THUNDER BAY—With his collection of clown dolls as a backdrop, high-profile lawyer Sandy Zaitzeff faces the video camera, his emotions erratic.During the next six minutes, he pulls off his T-shirt, parades his bruised torso, alleges unnamed assailants tried to steal his fortune, expresses anguish over his dead son, then gets on his knees to propose marriage.The video is part of the dramatic and public fall of the class action litigator who built a reputation as a confident winner — the man who took on the RCMP.This rambling, cryptic monologue — recorded by an acquaintance at one of the lawyer’s many houses and then posted to YouTube — has been viewed more than 40,000 times and has fuelled gossip as locals wonder how it might explain what immediately followed: a breakneck series of criminal and civil allegations that not only saw Zaitzeff arrested on sexual assault charges but have also drawn in the mayor and police chief.Only slivers of information about the cases have been made publicly available. This means the strange YouTube video offers one of the few clues about a scandal that has increased scrutiny on a city already under pressure from a series of unrelated investigations.The Star went to Thunder Bay to learn more about the video, talked to police and one of Zaitzeff’s alleged sexual assault victims, reviewed court documents, and visited six Zaitzeff properties, including the cottage near where his wife disappeared 17 years ago.Since Zaitzeff’s on-camera outbursts, he has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including allegedly inviting a minor to touch his penis.“Sandy Zaitzeff denies the allegations that have been made against him and looks forward to the day when all the evidence can be heard in the appropriate forum,” said his lawyer Scott Hutchison.There are five accusers. Most of the assaults allegedly happened last fall, before and after the video was reporte ...
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