Latest Episodes

Episode 384: Driving the prairie roads south of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, your eyes adjust to an endless sea of grass and sky, where grain elevators rise like sentinels and ragged…

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 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.

Colten Boushie was a 22-year-old Indigenous man from the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, who was shot and killed on a farm near Biggar, Saskatchewan, on August 9, 2016. His death received widespread attention and led to a national conversation in Canada about systemic racism and the treatment of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system. The trial and acquittal of the farmer who was charged with Boushie’s death, a man named Gerald Stanley, also sparked controversy and led to calls for reforms in the Canadian justice system.

Episode 225: In our last episode we learned that in Saskatoon, on the morning of January 31, 1969, a 12-year-old girl on the way to school stumbled upon the body of Gail Miller, a 20-year-old nurse’s aide, lying in the snow in an alley. Gail had been raped, murdered and discarded in the snow by her killer. As there had been a number of sexual assaults in the city, police were under enormous pressure to solve the murder and soon their attention turned to 16-year-old David Edgar Milgaard. He’d been in the neighbourhood and at a home nearby the alley where Gail’s body lay on the morning of the murder. Witnesses later claimed he’d seen blood on David’s clothing and gave other incriminating information to police. Milgaard was subsequently arrested and charged with Gail’s murder.Exactly a year after the murder, Milgaard was convicted of the murder and sentenced to a term of life in prison — justice, it appeared, had been served. We’ll find out, that was not the case at all. After serving 23 hellish years in prison, David Milgaard, who’d always maintained his innocence, was finally exonerated by DNA evidence that pointed to another man as Gail Miller’s killer, a man named Larry Earl Fisher.Sources:Saskatoon.ca |INQUIRY CALLED INTO WRONGFUL CONVICTION OF DAVID MILGAARD | News and Media | Government of SaskatchewanCommission of the Inquiry Into the Wrongful Conviction of David MilgaardDavid Milgaard - Innocence CanadaReference re Milgaard (Can.) - SCC CasesR. v. Milgaard, 1971 CanLII 792 (SK CA), R. v. Fisher (L.E.), 1999 SKQB 88 (CanLII), Justice Miscarried by Helena Katz - Ebook | ScribdShrunk by J. Thomas Dalby, PhD, Editor, Lorene Shyba, PhD, Editor - Audiobook | ScribdWrongful Convictions in Canada | PDF | Miscarriage Of Justice | LawDavid Milgaard - WikipediaDavid Milgaard was innocent of Gail Miller murder and rape - SaskToday.caMilgaard inquiry: Don’t judge us: CopsMan convicted of notorious murder dies at Abbotsford prison – Abbotsford NewsA Mother’s Story - Joyce MilgaardDonald Marshall Jr. – Dark Poutine – True Crime & Dark HistorySupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 224: In Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on the morning of January 31, 1969, a 12-year-old girl on the way to school stumbled upon the body of Gail Miller, a 20-year-old nurse’s aide, lying in the snow in an alley. Gail had been raped, murdered and discarded in the snow by her killer. As there had been a number of sexual assaults in the city, police were under enormous pressure to solve the murder and soon their attention turned to 16-year-old David Edgar Milgaard. He’d been in the neighbourhood and at a home nearby the alley where Gail’s body lay on the morning of the murder. Witnesses later claimed he’d seen blood on David’s clothing and gave other incriminating information to police. Milgaard was subsequently arrested and charged with Gail’s murder.Exactly a year after the murder, Milgaard was convicted of the murder and sentenced to a term of life in prison — justice, it appeared, had been served. We’ll find out, that was not the case at all. After serving 23 hellish years in prison, David Milgaard, who’d always maintained his innocence, was finally exonerated by DNA evidence that pointed to another man as Gail Miller’s killer.Sources:Saskatoon.caINQUIRY CALLED INTO WRONGFUL CONVICTION OF DAVID MILGAARD | News and Media | Government of SaskatchewanCommission of the Inquiry Into the Wrongful Conviction of David MilgaardDavid Milgaard - Innocence CanadaReference re Milgaard (Can.) - SCC CasesR. v. Milgaard, 1971 CanLII 792 (SK CA), R. v. Fisher (L.E.), 1999 SKQB 88 (CanLII), Justice Miscarried by Helena Katz - Ebook | ScribdShrunk by J. Thomas Dalby, PhD, Editor, Lorene Shyba, PhD, Editor - Audiobook | ScribdWrongful Convictions in Canada | PDF | Miscarriage Of Justice | LawDavid Milgaard - WikipediaDavid Milgaard was innocent of Gail Miller murder and rape - SaskToday.caMilgaard inquiry: Don’t judge us: CopsSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 209:Daleen Kay Bosse, was a 26-year-old, wife and mother of Cree heritage and member of the Onion Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan near Saskatoon. On May 18, 2004, after a night out with friends Daleen did not return home. Her family grew worried. When she still hadn’t come home the next day Jeremiah, Daleen’s husband, contacted police, who, initially did not respond with much enthusiasm, telling Jeremiah and Daleen’s concerned parents to wait; that she would probably either come home or check in soon. Daleen’s family organized searches themselves and two weeks later Daleen’s car was found abandoned, but there was no sign of the missing woman. It would be more than four years later that Daleen’s family would find out what had happened to their missing loved one. Daleen had been murdered by a man named Douglas Richard Hales, who, during a Mr. Big sting, had admitted to killing the woman and the led police to Daleen’s charred remains.Sources:Onion Lake – Cree NationThe Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | Details — Treaty 6The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | Details — Frog Lake MassacreFrog Lake Massacre - WikipediaSACP | Missing Persons DatabaseDaleen Bosse Obituary (2008) - Saskatoon StarPhoenixNWAC - Daleen’s StoryFamily hires investigator to help locate daughterMMIWG & Violence Prevention • Native Women’s Association of CanadaHome Page - Final Report | MMIWGR v Hales, 2014 SKQB 411 (CanLII), Highlights from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, 2015 | CanLIIMan says he killed woman because she laughed when he couldn’t perform sexually | Philippine Canadian InquirerDouglas Hales guilty of 2nd degree murder of Daleen Bosse | CBC NewsGUILTY - Canada - Daleen Bosse, 26, Saskatoon, Sask, 18 May 2004Muskego Family Gets Some Closure - First Nations Drum NewspaperMother recalls trauma of daughter’s disappearance, murderDaleen Bosse | News, Videos & ArticlesKristen Gilchrist (2010) “Newsworthy” Victims?, Feminist Media Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2010.514110The Different Stories of Cree Woman, Daleen Kay Bosse (Muskego) and Dakota-Sioux Woman, Amber Tara-Lynn Redman: Understanding Their Disappearances and Murders through Media Re-Presentations and Family Members’ NarrativesNews camera allowed in Saskatchewan court for first time - J-SourceSaskatchewan man found guilty of killing Onion Lake Cree Nation woman, 25 - APTN NewsKarina Wolfe case echoes Daleen Bosse murder | 650 CKOMFinding Dawn by Christine Welsh - NFBDouglas Hales’ appeal decision, Nov 23 2015 — YouTubeHales appeal dismissed. - Free Online LibraryTasha Beeds – Walking With Our Sisters2021 National Action PlanHome • National Family and Survivors CircleSupport 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 158 - Twenty-three-year-old nurse and former beauty queen, Alexandra Wiwrachuk, thought the warm spring night in 1962 would be perfect for a walk down by the river before her midnight shift at Saskatoon’s City Hospital. Alexandra did not show up for work that night, and it was not until thirteen days later that children stumbled upon her broken body in a shallow grave. Someone had savagely beaten the young woman, brutally raped her and then buried her alive, leaving her to die. Nearly sixty years later, no one has ever been brought to justice in Alexandra Wiwcharuk’s murder. Co-host: Carol Browne Sources: https://justiceforalex.com http://alexandrawiwcharuk.net/index.html https://www.facebook.com/alexandrawiwcharuk/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_murders_in_Canada https://thestarphoenix.remembering.ca/obituary/alexandra-wiwcharuk-1074725458 https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0068LY6BE/ Girl In Saskatoon - Doc  Johnny Cash - The Girl in Saskatoon  SASKATOON POLICE Saskatoon Police Website policeservice@saskatoon.ca 1-306-975-8300 SASKATOON CRIME STOPPERS Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477 THE NIECES OF ALEXANDRA Nieces Official Website patty@alexandrawiwcharuk.net 1-866-794-1962   (toll free) All calls private and confidential! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine

Episode 152: In November of 1992, a twenty-four-year-old woman came forward to Kipling, Saskatchewan RCMP, accusing a respected local doctor, John Schneeberger, of sexual assault. After years of ridicule from other Kipling residents who refused to believe her claims, the young woman finally found some justice. When the truth saw the light, it uncovered one of the strangest and most devious criminals in Canadian history.  Co-host: Carol Browne Promo:True Crime Island Sources: Canada v. Schneeberger, 2003 FC 970 (CanLII), [2004] 1 FCR 280, Midazolam aka Versed Town of Kipling, SK Wikipedia - John Schneeberger HBO's Autopsy 7: Dead Men Talking Forensic Files - Bad Blood - Season 6 Episode 13 ForensicFilesNow - What Happened to Dr. John Schneeberger? Justice Denied: Extraordinary miscarriages of justice Time Magazine - A Brief History of DNA Testing The endless nightmare of Lisa Dillman 5 Ways to Recover From Being Cheated, Lied to or Manipulated SexAssault.ca WAVAW.ca BC Victim Services & Violence Against Women Program Directory Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/darkpoutine