Northern Dark | True Canadian Crime

On a quiet Thanksgiving night in 2008, 18-year-old Lucas Shortreed was walking home along a rural road near Alma, Ontario. A white Dodge Neon struck him — and the driver disappeared. For fourteen years, the case haunted the community until a single tip led police to a hidden trailer, a false wall, and a shocking confession. Now, Lucas’s family has filed a $1-million civil lawsuit against the coupl...

The Richardson Family Murders shook the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta. When three family members were found dead in their home, investigators uncovered a story that stunned Canada and ignited debate about justice and accountability. This episode of Northern Dark explores one of the nation’s most haunting true crime cases. #TrueCrime #Canada #NorthernDark #MedicineHat Episode Notes CBC News: “Medic...

On September 13th, 2006, Dawson College in Montréal became the scene of one of Canada’s most shocking school shootings. A 25-year-old gunman opened fire in the cafeteria, killing 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa and wounding 19 others. In just eighteen minutes, hundreds of students witnessed chaos, terror, and tragedy that would scar the community for years to come. Sources CBC News: Woman, gunman d...

York Region, Ontario has been shaken by a series of violent crimes — home invasions, arson, carjackings, kidnappings, and shootings — that have left families terrified and communities on edge. In this special episode of Northern Dark: True Canadian Crime , we look beyond a single case to explore the wave of violence spreading across Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Bowmanville, and Lindsay. From t...

Description On April 23, 2018, a bright spring afternoon in Toronto turned to horror. A white rental van mounted the sidewalk on Yonge Street, killing 11 innocent people and injuring 15 more in just 25 minutes. This episode of Northern Dark: True Canadian Crime recounts the chilling minute-by-minute details of the Yonge Street van attack, explores the background of Alek Minassian, and examines the...

On December 6, 1989, a gunman entered Montreal’s École Polytechnique and opened fire, targeting women in a brutal attack that shook Canada to its core. Fourteen women lost their lives, and countless others were forever changed. This episode revisits the harrowing events of that day, the survivors’ stories, and the lasting impact on Canadian society — from gun control reforms to the fight for gende...

In 1984, nine-year-old Christine Jessop was abducted and murdered in Queensville, Ontario. Her neighbor, Paul Morin, was wrongfully convicted based on faulty forensic evidence. Nearly a decade later, DNA testing proved his innocence and changed the course of Canadian justice. This episode of Northern Dark examines how investigators got it wrong, the devastating impact on Morin’s life, and how new...

The Murder of Ashlee Shingoose On March 11, 2022, twenty-nine-year-old Ashlee Shingoose went missing in Winnipeg. For nearly three years she was known only as Buffalo Woman —until DNA confirmed her identity. This episode follows her story, her family’s grief, and the fight to bring her home amid the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Episode Notes This episode draws on repo...

On the morning of May 2, 2025, in the rural community of Lansdowne Station, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and her four-year-old brother Jack vanished near their home. What began as a frantic local search quickly escalated into one of the largest missing persons investigations in Nova Scotia’s history. This episode examines the first hours of the disappearance, the extensi...

On April 18–19, 2020, the quiet community of Portapique, Nova Scotia, became the epicenter of a thirteen-hour rampage that claimed 22 lives across multiple towns. Disguised as a police officer and driving a replica RCMP cruiser, Gabriel Wortman used deception and violence to evade capture, leaving a devastating trail of destruction through rural Nova Scotia. In this episode, we break down the conf...

Sixteen-year-old Ramona Wilson never made it to her friend’s graduation dance. Ten months later, her remains were discovered in the woods behind the Smithers airport — the same area her mother had begged police to search. In this episode, we walk through Ramona’s final day, the delayed investigation, and the legacy her family has built in the decades since. Her name now echoes among hundreds of In...

Episode 4: The Vanishing of the Jack Family August 2nd, 1989 — Prince George, British Columbia A young Indigenous family of four accepts a late-night job offer from a mysterious stranger. Hours later, they vanish without a trace. No witnesses. No arrests. Thirty-five years later, their disappearance remains one of the most haunting unsolved cases in Canadian history. In this episode, we follow the...

A peaceful village in Ontario is shaken by horror in June 2025. When a young child is found brutally assaulted in the woods near Quadeville, a town of just 200 people, the community rallies in grief, outrage, and determination. In this episode, we trace the disturbing events of June 23, 2025, the urgent police response, and the extraordinary courage of a child survivor. We also explore the afterma...

She was eight years old. On a summer morning in 1985, she left her 20th-floor apartment to go swimming—and vanished without a trace. In this episode, we retrace the biggest missing-child investigation in Toronto’s history, the leads it spawned, and the legacy it left behind. 🔗 Show Notes & Resources 📞 How to Share Tips If you have any information—no matter how small—please consider reaching...

On July 22, 2018, a warm summer night in Toronto’s Greektown was shattered by one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history. In this premiere episode of Northern Dark , we examine the events of that night, the class-action lawsuit that followed, and the incredible legacy left by the victims’ families — from national advocacy to life-changing community initiatives. 📚 Primary News Sources CBC...