Dark Poutine – True Crime & Dark History – Page 2 – A podcast about notorious Canadian crimes, dark history and other creepy topics as told by real-live Canadians

072 – The Klaus Family Murders (AB)

July 1, 2019May 6, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 072 – On a freezing December morning the Castor Volunteer Fire Department braved the icy Alberta roads to attend a structure fire at a farm a few kilometers outside town. When the firefighters arrived there were red flags evident immediately.

The family dog lay dead in the driveway from an apparent gunshot wound, two 9mm casings were nearby as was a partially full gas can which lay only meters away from the front door of the home, now almost burned to the ground. Three people, Sandra and Gordon Klaus, and their adult daughter Monica, had been at home at the time of the unsurvivable inferno. The only member of the immediate family left alive was the couple’s eldest son and Monica’s brother, Jason, who lived in a trailer nearby.

Who could have committed horrific acts and why? As the investigation unfolded a bizarre cover up story emerged consisting of communication with the spirits of the deceased.

071 – The Story of Samantha Walsh (NL)

July 1, 2019April 29, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 071 – It’s been a long time coming, but this is our first episode taking place entirely in Newfoundland. On the night of February 6, 2000 nearly the entire population of the tiny town of Fleur de Lys was out looking for 13-year-old Samantha Walsh. She’d gone missing on a three minute walk between her grandmother’s house and her own home in weather that was -25 °C. As the weeks wore on with no verified signs of Samantha suspicions fell on a local 16-year-old boy dividing the small community. Many did not believe that one of their own could hurt a child.

070 – The Murder of Taylor Van Diest (BC)

July 1, 2019April 22, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 070 – In the quiet city of Armstrong B.C. on Halloween night 2011, Taylor Van Diest, 18, left her house dressed as a zombie. She was excited to meet up with her pals to go trick or treating one last time before they were ‘too old’. Taylor stopped responding to text messages just over ten minutes into her short walk to her friend’s home. She was found badly beaten and clinging to life two hours later by friends and family frantically searching. The fun loving girl with no known enemies died in hospital the next morning. It would take good old fashioned police work coupled with forensic DNA evidence to bring her killer to justice.

069 – Roch Theriault and the Ant Hill Kids (ON)

July 1, 2019April 15, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 069 – On August 14, 1989 an emaciated woman favouring the stump of a recently severed arm emerged from the woods near the tiny town of Burnt River, Ontario. She was known to police as a member of the Ant Hill Gang, a religious cult, run by the charismatic and enigmatic Roch Theriault, who’d changed his name to Moses. As the woman’s story came out, so did other tales of violence, sexual abuse, torture and murder at the hands of Roch and others in the group who were doing his bidding.

Note: There are extremely graphic depictions of violence in this episode that may be disturbing to some listeners.

068 – The Murder of Reena Virk (BC)

July 1, 2019April 8, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 068 – Troubled 14-year-old Reena Virk had been missing for a week when her battered, semi-nude body was plucked from the water in the Gorge under the Craigflower bridge in Victoria, B.C., on November 22, 1997. Reena had initially been lured to a spot by friends, then swarmed and savagely beaten by a group of 8 youths, that consisted mostly of girls between 14 and 16. After staggering away Reena was followed by a male and female who further beat and then murdered her to ‘keep her quiet”. A story of ‘bad girls’, bullying, racism and murder emerged shocking the nation. The quest for justice for Reena was not a straight nor easy path.

Research: Rebecca McNall

Disclaimer read by: Tyler Allen of The Minds of Madness Podcast

067 – The Falcon Lake UFO Incident (MB)

July 1, 2019April 1, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 067 – In May of 1967 an RCMP constable on patrol near Falcon Lake, Manitoba was flagged down by a wild eyed man with a fantastic story to tell. The man, Stefan Michalak, a 51-year-old amateur geologist had been prospecting deep in the brush when he claimed he had a close encounter with two UFOs. After this initial report the events near Falcon Lake became one of the most investigated UFO events in Canadian history.

066 – The Great Amherst Mystery [with Morgan Knudsen] (NS)

July 1, 2019March 25, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 66 – This week we go back in time to 1878 in Amherst Nova Scotia. We learn about one of Canada’s most documented and as yet unexplained paranormal events. Esther Cox, an ordinary 18-year-old in the town was at the center of these horrific psychic attacks, some people believe to have been poltergeists. It began with the feeling of something under the bed, odd noises and Esther suffering a weird illness. The events went on for months, eventually led to items flying around the home and mysterious fires being set seemingly out of nowhere.

In the second half of the show we speak to paranormal investigator, author, teacher and media personality, Morgan Knudsen of entityseeker.ca. She gives us some insight into the case of Esther Cox as well as some others including those included in Blue Ant Media’s Paranormal 911 which can be seen here in Canada on Sunday nights at 8:00 pm Eastern.

065 – Colin Thatcher: The Murder of Joann Wilson (SK)

July 1, 2019March 18, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 65:On a cold night in January in 1983, after hearing strange noises coming from the property nearby a neighbour found a woman’s brutally bludgeoned body on the bloody floor of her open garage. She had also been shot once behind the ear. The body was that of Joann Wilson, ex-wife of Colin Thatcher, Saskatchewan M.L.A. and former Energy Minister and son of the Province’s 9th premiere. The two had divorced bitterly only years before and suspicion fell on Colin right away. The ensuing investigation revealed the shocking facts of the case and led to Thatcher’s downfall.

064 – The Cottage Killer – David Snow (ON & BC)

July 1, 2019March 11, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 064 – In April of 1992 Ian and Nancy Blackburn did not show for a family get together near their recreational property in Caledon, Ontario. The couple were found murdered and stuffed into the trunk of Nancy’s car outside their home in Toronto. The number one suspect, had allegedly been breaking into properties in the Caledon area throughout the winter and his aberrant behaviour had been escalating toward the dangerous and bizarre.

Although identified as, David Alexander Snow, 37, an eccentric antiques dealer in Orangeville near Caledon, he eluded police. In Vancouver, BC, where he’d fled, Snow went on a two week crime spree of kidnapping, rape, robbery and violence, before being apprehended by North Vancouver RCMP on July 12, 1992.

063 – Mass Murderer: Dale Merle Nelson (BC)

July 1, 2019March 4, 2019 by Mike Browne

Episode 063 – In the wee hours of September 5, 1970, after a binge of alcohol and possibly LSD, Dale Merle Nelson, 33, a logger and father of three snapped. In the matter of just over an hour he’d murdered 7 residents, including 4 children, of tiny Creston B.C. He had then absconded with another child into the local wilderness. That child, 8-year-old Cathy St. Amand, would also be found butchered where Nelson stated he’d left her, prior to his capture just a day after the massacre; one of the worst in Canadian history.