Story Hunter Podcasts

Bonus: As They Lay Sleeping - Remembering The Crimes Of Russel Johnson

In the summer of 1974, sixteen-year-old Laura, her younger sister Colleen and their mother Doris moved into a new apartment in Guelph Ont. Her parents had divorced after a thirty year marriage and this was a new start. But then tragedy struck, when Laura found her mother dead in her bed. The coroner ruled the death as natural causes and the family was heartbroken. But then two years after her mother died, Laura was told that her mother had actually been murdered by a serial killer named Russel Johnson. Forty-seven years later, Laura talks about the man who crept into their apartment and killed her mother and how she and the rest of her family are determined to keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life.

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Ep. 2: As They Lay Sleeping - Remembering The Crimes Of Russel Johnson

The London police narrow in on their prime suspect in the murder of two young women and he eventually confesses. But detectives soon realize that his crimes are even more horrific than they could have ever imagined. Did they miss the clues? Could some of his been saved?

The “Bedroom strangler” is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is put away for life, but that was many years ago and now he wants out. Can his victim’s families convince a review board that he should stay locked up forever, or will this serial killer ultimately walk free?

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Ep. 1: As They Lay Sleeping - Remembering The Crimes Of Russel Johnson

It was the 1970’s in London, Ontario, and the city was on edge. Someone was attacking young women in their apartments. Victims would wake in the middle of the night to find a stranger standing over their beds. But how was he getting into high-rise apartments, including one fifteen stories up? The police knew they were looking for a unique individual - someone with super-human strength, but the attacker had other strange habits too. He would often watch his victims sleeping before he attacked them and then he would clean up their apartments – even washing the dishes after one assault.

Dubbed the “Bedroom strangler,” his behaviour is escalating with each new attack. Then two women are found dead and the London police launch the biggest manhunt in the city’s history. Will they catch the killer before he strikes again and what deadly secrets will he reveal?

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Ep. 2: Stanley Buckowski - Murderer On The Run

A string of daring robberies in Los Angeles, California has the local police on high alert. But when an elderly woman is shot to death during an attempted break- in, law enforcement knows they have a killer on their hands. Finally, the thief is caught in the act, but escapes from police custody from a thirteenth-floor hospital window. Dubbed the “Los Angeles cat burglar,” the nimble suspect is eventually recaptured after a brazen car chase and shootout in Hollywood. But who is this mystery man and what crimes has he committed? When his true identity is revealed, authorities in two countries must decide on his fate. But before he pays the ultimate price for his misdeeds, will the Los Angeles cat burglar admit to all that he has done and the lives he has taken?

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Ep. 1: Stanley Buckowski - Murderer On The Run

In the summer of 1949, the city of Toronto is shocked by three senseless murders on a holiday weekend. One man is gunned down in front of his wife and daughter while trying to stop a robbery in Cabbagetown and two days later a young couple is found shot to death. The police are baffled by the brutal murders, but one Toronto police detective is determined to solve the crimes. Through dogged determination and rudimentary police science, an unlikely suspect emerges – a petty criminal named Stanley Buckowski. But Buckowski is on the run and hiding

somewhere in the US. The Toronto police are in hot pursuit, but will they catch their killer before he strikes again?

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Ep. 5: Peter Demeter-Unrepentant Killer

In December,1974 Peter Demeter is sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his wife Christine. After his appeals are denied, and letters from his lover Marina become less and less frequent, Peter sets his mind on other pursuits namely money and revenge. Peter sues the insurance companies for the one million dollar life insurance policy he had on his wife and begins to plot ways of getting back at those who he feels betrayed him. No one is safe from his evil including those closest to him. And while maintaining his innocence in Christine’s death, Peter plans two more murders. 

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Ep. 4: Peter Demeter-Unrepentant Killer

Peter Demeter’s murder trial gets underway in London, Ontario and it soon becomes clear to thedefence that it’s going to take a miracle to save their client. Defence attorney Joe Pomerant will stop at nothing to try to shift Christine Demeter’s murder onto someone else, including Christine herself. He claims it was Christine who had actually hired a hitman to kill Peter but when her murder plot back-fired, she ended up dead. With more surprise witnesses, damning testimony and constant disruptions by the defence team, the trial becomes one of the longest in Canadian history. But in the end, what will the jury decide? Will Peter Demeter be found guilty of murdering his wife?

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Ep. 3: Peter Demeter-Unrepentant Killer

While Peter Demeter awaits his trial, the Mississauga police continue their investigation into the murder of Christine. They know Peter had strong motives to kill his wife – an unhappy marriage, a one million dollar life insurance policy on her and a younger mistress, but they want to find the hitman Peter hired to kill his wife. And it doesn’t take long for former friends and associates to start flipping on their friend. Soon the police are confronted with more evidence against Peter and information that leads them to a bizarre Hungarian mafia underworld where Christine’s killer may be hiding.

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Ep. 2: Peter Demeter-Unrepentant Killer

Thirty -three year old wife and mother Christine Demeter has been brutally murdered and based on her husband Peter’s odd reaction to his wife’s death, the Mississauga police suspect that he may have had something to do with it. But he has a solid alibi so the Mississauga police quickly realize that they are going to have to rely on some untraditional investigative techniques to catch their killer. Wire taps, secretly recorded conversations and police informants soon give them the ammunition they need to arrest Peter Demeter for the murder of his wife.

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Ep. 1: Peter Demeter-Unrepentant Killer

Wednesday July 18th, 1973 was going to be a busy day in the Demeter household. There were meals to prepare for out of town guests along with some sightseeing and souvenir shopping in downtown Toronto. Peter and Christine Demeter lived in the exclusive Erindale neighbourhood of Mississauga Ont. To the outside world, they had it all – a beautiful three-year old daughter, a gorgeous home with a pool, luxury cars, a thriving business and even a beloved spaniel. But by the end of that sultry, summer evening Christine would be lying dead in a pool of blood in the garage.

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