Vivien Morzuch was 15 when he was beaten to death and dumped in a ditch near Kamloops, BC in 2000. His case was solved six years later
This podcast is from a chapter in Cold Case Vancouver: The City’s Most Baffling Unsolved Murders
Vancouver Police Museum:
In 2014, I was at a talk at the Vancouver Police Museum given by former homicide detective Steve McCartney.
Steve was a homicide detective assigned to the Provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit which was made up of officers from the RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department and investigated cold cases from jurisdictions all over BC when new evidence emerged.
Steve’s talk became the basis for my last chapter in Cold Case Vancouver: The City’s Most Baffling Unsolved Murders. Because unsolved murders, by their nature, don’t have an ending, I wanted to finish the book with a cold case that was solved. And I wanted to show the lengths that police will go to in closing an unsolved murder, particularly when it involves a child.
Cold Case:
In 2006, Steve was working on the six-year-old cold case of Vivien Morzuch, a 15-year-old boy who had run away from his Montreal home to pick fruit in BC. Instead, the boy was found savagely beaten to death and dumped in a ditch near Kamloops. The only evidence that police had to go on was a partial fingerprint on a piece of duct tape found near his body and some DNA.
The DNA didn’t belong to Vivien and it wasn’t in the system, so for the next six years the case went cold. Then in 2006, police got a break when a man was caught doing a snatch-and-grab on Vancouver’s Davie Street.
My chapter in Cold Case Vancouver and the episode for this week’s podcast is based on media reports, an interview with Vivien’s sister Bruyere, Steve’s talk, and a subsequent interview where he detailed the police investigation and the Mr. Big sting that was launched to catch Vivien’s killer. It’s a fascinating look at the work and resources that go into a cold case when new evidence arises.
Show Notes:
Sponsors: Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours and Erin Hakin Jewellery
Music: Misconception by thedarkpiano.com
Intro: Mark Dunn
Interview: Steve McCartney, former homicide detective with the Provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit
Promo: Blood, Sweat, and Fear: the story of Inspector Vance, a true crime podcast with Eve Lazarus
With special thanks to Raffelina Sirianni, Dave Barry and Kent Simmonds at CFJC TV in Kamloops for supplying the news clips; and the Vancouver Police Museum.
© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.