Canadian True Crime - 79 The Crimes of William Patrick Fyfe

Episode Date: December 15, 2020

QUEBEC In 1999, four women were found murdered in the greater Montreal area. They all lived alone, there were no signs of forced entry, and the crime scenes were so violent that even the most seasoned of investigators were shocked. But one day, the killer would make a mistake. This is the story of the crimes of the Quebec serial killer known as “The Killer Handyman”.SURVEY: Tell us what you think about Canadian True Crime - skip any question you don't want to answer!Survey expires December 16Take survey nowCanadian True Crime donates each month to a local justice-focused organization.This month’s donation has gone to:Sun Youth OrganizationPodcast recommendation:Troubles PodcastThanks for supporting my sponsors!See the special offer codes here AD FREE Exclusive feed - Canadian True Crime supportersAccess ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and more on Patreon and Supercast. Learn moreCredits:Research: Gemma HarrisResearch and writing: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of DreamsAll credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi friends! Just two things before I start. Firstly, on December 1st of every year, Apple Podcast names its best podcasts and I was thrilled to see Canadian True Crime selected as one of the 10 biggest shows of 2020 for Canada. And I'm sharing this space with some absolute powerhouses like The Daily, This American Life, Stuff You Should Know, Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations and more. In fact, the only other Canadian produced podcast in this list of 10 is CBC Uncover, which you should check out if you haven't already. Hopefully there will be more Canadian podcasts on the list next year but I wanted to thank you all for listening. I started this podcast as a nobody with no broadcasting background,

no network support and no social media following. So to be able to grow this much organically in less than four years is very cool and quite humbling. And it's all because of you guys who listen to my episodes and tell your friends about the podcast. So thank you so so much and I look forward to another year of creating episodes for you to listen to. And while I'm here, thanks also for the great feedback about the Mad Trapper of Rat River episode. I think a lot of people were surprised about this story, including me. As you remember, one of the main characters was Gwichin Special Constable who I called Lazarus Cititulis, who was instrumental in the manhunt. His great-granddaughter reached out to me with some interesting information. She told me his name

has been widely misreported as Cititulis instead of his actual name which is Cititinli. This era was in McLean's magazine, RCMP historical reports, news articles, several of the books written on the case and unfortunately it also made it to my episode. So I'm recognizing Lazarus Cititinli, the First Nations elder and Gwichin Special Constable known for his skills in hunting and trapping and his knowledge of the land. I should note that Dick North's book Mad Trapper of Rat River did get his name correct. This is my last episode for 2020. I always release episodes on the first and the fifteenth of each month but I do normally take New Year's Day off. This year though I've decided to cover an unsolved case I've been following for a few years now and would love to

raise awareness about. I hope that you'll tune in. Until then I wanted to wish you and your family a happy holiday season. Let's all hope that next year will be much better than this year was. And with that it's on with the show. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded through advertising and direct donations. The podcast contains course language, adult themes and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. It was October of 1999 in the small village of Centerville located on the western tip of the island of Montreal in Quebec. Anna Yarnold lived there alone but she had her beloved part Jack Russell Terrier Trooper keeping her company. Trooper had developed a lump and Anna

had just made an appointment with the vet to get it all checked out. Even though Anna lived alone she was married to a man called Robert and the couple had raised two children, Sarah and James. Tragically more than 15 years beforehand when James was just 18 he was killed by a vehicle driven by a drunk driver. The death of a child can put a strain on the most stable of marriages but the stress was compounded when Anna was diagnosed with Crohn's disease a type of inflammatory bowel disease and she had to undergo several surgeries. According to the Montreal Gazette both of these traumas took their toll and Anna and Robert eventually decided to separate. Anna moved out of the family home and into her own place.

It was a property set back from the road surrounded by a haven of bushes and gardens. Anna had previously been a registered nurse and helped her husband with his business but she was also an artist and she loved her garden. Despite being separated she and Robert remained close, best friends even. In fact they'd gone for a scenic walk together just that past weekend to admire the changing of the leaves. Anna kept Robert and their daughter Sarah up to date when it came to her little Jack Russell's lump. They knew she was very anxious and were both hoping for positive news. The vet appointment was at 3pm. After checking Trooper over the vet agreed with Anna that the

lump was problematic and it would need to be removed. Trooper would need surgery. Anna was understandably upset at the news. After she got home the phone rang. It was Robert checking in and then at around 5.30pm their daughter Sarah called to lend a sympathetic ear. Anna was beside herself at the thought of her beloved little companion having surgery and appreciated the support given by her family. The next morning Robert called the house to check on Anna to see if she was feeling any better about Trooper. There was no answer. Sarah called too but got the same thing. No answer. That was odd. They tried calling back throughout the day but continued to get no response.

By the end of the day Robert was concerned so when he finished work he drove to Anna's house to check up on her. He arrived at around 8pm reassured to see that the house lights were on and Anna's car was parked in the driveway. Maybe she'd just been out all day. Robert entered the house expecting Trooper to come running up but he didn't. Robert called out to Anna but there was no answer. He looked around and found Trooper shut in a spare bedroom. There was no sign of Anna but he found her handbag dumped on the floor with her wallet and contents strewn about. Her credit cards were missing. Something was not right here. Robert headed out into the backyard the garden that Anna loved to tend to and it was

there that he made a shocking discovery. He saw 59 year old Anna lying face down in a flower bed. She was dead. She had obvious head wounds and nearby lay a cement flower pot that had blood all over it. Shocked Robert called the police immediately. Investigators found no signs of forced entry and there were no fingerprints at the scene other than Anna's. But they found the glasses she wore in the bathroom sink not a place you'd expect to find glasses. And of course there was the fact that someone had rummaged through her purse and stolen her credit cards. I'm Christy an Australian who's called Canada home for more than a decade and this is my passion project. Join me to hear about some of the most thought-provoking and often

heartbreaking true crime cases in Canada. Using court documents and news archives I take you through each story from beginning to end with a look at the way the media covered the crime and the impact it had on the community. This is Canadian true crime. The autopsy determined that along with those blunt force head injuries caused by the flower pot there was also evidence of asphyxiation. It was believed that after Anna was attacked her head was pushed into the soil cutting off her oxygen and it was there face down in the garden bed that she was found. As well as the blows to her face she also had a number of fractured ribs. Anna had suffered through a terrible ordeal. Police spoke to both Robert and Sarah to get

as much information as they could about the last time they spoke to Anna. Both were visibly devastated and Sarah was in a complete state of shock not only because her mother was dead but also the violent way she had died. Anna was known to be friendly and easy going an empathetic creative woman who was respected and well liked within her small community. How could this have happened and why? The police were wondering the same thing and were looking closely at Robert as a person of interest. Not only was he technically still married to Anna but he was also the one to discover her body and call the police. Statistics consistently show that nearly half of all female murder victims are killed by their current or former intimate partner. And with Anna's murder

at first the crime appeared to be a robbery but to bludgeon someone to death repeatedly with a heavy object just to steal some credit cards was suspicious at best. It seemed too violent and extremely personal to be just a robbery. Investigators would need to exclude Robert before they moved on to anyone else. Also on the police's mind was the fact that this attack on Anna was actually the second random violent attack of this kind in the area in just three months. Back in the summer of 99 the body of 42 year old child care worker Janet Kaczynski was found just off a bicycle path in Pierfont, Quebec about 10 kilometers away from where Anna lived. Janet, a mother of three, was active in the community and loved getting outside and walking for exercise. She had gone out for a walk

in the early evening and never returned. Her body was found the next morning. She'd been bludgeoned to death, hit repeatedly on the head with a blunt object and dragged into a nearby wooded area. Some media reports say that she was sexually assaulted but others say there was no evidence of that. The investigation didn't go far, leads had dried up and the case was getting cold. What were the odds that two similar attacks could happen in the same western tip of the island of Montreal within three months of each other? Once the media started reporting on the murder of Anna Yarnold the public started linking the two crimes themselves. Residents of the small community were absolutely terrified. Women in particular were advised to pay greater attention

to their personal safety, don't go walking or jogging by themselves and make sure their windows and doors were locked and do not open the door to a stranger. The community was on high alert. On October 22, 1999, a memorial service was held for Anna Yarnold. Her daughter, Sarah, would honour her mother for being warm, vivacious and fun loving. Robert, her best friend, would tell the Montreal Gazette that Anna was a person of considerable character. Quote, I'd always admired her as a person who, when the going got rough, she would always come through. Anna was also remembered for her various creative interests. She had a flair for flower arranging, painting and gardening and she also loved acting

with local theatre group, the Lakeshore Players. She would be sorely missed. Just a week after Anna's memorial service, a hospital at Saint-Agath-de-Mont over 100km north of Centerville was missing a nurse. 45-year-old Monique Goudreau was known to be a friendly, caring and conscientious nurse and she was always punctual for her shifts. But, on October 29, 1999, she didn't show up and she also hadn't contacted anyone to tell them she wouldn't be coming in. It was most unlike her. Monique lived alone so the hospital contacted her sister, who drove over to her house that night to check up on her. And there, she found Monique's bloodied body laying on her bedroom floor. Blood spatter covered the bedroom.

Monique had been beaten and stabbed more than 50 times, including a savage beating around her head and face. She had also been sexually assaulted. Investigators were shocked by the level of violence. It was among the worst crime scenes they'd ever seen. There was no sign of forced entry and while they didn't find any fingerprints, they did make an interesting discovery on the patio outside Monique's front door. It was a bloody shoe print and there was a trail of blood drops on the patio that did not belong to Monique. The forensics team determined that during the course of attacking her, the killer cut himself and as he tried to flee the scene, his blood dripped onto the patio. So, the police had a shoe print and potential DNA. Forensic testing determined that

the DNA came from a male, but they couldn't do any more until they had a suspect to match it to. The police also door-knocked in the area, speaking to neighbors to see if they saw or heard anything. One neighbor said he saw Monique out jogging the night before. She was an avid jogger, but other than that, there were no leads. With no sign of forced entry, police wondered if Monique had opened the door to her killer. Was it possible that she knew the person and let him in? Police did not believe that Monique's murder was connected to the murders of Anna Yarnold and Janet Kaczynski. Even though they were similar in terms of the level of violence, and they were all middle-aged women, that seemed to be where the similarities ended.

Monique's location was more than 100 kilometers away from where Anna and Janet lived. Anna had her credit card stolen, but Monique had nothing stolen from her house. Monique had also been sexually assaulted, and there were conflicting reports that Janet had been too, but Anna had been spared. And while Anna had been assaulted by her own flower pot, the weapons used to assault Monique and Janet weren't found. And while they'd all been bludgeoned to death, Monique had also been stabbed. It certainly was a troubling mystery. Just three weeks later, another woman would fail to show up to work. This time, closer to Montreal, in a city called Laval. Teresa Lizak Shanahan, described by the Montreal Gazette

as a stylish blonde accountant, had gone through a painful divorce about five years beforehand. She moved into a high-rise apartment by herself and was just starting to date again. But in November of 1999, she failed to show up for work. Her office called her at home, but there was no answer. After a while, concerned colleagues and police went to her apartment building to do a welfare check. When they arrived at her door, they noticed a pile of newspapers lying outside. The concierge provided police access to the apartment, and they found Teresa's body. She was wearing the clothes she'd been wearing the last time she was at work, four days beforehand. Teresa's murder bore a striking resemblance to Monique's three

weeks earlier. The autopsy determined that Teresa had been beaten and stabbed more than 30 times, and she had also been sexually assaulted. It seemed very similar to Monique Goudreau, single women living alone, and they were both beaten, stabbed and sexually assaulted. But there was one difference. Items were missing from Teresa's house. The attacker had stolen her credit cards, and he'd also taken some pieces of her jewellery. Police tracked her credit card transactions and made an interesting discovery. One of the cards had been used at around the time she was believed to have been murdered. However, use the key card clearly knew about transaction limits. There was $500 withdrawn just before midnight, and another $500 withdrawn just after midnight.

But how did he know her pin? The bank was able to provide CCTV footage of the person withdrawing the money. The camera showed a man withdrawing the cash, but his face wasn't visible. He did appear to be around 5 feet 10 inches tall and medium build. The photo was distributed to the public, but there really wasn't enough detail for anyone to make a determination. The police continued to investigate, now considering the possibility that the murders of 45-year-old nurse Monique Gaudreau and 55-year-old accountant Teresa LaZac Shanahan may have been linked. Back in Centerville, police there were still looking for leads in the murder of 59-year-old artist Anna Yarnold. It wasn't long before her daughter Sarah found something. As you'll remember,

Anna's wallet had been dumped on the floor and her credit cards were missing. There was no evidence that the police followed up on her credit card transactions. But Sarah had been going through her late mother's bank statements and noticed that on the day Anna was murdered, someone had made cash withdrawals from her bank account. There was a withdrawal from the ATM at the Bank of Montreal at around 7pm. Police reviewed the CCTV footage from the bank, and this time the camera showed more of a face. But the problem was that the person was wearing a hoodie, which obstructed the view. But what was clear was that he was white, average height, and had a beard. At least he did at the time Anna was murdered six weeks beforehand.

Anna's husband, Robert, was excluded as a person of interest. He never had a beard and the physical description did not match. Police were able to confidently link the murders of Anna, Monique and Teresa. Despite the slight differences in detail, all were women who lived alone and all of them suffered outrageously violent attacks. Janet Kaczynski's case had a little too many differences, mainly that she didn't live alone and she was preyed upon when she was out walking. Police continued to investigate her murder as a separate case. But for Anna, Monique and Teresa who were murdered in their homes, the police wondered how he managed to get inside their houses. There were no signs of forced entry in any of the homes.

The police had a suspicion that if the man didn't personally know each of the women, he must have been able to gain access by pretending to be someone they'd usually trust straight away or someone they would allow to enter their home. Their theory was that the killer must have presented himself as some kind of tradesman or repairman to get access to the homes and that's how he ambushed each of the three women. Only Anna and Teresa had their bank card stolen though and both had money withdrawn from an ATM in the hours after they'd been murdered. The only explanation was that the killer must have gotten them to give up their pin numbers before they died. The nature of the injuries they received suggested that they were likely tortured

into giving up their numbers. But why not Monique? And even though the police had linked all three cases, they still had no leads on a suspect. All they had was ATM CCTV footage and a footprint and some blood found from Monique's patio but no one to match it to. Three weeks after Monique was murdered, it happened again. 50-year-old graphic artist Mary Glenn lived in the affluent area of Bay du Faye, only nine kilometres from where Anna Yarnold lived in Centerville. It was a historic home and it belonged to her family. Mary had moved back there to care for her aging mother who had suffered a series of strokes and when her mother passed away, Mary stayed on at the house by herself. She often volunteered her time in the community

and was known to be a friendly and outgoing woman who was generous and trustworthy. On December 15th in the morning, Mary's housekeeper arrived for work and knocked on the door as a courtesy. No one answered so the housekeeper let herself in. When she went into the living room, she discovered Mary's body on the floor lying face up in a pool of blood. The Montreal Gazette reported that there was so much blood that it was impossible to tell what colour her hair was. Again, there was no sign of forced entry. Investigators processed the crime scene and found Mary's blood stained eyeglasses and bloodied strands of hair at the bottom of a staircase. They found diluted human blood in the kitchen sink and in the area not far from Mary's body,

officers found faint, bloody shoe prints and more on the staircase. From the blood stains, police were able to piece together what likely happened to Mary. Immediately after entering her home, they surmised that the man attacked Mary in the kitchen. She tried to flee and he followed her into her study. Clumps of Mary's hair were found around the house, indicating that the attacker had grabbed her by her hair as she tried to escape. It was evident that Mary had fought hard to escape him. He finally caught up to her in the living room where he pinned her to the ground and savagely beat her on the head and face. The autopsy determined that Mary too had been sexually assaulted. The evidence showed that the killer

then walked into the kitchen and washed either his hands or the murder weapon, leading to that diluted blood found in the sink. And after that, he walked upstairs to Mary's bedroom, found her handbag and rummaged through it, taking some items with him. Forensic investigators worked tirelessly processing the crime scene, which was Mary's entire house. It was a long and painful process. There was a lot of blood and it had been trampled around. They worked around the clock, making sure that no stone was unturned. The next day, the exhausted team caught a break. They were fingerprinting the kitchen doorframe and managed to lift a single intact fingerprint. It did not belong to Mary. It was sent off to be

run through the computer database. The police did the usual door knocking of the area and some neighbors had something interesting to say. The day before Mary's body was found, a man had knocked on their door. He introduced himself as a handyman and asked if they needed any yard maintenance services. It was mid-December in Quebec, a week away from the official start of winter, so not really conditions to warrant gardening. The neighbors declined the offer and the man left, but then he knocked on Mary's door. Police wondered how he convinced her to let him in. So, there had been three women murdered in their homes in the Greater Montreal area in the space of just a month. They all lived alone and all were active and respected in their

communities. By this time, Montreal was on very high alert, particularly in the communities in the western tip of the island of Montreal where Anna Yarnold and Mary Glenn had been killed. As you remember, this was close to where Janet Kaczynski had been murdered as well, although police were no longer considering her case as being connected. There was talk of an active serial killer and people were terrified, particularly women, living in fear that he could strike again at any moment. Back with the investigation, the police were making headway with that fingerprint. Initially, investigators had difficulty analyzing it, so they had to conduct more tests before trying the database again. The computer flashed with a match.

It belonged to a 44-year-old man called William Patrick Fife, who had a criminal record for break and enters. Detectives were in a bind. They had a suspected serial killer on the loose, and while they knew his name, they had no idea where he lived or his current location. Should they advise the media? If William Fife was announced as a person of interest and the public were advised to be on the lookout for the man, the risk was that he might see it too and go underground, blowing their chances of being able to find him and potentially costing more women their lives. Or was it better to keep things quiet and make haste with the investigation so he could be captured unaware before he was able to kill again? They decided that they would

wait until they located him first. Detectives ran a background check on the man to find out anything they could about him, including where they might be able to find him. He didn't know Mary Glenn and had no reason to be in her home. It didn't take long before a helpful answer came. One of William's previous partners contacted local police with a tip. They might be able to find him at his mother's secluded farmhouse in Innisfil, Ontario, near the city of Barry, about an hour north of Toronto. His ex-partner said that he owned a blue Ford pickup truck. By all accounts, the tip came in before William Fife's identity was released to the public, but there's no information on what motivated his ex-partner to contact police out of the blue.

With the address of William's mother in hand, Quebec police contacted the Ontario Provincial Police or OPP to scope it out. First, investigators drove by the property and spotted a blue Ford pickup truck, and it had Quebec plates. They ran the plates and found that it did belong to William Fife, but it was registered to a different address in Montreal. It didn't take them long to learn that he had vacated that address. But investigators wanted to be sure they had the evidence they needed against William before arresting him. This was an urgent matter of public safety. So, on December 18, 1999, they placed him under 24-hour surveillance as they worked around the clock to try and catch him out.

The investigation intensified as detectives from Quebec and Ontario teamed up. After a few days with no action, they released his picture to the media, saying he was wanted in connection with the murder of Mary Glenn. This strategy had two goals, to try and flush him out and also to get members of the public to come forward with any information they might have. The picture showed an ordinary looking man with dark hair. It worked. The police surveilled William as he made trips to Toronto and they watched him purchase copies of newspapers from all around the country. He was clearly checking on the news that was circulating about the investigation. On the third day of his surveillance, police followed William from a safe distance

as he went for a drive from his mother's property into the city of Barrie. He drove to the parking lot of a church and then to the charity bins behind the building. Where he disposed of items contained in a black garbage bag. The police were watching carefully. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Squarespace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose Squarespace because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly

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maximise your visibility in search engines and I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools helping me better understand who's visiting the site where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial and when you're ready to launch use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain that's squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. So the police were watching as William Fife dumped a black garbage bag at a charity bin behind a church. After he drove off the surveillance team split up and several officers stayed behind

to check out what he'd left inside the plastic bag with three pairs of running shoes with red spots on them that looked suspiciously like blood. It was determined that this evidence at least warranted an arrest. The following day December 22nd of 1999 police followed him to a gas station near Barry. They waited while he went inside and apprehended him when he came back out to his truck. He was said to have commented to police, why don't you shoot me now? And then he clammed up. According to reporting by the Montreal Gazette William Patrick Fife was born in Toronto in 1955 to parents William Sr and Werner. His father had a criminal record for petty offences and was reportedly abusive. Police would describe him as a harsh and frightening man who beat William

as a toddler. For unexplained reasons when William was just two years old, his father decided that he would be better off with his aunt, a woman called Francis who lived in Dysselaurent just outside of Montreal. So William was shipped off to Quebec where he was known as Billy. As a teen he played baseball with his local youth organisation but not much else has been reported about his childhood and adolescence. His aunt Francis had passed away by the time he was arrested in 1999. By 1973 18 year old William Fife had a serious substance abuse problem and started committing break and enters to fund his habit. He was convicted of theft in 1975 and again in 1976. After the second conviction the court was provided with a letter outlining William's

participation in a drug and alcohol rehab program likely a condition of probation. It read, William has changed his behaviour and his attitude and now he is able to accept being controlled by authorities and he has learned that he can't always be in control of all the situations that he was involved in. He has learned how to make use of his positive values and to accept the faults within his character. It seemed promising but his substance abuse issues prevailed resulting in the same for his criminal behaviour. Within two years he was convicted of another break and enter which resulted in him serving a 12 month sentence at the Bordeaux Prison in Montreal. That was 1979 and William was 24. In the lead up to his release from prison

he was allowed out on a day pass with a plan to go and work for the day and earn some money. But as he waited at the bus stop he changed his mind. Fast forward 20 years at the police station where William was now under arrest he was initially quiet and refused to say anything but he asked for cigarettes and when he received them he dropped the silent act and became aggressive and confrontational. He chain smoked the entire time and was dismissive of police. He was obnoxious in his protests of innocence announcing over and over again that the police had nothing on him and no grounds to arrest him. When asked why his fingerprint was found at the scene of Mary Glenn's murder he clammed up again.

The interview was being videotaped as per protocol but at several points he became so irate that he reached over and yanked the cord out of the video camera. It was clear to investigators that they weren't going to get far with this interview. Besides they had better things to do. See while William may have thought he was winning he didn't realize that he left something valuable with the police. An ashtray full of cigarette butts. The police retained them for DNA testing alongside the bloodstained running shoes he left at the charity bin. As that was happening investigators returned to William's mother's house with search warrants for the property as well as his pickup truck. They found blood stains on some items of his clothing

which they took for testing along with some other items including women's jewellery that did not belong to his mother. As for evidence they already had that fingerprint that placed him at Mary Glenn's home but DNA testing confirmed that Mary's blood was found on some of the clothing seized from his mother's house and the pattern of those bloody shoe prints found in her home matched the tread on one of the pairs of William's running shoes that he left at the charity donation bin. The evidence was irrefutable. William Fife was charged with the first degree murder of 50 year old Mary Glenn. With the person responsible for all of this terror now in custody greater Montreal residents breathed a sigh of relief. The man who prayed on women in their own homes the places where they

should feel the most safe was now off the streets. So the police had connected four murders committed in 1999. The crimes weren't identical but there were large areas of overlap that couldn't be ignored. There was of course Mary Glenn but the police would need to wait for further DNA testing to officially link William Fife to the murders of Anna Yarnold, Monique Godreau and Teresa Lizak Shanahan. Forensic biologist Jacinth Privo determined that blood on William Fife's genes belonged to Anna Yarnold. William Fife was the man who bludgeoned Anna to death using her own flower pot. He was also positively identified as being the man in the CCTV footage using her key card. And when it came to Monique Godreau the bloody footprint found on her patio was a match

for another pair of bloodstained running shoes that William had discarded at the charity bin. As for the blood droplets on Monique's patio that police determined came from a male who injured himself those two were an exact match to William's DNA. In preparation for two new first-degree murder charges the crown removed the original charge for the murder of Mary Glenn and linked all three together. William Patrick Fife was now charged with the murders of 50-year-old Mary Glenn, 46-year-old Monique Godreau and 59-year-old Anna Yarnold. As they waited for DNA results for Teresa Lizak Shanahan the investigation continued with police examining other unsolved murders in the Greater Montreal area over the years that shared any similarity with any of those crimes.

The police had their suspect but perhaps they could get closure for more families who'd lost a loved one and had never received answers. Before long officers received an important tip. A man saw the publicity around the case and recognised William as someone he knew and played hockey with some 20 years earlier in the town of Mount Royal and at the time they lived just blocks away from each other and this man had a tragic story to tell about his mother. Her name was Hazel Skatolan and she was 52. At the time she was estranged from her husband and lived alone in a third floor apartment in a security building. In 1981 her son then only 20 years old was trying to call his mother at her apartment. After a time he grew concerned

and went around to check up on her and discovered her body in her bedroom. The scene was violent and horrific. Hazel Skatolan had been stabbed to death and an autopsy would confirm that she'd been sexually assaulted. A suspect had never been identified and 18 years later the case had gone completely cold. But when Hazel's son read the newspaper and saw the publicity around William Fife he wondered if maybe his old hockey teammate was responsible for her murder as well. He told police that William had even done some painting at Hazel's home. This was a significant lead and investigators were ecstatic when they looked into Hazel's file and discovered that DNA had been found at the crime scene. Since Hazel's murder was committed in 1981 there wasn't much they could do

with the DNA at the time so it was preserved. Forensic biologist Jacinth Privo found that it was a match. William Fife was responsible for the murder and sexual assault of Hazel Skatolan. After more than 18 years her family could finally get some closure. Meanwhile the results were in for Teresa Lazak Shanahan the stylish blonde accountant who lived in the high-rise apartment and was found in clothes she'd worn to work four days earlier. As you remember she had her credit card stolen with $500 withdrawn just before midnight and the same amount just after to maximize the transaction limit. His face wasn't visible on the CCTV footage but detectives determined that it was William Fife. Teresa also had several pieces of jewellery stolen

one of them was a ring. Police were able to confirm that this exact ring was in William's bedroom at his mother's house. These results meant new charges. William Fife was charged with the first-degree murders of 52-year-old Hazel Skatolan and 55-year-old Teresa Lazak Shanahan. So five charges of first-degree murder one from 1981 and four from 1999. According to the Montreal Gazette the crown prosecutor Jean Lacour said that he found it troubling that William Fife's charges now spend two decades. Quote what did he do between 1981 and 1999? This question would not go unanswered. But first was the preliminary hearing which started in November of 2000. The purpose of the

hearing was for the crown to present all the evidence they'd gathered against William Fife and the judge would decide if there was enough to take to trial. There was his fingerprint at Mary Glenn's house. His footprints from his discarded shoes were matched to Mary's home and also to Monique Godreau's patio and also on that patio were drops of his blood. His clothing was stained with blood that matched to Mary Glenn and Anna Yarnold. His DNA was at Hazel Skatolan's crime scene. He had Teresa Lazak Shanahan's ring and he was identified as being the man on the CCTV footage withdrawing money from Anna and Teresa's bank accounts. The judge ruled that there was enough evidence to send him to trial.

The media noted that if he was convicted he would be labelled a serial killer. The serial killer reference was something William Fife's lawyer Mark LaBelle referred to in comment to the Montreal Gazette. He told a reporter that one of his issues was that most serial killers in Canada boast of their crimes and plead guilty, thus avoiding trial. He pointed out Clifford Olson from British Columbia who killed 11 children in the early 80s and pleaded guilty so no trial. The Gazette also referenced Michael McGray who murdered seven people in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Montreal between 1985 and 1998. He claimed to have murdered 11 others during that same time period and he pleaded guilty too. It should be noted though that LaBelle's

claims of serial killers boasting and pleading guilty was a little one-sided. Just six years beforehand, Quebec man Serge Ashambo, also known as the Butcher of Sanou Stache, was convicted of murdering three women between 1989 and 1992. He pleaded not guilty and was convicted at trial. And the year after that Paul Bernardo pleaded not guilty too and was also convicted. William Fife's lawyer went on to tell the Gazette that he believed trying Fife on all charges in one trial will favour the prosecution because lumping the victims together helped the crown prove premeditation. The lawyer questioned whether a jury could really offer an impartial decision when there were this many counts of murder. Fife's lawyer had other questions too like a

complaint about the way police obtained the DNA samples from the cigarette butts and the shoes discarded from the charity bin. He said he would continue to fight but it went nowhere. He went on to apply for the five charges to be severed so that William could be tried on each separate murder charge. The judge ruled to keep them together. In the lead-up to the trial, police continued to press forward in profiling William Fife against other unsolved murders and sexual assaults. They looked closely to those that had one or more of the common elements. Women who lived alone, no signs of forced entry, violent murder, sexual assault and had items or cash stolen. In all, there were four police forces now working the

investigation, three from Quebec and the Ontario Provincial Police. They weren't able to find any more matches and the trial was approaching fast. It was due to start on September 24th of 2001 but three days beforehand, William Fife stunned everyone when he suddenly changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. For the families of Hazel Skatolan, Anna Yarnold, Monique Goodrow, Teresa Lizak Shanahan and Mary Glenn, this would mean no long drawn-out trial and no presentation of painful and triggering evidence. This announcement would have normally been big news nationally but 9-11 had happened just a week beforehand in the United States so that dominated the news instead. The sentencing hearing was held the next month in October of 2001. Justice J.

Frazier Martin didn't pull any punches in delivering his sentence. He said after reviewing everything to do with the case, the autopsy reports, photographs and all the evidence, he just didn't know where to begin. He told the court that in his 18 years as a judge, he'd never seen anything like this. He also said something interesting. He acknowledged that the crown prosecutor had spared the court the worst of the details. This likely meant there was evidence about the crimes that were determined to be too heinous to reveal in court and besides, the prosecutor was confident enough in the evidence they had that revealing those details wasn't necessary. Whatever those details were, media outlets did not report on them either. In fact,

many outlets or news reports did not even mention the sexual assault component of the crimes, only choosing to include details about the murders. When digging into the case past the mainstream media, mentions are made of evidence that suggests William Fife sexually assaulted the women after they had died from his violent attacks. And when it comes to crimes involving sexual sadists, it's not too much of a stretch to make. Justice Martin continued his sentencing remarks. He recognized William's guilty plea as his one redeeming feature and recommended that he be treated urgently in a facility that specializes in both psychological and psychiatric treatment. Quote, I can only hope unless something changes that you will never be in the position to walk

and stalk the streets again. For each of the five charges, William Fife was given the expected maximum sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 20 years, but the sentences would be served concurrently or at the same time. But this was not the end. The next month, William Fife approached the Crown. He had something they wanted and he wanted to make a plea deal. First, he told them what he wanted out of it, which was a transfer to a prison in Saskatchewan, not Quebec, where he was housed currently. According to his lawyer, Mark LaBelle, William wasn't being treated well by other inmates and he complained about receiving death threats and he also preferred to be in an English speaking prison.

The lawyer referenced another one of his infamous clients, Carla Hamulka. Some eight years earlier, she too had requested a transfer to serve her sentence in Quebec instead of Ontario, where her crimes were committed. LaBelle told the media that like Hamulka, William Fife's request was a question of safety when it came to keeping inmates with difficult cases in safer conditions. His lawyer added that the facility in Saskatchewan also offered to specialise psychiatric care that William needed. And in return for this transfer, William Fife said he would plead guilty to even more murders. A deal was made. On November 23rd, 2001, William Fife agreed to be interviewed again by investigators to make his new confessions. And this time, he talked. He started from the beginning.

We'll pick up his story from 1979, when 24 year old William was serving that 12 month jail sentence for breaking and entering. In preparation for his release, he was granted the privilege of a day pass from Bordeaux prison in Montreal so he could go back and work for the day. William told investigators that as he waited for the bus, only a few blocks from the prison, he spotted a middle aged woman entering her apartment building and something snapped. He decided to follow her into the building and force his way into her apartment. Her name was Suzanne Marie Bernier and she was 62 years old and lived alone. Not much else is publicly known about her. It was only when her employer contacted the police

two days later that her body was found. William Fife had violently stabbed her to death and sexually assaulted her and the scene was so bloody that even the most seasoned of investigators were shocked. And according to William, this was his first serious crime. At the end of the day, he slipped back into prison with no one the wiser about what he really did with his time out of prison. At the time, investigators processed the crime scene using the technology of the day but came up empty handed. No witnesses came forward and there were no leads. The murder of Suzanne Marie Bernier would remain a cold case until William Fife confessed almost 20 years later. The details he gave were precise details that only the killer would know. The police had no

choice but to believe him. So according to William Fife, that was his first murder. Almost a month after that, he was out of prison and that's when he said he got the same urge. In the Point Claire area on the western tip of the island of Montreal, he somehow got into the apartment of 26 year old Nicole Raymond. He told police how he stabbed her to death and sexually assaulted her. Media outlets would describe gruesome details he gave, although no specifics were reported and not much is publicly known about Nicole, except that her body was found by her boyfriend when he stopped by later that evening. At the time, investigators had considered the possibility that Nicole and Suzanne Marie's

cases may have been linked. But the only thing they had in common was that they were both women who lived alone. Their ages were widely different. Nicole was 26 and Suzanne Marie was 62 and also there was no physical evidence left behind at either crime scene that could be matched to William Fife. The Montreal Gazette would report that after these murders, William had been working as a handyman doing a range of odd jobs including swimming pool installation and gardening. And then 18 months later, he struck again, this time with the mother of his hockey buddy, 52 year old Hazel Skatolan, whose body was discovered by her son. The case had gone cold until Fife was arrested and her son of course reached out to police. The DNA preserved from that crime scene

was a match. So William had already pleaded guilty to Hazel's murder, but he maintained that he maintained that he didn't kill again for the next six years. According to the Gazette, during those years he continued to struggle with substance abuse issues. Later in the year that Hazel was murdered, he attended rehab for drug and alcohol addiction near Saint Ippolitt, a cottage tourist area about 80 kilometres northwest of Montreal. William Fife was there for eight months. When he completed his own rehab in 1982, he stayed on as a counsellor. Oddly, people who knew him would say that he took to lecturing patients about their choices, including people who were overweight and smokers. This, coming from a 28 year old who had already murdered and sexually assaulted

three women. Records indicate that the next year, 1983, he married a 20 year old woman from Montreal and the couple had a son together. But police records show William's similarities to his own abusive father. William was violent and physically assaulted his young wife. After less than two years, the couple were separated. His wife filed for divorce the next year and was granted full custody of their son. William was said to have missed his son terribly and talked about him often to others. Commander Andrew Beshard of the Montreal Police would tell the Gazette that every time police mentioned his son, William would clam up and say he didn't want to talk about it. Quote, he's got a heart maybe even though we had to dig for it. His son was the only thing he found

precious. So, according to William, there was a six year gap between the initial cluster of murders and the next one he would confess to. He told police that in 1987, before his divorce was finalised, he murdered Louise Blanc-Poupard in Centre-Dale, another municipality in the Cottage Tourist area 80 kilometres northwest of Montreal. 37 year old Louise was found tied to her bed, stabbed 17 times and sexually assaulted. At the time, at least one witness saw William in the vicinity, describing him as being around five foot eight, medium build, dark brown hair and dark eyes, an age between 28 and 32. William Fife was 33 and all the other details fit. But at the time, no suspect was ever located and Louise's murder remained a cold case right up until the day William

Fife confessed. When he was asked how he got into his victims' homes, he said he'd ring the doorbell or knock on the front doors in affluent communities, especially west of Montreal. After offering handyman services, he would convince the would-be victims to let him inside. A detective listening to these confessions would describe him as a very, very ordinary man who showed no emotion as he calmly described the chilling details of each murder. This ordinary man had one final confession that would bring his tally to nine murders. In 1989, two years after the last murder he confessed to, he took the life of 45 year old Pauline Leplon in Piedmont, another municipality in that Cottage Country area northwest of Montreal.

Pauline was bound with telephone wire, stabbed 37 times and sexually assaulted. Not much is publicly known about these four women. William's new confessions were two months after 9-11, so the new cycle was still focused on that. The media may have also been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of victims to do much individual digging around below surface level. There also seemed to be a reluctance to report on the more heinous details of the crimes, like the sexual assaults. Regardless, these confessions must have been a great relief to the families of the four women. There are so many gaps in William Fife's history where his whereabouts weren't able to be verified and he refused to disclose what he was doing

or why there was that big of a gap. So in summary, he confessed to killing Suzanne Marie Bernier and Nicole Raymond in 1979. And two years later in 1981, he murdered Hazel Scatolan. Then there was that six year gap before he killed Louise Blanc-Poupard in 1987 and then Pauline Laplante in 1989. Coincidentally, during those six years, a serial rapist was active in downtown and West End Montreal. The media ended up calling him the plumber rapist, a person who was believed to have scoped out potential victims and would follow them home and knock on their door. He wore a uniform and pretended to be a plumber sent by management in order to gain access to homes. And once they let him in, the sexual assault would begin.

Between January and May of 1981, the plumber rapist sexually assaulted 13 women of all different ages and they all lived to tell the tale of their attack. Coincidentally, 50 year old Hazel Scatolan was murdered and sexually assaulted right in the middle of this cluster of rapes. And months later in November of 1981, another three women were sexually assaulted by the plumber rapist. Investigators had a strong suspicion that William Fyfe was the plumber rapist. The last three assaults that had been committed was around the time William started his eight-month stint in rehab. Perhaps this is what prompted him to go to rehab in the first place. And the next known attack of the plumber rapist was just over nine months later, in August of 1982.

It should be noted that the exact dates of his rehab are publicly unknown, but there are other aspects which match up. A police sketch was circulated of the plumber rapist's suspect and police described him as very active and violent. He was described as five foot nine or ten, medium build, sometimes wore a baseball cap, had curly hair, was in his mid-20s and spoke French and English with an accent. William Fyfe was of course born in Ontario and even though he spent most of his life in Quebec and did speak French, his background was in English. The profile fit and the plumber rapist was never caught and to this day William Fyfe is considered by many to be the leading suspect, but there's no concrete evidence to prove it and nor

did he confess. But that six-year gap between 1987 and 1989 wasn't the only gap in his history. There was nothing between his most recent confession of murdering Pauline La Plante in 1989 and ten years later when his escalating behaviour resulted in four murders and his arrest. Again, William Fyfe refused to explain the gap to police. We do know that in that time he moved to San Ippolet, the cottage country area northwest of Montreal, close to where he attended rehab in the early 80s. There he integrated himself into the local community, gradually earning the nickname Bill Longley because even though he spoke French, he had a different accent to the locals due to his background speaking English. He got a job

working for the council, maintaining sporting equipment at the local gym and organising volleyball and badminton leagues. One person called Martine who knew him there would describe him to the Gazette as someone who wanted to prove that he was superior, a quote, very macho man who had something to prove to himself. She added that he actively tried to discourage single women from joining the volleyball games, even though the games were open to all. But he also showed her a generous side, one time giving her a ride when she locked her keys in the car. Another person called Pierre hired William to clear snow and do handyman work and would describe him as someone who flew off the handle quickly but would calm down just as quickly. After the

crimes of William Fyfe came to light, Pierre would describe it as frightening, quote, You wonder who you're talking to today. He hid his game so well. In that time period, William liked eating and hanging out at local restaurant Le Persant, and he was a well-known regular. One friend called him a good guy. The owner noticed that he liked to lecture patrons about their weight, eating habits and smoking. But also, she recalled him showing a soft side, presenting her with a thoughtful gift. William started dating a local woman and soon moved in with her and her two children. He continued to do handy work and snow removal around this time. He was considered to have done good work, but some locals regarded

him as someone who could be abrasive and had a short temper. Others would recall that he was community-minded and had a generosity of spirit. Apart from a few temper tantrums, it seemed that no one had any idea of the kind of person William Fyfe was under the mask that he wore. So, William was living with a new partner and her two kids. But by September of 1999, a month before Anna Yarnold's murder, his relationship had broken down. William left Quebec and moved in with his mother in Innisfil, Ontario. Verna was said to have been as terrified of her son as she was of his father. So, how did William commit the 1999 cluster of four murders in Montreal if he wasn't even living in Quebec at the time? Police discovered that he drove

the seven hours back to Montreal for each one, starting with Anna Yarnold. And in what was described as an accelerating frenzy of rape and murder, he drove the 14-hour round trip three more times, leaving the bodies of Monique Godreau, Theresa Lizak Shanahan, and finally, Mary Glenn, in his wake. He was usually careful and if it hadn't have been for that dedicated forensics team who found the fingerprint at Mary Glenn's house, it's likely that even more women would have lost their lives after that. So, William had confessed to four more murders, bringing the total to nine. One thing investigators noticed was that while he didn't appear to have an issue talking about what he did at each of his crimes, he didn't want to talk about why he attacked those women.

He would only say the acts of sexual assault excited him. He refused to give any information on why he was so over the top violent and how he killed each of them. His only response to any questions like this was, that's for me to know. Because William was already serving the maximum sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, the crown saw little point in prosecuting these additional confessions. After a press conference was held to announce the new confessions, Commander Bouchard from Montreal Police told the Globe and Mail that there was one trait that set William Pfeiffer part from typical serial killers and that was his determination to avoid the spotlight. He told the media that William had insisted that the police

not schedule the press conference until after he had been flown out of Quebec. Quote, usually serial killers love the publicity and when they're caught, they're all over the place. But in Mr Fife's case, even though he's a serial killer, he knew what he did was wrong. But on the other hand, maybe it wasn't that deep, maybe he just didn't care about the publicity itself. Maybe William Fife just wanted to be out of Quebec because he knew the press conference would make big headlines and he wanted to avoid further persecution in prison. Based on his prolific offending, it's highly likely that he killed even more women, especially during those gaps. He remains the prime suspect in many other unsolved murders,

but there's no evidence and he did not confess to any more murders. Most estimates report a belief that he may have killed up to 25 women. From 1979 to late 2001, there were more than 60 unsolved murders in the Montreal area where the victim was a woman. One of them is still unsolved to this day. Janet Kicinski, the 42-year-old mother of three who was bludgeoned off a bike path just three months before Anna Yarnold was bludgeoned with a flower pot. Janet died of multiple skull fractures and blood loss and most media outlets reported there was no evidence of sexual assault, although some are conflicting on this. And Janet was found wearing her jewellery, so robbery was discounted as a motive. Police did ask William Fife about the

case when he confessed to the additional murders, but he denied any knowledge or involvement. At the time, a $20,000 reward was posted by local non-profit The Sun Youth Organization for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in Janet's murder, but it's never been claimed. Janet, nicknamed the Walking Lady, was known to be jovial and friendly and pictures of her show a woman with genuine eyes and long, thick blonde hair and bangs. She went missing the night of July 10, 1999, and her body was found the next morning near the bike path at the north end of Sources Boulevard in Pierre-Font. Anyone who has information should contact the Montreal police. At the time of William's confessions, the Montreal police said the man dubbed The Killer Handyman

did discuss several additional crimes other than murder, but they needed to investigate and validate them. Quote, there are gaps. We won't close the case until we close the gaps. Anything is possible. It's possible he killed other women. That was nearly 20 years ago, and there haven't been any other updates on the case. Thanks for listening. This case left me with a whole lot of questions. Why did he do it? Why the gaps? Why did he sexually assault and rob some women and not others? The whole necrophilia thing? How did his childhood come into play with his actions later on? The plumber rapist profile and more. So I've spoken to forensic psychologist Lily Nytin from Nytin Mental Health Services. Lily specializes in forensic mental health and the

treatment of sexual abusers, and she attended the trials of Paul Bernardo and the Australian serial killer Bradley Edwards, aka the Clermont serial killer. So look out for a special bonus episode coming in a day or two. Special thanks to Jamma Harris who researched the case. As well as court documents and other new sources, this episode relied heavily on the extensive reporting on this case by Jane Davenport and Paul Cherry for the Montreal Gazette. Thanks also to Tracy Linderman, a journalist from Montreal who helped me with all the French pronunciations. I'm sure I still got some stuff wrong because it's me, but I guarantee it is way ahead of where it would have been without Tracy's help. Canadian True Crime donates regularly to Canadian charitable organizations

that help victims and survivors of injustice. This month we have donated to the Sun Youth Organization, a Montreal-based community support that takes care of individuals and families in need. Sun Youth also maintains a special fund to provide financial aid to crime victims, and it was actually Sun Youth who put up that $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the Janet Kaczynski case. To learn more visit sunyouthorg.com. Today's podcast recommendation is Troubles Podcast, which details something called The Troubles, also known as the Northern Ireland Conflict. Take a listen. The Troubles was a 30-year period in Northern Ireland in which multiple sides and organizations were at war with each other. There were bombings, assassinations,

prison breakouts, fanatical leaders, serial killers, and much more. The Troubles podcast is a non-partisan podcast which aims to tell the stories of the Troubles in a digestible way. It's narrated by me, and the episodes are non-sequential, so you can jump in anywhere along the way. It's the perfect podcast for people interested in historical true crime. Season 1 has already been released, and season 2 will be released throughout 2021, and you can listen wherever you get your podcasts, or by searching The Troubles podcast on any social media platform. See you there. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded through advertising and the generosity of supporters. Thank you to everyone who listens, who rates and reviews

the podcast, and who supports us. To learn more about these episodes and for full credits and resources, see the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca slash episodes. While you're there, you can submit case suggestions, follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and learn more about how to get early, ad-free episodes and bonus content via the exclusive feed for supporters. Thanks to the host of True for voicing the disclaimer, and also to We Talk of Dreams who compose the theme song. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then.