Crime Beat

In the summer of 2020, a listener reached out and asked how Crime Beat stories are selected. She said she was seeking justice for something that happened to her decades earlier when she was a teenager. That was the starting point of this episode. Join Global News senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt as she shares how one woman’s bravery cracked open one of the most high profile sex assault cases in Ca...

On this special episode of Crime Beat, Global News senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt takes you behind the scenes with a crime analyst. Learn how she uses data and technology to help solve cases as she works alongside homicide detectives. Contact: Twitter: @nancyhixt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyHixtCrimeBeat/ Email: nancy.hixt@globalnews.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

On a cold, snowy winter night in January 2008, an officer was on patrol when a confusing call came in to 911.  A hardworking mother of five disappeared while on her way home from work. To make matters worse, the call indicated that she was being attacked. Investigators raced against the clock to find Arcelie Laoagan.  On the latest episode of Crime Beat, Global News senior crime reporter Nancy Hix...

On a cold, snowy evening in the fall of 2012, a series of 911 calls led Calgary police to multiple scenes. At one of those locations, investigators made a disturbing discovery — the body of Lacey Jones-McKnight. As homicide investigators took over the case, they learned the killer made shocking admissions to several people that night. Follow along on the latest episode of Crime Beat as Global News...

In movies and TV police interviews with suspects look simple enough, but in reality there’s a lot more to them. Global News senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt takes you behind-the-scenes for a special look at forensic interviewing with veteran investigator Det. Mike Shute.. Find out what it’s really like to be across from a suspect in search of the truth when the stakes are high. Contact: Twitter: @...

In the summer of 2018, a young Calgary woman disappeared. For nearly a week her family held out hope she would be found safe. Instead, a call to 911 sparked a major investigation and led officers to multiple scenes where they uncovered a killing spree. Join Global News senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt as she explains how this triple-murder investigation unfolded in the latest episode of Crime Beat...

In the middle of the night on Sept. 24, 1981, a two-year-old girl was rescued by police. She was found outside of a post office in a small town north of Calgary. She was cold, crying, and wearing only her pyjamas. What happened that fateful night changed the course of a little girl’s life forever. Decades later, Global News Crime Reporter Nancy Hixt met that victim — just as the offender who kidna...

On this episode of Crime Beat we introduce you to another Global News podcast called What happened to…? where host and reporter Erica Vella ,speaks with Ted Williams and Doral Chenoweth and the 2011, 90-second video, that launched Ted Williams, a man who was experiencing homelessness, into fame. In the video, Williams was standing at the side of a road in Columbus, Ohio; he was holding a sign that...

A heartbreaking anniversary highlights a decade of missed opportunities, a killer tries to fight his conviction – again, and a disgraced doctor faces new charges. On this special year-end episode senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt brings you several updates on cases we’ve shared. This is the 2021 edition of “the story is never finished.” Contact: Twitter: @nancyhixt Facebook: https://www.facebook.co...

In the fall of 2016, the CFL season was well underway and the Calgary Stampeders were on fire. When the Stamps beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 24 of that year, the team set a record winning streak. After the game, the team went out to celebrate. What should have been a fun night on the town, was instead marred by tragedy. A simple, accidental brush into the wrong person set the tone for th...

It’s arguably one of the highest profile multiple murder cases in Canadian history. Douglas Garland was convicted of the first-degree murder of five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy Liknes. For nearly five weeks, jurors were shown graphic forensic evidence gathered from the Liknes home and the farm where Garland lived with his parents. Now, for the first time, two of th...

On July 4, 2014, four days into an Amber Alert, a suspect was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy Liknes. An RCMP emergency response team searched the farm where Douglas Garland lived with his parents. They didn’t find Nathan, Alvin and Kathy. At that time, there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Garland with kidnapping. Instead, he w...

In 2014, on the first long weekend of the summer, a Calgary mother went to her parents’ home to pick up her five-year-old son following a sleepover. When she got there, all three were missing. Who would kidnap a five-year-old child and his grandparents, and why? It was the start of one of the longest Amber Alerts in Canadian history and a race against the clock to find the missing trio. In part on...

Over her 25 year career as a crime reporter...each case she's covered stays with her…But...there are some... that haunt her. They’re heartbreaking and horrific…difficult to revisit...because to bring you these stories she goes through hundreds of photos, court exhibits... graphic evidence. This season on Crime Beat, we share the high-profile cases you’ve asked me about...and others that maybe you’...

Introducing Episode 1 of China Rising - Hostage Diplomacy On the first episode of China Rising, we examine the Chinese government's practice of detaining political prisoners, by hearing directly from Canadians who've become caught in the crossfire. Christian aid workers Julia and Kevin Garratt lived in China for 30 years before their arrest in 2014, when they were suddenly cast as pawns in a geopo...

Global News crime reporter Nancy Hixt gives you a behind-the-scenes look at Crime Beat. From digging up stories to writing and putting together this podcast, join Nancy as she explains how it all comes together. In this episode, she shares insight on journalism, crime reporting and even answers some of your questions.   She also introduces you to the Crime Beat team -- which includes Chris Bassett...

In the summer of 1999, the RCMP in central Alberta investigated a horrific case involving two children. A father murdered his little girl and tried to kill his son. The case haunted investigators for decades. But it was particularly traumatic for one officer because it launched a completely unrelated series of events that ultimately led to him being wrongfully accused of sexual assault. It would l...

On a cool rainy day in the summer of 1999, an old Chevy van was seen speeding on a highway from the backcountry eastbound towards Rocky Mountain House, Alta. There was a large piece of canvas attached to the bumper and it dragged behind the van. A short time later, the vehicle pulled into the ambulance bay at the Rocky Mountain House hospital. A man went in and identified himself as Brian Hogg. He...

In early 2007, a young widowed mother of two was just settling into a bigger home after living for several years in a cramped apartment with her extended family. Aset Magomadova was looking forward to spring because she finally had a backyard and was going to plant a garden. The family came to Calgary as refugees from war-torn Chechnya where they experienced imprisonment, homelessness, severe inju...

In the fall of 1996, the Canadian sports world was rocked by a major sex abuse scandal. NHL player Sheldon Kennedy courageously went forward to police to reveal he suffered years of abuse at the hands of his childhood coach, Graham James. When Kennedy broke his silence, it started an important conversation around sexual assault and opened the door for others to do the same. In 1997, James pleaded...

On this episode of the Global News podcast Crime Beat, crime reporter Nancy Hixt shares a story of one young man’s grit and determination despite a massive loss.  On Jan. 25, 2012, police were called to a residential community in downtown Calgary. They found a man lying outside of a home.  Gatleak Thor Metkurjock, 20, was breathing but unconscious. His face was swollen, he had blood by his nose an...

It’s a police tactic that uses both science and art. From Jack the Ripper to outlaws of the wild west-- or even more recently in the case of the Golden state killer-- for hundreds of years, investigators have used sketches to try and identify offenders.  Many early drawings were fairly crude and often they were more like artist renditions of what evil looked like versus accurate depictions of what...

In the summer of 1981, a group of teenagers was out exploring the countryside in southeastern Alberta. They had stopped to scout a path around a lake when they came across something that would haunt them even four decades later. There was a body on the shoreline, and immediately they knew it wasn’t an accidental drowning. A female was face down, bound by ropes to cinder blocks.  The teens flagged...

In February 2018, an Alberta woman went to police to file a complaint against a Calgary neurologist. The woman alleged she was sexually assaulted during a neurological exam in 2007. She told Global News she was suffering from migraines at the time, and that’s why she was referred to Dr. Keith Hoyte. She was shown into the examination room by a nurse, who told her to take off her shirt and bra and...

In the spring of 2004, "Carly" was a bright-eyed, smart and bubbly young girl. The 17-year-old was just months away from finishing high school — but for the moment, she was focused on her friends and making good memories. Carly is not her real name. Her identity is protected by a court-imposed publication ban. On March 26, 2004, she got off school early, which was typical for a Friday. That day sh...