On April 13, 1933, 19-year-old Stewart Ashley went to work out at the YMCA in downtown Vancouver. He didn’t come home. A short time later, a ransom note arrived. It said: “Get $5,000 by April 20 or your son will die.”
The stories for this first series are from my book Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance (Eve Lazarus, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017). Vance was one of the first forensic scientists in North America, and during his 42-year-career, helped to solve some of the most sensational murders of the 20th Century. Each episode focuses on one of those cases.
Music Credits:
- Intro and outro: Duke Ellington’s St. Louie Toodle
- Background track created by Nico Vettese www.wetalkofdreams.com
- Voice overs: Mark Dunn
Sources: Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017).
Primary source material: Vancouver Sun, Province, Vancouver News Herald, The World; Inquest into the death of Stewart Ashley; and the personal files of Inspector John F.C.B. Vance.