Latest Episodes

Episode 421: On July 28, 1996, a fisherman hauling nets off the coast of Devon, England pulled up a body. The dead man had no wallet, no identification — nothing but a Rolex…

Episode 412: In March 1989, 21-year-old University of Texas pre-med student Mark Kilroy travelled to South Padre Island with friends for spring break. One night, they crossed the international bridge from Brownsville, Texas, into Matamoros,…

Episode 396: In this episode, we learn about an enigmatic narcissistic psychopath who led the Californian cult called The Children of Thunder. Glenn Taylor Helzer, and the other leadership was comprised of his…

Episode 373: In the shadowy annals of North American crime, few names evoke as much dread as H.H. Holmes, a master manipulator, a conman, and a predator who thrived in the…

Episode 368: Here, we delve into the life and crimes of Brigitte Denise Cleroux, examining how she repeatedly evaded regulatory scrutiny, the suffering she caused, and the systemic failures that…

On March 26, 1997, police found the bodies of 39 members of a religious UFO cult known as Heaven’s Gate in an 830 square-metre (9,000 square foot) home in Rancho Santa Fe, a San Diego suburb. All, including the group’s leader, Marshall Applewhite Jr., had died in a ritualistic act of mass suicide. The headline on the cult’s website, which remains online today, stated, “Hale-Bopp brings closure to Heaven’s Gate.” Over the following weeks, as investigators probed what happened in the home, the story of the Heaven’s Gate cult emerged, each detail weirder than the next. I wrote about this story in part three, The Madness of Crowds, in my first book, Murder Madness and Mayhem. I have always wanted to cover this on Dark Poutine. I have expanded on what I wrote, especially toward the end of the story, I get into more detail about the victims. The medium of a podcast also allows for other content, including audio clips from individuals involved in the case and other details I was otherwise unable to convey in the book including a Canadian connection. That’s right, this is not an away game.

Episode 199: In all the recent photos I could find of Melissa Ann Shepard, she looks like an ordinary, little old lady. But Melissa, Millie to some, has a criminal record a mile long, including convictions for fraud, impersonation and forgery. But, she is best known for, luring men via the internet, drugging them and taking control of all aspects of their lives. Melissa also caused the death of one of her husbands in Nova Scotia, was suspected in another’s death and at least two more men came close to dying.Sources:Melissa Ann Shepard - WikipediaCBC News Indepth: Melissa Ann FriedrichMelissa Friedrich | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderersHRP News — High Risk Offender Notification | Halifax.caInternet Black Widow Melissa Ann Shepard arrested in Halifax | CBC NewsThe internet black widow: Is this Canada’s most dangerous woman? - BBC NewsHow a smitten man came face to face with the ‘Internet Black Widow’ - The Globe and MailThis 80-year-old ‘Black Widow,’ who lured lonesome old men to horrible fates, is out of prison again - The Washington PostNational Film Board of Canada — Why Women Kill‘Internet Black Widow’ Melissa Ann Weeks charged with attempted murder in N.S. | Globalnews.ca‘Black Widow’s’ ex-boyfriend warns men as she gets out of prison: ‘Watch out’ | Globalnews.caP.E.I.’s infamous ‘Black Widow’ facing attempted murder charges | SaltWireVictims of ‘Internet Black Widow’ concerned over her release in N.S. | CTV NewsPrison for Women’s Invisible Minority | Journal of Prisoners on PrisonsUnknown Gender History: Melissa Friedrich (Weeks), “The Internet Black Widow” of Nova Scotia - 2012Unknown Gender History: Black Widow Serial KillersAlex Strategos: ‘Millie Weeks’, AKA Melissa Friedrich, The Internet Black Widow - InquisitrMelissa Ann Shepard : Internet Black Widow (2012) - the fifth estate — YouTubeMelissa-Ann-Shepard | National PostRead Webs of Black Widows Online by Pete Katz | BooksRead Lady Killers Online by Tori Telfer | BooksRead The Craigslist Killer Online by Crystal Majkowski | BooksTrue Crime: Canadian Monsters: 25 Horrific Canadian Serial Killers eBook : Keller, Robert: Amazon.ca: Kindle StoreRaw Video: ‘Internet Black Widow’ appears in court — YouTubeOnline Dating and Dating App Safety Tips | RAINNSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 188: In early October of 1994, during a bizarre, nearly simultaneous sequence of murder / suicides, in Quebec, and across the Atlantic in Switzerland, 53 members of the Order of the Solar Temple were found dead in burned out buildings. The deaths fulfilled what the cult’s leaders claimed was the group’s “final transit” or return to Unity with God required before the impending end of the world. Even though it appeared to be over, more cult members were yet to die. Over a year later, in December of 1995, sixteen members of the cult died in France. More than a year after that, in march 1997, another five cult members died in Quebec bringing the death toll to 74. The cult’s two founders, Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro, were among the dead in 1994, however, some fear there may be future related mass murder / suicides by followers still practicing in secret.Sources:Cult Education Institute :: The Order of the Solar TempleOrder of the Solar Temple - Wikipedia12 Disturbing Secrets Of The Order Of The Solar Temple CultThe Cult of the Sun and the Cult of the Dead in Egypt on JSTORRead Doomsday Cults: The Devil’s Hostages Online by Alan R. Warren | BooksRead Killer Cults Online by Stephen Singular | BooksRead Cults that Kill Online by Wendy Joan Biddlecombe Agsar | BooksRead Rampage Online by Lee Mellor | BooksGlass: Akhnaten - Album by Philip Glass, Dennis Russell Davies | Spotify“Our terrestrial journey is coming to an end”: the last voyage of the Solar Temple(PDF) The Magic of Death: The Suicides of the Solar Temple | Massimo Introvigne - Academia.eduCBC Archives — The madness begins for the Solar Temple cultCBC Archives — Solar Temple cult leader Joseph Di Mambro confirmed deadMichel Tabachnik - WikipediaSwiss conductor acquitted of sect killings - SWI swissinfo.chJoseph Di Mambro | Article about Joseph Di Mambro by The Free DictionaryHistory Canada: October 4,1994: An international cult tragedy begins – RCI | EnglishCult Intervention :: Cult Education InstituteHomeopathy | HealthLink BChttps://infosect.freeshell.org/infocult/phenomene/English/HTML/doc0008.htm Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 170 - In November of 1902, a rancher named Issac Belt from Haynes Creek near Red Deer, Alberta, had gone missing. Investigating officers had gone to Belt’s ranch to question a young man calling himself Bert Ellsworth, who was suspected of horse theft, who had been lending a hand there. That young man and Belt were both missing.  Police discovered the man claiming to be Ellsworth at a camp on the outskirts of Calgary. Some of Belt’s personal belongings were in Cashel's possession, and Cashel was wearing Issac's clothes. In reality, his name was Ernest Cashel, a 21-year-old American. He was on the run from U.S. and Canadian authorities for forgery and other crimes, including escaping from custody several times.  Cashel was arrested and charged with theft and later charged with Isaac Belt’s murder, convicted and sentenced to hang. Cashel escaped one last time, only days before he was to be executed, and was on the run for more than a month before being recaptured and sent to see his maker via the hangman. Sources: [The Case of Ernest Cashel | Maclean’s | December 1st 1930] [Ernest Cashel - Wikipedia] [2 Feb 1904, Page 1 - Vancouver Daily World at Newspapers.com] [Ernest Cashel Hanged at Calgary - Newspapers.com] [Scoundrels and Scallywags: Characters from Alberta’s Past by Brian Brennan] [The Pursuit of Ernest Cashel by MJ Malcolm] [14 Dec 1929, 39 - The Province at Newspapers.com] [Ernest Cashel Hanged - page 3 - Newspapers.com] [Hanged - Edmonton Journal (archived)] [Ernest Cashel on way to trial, Calgary, Alberta - Photo] [Ernest Cashel Story - Glenbow.org - January 30 - February 5] [Biography – NOLAN, PATRICK JAMES – Volume XIV (1911-1920)] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 159: In the early 1980s near the small town of Rulo, Nebraska a white-supremacist cult leader named Michael Wayne Ryan and his band of followers took over a local farm essentially stealing it from the property owner. They burglarized nearby businesses and residences to fund their survival after the upcoming battle of Armageddon prophesied in the Books of Revelations. Ryan, a proponent the Christian Identity movement’s doctrines with links to an anti-government group called Posse Comitatus spewed antisemitic views, the supremacy of the white race and planned to take down the government. In 1982 Ryan was arrested for the torture and murder of, Luke Stice, the 5-year-old son of the property’s former owner and the torture killing of one of his followers, 27-year-old, James Thimm. Co-host: Carol Browne Sources: [Michael Wayne Ryan | Murderpedia] [Michael W. Ryan - Wikipedia] [Christian Identity and Religions of America (Joseph Baker)] [Evil Harvest: The True Story of Cult Murder in the American Heartland] [Nebraska Inmate Details] [Cult Education Institute :: Group Information Archives] [Christian Identity | Extremism in America | ADL] [ROSS] Facts [NIGHTMARE IN RULO - Chicago Tribune] [State v. Ryan :: 1989 :: Nebraska Supreme Court Decisions :: Justia] [Dennis Ryan | Omaha Magazine] [SPLCenter.org: Identity Crisis] [Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville Timeline] [PolitiFact | Donald Trump’s ‘very fine people on both sides’ remarks (transcript)] [Rick Ross, Executive Director] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine