Episode 087 – On the morning of October 9, 2011, 19-year-old Amber Kirwan failed to show up for an arranged ride home after leaving a local billiards hall in New Glasgow, N.S. After a massive search for almost a month Amber’s body was found in a shallow grave in the nearby village of Heathbell. The man eventually charged and convicted of the crime had a surprising background. Should he have been in the community at all?
086 – The Altona School Shooting of 1902 (MB)
Episode 086 – In October of 1902 the small, quiet Mennonite community of Altona, Manitoba was shaken by violent events at the hands of one of their own. The teacher at their one room school opened fire on three school trustees after an argument, wounding all three. He then returned to the school and shot three students, all daughters of the trustees he’d shot earlier.
085 – Date with Death – The Murder of James Shannon (BC)
episode 085 – The day before Valentines Day in 2008, James Shannon, a nurse from Port Alberni, BC, met up with another man he’d met on the web site, Plenty of Fish. Although James was looking for love, the man he brought into his home brought something much more sinister. Days later, after not showing up for multiple shifts at work, James Shannon was found brutally murdered in his home. The man who committed the act, Kim Winslow Rothgordt, was claiming he’d been raped and was too intoxicated at the time to know what happened. The truth was nowhere near his claims.
Photo credit: Phil Smith on Flickr per CC licence
Read more085 – Date with Death – The Murder of James Shannon (BC)
084 – Emanuel Jaques – The Shoeshine Boy Murder (ON)
Episode 084 – July 28, 1977 was a hot summer day on the corner of Yonge and Dundas streets in what was then Toronto’s seedier area. Three boys were shining shoes of passersby for change. After a day of work with little profit a tall, friendly stranger arrived with two pairs of shoes he needed shined. Claiming he had more lucrative work elsewhere he lured one to the younger boys, 12-year-old Emanuel Jaques, away. Emanuel was never seen alive again and the horrifying circumstances around his death divided the city.
Read more084 – Emanuel Jaques – The Shoeshine Boy Murder (ON)
083 – The Minto Murders – Verna Decarie & Fred Fulton (NB)
Episode 083 – The village of Minto, New Brunswick was rocked by the events occurring in April 2005 when a grisly murder scene was discovered at 358 Slope Road. Edlerly but active residents, Fred Fulton, known for his love of playing and listening to country music and his kind, wife Verna Decarie lay dead, butchered in their small rural home.
The village got it’s second blow when it became clear that one of their own, a 22-year-old neighbour of Fred and Verna’s, named Gregory Allen Despres was sought as a person of interest in the murders. He was on the run.
Bringing justice to this case would not prove an easy task in spite of a heap of evidence.
Read more083 – The Minto Murders – Verna Decarie & Fred Fulton (NB)
082 – Domestic Horror – The Murder of Donna Jones (ON)
Episode 082 – On the morning of December 6, 2009, Ottawa paramedics and police responded to what sounded like a frantic 911 call placed by a man at a residence in the Bayshore area. The man was screaming that his wife was not breathing. Upon arriving they found the owner of the home, 33-year-old Donna Jones, deceased on a makeshift mattress on the basement floor. Donna’s injuries and her time of death did not match the story that her husband Mark Peter Hutt was telling. Investigators would uncover a brutal history of abuse and torture ultimately leading to a heinous murder.
WARNING: This podcast includes graphic descriptions of violent domestic abuse and murder.
Read more082 – Domestic Horror – The Murder of Donna Jones (ON)
081 – The Cult of Brother XII and his Treasure (BC)
Episode 081 – in the late 1920 and early 1930’s a group called the Aquarian Foundation, led by a self-professed spiritual guru who called himself Brother XII set up just south of Nanaimo B.C. Brother XII drew wealthy followers to his cult with his promises of salvation through a coming apocalypse. As we’ve seen many times since the lust for power, sex and money corrupted the group, who, after scandals and cruel treatment turned on Brother XII.
He and a female follower, he claimed to be his wife, absconded with some of the treasure that the group had amassed. However, many believe there are still millions of dollars worth of Brother XII’s gold hidden somewhere in the area.
Photo from the collection of Melody Wilson-Claridge
Read more081 – The Cult of Brother XII and his Treasure (BC)
080 – The Weird World of William Lyon Mackenzie King
Episode 080 – The tenth Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon MacKenzie King, was instrumental in Canada’s growth from a mere British colony to an independent nation within the Commonwealth. He saw the country through World War 2 and helped to create some of the social policies that continue to make Canada one of the greatest countries in the world to live.
MacKenzie King had his dark side too as is evidenced in his extensive diaries. His government oversaw the internment of 22,000+ who were either Canadians with Japanese heritage or Japanese nationals. His thoughts and decisions based on racial ideals will be shocking to some.
King’s beliefs in the after life and spiritualist practices are probably the most bizarre. Driven by loneliness, Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister believed he was able to communicate with the spirits of dead relatives, in particular his mother. He also claimed to have interacted with the spirits of other dead politicians, Leonardo da Vinci and even his own deceased dog.
Read more080 – The Weird World of William Lyon Mackenzie King
079 – What Happened to Jodi Henrickson? (BC)
Episode 079 – Jodi Henrickson, 17, was last seen in the company of her ex-boyfriend on the roadside near Miller’s Landing on Bowen Island, BC on the morning of June 20, 2009. Her ex-boyfriend said that he walked away from Jodi after an argument. She has not been seen since.
At the time of her disappearance, Jodi Henrickson was 17-year-old Caucasian female with long dark brown hair, a small build and stood approximately 5’3″. She was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, black long sleeve shirt, and blue jeans.
Jodi’s friends and family want to know what happened to her.
If you have any information the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) tip line number is 1-877-551-IHIT(4448). The team’s email is ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or tips can be shared through SolveCrime.ca. A cash reward of up to $2000.00 will be paid for any information which leads to an arrest and charge.
078 – Joseph Galfy Jr. & Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (AB)
Episode 078 – In May of 2013 police in New Jersey found respected, 73-year-old Lawyer, Joseph Galfy Jr. dead in the bedroom his home wearing only socks and underwear. Investigators were quickly onto a suspect who turned out to be a well known drifter.
Three months before, the suspect, 24-year-old, Canadian born Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, had become a internet celebrity, known as Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker. He was interviewed by Jessob Reisbeck for Fox News in Fresno California. In the interview Caleb, using another name, described coming to the aid of people who were being attacked by a large man who he’d been riding with only moments before. Using a hatchet from his backpack, Caleb had cleaved the man’s skull allowing bystanders and later police to subdue him.
McGillvary was apprehended days later, but only tried for the murder in May of 2019, 6 years later. Although convicted, he maintains his innocence claiming he killed Galfy in self-defence.
Photo Credit: Jessob Reisbeck/YouTube/GlobalNews.ca screen grab
Read more078 – Joseph Galfy Jr. & Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (AB)