Latest Episodes

Episode 200: The story we are about to tell is a harrowing tale of child neglect that leaves a young boy badly scarred for life. In December of 1990, after being overlooked by his family who were on their way to Paris for a Christmas visit, Kevin McCallister is left on his own in the family’s large Winnetka, Illinois home. There the 7-year-old not only has to care for himself, but has to do his best fend off two serial burglars, a team known as the Wet Bandits, attempting to break into the McCallister residence. Leaving Kevin McCallister with lifelong issues due to the effects of post traumatic stress, and later problems with addiction.Sources:An inaccurate Film Dramatization of Actual Events671 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL 60093 - realtor.com®Bill Breakdown: How Much Kevin McCallister’s Dad Spent In Home Alone | Sideshow CollectiblesAll Injuries Sustained In Home Alone - Assessed By A Real Doctor - ThrillistHome Alone | Home Alone Wiki | FandomKevin McCallister | Home Alone Wiki | FandomSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 197: In our last episode we learned a bit about the life and depraved, early crimes of David Russell Williams, a 46-year-old decorated colonel and commander of the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Trenton, Ontario - one of the largest and busiest air force bases in Canada. The Canadian military’s rising star also had some dark secrets. Williams had been involved in dozens of instances of break, enter and theft of women’s undergarments in the communities in which he lived. The homeowners and police were unaware that many of these crimes had taken place. Many of the women presumed that their underwear had simply gone missing. They had no clue that they had been taken by someone who’s fantasy life had taken a very dark turn. Williams felt powerful in the homes, taking photos as he pleasured himself with the most private possessions of women he didn’t know. Russell would take their underwear home where, sexually aroused once again, he would take photos of himself as he modelled the items recalling his time in the homes of the women. The continued use of the garments thrilled Russell Williams and gave him a feeling of complete control.In September 2009, Russell’s insatiable cravings for yet another sexual thrill demanded he take things a step further. Williams sexually assaulted two Tweed women, forcibly confining them, fondling them as he snapped multiple photos of the terrified women after removing their clothes. While those events had been exciting for Williams, they were dry runs for what he would do next. In November, 2009, Russell Williams committed his first murder, that of Marie-France Comeau. Month's later, he killed Jessica Lloyd, but his inattention to the little details, eventually got him caught.Sources:Book, ”Camouflaged Killer” by David A. GibbRead Beyond Suspicion: Russell Williams A Canadian Serial Killer Online by Alan R Warren | BooksA New Kind of Monster by Timothy ApplebyJim Van Allen | ISN IncRussell Williams Case | The Canadian EncyclopediaRead Snakes in Suits Online by Dr. Paul Babiak and Dr. Robert D. Hare | BooksThe dark, depraved side of Russell Williams revealed in court - Macleans.caCPL Marie-France Comeau (1972-2009) - Find A Grave Memorial252 Raglan Street, Brighton, Ontario, Canada | HousecreepJessica Elizabeth Lloyd (1982-2010) - Find A Grave MemorialJessica Lloyd Obituary - Belleville, Ontario | John R. Bush Funeral HomeLloyd, Jessica – Canadian CrimeopediaBelleville honours Jessica Lloyd | CBC News62 Cosy Cove Lane, Tweed, Ontario, Canada | HousecreepRussell Williams’s wife knew he was a predator: victim - Macleans.caCol. Russell Williams timeline | CBC News“Russell Williams - Above Suspicion” episode from CBC program The Fifth EstateRussell Williams Case | The Canadian EncyclopediaRussell Williams | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderersDavid Russell Williams: The Kinky Killer Colonel — Obsession — Crime Library[Russell Williams (criminal) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Williams_(criminal))YouTube — The Russell Williams Arrest Press ConferenceRussell Williams - Full Murder ConfessionRussell Williams Confession Part 1Russell Williams Confession Part 2Russell Williams Confession Part 3Russell Williams interview transcriptDemi-victoire pour Laurie Massicotte contre Russell Williams | Radio-Canada.caLaurie Massicotte settles $7M lawsuit against convicted sex killer Russell Williams | CBC NewsMassicotte v. Williams, 2014 ONCA 792 (CanLII), M.E.H. v. Williams, 2012 ONCA 35 (CanLII), Family, friends of Jessica Lloyd mark decade since Russell Williams received life sentence | Globalnews.caMarie-France Comeau | News, Videos & ArticlesMarie-France Comeau news, opinion and analysis - Macleans.caSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 196 - In September of 2009, in Cosy Cove, a quiet, rural neighbourhood near Tweed, Ontario, an anonymous young woman sleeping in her home was brutally sexually assaulted by an unknown assailant who’d broken into her home. During the violent, two-hour sexual assault, as her 8 week old daughter slept in another room, the rapist snapped photos of the woman, before escaping into the night. Two weeks later, in the same small neighbourhood, the creeper struck again, sexually assaulting another woman, Laurie Massicotte. Her rapist also photographed her before fleeing. A neighbour Laurie’s, was suspected in the assault but he denied any involvement. He was later cleared when his DNA was not a match to that of the Laurie’s attacker. Police suspected the two sexual assaults were somehow connected as they were both so similar.Two months later, there was a murder. A year after that, another. When police discovered the identity of the perpetrator, the whole country was shocked.Sources:Book, ”Camouflaged Killer” by David A. GibbRead Beyond Suspicion: Russell Williams A Canadian Serial Killer Online by Alan R Warren | BooksA New Kind of Monster by Timothy ApplebyJim Van Allen | ISN IncRussell Williams Case | The Canadian EncyclopediaRead Snakes in Suits Online by Dr. Paul Babiak and Dr. Robert D. Hare | BooksThe dark, depraved side of Russell Williams revealed in court - Macleans.caCPL Marie-France Comeau (1972-2009) - Find A Grave Memorial252 Raglan Street, Brighton, Ontario, Canada | HousecreepJessica Elizabeth Lloyd (1982-2010) - Find A Grave MemorialJessica Lloyd Obituary - Belleville, Ontario | John R. Bush Funeral HomeLloyd, Jessica – Canadian CrimeopediaBelleville honours Jessica Lloyd | CBC News62 Cosy Cove Lane, Tweed, Ontario, Canada | HousecreepRussell Williams’s wife knew he was a predator: victim - Macleans.caCol. Russell Williams timeline | CBC News“Russell Williams - Above Suspicion” episode from CBC program The Fifth EstateRussell Williams Case | The Canadian EncyclopediaRussell Williams | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderersDavid Russell Williams: The Kinky Killer Colonel — Obsession — Crime Library[Russell Williams (criminal) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Williams_(criminal))YouTube — The Russell Williams Arrest Press ConferenceRussell Williams - Full Murder ConfessionRussell Williams Confession Part 1Russell Williams Confession Part 2Russell Williams Confession Part 3Russell Williams interview transcriptDemi-victoire pour Laurie Massicotte contre Russell Williams | Radio-Canada.caLaurie Massicotte settles $7M lawsuit against convicted sex killer Russell Williams | CBC NewsMassicotte v. Williams, 2014 ONCA 792 (CanLII), M.E.H. v. Williams, 2012 ONCA 35 (CanLII), Family, friends of Jessica Lloyd mark decade since Russell Williams received life sentence | Globalnews.caMarie-France Comeau | News, Videos & ArticlesMarie-France Comeau news, opinion and analysis - Macleans.ca Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 180 - On September 22, 2015, in Renfrew County, Ontario, 66-year-old Carol Culleton was murdered in her home by her one-time handyman. The man, who’d become obsessed with the recent widow before killing her, then stole Culleton’s car and drove to the home of an ex-girlfriend, Anastasia Kuzyk, 36, and shot Anastasia there with a shotgun as her sister fled the home. However, the killer was not done settling the scores he had cooked up in his head and then drove to the home of another ex-girlfriend, Nathalie Warmerdam, 48. As Nathalie’s son ran from their home, in fear of his life, he heard the gunshot that ended his mother’s life. The killer, Basil Borutski, 58, a former millwright, then fled, and a brief search ensued that ended in Borutski being taken into police custody. Later on, in a 5-hour long taped police interview, the killer admitted to what he’d done, laying the blame for his spree squarely on his victims. Sources: Ontario Provincial Police - What we do Borutski’s history from 1977 to 2011 - Infogram Borutski’s history with Kuzyk and Warmerdam - Infogram Borutski’s history with Culleton - Infogram Murder Sites — Driving Route YouTube - Basil Borutski full police interview YouTube - Basil Borutski and the Wilno Murders: Circle of Fear - The Fifth Estate YouTube - Secrets of… Why Didn’t We Know? Basil Borutski & The Wilno Murders (podcast) - the fifth estate Marchers say Basil Borutski guilty verdict was too little, too late | CBC News What the courts knew about Basil Borutski before he murdered 3 women | CBC News Search: Basil Borutski — Newspapers.com Basil Borutski | News, Videos & Articles — GlobalNews TOPIC: BASIL BORUTSKI TRIAL — CBC.ca R. v. Borutski, 2011 ONSC 3536 (CanLII) Borutski v. Borutski, 2011 ONSC 7099 (CanLII) R. v. Borutski, 2017 ONSC 7748 (CanLII) R. v. Basil Borutski, 2017 ONSC 7762 (CanLII) The Meaning of Life: A Study of the Use of Parole Ineligibility for Murder Sentencing | CanLII BBC Partners — Outlook: Singing for my murdered sister helps me heal Ending Violence Association of Canada Psychology Today — Dark Triad Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 174 - Between 1974 and 1980, a group of three mask-wearing Canadian outlaws named Stephen Reid, Patrick (Paddy) Mitchell, and Lionel Wright, in well-planned, precisely timed and carefully executed heists, robbed at least 140 banks and armoured cars in Canada and the United States making off with a total of more than $15 million in cash, gold and other valuables. Sources: [The Life and Times of the Stopwatch Gang | The Atavist Magazine] [Stephen Reid fonds - Search Research Collections] [Inside Time by Jason Young - NFB] [Paddy Mitchell’s Blog - A blog behind bars] [Read This Bank Robber’s Life Online by Patrick Mitchell | Books - Scribd.com] [The Stopwatch Gang: notorious bank robber, celebrated author dies – RCI | English] [Lionel Wright | Today in Ottawa’s History] [Stephen Reid - ABC BookWorld] [Obituary: Stephen Reid - Ottawa Citizen] [Stephen Reid’s 10 toughest prisons in North America] 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

Episode 138 - On the afternoon of May 10, 1973, a stranger entered the CIBC branch on Main St in the small town of Kenora, Ontario. The man, claiming he had a bomb, demanded all the money in the bank. (Photo credit: Don Dutton, Toronto Star) Sources: CJRL Covers the Kenora Bank Robbery 10 May 1973 Devil's Gap by Joe Ralko https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Paul_Higgins https://www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/missing-disparus/case-dossier.jsf?case=2016065871&id=10 https://www.thestar.com/photos/toronto_star_photo_blog/2017/05/remembering-don-dutton-through-his-photos.html https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1067788  (gore warning) https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Canadian_Criminal_Sentencing/Cases/Robbery#Bank_robbery https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/bank-crime-statistics-2018.pdf/view https://www.trentu.ca/indigenous/welcome/about-chanie-wenjack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Canadian_Imperial_Bank_of_Commerce_bank_robbery Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 132: In this episode we take a look at a topic not spoken of often, slavery in colonial Canada and its aftermath. As well, we learn a little about the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia and the shameful destruction of the community of Africville near Halifax, beginning in 1966. Sources and further information: [Africville Museum] [Africville] [The story of Africville | CMHR] [Remember Africville by  - NFB] [Transmopolis  » Wild Reports   » Eddie Carvery and Africville] [2020 Honouree: the community of Africville | NS Heritage Day] [Nova Scotia Archives - Gone but Never Forgotten] [Black History in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia] [Black History in Canada Education Guide | Canadian Encyclopedia] [CDC: Black Loyalists] [Code Noir - Wikipedia] [Africville: A Community Destroyed | CBC Radio] [Stolen From Africville - Broken Homes, Broken Hearts - Documentary] [Remembering Black Loyalists - Who were Black Loyalists?] [The story of slavery in Canadian history | CMHR] [The Atlantic slave trade: What too few textbooks told you - | TED-Ed] [Slave Voyages] [The transatlantic slave trade: introduction] [Heritage Minutes: Underground Railroad — YouTube] [Africville — Children’s Book Reading — YouTube] [Africville | GlobalNews.ca] [Africville sources | Source Guide | Halifax] [HRM: Africville - Apology] [Fundraiser: Eddie Carvery - 50 Years of Africville Activism] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

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. Sources: [Bandit - A portrait of Ken Leishman by Wayne Tefs]  [Lost: Unsolved Mysteries of Canadian Aviation by Shirlee Smith Matheson]  [In the Mind of a Mountie - Google Play] [This Was Manitoba: Kenneth Leishman - The Flying Bandit (UPDATED)] [Ottawa Citizen - Ken Leishman - Google News Archive Search] [Newspapers.com search - Ken Leishman + Canada] [Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit - video dailymotion] [Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit - YouTube] [Court Briefing for 1966 trial of Ken Leishman et al, Winnipeg Gold Heist] [The Flying Bandit - Winnipeg Free Press] [Canada history: Mar.1, 1966: the Great Winnipeg Gold Heist – RCI | English] [The Flying Bandit - Winnipeg Free Press] [The ‘flying bank robber’ died hard | Maclean’s | DECEMBER 29, 1980] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine