Canadian True Crime - Major Case Updates 2024 — Part 1

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

[Part 1 of 2] This two-part series will report back on the cases we’ve covered that have had major updates over the past years.Part 1: Approximate timestamps (give or take a few minutes)7:00 Robert Pickton13:00 Renfrew County Massacre20:00 Madison Scott23:00 Dellen Millard and Mark Smich28:00 Multiple Murders / Consecutive sentences33:00 The Harrison Family Murders44:00 The Brentwood Five53:00 Paul Bernardo1:06:00 Use of AI Voices - update and feedbackMore information on previous Canadian True Crime episodes:Klaus Family MurdersSara and TaliyahMadison Scott - public plea for new informationFull list of resources, information sources and credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon Music included with Prime, Apple podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening. Hi everyone, I hope you're well and thanks for listening. We're still on a break for the summer, but we always use this time to report back on cases that have had major updates. This is part one of a two-part series to be released two weeks apart and we'll be covering

updates on Robert Picton, Basil Borucki and the disappearance of Madison Scott, now murder, after her remains were found just over a year ago. We also have the conclusions to all the various appeals and court processes involving Dellen Millard and Mark Smitch, as well as an update about the Supreme Court of Canada decision that allowed multiple murderers serving consecutive life sentences to apply to have their parole and eligibility periods reduced. There's updates about a retrial in the case of the Harrison family murders from Mississauga, Ontario, as well as the Brentwood Five, Paul Bernardo, Rena Virk, and much, much more. These case updates

will be presented across two episodes in no particular order. Now just before we start, a bit of a personal update from me. In the last few years, we've used these case updates episodes to also respond to some of the critical listener feedback we've used these case updates episodes to also respond to some of the critical listener feedback we've received, but this year I've decided not to do that and I wanted to explain why. For those who don't want to listen, please fast forward about four and a half minutes. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that I started it as a hobby and while I was surprised and thrilled to see it blow up, it's also been a very difficult journey

in many ways, like figuring out how to deal with negative or critical feedback. I've always been a perfectionist with strong attention to detail. And these are traits that have served me well in my years of working office jobs in the marketing communications field. But with this podcast, these traits of mine have been gradually dialed up to the point where the production process just keeps getting longer and longer. In the early years, I took all that feedback on board because I felt it was the responsible thing to do. I subconsciously applied the motto of the customer is

always right and honestly it did help with simple things like the volume of the background music and the pace of my narration. But what I failed to realize for far too long is that not all critical feedback requires a change or a response. In fact most of it doesn't. Much of the feedback is just one person's opinion, it often comes from a place of personal projection or bias and sometimes it honestly just seems like people are wanting to yell into the void and I could be replaced with anyone else. But because a lot of this feedback comes across as quite angry or aggressive, I inadvertently gave it a lot

more weight than I should have because frankly I just don't like making people angry if I can help it. And each year when I did the case updates I would respond to some of this feedback to explain why I made certain episode decisions in a way that I hope listeners would understand and provide even more sources for any facts they disputed. But I've come to the realization that I hope listeners would understand and provide even more sources for any facts they disputed. But I've come to the realization that I've wasted so much time doing this, immersing myself in the negativity of a few angry people to provide a response that frankly isn't

going to make a shred of difference. And after a while it actually started to affect my mental health. So I know that perfectionism is something that I will always struggle with. That's the reason I can't just whip up a quick episode like some of my peers might be able to do. It's the reason why, as one person put it, my output isn't as prolific as some other creators. And I really, really apologize for that. But I wanted to explain. Behind the scenes, I have all but stopped using researchers now because I'm so worried

about fact checking or the fear of missing some important detail that I would basically re-research the case all over again. I still write most episodes myself, and even then I have multiple script editing processes with content consultants trying to make sure that all the pronunciations are correct, the distances are correct, the script makes sense, the language is correct. And in post-production, as I'm finishing off the episode, there's even more edits, removing superfluous or repetitive information, making tiny tweaks to things, listening to the episode

with various stakeholders in mind to make sure I don't miss an important perspective and make someone angry. And again, it has served me well. I've never so much as been asked to take an episode down and we've never had any kind of plagiarism scandals. But operating at this level of perfectionism is often unnecessary and completely debilitating and I don't know if it's even possible to dial all of that back at this point. It's something that I'll have to continue to keep working on.

One thing I can do is have someone else gatekeep listener communication and feedback and that is our senior producer Lindsay Eldridge who helps me manage the business side behind the scenes and so much more. She typically only sends me negative or critical feedback if it's been reported by more than five people and for the past year or so there really hasn't been anything in that category. So while I'm still lugging around all that past angry feedback at least I'm not adding anything around all that past angry feedback, at least I'm not adding anything more to it. All this to say that today, the only feedback

I'll really be responding to is about the use of AI voices, which will be later in today's episode. It's been seven and a half years of this podcast and for all intents and purposes it really is still a work in progress. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding as I continue to try and navigate this space. So to see the list of all the cases we're discussing today and the approximate time stamps give or take a few minutes, see the show notes and as always there'll be a summary of each case to get you up to speed. Part 2 will be available in 2 weeks and for those listening ad free on Amazon Music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast you'll have it well before then. Whether you're listening to the ad supported or ad free version, thank you so much for

listening and thanks also for your ratings and reviews, constructive feedback and supportive messages. I really appreciate it. And with that it's on with the show. The crimes of Robert Picton. This is a very final update about one of Canada's most well-known criminal cases and the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history. After years of marginalised women going missing from Vancouver's downtown eastside, pig farmer and butcher Robert Picton was identified as the perpetrator and arrested in 2002.

Picton had been trolling the area to find women he considered to be disposable to bring back to his farm. The investigation highlighted the broader issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, with a later inquiry finding that there were blatant failures by police that allowed Robert Picton to continue his criminal acts as the number of missing women grew.

It was described as a tragedy of epic proportions. After an extensive investigation and excavation of the farm, the remains or DNA of more than 30 women were found. Picton was charged with the second degree murder of 26 women but claimed to have killed 49. At trial the Crown prosecuted him for six of those charges and he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Cut to early 2024 and there was widespread outrage when the press reported that 74 year old Robert Picton was now eligible to apply for day parole. Correctional Services Canada couldn't publicly confirm if he had applied or 24-year-old Robert Picton was now eligible to apply for day parole.

Correctional Services Canada couldn't publicly confirm if he had applied or not, but the many loved ones of his victims and alleged victims were of course dreading what was likely to come. A vigil was held at the former site of Picton's farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, where they hung posters, flowers and red dresses in memory of their loved ones. In May of 2024, Robert Picton was attacked by another inmate at his Supermax prison in Quebec in what was described as a major assault that left him clinging to life.

After being rushed to hospital for surgery, he was placed in a medically induced coma until his condition stabilized. The 51-year-old suspected of perpetrating the attack had been identified but not named and remained incarcerated. A little more than a week later, it was announced that Robert Picton had died from his injuries, aged 74.

The authorities were coy about what exactly happened, but the family of Marnie Frey, one of Picton's victims, provided graphic information about the attack to CTV News. If you don't want to hear these details, please fast forward about 30 seconds. these details, please fast forward about 30 seconds. Marnie's father, Rick Fray, said that his lawyer had told him that quote, "'The guy that assaulted Picton stabbed him first "'with a toothbrush in the neck "'and then he broke a broom handle

"'and so he took the sharp end "'and he stuck it into Picton's nose up into his skull.'" The Fray family said that while what Picton endured was extremely violent, it paled in comparison to the pain and terror he inflicted on all of his victims. The family also acknowledged that many other families never got the closure they did, because Picton was only convicted in relation to six victims. There were just too many to prosecute.

Other families of victims called his death karma and described how happy and relieved they were, while also acknowledging that the news brought complicated feelings back to the surface. David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia, noted that Robert Picton preyed on the most vulnerable people in our society. Quote, these women were cast aside as less than equal and less than worthy because of who they were. We are committed to recognising the dignity of every person to avoid something like this ever happening again.

Good riddance. Today, we'll take a minute to honour these women, each of whom were loved and cherished by their families. The Crown prosecuted Robert Picton in relation to the murder of these six women. Serena Abbottsway, Mona Lee Wilson, Andrea Josbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Georgina Faith Pappin, Marnie Leanne Frey. There were too many victims for one trial,

so the Crown stayed Picton's charges in relation to the murder of 26 more women. Their names were Jacqueline Michelle MacDonald, Diane Rosemary Rock, Heather Kathleen Bottomley, Jennifer Lynn Furminger, Helen Mae Hallmark, Patricia Rose Johnson, Heather Gabriel The victim known as Mission Jane Doe, Deborah Lynn Jones, Wendy Crawford, Kerry Lynn Koski, Andrea Faye Boorhaven and Cara Louise Ellis. Picton was also implicated but not charged in the deaths of Mary Ann Clark, Yvonne Marie Bowen and Dawn Theresa Cray. May they all rest in power and our sincere condolences to their loved ones and anyone else affected by the crimes of Robert Picton. The Renfrew County Massacre

Another final update about our episode covering the worst ever case of intimate partner violence in Ontario and one of the worst in Canadian history. On September 22nd 2015, Basil Borutski, then in his late 50s, went on a violent murder spree in Renfrew County, part of the Ottawa Valley in Ontario. He killed three separate women within hours of each other. He strangled Carol Collettin, a 66-year-old woman he had essentially been stalking. She'd only just retired to her cottage days earlier. He stole Carol's car and drove to the separate homes

of two of his former intimate partners and shot them point blank. First was Anastasia Kuzik, a 36-year-old realtor and horse lover, and then Natalie Warmerdam, a nurse and mother of two who was 48. Borutski was arrested later that day. He refused to participate in his trial, which caused a lot of headaches for the courts,

but he was found guilty and given three consecutive life sentences, which meant he would not be eligible for parole for 70 years, bringing him to the ripe old age of 128. Obviously, he was going to die in prison, and the families of the three women he murdered were likely relieved that they would never have to face any parole hearings. That all changed in 2022,

when the Supreme Court of Canada released a landmark decision about consecutive parole ineligibility periods, finding them to be a violation of charter rights, incompatible with human dignity, and that they leave offenders with no incentive to rehabilitate themselves. The Supreme Court's decision is referred to as RVB Sénat, after the Quebec mosque shooter who killed six people at a mosque in 2017. This decision is referred to as R.V. Bissonnette, after the Quebec mosque shooter who killed six people at a mosque in 2017. The 27-year-old shooter was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 40 years,

and after his appeal was heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, his parole ineligibility period was brought down to 25 years. This decision set a precedent so that any other offenders convicted of multiple murders who had been sentenced to life in prison with consecutive parole ineligibility periods could appeal in exactly the same way. Now it's not automatic, they do have to apply for it and quite a few have, which I'll update you about later. Basil Borutski was of course eligible, but there was no information released publicly

about whether he intended to apply or not. It ended up being a moot point. On March 28th of 2024, Correctional Service Canada announced that Basil Borutski had died of apparent natural causes in maximum security at Millhaven Institution near Kingston, Ontario. He was 66 years old. With this news, there was much public reflection about the highly visible way his violence escalated and the many missed opportunities for meaningful intervention that might have prevented the murders. A public inquest into the Renfrew County massacre had resulted in 86 recommendations for system changes to reduce the risk of future violent attacks against intimate partners, particularly

in rural areas like the Ottawa Valley where the risk is known to be higher. Some of the recommendations were specifically about how police and parole officers handled Basil Borucksy and his escalating pattern of violence towards his intimate partners. The inquest heard that in cases where a known abuser isn't held accountable, it can embolden them to escalate their behavior because they can get away with it. And as we saw in this case, it did. Over several decades, Basil Borucksy was charged multiple times in relation to intimate partner violence. He retaliated by threatening and harassing the women he assaulted until they recounted

their statements or changed their minds about testifying. He bounced from relationship to relationship and when new partners asked about previous violent incidents they had heard about, he reassured them that the charges had since been dropped. He was highly manipulative and convincing and successfully portrayed himself as a guy who had been the victim of unfair targeting by multiple women. The inquest found that the criminal justice system let these women down in multiple ways.

While out on bail or on probation, Borutski wasn't well supervised by his probation officers, and when he failed to comply with his conditions he wasn't held accountable and received little to no consequences. The last time he was released from custody he intentionally fell off the radar and dropped contact with his parole officer after just a few months, again with no consequence. Less than a year later he murdered Natalie Warmerdam, Anastasia Kuczak and Carol Collettin. Kristin Mercer, a lawyer who represented a women's interest group at the inquest, told CBC News that Borucki's death should cause us all to reflect on how the women were let

down and what those failings cost the community, But also quote, the survivors of that man who still live in Renfrew County and who probably until today woke up every day a little bit afraid that somehow he would get out and then somehow he would harm them. Mercer pointed out that until that prevention work is done, the system will continue to cycle these offenders through just like Borutski was.

Last year we reported that a review found there had not been much done to date to action those 86 recommendations that came from the inquest. At the time of Basil Borutski's death, CBC reported that there'd been a small amount of progress at the local level, with nearly a hundred municipalities declaring intimate partner violence as an epidemic. The province of Ontario has not. As with what often happens with these public inquests and inquiries, getting the government to actually implement the recommendations that come out of them is a whole new battle.

Our sincere condolences to the loved ones of Natalie Warmerdam, Anastasia Kuzik, Carol Collettin and anyone else affected by the crimes of Basil Boruckski. The Disappearance and Unsolved Murder, Madison Scott and a friend attended a birthday party at Hogsback Lake in British Columbia. They were supposed to camp there together with other partygoers, but after a fight broke out and everyone left, 20-year-old Madison was left to camp there by herself. In the morning, her truck was still there and so was her tent, now flattened, but Maddie herself was missing. Also missing were her phone and car keys.

There were extensive searches conducted of the area in and around Hogsback Lake but no trace of Madison was ever found. That was until last year. In May of 2023, almost 12 years to the day since she disappeared, the RCMP suddenly announced that remains determined to belong to Madison Scott were found on a rural property in Vanderhoof, about 18km from Hogsback Lake, the last place she was seen. There was no information released about how the remains were discovered, whose property it was or if there was any connection.

All the RCMP would say at the time was that no charges have been laid, foul play has not been ruled out and they were continuing a search of the rural property. More than a year has passed since then and the RCMP have recently issued another update. They say they appreciate the public's interest in the case and hope to provide further details in the future but no further information can be released this time to maintain the integrity of the investigation which remains active and ongoing. To commemorate 13 years since Maddie's disappearance her family posted a message on their Justice for Maddie Facebook page. The Scott family say quote, that we experienced at that time. Once again, the community was there to stabilize our family

as we process the unexpected information. We're forever grateful for the ongoing love and support we've had over the last 13 years. We are unwavering in our belief that justice will be obtained. The Scott family continues to offer a $100,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and charges of the person or persons responsible for Madison's disappearance. If anyone has any new information about her disappearance, the family asks that you call the RCMP or if you wish to remain anonymous call Crimest Stoppers at 1800 222 8477.

Our thoughts continue to be with Madison's family and we hope they receive answers soon. Summer is finally here, the time to get outside, move your body and enjoy the weather. And this season, with Peloton, you define what it means to be a runner. Me? Definitely not a runner. But I do enjoy walking with my dogs and nature hikes with my family. And frankly, at my age, I really should be moving more regularly. So I'm letting Peloton help motivate me to get outside and make the most of these sunny days at my own pace.

Did you know that Peloton has a huge range of class types from their pop runs to their walk and talks including classes for those who only have 5 or 10 minutes to spare so you can choose what kind of runner you want to be. Right now I'm starting my weekday mornings with a 10 minute power walk. It gives me a positive can-do mindset and because it's not a huge chunk of time, it's far less overwhelming of a prospect, so that means I'm likely to continue. But that's just me.

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Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.ca slash running. That's O-N-E-P-E-L-O-T-O-N dot C-A slash running. The Crimes of Dallin Millard and Mark Smitch In the last few years, both Dallin Millard and Mark Smitch have launched multiple appeals for their various convictions, and they've all been settled now. As a quick reminder, Dallin Millard is the son of a wealthy aviation executive in the Greater Toronto area, and known to be an irresponsible party guy who liked a thrill. If he wanted something, he simply took it,

and when he no longer had a use for it, he discarded it. Mark Smich was an aspiring rapper from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks who liked attending Dellen Millard's parties and became his right-hand man. Both men, who were in their mid-to-late 20s at the time, showed up to the home of a 32-year-old husband and father to test drive the truck he was selling online. His name was Tim Bosmer, and he was never seen again. After an intense investigation that saw Dallin Millard and Mark Smitch arrested for murdering Tim Bosmer, police were prompted to look more closely at two previous cases that were connected to Millard. Laura Babcock was one of them. The 23-year-old was a

woman Millard had previously been involved with and the evidence suggested that her mere existence had been causing problems with Dellen's new love interest Nudger, and so Laura had to go. She disappeared without a trace. At the joint trial, the Crown argued that Mark Smitch helped Delon Millard to kill Laura and dispose of her remains, which have never been located. The last time Laura was seen was about 10 months before Millard and Smitch arranged the test drive of the truck. Traces of Tim Bosmer's DNA were later found in a custom-made incinerator, and it was determined at trial that Laura Babcock likely met the same fate, except her remains were completely consumed by the flames, leaving no trace. Both Dallin Millard and Mark Smich were convicted of the murders of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock and given consecutive

sentences of life in prison with no chance of parole for 50 years. They both went on to appeal their conviction in those two cases picking holes in the usual things like the way the judge instructed the jury and certain evidence they thought shouldn't have been permitted. Millard argued that he had been cast as the villain in the trial and claimed that he was a meticulous person, so much so that he couldn't have committed such sloppy and careless crimes. The evidence tells another story. Smitch claimed he'd been convicted at the joint trial based on strong evidence against Millard but much weaker evidence against him.

He claimed he was a victim of Millard's manipulation. While the Ontario Court of Appeals found that one of Smitch's complaints had merit, the panel determined it wouldn't have made a difference to the outcome of the trial. In 2023, all of their appeals in the cases of Tim Bosma and Laura Babcock were dismissed, and their convictions were upheld. In response to the news, Laura Babcock's mother said that while the family was greatly relieved, quote, nothing really changes. She's still gone every day. This is extremely emotional.

The other case that police took a look at after Tim Bosmer's murder was the death of Dellen Millard's own father, aviation executive Wayne Millard, which was originally determined to be a suicide by gunshot. At trial, the evidence showed that Millard purchased the murder weapon, organised an alibi and was present the night of his father's murder. He was again found guilty at trial. Of course, he also appealed this conviction and represented himself, arguing that the guilty verdict was unreasonable based on the evidence. The Court of Appeal found that none of his arguments had any merit,

and the evidence that he murdered his own father was overwhelming. This appeal was also dismissed. While all of these appeal processes were happening, Dallin Millard was also on trial yet again for his role in a prison stabbing. He was found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison to be served concurrently or at the same time as the first degree murder convictions he was already serving three consecutive life sentences for. Now despite all of these failed bids, there was one thing that both Dellen Millard and Mark Smitch were successful at. Their applications to the Supreme Court of Canada to have their parole ineligibility

periods reduced to 25 years. They'll now be able to make their first appearances before the parole board in about 14 years from now. As an indication of how the Supreme Court's landmark ruling affected those on the victim's side, I'll leave you with part of a reaction speech given by Tim Bosmer's widow Charlene to a Parliamentary Justice Committee. to a parliamentary justice committee. In May of this year, our government took away one of the very few things that we as victims had to hold on to, which was consecutive sentencing. It was one of the greatest blows that the Canadian government

has ever dealt to victims of violent crime. It says to us that you can kill as many people as you want here in Canada because sentencing will not change. It says that Canada only places values on the first victim with the lives of any other victims not mattering, not here, not in Canada. My daughter was two and a half when her father was murdered as I mentioned earlier. She has no memories of her own of her father. She was never given the chance. It was ripped away from her. And now, because of the ruling in May,

when my daughter is 27, she will be asked to carry on the fight that I thought I already fought for her. Speaking of the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark ruling, a bit of an update about who has applied so far, because it only applies to a very small number of offenders, multiple murderers serving consecutive life sentences. Several years ago, the Globe and Mail estimated this number to be in the early 20s. The other offenders who have so far successfully applied to have their parole and eligibility periods reduced to 25 years include Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank, who were found guilty of the Klaus family murders in Alberta. Also successful was Edward Downey who murdered Sarah Bailey

and her five-year-old daughter Talia also in Alberta. We covered both of those cases in previous episodes. You can find links in the show notes. Other high profile offenders who successfully applied include Derek Soretzky who murdered Terry Blanchett, his two-year-old daughter Hayley Dunbar Blanchett and unrelated victim Hannah Mekatec in Alberta. There's also Alec Menasian, the perpetrator of the 2018 Toronto van attack, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people and injured many more. And last year, there was another successful application, this time for Justin Burke from Moncton, New Brunswick,

who in 2014 murdered three RCMP officers with a semi-automatic rifle and injured two other officers. All of these offenders were successful in having their consecutive parole and eligibility periods reduced to 25 years. Everyone who has applied has been successful. There's one outlier that there's been a lot of speculation about, Douglas Garland, the perpetrator from a case we covered very early on in this podcast. The Alberta man was jealous over a business dispute and broke into the home of former colleague Alan Lickness and killed him, his wife

Kathy Lickness and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O'Brien who just happened to be sleeping over with his grandparents that night. It was a very high-profile case that shocked Alberta and the nation. Douglas Garland was found guilty at trial and given three consecutive life sentences with a 75 year parole and eligibility period. There has been no public announcement about whether he will be applying to Canada's top court to have his parole and eligibility period reduced. And from his past actions, it does appear that he is likely to try because he tried to appeal his sentence just a year before

the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decision, but it was unanimously upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal. So given this, I imagine the loved ones of Alvin and Cathy Lichness and little Nathan O'Brien are not feeling particularly reassured. The Harrison case from Mississauga, Ontario involved three members of the same family, each dying separately in the family home across a span of four years. 40-year-old Caleb Harrison had been in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Melissa Merritt.

The two had separated after a dispute that resulted in Caleb pleading guilty to domestic assault. A month after that, Caleb caused a car crash while driving drunk that resulted in the death of another driver. He was released on bail pending sentencing and moved in with his parents Bill and Bridget Harrison, who, as the court document describes, became enmeshed in the custody dispute. Caleb and Melissa shared 50-50 custody of their children at the time, and when he began his prison sentence for the car crash in 2008, the court awarded his share of the custody agreement to his parents, Bridget and Bill Harrison. Melissa Merritt was not happy about that turn of events and argued that if the kids could not be with their father

because he's in prison, they should be with their mother. The following year, 2009, Bridget Harrison came home to find her 65-year-old husband Bill unresponsive. The cause of his death was found to be acute cardiac arrhythmia, which came either before or after a fall. Bill unresponsive. The cause of his death was found to be acute cardiac arrhythmia, which came either before or after a fall. Basically, he was found to have died of natural causes. The same day that Bill Harrison died, Melissa Merritt and her new Coleman Law husband, Christopher Fattore, abducted the two children she had with Caleb Harrison and left the province

of Ontario. The police eventually caught up with them and an abduction trial was scheduled. According to a court document, the following year, 2010, Caleb's mother, Bridget Harrison, reported her former daughter-in-law, Melissa Merritt, to the police for breaching her bail release conditions arising from the abduction charges. Eleven days later, Bridget was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in the same house as her husband Bill had been. She was due to testify at Melissa Merritt's abduction hearing the following day. 63-year-old Bridget's injuries suggested she may have been asphyxiated,

but the fact that she had several broken ribs and vertebrae in her neck led the pathologist to find that she likely died from falling down the stairs. Investigators did not put two and two together that this was the second death in the same house that seemed to be tied to key moments in a custody battle dispute. The situation continued to escalate to a point where the court ended the 50-50 custody split and awarded full custody to Caleb Harrison, who had finished his prison sentence. Friends and family would tell the Toronto Star that by this point, Caleb had turned his life around and was a devoted father. The night before this custody

change was due to take place, 40-year-old Caleb was found dead in his bed in the exact same house, with significant bruising and abrasions to his neck, chin and chest, along with swollen knuckles. and abrasions to his neck, chin and chest, along with swollen knuckles. The pathologist found evidence of neck compression, which indicated Caleb had been strangled, and a number of injuries to his chest and head inflicted by something like a baseball bat. Caleb Harrison's death was classified as a homicide, and it was only at this point that investigators looked back and suspected his parents may have been murdered as well in the very same house.

This left no one that Melissa Merritt had to share custody of her two eldest children with and she and Christopher Fattore moved with them and their other four children to Nova Scotia. The police followed them there to continue the investigation and after gathering additional evidence including wiretap recordings of them speaking about the killings, both Merritt and Fittore were arrested and charged with the murders of Caleb Harrison and his mother Bridget. Fittore alone was also charged with the murder of Caleb's father, Bill Harrison. At trial, the Crown alleged that the separate deaths of Bill and Bridget Harrison a year

apart and that of their son Caleb three years later were closely related to those tense moments during Caleb's custody battle with his ex-wife Melissa Merritt. The Crown's theory was that Merritt was the mastermind and her new common law husband Christopher Fattore committed the murders, but both were equally guilty of murder. Merritt's defense argued that the Crown's case was based on circumstantial evidence and there was no evidence of her planning or participation. Christopher Fattore had confessed to strangling Caleb Harrison and his mother Bridget and there was strong forensic evidence linking him to Caleb's murder specifically. He tried to plead guilty to

manslaughter in that case but was denied. At, he recounted his original confessions, but the jury didn't buy it. Here's where they landed. In the case of Caleb Harrison, the jury found his ex-wife Melissa Merritt and her partner Chris Vittore guilty of first degree murder. With Caleb's mother Bridget Harrison, the jury also found that Chris Vittore was guilty of her murder, but they were unable to reach a verdict about Melissa Merritt's participation, resulting in a mistrial. The Crown would stay those charges, meaning there wouldn't be a new trial for them. In the

case of Caleb's father Bill Harrison, only Chris Fittore had been charged and the jury found him not guilty at trial. That one was hard to prove since it hadn't been investigated as a homicide and Bill's body had been cremated shortly after his death. So in summary, Merritt was only found guilty of murdering her ex-husband Caleb. Fittore was found guilty of murdering both Caleb and his mother Bridget. Both received life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years. There are a few significant updates with this case. In 2020, after extensive reporting and a long-form piece by Amy Dempsey

Raven for the Toronto Star, the Ontario Police Watchdog reviewed the investigation into Bridget Harrison's death, finding that police investigators had reverse tunnel vision. The review found that investigators inexplicably failed to address coincident connections between Bridget and Bill Harrison's death and the bitter ongoing custody dispute with their son Caleb and his ex-wife, Melissa Merritt. In addition, investigators took poor notes, mischaracterised evidence from pathologists that suggested Bridget Harrison had been strangled and quote, would not be led away from their The more recent update is that both Melissa Merritt and Chris Fittore appealed their guilty verdicts. In January of 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Fittore's appeal.

The court ruled that Fittore's appeal was not to be used as a premeditated evidence. The court also ruled that Fittore's appeal was not verdicts. In January of 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Fittore's appeal and upheld his convictions for the murders of Caleb and Bridget Harrison. But things were a bit different for Melissa Merritt and her conviction for the murder of her ex-husband Caleb. The appeals court found that the trial judge made two errors when instructing the jury about how to interpret the evidence.

One, in relation to some audio recordings, where Merritt appears to acknowledge she was an accessory after the fact, but parts of what she said were unintelligible. The other error was how the jury was told they should interpret Fattore's testimony, which was described as unreliable compared to Merritt's. The appeals court overturned Melissa Merritt's conviction

and ordered a new trial. But since Christopher Fattore's conviction had been upheld, this retrial would be different in scope to the original trial. At the retrial, be different in scope to the original trial. At the retrial, the jury was told that the first trial had established as fact that Bridget and Caleb Harrison had been murdered and the person responsible was Christopher Fattore. The role of the jury in the retrial was to decide whether Melissa Merritt was also involved in the planning or execution of the murder of her former husband and mother-in-law.

As you'll remember, the charges relating to Bridget Harrison had been stayed or withdrawn after the jury couldn't reach a verdict, but the Crown resurrected them for the retrial, which took place earlier this year. And this time, the jury did reach a verdict in relation to Bridget Harrison. In March of 2024, Melissa Merritt was found not guilty of murdering her former mother-in-law. The remaining charge was for the murder of her ex-husband Caleb. The jury deliberated for a week and couldn't reach a verdict about whether Merritt was guilty, so a third trial has been ordered for that charge.

Both Melissa Merritt and Christopher Fattore have both been in custody since their arrests in 2014, and Melissa's bail applications have been denied. It's ironic and extremely sad that in her relentless pursuit to win custody of her two eldest children with Caleb Harrison, she effectively lost custody of all six of her children who were sent to live with her family. And for the last 10 years or so, those children had to live with the knowledge that their parents were either murdered or in prison for that murder. In late June of this year, the media

reported that Melissa Merritt, now 44 years old, was granted bail as she awaits a third trial for the first degree murder of Caleb Harrison. Her mother and cousin reportedly pledged almost $300,000 to secure her release, and she's now under strict conditions including house arrest, GPS monitoring, she can't use the internet and can't go near the family of the victims. It also appears that Melissa Merritt has remarried. Her new spouse is a woman who was a former jail guard, according to the Toronto Sun,

and lives with Melissa's mother and children in Ontario. April of this year marked a decade since the tragic case known as the Brentwood Five, where five young people lost their lives during a violent attack at a college house party in Calgary. Zachariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Josh Hunter, Katie Parris, and Lawrence Hong, all between 21 and 27 years of age, were attacked and stabbed at the end of the party by Matthew DeGroote, who was experiencing an episode of psychosis consistent with schizophrenia. The 22-year-old believed he was the son of God, that the devil was talking to him, and that a war was about to begin that signalled the end of the world.

Matthew DeGroote was found not criminally responsible or NCR, which means he acknowledges he killed the Brentwood Five but was in such a state of psychosis that he couldn't appreciate at the time that his actions were wrong. Since then, DeGroote has lived in a secure psychiatric facility and has applied for all privileges and freedoms as soon as he was eligible. Each year, his status has been assessed by an Alberta review board, each hearing inevitably stirring drama and controversy, resulting in national headlines. Here's a very quick summary before we get to the update. In 2020, Matthew DeGrood's request for more freedoms was denied due to a deterioration in

his mental condition that posed a threat to public safety. By 2021, his psychosis was in remission and the parole board allowed a transition to a group home. In 2022, he applied for absolute discharge and while his treatment team noted he was a compliant, model patient, they expressed concerns about his fragile health, the potential worsening of his psychiatric condition without medication, his lack of experience managing it independently, and his reluctance to voluntarily return to hospital to seek treatment. The review board heard that while DeGroote's risk of imminent future violence is low, if he does become violent it is significantly likely to be of high severity.

His application for absolute discharge was denied. His legal team appealed, claiming bias against him and inaccuracies, but the review board found that the complaints were without merit. So DeGroote took it to the Alberta Court of Appeal, who unanimously determined that the review board's decision was reasonable and that he still poses a risk of serious violent behaviour. After that, DeGroote's parents publicly criticised the hearings as punitive and emphasised his

remorse and awareness of his recovery needs. While they expressed sympathy for the families of the five young people he killed, they emphasised that there were actually six families impacted and stressed the need to protect their son. That was July of 2023. Two months later, the DeGroote family applied to the Supreme Court of Canada, effectively asking for the Alberta Court of Appeals verdict to be overturned and Matthew to be granted an absolute discharge. As they waited for a response from Canada's top court, DeGroote attended his next annual review, which was held in November of 2023. He again asked the board to consider an absolute discharge or even a conditional discharge that will allow him to live at home with his parents.

The review board heard that he'd been given two unescorted passes to visit his parents in Calgary with no incidents. De Groot's treating psychiatrist in Edmonton, where he'd been living, said his schizophrenia is in complete remission but requires two medications to keep it in check. While he continues to have a low risk of reoffending, if he does have another episode of acute psychosis,

there is a high risk of serious violent reoffending. The doctor described DeGroote as a complex forensic patient who is prone to episodes of anxiety, yet under-reported when he was under stress and is only engaged with his treatment team in a superficial way. The doctor said, quote, He doesn't really talk to us much about what's going on in his inner world.

We do not think we know him. The review board also heard from another forensic psychiatrist who originally treated DeGrood in Calgary before he was determined to be not criminally responsible and moved to the facility in Edmonton. This doctor supported DeGrood's return to Calgary as requested, but not on the basis of absolute or conditional discharge, because a move was likely to add stress to his life. The doctor noted that quote, Transitions sometimes go wrong and it would be important for us to keep a close eye on

him. This is not personal toward Mr DeGroote. When people transition from Edmonton to Calgary, we usually prefer them to be on a full warrant. A full warrant means 24-hour supervision which would allow treating professionals to act quickly and preemptively in the event that his mental condition worsens during the transition without relying on him to seek treatment voluntarily. The families of the five young people who lost their lives submitted victim impact statements describing their immense loss and how their lives have never been the same. At the end of that hearing, DeGroote was given the opportunity to address the families, and he promised he would commit himself to remaining well. Quote, I want to make it clear today that I have no desire to inflict any more pain on the victims' families, and I'm very sorry if my appeals have added to their suffering. The following month, December of 2023, the Review Board dismissed Matthew DeGroote's application

for both absolute and conditional discharge, finding that he remains a significant threat to the safety of the public. Quote, the board has identified areas and behaviors of serious concern that indicate Mr. DeGroote is not as far along in progress as he would like to present. The review board found that more progress is required.

Three months later, in March of 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada announced that it had made a decision to dismiss DeGroote's application, finding that the conclusions reached by both the Alberta Review Board and the Alberta Appeals Court were sound and fair. The following month, April of 2024, it was announced that Matthew DeGroote had moved from Edmonton back to Calgary. Reporter Nancy Hicks of Global News, who covered the case extensively both in print and for her podcast, Crime Beat,

reported that DeGroote is now living in a highly structured group home with 24-hour supervision. In other words, still a full warrant, just as his Calgary treating doctor wanted. In response to this news, Greg Parris, the father of victim Katie Parris, told Global News that as realists the families did assume that it would happen at some point, but he pointed out that Calgary is a small city and there's a significant chance that one of the families of the victims will run in to DeGroote. Quote,

It's going to happen and it's going to set off a lot of anxiety and PTSD when you see someone that's killed your child. Matthew DeGroote's next annual review will be held later this year. Summer is finally here, the time to get outside, move your body and enjoy the weather. And this season, with Peloton, you define what it means to be a runner. Me? Definitely not a runner. But I do enjoy walking with my dogs and nature hikes with my family.

And frankly at my age I really should be moving more regularly. So I'm letting Peloton help motivate me to get outside and make the most of these sunny days at my own pace. Did you know that Peloton has a huge range of class types from their pop runs to their walk and talks including classes for those who only have five or ten minutes to spare so you can choose what kind of runner you want to be. Right now I'm starting my weekday mornings with a 10 minute power walk. It gives me a positive can-do mindset and because it's not a huge chunk of time, it's far less overwhelming of a prospect. So that means I'm likely to continue.

But that's just me. If you're looking to really get a sweat on this summer, check out Paliton's outdoor guided runs. Your run, your way means being able to customize by selecting your difficulty level, your favorite expert level instructor and music. And for those really muggy days, just tap into the Peloton app and take to the treadmill. From sprints, walks and hikes to pilates, yoga, strength classes and more, no matter

where you are in your fitness journey, Peloton has everything you need to get outside, show up as you are and move at your own pace. Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.ca slash running. That's O-N-E-P-E-L-O-T-O-N dot C-A slash running. Pall Bonato A very quick rundown of this case and where things stand now. Paul Bernardo is serving a life sentence for multiple crimes that shocked the nation in the late 80s and early 90s, including sexually assaulting at least 18 women in the area of

Scarborough, Ontario. After he met Carla Hamulka, they drugged and sexually assaulted Carla's 15-year-old sister Tammy, who died during the incident. The couple then kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffey, followed by 15-year-old Kristen French.

When Bernardo was convicted, he was given the rare designation of dangerous offender, meaning it's unlikely he will ever be released from prison. But that hasn't stopped him from trying at every possible opportunity. Despite not doing much if any of the work required to actually demonstrate he would no longer be a risk to public safety. Here's a quick rundown of where his parole status is at. Bernardo applied when he was first eligible in 2018,

and psychiatric reports were tabled that found he met the criteria for psychopathy, narcissistic personality disorder, and multiple parapherias, or deviant sexual interests that included sexual sadism and voyeurism. He had completed three treatment courses, including one for sex offenders, but had shown minimal gains

and had a tendency to rationalize his actions to suit his own purposes and portray himself in an overly positive light. Bernardo was regarded as having a high risk for intimate partner violence and violent sexual reoffending and a moderate risk for recidivism. Parole was denied. He applied again in 2021, insisting again that he was a different person now from who he was in his 20s and that if he was granted parole he would be quote, without a doubt, low risk to public safety. It's interesting to note that for someone clearly so eager to be released from prison, Bernardo hadn't

actually done much work to demonstrate that he was as changed and ready for it as he insisted. According to his parole officer, he had made no progress since his first parole hearing, he had not completed any more treatment programming and had no plan whatsoever for his release. In addition, the board found that he continues to exhibit behaviours that are counterproductive to the development of insight into his crimes, and there was no evidence that his risk of reoffending has been managed if allowed back into the community. He was denied both day and full parole again. In a statement read by the lawyer for the families, Tim Danson,

Leslie Mahaffey's mother Dawn wrote, Once again, Bernardo's desires are inflicted on us as he inserts himself into our lives again, forcing his horrors and terrifying memories upon us. What does resting in peace mean when you have to rel forcing his horrors and terrifying memories upon us. What does resting in peace mean when you have to relive these horrors every two or so years for the rest of our lives? The family of Kristen French commented that it seems the ink has only just dried on their last victim impact statement, yet they have to muster up the strength to prepare a second,

a difficult and painful process. According to the Parole Board of Canada website, the board assesses each case in terms of risk and public safety based on three major factors. Criminal history, whether an offender understands their crime and the factors that contributed to their criminal behaviour, the progress they're able to demonstrate as a result of their participation in treatment programs, and the soundness of their release plan, what they plan to do and where they plan to live if released on parole.

Paul Bernardo's dangerous offender designation coupled with his poor progress, reluctance to take part in treatment programming and the fact that he had no release plan strongly indicated that he knows full well he has no chance of being released. So if he's not willing to even try to be taken seriously, why does he continue to apply? Well the answer to this might have something to do with the fact that he met the criteria for psychopathy and narcissistic personality disorder. We all know about psychopathy, otherwise known as the extreme end of antisocial personality disorder, which is characterized in part by shallow emotional responses, lack

of empathy, impulsivity and an increased likelihood for antisocial behavior. That lack of empathy likely means Paul Bernardo doesn't think about how his applications will affect the families of Kristin French and Leslie Mahaffey, let alone all the surviving victims of his sexual assaults. But there's something else that might explain it. Bernardo was of course found to have symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder, which presents as a persistent pattern of grandiosity with fantasies

of unlimited power or importance and the need for admiration or special treatment. One central thing at the heart of narcissistic personality disorder is a concept called narcissistic supply described as the narcissist's drug of choice according to one 2018 study. And the substance craved by narcissists is of course all forms of attention, both positive, like fame, adulation, applause, and approval, but also negative,

including fear, notoriety, and infamy. And a person with narcissistic personality disorder doesn't just enjoy the attention, they will actively work to manipulate situations and provoke people to get a reaction In Paul Bernardo's case, it appears likely that he receives his narcissistic supply from knowing he will be the center of attention at a parole hearing. It's also possible that he actually enjoys the fact that each of the two parties is a member of the same organization. In the case of attention at a parole hearing. It's also possible that he actually enjoys the fact that each of his parole applications

results in emotional pain and turmoil for the Mahaffey and French families, which he then gets to witness personally at his parole hearings. In last year's case updates, we reported the sudden announcement that in 2023, Paul Bernardo had been transferred from maximum security to medium security. There was much public outrage and demands for changes to how dangerous offenders are treated. The only information the public had to go on was from Bernardo's last two parole hearings, which had no indication whatsoever that a downgrade in his security was coming down the pipeline.

What made it even worse was that no information was publicly provided that the transfer had been approved and were only notified shortly before it actually occurred. In a highly unusual move to deal with the immense public backlash, the Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada decided to publicly disclose some details to help explain the transfer decision. Over a span of 23 years until 2022, Bernardo reportedly underwent 14 different security reviews and consistently met the criteria to transition from maximum to medium security, but his own safety was a concern because of his high-profile status and his segregation in maximum security hindered his integration with other inmates. So Bernardo collaborated with his case management team on an integration strategy for him to be able to move to the medium security facility in Quebec that had

specialized treatment for sex offenders. That transfer happened in 2023. The Commissioner stated that they had reviewed the decision to transfer Bernardo and found it to be sound, but conceded there were improvements to be made in more sensitively notifying the Mahaffey and French families. The Commissioner also clarified that the transfer would not lead to his release and doesn't negate the fact that quote, he is a psychopath and that he committed horrific and unspeakable crimes, nor does it elevate his risk of escaping and being a danger to the public. But from an optics perspective, decisions that had the appearance of resulting in an elevated risk to public safety should be more transparent and better explained to the public.

Lawyer Tim Danson told the press that the Mahaffey and French families rejected the review's conclusion. They believe a different set of criteria needs to be applied to people who have met the criteria to be diagnosed as a psychopath, which like pedophilic disorder, The next issue is that even though the families had attended Bonato's previous parole hearings, they had become increasingly upset that the evidence discussed at those hearings remained shrouded in secrecy. While parole board hearings and their final decisions are publicly accessible, records show that the court has been very careful to ensure that the hearing shrouded in secrecy. While parole board hearings and their final decisions are publicly accessible, records like psychological and psychiatric assessments, treatment records, case management reports, audio recordings of previous hearings and other documentation considered when making

a parole decision are not released. According to the family's lawyer, Tim Danson, they have seen Bernardo manipulating the system and lying about evidence at previous parole hearings. So quote, how is it that we have a public parole hearing and the evidence that is being presented at that hearing is somehow secret? You might remember a similar thing happening with the Kingston cases earlier this year,

the Nozzles Gas Bar murder and Kerry Kehoe and the other two survivors of childhood abduction and sexual assault. At Richard Charles Joyce's parole hearing, his parole officer made several claims about his status that were later determined to be untrue, but the survivors and victims weren't able to clarify at the time because they couldn't access the documents. In the case of Bernardo, the Mahaffy and French families have requested these documents multiple times since 2018

so they can better prepare for the upcoming hearings, but the requests are always denied with the reason given that releasing such records would be a total invasion to Bernardo's rights to privacy. After an unsuccessful appeal, the press reported last October that the families had applied to take their request to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing that it's in the public interest for the documents to be released publicly so that Canadians can decide if the open court system is working as it's supposed to.

Unfortunately for them, in April of this year, the Supreme Court announced it won't hear arguments in the case, providing no reasons for its decision, which is customary. Paul Bernardo's third parole hearing was reportedly scheduled for February of 2024, but there has been no further information about it, suggesting that it didn't take place. In April of this year, it was announced that Kristin French's father, Doug French, had sadly passed away.

Our thoughts are with the French family, the Mahaffey family, and everyone who has been directly affected by the crimes of Paul Bernardo and Carla Hamilcar. Just a bit of an update about the use of AI voices in some episodes. We started using them a couple of years ago to create audio emphasis for an important quote to illustrate a short text message conversation or something else where there is no original audio available. From my perspective, using those AI voices occasionally is a creative choice that helps to break up the monotony of my narration and adds a bit of flair and

interest. In last year's case updates, I addressed some listener feedback around how the AI voices sounded. Some liked them, some didn't, and that was okay with me. Art is subjective. But in the last year or so so a new kind of feedback has been coming through and it's made me think a bit more about the situation. There are of course a number of ethical considerations around using AI, like the fact that it can't make something out of nothing. The synthesized AI voices originate from real people's voices and as someone who has put hours and hours of their own voice out onto the internet I'm well aware that mine could well be

gathered up into the net of AI and used to create a new synthesized voice. And to be honest I can't say that I'm overly bothered by that. But then I started hearing complaints from listeners in the voiceover community who argued that our occasional choice to use an AI voice for creative purposes is taking away paid jobs that should have gone to voiceover artists. I have to admit that from a logical perspective this complaint kind of bugs me. Here's why. We've only ever used AI voices for bit parts, a quote here and a comment there, and we obviously can't use the same voice for them all. The time it would take to choose and hire a variety of different

voiceover actors, including communication, coordination, and building in lead time for them to record their parts for just one or two short quotes is just not efficient. There is one exception where we had enough material, letters and quotes to warrant hiring two voiceover actors. And that was the Murderous Mountie series. But aside from that, it's not like we previously hired various voice actors to do those parts and now that AI is here they're out of a job. For us, that job never existed in the first place.

All that to say, I do understand why people are generally worried and angry about AI and its potential to eliminate the way they earn a living. I mean, I could well be one of those people. There's an AI app just for content creators like me that promises to write a whole episode from a series of prompts, then provides a voiceover. It can even clone a podcasters own voice. So apparently they don't have to record their own episodes anymore. As a sidebar, I was curious about how a clone of my voice might sound because the top pricing

model of this app promises an extremely advanced voice cloning model and I thought it might be helpful for those times when I get a word wrong during narration and if I could just get the voice clone to say that word for me, it would save me from having to go back into the recording booth for a cut and paste job. So I subscribed to this app to try it out and the results were kind of hilarious and ridiculous. I recorded a couple of samples just to show you. So this is my natural voice reading a sample of text. Welcome to the future of voice technology.

Today you embark on a remarkable journey where your voice becomes a bridge to countless possibilities. And this is what the most advanced cloning model came up with for my voice clone. Welcome to the future of voice technology. Today you embark on a remarkable journey where your voice becomes a bridge to countless possibilities. I wonder if many of you would actually prefer to hear my voice with this accent. Okay, don't answer that. But anyway, because it's so American sounding, I selected the option to apply an Australian accent to the clone of my voice to see if it made it sound more like me. So again, here is my natural voice reading a sample of text.

Now imagine you're sharing words of encouragement with a dear friend who's facing a challenge. Your voice is a beacon of hope and strength. And here's the voice clone with an Australian accent. The tone of my voice has changed. I think I sound much older and I also sound like I grew up in rural Australia. Now imagine you're sharing words of encouragement with a dear friend who's facing a challenge. Your voice is a beacon of hope and strength, instilling confidence and courage. I would love to know what you think about all of this, but needless to say, I gave up on the whole voice cloning thing. If it can't clone an accent, just

the tone of the voice, I just can't see how it could be useful, especially if you're considering places like the US which have so many different regional accents. Other things this app does is place background music under parts of the script it's just written, create a video and write descriptions, blurbs, chapter headings, show notes and everything you might need. And we already see a multitude of AI podcasts and YouTube content farms with frankly strange and often inaccurate versions of a story. They certainly don't replace an actual human being bringing a unique perspective.

They're not quite right and most people can tell, but still. So I do understand the concern about the threat that AI presents, but I wanted to leave you with a bit of a different perspective to the whole debate, a kind of zoomed out macro view of the situation. In my opinion, AI is inherently neither good nor bad. It's just a piece of technology, an incredibly powerful tool that could be harnessed to help us and save us time and energy. And throughout history, new technologies have always inspired fear that they will take our jobs, replace us or

be used for ill intent. AI wasn't the first technology to elicit these feelings and it won't be the last. I understand that individual creators like me who openly use AI as part of their workflow or creative process might present an easy target. But we are not the problem. The actual threat is from large corporations that are investing in finding ways to exploit AI to increase corporate profit and how they face no regulations, limitations or restrictions in doing that. The problem is never the technology itself.

It's the way it plugs into our economic system, a system that focuses on company profit over individual citizens and exploits individuals to line the pockets of the elite. Obviously, that economic system is capitalism. And the reason why using AI in a capitalist system ends up becoming a threat to us as individuals is because we have no choice but to rely on working a job or selling our labour in the marketplace to survive. If corporations are able to get AI to do our jobs, they won't need us anymore,

and that threatens our literal survival. Realistically, if we weren't operating in this dog-eat-dog system, AI would be considered more of a friend to help us, and less a foe there to destroy our livelihoods. Given all of this, I've been thinking a lot about those who seem to think that the best way to fix the complex problem of AI, or at least try and render it less of a threat, is to actively police individuals using it

to create art or save themselves time. I think it comes down to that feeling of helplessness and a need to do something, anything, to reduce that threat. And online activism is pretty easy. You can do it from the comfort of your own home and feel like you've actually done something to try and fix the problem. We know through lived experience that contacting a large corporation to complain about how they're using AI to exploit and profit is not going to be very satisfying. We'll probably end up in a long ring of call centers pressing buttons.

But individuals who personally use AI present a much easier target. So here is where I've landed on this issue. There are always going to be things that people will take issue with, especially when you have a sizeable audience. And when important issues have arisen in the past that I feel really strongly about, I've never hesitated to defend my words and take a stand. But I also believe that you have to pick your battles. And after much thought, I've decided that any creative value that using AI voices might bring to these episodes is not worth the backlash from people who perceive it as a threat to

their own livelihood. Time is precious, life is short, and I just don't want to engage in that particular discourse anymore. So you might have noticed that this year we've started pulling back on those AI voices and you've been hearing far less of them. I have to say, I do wish we lived in some other universe where this threat that many people feel AI presents wasn't there, where we didn't have to constantly worry about being exploited or having our livelihoods threatened while also trying to navigate this

post-pandemic world where expenses have skyrocketed and the future seems less bright. That's the reality of the situation we're living in. So get out there and protest if you can and don't forget to vote at election time even if all the choices on offer suck to varying degrees. There has to be one that sucks less, right? That's where we'll leave it for part one of these major case updates. Thanks again for listening. In part two, we'll continue with updates about Jacob Hogard, the appeal and the new upcoming trial. There's an update about the Shell Lake Massacre, the murder of Rina Virk, the Kingston cluster of cases and perpetrator Richard Charles Joyce, huge updates from the Legacy Christian Academy and Mile 2 church scandals and more. Please see the show notes for the full list of resources and links for further information on

anything we mention in these episodes. You can also find this info at our website See the show notes for the full list of resources and links for further information on anything we mention in these episodes. You can also find this info at our website canadiantruecrime.ca. Our senior producer is Lindsay Eldridge and Carol Weinberg is our script consultant. Eric Crosby voiced the disclaimer. Research writing, narration and sound design was by me and the theme songs were composed by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back in two weeks with part two of these major case updates. See you then. you