and high schools to share Matthew’s story, and discuss their advocacy work.
“The Last Six Minutes,” is the true account of a mother’s loss and quest for justice which offers a contemporary victim’s story, and illustrates the current state of Criminal Justice in Canada.
Sandra’s book highlights the issue of violence and victimization in society, and demonstrates how advocacy for a cause has helped this family cope. Photos of Matthew and his family will be included as an insert.
Sandra feels strongly that this story will appeal to citizens concerned with the growing level of violence and crime in society, and that the book could also benefit not just the bereaved, but their friends, frontline workers, emergency responders and trauma counsellors as well.
The book will become available to purchase in the fall of 2009 through Aaspirations Publishing based in Toronto, ON.
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I am happy to inform everyone that my Manuscript has been accepted, and will be released in the Fall of 2009.
It has just been a few days since I made the decision, and a few moments since I signed the contract. I am proud to say that I feel strongly that the Publishing Company I have signed with was by far the best choice.
The wonderful thing about all of this is that a published book is often a stepping stone for the author, leading to bigger and better things in their professional life. Unlike other publishing companies, at Aaspirations Publishing, the author retains copyright of the book, and merely grants them the right to sell the book.
Most publishing houses take ownership of the copyright, and leave the author with no say in their book, other than to receive royalties. So now begins the adventures in marketing and promoting the book. As nervous as I am, I know that I will have a very special angel guiding me.
I am looking forward to reaching out to others, and meeting people from all walks of life.
Be sure to keep checking back for more information on my book, and for details on how we are promoting “The Last Six Minutes-A Mothers Loss & Quest for Justice.”
Sandra Martins-Toner
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I have just recently completed my manuscript and now have a wonderful Editor, Mr. David Yanor. The book has taken a little over two years to write, and was the most painful, and therapeutic task I have ever accomplished.
The book is Called ” The Last Six Minutes,” A Mothers loss & Quest for Justice. Here is a little teaser for everyone.
Sandra’s son was brutally murdered in Surrey, BC three years ago. Public interest in the case remains strong, due to the extensive media coverage of the tragedy. The murder of a youth by two adult offenders struck a nerve with the community, and triggered the creation of a public advocacy group founded by the parents of the slain boy.
Matthew’s killers have been tried, convicted and sentenced, but Sandra Martins-Toner and her family can’t escape their grief, and the overwhelming sense of loss. They have channelled their anguish into affirmative action for victims. “The Last Six Minutes” is the true account of the random and violent murder of 16 year old Matthew Martins, and his family’s journey through the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Now the family is faced with the Killers appeal, and the torment of perhaps being subjected to yet another lengthy trial.
Matthew’s murder became a highly publicized case in British Columbia. . Reporters branded the crime “The Skytrain Killers,” or “Skytrain Murder.” Sandra and her husband David have spearheaded a successful campaign for increased security measures on the transit system. Both parents now speak regularly in the media, and are consulted by regional victim’s service agencies for their assistance with presentations. Sandra and David are frequently invited as guest speakers at universities, colleges, and high schools to share Matthew’s story, and discuss their advocacy work.
Shortly after their son’s murder, they founded Families Against Crime & Trauma, (F.A.C.T.) an advocacy/lobby organization for victims of violent crime, which has received national attention. Sandra and David contribute monthly articles which are featured in the Crime Watch Canada magazine.
Sandra was recently featured in a documentary titled “Illicit Exchanges – Canada, the US and Crime”, and was a panellist at the Pacific Lutheran University forum on this topic in Seattle, WA. She was also in the July/August 2008 issue of the Vancouver Magazine in an article called “Life after Death,” written by Jonathan Graham.
There are relatively few books of this type, written from the victim’s point of view. In contrast, Katy Hutchinson’s “Walking after Midnight,” is a book about the journey from loss to forgiveness. However, “The Last Six Minutes,” is the true account of a mother’s loss and quest for justice. Another book I would compare this manuscript to is Jerry Amernic’s, “Victims: The Orphans of Justice.” This book was published in 1984, in which it took an investigative look at Canada’s criminal justice system, from the perspective of its victims. Even now, almost 25 years later, not very much has changed for victims of crime. “The Last Six Minutes,” offers a contemporary victim’s point of view story, and illustrates the current state of Criminal Justice in Canada.
This non fiction/inspirational work highlights the issue of violence and victimization in society, and demonstrates how advocacy for a cause has helped these family’s to cope. Photos of Matthew and his family published during the trial could be included as an insert.
I strongly feel that this story will appeal to citizens concerned with the growing level of violence and crime in society. This book could also benefit not just the bereaved, but friends, frontline workers and counsellors as well.
I hope to be able to find a publisher who will help me get this book out to all those who could benefit. I will keep everyone posted over the next few weeks to how all of this is going.
Wish me luck!
Looking forward to reading this.
Congratulations – looking forward to reading this. All the best, ~Jim
Thank you Jim! I look forward to seeing it in print.
My mom (Grace) had brought this book home from work, and she told me i should read it. So i picked it up and i read from front to back, I have never read a book this thick n finished it. Its a great book and I’m sure i can read it again with probably the same amount of tear’s. Even tho i did not know Matthew, i remember going to his grave sight with Tila and Krista one day, and i remember like it was yesterday. I turned around looking out the back window of the car to look at his grave one last time and i saw on his grave a light turn on i guess it was one of thingy’s that turn on when it got dark. But it was only maybe between 2-4 during tha day. Its like he knew we were there it was like a sign to say like thank u for visiting or something, I started crying big time i know i didn’t know him personally but from what i heard from Krista and Tila that he was such a great person. And i’m SO sorry for you loss.
Sandie,
I read your book this past weekend and I can honestly tell you that it is the first book I haven’t been able to put down. From the first page to the last I was captured and felt as if I was given a window into all that you’ve experienced. From the heart-breaking first few chapters to the latter focusing on our legal system I was totally absorbed. Hearing the tragedy you faced and the suffering that accompanied it made even me, a 20 year old male choke up. The sadness I felt for you quickly turned to a deep hatred for Quinn and her supporters. It wasn’t enough for her to take your son, but the complete lack of remorse teamed with the disgusting and vile treatment she forced you to endure is unconscionable. As to how you managed to keep yourself from running her over with your car is beyond me. I won’t go into further detail, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your book and hope that it will evoke a reaction in society that will fight the current apathy.
On a personal note, I’m not sure what I can say that you haven’t already heard, but I am tremendously sorry for your loss and in complete aw of your will to fight for changes in our so called “Justice” system. It was wonderful to see you at the F.A.C.T. fundraiser both this year and last and I look forward to future events as well as your second book.
Andre