Who is Daryl Kabatoff?

Busker's mom wants police to pick up son
Man ejected from Fringe 'very ill'

Sarah Gibb
Special to The StarPhoenix


August 10, 2004


The mother of a busker ejected from the Fringe Festival for posting
personal information of Fringe visitors online has appealed to the
police and doctors to have her son picked up because he is "very ill."

Daryl Shawn Kabatoff has recently posted angry Internet messages,
saying he wants local children to die and has revealed that he's
trying to obtain guns, the StarPhoenix has learned.

He is now under police investigation, said Insp. Jeff Bent,
spokesperson for Saskatoon Police Service.

Kabatoff's posts, which are full of references to religion, sex and
death, contain the names, birthdays, descriptions and workplaces of
dozens of Saskatoon residents and their families, including in some
instances their deceased children.

He obtained some of the information from children's obituaries
published in the StarPhoenix. The busker says in some posts that he
hopes the other children in the families die too.

Kabatoff, who sat on a Mexican blanket at the intersection of 11th
Street and Broadway during the Fringe, recently offered on a bulletin
board to trade one of his trademark numerological name analyses for a
rifle or shotgun.

In another post, he says he is acquiring a firearms licence.

In response to the contents of Kabatoff's posts, obtained by the
StarPhoenix, Insp. Bent said: "(We) are going to assign some
investigators to this immediately . . . I appreciate your call because
after the fact people say, 'Why wasn't something done?' "

The balding, pony-tailed 46-year-old man, who stood for mayor in 1982
and 1985, is a well-known figure in Saskatoon's shopping malls and
coffee shops.

Kabatoff believes people's names are given to them by God and are
harmonized with their dates of birth. He says he can reveal this
relationship using mathematics and for years has asked passers-by to
let him analyse their names.

An online search has revealed Kabatoff has posted around 1,000 highly
disturbing messages on Usenet sites since 2001.

Usenet is a system of worldwide bulletin boards, also called
newsgroups, where people post messages and correspond about shared
interests.

Kabatoff's messages contain the personal details of scores of
Saskatoon residents, often teenage girls he refers to as "nubile
sweeties" after meeting them in the food court at Midtown Plaza, the
Mall at Lawson Heights, the Broadway Roastery and Starbucks.

Kabatoff is notorious in the Usenet community. One site calls him "one
of Usenet's most elusive and creepy psychopaths."

Another user asks: "At this stage, what can be done under law to stop
him getting a gun from any source?"

Several Usenet members implore someone to alert Saskatoon police to
Kabatoff's posts seeking a firearm.

A post dated June 15, 2004 from a Daryl S. Kabatoff using a Shaw
e-mail address and Saskatoon box number, states that he is looking
for: "A) a rifle for deer hunting this fall, B) a shotgun for the
early deer-hunting season, C) a .22-caliber (sic) rifle for improving
my shooting skills during the summer."

The post, entitled "Wanting firearm" and sent to the calgary.forsale
newsgroup, continues: "I'll offer you a trade . . . I will show you
gorgeous harmony between your name and birthday and numbers in the
Bible . . . In exchange for your unwanted firearm I'll provide you
with a short essay that you will treasure far more."

The next day, June 16, the same post appeared on the
talk.politics.guns newsgroup, this time called "Trade for Gun."

Kabatoff says he's in the process of obtaining a gun licence.

A June 2004 Usenet post from him states: "I am in the process of
applying for and obtaining a license (sic) to acquire a rifle . . .
for hunting animals and not people. If somebody . . . trades a gun for
my work before I obtain the license (sic), that gun will be received
by a friend who is legally allowed to possess such . . . "

Attempts to reach Kabatoff for comment were unsuccessful.

In a telephone interview Monday, Kabatoff's mother, who asked not to
be named, sobbed as she begged doctors and the police for help.

"He is not being treated at all. The doctors say they can't force him
... . . When he is well, he is a likeable person (who) is so nice. But
when he's ill, he's very ill. He needs . . . the police or somebody to
take him in for treatment.

"He did go to a hospital a number of times. He just absolutely refuses
the treatment. Shall I pack up and leave or put my head in the sand or
what, because I just can't take any of this anymore. I wish he would
just be picked up." She added that she does not believe her son is
dangerous.

Kabatoff's long and angry posts contain names, birthdays, physical
descriptions of people, where they work and the names and birthdays of
their family members. The details are freely given to Kabatoff by his
unsuspecting customers when he offers to analyse their names.

His most recent post, dated Aug. 8, names a 24-year-old woman he met
on the first day of this year's Fringe Festival. He refers to her and
her friends as "cheap, filthy assholes."

Kabatoff also trawls through obituaries, mainly in the StarPhoenix,
looking for details of teenagers who have recently died. He posts the
information on bulletin boards along with his analysis of the
deceased's name, sometimes adding that he is glad the young person has
died and that he hopes the family loses their other children too.

He claims to attend the funerals of these teenagers so he can meet
"nubile sweeties" and eat free food.

One of his posts reads: "(S)ince nubile sweeties are found in greatest
abundance at the funerals of high school students, then it is the
funerals of high school students that make the very, very best
funerals, especially if there is food . . . I stuff my face (and my
pockets) with all the good food and look at all the pretty nubile
sweeties and have the time of my life . . ."

Kabatoff writes in a post dated July 22 this year: "I was busking . .
... at Five Corners on Broadway Avenue. (Name withheld) stopped to
provide stats . . . He said he had no money for me . . . You people
have absolutely zero respect for me . . . I in turn have zero respect
for you and so don't require your permission to post these stats on
the Usenet. Furthermore I am on my knees and begging God to . . .
terminate the lives of these children. If I find any of these family
members in the obituaries I will cheer with utter glee . . . and I
will post your stats again."

Kabatoff appears to keep an elaborate cross-referencing system on his
laptop computer of the families whose "stats" he obtains, so he can
compare the names with published obituaries.

A recent post based on a StarPhoenix obituary begins: "Oh dear. (Name
withheld) hung herself in her basement bedroom at her parent's home on
(date withheld). Her brother (name withheld) provided stats on May 9th
2002, he hangs around Broadway Avenue, the street in Saskatoon with
the poster poles shaped like penises. I first met him about 10 years
ago."

The post ends with Kabatoff calling the family and the rest of the
community, "the God-damned **** of the earth."

Some of Kabatoff's most disturbing posts are based on the obituaries
of children. Several of the families he has targeted lost their
children at birth. His posts mock the parents and their grief.

A message dated July 6, 2004 to the parents of a deceased 14-year-old
Saskatoon girl states: "I am crying out to God against your family and
am requesting that He . . . terminates the lives of your other
children . . . If I see any other (name withheld) in the obituaries I
will cheer with utter glee and post your stats again."

A post to the parents of a 15-year-old boy killed in an accident
reads: "Well now I **** on you, I rejoice in your loss of (name
withheld) and pray for the loss of (your daughter)."

To the parents of another young Saskatoon resident who died, Kabatoff
writes: "What you God-damned filthy assholes paid for (your son's)
funeral could have supported me overseas for months."

Kabatoff, who claims to have worked in the 1980s as a social worker in
Whitecourt, Alta., and says he has a degree in anthropology, was
reported to police during this year's Fringe Festival by a woman who
gave him her personal details before being warned by passers-by that
Kabatoff would post them.

Nancy (not her real name) told the StarPhoenix: "This man is preying
on people. The public needs to be warned."

After the StarPhoenix ran a story Saturday about Nancy's experience,
Kabatoff's Fringe busking licence was withdrawn.

Readers wanting to check whether Kabatoff has posted their names can
go to www.google.com, enter his surname or his signature line "God
gives you your name," then click on "groups."

Kabatoff himself moderates a newsgroup at alt.dear.whitehouse.

His mother says she has lived with this turmoil for years. She asks
for understanding.

"Heaven help you and your children if they ever have mental health
problems," she said.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004