Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

Latest Episodes:

Ripoffs and a Rolex: The Murder of Ronald Joseph Platt Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

Episode 421: On July 28, 1996, a fisherman hauling nets off the coast of Devon, England pulled up a body. The dead man had no wallet, no identification — nothing but a Rolex watch still ticking on his wrist. When British police traced the watch, it gave them a name: Ronald Joseph Platt, 51, of Essex.

When they went looking for him, they found him — apparently alive.

The trail led back across the Atlantic to Ayr, a small town in southwestern Ontario, where roughly seventy people had spent years trusting the wrong man with everything they had. By the time anyone understood what he'd done, he was already gone, and Ronald Platt was dead in the English Channel.

Sources:
Walker, Re, 1998 CanLII 14906 (ON SC)
A Hand in the Water: The Many Lies of Albert Walker — Bill Schiller (HarperCollins, 1998)
Nothing Sacred: The Many Lives and Betrayals of Albert Walker — Alan Cairns (McClelland-Bantam, 1998)
Walker's Trail of Pain — Maclean's (July 6, 1998)
Walker Money Hunt — Maclean's (July 20, 1998)
Walker Faces Daughter at First Day of Trial — CBC News (June 1998)
Mysterious Mr. Walker Sentenced for Fraud — The Globe and Mail (July 2007)
Fugitive Financier Sentenced to Four Years for Fraud — CBC News (July 2007)
Rolex Killer Denied Day Parole from B.C. Prison — Vancouver Sun (February 2024)
Albert Johnson Walker — Wikipedia
The Rolex Murder — therolexmurder.com (Elaine Boyes's site)
The Rolex Killer - True Crime
Explore topics about albert-johnson-walker | Crime and Investigation UK

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Every Dog Has Its Day : The Case of Valentine Shortis May 25, 2026

Show notes

Episode 420: On the night of March 1st, 1895, in the paymaster's office of the Montreal Cotton Company in Valleyfield, Quebec, a twenty-year-old Irish immigrant named Francis Valentine Cuthbert Shortis shot three men — killing two of them and leaving the third for dead in the darkness of the mill floor. What followed was the longest murder trial in Canadian history, a psychiatric battle that divided the country's leading medical minds, and a political crisis that reached the cabinet of Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell and the desk of the Governor General himself. The victims were John Loy, twenty-four years old, and night watchman Maxime Leboeuf, who left behind a widow and five children. The survivor was Hugh Wilson, who carried the consequences for the rest of his life.

Sources:
Valentine Shortis Case | thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
The Queen vs. F.V.C. Shortis (microform)| Internet Archive
The Case of Valentine Shortis — University of Toronto Press / Amazon.ca
Valentine Shortis Case — The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Trial of the Century: The Story of 'Cracked Shortis' — History Ireland
The Case of Valentine Shortis — Yesterday and Today — PubMed
Forensic Psychiatry in Canada — Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
Montreal Gazette Trial Coverage, October 25, 1895 — Newspapers.com
Profile: Author-Professor Martin Friedland — Bill Gladstone Genealogy
Montreal Cotton Company — History of the Mill at Valleyfield — MUSO Virtual Museum
Manitoba Schools Question — Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Montreal Cotton Company Mills — Library and Archives Canada
Sir Donald Macmaster, Crown Prosecutor — Wikipedia
J.N. Greenshields, Lead Defence Counsel — Americana Aristocracy
Henri St. Pierre, Defence Counsel — 76th New York State Volunteers

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The 2017 Las Vegas Shooting: Canadian Connections May 18, 2026

Show notes

Episode 419: On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on more than 22,000 concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. In eleven minutes, 58 people were killed and hundreds more wounded — the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in American history. Among the dead were four Canadians: Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia; Jessica Klymchuk, 34, a mother of four and beloved school librarian and bus driver from Valleyview, Alberta; Calla Medig, 28, of Jasper, Alberta, days away from a promotion she had earned; and Tara Roe Smith, 34, of Okotoks, Alberta, who became separated from her husband in the chaos — her family spending the next day searching. At least six more Canadians were wounded. Hundreds of others came home carrying something that doesn't show up in any injury count.

Sources:
LVMPD Criminal Investigative Report — October 1, 2017
LVMPD Final Force Investigation Team Report (Internet Archive)
FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit — Key Findings, Las Vegas Review Panel (2019)
CSIS Public Report 2025 — Nihilistic Violent Extremism
What is Nihilistic Violent Extremism? — Global News
Jordan McIldoon — CBC News
Jessica Klymchuk — CBC News
Calla Medig — CBC News
Tara Roe Smith — CBC News

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Air Canada Flight 797: The Death of Stan Rogers May 11, 2026

Show notes

On June 2nd, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797 departed Dallas, Texas, bound for Montreal, Quebec, with a stop in Toronto. Forty-one passengers and five crew were on board. Shortly before 7 pm Eastern time, a fire broke out inside the rear lavatory wall and burned, hidden and undetected, for nearly fifteen minutes before anyone smelled smoke.

The crew declared an emergency and landed safely at Greater Cincinnati International Airport in Covington, Kentucky. The airplane touched down intact. Sixty to ninety seconds after the cabin doors opened, a flashfire rolled through the interior. Twenty-three passengers did not get out.
Among the dead was Stan Rogers, folk musician, husband, father, born in Hamilton, Ontario. He was thirty-three years old, returning home after performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas.

The investigation that followed reshaped aviation safety standards worldwide.

Sources:
Air Canada Flight 797
Aviation Safety Network | Transcript of Air Canada Flight 797 - 02 JUN 1983
Stan Rogers | Spotify
Fogarty's Cove Music
Stan Rogers Folk Festival
Stan Rogers intros & sings "Barrett's Privateers" in One Warm Line documentary

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Murder Behind Vinyl: The Tragic Death of Lukas Strasser-Hird May 04, 2026

Show notes

Episode 417: In the early hours of November 23, 2013, 18-year-old Lukas Strasser-Hird was violently beaten behind the Vinyl nightclub in Calgary, in an alley off 10th Avenue Southwest. He was rushed to the hospital, but the injuries were too severe, and he died later that morning from multiple stab wounds and massive blood loss. Walk with us through the events that led from a night out at the club to one of Calgary’s most closely watched murder cases, and examine how the chaos in that alley would ripple through the city, the courtroom, and the lives left behind.

Sources:

Lukas Strasser-Hird | Global News, Videos & Articles
R.I.P Austin Lukas Strasser-Hird | Facebook
R v Cabrera, 2019 ABCA 184 (CanLII)
R v Cabrera, 2021 ABCA 291 (CanLII)
R v Gervais, 2019 ABQB 344 (CanLII)
R. v. Shlah, 2019 SCC 56 (CanLII), [2019] 4 SCR 136
FM010_Appellant_Franz-Emir-Cabrera SCC File No.: 38677
Lukas Strasser-Hird - Obituary | Calgary Herald
The final homecoming of Lukas Strasser-Hird - National | Global News
1st-degree murder conviction upheld for Calgary man in swarming death - Calgary
Nathan Gervais sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years in Lukas Strasser-Hird swarming death - Calgary

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Matthew Baillie Begbie — The Hanging Judge Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Episode 416: Matthew Baillie Begbie (1819–1894) served as the first judge of mainland British Columbia during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, arriving in 1858 as the colony struggled to impose order across a fast-growing and often violent region. Known to many as the “Hanging Judge,” Begbie presided over cases from Yale to Barkerville, travelling long distances to hold court in mining towns and settlements. His legacy remains contested: some describe him as a firm and capable judge working within the limits of colonial law, while others point to cases like the 1864 trials and executions of six Tsilhqot’in men following the Chilcotin War as evidence of a system that failed Indigenous people. Here, we examine Begbie’s life, his rulings, and the lasting impact of his role in shaping justice in British Columbia.

Sources:

Heritage - Tŝilhqot’in National Government
Prime Minister delivers a statement of exoneration for six Tsilhqot’in Chiefs
Chilcotin Hangings of 1864: Canada’s Colonial Injustice
B.C. redresses wrongful hangings of Tsilhqot'in war chiefs
Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume VI: British Columbia and the Yukon - Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History
BEGBIE, Sir MATTHEW BAILLIE – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Parks Canada - Begbie, Sir Matthew Baillie National Historic Person
Judge Begbie Hangs Chiefs - British Columbia - An Untold History
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie | Grave
Memoirs and Documents Relating to Judge Begbie
https://www.lillooet.ca/sir-matthew-baillie-begbie
Justin Trudeau exonerates Tsilhqot’in chiefs hanged in 1864 ‘Chilcotin War’

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The Legend of the Thunderbird Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

Episode 415: For generations, people across North America have reported seeing enormous birds, describing wingspans that seem impossible and encounters they struggle to explain. Long before those reports were written, the Thunderbird was already known in many Indigenous cultures, where it is understood as a powerful and sacred being associated with thunder, lightning, and the forces that shape the natural world. For some, it is symbolic. For others, it is real. These are living traditions that deserve care and respect.

Sources:

The Thunderbird Indigenous Symbol
Thunderbird (mythology) | Wikipedia
Jun 13, 1927, page 24 - The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com™
Aug 06, 1933, page 45 - The Sunday Oregonian at Newspapers.com™
Aug 20, 1933, page 3 - The Ogden Standard-Examiner at Newspapers.com™
Tombstone epitaph (Tombstone, Ariz.), April 26, 1890 | Library of Congress
Legend or Lie? The Tombstone Thunderbird | kgun9.com
r/Cryptozoology | What about Thunderbird?
r/Cryptozoology | Thunderbird sighting?
Thunderbird — A Canadian Legend | Mysteries of Canada
Thunderbird Stories from the Canadian Shield | Mysteries of Canada
Large-bodied birds are over-represented in unstructured citizen science data - Scientific Reports
Thunderbird | CryptidWiki
Why Giant Bird Sightings Still Appear Today
PROOF of the Tombstone Thunderbird - Forgotten History

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Redo and Update: The Monster of Miramichi Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

Episode 414: In the fall of 1989, the Miramichi region of New Brunswick became a place of unimaginable terror as escaped killer Allan Legere, the Monster of the Miramichi, unleashed a seven-month rampage of sexual assault, arson, and murder. He beat to death beloved store owner Annie Flam, strangled and burned sisters Donna and Linda Daughney in their home, and tortured and killed Father James Smith in his rectory, crimes on top of his earlier conviction for murdering shopkeeper John Glendenning during a savage home invasion. We covered Legere in episodes 18 and 19 in the pre-Mathew days. But now, with his death in a maximum-security prison at age 78 on March 9, 2026, it’s time to remember the horrific crimes, the victims and the community that endured him.

Sources:

Serial Killer, Allan Joseph LEGERE - AKA The Monster of the Miramichi
Law Library | Our Unique Digital Collections | Allan Legere | UNB
Death of an inmate from Edmonton Institution | Corrections Canada
LEGERE, Allan Joseph | Serial Dispatches
18: Allan Legere – Monster of Miramichi – Part 1 (NB) – Dark Poutine
19: Allan Legere – Monster of Miramichi – Part 2 (NB) – Dark Poutine
Allan Legere Voir Dire July 1991
R. v. Legere (A.J.) (1994), 156 N.B.R.(2d) 321 (CA);
Rick MacLean & André Veniot — Terror: Murder and Panic in New Brunswick (McClelland & Stewart, 1990)

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Indefensible: The Murder of Dr. Mohd Abdullah Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

Episode 413: On the afternoon of March 11, 2022, Dr. Mohd Abdullah left work at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, that afternoon for a meeting with his lawyer. It was supposed to be a discussion about money, hundreds of thousands of dollars that Abdullah believed his lawyer had mishandled... He never returned.

Sources:

R. v Bagabuyo, 2026 BCSC 327 (CanLII)
Mohd Abdullah Obituary - Kamloops, BC
Mohd Abdullah | News, Videos & Articles
Mohd Abdullah at Thompson Rivers University
Nearly 60 pieces of evidence entered at trial of B.C. lawyer accused of murdering his client | RCI
Kamloops lawyer accused of murder granted bail
Murdered TRU faculty member remembered as quiet, kind man
Meticulous timeline built from receipts, GPS data and security footage sealed fate of killer Kamloops lawyer
Video surveillance clips show Kamloops lawyer's movements before, after alleged murder
Former B.C. lawyer found guilty of 1st-degree murder after killing his client in 2022 | CBC News

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Road Trip: Los Satanicos — The Murder of Mark Kilroy Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

Episode 412: In March 1989, 21-year-old University of Texas pre-med student Mark Kilroy travelled to South Padre Island with friends for spring break. One night, they crossed the international bridge from Brownsville, Texas, into Matamoros, Mexico, for drinks and a night out. In the early hours of March 13, as the group headed back toward the United States, Mark was briefly left standing alone near the roadside. When his friends turned back moments later, he had vanished. At first, they assumed they had simply become separated in the crowds, but Mark never returned. His disappearance triggered an urgent search on both sides of the border that would soon uncover something far more disturbing than anyone imagined, a discovery that exposed a hidden world of violence and horror behind one young man’s spring break trip.

The Work of the Devil | Texas Monthly
Cult commits murder at Rancho Santa Elena | March 14, 1989 | HISTORY
"Spring Break Murders" Mark Kilroy (TV Episode 2025) | IMDb
Mark Kilroy Murder - Arrests (1989) - KPRC-TV Collection
The Believers: Cult Murders in Mexico
Murder, Madness & Mayhem by Mike Browne
Kidnap, murder, ritual sacrifice | University Press
Murder of Mark Kilroy | Wikipedia
Mark Kilroy Foundation, Santa Fe, Texas
Mark James Kilroy (1968 - 1989) - Find A Grave Memorial
Memory Mark Kilroy | YouTube

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