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On the evening of July 18, 1977, five local teenagers were relaxing, drinking and listening to music near Ferry Island Park on the banks of the Fraser River just east of Chilliwack. It was a beautiful summer night. At 9:40 p.m., a man appeared from the underbrush armed with a rifle and, without a word, began shooting. Four of the teens were killed: Brothers from Rosedale, Jan Christiaan “John” Den Hertog,16, and Evert “Ed” Den Hertog, 19, Egbert “Bert” Menger, 19, of Clearbrook and Rosedale resident Leola Corrinne Guliker, 16. The killer sped off in Evert Den Hertog’s truck, while the only survivor, fifteen-year-old Adrian “Eddie” Menger, Egbert’s younger brother, fled and sought help. The terrified community, stunned by the senseless slayings, began burying their dead while police sought a killer. More than a month later, they had their man — 23-year-old Walter Murray Madsen of Chilliwack. Madsen had then dumped all four victims into the Fraser, hoping the water would hide the evidence of his horrific crime. Madsen’s bizarre motives for the shootings and further plans were revealed at his trial in 1978. Leola Guliker’s body was not found until nine months after the shooting, just days after Madsen was sentenced to life in prison for her killing and the three others.

In this episode of Dark Poutine, we delve into a troubling chapter of British Columbia’s history that reveals the deep-seated racism and fear that plagued our past. D’Arcy Island, a small and isolated landmass off the coast of Vancouver Island, became home to a leprosy colony from 1891 to 1924. But this wasn’t just any colony; it was a place where Chinese immigrants who had contracted the disease were forcibly sent to live out their days in harsh and inhumane conditions, far from society’s view. Leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease, has been misunderstood and deeply feared throughout history. The disease, although not highly contagious and treatable today, was seen as a mark of shame and led to the isolation of those afflicted. The establishment of the D’Arcy Island colony was rooted not only in fear of the disease but also in the racist attitudes of the time, which viewed Chinese immigrants as expendable and less deserving of care.

On November 8, 2012, in a bloody crime scene, police discovered the body of 43-year-old Panagiota “Yota” Zerbinos in her daughter’s basement suite in the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey, B.C. Yota had been brutally stabbed 24 times and left under a blanket; the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, was still in her chest. Two days later, Yota’s 28-year-old daughter, Gloria Crystle Zerbinos, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. She pleaded not guilty, citing her schizophrenia, drug abuse and other complex mental health issues, claiming she was not criminally responsible for her mother’s death. Gloria was held at Alouette Correctional Centre for Women. However, as court proceedings continued, another inmate, 51-year-old April Peregooda, was found unresponsive in Gloria Zerbinos’s cell.

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.