Latest Episodes

Episode 198: If you’ve had any interest in the Wild West, you’ve no doubt heard of a many of the storied gunmen and bandits from the era like Butch Cassidy, Jesse James and Billy the Kid. You probably also think of the United States, but Canada has its own legends and colourful characters from the era on both sides of the border. For example, legendary gunslinger and lawman, Bat Masterson, was was born in Henryville, Quebec. Sometimes the outlaws were women, like one notorious Canadian-born, lady bandit and the subject of this episode, whose most famous alias was Pearl Hart. After a rough life with criminal exploits that started during her troubled childhood, Pearl got herself into big trouble in Arizona in 1899 and was finally taken into custody after robbing a stage coach.Sources:Pearl Hart - WikipediaPearl Hart – Lady Bandit of Arizona – Legends of AmericaBandit Pearl Hart holds up an Arizona stagecoach - HISTORYThe life and times of Pearl Hart, Ontario’s cigar-smoking, Wild West superstar | The StarPearl Hart: The Amazing Life of The Bandit QueenFemale bandit Pearl Hart: “I shall not be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making”The wild life and death of Old West feminist bandit Pearl HartPearl Hart - ‘Bandit Queen’ of the Old West - WednesdaysWomenPearl Hart, the Last Lady Outlaw - HeadStuffWild Women of the Wild West: Pearl Hart ~ Lady Bandit of ArizonaListen to Wildcat Audiobook by John BoesseneckerThe Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters - Leon Claire Metz - Google BooksThe Cosmopolitan — Volume 27 — Google Play BooksPearl Hart: Smooth-talking card shark led Pearl’s slide to perdition | Local news | tucson.comSupport 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 195: Hannah Buxbaum was found dead July 5, 1984 on a highway near London, Ontario after having been shot  by roadside bandits three times in the head as her husband Helmuth Buxbaum and their young nephew, Roy, in town from Vancouver for a visit watched helplessly. The bandits sped off with Hanna’s purse and police were called. No one could figure out why anyone would want to murder Hanna Buxbaum, who was as close to being a living saint that anyone could find. The press initially labelled the case ‘The Good Samaritan Murder’ until the true story unfolded. This story has so many twists and turns and crazy elements. The Buxbaums being millionaire owners of several nursing homes there were huge sums of money, cocaine, sex addiction, sex workers, double crossing, nuclear bunkers filled with tobacco and alcohol, people being dangled by their feet off 14th floor balconies, worries of rocket launcher attacks and courtroom spectacles. No less than a motley crew of 7 people were charged in the killing of the earnest, salt of the earth woman, until, finally, the truth came out.Sources:A cruel case of murder | Maclean’s | DECEMBER 2, 1985After 30 years, a son comes to terms with his father?s murder of his mother | Chatham Daily NewsThe killer I knew | National PostHelmuth Buxbaum, convicted in 1980s murder, dies in jail | CBC NewsEdward Greenspan - WikipediaSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 194: On June 25, 1950,  after months of increasing tension, the Korean War or what has been called Canada’s forgotten war, began when North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Countries, including Canada, belonging to the newly formed United Nations jumped in quickly to defend democratic South Korea from the the communist forces from the north. Canada contributed the third largest number of soldiers among UN countries to the war. More than 26,000 Canadians served in the conflict on land, at sea and in the air. Over the next three years of the conflict there were 516 Canadians killed, another 1042 were wounded, 33 became prisoners of war and 16 soldiers are still missing in action. Lest we forget.Sources:Veterans Affairs Canada — Land of the Morning CalmWhat is The Memory Project? — The Memory ProjectSeeking the families of Canadian Army soldiers missing in Korea — Canada.caRegister to find your missing military family member — Canada.ca“We really didn’t think we would survive,” Mike Czuboka, Korean War “Extraordinary Hero” award recipient shares his story - 580 CFRA - Omny.fmGerald Edward Gowing - Veterans Affairs CanadaThe Kims: Leaders’ Biographies - North Korea: Introductory Sources - LibGuides at Cornell UniversityRead Korea Online by John Melody and John M. Rockingham | BooksRead Deadlock in Korea Online by Ted Barris | BooksRead Triumph at Kapyong Online by Dan Bjarnason | BooksRead The Korean War Online by Michael Hickey | BooksRead Reluctant Neighbor: Canada, the U.S.A. and the Korean Crisis Online by Darryl Hurly | BooksRead Everyday Heroes Online by Jody Mitic | BooksRead Canadian Foreign Policy: 1945-2000 Online by Arthur E. Blanchette | BooksSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 193: On September 5, 2009, Hilary Bonnell, 16, disappeared from Esgenoopetitj formerly known as, Burnt Church, in the Miramichi region of New Brunswick. Over the next several months her mother, stepfather, family and friends pulled out all the stops searching for the teen. Despite their tireless efforts, during which they utilized the media and a widespread poster campaign, they could not find Hilary. On Sunday, November 8, 2009, Curtis Wayne Bonnell, Hilary’s first cousin, was arrested by the R.C.M.P. on an unrelated sexual assault allegation. In custody, Curtis began talking. He admitted he had knowledge of what had happened to Hilary Bonnell.Sources:Esgenoopetitj First Nation “Burnt Church” - Home | FacebookR v Bonnell, 2011 NBQB 246 (CanLII), R v Bonnell, 2011 NBQB 349 (CanLII), R v Bonnell, 2012 NBQB 24 (CanLII), R v Bonnell, 2012 NBQB 289 (CanLII), R v Bonnell, 2012 NBQB 309 (CanLII), R v Bonnell, 2012 NBQB 321 (CanLII), Bonnell v. R., 2015 NBCA 6 (CanLII), Global News — Search: Hilary BonnellBonnell admits he killed cousin Hilary after sex | CBC NewsMother of Hilary Bonnell, allegedly killed by cousin, testifies at murder trial | Globalnews.caYouTube — Hilary Bonnell murder — family reactionCurtis Listens to family’s pain – sentenced to life in prison : Miramichi OnlineMother of slain teen girl vents grief during New Brunswick man’s sentencing | Globalnews.ca‘It doesn’t end when you bury your child’: Families of MMIWG speak of their pain in Moncton | Globalnews.caMMIWG Testimony — Moncton Public Vol 44(b) Fillier — Pamela and Fred Fillier (Hilary Bonnell)Final Report | MMIWGHilary Bonnell’s family continues to face adversity 11 years after her murder | CBC NewsFacebook Group — In Loving Memory of HILARY BONNELLSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 192:  If you’re willing to look you’ll see that human culture and all other endeavors are shot through with one predominant and frightening idea, that one day everything, including us, must come to an end. One day we will die. Human beings are, as far as we know, the only animal capable of understanding that inevitably every one of us, good eggs and bad apples alike, will expire. Hopefully, a long time from now, we will pass away, be sleeping with the fishes, or, if you like, have met our maker.PromoSupernatural Circumstances PodcastSources:BOOK — The Denial of DeathBOOK — The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in LifeBOOK — Egyptian Book of the DeadBOOK — On Death and Dyingentityseeker.ca29 Best Death Metaphors & Idioms (2021)Don’t Pay The Ferryman - song by Chris de Burgh | SpotifyThe Supernatural | Canada Stamp SeriesElisabeth Kübler-Ross Quotes (Author of On Death and Dying)Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason | Folklife TodayDoes a Dying Person Know They Are Dying?The book of death: weighing your heartWhat Physically Happens to Your Body Right After DeathSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 191: On the evening of July 30, 2008, Tim McLean, a 22-year-old Canadian carnival barker was returning home to Winnipeg riding a Greyhound bus when he was viciously stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized by another passenger about 18 km west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. After arriving on scene, RCMP watched for hours as the perpetrator, Vince Li, 40, desecrated Tim’s body inside the bus after the driver and remaining passengers had fled, powerless to stop the man’s frenzy. Less than a year later, Vince Li was found not criminally responsible (NCR) for Tim McLean’s slaying, but held in a Manitoba psychiatric institution from which he was released just 6 years later.Sources:Cold Facts of the Case – Tim’s LawYouTube — R.I.P Tim McLean - July 30, 2008 Greyhound Bus TragedyYouTube — TIMOTHY MCLEAN KILLING (CAROL DE DELLEY INTERVIEW) AFTERMATH OF MURDER: SURVIVOR STORIESJustice served with the absolute discharge of Vince Li – The ManitobanBOOK: Shrunk — Crime and Disorders of the Mind by LoreProceed with Extreme Caution: The Not Criminally Responsible Defence | CanLIIVincent Li found not criminally responsible for murder - Winnipeg Free PressDocumentCloud — Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board decisionTimeline of decisions in the case of Vince Li - Winnipeg | Globalnews.caVince Li Archives - Dying WordsYouTube — Vince Li — “Please, kill me.”YouTube — The Fifth Estate — Bus 1170 : Vince Li and the Greyhound Bus Murder (2011)Killing of Tim McLean - WikipediaVince Li | News, Videos & Articles | Globalnews.caLooking back at the Greyhound bus beheading a decade down the road | Globalnews.caNot Criminally Responsible Reform Act (backgrounder) — Canada News CentreNot Criminally Responsible Reform Acthttp://summit.sfu.ca/system/files/iritems1/16395/etd9553_TMiller.pdfTalk:Killing of Tim McLean - WikipediaHow to Be a Juggalo: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow FunA Conversation With Vince Li - Steinbachonline.comVince Li, man who beheaded Greyhound bus passenger, seeks absolute discharge | CBC NewsR.I.P Tim McLean — Facebook GroupMCLEAN TIMOTHY - Obituaries - Winnipeg Free Press PassagesTimeline to the Greyhound bus killing | CBC NewsVince Weiguang Li | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderersSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 190: Old Mike Todor’s body was found in his east end Regina home in the spring of 1955. He’d lain there for more than 14 months and had been beaten to death. Someone had killed him, but who? Elizabeth “Tootsie” LaFleche, Mike’s 30-something-year-old wife, who’d been living with a friend for months, was telling a lot of stories about what had become of Mike. None of the tales made a lot of sense. After police found Mike’s body, a number of arrests were made, charges were laid and several trials held, but thanks to Tootsie’s lies, the real facts of the case may never be known.Sources:R. v. Dyck, 1956 CanLII 197 (SK CA), BOOK — Trail of blood: A Canadian Murder Odyssey by Frank JonesHistory of the Death Penalty in CanadaSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 189: Starting in 1963 and stretching over the next seven years, a militant French separatist group called the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorized La Belle Province. Their aim was to overthrow the Quebec government and leave Canada creating an independent Marxist- Leninist Quebec state. By 1970 the group had committed more than 200 violent criminal and terroristic acts including, bombings and high profile kidnappings. The group’s activities ultimately claimed the lives of eight people, including a Quebec provincial cabinet minister, and injured many more, before then Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, finding himself out of options, enacted the 1914 War Measures act to stem the violence of the October Crisis of 1970.Sources:Timeline of the Front de libération du Québec - WikipediaCBC Archives — What is the FLQ?Web Archive | McGill.ca — October Crisis 1970October Crisis - Canada’s Human Rights HistoryFLQ (FRONT DE LIBERATION DU QUEBEC) - SEVEN YEARS OF TERRORISM | Office of Justice ProgramsThe Making of the October Crisis: Canada’s Long Nightmare of Terrorism at the Hands of the FLQ by D’Arcy JenishRead Hostages Online by Gordon Kerr | BooksRead Terror Threat Online by Dwight Hamilton and Kostas Rimsa | BooksRead The Night Canada Stood Still Online by Robert Wright | BooksRead Trudeaumania Online by Robert Wright | BooksRead October Crisis: 50 Years After A Bloody Spasm That Nearly Tore Canada ApartDEMOCRACY VERSUS TERRORISM: FLQ TERRORISM IN QUEBEC, A CASE STUDY on JSTORThe Terrorist Activities of the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) - The Beginning of a New EraPierre Vallières (1937-1998) - The Beginning of a New EraFront de libération du Québec (FLQ) | The Canadian EncyclopediaTHE FLQ: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION by Lorne WestonThe FLQ Crisis – VALOUR CANADASummary · Task Force on Kidnapping: The Department of External Affairs’ Files on the October Crisis · Canada Declassified« Front de libération du Québec (FLQ)» : tous nos articles | Le DevoirPierre Laporte - WikipediaJames Cross - WikipediaFrançois Schirm — WikipédiaEdmond Guénette — WikipédiaCommission of Inquiry Concerning Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRoyal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP - WikipediaOctober Crisis: Who was Pierre Laporte, really? | Montreal GazetteLa police connaissait les ravisseurs de Cross et Laporte | Radio-Canada.caGlobal News — Search: FLQCanada - The Trudeau years, 1968–84 | BritannicaRegina v. Vallieres, 1969 CanLII 1000 (QC CA), Regina v. Vallieres, 1973 CanLII 1418 (QC CA), R. v. Cossette-Trudel, 1979 CanLII 2876 (QC CQ), The Quiet RevolutionChronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath - Quebec HistoryMessage of the FLQ to the Nation 1963YouTube — Trudeau: Just watch meJust watch me - WikipediaSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine