Latest Episodes

Episode 390: When most Canadians think of occult-related witch trials, their minds drift south to Salem, Massachusetts, or across the ocean to medieval Europe. The popular narrative suggests that Canada, with…

Episode 368: Here, we delve into the life and crimes of Brigitte Denise Cleroux, examining how she repeatedly evaded regulatory scrutiny, the suffering she caused, and the systemic failures that…

Episode 362: On the morning of May 29, 2010, gunshots shattered the quiet of a rural property just outside Cranbrook, British Columbia. By the time police arrived at the scene,…

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.

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.

In the early morning hours of July 8, 2019, Vancouver Island RCMP launched a manhunt for two inmates who had escaped from William Head, a minimum security federal institution in Metchosin, south of Victoria. The two men, James Lee Busch and Zachary Armitage had walked away from William Head the day before. The fugitives were arrested on July 9 after an off-duty RCMP officer spotted them in Esquimalt. On July 12, RCMP found the body of 60-year-old Martin Keith Payne, who had not shown up for work, at his home on Brookview Drive, in the community of Metchosin. Payne's suspicious death initiated an 11-month investigation led by the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, involving several police agencies. On June 12, 2020, an RCMP news release reported that the escapees, Busch and Armitage, had been charged with first-degree murder concerning Martin Payne’s death. This event sparked serious debate about the decision-making process that led to these two individuals, both with histories of violent crime, being housed in a minimum-security facility. How had they simply walked away from their incarceration to murder Martin Payne?

On September 28, 2016, a police dog discovered the nude and decomposing body of a young woman on the grounds of Gabriola House, a famous and, at that time, abandoned mansion on Davie Street in Vancouver’s West End. The body was that of Natsumi Kogawa, 30, a Japanese woman who’d been in Canada on a Visa to study English since May that year. Natsumi’s friends and family had not heard from her since September 8, and she’d been officially listed as a missing person four days after that.

Starting when Amanda Michelle Todd was just 11 years old, a person began a campaign of sexual extortion, relentless harassment and cyberbullying. Over the next three years, Amanda endured constant pressure from the man who used 22 online aliases on four different social media platforms to coerce and lure her into performing pornographic cam shows for him. On September 7, 2012, Amanda posted a now-famous video on YouTube in which she used a series of flashcards to tell her experience of being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam, which later led to her being bullied and physically assaulted. The video gained global attention when it went viral after Amanda completed suicide at her family home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a month before her 16th birthday on October 10th, 2012. In 2014, a Dutch-Turkish man, Aydin Coban, in his 30s when the abuse of Amanda Todd began, was identified as the man who’d been harassing her and at least 39 other young girls and young gay males in the Netherlands, U.K., and Canada. After legal proceedings in the Netherlands wrapped up, Coban was imprisoned there. Although charged with five offences related to Amanda Todd here in Canada, Amanda’s family would have to wait for justice for her.

Episode 114 - On the morning of September 11, 2015, off-duty Truro, Nova Scotia police constable, Catherine Campbell, went to a Halifax bar to wind down after a tough work week. She was looking forward to a visit with an old friend that weekend but never got to see her. Catherine was murdered that night and left underneath a Halifax bridge by her killer. Come see us at CrimeCon in Orlando from May 1-3, 2020. For 10% off your purchase please use POUTINE2020 when buying your tickets. R. v. Garnier, 2016 NSPC 86 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 102 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 238 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 239 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 259 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 338 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 339 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2017 NSSC 341 (CanLII), R. v Garnier, 2018 NSSC 196 (CanLII), TIMELINE [A complete look at the Crown’s case against Christopher Garnier  | Globalnews.ca] [Catherine Campbell: obituary and death notice on InMemoriam] [Catherine Campbell death a homicide | Local | News | SaltWire] [Truro Police Service - Home | Facebook] [Stellarton Fire Department - Our Crew] [Home - Stellarton] [Goodreads - Roll Up the Rim by Leo McKay Jr.] [Stellarton - Wikipedia] [HRP News | Halifax.ca] [Holland College | Atlantic Police Academy] [Christopher Garnier Court Exhibit 2 | Watch News Videos Online] [Christopher Garnier Court Exhibit 1 | Watch News Videos Online] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 111 - Near noon on November 6, 2017, reports of multiple shots fired in the parking lot of a busy Abbotsford, B.C. strip mall brought a swarm of Abby PD officers racing toward the scene. The first to arrive  was Cst. John Davidson, 53-years-old, a 24 year veteran of policing and well respected in the city for his kindness, passion for helping the community's youth and dedication to his work. On leaving his vehicle in response to the reported situation, the unsuspecting officer was gunned down; shot from behind in cold blood by Albertan, Oscar Ferdinand Arfmann. who'd been on a crime spree, stealing two cars over three days from local dealerships. John Davidson was a beloved husband and father to three adult children. Come see us at CrimeCon in Orlando from May 1-3, 2020. For 10% off your purchase please use POUTINE2020 when buying your tickets. Sources and further reading: R. v Arfmann, 2019 BCSC 1618 (CanLII), R. v Arfmann, 2020 BCSC 56 (CanLII), R. v Arfmann, 2020 BCSC 110 (CanLII), [Abbotsford Police Department - Home | Facebook] [Abbotsford Police Department] [Cst. John Davidson Was Such An Exemplary Police Officer That Even The People Who Had Been Pulled Over By Him Are Grieving - The Lynda Steele Show - Omny.fm] [Tourism Abbotsford – Handmade & Homegrown] [Operation X “The Straight Goods on “E.” - YouTube] [Remembering Const. John Davidson - YouTube] - CBC coverage of Cst. John Davidson’s Celebration of Life on November 19, 2017 [“We just want to say a few things about our dad”: John Davidson | Global News] [Cellphone video captures Abbotsford police incident | Watch News Videos Online] [Man who killed Abbotsford police constable hears victim impact statements | Global News] Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine