Bodies were expected to be found.

But in the end, despite an exhaustive, days-long search of a rural property east of Calgary leased by convicted sex offender Richard Robert Mantha, there were no corpses to uncover, no severed heads, no headless bodies.

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Calgary police, with the assistance of the RCMP, conducted the search of Mantha’s rental property, including a Quonset hut packed with mostly junk.

And the search included the use of cadaver dogs, suggesting police expected bodies might be uncovered during the Easter long weekend raid on Mantha’s property.

In her lengthy written decision convicting Mantha on six of the 20 charges he originally faced in connection with allegations he sexually assaulted and drugged vulnerable women, mostly on the rural property, Justice Judith Shriar likely revealed why officers thought they might have a serial killer on their hands.

And if that erroneous fact was what triggered the search in the first place, and the charges that ultimately followed, then the poor eyesight of one of Mantha’s victims may have been the catalyst that resulted in him being charged.

So what was it that the victim, whom Mantha was convicted of uttering a death threat against, saw?

“SP acknowledged that she thought she saw severed heads in a certain building,” Shriar noted in her decision handed down Tuesday.

“And that given her vision impairment, she admitted she could have been seeing things allowing her brain to fill in gaps, not always based on an actual event.”

Those imagined severed heads certainly would have gotten the attention of investigators, even if they were hesitant to investigate the sexual abuse allegations levelled by women with severe drug abuse issues, some of whom were also sex trade workers.

Unfortunately, when it comes to women leading such vulnerable existences, they often end up reported missing, as families lose touch with them as they periodically drift from one urban centre in Canada to another, looking for any means to maintain their sad lifestyles.

Investigators can never be certain if these individuals have simply moved from the underbelly of Calgary society to another, or have met with foul play.

The seven women who eventually ended up as complainants against Mantha, the six who testified against him and one who died before she could give her evidence, all had issues with drug use and addiction.

That fact made them both potentially poor witnesses, as drug use can often fog memories and distort realities, and easy targets for someone like Mantha, looking to take advantage of their vulnerabilities.

While the Calgary man was ultimately cleared of sexual wrongdoing involving four of the seven, the evidence of the six who did make it to court made it clear Mantha took advantage of their addictions and supplied them with drugs to either be compliant to his sexual advances or easily victimized.

That Shriar had a reasonable doubt about whether his conduct in each instance amounted to criminal behaviour, thus leading to multiple acquittals to go with his six convictions, wasn’t surprising given the women Mantha was targeting to share drugs with and have sex.

It’s certainly safe to question Mantha’s moral compass given the vulnerability of the complainants.

These women are forced to live on the edges of society. They’re often the victims of physical and sexual abuse, either growing up, in adulthood, or both.

That they turn to drugs to dull the pain should come as no surprise.

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And that men like Mantha take advantage of that fact shouldn’t either.

It’s been three long years since that raid on Mantha’s property and his subsequent arrest.

And though no bodies were ever found his crimes were horrific nonetheless.

It will now be up to Shriar to decide what a fitting punishment is, not for a serial killer, but for a man who preyed on easy targets.

KMartin@postmedia.com

© Calgary Herald