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In this episode, we explore a horrific case that shocked both Hollywood and Canada - the brutal murder of Iana Kasian by her fiancé, graphic novelist and filmmaker Blake Leibel.

On October 28, 2022, Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was brutally attacked in his San Francisco home. The perpetrator? A 42-year-old Canadian man named David DePape. Born and raised in British Columbia, DePape's journey from a small-town Canadian to an alleged political extremist is a disturbing tale of online radicalization. As we'll explore in this episode, DePape became immersed in far-right conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies, particularly those aligned with QAnon and other conspiratorial narratives. The attack on Paul Pelosi serves as a chilling reminder of how online misinformation and conspiracy theories can lead to real-world violence. We'll examine how DePape's beliefs evolved, the role of social media echo chambers in his radicalization, and the broader implications of this case for Canadian and American society. Join us as we unravel the events leading up to that fateful night in San Francisco and explore the dark undercurrents of extremism that can turn an ordinary Canadian into a violent offender on the international stage.

On June 30, 2009, the serene waters of the Rideau Canal in Kingston, Ontario, revealed a dark and tragic secret. A submerged car discovered that day contained the bodies of three teenage sisters—Zainab (19), Sahar (17), and Geeti (13) Shafia—along with their father's first wife, Rona Muhammad Amir (52). What initially appeared to be a tragic accident soon unravelled into a chilling tale of premeditated murder. The perpetrators, Mohammad Shafia, his second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, and their son, Hamed, were arrested on July 23, 2009, and later convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Shockingly, the victims were Mohammad Shafia's daughters and his first wife. This heinous act, driven by twisted notions of family honour, shocked the nation and highlighted the grim reality of honour-based violence. Join us as we delve into the harrowing details of the Shafia family murders, a case that not only captivated Canada but also sparked crucial conversations about domestic violence and the challenges faced by immigrant families in preserving their cultural values while integrating into a new society.

Maple Batalia, a 19-year-old college student studying health sciences, was also a working model and actress and loved to paint. On the night of September 28, 2011, after a late-night study session at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus, she was shot and attacked with a knife in a parking lot as she left the campus library. The savage nature of the attack left her with multiple gunshot wounds and severe stab wounds to her head. Despite efforts to save her, Maple succumbed to her injuries at a Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminister. Suspicion immediately fell on Maple’s ex-boyfriend, Gurjinder (Gary) Dhaliwal, with whom she’d broken up a month before. Dhaliwal refused to leave Maple alone and obsessively contacted her since their breakup, and he had been violent with her. Days before her murder, Dhaliwal had violently confronted Maple, and police became involved, telling him to stay away. Dhaliwal claimed innocence after Maple’s slaying, but his relationship with his friend Gursimar (Gary) Bedi proved to be his undoing.

Between 1869 and 1948, over 100,000 children from the United Kingdom were sent to Canada and other British commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa as part of the British Home Children migration scheme. This movement was initiated to alleviate the burden of poverty and overcrowded workhouses in Britain by providing these children with opportunities abroad. However, the reality for many of these children was harsh. In Canada, they were often placed with farm families where boys worked as labourers and girls as domestic servants. While some found caring homes, many others faced neglect, abuse, and exploitation. The children were frequently moved from one placement to another, leading to instability and a lack of proper education. Despite these hardships, many British Home Children contributed significantly to Canadian society, with some even enlisting in the military during the World Wars. Today, it is estimated that over ten percent of the Canadian population are descendants of these children, though many remain unaware of this heritage.

Edward H. Rulloff was a 19th-century Canadian-born serial killer renowned for his exceptional intellect and heinous crimes. Rulloff exhibited prodigious intellectual abilities from a young age. He was a polymath with expertise in various fields, including linguistics, where he made significant contributions, proposing theories on the origin of languages. Despite his scholarly achievements, Rulloff's life was marred by a series of crimes that began with the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Harriet Schutt Rulloff and their young daughter, Priscilla Charlotte Rulloff, in 1845, which many suspected to be his doing. His erudition earned him a reputation as one of the most learned men of his time, even while he was incarcerated. Rulloff's criminal activities were as notorious as his intellect was celebrated. He was involved in a string of burglaries and was eventually implicated in multiple murders. His undoing was the killing of a store clerk, Frederick Merrick, during a robbery attempt. His two accomplices, Al Jarvis and Billy Dexter, also died while fleeing the crime scene. Rulloff was suspected of doing away with them. He was soon captured and held for trial. Despite attempts to use his intellectual prowess as a defence, Rulloff was convicted and sentenced to death. His execution in 1871 was a significant event, as many viewed his death as the tragic end of a brilliant yet malevolent mind.

Sheree Fertuck, a 51-year-old businesswoman, mother of three, and grandmother from Saskatchewan, disappeared on December 7, 2015, after leaving her family’s lunch gathering at her mother’s farm in Kenaston to return to work at a nearby gravel pit. The next day, her abandoned gravel truck was found in the pit, with her personal belongings inside, raising immediate concerns about her unexplained disappearance. Despite extensive ground searches by her family, friends, and the police around the gravel pit and other locations, no trace of Sheree Fertuck has ever been found. RCMP and Sheree’s family believed she was abducted, or worse, murdered. As the weeks and months passed with no sign of Sheree, suspicion fell on her estranged husband, Gregory Mitchell Fertuck, 62. The pair had been going through a contentious divorce for some years. The RCMP undertook an undercover operation to acquire a confession to Sheree’s murder. Due to legal challenges and COVID restrictions hampering proceedings, it was not until June 2024 that this case was finally resolved.

In April 2014, a tragic shooting occurred at a sawmill in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Kevin Douglas Addison, 47, a former employee, opened fire at the Western Forest Products mill, killing Michael Lunn, 61, and Fred McEachern, 53, and injuring two others, Earl Kelly and Tony Sudar. Addison was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. Addison's actions shook the tight-knit Nanaimo community and highlighted critical issues surrounding workplace violence and safety in industrial settings.

Nova Scotia's rugged coastline and treacherous waters have made it a graveyard for ships throughout history. The SS Atlantic, a White Star Line steamship, sank off Nova Scotia on April 1, 1873, in one of the worst maritime disasters before the Titanic. On its 19th voyage from Liverpool to New York with around 975 people on board, the ship ran short of coal and diverted to Halifax. Navigational errors caused it to strike rocks near Prospect, Nova Scotia. Rough seas hindered lifeboat launches, trapping many passengers below deck. Local fishermen and others aided in rescue efforts, but 562 people perished, marking it the greatest civilian loss in the North Atlantic at that time.

On August 10, 2018, the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, was rocked by a horrific shooting that left four people dead. A man armed with a legally obtained assault-style rifle opened fire in a residential neighbourhood, killing two police officers and two civilians. Constables Robb Costello, 45, and Sara Burns, 43, were gunned down as they responded to reports of shots being fired. The civilian victims were 42-year-old Donnie Robichaud and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Bobbie Lee Wright. The perpetrator, 48-year-old Matthew Vincent Raymond, was arrested at the scene after exchanging gunfire with other officers. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Raymond was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. At his 2020 trial, two psychiatrists testified that he had a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of understanding his violent actions at the time they were committed. On November 20, 2020, after a nine-week trial, a jury found Raymond not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Many members of the public, including some members of the victims’ families, feel justice was not served.