Crime Beat Season 5, Episode 8: The Deadly Contract

1

The Hunt for a Predator

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.

46 min

2

Seeking Justice for Myles Gray

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.

46 min

3

In an Instant: The Neville-Lake Tragedy

Neville-Lakes' three children were killed by a drunk driver, Marco Muzzo, in a crash in Vaughan back in 2015; the driver, the son of a wealthy family, was sentenced to ten years in jail but is now out on parole while the mother is left grieving.

46 min

4

Chelsea Poorman and the Secrets of a Mansion

Chelsea Poorman was last seen on Sept. 6, 2020, in downtown Vancouver. Her remains were found 17 months later behind a vacant home in the upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

46 min

5

Nothing is What it Seems: Part 1

When a man walking his dog comes upon a neighbor'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.

46 min

6

Nothing is What it Seems: Part 2

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.

46 min

7

The Deadly Night Shift

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.

46 min

8

The Deadly Contract

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 shot six times and left for dead on his office floor.

46 min

9

The Ties That Bind

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.

46 min

10

The Tiny Town Mystery

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.

46 min

11

Sorry I Wasn't There

An innocent victim, 28-year-old Mila Barberi is gunned down while picking up her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano from work.

46 min

12

The Long Road to Justice

The 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.

46 min

13

Homicide 42

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.

46 min

14

Surrey Six: The Gang Hit

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.

46 min

15

Surrey Six: Seeking 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.

46 min

16

A Trail of Blood

It began as a cold case. 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.

46 min

17

Hunt for the Wolfpack

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. As Jules Knox reports, while a murder trial is finally underway, a cunning escape leaves authorities at a loss and the public looking for justice.

46 min

18

Incendiary Circumstances

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.

46 min

19

Closure

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.

46 min

20

The Death of Christine Demeter By Persons Unknown: Part 1

On a warm summer night in 1973, building developer Peter Demeter pulls a Mercedes full of tourists into his driveway after a shopping trip. As the garage door opens, headlights illuminate a horrific scene, the bludgeoned body of his wife and model, 33-year-old Christine Demeter.

46 min

21

The Death of Christine Demeter By Persons Unknown: Part 2

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?

46 min

22

To Catch a Killer

Jolene Riendeau, a 10-year-old girl, disappears without a trace from a Montreal neighborhood, she was last seen at a local convenience store; her remains were unearthed twelve years later near a bridge and her parents are still searching for answers.

46 min

23

Murder They Wrote (Mieke Anderson)

True crime novels are often topping best sellers lists; to explore the reason of public fascination with this genre of storytelling, "Crime Beat" sits down with five authors pushing the boundaries of true crime.

46 min

24

The Rainbow Motel Shootout

Curious about why the owner of an expensive sports car would be outside a 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.

46 min

25

Double Deception

Two brothers entered a bank with semi-automatic rifles; they demanded money and took everyone inside as hostages; the police arrived on scene and a hailstorm of bullets erupted, resulting in two deaths and many lives forever changed.

46 min

26

Benevolence Betrayed

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.

46 min