S5 E56 Martha: The Ghost in Room 209

On July 12, 1992, David Snow, 37 was arrested after the largest manhunt in the history of North Vancouver. His crimes spread from Ontario to British Columbia and included murders, kidnappings, robberies and sexual assaults. Last year, Snow was charged with the murder of Angelien Quesnelle from Aspley, Ontario—a case that’s been cold since 1991. For more information, visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook page Cold Case Canada.

Irene Pearson was murdered on November 15, 1979. Irene was a salesperson for Castlewood Homes and was showing a home in the Tyndall Park area of Winnipeg. During the showing she was lured to a vacant house across the street where she was hit over the head several times, and stabbed 31 times in the face and chest - one for every year of her life. Irene's body was found by two construction workers the next morning. In the early months of the investigation, Winnipeg Police had 180 people on their suspect list. For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook page Cold Case Canada.

Twenty-year-old Melody Dobson was last seen on August 23, 1986. She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and at the time she went missing, she was walking home from her friend's house in South Vancouver, three blocks from her basement suite. She never made it home. For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook page Cold Case Canada.

Dianna and Donna Ring were identical twins who grew up in North Vancouver. In 1960 the family moved to Mabel Lake in the Okanagan, the same year that 12-year-old Dianna was crowned Lynn Valley Day's May Queen. Three years later, the 15-year-olds were dead - murdered  on their way home from school. Photo: Dianna (left) and Donna (right), Vancouver Sun, October 8, 1963 For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook page Cold Case Canada.

It was a pleasure to sit down with Sgt Rob Jaberg of the Vancouver Police Department this week. We talked about his new position as supervisor and manager of the VPD’s first ever cold case team.  For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com 

Twenty-year-old Wanda Watson was an aspiring actor and model who moved from Victoria, BC to live with her older sister in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant. On August 3, 1991 she was stabbed to death in her home. The intruders then poured gasoline around the house and set it on fire. There was surprisingly little information in the newspapers of the time. The conclusion was that Wanda had surprised a robbery in progress. Wanda's sister Vicki is not so sure. She says nothing was stolen. She thinks it’s more likely that Wanda answered the door to someone; it may have been strangers, someone who followed Wanda home or someone they both knew. Photo of Wanda, courtesy Vicki Watson For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook page 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.