Cold Case Canada

In this Halloween special we're travelling up Indian Arm to visit the Wigwam Inn, one of Metro Vancouver's most storied old mansions. Built in 1910 by Alvo von Alvensleben as a hotel for the rich, it's been a brothel, an illegal casino, used to print counterfeit money, and now owned by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Is it haunted? Of course. The ghost of Martha lives in room 209.  With special guest Greg Mansfield, author of the Ghosts of Vancouver Image: Wigwam Inn, 1912, courtesy Vancouver Archives For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcast, please visit my website evelazarus.com 

In 1995, a partial skull was discovered in a slough just outside Mission, BC. Forensic testing revealed that the skull belonged to a Caucasian woman aged between 20 and 40. Missing person files were searched, but nothing matched her description, and the skull was named Jane Doe, placed in an RCMP storage facility and forgotten. Then in 2002 police searched serial killer Robert Pickton’s Coquitlam farm. Among the dozens of truly gruesome discoveries were human bones that matched the DNA of Jane Doe’s skull. Of the remains of 33 women found on the pig farm, Jane Doe is the only one who has yet to be identified. That may soon change. RCMP say they are submitting her DNA for forensic genetic genealogy testing, and hopefully 30 years after her murder, Jane will finally get her name back. Composite image of Jane Doe released by the RCMP in 2011 For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook group page Cold Case Canada.

In 1962, 20-year-old Ann Spiller was hired as a bank teller at the Penticton branch of the Royal Bank. After she’d been on the job for about a year, Ann spotted a flaw in the bank’s accounting system. By 1968, she had stolen nearly half a million dollars, and this former farm girl, was living the life of the rich and famous. Drawing of Ann Spiller by Roy Peterson, Vancouver Sun, November 9, 1968 For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook group page Cold Case Canada.

In 1910, American-born Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was living in London with his wife Belle, when he fell in love with Ethel Le Neve, his 20-something assistant. Crippen poisoned his wife and buried most of her in the cellar of their Hilldrop Crescent home. When Scotland Yard started to investigate Belle’s disappearance, Crippen grabbed his young lover, cut off her long brown hair, dressed her in a boy’s suit and fled to Belgium. The couple booked passage aboard the SS Montrose. As the ship left Antwerp for Canada, Crippen had no idea that they had been identified and that Scotland Yard’s Inspector Dew was racing across the Atlantic to intercept and arrest them. This episode is based on a chapter from Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook group page Cold Case Canada.

Eighteen-year-old Andrea King graduated with honours from New Westminster Secondary in June 1991. She took a job with the Greyhound Bus Company to save money for a trip across Canada. Her plan was to check out universities while she worked her way home to British Columbia. On January 1, 1992, Andrea took an Air Canada flight to Halifax. She phoned her family from the airport and told them she’d call the next day with the address of the Halifax hostel where she was staying. And then Andrea vanished.   For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook group page Cold Case Canada.