Podcast: Cold Case Canada

In this Halloween special we’re travelling up Indian Arm to visit the Wigwam Inn, one of Metro Vancouver’s most storied old mansions. Built in 1910 by Alvo von Alvensleben as a hotel for the rich, it’s been a brothel, an illegal casino, used to print counterfeit money and now owned by the Royal Vancouver Yacht… Continue reading S5 E56 Martha: The Ghost in Room 209

In 1995, a partial skull was discovered in a slough just outside Mission, BC. Forensic testing revealed that the skull belonged to a Caucasian woman aged between 20 and 40. Missing person files were searched, but nothing matched her description, and the skull was named Jane Doe, placed in an RCMP storage facility and forgotten.
Then in 2002 police searched serial killer Robert Pickton’s Coquitlam farm. Among the dozens of truly gruesome discoveries were human bones that matched the DNA of Jane Doe’s skull. Of the remains of 33 women found on the pig farm, Jane Doe is the only one who has yet to be identified. That may soon change. RCMP say they are submitting her DNA for forensic genetic genealogy testing, and hopefully 30 years after her murder, Jane will finally get her name back.

In 1962, 20-year-old Ann Spiller was hired as a bank teller at the Penticton Royal Bank. Ann soon spotted a flaw in the bank’s accounting system. By 1968, she had stolen nearly half a million dollars, and this former farm girl, was living the life of the rich and famous.

In 1910, American-born Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was living in London with his wife Belle, when he fell in love with Ethel Le Neve, his 20-something assistant. Crippen poisoned his wife and buried most of her in the cellar of their Hilldrop Crescent home. Then he told friends and business associates that Ethel was his… Continue reading S5 E53 Dr. Crippen and The London Cellar Murder

Eighteen-year-old Andrea King graduated with honours from New Westminster Secondary in June 1991. She took a job with Greyhound Bus Company to save money for a trip across Canada. Her plan was to check out universities while she worked her way home to British Columbia. On January 1, 1992, Andrea took an Air Canada flight… Continue reading S5 E52 Andrea King

In December 1989, Ramsey Rioux and Kenneth Lutz were two indigenous 13-year-olds living in North Burnaby, BC with Ramsey’s uncle and his family. Ken had previously lived with his father in the West End, and even though things weren’t going well, he was having trouble adjusting to a new school, new family, new friends and… Continue reading S5 E51 Boys in the Woods

Wild Roses: It was just after 5:00 pm on Friday, November 9, 1945, and Pamela Argyle was walking her dog. She decided to take a rarely used shortcut that crossed through the field near Burnside Road and Grange Street in Saanich on Vancouver Island. As she passed by a clump of wild rose bushes, she… Continue reading S5 E50 Myfanwy Dorothy Sanders

In January 1943, fifteen-year-old Molly Justice, took the 5:50 pm bus from her job in Victoria, BC to her home near Swan Lake. Because war-time dim-out regulations were in force, there was no lighting along the streets, and that may be why Molly decided to take the short cut home along the unlit tracks by… Continue reading S5 E49 Murder at Swan Lake

On April 1 1992, 19-year-old Aimee Beaulieu was killed in her home just outside of Nelson, British Columbia. Her twin babies died in the fire that was lit to cover up her murder. Several months before she died, 19-year-old Aimee Beaulieu left an abusive relationship in Summerland, in BC’s interior and returned to her home… Continue reading S5 E48 Aimee Beaulieu

Hirsch-Creek Park: On Saturday July 14, 1997, at around 9:30 pm, campers at Hirsch-Creek Park and campground just north of Kitimat, BC, heard eight gunshots. They called police. The officer who arrived at the scene found three young male residents lying dead in and beside a car in the campground parking lot, covered in blood.… Continue reading S5 E47 The Kitimat Murders

Seven-year-old Terri Lynn Scalf was last seen outside her Aldergrove, BC townhouse complex on Sunday July 24, 1983. She had been outside playing with friends and never returned. By 10:30 the next morning, a massive search was underway. Terri Lynn Scalf: Terri Lynn Scalf was born on August 11, 1975. She was just 3 foot… Continue reading S5 E46 The Disappearance of 7-year-old Terri Lynn Scalf

Ten-year-old Joanne Pedersen was last seen in a Chilliwack phone booth at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday February 19, 1983. She had been calling her mother to tell her that she had been locked out of her house and asked if she could pick her up from the Penny Pincher store on Vedder Road. Just as… Continue reading S5 E45 The Disappearance of 10-year-old Joanne Pedersen

Transcript for The Alley Murder episode trailer I just want to know what happened. I want the whole story. I want people to know that she was more than a prostitute, she was more than a dancer, she was our little sister and we loved her with our whole heart. She was with us since… Continue reading The Alley Murders Trailer

In this last episode of season 4, Cold Case Canada, I’ve asked four BC-based storytellers to tell us their favourite murder and haunted building stories. Francis Rattenbury (1867-1935) Will Woods, founder of Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours tells us the story of Francis Rattenbury’s murder, an architect responsible for buildings that include the Parliament Buildings and… Continue reading S4 E44 Halloween Special 2023

Michael Smith, 17 missing since December 30, 1967. Last seen at his North Vancouver home. Canada’s Missing website (National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains) RCMP case #2014003272 Canada’s Missing: I came across this listing and a grainy photo of North Vancouver’s 17-year-old Michael Smith when I was researching missing person cases on Canada’s… Continue reading S4 E43 Where is Michael Smith?

On November 6, 1967 sometime before 6:00 pm, seven-year-old Nancy Johnsen went missing from her Cloverdale, BC farmhouse. Nancy, one of 10 children ranging in age from six months to 16 years, was found on the property the next morning. She had been strangled. No one reported seeing a stranger around the house that night… Continue reading S4 E42 Nancy Johnsen: The Cloverdale Murder

Webby Award nominee in the Crime and Justice category. Between April 1988 and August 1990, a serial killer murdered six sex trade workers and dumped their bodies in the laneways of Vancouver. Officially, the murders are unsolved and two were added to the Vancouver Police Department’s cold case website just last year. But two retired… Continue reading S4 E41 The Alley Murders

On August 4, 1989, Barbara Bohun and her two daughters, Casey 3, and 14-month old Stacy were at a family barbecue in Maple Ridge. Barbara’s sister Beverly drove them home to Delta, tucked Casey into bed, and Barbara’s partner, Jonathan Poile showed her the way home via the Alex Fraser Bridge. It’s unclear how long… Continue reading S4 E40 Taken: Casey Rose Bohun

Gail Rogers: Gail Sandra Rogers, 26 known as Sam to her friends, was last seen on February 17, 1975, after working a shift as a go-go dancer at the Penthouse Night Club on Seymour Street. Gail’s sister Karen reported her missing and when police went to check her Kitsilano basement suite, they found a carpet… Continue reading S4 E39 The Nightclub Murders

In 2019, I was asked to put a post up about Brenda Byman, a 12-year-old girl who went missing from outside Invermere, BC on May 7, 1961. Despite one of the biggest searches in the province’s history, no trace of her has ever been found. I read a few newspaper articles, talked to Brenda’s sisters,… Continue reading S4 E38 The Search for Brenda Byman