Episode 384: Driving the prairie roads south of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, your eyes adjust to an endless sea of grass and sky, where grain elevators rise like sentinels and ragged lines of poplar windbreaks whisper in the steady wind. It’s a landscape that makes you feel both small and free—until, in the middle of the wheat-coloured plains, you come upon a steel-hulled ship sitting high and dry on the grass. This is the Sontiainen, built by Finnish immigrant Tom Sukanen, who spent years constructing it here, hundreds of kilometres from salt water, in hopes of sailing it home to Finland. What sounds like the beginning of a folk tale is entirely true: the man, the ship, and his dream were real—and so was the heartbreak that followed.

Sources:

The Sad Story Behind the Prairie Ship of Tom Sukanen
The Tragedy of Tom Sukanen
View of Little Steamship on the Prairie: Grass-Roots Preservation and Artistic Interpretation in the Construction of Ethnic, Local, and National Identities | Scandinavian-Canadian Studies
Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village & Museum - A real location with a fictitious community.
Dustship Glory - Athabasca University Press
Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum
Dreams in the Dust: The Story of Tom Sukanen
The tragic tale of Tom Sukanen

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Episode 383: On June 18, 2023, five people boarded the experimental Titan submersible for what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime voyage to the wreck of the Titanic, resting nearly four kilometres beneath the North Atlantic. Less than two hours into the descent, all contact with the surface vessel was lost. Over the following days, searchers scoured the area, but hopes for a rescue faded quickly. When remotely operated vehicles finally reached the seabed, they found the Titan reduced to scattered fragments, the result of a catastrophic implosion. Aboard were Oceangate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, 61; British businessman Hamish Harding, 58; French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; and Pakistani father and son Shahzada Dawood, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19; all were killed instantly.

Titan Submersible - Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation
Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation releases report on Titan submersible
SUBMERSIBLE TITAN MBI REPORT (04AUG2025)
OceanGate CEO ‘completely ignored’ flawed Titan sub before deadly trip, report finds
Titan sub firm used 'intimidation tactics' and 'critically flawed' safety practices, US Coast Guard report finds
Meet the man taking submarine trips to the Titanic
Stockton Rush | Wikipedia
US Coast Guard Report on Titan Submersible Implosion Singles Out OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush | Wired
OceanGate's 'toxic workplace culture' was bad enough to contribute to the Titan submersible disaster, Coast Guard says | Business Insider
Who is Stockton Rush? The OceanGate CEO killed in Titanic tourist submarine | The Independent
A Deep Dive Into the Plans to Take Tourists to the 'Titanic'
Titan submersible implosion final report critical of CEO's inadequate oversight
Coast Guard releases final Titan sub disaster report: Live
Oceangate's Titan whistleblower: 'People were sold a lie'

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Episode 382: On April 2, 1885, the tranquil settlement of Frog Lake in what is now Alberta became the scene of a devastating tragedy. Known as the Frog Lake Massacre, this violent episode unfolded during the North-West Rebellion. Nine settlers, among them government officials, two Roman Catholic priests, traders, and a clerk, lost their lives at the hands of a group of Cree warriors led by Wandering Spirit. The attack stemmed from mounting desperation within the Plains Cree community, who faced starvation triggered by the near extinction of buffalo and the inflexible, often cruel administration of Indian Agent Thomas Quinn. While Cree Chief Big Bear advocated for peace and negotiation, tensions within his band and widespread hardship created a perfect storm. The violence not only shocked the young Dominion of Canada but also shaped the outcome of the North-West Resistance and left a legacy of sorrow and contested memory that resonates to this day.

Sources:

Parks Canada - Frog Lake National Historic Site of Canada
Canada A Country by Consent: Native Treaties 1871-1897: Big Bear
Chief Big Bear Mistahamaskwa
MISTAHIMASKWA (Big Bear, Gros Ours) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Browse by Subject: Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear) Plains Cree Chief
Big Bear — North-West Mounted Police
The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | Details
Big Bear | Wikipedia
Frog Lake Massacre 1885 | Elk Point Historical Society
A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905
Two Months in the Camp of Big Bear., by Theresa Gowanlock and Theresa Delaney
Blood Red the Sun [The War Trail of Big Bear]
KAPAPAMAHCHAKWEW (Papamahchakwayo) (Wandering Spirit, Esprit Errant) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Battleford Hangings, 1885 Riel Rebellion
Kā-pēpāmahchakwēw = Wandering Spirit : Plains Cree war chief by Garry Radison.
Narratives and Drama in 1885 | Our Legacy
North-West Resistance - Indigenous Saskatchewan Encyclopedia
Northwest Rebellion - Frog Lake - Military History
Canada's Subjugation of the Plains Cree, 1879-1885 by John L. Tobias
John McDougall publications
A Redman's Viewpoint | Heinsburg History
Edgar Dewdney National Historic Person (1835–1916)
Lac La Biche - History - Aboriginal Descendants - Big Bear
Lost Harvests: Prairie Indian Reserve Farmers and Government Policy, 2nd Ed.
PDF — Rethinking Treaty 6
Big Bear | Creator - Land - People
A Tale of Two Massacres | Literary Review of Canada
Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Hosts Wandering Spirit Commemoration
The Life Of Big Bear | Canadian History Ehx
An infamous anniversary: 130 years since Canada’s Largest Mass Hanging 27 November 1885
Battleford Hangings | SASKATCHEWAN INDIAN | JULY 1972

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Episode 381: In December 1987, 12-year-old Trina Campbell, a Métis girl from Brampton, Ontario, was abducted and murdered by Douglas Robert Worth, a violent ex-convict known as the “Pictou Sadist.” Despite psychiatric warnings, Worth had been released months earlier. His relatives’ testimony helped lead police to her remains, and he was convicted of second-degree murder, receiving a life sentence with 23 years before parole eligibility.

Now, in 2025, Worth has been released at age 73 and is living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, under strict monitoring. Halifax police issued a public safety alert, warning that he remains a high-risk offender with a long record of extreme violence, including rape, kidnapping, and dismemberment.

Sources:

Pictou, NS | The Canadian Encyclopedia
History of Pictou
Robert Hare - UBC Department of Psychology
May 10, 1988, page 1 - The Expositor at Newspapers.com
R. v. Worth (R.D.) vLex
R. v. Worth, 1995 CanLII 366 (ON CA)
R. v. Worth, 1989 CanLII 7153 (ON SC)
Trina Campbell, Brampton, 1987 — 1990 | Search - Newspapers.com™
Douglas Worth has been imprisoned for life; with no chance of parole...
Douglas Robert Worth: The Pictou Sadist
YouTube — Pictou Sadist
Police say high-risk offender now living in Dartmouth area
HUNTER: GTA dismemberment pedophile killer Douglas Worth out of prison
High-risk offender now living in Halifax area | CBC News
Killer who raped, decapitated 12-year-old Ontario girl has been paroled: police
Home Page - Final Report | MMIWG
1977 Report to Parilament by the SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN CANADA

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Episode 380: The tragic saga of an indigenous man named Stephen Kiyoshk is one of Canada’s most haunting tales of crime, retribution, and the complexities of the justice system. Spanning nearly three decades, the case includes double murder, dramatic trials, passionate community involvement, and a final execution that left deep scars on Walpole Island and the greater Sarnia, Ontario area. The primary victims of this saga were Charles Nahdee and Adam Johns in the notorious 1912 double homicide, and, decades later, Jerry Blackbird, whose violent death in 1939 ultimately led to Stephen Kiyoshk’s execution.

Sources:
Stephen Kiyoshk (1891-1941)
SARNIA AGENCY - MURDER ON WALPOLE ISLAND OF ADAM JOHN AND CHARLES NAHDEE BY STEPHEN KLYOSHK Archives / Collections and Fonds
SARNIA AGENCY - MURDER OF JERRY BLACKBIRD BY STEPHEN KIYOSHK (CLIPPINGS) Archives / Collections and Fonds
Walpole Island First Nation
Stephen Kiyoshk
Jan 15, 1912, page 10 - The Montreal Star at Newspapers.com
Apr 05, 1912, page 1 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com
Dec 02, 1912, page 2 - The Times Herald at Newspapers.com
Apr 02, 1913, page 1 - The Sault Star at Newspapers.com
Sept 19, 1940, page 14 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com
Sept 20, 1940, page 17 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com
Nov 25, 1940, page 15 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com
Nov 26, 1940, page 19 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com
Jan 03, 1941, page 1 - Detroit Free Press at Newspapers.com

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Episode 379: In the annals of Canadian folklore and unsolved mysteries, few stories have endured as hauntingly and stubbornly as that of Jerome, the silent, legless man who appeared from out of nowhere on the remote beach of Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, in September 1863. To this day, no one knows for sure who he was, where he came from, or what chain of events led to his abandonment. What is known, thanks to accounts recorded by locals and later collected by historians and folklorists, is the extraordinary set of circumstances under which he entered the lives of several small maritime communities and remained there, silent and enigmatic, for nearly half a century.

Sources:

Jerome: Solving the Mystery of Nova Scotia's Silent Castaway by Fraser Mooney
Apr 30, 1930, page 28 - The Evening Mail at Newspapers.com
Jul 23, 1910, page 3 - The St. John Standard at Newspapers.com
Sept 16, 1905, page 10 - The Montreal Star at Newspapers.com
Sept 28, 1905, page 3 - Nanaimo Daily News at Newspapers.com
Apr 23, 1912, page 6 - Telegraph-Journal at Newspapers.com
MysteryQuests - Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History
The Legless Mystery Man
Jerome: The Mystery of the Man Who Came Out of Nowhere – LIFE AS A HUMAN
Jerome: The Mystery Man of Baie Sainte-Marie
Jerome of Sandy Cove - Wikipedia
The story of Jerome: The southwestern N.S. mystery that never ends, even 110 years after his death | SaltWire
The legless castaway: one of Nova Scotia's most enduring puzzles, speculatively retold. - Free Online Library
“Jérôme” - The Mystery Continues
Jerome of Sandy Cove: The Unusual Nova Scotian Mystery Man | by Charlie O’Brien | Medium
Jerome of Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia - Historic Mysteries
Strange, Spooky and Supernatural - Mike Browne - Paperback

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Episode 378: Fredericton, New Brunswick, in the sultry summer of 1949, was a community caught between the relief of peacetime and the tensions of post-war hardship. Along the margins of this tidy city lived George Hamilton (25) and Rufus Hamilton (23), two young black brothers whose lives had been fraught with poverty, exclusion, and desperation. These would be factors in the horrific actions they took, which would soon propel them into local infamy as the last men ever executed in Fredericton.

At the heart of this tragedy was Norman Burgoyne: a respected, 35-year-old taxi driver, decorated war veteran, and devoted family man whose sudden, violent death would shatter the sense of safety in the city.

Podcast Promo:
Brew Crime Podcast

Episode Sources:
Norman Burgoyne - Search - Newspapers.com™
May 20, 1949, page 8 - Daily Gleaner at Newspapers.com
Jul 27, 1949, page 9 - Daily Gleaner at Newspapers.com
Jul 27, 1949, page 1 - Telegraph-Journal at Newspapers.com
The O'Ree and Lawrence Families
Black New Brunswickers reflect on past and modern racism | CBC News
Black History Walking Tour
“bad characters”: The Execution of George & Rufus Hamilton in Fredericton, 1949 | Acadiensis
Last hanging in Fredericton
George and Rue
View of Grieving the Ungrievable: Negation and Recognition in Execution Poems | Borders: Undergraduate Arts Journal
Execution Poems : The Black Acadian Tragedy of George and Rue | Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS)
View of Whips, Hammers, and Ropes: The Burden of Race and Desire in Clarke’s George & Rue | Studies in Canadian Literature
Definitely not Butch and Sundance

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Episode 377: Joyce Carolyn Stevens, the daughter of a preacher from Houston, Texas, and Rose Marie Turford, a Canadian nurse and suburban mother, became infamous as the real-life “Thelma and Louise.” Their cross-border crime spree in the mid-1990s stunned communities from Houston to Toronto, as they lured, robbed, and humiliated unsuspecting men, all while eluding law enforcement. The case, with its bizarre twists, elaborate disguises, and a mysterious figure named “Avery,” captivated the public and left a trail of questions about motive, manipulation, and the dark side of friendship.

Sources:
1997 CanLII 26231 (ON CNO) | College of Nurses of Ontario v Turford | CanLII
Rose Turford and Carolyn Stevens | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
CANADA NABS FUGITIVE DUO `THELMA, LOUISE'
After serving 13 years in Texas, let the Canadian half of the infamous 'Thelma and Louise' crime duo come home, her three sons plead
The Canadian half of a Houston robbery duo dubbed... - UPI Archives
Real-life "Thelma and Louise' jump bail
'Thelma and Louise' fugitives arrested
Unlikely Suspects Are Sought in 'Thelma and Louise' Robberies (Published 1995)
Real-Life 'Thelma and Louise' Elude the Law
In Toronto, U.S. Fugitives Find They Can Run but Can't Hide (Published 1996)
"72 Hours: True Crime" The Game (TV Episode 2004) | Documentary, Crime
This Real-Life ‘Thelma and Louise’ Caused Mayhem Wherever They Went
WOMEN ON THE RUN

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Episode 376: On June 6, 2021, Nathaniel Veltman, 20, deliberately drove his truck into the Afzaal family, Pakistani immigrants, as they walked along the road in London, Ontario. The attack killed four members of the Afzaal family: Talat Afzaal (74), Salman Afzaal (46), Madiha Salman (44), and Yumnah Afzaal (15), and severely injured 9-year-old Fayez Afzaal. Veltman admitted that he had targeted the family solely because they were Muslim, making this Canada’s first fatal vehicle attack prosecuted as terrorism.

Sources:

Canadian Anti-Hate Network
What we know about the Muslim family in the fatal London, Ont., truck attack | CBC News
Court releases dramatic video of scene moments before London, Ont. Muslim family is killed
2021 London, Ontario truck attack
Terrorism in Veltman Murder Case - News Release - PPSC
AUDIO: Nathaniel Veltman and the 911 call
RAW VIDEO: Nathaniel Veltman's first interview with London police
RAW VIDEO: Nathaniel Veltman's June 6, 2021, arrest
Veltman says he's remorseful for killing Muslim family
An Act of Evil | MacLeans
Muslim family in Canada killed in 'premeditated' truck attack
Disorders took Nathaniel Veltman to 'very, very dark place': Defence expert
The Terrorist: How a devout Christian kid became a radicalized mass murderer
2024 ONSC 2276 (CanLII) | R. v. Veltman | CanLII
2024 ONSC 1054 (CanLII) | R. v. Veltman | CanLII
2023 ONSC 5063 (CanLII) | R. v. Veltman | CanLII
Killer of London, Ont., Muslim family appeals convictions, challenging use of manifesto at trial
Nathaniel Veltman | News, Videos & Articles | Global News
In manifesto, Nathaniel Veltman called for 'violent revolution'
Veltman sentencing: Killer’s actions ‘constitute terrorist activity’, judge says
'I did it on purpose': What the Nathaniel Veltman jury didn't hear
'He was smiling': Officer who arrested Veltman testifies at his trial
Timeline: London, Ont. attack kills four members of Muslim family
2025 Vancouver car attack
Islamophobia
Christian terrorism
Muslim family's kin grieves 'theft of precious life' as convicted killer's sentencing in London, Ont., begins | CBC News
Nathaniel Veltman's 'deep regret' dismissed by Afzaal family supporters
Introduction: The Enduring Relationship of Religion and Violence
Rapoport-Four-Waves-of-Modern-Terrorism
A Multidimensional Analysis of Religious Extremism
Christian Identity Reborn | The George Washington University
It’s Time to Talk About Violent Christian Extremism
God, Religious Extremism and Violence
Preventing Violent Extremism and Mass Atrocities - Handbook For Parliamentarians | PDF | Violence | Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant

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Episode 375: On a bleak November afternoon in 2003, Toronto’s east end became the unlikely stage for a crime so brutal and bizarre that, even years later, it defies belief. The victim was 12-year-old Johnathon Robert Madden, a boy remembered by teachers and friends as “kind and thoughtful,” the kind of child who would go out of his way to walk a younger classmate home just to ensure he was safe. His murder was not the work of a stranger or a notorious criminal, but of his brother, 16-year-old Kevin Madden—a troubled youth whose anger and alienation had been festering for years. Kevin was not alone that day. With him were two friends: 15-year-old Timothy Ferriman, a self-styled “vampire” desperate for attention and belonging, and another teenage boy whose identity remains protected by law. Together, the teens would go on an afternoon rampage of violence and destruction that would shatter a family and horrify a city.

Sources:

2006 CanLII 33472 (ON SC) | R. v. Ferriman | CanLII
Murder of Johnathon Robert Madden
Rage by Jerry Langton (Ebook) - Scribd
THIS WAS JOHNATHON
Johnathon Madden (1991 - 2003) — In Memory Of
Why Monitor Violent Websites? A Justification
Goth culture social network Vampirefreaks closes
Farewell To VampireFreaks: The Website That Changed More Than Alt…
Neighbours React To Johnathon Verdict
Mother chronicles Johnathon's life in memorial website | CBC News
Teen Sentenced As An Adult For Murdering His Brother In Johnathon Trial
'Johnathan' named as teen killers receive adult sentences | CBC News
Johnathon’s killer loses bid for new trial

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