Island Crime

19/07/2024

Thank you to Former Regina police chief turned radio host -Evan Bray for inviting me to talk about the unsolved murder of Regina's Cheri Lynn Smith. 🙏

Listen here: The Evan Bray Show - Laura Palmer - July 19th, 2024

A Canadian podcast is delving into a cold case with a Regina connection. Season 6 of the podcast Island Crime is called ‘Sweethearts,' and examines the unsolved cases of three teenage girls who were murdered in Victoria, BC between 1990 and 1991. Host Laura Palmer joins Evan.

16/07/2024

***Contest alert*** (first and last as contests aren't my forte)

Last year I thought I would make Island Crime T-shirts & use the proceeds to support a few causes. Then I realized I'd rather spend time making podcasts than managing online T-shirts orders. Anywho. I have one sample shirt I made still sitting on my cluttered desk. If you'd like it (Womens Size M) please comment below and I will randomly pick one and send it out. 🙏

16/07/2024

Hey folks. Just had a meeting with my Frequency Network colleagues who distribute Island Crime. Thought I'd share a little of the research they presented. Looks like most listeners stick with me right to the end, which I gather is not always the case. So once again 🙏 thank you for listening.

I've got a couple of updates to 'Sweethearts' in the works and beginning work on a new season. Stay tuned as they say...

07/07/2024

This afternoon Amber Manthorne's friends & family will gather to mark the anniversary of her disappearance. Amber Manthorne has been missing for 2 years tomorrow.

Something I hear from families of the murdered and missing frequently is that they want their loved ones to be remembered for more than their tragic ends. Today I'll think of Amber's love of sunshiney days on the lake. 🙏 So much love to everyone missing Amber today & forever.

03/07/2024

Hey Vancouver Island friends, My former CBC colleague author Jean Paetkau has a new mystery out today!

The Sinking of Souls: Book #2 Breakwater Mystery Series

30/06/2024

Good morning Vancouver Islanders. If you have never walked for a cause, today is your day. Please join Lisa Marie Young's family, friends and supporters to mark the anniversary of Lisa's disappearance on the Canada Day weekend 2002. 11 am at Nanaimo's RCMP station, speeches and music around noon at Maffeo Sutton Park. 🙏

29/06/2024

In case you are wondering what that Times Square billboard would look like if you walked past it on the street in New York.

28/06/2024

Thank you

A bit bewildering to see my little Port Alberni-based podcast up in Times Square NYC.

👂 to the stories of Cheri Lynn Smith, Melissa Nicholson and Kimberly Gallup here: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/89e7bbec-7720-4abb-9cd3-e1fdf8fd6ddc/island-crime

27/06/2024

Please join me in supporting Lisa's friends and family this weekend. The event marks 22 years since Lisa vanished from Nanaimo on the Canada Day weekend in 2002. 🙏

27/06/2024

These lovely folks provided free donuts for one of the searches for Lisa Marie Young. Can confirm their donuts are next-level yummy.

We are back at the Commercial Street Night Market from 5 - 9 tomorrow June 27th. We are set up in Diana Krall Plaza in the kid zone. Right off Commercial St.
Menu posted below. Pre ordering is open. Send a message to order. Hope to see you.

Skor
PB Oreo Smore
Caramel Peanut Butter Cup
Strawberry Homer
Root Beer Float
Snickers
Blueberry Custard
Caramel Peanut Fudge Cookie
Chocolate Rice Krispy Treat
Spiced Caramel Apple Custard
Salted Caramel Apple Fritter
Caramel Apple Churro Fritter
Creamsicle
Raspberry White Choc
Churro
Boston Cream
Chocolate Cherry Cookie
Oreo
Chocolate Mocha Crisp

VEGAN
Strawberry Homer
Root Beer Float
Oreo
Apple Fritter
Boston Cream
Raspberry Lemon
Fuzzy Peach
Choc Cherry Fudge Cookie

23/06/2024

Today is the 39th anniversary of Canada's worst mass murder.

329 people on board Air India Flight 182 were killed, including 280 citizens or permanent residents of Canada. 88 of the victims were children.

The bomb that brought down the plane was made here on the island by Inderjit Singh Reyat - a mechanic living in Duncan. He was the only one ever convicted for his role in the bombing. Described as remorseless, he was freed from prison in 2017.

Thinking of the victims of the bombing today.

13/06/2024

Every six days in Canada a woman is violently killed by her intimate partner. Radical thought. If a woman is murdered perhaps the onus should be on their intimate partner to prove they did NOT do it. For now, this is a step in the right direction.

13/06/2024

Working on some updates to 'Sweethearts' Currently editing an interview with one of Cheri Lynn Smith's best friends. She recalls sneaking out with Cheri at night, gazing up at the stars. Cheri is 15 and her favourite song back then was Aerosmith's 'Angel'

Official Music Video for “Angel” performed by Aerosmith, REMASTERED IN HD! Listen to more from Aerosmith: https://stream.lnk.to/AerosmithYDSubscribe to Aeros...

10/06/2024

A lovely bit of news to start the week. The 'Whiskey Creek' series is up for an award. This was a particularly tough lift. Really difficult to get people to talk and so much vitriol directed at the victims.

Listen here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6BplHx6eiDw4icyRVEDati?si=27104e10be9845b0

08/06/2024

I'd heard the Toronto Star has been working on a project involving the use of IGG (investigative genetic genealogy)
Toronto & Calgary are leading the way in Canada on this front. B.C. seems to be lagging behind. I've been talking to some experts about why that is so and should have an update later this summer.

‎Show Suspicion: 40 Years Cold, Ep Introducing Suspicion Season 3, 40 Years Cold - Jun 7, 2024

08/06/2024

This may be too much 'inside baseball', but posting for those curious about my process. I don't always get this right, but the approach lets me sleep at night.

TraumaInterviewingKate Porterfield, clinical psychologist, Ph.D., offers journalists practical questions and a framework to minimize harm when speaking to people affected by trauma. Related Resources Below Other Topics Interviewing ChildrenReporting on Vulnerable CommunitiesEthical Relationships Wit...

06/06/2024

Thank you Apple Podcasts for including ‘Sweethearts’ in your True Crime Essentials collection. And thank you to my loyal audience for listening and caring about Melissa, Cheri and Kimberly. I’ll be updating the series this summer. 🙏

31/05/2024

🙏 Remembering these beautiful souls and those who loved them today.

Sereena Abotsway 29, reported missing on August 22, 2001

Mona Lee Wilson 26, reported missing on November 30, 2001

Andrea Joesbury 22, reported missing June 8, 2001

Brenda Ann Wolfe 32, reported missing on April 25, 2000

Georgina Faith Papin 34, reported missing in March 2001

Marnie Lee Anne Frey 24, reported missing on December 29, 1997

Jacquelene Michelle McDonell 22, reported missing on January 16, 1999

Dianne Rosemary Rock 34, reported missing on December 13, 2001

Heather Kathleen Bottomley 27, reported missing on April 17, 2001

Jennifer Lynn Furminger 28, reported missing on December 27, 1999

Helen Mae Hallmark 20, reported missing on June 15, 1997

Patricia Rose Johnson 25, reported missing on January 2, 2001

Heather Gabrielle Chinnock 30, last seen in April 2001

Tanya Holyk 23, reported missing on November 3, 1996

Sherry Leigh Irving 24, reported missing on February 22, 1997

Inga Monique Hall 46, last seen in February 1998

Tiffany Louise Drew 27, reported missing on December 31, 1999

Sarah Jean de Vries 29, last seen in April 1998

Cynthia "Cindy" Feliks 43, last seen in December 1997

Angela Rebecca Jardine 27, reported missing on November 20, 1998

Diana Melnick, 23 last seen in December 1995

Mission Jane Doe, discovered on February 25, 1995.

Debra Lynne Jones 42, last seen in December 2000

Wendy Crawford, 43, last seen in December 1999

Kerry Lynn Koski, 38, reported missing on January 7, 1998

Andrea Fay Borhaven, 25, last seen in March 1997

Cara Louise Ellis 25, reported missing on January 21, 1997

Nancy Greek Clark,25, disappeared in August 1991.

Yvonne Marie Boen 33, reported missing on March 16, 2001

Dawn Teresa Crey, last seen in December 2000.

Janet Gail Henry 36, reported missing June 25th, 1997

25/05/2024

Huge thanks to every one of you who take a moment to rate and review Island Crime. The reviews help find new audiences for the stories and give the podcast a little extra cred. I will humbly accept the review which may have been meant for Nancy Hixt - Crime Beat 😉

24/05/2024

🙏 Thanks to one of Melissa Nicholson's old school chums her family now has another photo of Melissa. Here she is in Grade 7 at Macaulay Elementary in Victoria.

24/05/2024

Many of you messaged to say how much you liked 'Dance in the Rain', the 'Sweethearts' theme music. Here's another cut from the artist Bolshiee 'I Hope it Kills You'.

And a note. I received so much feedback on the series including fresh leads that I will be updating soon with some new episodes.

🙏 for caring so deeply about Melissa, Kimberly & Cheri.

hope it kills you on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/track/1FZYRjZPg5AmGu1WAnfZaY?si=83c47d48319f4513 © 2022 Bolshiee MusicBolshiee ...

23/05/2024

Happy Birthday to me. I'm celebrating by sharing this snap of me and my childhood hero the late great Ernie Coombs aka Mr. Dressup. We had martinis together and I walked him back to his hotel room. He was funny and sweet, exactly what you would want Mr. Dressup to be. (For my American friends Mr. Dressup was Canada's Mr. Rogers, he worked with Fred Rogers too) You can tell it was a big deal as I am wearing lipstick!

21/05/2024

The 'final' episode of Sweethearts just dropped. But here's the thing. Until the crimes are solved, I keep chipping away on the cases, which means I'm now working on updates to the series. It's wild how much there still is to uncover about 30-year-old murders. Stay tuned as they say.

‎Show Island Crime, Ep S6 E8 Hope - May 21, 2024

21/05/2024

Who knows how many secrets he will take to his grave when his time comes…

18/05/2024

Thank you to everyone who flagged the news story regarding the identification of serial killer Gary Srery. It appears Srery was in the Fraser Valley at the time Cheri, Kimberly and Melissa were killed. Could he have made trips to the island?

Can't link to the news article, this is from a comprehensive story by Edmonton Journal reporter Jonny Wakefield.

"Srery went nearly two decades in Canada with no significant police contact. Police believe that after the Calgary killings, he relocated to the town of Standard, east of Calgary, before heading to British Columbia. He spent time in Vancouver (1979-80) Davis Bay and Half Moon Bay (1980-83), Gibsons (1983-88), Abbotsford (1988-90), Cultus Lake (1990-96) and Chilliwack (1996-98).

In 1996, Srery finally attracted the attention of Canadian law enforcement, serving time for sexual assault and forcible confinement in New Westminster. Until a tip from U.S. authorities, B.C. law enforcement believed the man they were prosecuting was named Rex Long, one of Srery’s many aliases."

16/05/2024

The Crown and Defense are recommending, in a joint submission, a sentence of 15 years in prison for Rykel Frank and Mitchell Frank in the 2018 death of 6-year-old Don-Tay Lucas. I drove by the Port Alberni Courthouse this morning in advance of the ruling. There was drumming and singing. Dontay was removed from foster care and placed with his mother and stepfather four months before he died in 2018. This little guy deserved so much better in life. Rest in peace beautiful boy.

15/05/2024

From the late great Alice Munro’s Selected Stories.

To be clear. I'm no saint. I sometimes wish ill on those responsible for the murdered and missing . But where does that get me? Figure my energy is better spent chipping away on these stories.