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In this episode, we look into the life and mysterious murder of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash, a prominent Indigenous activist whose story continues to haunt the corridors of justice and activism alike. During the tumultuous 1970s, her journey took her from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, to the heart of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the United States, where she fought for Indigenous rights. The mystery surrounding Annie Mae's death is as compelling as her life. In December 1975, she disappeared and was later found deceased on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Initial reports misleadingly attributed her death to exposure, but a second autopsy revealed she had been executed with a bullet to the back of her head. This revelation raised questions about who could have orchestrated such a brutal act against someone so profoundly committed to her cause. It took almost 30 years before the shocking truth was uncovered and the people responsible for Annie’s murder were brought to justice.

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.

On Friday, July 10th, 1970, around 7 a.m., near Ludlow, Maine, 45 kilometres from the border with Canada, the crew aboard a northbound Bangor & Aroostook Railway train noticed something lying on the tracks ahead. They thought at first it might be trash but reacted quickly regardless. Despite the immediate application of the brakes, the locomotive, towing 19 heavy boxcars, could not stop in time to avoid a collision. The objects on the tracks were sleeping bags containing three young males. All appeared to be in their teens or early twenties. The bodies were found without official identification, and among them, they carried just over 5 dollars in Canadian cash. After a very brief investigation, the Aroostook County Sheriff, Darrell Crandall, said he considered the deaths either accidental or a group suicide pact. The young men were soon identified as Kenny Novak (fifteen) and David Burrows (seventeen), both from Sydney River and Terry Burt (twenty) of Whitney Pier, in Sydney, Nova Scotia. It was discovered that they had hitchhiked to the location, but they were a long way from home. Their families initially had no idea why they would cross the border. There were no indications that any of the three were suicidal. Why were they there? If their deaths were accidental, how had they not heard the train approaching? And why would they have chosen to sleep on the train tracks? Information soon came to light that there may have been a darker reason for their journey, leading to speculation that the three might have been murdered and placed on the tracks to make their deaths appear accidental. Their families and friends are still looking for answers.

The Chowchilla school bus hijacking and kidnapping, a notorious case that occurred in 1976, involved the abduction of a school bus carrying 26 children, nineteen girls and seven boys, ages 5 to 14, and their driver, Frank Edward ‘Ed’ Ray, who was 55. It was orchestrated by three young men from affluent families — brothers Richard Schoenfeld, 22, James Schoenfeld, 24, and their friend Frederick Newhall Woods IV, also twenty-four. The crime was motivated by a desire for ransom money and as a cure for their boredom. The kidnappers hid the bus and took its occupants to a buried truck trailer in a quarry in Livermore, California, intending to demand $5 million for their release. Remarkably, led by Ed Ray and Michael Marshall, 14, one of the older children, the victims managed to escape without any ransom being paid. Even though they all made it out alive, the victims suffered psychological scars that changed their lives and persist to the present day. This was the largest kidnapping in U.S. history, and it has a Canadian connection. After their hostages escaped, all three kidnappers went into hiding but were eventually apprehended and convicted, although one of the suspects, the mastermind behind the kidnapping, Frederick Woods, fled to Vancouver, British Columbia, before being arrested by the RCMP.

On April 25, 1978, RCMP Constable Thomas (Brian) King, a 40-year-old father of three, pulled over a vehicle for a minor traffic offence at 12:35 AM on Highway 11, roughly a quarter mile (400 metres) north of the Saskatoon city boundary. Inside the car were two young men: 18-year-old Darrell Luke Crook and 19-year-old Gregory Michael Fischer. The pair had intentionally disabled the vehicle’s tail light to draw the attention of law enforcement. As the unsuspecting officer was checking Fisher’s driver’s licence, the two men overpowered, disarmed and manacled him with his service handcuffs. The pair then forced the officer into their car and drove into Saskatoon, where they showed him off to friends. Afterward, Crook and Fisher drove to a secluded spot near the Saskatchewan River, where they beat and tortured the helpless constable. Then, they executed Brian King with his service revolver, shooting him twice and throwing his body into the river.

On the afternoon of December 20, 1974, a storekeeper in Calgary, Alberta, alerted the police about a customer, Philippe Laurier Gagnon, 26, who became aggressive after being denied the sale of airplane glue. The individual fled, and police pursued him to his residence two blocks away. When officers approached the suspect's residence, they were met with gunfire. Additional police, more than 130 officers, arrived to find the suspect armed with two rifles rifle in a garage. Gagnon refused to come out. A shootout ensued, resulting in the death of Detective Boyd Davidson, 43, after being shot in the neck. Six other officers were wounded by gunfire, and several others were injured. After a military armoured car arrived, police gained the upper hand, smashed into the house and dislodged the gunman from his hideout. Gagnon, who had two rape convictions, a history of assault as well as a record of mental illness and drug abuse, also died at the scene in a hail of bullets as he charged at the officers. Detective Davidson, a 23-year veteran of the police force and key figure in establishing the combined police and fire arson squad, left behind a wife and five children. His death and what was learned from the events led to the creation of the Calgary Police Service’s tactical team and changes to policing nationwide.

First, we look at a little more about the history of UFO sightings in Canada and elsewhere. These are not a new phenomena. In the show’s second half, we learn about a series of UFO sightings that occurred in the 1970s in Manitoba, particularly around Carman. The sightings garnered significant attention because of their frequency and because many credible individuals, including police officers and other professionals, witnessed them. The name “Charlie Red Star” was given to the object due to its bright red hue and was often described as a glowing, pulsating, and sometimes changing shape. Sightings of the object frequently mentioned its ability to move at incredible speeds and make sudden maneuvers that seemed beyond the capability of conventional aircraft of that era. The phenomenon of Charlie Red Star drew many UFO enthusiasts, reporters, and investigators to the area in the hope of witnessing or gaining some understanding of the mysterious object. While there were numerous speculations and theories regarding the nature of Charlie Red Star, including secret military projects, extraterrestrial craft, or atmospheric phenomena, the true identity and nature of the objects remain unexplained. The events surrounding Charlie Red Star have since become a notable chapter in the annals of UFO lore.

Episode 187: Between 1974 and 1976, a series of rapes and murders took place in and around the small town of Strathroy, in South Western Ontario, perpetrated by Christian Herbert Harold Magee. He sexually assaulted and murdered 3 women, and raped two others.Written by: Mathew StocktonSources:R. v. Magee, 1997 CanLII 2431 (ON CA), Mental Health Centre, Penetanguishene v. Magee, 2006 CanLII 16077 (ON CA), https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/118607/carried-away-by-alice-munro/9780307264862/excerpthttps://www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/01/16/Mad-Slasher-wants-to-apologize/19681137468884/?ur3=1https://truecrimerealtimepod.com/2020/05/26/28-londons-sordid-past-part-3-the-mad-slasher/https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=42563797&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQ2NDAxNDg5MywiaWF0IjoxNjI1MjU1MzU3LCJleHAiOjE2MjUzNDE3NTd9.S7hmiBoeW8POhTzffvN8NTXF4vCsSSuHGQO5sEZ5xXMhttps://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/magee-christian.htmhttp://coldcase.lailafarrell.com/index.php/category/murderer/https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20051006/281608120825417Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 184: In Mississauga, Ontario in 1973 and early 1974, the discoveries of the murdered bodies of two young women, Constance Dickey, 19, and Neda Novak, 18, only months apart, left the community shaken. Both women, it appeared, had been abducted, sexually assaulted, then murdered and dumped by a yet unknown killer. On August 19, 1974, after being sexually assaulted and left for dead, a sixteen-year-old girl, Julia Sheldon, identified a twenty-four-year-old, married father of two named Henry Robert Williams as the man who’d brutally assaulted her. It soon became clear that Williams had also committed the two previous murders. Sources: Read Cold North Killers Online by Lee Mellor | Books Henry Robert Williams | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers “The Chemical Castration of Recidivist Sex Offenders in Canada: A Matte” by Matthew R. Kutcher The Castration Alternative | Canadian Journal of Criminology and Corrections Federal Probation - Google Play The Medium — Sept. 11th marks 30th anniversary of UTM’s only murder by Adrian Barek Police still looking for Oakville woman’s killer nearly 45 years later | Toronto.com The dark echoes of Adele Komorowski’s murder linger 45 years later | TheSpec.com 5 Worst Crimes Committed in Mississauga | insauga.com “It’s insanity” to free serial killer who assaulted girl in prison: Ex-detective – Cancrime Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 177: On July 3, 1979, a pair of typical Montreal teenagers, Chantal Dupont, 15 and her friend, Maurice Marcil, 14, went missing as they walked home from a concert. Their loved ones had no idea what had happened to them. A week later they heard the news they dreaded. The bodies of Chantal and Maurice were discovered in different spots along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The details of how the pair ended up in the water and the events leading up to their murders are horrifying. Sources: R. v. Guerin, 1984 CanLII 3533 (QC CA), R. c. Guérin, 1987 CanLII 1063 (QC CA), [PressReader.com - Normand Guérin et Gilles Pimparé] [PressReader.com - Bridge Murders Timeline] [Pillar 111 – The 1979 murders of Maurice Marcil and Chantal Dupont | WHO KILLED THERESA?] [The Bridge Murders – To Err is Human, to Forgive, Divine –   Crime Website] [La force du pardon | Michèle Ouimet | La Presse - Archived] [La Rage | Michèle Ouimet | La Presse - Archived] [L’innocence perdue | Michèle Ouimet | La Presse - Archived] [Le deuil | La Presse | Michèle Ouimet | La Presse] [Même après 38 ans, le meurtrier Gilles Pimparé restera en prison | Radio-Canada.ca] [Le Pardon (film) — Wikipédia] [Dossier de presse] [Dupont (Chantal) - La Mémoire du Québec] [La force du pardon - La Presse+] [Montreal killer asks for parole for the sixth time] [L’un des pires criminels du Québec veut sa liberté | TVA Nouvelles] [Pimparé «est encore dangereux», selon le frère d’une victime | TVA Nouvelles] [Dossier de presse - *Ces parents qui ont pardonné l’impardonnable*] [Coolopolis: The unspeakably horrific Jacques Cartier Bridge murders] [Le pont du suicide Jacques-Cartier - Blogue de Montréal hanté] [Le Pardon de Denis Boivin – Voyage à travers le Québec] [Ideomotor phenomenon - Wikipedia] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine