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Dark Poutine / Curiouscast

True crime, legends, folklore, dark history and other creepy topics from the perspective of real live Canadians.

Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

Episode 409: In June 2006, police carried out coordinated arrests across southern Ontario and charged 18 young men under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws. The case quickly became known as the Toronto 18. It was described as a homegrown plot, not directed from overseas but organized in suburban communities around Mississauga and Toronto.

Most of the accused were in their late teens or early twenties. Many were Canadian citizens or long-time residents. Their backgrounds varied, but research and court records show no pattern of hardened criminal histories or severe mental illness. What drew them together, investigators argued, was a shared sense of grievance over global conflicts and a growing embrace of militant ideology.

Sources: 

Prime Minister comments on terror arrests | Canada.caSeventeen Arrested on Anti-Terrorism Charges | Canada.ca2006 Ontario terrorism plot | WikipediaPublic Safety Minister Stockwell Day Issues Statement on Canada's National Day to Remember Victims of Terror | Canada.caToronto 18: Key events in the case | CBC NewsManitoba Law Journal, vol 44 no 1, 2021 CanLIIDocs 787R. v. N.Y., 2008 CanLII 51935 (ON SC)R. v. Gaya, 2008 CanLII 24539 (ON SC)
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The Toronto 18 — Radicalized in the Suburbs

Episode 408: In August 2015, 22-year-old Dalhousie University physics student Taylor Samson walked into an apartment on Henry Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying 20 pounds of marijuana. He never walked out.

What followed became one of Nova Scotia’s most closely watched murder cases. William “Will” Sandeson — a former university track athlete and incoming medical student — was arrested days later. Surveillance footage showed Samson entering Sandeson’s apartment. Blood and DNA evidence tied the scene to a fatal gunshot. Samson’s body was never recovered.

This is the story of Taylor Samson’s disappearance, and the long road to justice for his killer.

Sources:

Statement from Dalhousie University regarding charges laid in Taylor Samson caseWilliam Sandeson | Global News, Videos & ArticlesHow a Drug-Dealing Med Student Was Convicted of Murder | VICEMurder trial told of evidence found in ice-cream truck at Sandeson farm | CBC NewsPolice search for Dalhousie student's body as track athlete faces murder charge CityNewsR. v. Sandeson, 2025 NSCA 86 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2024 NSCA 72 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2023 NSSC 130 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2023 NSSC 64 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2022 NSSC 387 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2022 NSSC 254 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2022 NSSC 151 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2022 NSSC 111 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2020 NSCA 47 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2017 NSSC 193 (CanLII)R. v. Sandeson, 2017 NSSC 146 (CanLII)
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The Murder of Taylor Samson

Episode 407: On a quiet street in Kingston, Ontario, a 92-year-old woman named Henrietta Knight opened her front door on a summer afternoon in 1995. She was violently assaulted during a home invasion, left badly injured, and her house was ransacked. Though she survived the attack and spoke to police, paramedics, and doctors, her health steadily declined, and she died months later. What caused her death, and whether it was connected to the assault, would linger as an unanswered question for decades. This episode traces the case from its beginnings in eastern Ontario in the mid-1990s through years of silence and uncertainty, leading to a courtroom many years later, where the truth proved far harder to define than anyone expected.

Sources:

Jan 12, 1996, page 9 - The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com™Sep 24, 1999, page 10 - The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com™https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc1379/2023onsc1379.htmlhttps://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc1165/2023onsc1165.htmlhttps://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2022/2022onsc5319/2022onsc5319.htmlhttps://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2022/2022onsc4291/2022onsc4291.html
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The Tragic End of Henrietta Knight

Episode 406: It was a bright Sunday late-morning, on May 31, 2015, in Calgary, Alberta, when a passerby heard a bang inside an airport‑area parkade and saw smoke pouring from the trunk of a black Acura. The car was still running, licence plate gone, still aflame as firefighters moved in, and a bystander quietly filmed a lone man walking away, glancing back at the burning vehicle. When investigators opened the doors, they found no driver, but blood soaked into the driver’s seat, the door, and the back seat, telling them someone had bled heavily inside that car. The Acura was registered to a 42‑year‑old limo driver, Dwayne Demkiw, who lived three hours north in Edmonton and hadn’t been seen since he finished a late shift around 4 a.m. that same morning. While his friends frantically called his phone and posted online, police in two cities were starting to realize they might be dealing with something far worse than a stolen car.

Sources:

Remembering Dwayne Demkiw | Reel by Dateline NBCDwayne Demkiw - Lets bring him home | FacebookDwayne Demkiw | Global News, Videos & ArticlesR v Steadman, 2018 ABQB 1045 (CanLII)R v Steadman, 2021 ABCA 332 (CanLII)R v Sproule, 2025 ABKB 91 (CanLII)R v Sproule, 2025 ABKB 707 (CanLII)Canadian Taxi Driver Homicides: Dwayne DemkiwSomebody's Hiding Something s02e03 | Crave"Dateline NBC" The Case of the Man with No Name (2023) IMDbDwayne Eugene Demkiw | ObituaryDonate to Dwayne Demkiw - Justice, Grieving & Healing, organized by Jesta Menace5 horrifying details about the murder of Canadian limo driver Dwayne Demkiw | PrimetimerFugitive charged in Edmonton murder lived under stolen identity: investigators | Globe & MailFamily thanks the person who found the bones of their missing son | CBC NewsHomicide victim's friend removed evidence from crime scene, murder trial hears | CBC NewsAfter a limo driver disappears, a fugitive’s web begins to unravel and sets off an international manhuntLiberals grilled on trial delays after Dwayne Demkiw murder | Watch News Videos Online
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Stolen Life, Stolen Identity: The Murder of Dwayne Demkiw

Episode 405: On the 17th of May 1984, 48‑year‑old Beverley Anne Dyke was found brutally murdered in a wooded area near Moray Street and Saskatchewan Avenue on the edge of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her killing, a frenzied sexual assault and stabbing, left her family and the wider community fearing a predator was on the loose. For years, detectives chased dead ends and even a dramatic prison confession, but the real killer remained a mystery. It would take more than two decades, and a cold‑case DNA match, to finally reveal who murdered Beverley and why.

Sources:

May 25, 1970, page 1 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Mar 25, 1971, page 3 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Mar 25, 1971, page 10 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Aug 19, 1974, page 8 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Aug 19, 1974, page 11 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™May 13, 1975, page 11 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Dec 30, 1984, page 10 - The Winnipeg Sun at Newspapers.com™Dec 27, 1988, page 19 - Waterloo Region Record at Newspapers.com™Dec 27, 1988, page 7 - Edmonton Journal at Newspapers.com™May 07, 2001, page 5 - The Winnipeg Sun at Newspapers.com™Feb 28, 2005, page 5 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com™Nov 19, 2005, page 4 - The Winnipeg Sun at Newspapers.com™Nov 30, 2005, page 9 - The Winnipeg Sun at Newspapers.com™Sep 14, 2007, page 5 - Edmonton Journal at Newspapers.com™Feb 26, 2010, page 2 - Fort McMurray Today at Newspapers.com™Mar 06, 2010, page 6 - Edmonton Journal at Newspapers.com™Mar 07, 2010, page 8 - Times Colonist at Newspapers.com™Nov 30, 2011, page 2 - Fort McMurray Today at Newspapers.com™"Evidence of Evil" The Murder of Beverley Ann Dyke (TV Episode 2019) - Reference view - IMDb"It was a vicious assault" | The Murder of Beverley Ann Dyke | Trace of EvilR. v. Kociuk, 2009 MBQB 154 (CanLII)R. v. Kociuk, 2009 MBQB 162 (CanLII)R. v. Kociuk (R.J.), 2011 MBCA 85 (CanLII)R. v. Kociuk, 2012 SCC 15 (CanLII), [2012] 1 SCR 529FM010_Appellant_Robert-Joseph-Kociuk | PDFSupreme Court of Canada | 34517Robert Joseph Kociuk v. Her Majesty the Queen (April 12, 2012) Case # 34517DNA Test Results In Charges | CastanetWinnipeg Homicide | Beverly Ann DykeJury finds Robert Kociuk guilty of first-degree murder in 1984 killing | Crime and Justice CanadaMar 2010: Murder verdict returned quickly | Winnipeg Free Press
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Final Justice: The Murder of Beverley Ann Dyke

Episode 404: In April 2015, someone began targeting some of the city’s most vulnerable residents: men living rough, sleeping outside, and often already failed by every system meant to protect them. By the time the killing stopped, three were dead: 37‑year‑old Miles Monias, 48‑year‑old Stony Stanley Bushie, and 65‑year‑old Donald Collins. Their killer was another man on the margins, a homeless drifter with a long history of violence and untreated mental illness, John Paul Ostamas.

Sources:

Media Release - April 28, 2015 - Winnipeg Police ServiceR. v. Ostamas, 2016 MBQB 136 (CanLII)R. v. Ostamas (J.P.) (2016), 329 Man.R.(2d) 203 (QB) | vLexR v Ostamas, 2022 MBCA 68 (CanLII)John Paul Ostamas | APTN ArchivesJohn Paul Ostamas | Global News, Videos & ArticlesWinnipeg's Duck Face Serial KillerWinnipeg's historyGarden Hill First Nation | WikipediaLittle Grand Rapids First NationApr 27, 2015, page 16 - Calgary Herald at Newspapers.com™Apr 29, 2015, page A5 - Telegraph-Journal at Newspapers.com™May 2015: Death and the homelessTHE FIRST NATIONAL INDIGENOUS BROADCASTER IN THE WORLD | APTNWinnipeg police charge man in connection with 3 murders | APTNMan charged with 3 Winnipeg killings came from ‘good family’ in Eabametoong First Nation | APTNMay 2016: Guilty plea in killing spree'3 monstrous murders': Homeless killer John Paul Ostamas will get no parole for 75 years | CBC News‘Person of interest’ located by Winnipeg Police: Sources - WinnipegPolice say suspect in Winnipeg deaths known to Ontario policeMurder charges for deaths of homeless Native men in ManitobaAccused serial killer John Paul Ostamas sought help from Kenora pastorStoney Bushie's friends, family gather for Winnipeg prayer service | CBC NewsOstamas tried to burn down Winnipeg hotel, police say - WinnipegThunder Bay-area man charged with murder after 2 homeless men killed in Winnipeg | CBC NewsFamilies honour victims of alleged serial killer John OstamasMan charged with killing 3 men in Winnipeg | CBC NewsWho is John Paul Ostamas, alleged serial killer in Winnipeg deaths? | CBC NewsHomeless in Vancouver: Homeless man charged in serial killings of three Winnipeg men | Georgia Straight Vancouver’s source for arts, culture, and eventsHomelessness – Social Planning Council of WinnipegIndigenous Peoples and Homelessness | homelesshub.caHomeless in Vancouver: Serial killer may be targeting Winnipeg homeless | Georgia Straight Vancouver’s source for arts, culture, and eventsLatest Winnipeg street census suggests homelessness at highest point in past decade | CBC NewsAMC Responds to Record Homelessness in Winnipeg | manitobachiefs.comUnderstanding Indigenous Homelessness28239_here_now_plan_report_FIN_WEB | PDF
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Left in the Cold: The Winnipeg Homeless Murders

Episode 403: Nicholas Melady Jr. was 24 years old when he stepped onto a wooden scaffold above the stone walls of Goderich Gaol in December of 1869, about to become the central figure in Canada’s last public hanging after the brutal murders of his father, Nicholas Melady Sr. and stepmother, Ellen, in a quiet Huron County farmhouse. In this episode, we return to a world of bush farms, rough taverns, and bitter family feuds over land and inheritance, tracing a path from a whispered meeting on a bridge and talk of “just a robbery” to a blood‑soaked kitchen floor, sloppy police work, and a coroner making two young men stand barefoot in dried pools of blood.

Sources: 

Double Trap by John MeladySeaforth Doors Open | shopseaforth.caAudio-Tour-of-North-Street | goderich.caHuron Historic Gaol‘Morbid curiosity’: When executions were public spectacles in Ontario | TVO TodayMar 27, 1869, page 1 - The Globe and Mail at Newspapers.com™Apr 02, 1869, page 3 - Ottawa Daily Citizen at Newspapers.com™Dec 08, 1869, page 4 - The Critic and Record at Newspapers.com™Dec 09, 1869, page 4 - Buffalo Courier Express at Newspapers.com™Dec 17, 1869, page 1 - Brampton Times at Newspapers.com™Dec 07, 1869, page 3 - Boston Evening Transcript at Newspapers.com™Carling R. Marshall ~ Public History Blog: Semi-public? - The Hoag Hanging, Walkerton - 1868Carling R. Marshall - Capital punishment: Huron County opinion in 1869Nicholas Melady | Wikipedia1869: Nicholas Melady, the last public hanging in Canada | Executed TodayResearching Canada’s ‘Last Public Hanging | Huron County MuseumThe Final Days of Nicholas Melady Jr. as Witnessed by William Dickson - Champlain Society
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The Melady Murders: Canada’s Last Public Hanging

Episode 402: On July 31, 1987, an ordinary summer afternoon in Edmonton, Alberta, ended in catastrophe. A powerful tornado cut through the city’s southeast, killing 27 people and leaving entire neighbourhoods destroyed in minutes. In this episode, we examine the second-deadliest tornado in Canadian history through firsthand survivor accounts and direct statements from officials who faced a disaster few believed could happen in a major Canadian city. The day would later become known as “Black Friday,” a name repeated in municipal histories and anniversary coverage. On July 31 itself, it was still just another Friday afternoon.

Episode Sources:

Tornado, a report : Edmonton and Strathcona County, July 31st, 1987 : Alberta Public Safety ServicesEdmonton Tornado (1987) | The Candian EncyclopediaBELLWEATHER KENNELS CANADA - EDMONTON TORNADO 1987 by Tom TaylorEdmonton Tornado | WikipediaThe Edmonton Tornado | Environment CanadaBlack Friday changed city, survivors | CBC NewsThis Was the Worst Tornado in Canada’s History | Reader’s DigestJul 30, 1988, page 92 - Edmonton Journal at Newspapers.com™From the Edmonton community on RedditEdmonton Journal front page story of the Edmonton tornado July 31, 1987 (Black Friday)Regina Cyclone | Wikipedia
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Black Friday: The 1987 Edmonton Tornado

Episode 401: At the start of the twentieth century, Vancouver, B.C., was a fast-growing Pacific port. Most residents were white settlers of British or European descent, but Chinese and Japanese communities were already well established and growing. They lived, worked, and built businesses in neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Powell Street, playing a central role in the city’s economy while being denied political rights and social acceptance.

By 1907, economic anxiety and racial resentment had hardened into open hostility. Asian workers were blamed for falling wages and job insecurity, a message repeated by newspapers, politicians, and organized exclusionary groups. The riots that followed on September 7 were not sudden outbursts, but the result of years of public rhetoric that treated entire communities as threats. This episode examines how those ideas gave rise to violence on Vancouver’s streets.

Sources:The 1907 Racist Riots – Union Zindabad!The Asiatic Exclusion League Riot, 1907 — Published by BC Labour Heritage CentreThe Vancouver Anti-Asian RiotsCauses of the 1907 anti-Asian riots :The Lessons of the Anti-Asiatic Riot"Images" and "Issues" : the portrayal of Asians in the Vancouver Daily Province and the Vancouver Daily World, 1907 to 1908Anti-Asian Riots of 1907 - British Columbia - An Untold HistoryMayor Ken SimDavid LamChinese Immigration ActChinese Head Tax in Canada1907 Vancouver anti-Asian riotsAsian Labour History in British ColumbiaA White Man's Province by Patricia Roy | Internet ArchiveW.L. Mackenzie King’s 1907 Report on Japanese Losses in Vancouver RiotsW.L. Mackenzie King’s 1907 Report on Chinese Losses in Vancouver RiotsThe History of Canada Series: Trouble on Main Street: Mackenzie King Reason Race And The 1907 Vancouver Riots
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Vancouver’s 1907 Anti-Asian Riots

Episode 400: In October 1894, 18-year-old Frank Westwood was shot on the doorstep of his Parkdale home. The killing shocked Toronto and sparked a frantic search for a suspect. Weeks later, a mixed-race tailor named Clara Ford walked into a Toronto police station and was quickly accused of the murder. With no weapon, no motive, and a disputed confession, her trial exposed deep racial bias and divided the city. This episode looks at Clara’s life, the investigation that targeted her, and the aftermath of the trial that captivated Canada’s largest city.

Episode Sources:Clara at the Door with a Revolver — Carolyn Whitzman (UBC Press, 2023)Toronto Public Library – Digitized Toronto newspapersNewspapers.com – Historical Toronto press coverageCity of Toronto ArchivesArchives of Ontario – Mercer Reformatory & judicial recordsRace on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario’s Criminal Courts, 1858–1958 — Barrington WalkerAfua Cooper – Black Canadian history resourcesDEWART, HERBERT HARTLEY – Dictionary of Canadian BiographyJOHNSTON, EBENEZER FORSYTH BLACKIE – Dictionary of Canadian BiographyDeath in the Queen City: Clara Ford on Trial, 1895 By Parick BrodeA blood-drinking monster? When this Toronto woman was accused of murder, the newspapers of 1894 went wildA sensational Toronto murder from 1894 – Bill Gladstone GenealogyTranscript: The Story of a Black Woman Accused of Murder in 1894 | Feb 15, 2023 | TVO TodayInterview: Carolyn Whitzman on the archival story behind novel Clara at the Door – MOBA
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The Toronto 18 — Radicalized in the Suburbs

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