Murder

A page that lists and honours the missing people of Prince George, BC and for all those who were murdered and have not received justice The List: I wrote a lot about Prince George in my book Cold Case BC: The Stories Behind the Province’s Most Intriguing Murder and Missing Person Cases. When I looked… Continue reading Prince George’s Missing and Murdered

Every other week I receive a heartbreaking message from someone asking about a missing friend, or a missing or murdered relative that no one has heard from or about in decades. Mostly, they want to know if that person was ever found or if their murder was eventually solved. I start by looking up the… Continue reading The Disappearance of 20-Year-Old Melody Dobson

Former Vancouver Sun crime reporter, Neal Hall, guest blogs about one of Vancouver’s most controversial cases. Thirty five years after 44-year-old Cindy James was found dead, people still wonder – was it suicide or murder?  By Neal Hall The most bizarre case I ever encountered in my 30-plus years as a reporter, was the case… Continue reading The Bizarre Case of Cindy James

I am thrilled to tell you that Cold Case Canada is up for a Webby Award – the only Canadian nominee in the Crime and Justice podcast category. This is a really big deal. The New York Times called the Webby’s “the Internet’s highest honor.” There are two parts to the award. The Webby Award… Continue reading Cold Case Canada is a Webby Award Nominee!

In 1976, when Heather Ede was 14 years old and living in Powell River, BC, the body of her friend Elizabeth (Lizzie) Gardner was found under the Lois River Bridge. For over 45 years Heather wondered what had happened to her friend and if the police were still investigating her death. In January 2022 she… Continue reading The 1976 Murder of Elizabeth Gardner

Francis Rattenbury moved to Victoria in 1892. The 25-year-old had beat out 60 other architects to win the design competition for BC’s Parliament Buildings. Although massively over budget, the commission propelled the young architect’s career, and before long he had a slew of buildings after his name including the Empress Hotel, The Crystal Gardens, the… Continue reading Francis Rattenbury: A Halloween Horror Story

On September 10, 1969, 26-year-old nurse Myrna Louise Inglis finished her shift at St. Paul’s Hospital. It was shortly after midnight, the end of a long day, and she was tired. She changed out of her nurse’s uniform and into her street clothes. Because it was chilly, she draped her nurse’s cape around her shoulders.… Continue reading Who Killed Nurse Inglis?

Seventy years ago this week, two tiny skeletons were found in Stanley Park and quickly became known as the Babes in the Woods. Last February, they were identified through genetic genealogy as Derek and David D’Alton aged 7 and 6 when they were murdered in 1947. This is an excerpt from my new book Cold… Continue reading Still Unsolved: Babes in the Woods, 70 Years Later

This was supposed to be a short and happy seasonal post about a cabin and a Christmas log, but then I stumbled across a murder. Like everyone else, I’m familiar with Shaw’s fire log, but I’d never given any thought to its origins. Then Kyla and Grant Stuart Gardiner’s monthly newsletter came in the mail… Continue reading A Cabin, a Fireplace and a Murder

Pamela Darlington turned 19 on October 21, 1973. Seventeen days later her body was found at the edge of the Thompson River in Kamloops. She claims the number four spot on E-Pana’s list—the RCMP’s task force that was set up in 2005 to investigate 18 Highway of Tears cases of missing and murdered women. From… Continue reading The Pamela Darlington Murder

In February, we learned that the Babes in the Woods, the two little boys who were murdered in Stanley Park 75 years ago—were Derek D’Alton aged seven and his brother David, six. Genetic genealogy—the latest crime fighting tool was able to do what seven decades of police work could not—identify the little boys through familial… Continue reading Meet Olivia McCarter

Thursday November 25 is International Day. Remembering Olga Hawryluk, 23, murdered May 3, 1945.  From Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance and the Blood, Sweat and Fear podcast. Granville Street: On May 2, 1945, Olga finished her shift at the Empire Café on West Hastings at 2:30 am and was walking to… Continue reading Remembering Olga Hawryluk (1922-1945)

You wouldn’t buy a house without having a building inspector check the foundation, so why wouldn’t you research your potential home’s history? A heritage house at Fraser and East 10th went up for sale last week for $1.4 million. It wasn’t the price-tag though (low by Vancouver standards) that captured people’s attention, it was the… Continue reading Would you buy a murder house?

An Interview with Jazmin Welch, book designer about working on Vancouver Exposed I’m excited to tell you that Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History is now in bookstores. And, while the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover,” I have to disagree. A great cover not only helps to sell the… Continue reading An Interview with Vancouver Exposed Book Designer Jazmin Welch

Sam Wiebe is the award-winning author of the Wakeland novels, a detective series set in Vancouver that includes Invisible Dead and Hell and Gone. “When poet-turned-screenwriter Paul Ling goes missing, his teenage daughter hires Vancouver P.I. Dave Wakeland to track him down. To the shock of his family and colleagues, Ling’s body is found within days… Continue reading When Fact Meets Fiction: Sam Wiebe’s Vancouver

On May 23, 1934, Constables Gisbourne and Carr were called out to investigate a stabbing at the Canford Indian Reserve in Merritt. The next day, Gisbourne’s Model B Ford was found crashed into a tree and the policemen had vanished When I was writing Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, I experienced… Continue reading Murders at the Canford Indian Reserve

Monday November 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This is an excerpt from Sensational Victoria: Bright Lights, Red Lights, Murders, Ghosts & Gardens. Doug Guyatt was cleaning up the front yard of his Colwood home one afternoon in June 1992 when he found his wife’s severed head in a bag… Continue reading Remembering Shannon Arlene Guyatt (1958-1992)

Last week, Bob Shiell sent me a note telling me that he worked with Rene Castellani at CKNW in the early 1960s, and was a huge force in one of the station’s most visible promotions—the Maharajah of Alleebaba. From Murder by Milkshake: an astonishing true story of adultery, arsenic, and a charismatic killer I wrote… Continue reading The Maharajah of Alleebaba

Glen McDonald was easily Vancouver’s most colourful coroner. He called himself the “Ombudsman of the Dead” and served from 1954 to 1980. If I was able to go back in time and choose six people to interview, Glen McDonald would be high up on the list. I got to know him while I was researching… Continue reading Glen McDonald: Vancouver’s Colourful Coroner

    On June 4, 1965, CKNW personality Rene Castellani climbed to the top of the scaffolding next to the BowMac Sign and promised not to come down until every last car on the lot was sold. It took nine days. The following story is an excerpt from Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing Story of… Continue reading The BowMac Sign: Guy in the Sky