Cold Case Canada

The Halloween Special is the last episode of Season 2. Join me and five storytellers as they tell you their favourite ghost stories: a haunted nightclub, a shooting, a former insane asylum, the Chinatown ghost, a cemetery and a haunted grand piano.

Photo: Riverdale Psychiatric Hospital, courtesy Coquitlam Archives

In 1965, Rene Castellani, a 40-year-old radio personality murdered his wife Esther with arsenic-laced milkshakes so he could marry Lolly, CKNW’s 25-year-old receptionist. The Castellani's had an 11-year-old daughter called Jeannine, who became the collateral damage in one of the most sensational murder cases of the 20th century. 

This episode is based on original research and interviews from Murder by Milkshake: an astonishing true story of adultery, arsenic and a charismatic killer 

For photos, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

In 1965, Rene Castellani, a 40-year-old radio personality murdered his wife Esther with arsenic-laced milkshakes so he could marry Lolly, CKNW’s 25-year-old receptionist. The Castellani's had an 11-year-old daughter called Jeannine, who became the collateral damage in one of the most sensational murder cases of the 20th century. 

This episode is based on original research and interviews from Murder by Milkshake: an astonishing true story of adultery, arsenic and a charismatic killer 

For photos, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

Three weeks after Pat Lowther was reported missing, her body was discovered by a family out for a hike at Furry Creek, about 50 kilometres from her Vancouver home. She had been beaten to death with a hammer by a man who was jealous of her strong, often violent feminist poetry and her growing place in the Canadian literary scene. 

Photo: Pat Lowther and Fred Candelaria co-chairs of the League of Canadian Poets. Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun, September 5 1975. 

For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

In the months leading up to her murder, Muriel Lindsay had been targeted and harassed. Her cat was stolen, she’d received bizarre anonymous letters, and someone had used her credit card to take out subscriptions and make a donation to the United Way in her name. Who was stalking Muriel and why was this 40-year-old postal worker found beaten to death in her West End apartment?

Cold Case Canada is based on original research and interviews from a chapter in my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

On February 22, 1975 country and western singer Debbie Roe, 22 finished her shift at the OK Corral, stopped to get gas and something to eat. Her body was found the next day on an isolated stretch of highway in Langley, BC. Just two months earlier, the body of Barbara LaRocque, 22 had been found nearby. Barbara worked at the Syndicate, a club with the same owner as the OK Corral. In March 1975, the body of Gail (Sam) Rogers, 26 a dancer at Vancouver’s Penthouse Nightclub was found just off the Sea to Sky Highway near Squamish. Is there a connection between these three unsolved murders?

This podcast is based on original research and interviews and a story from my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

At the start of 1985, things looked good for Jimmy and Lily Ming. The couple had two small children, owned their own home and worked in the family’s thriving Robson Street restaurant. But by the end of January, Jimmy and Lily had been kidnapped from their Vancouver house, the restaurant was closed and the rest of the Ming family feared for their lives.

This podcast is based on original research and interviews and a story from my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

For crime scene photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

Sixteen-year-old Rhona Duncan was murdered in the early hours of July 15, 1976 after walking home from a high school birthday party. She was in sight of her North Vancouver house, when she was intercepted, raped and strangled. Although 45 years has gone by, Rhona’s friends still get together to remember her and to try and solve her murder. Some believe they know who did it.

This podcast is based on original research and interviews and a story from my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

For crime scene photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

On January 7, 1976, Brenda Young, a 38-year-old mother of four, was found murdered in her store the Good Earth on Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver. After I wrote about Brenda in my book Cold Case Vancouver, a retired detective contacted me and said Brenda’s murder was a case of mistaken identity. He believed that a corrupt RCMP officer, then in jail, put out a contract on the female police informant who had put him there. She was about the same age as Brenda and ran a store right across the road from the Good Earth. 

This podcast is based on original research and interviews and a story from my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com

In 1954, Bob Hopkins worked at the Vancouver News Herald. He was a friendly man who kept to himself and was liked by his colleagues. None of them knew that Bob was gay and lived a secret life. He had to. In the 1950s homosexuality was illegal and coming out would have meant losing his job, his place in the community, and possibly his family.

This podcast is based on original research and interviews and a story from my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders

Preorder my new book Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck through Arsenal Pulp Press or our favourite bookstore - coming April 2025. For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: evelazarus.com