Crime Beat - Season 5

In the late 1970's and early 1980's a sexual predator was on the loose. Two little girls had heard about the man dubbed the 'Southwest Calgary Rapist', but they never imagined they would be attacked while riding their bikes one hot sunny day. At the same time, homicide investigators were on the trail for a killer. Follow along as Senior Crime Reporter Nancy Hixt shares the stories of those attacked and the steps police took in their hunt for a predator.

On a hot August day in 2015, 33-year-old Myles Gray traveled from the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver in his company truck to make his usual delivery of fresh greenery to wholesale florists. That same day, he was found dead in the backyard of a home. A coroner was unable to pinpoint a cause of death because his injuries were so severe. The only witnesses? A group of Vancouver police officers responding to a nuisance call about a man spraying a woman with a garden hose. An independent investigation recommended charges, but none were laid. It's taken Myles Gray's family eight years to fight for justice for him - and find the truth.

Neville-Lakes' three children were killed by a drunk driver, Marco Muzzo, in a crash in Vaughan back in 2015. Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, his five-year-old brother Harrison, their two-year-old sister Milly, and the children's 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, were killed in the collision. The driver, the son of a wealthy family, was sentenced to ten years in jail but is now out on parole while the mother of the children is left grieving the loss of her family.

Chelsea Poorman vanished from downtown Vancouver in September 2020. Nineteen months later, her body was found in the backyard of a vacant mansion in one of the city's ritziest neighbourhoods. Shortly after she was found, police said the 24-year-old woman's death was not suspicious. But as Jules Knox reports, her family is left with burning questions, including why some of her body parts were missing.

When a man walking his dog comes upon a neighbour's garage engulfed in flames, little does he know the treachery behind it. When the smoke clears, a woman is found dead with drug paraphernalia nearby. But nothing is what it seems, and police are left combing through a web of lies to find the killer.

When a man walking his dog comes upon a neighbour's garage engulfed in flames, little does he know the treachery behind it. When the smoke clears, a woman is found dead with drug paraphernalia nearby. But nothing is what it seems, and police are left combing through a web of lies to find the killer. As they home in on the suspect they discover he's planning to leave the country and try to intercept him, at the same time, putting an elaborate Mr. Big operation in motion.

In 2006, 17-year-old Brigitte Serre was working her first overnight shift at a Montreal gas station when three men attempted an armed heist. Brigitte was murdered in the robbery gone wrong, stabbed 72 times. The killer was eventually caught in a cross-country manhunt and sentenced to 25 years without parole for the brutal slaying. But for the Serre family, the painful reminders of their tragic loss would surface time and time again as the convicted murderer applied for early release.

January 16th, 2006, started like any other for Jack Beauchamp. The financier grabbed a coffee and went to work in his downtown Calgary office. Minutes after he arrived, he was fighting for his life. He was shot six times and left for dead on his office floor. Follow along as senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt shares the story of how grieving co-workers helped police identify a suspect. And how the case took an unexpected turn when evidence pointed to someone else.

An elderly Mississauga woman is found dead beside Christmas presents she'd been wrapping. Within hours of the discovery, investigators receive a call from Niagara police about the attempted murders of two people living an hour away that they believe are connected. The ensuing investigation uncovers a story of betrayal, obsession, stalking and vengeance.

When a 20-year-old English tourist suddenly stops contacting his family while backpacking across Canada, his mother tries to raise the alarm. Police are slow to respond until an anonymous note prompts them to search a nearby lake. When a body is found, there is hope that it will help bring closure to the missing man's family. But as Jules Knox reports, another twist in this story means that the case can't be so easily closed.

An innocent victim, 28-year-old Mila Barberi was gunned down while picking up her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano from work. Serrano was believed to have been the intended target, having family connections to alleged criminal activity. When a known mobster is taken out in Hamilton, police question whether the two murders are connected and how Mila got caught in the middle. As investigators track down the killers, one of the suspects, Daniel Tomassetti, eludes police and becomes one of Canada's most wanted.

On a breezy winter day in February of 2002, in southern Alberta, a rancher was moving some cattle along a rural road when he came across a disturbing sight in the ditch. As he got closer, he was able to confirm it was a body. At the same time, an hour's drive North, in Calgary, family and friends of Adrienne McColl had no idea the heartbreaking news they were about to get– and the long road to justice they were about to embark on.

It was 1am on a cold, wet November night in 2011 when police found Leanne Freeman lying unconscious in a pool of blood. She later died in a downtown hospital, becoming Toronto's 42nd homicide of the year. The 23-year-old Freeman lived a lonely, troubled life, on the streets of Canada's largest city. Addicted to drugs, she ended up being a part of a group called 'The Crystal Circle', named for their use and dealing of crystal meth. It was members of that group who became suspects in her murder.

When a mother left her Surrey, B.C. condo for work in the morning, she never imagined that it would be the last time she would ever see her son. She returned to a building that was surrounded by yellow police tape, and it wasn't long before word leaked out that six men had been slaughtered inside. As Jules Knox reports, a well-placed surveillance team led officers to the suspects behind the largest gang-related mass murder in the province's history, but several unexpected twists in this case soon jeopardized the search for justice.

After six men were coldly executed in a Surrey condo building, police scrambled to collect evidence and determine a motive for the murder. As they dove deeper into their investigation, it didn't take officers long to find their suspects, but police misconduct along the way threatened to derail the search for justice for the victims' families. Jules Knox reports on the rival gang dispute that claimed two innocent lives.

In 1995, a 92-year-old woman had been brutally beaten during a home invasion, managed to escape, but died months later. At the time, no one knew who'd so viciously attacked Henrietta Knight. But 20 years later as police are investigating the disappearance of a known criminal, they find a connection. As the investigation unfolds, they find links to a bank robbery, a car bombing and multiple murders. A trail of blood that leads them to the one man responsible for it all.

Three brazen murders in Kelowna, Vancouver and Toronto spark an extensive police investigation into the Wolfpack Alliance, a crew of gangsters running operations connected to Mexican cartels. The kingpins are quick to take out anyone in their way, leaving authorities scrambling to build a case against the killers.

On November 17, 2004, a young Calgary family settled in for the evening. At about 9 pm, the husband left for work as a security guard, while his wife stayed home with their two children. In the middle of the night, she woke to the sound of shattered glass. Within minutes the entire home was engulfed in flames. After desperate attempts to reach her children failed, the mother managed to escape. The children didn't survive. Senior crime reporter Nancy Hixt shares the unexpected twists the investigation took into who was responsible for the devastating double-fatal fire.

In 1983, Susan Tice, a 45-year-old mother of four was found raped and stabbed to death in her Toronto home. Four months later, across town, 22-year-old Erin Gilmour returns home from work and is attacked the same way. The women didn't know each other, and both cases remained unsolved for decades. In 2000, DNA profiles from each crime proved their attacker was the same man but didn't reveal his identity. It would take another 20 years, but thanks to genetic genealogy research, the killer was arrested, charged and convicted, bringing a measure of closure for the victims' families.

On a warm summer night in 1973, as Peter Demeter pulls his Mercedes into his driveway, the bludgeoned body of his wife and model, 33-year-old Christine Demeter is revealed; investigators launch an epic investigation, and discover a story and cast of characters that is stranger than fiction; model mistresses, million-dollar insurance policies, and Hungarian hitmen are revealed.

Millionaire Builder Peter Demeter is charged with non-capital murder in connection with his wife's death. His trial in London Ontario's brand-new courthouse is explosive, with investigators uncovering new evidence daily. Who killed Christine Demeter? The suspect list is a long one, from Hungarian enforcers to a serial murderer stalking young women in Mississauga, and a self-processed cop killer who escaped Collins Bay Penitentiary.

It was a story that mobilized a province. A 10-year-old girl gone without a trace from a Montreal neighborhood. Jolene Riendeau was last seen at a local convenience store. Twelve years later, her remains were unearthed near a bridge. Now, more than two decades later, her parents are still searching for answers.

While many acknowledge Truman Capote's 1965 'In Cold Blood' as the first of the true crime genre, it actually dates back to the renaissance period where murderous tales were part of the oral tradition, later transcribed by scholars. Today true crime novels are often topping best sellers lists. To explore why there is such a public fascination with this genre of storytelling, Crime Beat sits down with five acclaimed authors pushing the boundaries of true crime.

Curious about why the owner of an expensive sports car would be outside a notoriously seedy Toronto motel, police knock on the door and are met with gunfire. Over the next several hours – hundreds of bullets are fired in the biggest shootout in the city's history. When the onslaught is over, the ensuing investigation uncovers a string of crimes leading back to the elderly owners of a BC gun shop.

When two brothers entered a bank in Saanich, B.C. dressed in body armour and armed with semi-automatic rifles, everybody inside was taken hostage. The gunmen demanded money and herded the hostages towards the vault. But instead of escaping with the cash, the brothers paced inside the bank as police arrived on scene. As Jules Knox reports, a hailstorm of bullets suddenly erupted that resulted in two deaths and left many people with their lives forever changed.

Audrey Trudeau moves to Calgary in the late 90's in search of a fresh start following a divorce; then, on the eve of an exciting new opportunity, she suddenly vanishes; her disappearance puzzles her loved ones.