Latest Episodes

Episode 401: At the start of the twentieth century, Vancouver, B.C., was a fast-growing Pacific port. Most residents were white settlers of British or European descent, but Chinese and Japanese communities were…

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 146: On June 13th 1901, Ada Mills Redpath and her son Jocelyn Clifford Redpath were killed in their mansion in on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. Ada had been shot to the back of the head. Clifford has a gunshot wound to his the temple. The police were not called. A coroner’s inquest the next day declared the deaths a murder-suicide. Ada and Clifford were buried June 15th without any further investigation. Written By: Josina De Bree Sources: https://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/redpath/home/indexen.html https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/the-m-naghten-rule.html https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/about-epilepsy-basics/what-epilepsy https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/epilepsy-auras https://www.cureepilepsy.org/for-patients/what-are-the-phases-of-seizures-of-epilepsy/ Denton A, Tellez-Zenteno JF. A patient with epilepsy charged with kidnapping, unlawful confinement, and assault causing bodily harm after seizures: Deficiencies in the legal system. Epilepsy Behav Rep. 2020;13:100361. Published 2020 Mar 21. doi:10.1016/j.ebr.2020.100361 Dougall, L. (2019) The Summit House Mystery; Or, The Earthly Purgatory. Good Press. Original work published 1905.  Reuber M, Mackay RD. Epileptic automatisms in the criminal courts: 13 cases tried in England and Wales between 1975 and 2001. Epilepsia. 2008 Jan;49(1):138-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01269.x. PMID: 17727668. Shih JJ, LeslieMazwi T, Falcao G, Van Gerpen J. Directed aggressive behavior in frontal lobe epilepsy: video-EEG and ictal spect case study. Neurology. 2009;73(21):1804-1806. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181c2933f Devinsky, Orrin. “Postictal psychosis: common, dangerous, and treatable.” Epilepsy currents vol. 8,2 (2008): 31-4. doi:10.1111/j.1535-7511.2008.00227.x Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 126 - On the morning of June 18, 1906, on the trail on the west side of the Two-Mile House, a drinking establishment outside Hazelton, B.C., the body of local tough guy, Alex McIntosh, was found. He had been ambushed and shot through the back. A short time later on the trail to the east of the Two-Mile House, the body of a labourer, Max Leclair, was discovered. He'd died in exactly the same manner. As McIntosh and an indigenous business man named Simon Peter Gunanoot had had a brutal fight only hours prior, suspicion fell on Gunanoot. When the posse went to arrest him he had already taken off into the wilderness and would lead police on the most expensive manhunt in B.C. history. Gunanoot managed to evade capture for over a decade and was not brought in until he was ready to turn himself in. Sources: [Simon Gunanoot - Chasing Shadows by Monty Bassett] [Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada] [Kispiox Band Site] [Gitxsan Nation Site] [Emily Carr paintings near Kispiox - Contact Sheet] [Simon Gunanoot - Wikipedia] [Newspapers.com search - Simon Peter Gunanoot in Canada] [Echoes of British Columbia by Robert Budd - goodreads.com] [My Country by Pierre Berton - goodreads.com] [100 years since the surrender of Simon Gunanoot – BC Local News] [The man who stayed invisible for thirteen years | Maclean’s | JULY 5, 1958] [HistoricPlaces.ca - Simon Gun-an-noot’s Grave] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 086 - In October of 1902 the small, quiet Mennonite community of Altona, Manitoba was shaken by violent events at the hands of one of their own. The teacher at their one room school opened fire on three school trustees after an argument, wounding all three. He then returned to the school and shot three students, all daughters of the trustees he'd shot earlier. Sources: Spectator Tribune Article Newspapers.com School Shootings in Canada at Wikipedia A Pictorial History of Altona Winnipeg Free Press Article Murder and Madness in a Mennonite Village Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 021: Over a span of just over 100 years, western Canada played host to the 3 largest landslides that have been measured in modern ...