Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

Episode 414: In the fall of 1989, the Miramichi region of New Brunswick became a place of unimaginable terror as escaped killer Allan Legere, the Monster of the Miramichi, unleashed a seven-month rampage of sexual assault, arson, and murder. He beat to death beloved store owner Annie Flam, strangled and burned sisters Donna and Linda Daughney in their home, and tortured and killed Father James Smith in his rectory, crimes on top of his earlier conviction for murdering shopkeeper John Glendenning during a savage home invasion. We covered Legere in episodes 18 and 19 in the pre-Mathew days. But now, with his death in a maximum-security prison at age 78 on March 9, 2026, it’s time to remember the horrific crimes, the victims and the community that endured him.

Sources:

Serial Killer, Allan Joseph LEGERE - AKA The Monster of the MiramichiLaw Library | Our Unique Digital Collections | Allan Legere | UNBDeath of an inmate from Edmonton Institution | Corrections CanadaLEGERE, Allan Joseph | Serial Dispatches18: Allan Legere – Monster of Miramichi – Part 1 (NB) – Dark Poutine19: Allan Legere – Monster of Miramichi – Part 2 (NB) – Dark PoutineAllan Legere Voir Dire July 1991R. v. Legere (A.J.) (1994), 156 N.B.R.(2d) 321 (CA);Rick MacLean & André Veniot — Terror: Murder and Panic in New Brunswick (McClelland & Stewart, 1990)
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Episode 413: On the afternoon of March 11, 2022, Dr. Mohd Abdullah left work at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, that afternoon for a meeting with his lawyer. It was supposed to be a discussion about money, hundreds of thousands of dollars that Abdullah believed his lawyer had mishandled... He never returned.

Sources:

R. v Bagabuyo, 2026 BCSC 327 (CanLII)Mohd Abdullah Obituary - Kamloops, BCMohd Abdullah | News, Videos & ArticlesMohd Abdullah at Thompson Rivers UniversityNearly 60 pieces of evidence entered at trial of B.C. lawyer accused of murdering his client | RCIKamloops lawyer accused of murder granted bailMurdered TRU faculty member remembered as quiet, kind manMeticulous timeline built from receipts, GPS data and security footage sealed fate of killer Kamloops lawyerVideo surveillance clips show Kamloops lawyer's movements before, after alleged murderFormer B.C. lawyer found guilty of 1st-degree murder after killing his client in 2022 | CBC News
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Episode 412: In March 1989, 21-year-old University of Texas pre-med student Mark Kilroy travelled to South Padre Island with friends for spring break. One night, they crossed the international bridge from Brownsville, Texas, into Matamoros, Mexico, for drinks and a night out. In the early hours of March 13, as the group headed back toward the United States, Mark was briefly left standing alone near the roadside. When his friends turned back moments later, he had vanished. At first, they assumed they had simply become separated in the crowds, but Mark never returned. His disappearance triggered an urgent search on both sides of the border that would soon uncover something far more disturbing than anyone imagined, a discovery that exposed a hidden world of violence and horror behind one young man’s spring break trip.

The Work of the Devil | Texas MonthlyCult commits murder at Rancho Santa Elena | March 14, 1989 | HISTORY"Spring Break Murders" Mark Kilroy (TV Episode 2025) | IMDbMark Kilroy Murder - Arrests (1989) - KPRC-TV CollectionThe Believers: Cult Murders in MexicoMurder, Madness & Mayhem by Mike BrowneKidnap, murder, ritual sacrifice | University PressMurder of Mark Kilroy | WikipediaMark Kilroy Foundation, Santa Fe, TexasMark James Kilroy (1968 - 1989) - Find A Grave MemorialMemory Mark Kilroy | YouTube
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Episode 411: In February 1890, the body of 24-year-old Englishman Frederick Cornwallis Benwell was found in a shallow grave near Lundy’s Lane, just outside Niagara Falls, Ontario. Benwell had travelled to Canada after corresponding with John Reginald Birchall, aka Lord Frederick A. Somerset, a fellow Englishman who advertised opportunities for young men seeking work and advancement overseas. Within days of Benwell’s disappearance, suspicion fell on Birchall, who was arrested in Buffalo, New York, and returned to Canada to stand trial. What followed was one of the most closely watched murder cases in late 19th-century Ontario.

Sources:

The Swamp of death, or, The Benwell murder by Oliver Wendell Holmes | Canadiana.caCatalog Record: The Swamp of death, or, The Benwell murder | HathiTrust Digital LibraryNewspapers.com | Search: John Reginald Birchallhttps://www.themeister.co.uk/birchall/birchall_reginald.pdfBIRCHALL, REGINALD (Lord Frederick A. Somerset) – Dictionary of Canadian BiographyFrederick Cornwallis Benwell (1865-1890) - Find a...John Reginald Birchall (1866-1890)Murder as a Fine Art by Alan BlythewayThe Trial of Reginald BirchallJohn Reginald Birchall | The Canadian Encyclopedia
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Episode 410: In the final years of the Cariboo Gold Rush, between roughly 1875 and 1885, travellers moving along the Cariboo Wagon Road through British Columbia’s interior passed through a remote roadhouse known as the 108 Mile Hotel, about 108 miles from Lillooet on the route toward Barkerville. According to a long-told regional legend, the hotel was run by Agnus McVee, alongside her husband Jim McVee and her son-in-law Al Riley, who were accused of drugging, robbing, and murdering miners carrying gold through the region. The story claims that dozens of travellers disappeared after stopping at the inn, with some accounts later alleging that bodies were recovered from nearby lakes and that young women were held captive at the hotel.

Sources:

CARIBOO CALLING: The Legend of Agnus MacVeeThe Cariboo Gold Rush TimelineHistory - Gold Rush Trail - British Columbia Shaped by NatureHistory and Timeline | Cariboo Gold ProjectAgnus McVee – Habitual Runaway ToursSarah Leavitt's comic imagines the life of Agnes McVee | CBC BooksAgnus McVee | WikipediaAgnes, Murderess | Goodreads108 Mile Heritage Site – Preserving the rich history of the Cariboo
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