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Colonel Russell Williams, Wing Commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton, is pictured in this September 20, 2009 handout photo.HO

Colonel Russell Williams, a former base commander and rising military star, has been sent to prison for the first-degree murders of two Ontario women. His crimes have rocked the military and his victims' families.

Here are key dates in the case:

September, 2009: Two women living a short walk from each other on a quiet lakeside road in the village of Tweed are tied up in the middle of the night, sexually assaulted and photographed by an unknown assailant in attacks 13 days apart.

Nov. 25: The boyfriend of Corporal Marie-France Comeau, 37, discovers her body at her home in Brighton, Ont. She was asphyxiated.

Jan. 28, 2010: Jessica Lloyd, 27, vanishes after sending a late-night text message to a friend. The Belleville woman is reported missing the following day when she fails to show up for work at a Napanee, Ont., school-bus company.

Feb. 4: Col. Williams is stopped at a police road block on Highway 37, which connects Belleville and Tweed, where he lives. An Ontario Provincial Police officer spots a resemblance between the tires on his Nissan Pathfinder and tracks discovered in a snowy field near Ms. Lloyd's home. Col. Williams is placed under surveillance.

Feb. 7: Col. Williams is interrogated by police for more than 10 hours and arrested after confessing to the murders of Cpl. Comeau and Ms. Lloyd as well as the sexual assaults.

Feb. 8: Police find Ms. Lloyd's body in the woods near a rural road in Tweed. She was asphyxiated. Police announce that Col. Williams has been charged with the first-degree murders of Ms. Lloyd and Cpl. Comeau. He is also charged with two counts of forcible confinement, break and enter and sexual assault. He is temporarily relieved of his military duties.

Feb. 18: Col. Williams makes a brief court appearance by video link. His case is put over.

March 25: Col. Williams appears in court via video hook-up.

April 3: Col. Williams tries to kill himself, leaving a suicide note in mustard on the walls of his segregation cell saying his personal affairs were in order and that his troubles are unbearable.

April 9: Col. Williams is attempting to starve himself to death, sources tell The Globe.

April 29: Police announce that Col. Williams has been charged with 82 additional burglary-related offences stemming from fetish break-ins in Tweed, Belleville and Ottawa dating back to 2007. Col. Williams appears in court via video link.

May 10: A 21-year-old woman who was attacked in September, 2009, launches a $2.45-million civil lawsuit against Col. Williams, claiming she has been suicidal and dealing with drug and alcohol dependencies since the alleged sexual assault, according to a media report. The lawsuit also alleges Col. Williams' wife, Mary-Elizabeth Harriman, was involved in the fraudulent transfer of Ottawa real estate in a effort to defeat the woman's claim against the colonel.

June 8: In an affidavit filed in relation to the woman's lawsuit, Ms. Harriman says she has been devastated by the charges against her husband, according to a report.

June 24: Col. Williams makes a video court appearance.

July 22: Col. Williams appears in court by video hook up.

Aug. 26: Col. Williams is committed to stand trial after making a video appearance in which he waives his right to a preliminary hearing.

Sept. 24: Col. Williams's lawyer files a notice saying he plans to defend against the 21-year-old woman's civil lawsuit, according to a report.

Oct. 7: Col. Williams will plead guilty to all charges, his lawyer tells the court.

Oct. 18: Col. Williams pleads guilty to all 88 charges against him.

Oct. 21: Col. Williams is sentenced to two concurrent life sentences for the first-degree murders of Cpl. Comeau and Ms. Lloyd. In addition, he receives two 10-year terms for his sexual assaults and one year apiece for the 82 break-ins, all to be served concurrently. He must serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars before he has any chance of parole. The military says it will begin the process of drumming him out of the Canadian Forces and removing his rank and medals.

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