Episode 129: In May of 1914, before the outbreak of WWI, a Japanese steamship called the Komagatu Maru anchored in Burrard Inlet in the Vancouver harbour. There were 376 people aboard led by a man named Baba Gurdit Singh Sirhali. Mostly from the Punjab area of India they dreamt of emigrating to Canada for a better life. Thanks to exclusionary Canadian immigration policies meant to prevent immigration form certain countries, including India, the ship was not allowed to dock. They sat in harbour, without adequate food and water for more than two and half months awaiting court challenges. They were deported in late July and led out of the harbour under naval escort. On returning to India they were diverted away from Calcutta, and when they finally landed a riot broke out with British forces during which 29 unarmed passengers were shot, 20 of whom died.
128 – The Murders of Chynna Deese, Lucas Fowler & Leonard Dyck
Episode 128 – On the 15th of July, 2019, just outside Liard Hot Springs, B.C., the bodies of an innocent couple, Chynna Deese, 24, from Charlotte, NC, and her Australian boyfriend, Lucas Fowler, 23, were found shot to death beside their 1986 Chevy van. Police had no idea who had done this, or why.
Four days later, a burning truck, registered to a young Vancouver Island man was found burning near Dease Lake, B.C. As police were attending to that scene, they were notified of another man found murdered only two km from the burning truck. This 64-year-old botanist and UBC lecturer, named Leonard Dyck. His Toyota RAV4 was missing, along with the two young men, who quickly became suspects in the murders, sparking a manhunt that took police through four Provinces and one Territory, ending in Manitoba, thousands of kilometres from where it began.
Read more128 – The Murders of Chynna Deese, Lucas Fowler & Leonard Dyck
127 – Little Girl Gone – Cecilia Zhang
Episode 127 – On the morning of October 20, 2003, in North York, a quiet neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Raymond Zhang and Sherry Xu awakened to find their only child, 9-year-old, Cecilia was missing. She had clearly been abducted. There were no ransom demands or clear motives for her kidnapping. All efforts to find the girl were fruitless, until a Scarborough man stumbled across a body in a ravine late in March 2004.
126 – The Legend of Simon Gunanoot
Episode 126 – On the morning of June 18, 1906, on the trail on the west side of the Two-Mile House, a drinking establishment outside Hazelton, B.C., the body of local tough guy, Alex McIntosh, was found. He had been ambushed and shot through the back. A short time later on the trail to the east of the Two-Mile House, the body of a labourer, Max Leclair, was discovered. He’d died in exactly the same manner. As McIntosh and an indigenous business man named Simon Peter Gunanoot had had a brutal fight only hours prior, suspicion fell on Gunanoot.
125 – Cold December: Cst. O’Leary and Cpl. Bourgeois (NB)
Episode 125 – On cold December night just before Christmas in 1974, the 14-year-old son of Moncton, NB restauranteur, Cy Stein was kidnapped from the family home by two masked gunman. By just before 5:00am the kidnapping came to and end, but two city of Moncton police officers had then gone missing. Their fate would not be known for two more days, and the outcome was not positive.
Read more125 – Cold December: Cst. O’Leary and Cpl. Bourgeois (NB)
124 – Highway of Tears – Jill, Natasha, Cynthia & Loren (2009 – 2010)
Episode 124 – Women and girls, many indigenous have been going missing in the area of Northern British Columbia’s Highway 16 since 1969. The route has become known as the Highway of Tears. Many have been found deceased and still others have just vanished. In this episode we cover the murders of Jill Stuchenko, Natasha Montgomery, Cynthia Maas and Loren Leslie. All four were killed over a span of 14 months by a violent and cold blooded monster with a baby face, a serial killer named Cody Alan Legebokoff of Prince George, B.C.
Read more124 – Highway of Tears – Jill, Natasha, Cynthia & Loren (2009 – 2010)
123 – The Flying Bandit – Ken Leishman (MB)
Episode 123 – Born during the Great Depression, Ken Leishman was a stylish, good looking guy with a Clark Gable moustache. A married father of 7, he was adventurous, smart, charismatic, creative and enterprising. He used his skill as a small aircraft pilot to earn cash first as a fly in mechanic on prairie farms, then as a king cookery salesman.
Ken was also deeply in debt, his sales business was failing and he craved an even more lavish lifestyle. To get what he wanted Ken wasn’t above stealing it, but often got caught going back for more. After flying all the way to Toronto to rob banks on two separate occasions Ken was dubbed the Flying Bandit after getting caught during his second failed bank robbery.
After Ken’s release, he had an even more elaborate heist in mind – making off with a few hundred pounds of gold bullion in what would be the greatest gold theft in Canadian history.
122 – Connections: Nova Scotian Heartbreak (NS)
Episode 122 – This is for or the deceased victims, the injured, the families, the friends and Bluenosers everywhere who are hurting after the shooting rampage that shook the little province of Nova Scotia to its core on April 18 and 19, 2020.
This is not who Nova Scotians are. This will not define us.
#NovaScotiaStrong
The deceased are:
Lisa McCully
Greg Blair & Jamie Blair
Peter Bond & Joy Bond
John Zahl & Elizabeth Joanne Thomas
Dawn Madsen & Frank Gulenchyn
Jolene Oliver, Aaron Tuck & Emily Tuck
Corrie Ellison
Sean McLeod & Alanna Jenkins
Tom Bagley
Lillian Hyslop
Heather O’Brien
Kristen Beaton & baby Beaton
RCMP Cst. Heidi Stevenson
Joey Webber
Gina Goulet
Call the Nova Scotia RCMP tip line at 902-720-5959 with any information you have that can assist. Leave a detailed voicemail and an investigator will return your call.
121 – Canadian Legends: Demons, a Witch and a Flying Canoe
Episode 121: In this episode we examine 3 different Canadian legends. First we look at Demon Isle a phantom island somewhere in or near the Gulf of St Lawrence. This is where French noblewoman Marguerite de Roberval was marooned by an evil uncle to star in her very own tale of demons, love, loss and survival in New France in the 1500’s.
Then we’re off to Moncton, New Brunswick, one of the most haunted cities in the Maritimes, and the the story of Rebecca’s Grave, the resting place of a supposed witch who was executed, buried upside down and concrete was poured over her tomb.
Finally we hear the story of Chasse-Galerie in, or in English The Flying or Witched Canoe, one of the most famous Québecois folktales.
Read more121 – Canadian Legends: Demons, a Witch and a Flying Canoe
120 – Over the Edge: Death and Daring at Niagara Falls (ON)
Episode 120 – For ages people have been drawn to Niagara Falls, the most famous group of waterfalls in North America, and maybe the world. As many as 20 million people per year visit to view the awesome power of nature as tens of millions of liters of water spectacularly pour over the falls every minute. There have been many accidental deaths, but there have been many drawn to the torrents for other darker reasons. Some come to end their own lives and others, the daredevils, to try to prove their ingenuity and courage can beat the falls. Some have failed in the attempt.
NOTE: There will be talk of suicide in this episode.
Read more120 – Over the Edge: Death and Daring at Niagara Falls (ON)