'WHY AREN'T THEY ARRESTING ANYONE?': WAUDBY

Reports of a Toronto police officer, working undercover as a heroin addict
at a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting in Peterborough, has made Brenda
Waudby relive her daughter's murder all over again.

Ms Waudby, the mother of 21-month-old Jenna Mellor, who was murdered in
Peterborough in 1997, says the officer befriended her and subsequently
violated the confidentiality of those at the NA meeting.

"I went to the group under a court order and never expected police would
plant someone there," she says.

"I was devastated and angered at the way the system worked. It's an outrage."

Ms Waudby was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Sept. 18, 1997
in connection with her daughter's death. That charge was subsequently
withdrawn.

It was then she found out the undercover Toronto officer had been covering
her true identity.

Before then, the pair became friendly and shared similar experiences in
their lives.

"She explained she was a heroin addict and had an abortion; her story was
so close to mine, without the murder," says Ms Waudby.

She said the actions of the police are making it hard for people in
counseling to trust those in their groups. Ms Waudby is now receiving
one-on-one counselling, vowing to never attend a group session again.

"I'd be afraid because I don't know the person sitting next to me," she says.

"I'm still a suspect in Jenna's murder and I wouldn't put anything pass
them (police)."

Dave (not his real name) has attended local NA meetings for a number of
years and remembers when this incident occurred almost five years ago.

He says it "caused an awful lot of damage in the fellowship."

"Our meetings have not been the same since," he adds.

"NA was always looked upon as a safe place to go and get help but we no
longer felt that way."

Dave knows of some members who stopped attending meetings after the
undercover cop revelation but agrees it's impossible to know for sure why
they left the group.

"We have literature we read at every meeting that says we are not under
surveillance and then this happens," he adds.

Peterborough police chief Terry McLaren, said undercover policies are in
place and what undercover work officers do depends on the "project proposal."

"At no time did the project have (the) intent to go into a narcotic meeting
to elicit information from the people there," he assures.

"(The officer) accompanied Brenda to the meeting."

An outside officer, Chief McLaren explains, was used because those with the
local force are well-known in the community. He wouldn't say if other
officers have sat in on similar meetings since Ms Waudby's experience.

In the meantime, police are still working towards solving Jenna's murder.
It's hoped the results from Centre for Forensic Sciences testing on a hair
or fibre will help.

In February, a strand was found in forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Smith's
desk in Toronto. It had been there since Jenna's autopsy five years ago.
That incident is being investigated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Smith turned the item over to city police, who received the testing
results April 11. Asked what the mysterious strand is, Chief McLaren
refuses to release that information. He also won't comment if it will help
determine Jenna's killer.

"It's a piece of evidence and we will be continuing our investigation," he
said.

For her part, Ms Waudby believes the item is a hair from the person who
abused and killed her daughter.

"Why they aren't arresting anyone, I have no idea," she says.