Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

Episode 415: For generations, people across North America have reported seeing enormous birds, describing wingspans that seem impossible and encounters they struggle to explain. Long before those reports were written, the Thunderbird was already known in many Indigenous cultures, where it is understood as a powerful and sacred being associated with thunder, lightning, and the forces that shape the natural world. For some, it is symbolic. For others, it is real. These are living traditions that deserve care and respect.

Sources:

The Thunderbird Indigenous SymbolThunderbird (mythology) | WikipediaJun 13, 1927, page 24 - The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com™Aug 06, 1933, page 45 - The Sunday Oregonian at Newspapers.com™Aug 20, 1933, page 3 - The Ogden Standard-Examiner at Newspapers.com™Tombstone epitaph (Tombstone, Ariz.), April 26, 1890 | Library of CongressLegend or Lie? The Tombstone Thunderbird | kgun9.comr/Cryptozoology | What about Thunderbird?r/Cryptozoology | Thunderbird sighting?Thunderbird — A Canadian Legend | Mysteries of CanadaThunderbird Stories from the Canadian Shield | Mysteries of CanadaLarge-bodied birds are over-represented in unstructured citizen science data - Scientific ReportsThunderbird | CryptidWikiWhy Giant Bird Sightings Still Appear TodayPROOF of the Tombstone Thunderbird - Forgotten History
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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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