I have written about, or at least mentioned before that the number of unsolved murders in Halifax is quite high, too high in fact, and by the looks of the list, not getting any shorter. In fact, we've got some 48 unsolved murders on the files going back to 1955 with the shooting of Michael Leo Resk in his delivery van on Acadia Street. That number is not counting the missing persons, who, because no body has been found, are not listed as homicides.
There is an interesting article in the November 19, 2009 edition of The Coast written by Stephen Kimber, that will probably scare you when you read it. Kimber's article suggests at the very least, some of these unsolved murders and missing persons could be a story of bureaucratic incompetence, where the investigations have been hampered by administrative decisions or legal limitations that keep the crimes listed as unsolved. That is not to say that homicides are always easy to solve, far from it, but when you read The Coast article, you will see that many of them might have been solved, had the investigators been able to continue their work.
Several of these Halifax unsolved murders are probably drug and organized crime related, as Kimber's article says, "criminals killing criminals" I haven't dwelt too much on those below, at least not the ones that appear obvious. In terms of murders, most of the women don't have an apparent link to criminals, other than one or two who were known to the police. The majority of the men seem to have been killed in what I would describe as 'hits' although I don't have anything to base that on other than the method of the crime, such as the April 19, 2002 shooting death of John Francis Alquiros whose body was found in the area of the Greenhead Road extension, off the 103 Highway in Timberlea.
However, several more are not likely of that variety, in fact, a good many appear to be the acts of either random violence, or perhaps worse, the work of a serial killer.......
Of course I watch way too much "Criminal Minds" on television, but let's face it, when you have young persons, many of them female, disappearing off the face of the earth, it makes you wonder, just what might be going on.
Let's look at the list from the Halifax Regional Police website shall we....beginning with "missing persons" I am grouping these together with murdered women for the purposes of comparison.
Missing Women
34 years old when missing, Nancy Joanne Forbes has been missing since November 7, 2006, last seen at a bus stop in Burnside Industrial Park.
Marilyn Ann Hersey missing since January 28, 2006 last seen leaving the Abbey Lane Hospital on January 28, 2006, She was 63 when last seen.
Arlene McLean missing since September 8, 1999, last seen in Eastern Passage. She was 28 when last seen.
Crystal Jack missing since July 15, 1997, last seen at 2448 Agricola Street. She was 30 when last seen.
Leslie Katnick has been missing since November 4, 1991. She was last seen at the Halifax YMCA. She was 25 when last seen.
Kimberley McAndrew, has been missing since August 12, 1989. She was last seen at the Canadian Tire Store located at 6203 Quinpool Road in Halifax. According to Kimber's article, the well publicized reported sighting of Kimberley McAndrew at a Penhorn Mall flower shop that day, may have been incorrect. She wwas 19 when she was last seen.
------------------------------------------
Missing Men
Shenchiu "Andy" Tsou, missing since June 26, 2005. 29 years old when last seen in Halifax.
Emmett Price missing since August 8, 2007, Last seen in Fall River. He was 18 when he was last seen.
Raymond Peter O"Connell was last seen on June 8, 2004 on Cork Street in Halifax, he was 33 years old when last seen.
Bruce Andrew Forbes has been missing since July 16, 2002. He was 38. Last seen at Regent Road in Halifax.
Darryl Ferneyhough has been missing since May 13, 2001. He was 29 when he was last seen on Gottingen Street in Halifax.
Gregory Brushett was last seen at Dawson Street, Dartmouth, He was 35 when he was last seen on April 10, 1999.
Jamie Wyatt was last seen November 16, 1996. He was 62 when he disappeard, and was last seen on Inglis Street in Halifax.
That is 13 missing persons, most of whom have been missing for several years, and with the exception of 3, all were under 36 when they disappeared. Of those 10, 7 were 30 years old or under.
--------------------------------
Add those 13 missing persons to the 48 murder victims listed in Stephen Kimber's Coast article, and you have 61 persons murdered or missing. That....is no small number of unsolved crimes, especially in a city the size of Halifax. Naturally, some of those missing or dead, are either missing by choice, or dead because of criminal activity, but many appear to have no history that links them to a criminal element like the drug trade. That makes them appear to be random acts of violence, or....in my mind, the possible victims of a serial killer(s).
Lets look at the list of unsolved murders. I have chosen not to not list the ones that appear to be crime related, otherwise, I am listing the date, the age of the victim and their name, where their remains were discovered. You can see the entire list on the Halifax Regional Police Website
Murdered Women
Tanya Brooks, 37, May 11, 2009 St. Patrick's-Alexandra School
Paula Gallant, 36, December 27, 2005, Beechville-Lakeside-Timberlea School
Naomi Wendy Kidston, 26, June 7, 2005, River Road, Spryfield
Laura Lee Cross, 34, October 14, 2002, wooded area, (logging road) Old Guysborough Road
Margaret Hartrick 35, September 10, 1998, Harbour View School in Dartmouth
Christine Marjorie McClean, 27, April 4, 1998, Cherrybrook Water Treatment Site wooded area
Kimber Leanne Lucas, 25, November 23, 1994, North Street
Shelly Connors, 18, May 29, 1993, Spryfield wooded area
Andrea Lynn King, 19, December 22, 1992, wooded area near the Sackville Business Park. (Missing since January 1992)
Carla Gail Strickland, 21, June 3, 1991, wooded area off Highway 118, Dartmouth
Jean Hilda Myra, 32, April 5, 1990, grain elevators in the area of Ports Canada
Suzanne Elizabeth Dube, 22, November 17, 1988 in Bedford Basin, Cross Road, Lr. Sackville
Ann Masson, 28, March 28, 1986 Robie Street, Halifax
Florence Ann Keeble. 17, October 30, 1976, wooded area off the Old Sambro Road* Has similarities to another murder.
Judy Parks, 14, July 10, 1976, in a wooded area off Hwy #103 near Timberlea
Helen Knickle, 23, July 26, 1974, Halifax Common, Halifax, NS
The above list is 16 women, with an average age of 26, 7 of whom were all left in a wooded area, and 3 who were left at a school. Is it just me, or does anyone else see some similarities? I watch too much crime television I guess, but here are women, all in the approximate age group, many of whom killed and their bodies left in a wooded area, or behind a school. Is this the same killer, or perhaps 2 killers? Think about that, because the options are, we have either 16 separate women killers still walking around free, or maybe 2 women killers who kill multiple times.
In terms of murdered men, the list is longer, in part because their appears to be links to crime involved in several of the unsolved murder mysteries. In some cases, such as taxi driver Ron Henderson, a taxi driver with Armdale Taxi, appears to have robbery as a motive, as did the murder of Newt Boutilier, January 7, 1968, when he was found dead in his store in French Village.
However, there are some murders that defy understanding, and appear to be random acts of violence, or at least the victims are not related to criminal activity or involvement in crime on the part of the deceased. Of that group, a couple stand out for various reasons, for example: On May 31, 2008, 65 year old Daniel Martin Newman was found stabbed to death near St Patrick's-Alexandra School in Halifax. This is the same place that the body of 37 year old Tanya Brooks, was found almost exactly one year later on May 11, 2009.
On August 28, 1999, the body of 19 year old Jason MacCullough was found on a paved path between 100 and 104 Pinecrest Drive in Dartmouth and on August 7, 2005, 19-year-old Jonathan Reader was found unconscious on the road at Radcliffe Drive/Dunbrack Street in Halifax. Both 19, both with no apparent motive other than the deceased may have been in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
In terms of the serial killer aspect, according to Kimber's article in the The Coast, there is a chance that a connection may exist to a former Halifax resident, Andrew Paul Johnson, who was arrested in British Columbia in 1997 posing as a police officer while abducting a 20 year old woman. Johnson was known to Halifax Police who had been found guilty of confining and sexually assaulting his girlfriend in 1992 and in 1997 he was arrested for lewd conduct watching a playground and there was a warrant for his arrest for harrassing a 12 year old girl. While under arrest in B.C. in 1997, Johnson had written an essay for a police psychiatrist where he described the rape and murder of Kimberley McAndrew. 19 year old Kimberley McAndrew had been missing from Halifax since 1989. Police also linked Johnson to another unsolved Halifax murder, that of 22 year old Andrea King. Apparently something belonging to Andrea was found among Johnson's possessions. Johnson was declared a dangerous offender in British Columbia. Read Stephen Kimber's article in The Coast to find out why the investigation into Johnson's potential link to the unsolved Halifax murders has stopped.
--------------------------------------------------------
Further Reading
Dead Wrong, Halifax's Unsolved Murders - The Coast by Stephen Kimber
Major Unsolved Crimes
Supreme Court Rejects Andrew Paul Johnson's Bid to Appeal Dangerous Offender Status
Stephen Kimber's Blog
Unsolved Murders Canada, Kimberley McAndrew
