Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

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 th...

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. H...

Episode 374: On a frigid February night in 2020, the quiet streets of Calgary’s Bowness neighbourhood became the scene of a tragedy that would send shockwaves through the city and beyond. Melissa Rae Blommaert, a loving mother and devoted friend, was found fatally injured—her life stolen in a brutal act of violence. The investigation quickly turned toward someone heartbreakingly close to her: her...

Episode 373: In the shadowy annals of North American crime, few names evoke as much dread as H.H. Holmes, a master manipulator, a conman, and a predator who thrived in the chaos of a rapidly changing world and the man often called America’s first serial killer. Born Herman Webster Mudgett, Holmes’s reign of terror began in Chicago, where he constructed his infamous “Murder Castle”—a labyrinth of h...

Episode 372: In the spring of 2007, Glen Douglas Race’s violent odyssey escalated from a regional nightmare in Nova Scotia to an international manhunt that spanned two countries and left a trail of devastation in its wake. After the murders of Michael Knott and Trevor Brewster, Race fled Canada, later claiming that he was driven by delusions of a supernatural war against “demons” and “vampires” th...

Episode 371: In early May 2007, Nova Scotia was shaken by a series of brutal murders that would eventually be linked to a single man: Glen Douglas Race. Over the course of just over a week, two well-liked men — Paul Michael Knott and Trevor Charles Brewster — were killed in separate, violent attacks. The case would expose not only the horror of the crimes but also the tragic intersection of untrea...

Episode 370: In this episode, we journey into the chilling case of Jesse Imeson—a man whose troubled past and violent crimes left a deep scar on Southwestern Ontario. In the summer of 2007, Imeson's name became synonymous with fear as he embarked on a deadly spree, taking three innocent lives. The victims were Carlos Rivera, 25, of Windsor and Helene Regier, 72, and her husband, Bill Regier, 73, n...

Episode 369: In the quiet city of Jonquière, Quebec, the brutal 2000 murder of 19-year-old Guylaine Potvin sent shockwaves through her community and left investigators baffled for over two decades. For years, the case grew cold, with few leads and little hope for justice. But in 2022, a remarkable breakthrough in forensic science and persistent detective work finally led to the arrest of Marc-Andr...

Episode 368: Here, we delve into the life and crimes of Brigitte Denise Cleroux, examining how she repeatedly evaded regulatory scrutiny, the suffering she caused, and the systemic failures that enabled her persistence for so long. This story is a chilling tale of deception, exploitation, and the profound breach of trust within Canada’s health-care system. Cleroux masqueraded as a nurse for years...

Episode 367: In the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, the world awoke to the shocking news that South African Olympic and Paralympic hero Oscar Pistorius had shot and killed his girlfriend, a 29-year-old paralegal and model Reeva Steenkamp, inside his Pretoria home. Pistorius, celebrated for overcoming the loss of his legs to become a global sporting icon, now stood accused of a crime that woul...

Episode 366: On a cold night, March 14, 1980, the city of Toronto was shaken by an act of violence that would leave a deep scar on its police force and forever change the lives of one family. It was the kind of crime that, decades later, still echoes in the halls of justice and the memories of those who lived through it. This is the story of  Constable Michael Sweet, a dedicated police officer, lo...

Episode 365: On a humid August morning in 1873, the quiet, tight-knit community of Baker’s Settlement outside of Bridgewater in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, was shattered by a crime so shocking that it would echo for generations. This is the story of Mary Ann Frauzel Mailman—a woman described by her contemporaries as strikingly beautiful, and by all accounts, a devoted mother—whose life ended vi...

Episode 364: On June 17, 1958, a warm summer afternoon in Vancouver, British Columbia, the bustling construction site of the Second Narrows Bridge was alive with activity. Seventy-nine workers, including ironworkers, engineers, and painters, were perched high above the waters of Burrard Inlet, labouring to connect Vancouver to the North Shore. Little did they know that in mere moments, their world...

Episode 362: On the morning of May 29, 2010, gunshots shattered the quiet of a rural property just outside Cranbrook, British Columbia. By the time police arrived at the scene, two lives had been tragically cut short in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The victims were Jeffrey Todd Taylor, 42, and Leanne Laura MacFarlane, 43, a couple who had been renting half of a duplex on a large piece of...

Episode 362: We explore chilling events that unfolded at POW Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, during World War II. This prisoner-of-war camp, one of many scattered across Canada, became the site of two brutal murders that shocked even hardened veterans and led to Canada's last mass execution. In the summer of 1943, August Plaszek, a former French Foreign Legion soldier forcibly integrated into t...

Episode 361: On October 4, 1957, as the world's eyes turned skyward to witness the launch of Sputnik 1, another technological marvel was about to be unveiled in a hangar in Malton, Ontario. The Avro Arrow, Canada's ambitious supersonic interceptor, was poised to revolutionize aviation. But within two years, it would vanish without a trace, leaving behind a legacy of controversy and conspiracy. Sou...

Episode 360: On May 18, 1966, Paul Joseph Chartier, among other things, a disillusioned and unemployed security guard and former truck driver, attempted a deadly act of terrorism on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Chartier planned to throw a homemade dynamite bomb into the House of Commons chamber, targeting politicians he blamed for societal injustices and his personal failures. However, the bomb deto...

Episode 359: On a warm summer evening in June 1887, 17-year-old Mary Pickering Tuplin vanished from her family's farm in Margate, PEI. A search and a grim discovery followed that would rock the quiet farming community to its core. Mary's body was found in the Southwest River, weighed down by a heavy stone, with two gunshot wounds to her head. The subsequent investigation would uncover a web of sec...

Episode 358: In Los Angeles, California, in the autumn of 1969, along winding Mulholland Drive, a young woman's body was discovered, brutally stabbed more than 150 times, her identity shrouded in mystery for nearly half a century. This Jane Doe, known only as case number 59, would lie nameless for the next 46 years, her story untold and her family unaware of her tragic fate. In a chilling twist, t...

Episode 357: On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, 21 June 1950, the tranquil tobacco farming community of Langton, of Langton, Ontario, was shattered by a violent crime that would leave an indelible mark on Canadian history. Joseph Herbert McAuliffe, a World War II veteran turned counterfeiter, walked into the Imperial Bank of Canada with robbery on his mind. In less than half an hour, two innocent men...

Episode 356: In this episode, we explore two enduring Canadian legends that have captivated imaginations for generations. Our journey begins with the Lost Lemon Mine, a tale from the Canadian Rockies dating back to 1870. Two prospectors, Frank Lemon and "Blackjack," allegedly discovered gold, but their expedition descended into a dark saga of murder, madness, and an alleged curse that has kept the...

Episode 355: In this episode, we explore a phenomenon that blurs the line between consciousness and culpability: homicidal somnambulism. Can a person be held responsible for murder if they commit the act while sleepwalking? We'll examine two haunting cases that have grappled with this very question. First, we'll unravel the infamous story of Kenneth Parks, who, in 1987, drove 23 kilometres from hi...

Episode 354: In the quiet, close-knit community of Fosterville, New Brunswick, a crime of unspeakable horror shattered the peace on November 26, 1924. Two young sisters, Cynthia (14) and Necia Foster (10), were found bound, gagged, and brutally murdered in the lakeside camp of their uncle, Harry D. Williams. The sheer brutality of the crime sent shockwaves through the region, making it one of the...

Episode 353: On April 23, 2018, a bright spring afternoon turned into a nightmare when a rented van plowed through pedestrians along Yonge Street in North York, a Toronto neighbourhood. In just minutes, 10 lives were tragically lost, and 16 others were injured; one of those later passed away from her injuries, bringing the death toll to 11. The community was left mourning, and the country grappled...

Episode 352: At 5:18 a.m. on May 9, 1992, in Plymouth, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, in the Westray Mine, a methane gas explosion, followed by a coal dust blast, ripped through the underground tunnels, claiming the lives of 26 miners working the night shift. The tragedy unfolded against a backdrop of known safety violations and ignored warnings. In the aftermath, a gripping rescue attempt captivated...