Month: January 2024

Episode 302: On April 25, 1978, RCMP Constable Thomas (Brian) King, a 40-year-old father of three, pulled over a vehicle for a minor traffic offence at 12:35 AM on Highway 11, roughly a quarter mile (400 metres) north of the Saskatoon city boundary. Inside the car were two young men: 18-year-old Darrell Luke Crook and 19-year-old Gregory Michael Fischer. The pair had intentionally disabled the vehicle’s tail light to draw the attention of law enforcement. As the unsuspecting officer was checking Fisher’s driver’s licence, the two men overpowered, disarmed and manacled him with his service handcuffs. 

The pair then forced the officer into their car and drove into Saskatoon, where they showed him off to friends. Afterward, Crook and Fisher drove to a secluded spot near the Saskatchewan River, where they beat and tortured the helpless constable. Then, they executed Brian King with his service revolver, shooting him twice and throwing his body into the river.

Sources:

A History of Winnipegosis

RCMP Depot Division

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Issues

The Dark Side of the RCMP

Star-Phoenix 25 Apr 1978, page 1

Star-Phoenix 27 Apr 1978, page 3

Star-Phoenix 27 Apr 1978, page 24

The Leader-Post 29 Apr 1978, page 1

Star-Phoenix 01 May 1978, page 3

1979 CanLII 2274 (SK CA) | R. v. Crook | CanLII

1980 CanLII 2130 (SK CA) | Radvanski v. Radwanski | CanLII

1991 ABCA 148 (CanLII) | R. v. Fischer | CanLII

Faint Hope: Background

Constable Thomas Brian King | Canadian War Memorial

Thomas (Brian) King (1938-1978) | Find a Grave

CBC News – Canada – In the line of duty: Deaths of RCMP officers

CONSTA… – RCMP Quarterly / La Trimestrielle de la GRC

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Episode 301: In episode thirteen of Dark Poutine, we covered the Babes in the Woods case, a tragic and long-unsolved mystery from Vancouver. In 1953, the skeletal remains of two children were discovered in Stanley Park, one of Vancouver’s largest urban parks. What made this case, particularly haunting was that the children were found with a hatchet that appeared to have been used to end their lives. The identities of the two children remained unknown for almost 70 years until, in 2022, using DNA genealogy, the Vancouver Police were able to identify the boys believed to have died sometime in 1947. They were seven-year-old Derek and six-year-old David D’Alton. Their mother, Eileen Bousquet, who died in 1996, told relatives at the time that social services had taken the boys as she was unable to care for them. No one knows for sure what happened leading up to their deaths, and as so much time has passed, it is doubtful we ever will. At least they have their names back.

Sources:

Stanley Park — City of Vancouver

Murder, Mystery and Intrigue in Review: Babes in the Woods

166: Hate Crime: The Murder of Aaron Webster – Dark Poutine – True Crime & Dark History

Six Officers Plead Guilty To Stanley Park Beatings

2004 BCPC 1 (CanLII) | R. v. Cronmiller | CanLII

Unsolved Stanley Park ‘Babes in the Woods’ case still haunts a city

Interview with Brian Honeybourn

69UMBC — The Doe Network

68UMBC — The Doe Network

VPD hopes genealogical testing can help solve cold case – Vancouver Police Department

VPD identifies child victims in historic cold case murder – Vancouver Police Department

Babes in the Woods: Vancouver police release identities, details about historic murders – VIA

Identities of Stanley Park Babes in the Woods revealed almost 70 years later

Who were the Babes in the Woods?

Eileen Bousquet Archives — evelazarus.com

Cold Case BC by Eve Lazarus

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As this is bonus content related to episode 300, we don’t have the usual show open. There are no loons. There’s no music. There’s no Mathew here for this. This episode is dedicated entirely to Daniel Jordan Levesque‘s memory and features my recent conversation with his mother, Stacey Thur, from her home in Revelstoke. B.C.

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Episode 300: In June 2011, twenty-year-old musician Daniel Jordan Levesque moved from his family home in Revelstoke, B.C., to Victoria, full of dreams to start a new life and advance his burgeoning musical career. On June 15, seeking work, Daniel went to a 7-Eleven store, where he met Joshua Tyler Bredo, the store’s Assistant Manager, who hired Daniel on the spot. Bredo presented himself as a good guy, a helpful friend, but in truth, he quickly became obsessed with Daniel sexually with nefarious motives in mind.

Bredo began grooming Daniel, lying to him with promises of a more lavish lifestyle, plying him with drugs and alcohol while telling Daniel he saw him as a “little brother.” The coercion and lies continued until August 3, when Bredo lured Daniel to his apartment under the promise of an interview for Daniel at a non-existent law firm. It was there that Bredo killed Daniel and set up a scene to make it appear to be self-defence, later calling 911. Bredo was arrested that night and charged with Daniel’s murder. However, the case was not put to rest until after a mistrial in 2015, numerous other delays and a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter in 2017.

Sources:

2016 BCSC 1843 (CanLII) | R. v Bredo | CanLII

2016 BCSC 2580 (CanLII) | R. v Bredo | CanLII

2016 BCSC 2701 (CanLII) | R. v Bredo | CanLII

2017 BCSC 2134 (CanLII) | R. v Bredo | CanLII

Musician lured with lies, then killed; ‘Let me go. Just let me go.’

B.C. man in prison for killing friend with hammer released early

ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!! For all of … Stacey Thur

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