Would you buy a murder house?
February 27, 2021
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?
George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter
February 23, 2019
If you listened to CKNW any time from the mid-1950s to the end of the ‘90s, you’ll remember George Garrett. His memoir, George Garrett Intrepid Reporter has just been published, and it’s a great ride through four decades of politics, disasters, consumer investigations and murders. I met George in the mid-1990s, when I was a… Continue reading George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter
The Maharajah of Alleebaba
January 26, 2019
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: Vancouver’s Colourful Coroner
January 19, 2019
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
The BowMac Sign: Guy in the Sky
January 5, 2019
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
The Sensational Murder of Esther Castellani
October 27, 2011
Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and A Charismatic Killer Set in middle-class Kerrisdale, the green duplex at 2092 West 42nd Avenue is such an ordinary place it’s hard to imagine it was the stage for one of the most sensational murders in Vancouver’s history. Esther Castellani, 40, died in 1965… Continue reading The Sensational Murder of Esther Castellani