Original subtitles

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good evening I'm Antonia Robarts this is

crime beat the stories behind some of

Canada's most high-profile homicides

told by the reporters who walk the beat

every day tonight a family searching for

their daughter total discipline no texts

no anything her partner accused of

murder his story just does not stop

in LA from very consistent direction

there's a phrase always you I be hurt

nobody no crime but in our system this

was not here's crime be a reporter

Romina dia with Kimberly kesakhian no

body no crime

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I don't know where Sam is do you think

you'll see her again

oh no no when I say she's here it's a

spiritual sense Allen Cathy Cassatt

khun's daughter vanished in 2016 they

have journeyed from abbotsford BC to

Peru

16 times searching for any sign of

Kimberley Lima was the last place she

was seen alive I just miss her so much

it's just taking so long you just it's

just not fair I imagine what she must

have been going through the last few

minutes of her life and

I just been having our hurt I'm holding

it together right now

I think she's wanting something a little

bit more professional and I think she

just got a neat job Kimberley kazakian

had an innate desire to help people

she took pride in giving women a new

start doing makeovers at a hair salon

featured on television we kept telling

her you need to go on MasterChef

she likes skiing she loved gardening and

you know she she loved the good joke and

she loved to laugh Kimberly wanted to

make a difference she was drawn to

Chinese medicine as a young woman

growing up in Aldergrove her Diaries

capturing her ambitions I'm gonna go to

school to be a traditional Chinese

medicinal doctor whoa I truly feel that

this is where I'm supposed to be Wow

I'll be able to help a lot of people I

think of all the good Kimberly's dream

to work in Africa providing treatment

for those who can't afford it I'm so

excited I can't help but feel like this

is so right this is my life path

nervous but excited Kimberly enters

acupuncture school at Pacific Rim

College on Vancouver Island in 2009 it's

where she crosses paths with Christopher

Franz bataki a Peruvian citizen our

passion is so intense I'm falling hard

for him that day that Christopher walked

into my classroom and sat down in front

of me my whole life changed in an

instant what did you think of him I

thought he was a pompous

ass that was your initial reaction he

was too sure of himself

you know he was in charge yeah you can

see Kim's affection for him though when

you fight hood yes I could beautiful

funny sexy and mature he's 38 years old

she was she was smitten by him

she certainly has let it be known that

she really loved him after a fierce love

affair Kimberly is pregnant the couple's

son born in Victoria he had money they

could travel the world helping people

together I think it was a wonderful

dream but it

it wasn't a reality Franz is expelled

for plagiarism from the College where he

was a student and teacher the family

packs up embarking on a new life in

Africa Franz who reportedly has a

medical degree from Mexico has

connections with the UN he

as a contract with an NGO in Uganda

then it was kind of a goodbye a goodbye

thing and all we did was hope them well

you know wish to wish them well that

they were going on and I think that's

when everything really probably came to

a head with that relationship because

the part of Uganda they were in was

north

just south of South Sudan pretty remote

hours away from the big city and he

would go for days at a time off on his

whatever he was doing and she was just

left there in a small village the

relationship volatile Kimberly convinced

Franz is having an affair

Christopher Franz does not depict all

the meadow there in the world I just

unfortunately picked an [ __ ] and

charmer who charmed me until he had me

pregnant then BAM the real him came out

funny how everyone and I mean everyone

told me to stay the [ __ ] away from him

stupid stupid me had the blinders on

Kimberly's parents in the dark about how

tumultuous life had become we didn't

know her sisters that her brothers

didn't know no there was just something

she kept within herself and her Diaries

why she didn't just pack up the baby and

leave I don't know

Kimberly makes a conscious choice to

leave but she's pregnant again

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determined to keep the family together

they start fresh in Lima Peru with their

second child a daughter is born any time

I needed any advice I would always go to

her and she always would give her advice

for health-wise

I've always been close to her nobody

knew Kimberly like Christina with

Kimberly now settled in Peru the sisters

are in daily contact it's now the fall

of 2016

Kimberly and Franz have been together

for seven years leading up to that day

nothing had made her upset or anything

like that no no no November 26th

the sisters exchanged several messages

about a trip to the farmers market and

the catch of the day they were going on

a date they were going out for dinner

and we never have a sushi some

restaurant surveillance footage shows

the couple returning home that evening

but it's the last time 41 year old

Kimberly is seen alive christopher

notified us that she's missing and

asking is she in canada and that was to

start to suspicious coming up why

Kimberly's family begins to suspect

Franz isn't telling them the full story

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kimberley kiss Atkins living in Peru

with a partner

Christopher Franz bataki and their two

young children when Kimberly disappears

her family questions his version of

events now back to Romina daya with no

body no crime

christina frantic she repeatedly

messages her sister asking where are you

days go by still no answer my parents

called me and then that's when my stand

I was like well

Kim's missing Kris says that Kim's

missing that was it nobody's heard from

her since

no no total disappeared no texts no

anything

Kimberly's bank account untouched to

this day immigration records show she

never leaves the country he thought that

he could send us an email didn't have

the common courtesy to call us sent an

email that Kim has abandoned the family

that first email coming a week after

Kimberly vanished

and over the course of a day his story

kept changing

for more than a year and a half

Kimberly's been thinking of leaving says

fronds in court documents translated

from Spanish to English one of these

days she was not going to be home once

we returned from school

Franz tells the COS Atkins via email she

also told us she needed to be by herself

it was the only way she could function

she had to be one with nature I can tell

you both so many things the children and

I have witnessed seen listen to from her

in these past years that would surprise

you

she took the passport and half of her

clothes she does not answer the phone

did you believe that when you thought

for a second not for a second not with

all the plans that she had

and she would never abandon her children

court records reveal fronds calls

Peruvian police but not to report

Kimberly missing he claims she abandoned

the family resulting in no investigation

with suspicion mounting the kosygin's

filed their own missing-persons report

in Canada she's very active on social

media and none of our family or friends

of hers that were aware of have had any

contact with her since the evening of

the 26th of November we believe strongly

that Kim's friends have had contact with

her that it was recent maybe in November

anything that they have could be useful

to our assistance in this investigation

so if there are Friends of Kim out there

they should make contact with the APD

let us know when they last spoke let us

know when they last posted on social

media let us know when they last talked

on the telephone my gut reaction right

away after we that was - something bad

has happened

Franz is email to the exact Ian's a key

piece of evidence for the Abbotsford

major crime detective in charge of the

investigation in Canada I thought he was

definitely

information or being economical with the

truth for safety reasons the undercover

officer cannot be identified because of

his current unit his story just does not

stand up to scrutiny in any way at all

and also they the timing on timing of

events ik it took him six days to send

the email to the Kazakh pnes to say that

she had his words impounded the family

the Balkans inna was his justification

of why she would laugh she would have

left I don't suppose the zero emotion an

email from him I would think that some

of his wife mother of his children at

all had just walked out on them it shows

some emotion or some disappointment the

detective contacts Interpol requesting

an investigation into Kimberly's

disappearance but nothing happens there

was a considerable delay there I think

there was four messages sent

Interpol in Ottawa for three

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several weeks passed before Peruvian

police launched a missing-persons

investigation the heightened urgency

prompting the seconds to flight to Lima

immediately

mr. gravity first giving to you to watch

this investigation unfolded another

country

but I can I can't assist with her I'm

not directly involved with it at all I

would effort if I could I would like to

be but that's my face here's my you grab

the back of my hair look Kimberly's

family and friends horrified when

shocking allegations of abuse surface on

Peruvian television I'm very angry

bruises and hair loss and the petechiae

in her mouth there were so many times

that she was in my apartment just in

tears just incredibly upset Rachael

Foy's one of Kimberly's best friends

lived below the couple you know I would

describe their relationship is being

very toxic they had a lot of fights and

he'd said well you can leave anytime you

want the plane is there you can go

anytime you want back to Canada but the

children will stay here she never would

have lived those kids never and isn't no

way there's no way she stayed there for

them she put herself through all of them

just to stay for her children a history

of conflict laid out in Kimberly's own

words I'm scared

what if Christopher really hurts me bad

one day he dislikes me so much he's

annoyed by my every move sometimes

chewing food pisses him off he thinks

that was going to stay here with him

haha yeah okay over my dead body and I

mean that too she wanted to get out she

did try and go to the Canadian Embassy

for advice of what she could do because

she felt so incredibly helpless

looking for answers we go to the

Canadian embassy while we're in Peru we

are told to stop filming the head of

security meets us outside she was

concerned for her safety she was

concerned for her children's safety and

after that she vanished that she didn't

get the help she needed from her own

country's embassy so we're trying to get

somebody that can answer those questions

I'm gonna I'm gonna get that contact for

you there's somebody that will relay the

information that we thought you liked

the Canadian embassy in Lima refusing to

answer specific questions citing privacy

the investigation into Kimberly's

disappearance crawling along until a

pivotal piece of evidence surfaces I

just kept saying you know we'll see her

walk out of the building she'll be

carrying her bags

maybe that's and we'll give him the

benefit of the doubt but that partly the

saw we saw the package being dragged

so that was kind of set I think I

I actually jumped up and I yelled and

accused him right there

accused him of what murder

and that he was to getting rid of the

body up next

Franz maintains his innocence providing

a different explanation for what he was

doing with the large bag

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Christopher Franz bataki maintains his

partner Kimberly kesakhian abandoned him

and their kids that she took off but new

video footage challenges that version of

events we return now to Romina daya with

no body no crime the stunning video

shows Franz dragging a large mystery bag

from the elevator to his vehicle in his

underground parkade it's a colossal

break in the case

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what did you think when you saw that

footage the first thing for me was my

heart sank even though I had already

suspected that this is what had occurred

well for us is not disappear for us

she's being murdered Julio Rodriguez

Kimberly's lawyer details chilling

evidence that evidence if you put it in

the correct weight at the public

prosecutor's did is a very strong

because you can prove she goes into the

apartment you can prove he moves a

suitcase that weighs a lot of because he

can they say he can lifted the part

where he put the suitcase in the

basement the police take the luminol

test and they found her blood the blood

that is directing much to Kimbra's when

the prosecutors report States

Kimberly's blood is found on a column in

the parkade and traces of unidentifiable

blood are discovered on the apartment

door elevator button and on the couple's

mattress

ron's is arrested February 21st 2017 in

a cafe near his home he denies

kimberly's bodies in the back telling

police it's camping gear so where does

Franz go after he leaves the parkade

court records state he tells

investigators he's with his kids on the

boardwalk but cell phone records reveal

he makes a trip outside miraflores that

was a blunder on his part and yes the

police immediately thought that's where

the body went is somewhere down in

chilka armed with cadaver dogs police

hone in on chilka a city 90 minutes

outside Lima while in custody Franz is

taken to the scene he has land in the

area two bodies are ultimately

discovered based on Kimberly's dental

records it's not her

you

the case erupts in Peru dominating

national headlines

Christopher Basso a sidarthur

investigato / a present oh the little

effeminate even March 1st 2017 Franz is

charged with femicide the killing of a

woman under Peruvian law femicide is one

of the most serious crimes in Peru

it carries a higher sentence than

homicide in the North American system

used there is a there's a phrase always

been heard

nobody don't crime but in our system is

not because he we have enough evidence

we can't use that evidence to sentence

him for family side there's a lot of

evidence

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one of the country's most respected news

anchors weighs in on the case it's not

not because she was Canadian it's

because the case itself because of the

evidence because of of a woman involved

as a victim now we have a lot of cases

and this is one more and also the social

situation of the family it's for our

audience it's very interesting to know

that it's not just with poor people that

these kind of things Frances first

appearance

broadcast live on the Internet

Kimberly's parents face to face with

Franz

in the court the Cossack aunts

struggling to understand what's

happening because they don't speak

Spanish

Franz unflinching as he watches the

powerful evidence against him he denies

Kimberly's body is in the bag defense

making the case it's camping gear it is

concluded as observed that the package

seen in a black bag should weigh more

than 40 kilos I mean considering the

movements and positions of the male

carrying it could be 40 to 45 50 but not

90 or 80 as referred on the other

experts report mrs. Kimberly we know she

was no less than one point seven seven

to one point seven eight meters tall

and she was we think between 75 or 80

kilos and weight based on an absurd

interpretation of the evidence argues

Kimberly's lawyer here's why while in

custody police get fronds to reenact the

dragging of the bag caught on

surveillance tape physical tests

conclude a high probability of a body

inside weighing approximately 80

kilograms what the pieces they will show

him at a 10th weighs between 18 to 21

kilos with or without screen the lessons

of experience tell us he wasn't carrying

a tenth Iran of course the defense is

trying to confuse you saying the experts

report has insufficient proof the same

they say that the package is 1/10 and

it's not that heavy

but it wasn't just 1/10 but two of them

and a sunshade on top of neither work a

Kong sized Briggs tied to the tandem

Madhuri

the court battle continues over multiple

blood states found at the crime scene

not on a food there's no match with the

apartments door stain there's no match

with the fifth floor hallways there's no

match with the elevator buttons there's

no match with any of the basement number

two surroundings and parking stall

number 29 your ladyship that's just

trying to confuse the magistrate it is

solid evidence the blood and the column

is scientifically and genetically proven

to be mrs. Kim believes defense arguing

Kimberly abandoned the family impossible

says her lawyer I don't know why spousal

abandonment because she vanished he

carrying some of her belongings passport

visa cellphone

la visualization 3 video as observed on

the surveillance footage from November

26th proves without any doubt that mrs.

Kimberly casat can entered the apartment

approximately between 8:00 or 9:00 p.m.

and the analyzed footage also proves she

never left a bill entered the apartment

building on the 26th only one came out

and with that sole indication we should

have enough to begin a criminal

proceeding we asked ourselves but mrs.

Kimberly was a victim of domestic

violence or any physical or mental abuse

even more being a foreigner

wouldn't she have reached out to police

to file a record or a complaint about it

against my client

there's no complain about that your

ladyship here's the record from the

family prosecution office given

Kimberley kesakhian

didn't speak Spanish if she didn't file

a complaint it is because she wasn't

able to do it was there economic

dependence without any doubt was there

social dependence yes without a doubt

your honor what we have here is beyond

the scope to begin a femicide criminal

proceeding in offense of mrs. Kimberley

kesakhian sake a dramatic moment unfolds

next the judge asks France if he has

anything to say

good afternoon first of all they want to

link me to enact that I have not

committed they want to imprison me and

at this moment what are my children

going to do we have to be together I

feel and I know that Kimberley is alive

somewhere and while all three of us are

together waiting for her No

imagine they want to separate us that

can't happen

that doesn't seem fair what happens if

she comes back soon and I'm in prison

who will the kids stay with my mother

works

my aunt works with who will they be

other than with their dad waiting for

their mom and from what I've heard these

are indirect accusations and it's all

very confusing

and it is a very difficult time and I

find it unfair what they want to impute

on me thank you

will not the Lima retrieval the Clara I

resolve declare founded the requirement

of preventive detention in the end the

judge rules to detain frauds pending a

trial on one count of femicide

accused considered a flight risk

we really thought in 3-4 months there's

gonna be a trial but a shocking phone

call from Peruvian press flips the case

humming on the stun turn of events that

changes everything

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Christopher Franz bataki is in custody

charged with murdering his partner

Kimberly her family could never have

predicted what happens next now back to

Romina dais with no body no crime

the kesakhian z' astonished when

peruvian press break the news Franz is a

free man I was blindsided we were living

in Chilliwack at the time and we got a

phone call from the press

despite the scale of evidence resulting

in two judges denying france's release a

third judge in another jurisdiction lets

him go on habeas corpus in June 2018

citing insufficient grounds for

detention

it's amazing to to understand what was

he done in the mind of the judge

deciding released someone that is very

very is a risk for the procedure he is

planned strategic self-centered

deceptive and cunning

this is how Franz is described in the

police forensic psychology report it

goes on to state the accused is a cynic

and manipulator highly distrustful

sensitive and confrontational in the

presence of what he perceives as a

threat bronzes reaction to Kimberly's

disappearance he seems cold and

unaffected the experts conclude

the public prosecutor appeal the

decision and in second instance the

court said that the judge decision was

terrible and orders him to return back

to prison but Franz is gone

his whereabouts unknown he is facing one

of the most serious charges in Peru

femicide the killing of a woman carries

a higher sentence than homicide Kimberly

now a face in the fight for gender

justice everyone winner has a story so

we don't have any Jane goes here any

enemy knows anyone nobody is anonymous

women's rights activists with nuna menos

meaning not one less demanding a fair

trial for Kimberly a woman is killed

every three days on average in Peru

Kimberly one of thousands activists

March for femicide is a unique charge in

the Peruvian Criminal Code very

different than Canada where murder is

murder its gender neutral

una sociedad no puede denominator said

democrática a society can be democratic

if we don't respect women and our

justice system has to answer this is

standard Supreme Court justice

Elvia Barrios Alvarado is unable to

weigh in on France's case because it's

before the court the judge who is also

president of the gender justice

commission says in general women are

being killed because of sexist beliefs

la muerte de la mujer en Manos de hombre

por su condición de mujer en un

approached a panel mayor of course

because woman's death against a man has

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sentence higher sentence and this is a

message for all the men that is straight

women in a line of prevention that any

act will be penalized violence against

women an epidemic in Latin America where

femicide is now a crime in more than a

dozen countries an evolution of the law

but impunity prevails say activists we

cannot say that it is working maybe it

is more visible and now the society is

is more alert on any case on violence

against women in the passage was not

like that now this is a really intention

as society interests interest not to

stop the violence again in women but in

the past there were and other

governments and some corruption remain

inside the judicial system between the

judges between the police and that is

the problem because it is a very

masculine were also in Kimberly's case

the public prosecutor is seeking a 17

year sentence for Franz who's charged

with one count of femicide

there is a new warrant out for france's

arrest we tried to ask france's mother

if she knows where her son might be mrs.

Pataki not talking me llamo me Nadia

so reporter a de Canada I have a letter

from your son saying he's innocent I

just want to hear your side

Franz says he's in Peru but we're in an

email the fugitive tells us he has not

vanished but he's refusing to answer any

questions I am in Peru just waiting for

the tryouts start once the trial is over

and I can finally prove my innocence

when that moment comes I will start

legal actions against those who have

defamed me and against those who have

given false statements about my name and

integrity

coming up the case in limbo the case

Atkins fight for custody of their

grandchildren

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welcome back to crime beat it's been

more than three years since the kiss

Atkins last had contact with her

daughter her accused killer

Christopher Franz bataki remains a

fugitive he maintains his innocence we

returned to Romina daya with a

conclusion of no body no crime

Franz is one of Peru's top ten most

wanted the price on his head

20,000 solace for any information

leading to his capture it works out to

about 8,000 Canadian dollars more than a

year's salary for the average Peruvian a

criminal trial impossible until France

is found Peru doesn't have a justice

system

it has a legal system but there is no

justice system there why there isn't

there any movement in this case and

certainly we've been told that the only

time something happens is if we come to

prove while we're gone

everything just stagnant so it was kind

of important to go on record lists and

prod people and ask questions and

trigger this and see we'll see where

things are going

in a criminal trial have you given up on

that I think the way I look at

Christopher I hope he has to hide until

he's 90 years old from the law and and

just lived with that idea that he's

always the kiss actions have gone to

extremes in their hunt for Kimberly even

risking their lives cutting deals with

extortionists who claim they know where

she's buried fifty thousand dollars they

revealed the body location if we got

them down to talked him down to five

thousand dollars and he would put a two

thousand dollar deposit about pending a

little small piece of evidence

so you're negotiating with extortionist

well that's what it's come down that's

what it came down to yes kind of

desperate but we didn't want to ten

years later saying so she should have it

maybe it really was Cameron I would love

to have the body found that would maybe

really reopen everything but yes it

would be nice to have her come home and

properly here as opposed to some strange

Valley in Peru where nobody knows and

some archaeologists we find the bullets

only powerless to assist Canadian

investigators watch from afar waiting

for Peruvian police to a

France

what I hope is that hopefully the kiss

Atkins

they get their day in court and the

evidence is presented in front of the

judge and fairly and the outcome is what

it is after that but I think because

Atkins at least deserve that because

they I know they've tried so so hard to

move this forward and they've had many

roadblocks along the way I would just

like to see them get some form of

closure to this no body

no death certificate but it's time to

put Kimberly to rest the family moving

forward with a service in September 2019

we all miss her sorry she's gone

but let's celebrate her life as it was

at the age of 41 is never a good time to

have a life and there have been so many

there could have been so much more she

never knew were when her aunt Beverly

Moser passed away she never knew when

her grandmother

Maxine Moser passed away they all

outlived it and sadly she never knew

that she was about to become a

grandmother she never looked to fund her

grandson Kessler who was here today why

do we need to have her body made it's

the spirit and you're celebrating their

life way like just because you don't

have the body doesn't mean that they

still don't deserve to have a

celebration of their life it was like a

huge weight and it lifted a large

portion of the

of the weight having a celebration of

life for Kim

some people agreed with it some some

didn't because there's no body but I

know Kim has is not with us anymore eat

you we know and I feel so much better

having gotten through that and

celebrated her life in not now we're not

worrying about any of the rest of it

like what what do what what is the next

step we take concerning Kim it's been

taken it wasn't an easy decision but

hope is fading the focus now Kimberly's

legacy her children who are living with

the accused killers mother in Lima the

COS actions only contact with their

grandchildren in court they have been

told pretend you don't know them don't

look at them don't approach them don't

talk to them

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he's he's already said I want to stay

with my sister and I want to stay with

my grandmother and I wanna stay with my

two dogs and some friends I have and

he's already said I don't want to go to

Canada it's too cold here snow all the

time so he doesn't want to live here and

how do you feel hearing that from him I

just I just feel it very much that's all

that's it's not him it's someone else

putting the words in his mom Kimberly's

parents fully aware the court battle

could take years they sold their house

and are exhausting retirement savings to

finance their fight for custody I I'd

love to just sit back some day and just

like over a campfire barbecuing and just

just tell stories I mean that's I think

that's what grandparents are supposed to

you the children have an army of family

in Canada including a half-brother and

sister Noah and Bridgette from

Kimberly's first marriage

everyone eager to establish a bond do

you think you're ever going to see them

again no no you don't know with him

being out there we'll never see we'll

never see the kids

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it's a shame that the children around

now just growing up saying mum left and

that's it she didn't care about us and

that makes me really glad see that's the

lie they're living with right now

there's going to be a point where the

children will be on the Internet

they will begin a meme and suddenly all

of this information comes flooding up

that we hope we hope that someday these

children actually go online find out

what the real story is behind their

their missing mother and their missing

father and make their own decisions to

say you know I've had it with this

family I want to go see my brothers and

sisters in Canada I want to see my

grandparents in Canada it's a waiting

game the Cossack khun's gut instinct the

children will come to know how much they

were loved by their mom Kimberly's

Diaries waiting to tell them

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we reached out to Christopher Franz

bataki for the show multiple times but

we have not heard back the femicide

charge against him remains unproven in a

court of law and until there is a trial

it's unlikely Kimberly's family will

ever learn the truth about what happened

to her they remain stuck between two

justice systems one in Canada without

the authority or jurisdiction to pursue

their daughter's alleged killer another

in Peru complex foreign and far away if

you have any information about this case

please contact your local law

enforcement I'm Anthony Robart thank you

for joining us tonight on crime

for more on this story and other high

profile Canadian cases check out crime

beat podcast you can listen for free on

Apple podcast Spotify or on curious cast

CA

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