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This week, we discuss the shooting death of American Mark Harshbarger during a 2006 hunting trip to Newfoundland. The Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, man was shot by his wife, Mary Beth Harshbarger, who claims she thought he was a black bear. In 2010, Harshbarger was extradited to Newfoundland, where she stood trial for criminal negligence causing death. The prosecution cited insurance money as Mary Beth’s motive for the killing. After two weeks of hearings in September, the presiding judge found her not guilty. The shooting death of Mark Harshbarger has been a source of controversy since it occurred. Some people believe that Mary Beth Harshbarger was guilty of first-degree murder, while others believe that she was justified in shooting her husband because she thought he was a bear. It is important to remember that this topic is very sensitive for many people. The family and friends of Mark Harshbarger are still grieving his death, and Mary Beth Harshbarger has gone through a great deal. Mark’s children have lost their father. We aim to be respectful of all parties involved when discussing this case.

Joseph LaPage, a French-Canadian rapist and necrophile known as the French Monster, was tried and hung in 1878 for the brutal, sexually motivated murder of Josie A. Langmaid, 17, in Pembroke, New Hampshire, in 1875. LaPage was also the sole suspect in the 1874 murder of Marietta N. Ball, a girl from St. Albans, Vermont. He was arrested for that crime; however, insufficient evidence prevented a trial, but the night before his execution, LaPage confessed to Marietta’s murder. Only weeks after LaPage was hanged, two more murders perpetrated in 1867, that of Mrs. George Fountie and her 16-year-old daughter, Minnie, from Saint-Alexandre, Quebec, were also tied to LaPage. It is believed that Joseph LaPage, with a long history of violent behaviour, is one of Canada’s earliest misogynistic serial killers, predating even Jack the Ripper.

On the morning of July 11, 1996, police were called to the parking lot of a hotel under construction off Interstate 40 at 7471 Crosswood Boulevard in Knoxville, Tennesee. There, they found the body of a man, later identified as Robert Dennis Blair Adams, 31, a Canadian citizen from Surrey, B.C. Family and friends called him Blair. Scattered around his body were personal items belonging to Blair and almost $4000 in various currencies, including Canadian, American, and German money. A black fanny pack near Blair’s body was found to be filled with nearly 5 ounces of gold bars, as well as gold and platinum coins and jewelry. It was later determined that Blair had been beaten and left to die in the parking lot where he was discovered. It is unclear why Blair was in Tennessee, thousands of kilometres from home and in another country. His family later said Blair had been acting strangely and was suffering from insomnia. He told them he believed people were after him and wanted him dead. He had quit his job, emptied his bank account and safety deposit box and left home for good only two days before his body’s discovery. As Blair’s significant amount of cash and valuables lay untouched, the motive for his murder remains a mystery, as does the identity of his killer or killers.

The Chowchilla school bus hijacking and kidnapping, a notorious case that occurred in 1976, involved the abduction of a school bus carrying 26 children, nineteen girls and seven boys, ages 5 to 14, and their driver, Frank Edward ‘Ed’ Ray, who was 55. It was orchestrated by three young men from affluent families — brothers Richard Schoenfeld, 22, James Schoenfeld, 24, and their friend Frederick Newhall Woods IV, also twenty-four. The crime was motivated by a desire for ransom money and as a cure for their boredom. The kidnappers hid the bus and took its occupants to a buried truck trailer in a quarry in Livermore, California, intending to demand $5 million for their release. Remarkably, led by Ed Ray and Michael Marshall, 14, one of the older children, the victims managed to escape without any ransom being paid. Even though they all made it out alive, the victims suffered psychological scars that changed their lives and persist to the present day. This was the largest kidnapping in U.S. history, and it has a Canadian connection. After their hostages escaped, all three kidnappers went into hiding but were eventually apprehended and convicted, although one of the suspects, the mastermind behind the kidnapping, Frederick Woods, fled to Vancouver, British Columbia, before being arrested by the RCMP.