On Tuesday, April 23rd 2013, Jan Goro didn’t show up for work. A 66-year old janitor in Banff’s Whyte Museum, the absence of Goro did not go unnoticed. His boss called the house where Goro lived alone with his cat. He was not there. The day before the RCMP broke into Goro’s home, kidnapped him and flew him to Ontario. He now sits in a “detention centre” awaiting trial. His crime? A 37-year-old murder of a small business owner in Burlington, Ontario.
The RCMP acted on the request of the Halton Police who claim to have forensics evidence linking Goro to the murder. Despite the unique timing of the crime and arrest, the police refuse to comment on the evidence while the trial is on. Jan Goro is essentially being treated as if he were already guilty. There was a bail hearing shortly after his arrest, but these show-trials act as crude justifications for extortion. Regardless, Jan Goro probably doesn’t have anyone to bail him out.
Goro lived alone in Banff. A co-worker who’s known him for 16 years called him, “very efficient, a good worker,” and that, “he kept to himself but he would come to some staff functions. He wouldn’t stand out. He worked and went home to watch TV and look after his cat.” The cops admit that, “he’s been alone his entire life; never married, no children. Lived on his own in a small apartment and kept to himself for the most part… We don’t believe he’s had any contact with any family members for quite some time — probably well over 20 years.” Goro’s boss was surprised by the news, “I wouldn’t think this person that I knew would be capable of something like that,” he said. “He’s a very gentle, caring soul.”
Goro’s alleged victim is Don Ross McAvella, a business owner murdered in 1976. This would make Jan Goro 29-years-old at the time. Goro is a refugee from the murderous communist-regime of Czechoslovakia. If guilty, Goro may be emotionally paralysed by the unforgivable act he committed 37 years ago or he’s hiding from someone other than the police – perhaps the mob. Goro probably didn’t speak English when he came to Canada. Downtown Burlington circa 1976 can be a dangerous place for the wrong person. Goro may have gotten himself involved with the wrong people out of desperation and circumstance.
The McAvella family is asking for privacy while the cops in charge of the case are calling this a “nice success story.” Jan Goro is a 66-year old man who was extradited by a militant police force and brought to a prison cell 3,000 km from his home. None of the charges have been proven and the forensic evidence that led to his arrest is confidential. This is hardly a success story. Even if Goro is guilty, the tactics used were pretty aggressive for an introverted old man who posed no immediate threat to the community.
But that’s the result of a system of law and order where a monopoly is in charge and payment is mandatory. The state is essentially a criminal organization catching other criminals. The state cannot allocate resources and labour effectively. It cannot adapt to the ever-changing conditions of people’s valuations. Private enterprise uses price signals, voluntary exchange and the profit-motive to determine individual wishes – the state taxes and therefore cannot use this mechanism. Even if staffed by honest cops, bureaucrats and politicians – the state cannot serve consumer interests in any objective way.
The boundaries of law and order need not be arbitrary jurisdictions, but a dynamic web of consumers demanding what works for them and entrepreneurs providing them these services. The fact that law and order is “contracted” out to a single monopoly that expands half the continent is beyond lunacy. In a free society Jan Goro wouldn’t have been kidnapped. The conviction process would be performed by a judicial system whose existence and operations depend on the voluntary payments of individuals who wish to live in a just society. The civilizing effects of trade would bring objectivity to the current subjective and arbitrary ways of law enforcement.
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