Comments on: S1 E11 The Kosberg Axe Murders

By: Alan MacRae

Alan MacRae — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 19:32:10 +0000

Hi Eve,
I wrote to you about Detective Archie Mackay else where as you know.
I’ve just remembered that he told me that he and some other detectives would visit Tom from time to time when he in hospital.
By what he said it seemed that he and his colleagues had quite a lot of sympathy for Tom

If I remember rightly Archie retired from police around 1975 after 30 years service

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 06:31:40 +0000

In reply to Greg. Tommy was my room mate at the home. He was certainly very disturbed. I had left there before this happened, but I knew immediately upon being told what had happened that it was true without any more info that day. He had wanted to do this for a long time before it actually happened. His thoughts were so outrageous that the few people he mentioned his desires to would just tell him to stop talking nonsense and he would for a time. Many people talk about doing crazy things, thankfully very few follow through. Who was your brother Greg?

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 04:23:13 +0000

I don’t remember this but I would have been 6 at the time. My first memory of something horrible happening was the little girl named Evangeline. She went to either Emily Carr Elementary or Edith Cavell. I remember the police knocking on everyone’s front door asking if they could search backyards and garbage bins. We lived in Dunbar and I remember my dad giving them permission and explaining to me what was going on. Every day after that I would read the newspaper and see that she was still missing..until they did find her body. I remember seeing a picture somewhere of the dad, pleading for her return. I believe they were new to Vancouver from Asia. It had a huge impact on me, and occasionally today I will think about it and remember how much it upset me. I don’t remember if they ever caught the guy.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 21:41:06 +0000

In reply to Patsy McMillan. I knew the family well and went to school with them. It was a devastating time when this happened. I was young when it happened but something that I will never ever forget.

By: James Anderson

James Anderson — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 20:24:01 +0000

And if you look at the house now on Google Street View… Christmas decorations are up. Again.

By: Len Clarkson

Len Clarkson — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 15:37:27 +0000

I will always remember Gayle. We were classmates at General Wolf. I had just been transferred out of General Brock school as I literally lived on the wrong side of 28th Ave. I remember being shy and didn’t know anyone. But I vividly remember her empty desk. I also remember the dark rumors of murder and the poor teacher running out of the classroom periodically – presumably when she couldn’t hold it together. Jeepers this article brings it all back…

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 14:53:31 +0000

Tom Kosberg. My brother was in the group home with Tom. Wong ‘ treated ‘ them both. Disaster outcome for both young men.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 20:54:52 +0000

In reply to Cheryl K Hansen. Very sad , do you have more photos of the family ? There is only that grainy black and white one .

By: Cheryl K Hansen

Cheryl K Hansen — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 01:01:34 +0000

I was actually friends with Gail and Marianne, and lived very close. I remember looking at the back porch of our apartment and seeing the police and police tape. My mom broke the news to me that day, and I stayed at home from school. What I can share, is Tom had previously tried to set fire to the home before this incident. That is one of the reasons he was getting help and wasn’t living at home until they had him home for Christmas. I spent many times playing at their home. They were the nicest family, and always very close. So very sad even to this day I look at old birthday party pictures and see them happy.

By: Patsy McMillan

Patsy McMillan — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 18:06:37 +0000

Does anyone remember a horrific murder of a woman in an empty lot around 41st and Knight St? I remember reading a lot about it in the late 50s early 60s?? Never knew what happened or if it was solved.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 04:58:50 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus. My mom was in the same grade at Tupper Secondary with one of the sisters. Mom said she was in shock

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 20:17:42 +0000

My mom and dad went to school with Tommy. My dad actually saw Tommy when he was in his way to the drugstore. Told my dad he was going to get soda. Very sad story. From what my dad told me there only 5kids including Tommy.

By: Andrew Morrison

Andrew Morrison — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 17:02:23 +0000

Transfixed. Great job, Eve!

By: Richard Berrow

Richard Berrow — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 03:21:17 +0000

I’ll respectfully dissent from Dr Currie’s contention that Tom Kosberg would’ve been executed had he been convicted of first degree murder after these killings in 1965. The last execution in BC was carried out in 1959. The last in Canada was in 1962, in Ontario, and death sentences were commuted after that until formal abolition of the death penalty. True, Stephen Truscott was sentenced to death, as a youth, in 1959, which seems to have been mandatory for first degree murder, but that was commuted. As to whether Tom Kosberg’s planned and organized behaviour (unlike Bruce Blackman’s) should’ve resulted in a finding of guilt rather than not guilty by reason of insanity, as Dr Currie argues, isn’t it possible for schizophrenics to appear normal while experiencing profound delusions? Rare, but possible? I wonder. It’s useful to compare this result with Walter Madsen’s shooting of several teenagers in Rosedale in 1977. He was convicted of first degree murder on contested psychiatric testimony, in circumstances where the crime was clearly planned to some degree, but apparently as a bizarre, irrational plan to kidnap a wealthy person for ransom. Instead he encountered a random group of young people socializing near the river bank and shot them all.

By: Brad Williams

Brad Williams — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 21:12:29 +0000

Very good story Eve. I was a little boy growing up around the same age as the these kids, but was shielded from these stories. Its mind boggling to me how ten years after a crime like this, that Tom could start a new life and basically get away with murder. Look forward to your next story.

By: Don Estergaard

Don Estergaard — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 20:23:02 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus. This is interesting but there is no mention of my father picking him up after the murders . He drove Tom all over Vancouver before taking him to Doctor Wongs house in West Vancouver .

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 15:49:48 +0000

Everyone who murders another human being is insane and forfeits the right to be free.

By: Wallace Robinson

Wallace Robinson — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 17:00:09 +0000

Another super interesting and informative podcast from Eve Lazarus. Eve is a brilliant story teller, and I literally can’t wait until the next episode arrives in my podcast feed!