Story Hunter Podcasts

Murder in the Morgue: The Two Faces of Steven Toussaint

When Shirley Iven’s husband didn’t come home from work one night in April, 1998, she knew something was wrong. Her husband Bob worked at the University of Toronto, in the medical department. In fact, he worked in the morgue preparing bodies for dissection formedical students. But now he hadn’t come home and she was worried.

The following morning when she receives a phone call from the wife of Bob’s work colleague she discovers that both men are missing and there have been three mysterious church fires in the city’s west end.

But what’s the connection? Before the day is over, a body will be found and an international manhunt will be underway.

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Fatal Attraction: The Murder of Jasmine Fiore

Jasmine Fiore was a beautiful swim-suit model from Las Vegas and Ryan Jenkins was a Calgary real estate developer and wanna-be reality TV Star. When they met sparks flew and they were married within a few days. But the ink had barely dried on their marriage certificate before serious problems emerged. It turned out that Ryan had issues of control and jealousy. He already had a record for domestic assault back in Canada – something he had hidden from the producers of the dating reality show he was on and from his new wife. Within a few short months Jasmine realized she had made a big mistake and wanted nothing to do with him. But the reality of “rejection” was not something Ryan the reality star could handle. He wasn’t going to let his new wife go and his obsession would prove fatal for both.

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Ep. 1: Unforgotten - Jane Doe #59

The year was 1969 and the place was Los Angeles California. The decade known for sex, drugs and rock and roll was coming to a close and the City of Angeles was still reeling from the brutal and unsolved homicides of seven people in one weekend. Actress Sharon Tate and four others had been butchered in the Hollywood Hills on August 9 th and two more people were killed the following night. Then three months later the body of a young woman was found very close to the Tate murder scene. The unidentified girl had been dumped into a canyon off of Mullhuland Drive and she had been stabbed one-hundred-and-fifty-seven times.

Who was she? The police had nothing to go on so they named her Jane Doe #59. One month later, Charles Manson and members of his cult family were arrested for the seven ritualistic homicides. But soon rumours of other murders had the LAPD questioning if Manson and his followers were also responsible for the death of Jane Doe #59. Was the beautiful, unidentified young girl another victim of the Helter Skelter madman and would the police ever learn her true identity?

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Ep. 4: Escape from Kingston Penitentiary - The Life and Death of Ty Conn

At 31 years of age, Ty Conn has spent over half of his life behind prison walls. And he’s still facing 47 years in federal lock-up. But after two failed prison escapes and several audacious bank robberies, Ty realizes that if he has any chance at ever having a normal life he’s got to work hard and prove he can change. So, when he sees a unique opportunity to get out of the maximum -security hell hole called Millhaven, he takes it. But, instead of landing closer to his goal of a medium security institution, Ty ends up in Canada’s most notorious prison – Kingston Penitentiary. The odds are stacked against him and those determining his future aren’t ready to trust him. Ty knows he’s only got one way out of Kingston Pen and it isn’t through the front gates. No one has escaped from the archaic prison in 41 years, but that isn’t going to stop Ty Conn. He’s going over the wall, and no matter what happens, he has promised himself that he’s never going back to prison…and tragically it’s a promise he is able to keep.

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Ep. 3: Escape from Kingston Penitentiary - The Life and Death of Ty Conn

Tyrone Conn has spent his life running away. He has escaped from almost every institution that has tried to contain him, including Collins Bay Penitentiary. After forty-four days on the run he has surrendered but he will pay a heavy price for his misdeeds. At twenty-seven he’s now facing a forty-seven year prison term. Ty has vowed to straighten out his life, but trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. Bounced from on maximum security prison to the next, it’s all he can do just to keep his head above water. When a unique friendship blossoms with two television producers, Ty realizes he is valued and their support gives him the courage to face the future head on. But when his fellow inmates turn to him with an audacious plan, Ty is forced to make a life altering decision.

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Ep. 2: Escape from Kingston Penitentiary - The Life and Death of Ty Conn

Tyrone Conn never had a chance. Abandoned at a young age by his dysfunctional adopted family, he spent the rest of his childhood in institutions. He learned how to survive the hard way - by stealing and running away. And those two habits eventually landed him in federal prison by the time he was seventeen. Was it too late to turn his life around? He was a kid who had never know love, but love was out there and she was looking for him. Tyrone’s birth mother has never forgotten the baby boy she lost and she is intent on finding him. But when she does, she will soon discover the sad life her son has lived…and how it has led to a prison cell. She won’t abandon him again, but can a mother’s love alter Tyrone’s destiny?

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Ep. 1: Escape from Kingston Penitentiary - The Life and Death of Ty Conn

It was an escape that wasn’t supposed to happen! On May 6 th , 1999 an inmate scaled a thirty- two foot limestone wall at Kingston Penitentiary and became the first prisoner to breakout of the infamous penitentiary in 41 years. He ran and the public cheered him on because this wasn’t some violent criminal on the loose. He was a young man who had already lived over half of his life in institutions. Discarded by his family and society he turned to petty crime and eventually started robbing banks. Faced with a 47 year prison sentence, he bolted and had no plans of returning to prison.

But just fourteen days later, his fleeting taste of freedom would be over and he would be dead. And while it would be clear who pulled the trigger, many questions would remain about who and what actually killed Tyrone Conn.

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Ep 3: Laurie Bembenek Story - Woman On The Run

While Laurie remains in a Canadian prison, lawyers and politicians on both sides of the border continue to argue her case. New evidence and witness testimony presented by her Canadian legal team calls into question the very foundation of the Milwaukee prosecutors original case against her. But in order to potentially get a new trial, Laurie will have to return to Wisconsin. Ultimately she has to make a big decision. Stay in Canada with the hopes of gaining refugee status or return to the United States to seek the justice she claims she has long been denied? Either way, Laurie’s fight is far from over.

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Ep 2: Laurie Bembenek Story - Woman On The Run

Laurie Bembenek was convicted of killing her husband’s ex-wife based on what many people believed was highly suspicious and circumstantial evidence. So when she bolted from a Wisconsin prison after spending eight years incarcerated, it seemed like most of Milwaukee supported her escape. “Run Bambi run,” became her supporters rallying cry which soon turned into a media spectacle with t-shirts, bumper stickers and “Bambi” look-a-like contests. But while many felt justice had been denied, Wisconsin authorities were unwilling to re-examine the case. But when Laurie applies for refugee status in Canada based on persecution, a cross-border, political tug of war ensues. Laurie’s got one of Canada’s sharpest legal minds defending her and he intends on showing that she was wrongly convicted. He knows she is innocent and he can prove it.

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Ep 1: Laurie Bembenek Story - Woman On The Run

It was the summer of 1990 when a famous American fugitive was captured in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Suddenly every tabloid talk show was scrambling for the story and a media frenzy descended upon the small northern city. Since escaping from a Wisconsin prison three months earlier, the convicted killer had gained a great deal of support and sympathy from the public. Many believed that she had been wrongly convicted and had in fact, had been framed by the Milwaukee Police Department. She had already spent eight years in prison, and her requests for a new trial had all been denied. Now she was

sitting in a prison in Thunder Bay and the Americans wanted her back. What was Canada going to do with this famous American fugitive? Send her back to face justice or listen to her claims of innocence? Her name was Lawrencia (Laurie) Bambenek, but to the world she was known as “Bambi” - Bambi Bembenek.

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