Canadian True Crime - Revisiting Canada's Largest Manhunt

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES AND YUKON |  A six week manhunt for a mysterious fugitive who seemed to have superhuman abilities, set against the icy backdrop of the Arctic North in winter. The remarkable search party included RCMP, Indigenous trackers, fur trappers, and even legendary WWI pilot Captain Wop May.Please note: this is a re-mastered and updated re-release of a previous episode. Canadian True Crime will be back with a new episode February 15. Thanks so much for your ongoing support and patience! :)Correction note: although original sources name Gwich'in Special Constable as Lazarus Sittichoulis, we've since learned that his name is actually Lazarous Sittichinli. Our apologies for the error.Credits:Research: Cailen SwainResearch and writing: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of DreamsFull list of resources and information sources and credits:See the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My name's John Weir. You don't know me, but you're gonna. Because I know the people that have been watching you, learning about you. They know you've done well for yourself, that people like you and trust you. Trust you. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you've freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. Radical starring Keifer Sutherland. New series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.

Hi there and thank you so much for tuning in. As we detailed in the episode posted just before this one, we've had to delay our return with a new episode to February the 15th. My sincere apologies. I always dread delivering messages like that, but the support has been overwhelming and I can't thank you enough for all your kind messages, emails and comments. It really does help to know that we have your support moving forward and the breathing room to be able to make important decisions.

So right now while we're working behind the scenes to do that and to build some lead time, we still have commitments to our advertisers and sponsors who we rely on to fund the ongoing production of this podcast. So I have specifically chosen two cases to update and re-release and this is the first. Here's why I chose it. If someone was to ask me out of all the cases we've covered, which one I enjoyed writing and producing the most, it is this one that you're about to hear. And I heard from quite a few listeners that it was one of your favorites as well.

Now the reason for the re-release is that according to the stats, it wasn't downloaded as many times as many other episodes were, which I totally get because in all honesty these kinds of cases aren't typically my preference. But once I got stuck into writing it, I found a story so naturally dramatic, surprising and at times unbelievable that I didn't really have to think about it. It just kind of felt like the words were flowing out of my fingers, which is what I really like when writing these episodes. And working on the sound design and selecting the music was, dare I say it, quite fun.

And the stats also say that of those who downloaded it, 96% listened to the entire episode right until the end. This one is not bogged down with minute details or drawn out court processes. It is about a manhunt across two territories to capture a mysterious fugitive who seem to have superhuman abilities. It's often referred to as Canada's largest manhunt, but there have been other contenders and at the end of the episode, there's an update on this case as well as another one that captured public attention as a comparison.

When it comes to being the largest manhunt, is it about distance covered, the time spent on the run, the seriousness of the crime or some other factor? Let's find out. This story takes place in the far north, the Canadian Arctic, the part of Canada that lies east of Alaska and west of Greenland. The area is made up of three Canadian territories, Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. When it comes to Canada's total land area,

these three northern territories make up around 40% of the land, but they have less than 1% of the population. It can be rugged and unforgiving terrain, and it's been described as one of the harshest places on earth, especially in the winter. In the Inovik region of the Northwest Territories is the small settlement of Fort McPherson. It was first established in the 1840s as a trading post, a place where people came together from various regions to trade goods and services. The fur trade was a big deal in Canada at the time.

The practice of trapping animals and selling their fur goes back thousands of years with indigenous people in North America. The Gwichin people of Alaska and Canada lived off the land and were dependent on caribou, the Canadian version of reindeer, for their existence. They needed the meat and fur to sustain themselves, and also to trade for other items they needed. In the 1600s, after European settlers and explorers arrived and started to see the value of fur trapping,

they adopted the practice too, bringing with them updated technologies which were difficult for the indigenous to compete with. By the 1800s, historic Canadian companies like the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company also wanted to capitalize on the fur trade, adding to the already fierce competition in the fur trapping and trading market. It was actually Hudson's Bay Company who established the trading post at Fort McPherson. It was the summer of 1931 and Bill Douglas was the factor, or chief trader, at the Fort McPherson Trading Post.

A man entered the post one day and Bill could see straight away that he wasn't from the area. The man struck him as being a loner. His reddened and hardened skin indicated that perhaps he'd been living in the northern wilderness for months. He had cold blue eyes. He was also a man of few words, only speaking with Bill long enough to order supplies. He wanted a 16 gauge Ivor Johnson single barrel shotgun and 25 shells. According to the book Mad Trapper of Rat River by Dick North, Bill Douglas thought the man was an ideal customer. Quote, he knew what he wanted, bought it with no hesitation and seemed to have plenty of cash.

Before long, word had started to spread that some local Gwichian children had come across his camp and even though they'd also gotten very few words out of him, they had learned that his name was Albert Johnson. Over the next 10 days, the man now known as Albert Johnson spent a total of $1,400 at the Trading Post. Remember, this was 1931. In today's dollars, it would have been about $25,000. When trader Bill Douglas asked him what his plans were, the man would only matter that he was getting an outfit together to trap in Rat River country. Bill noticed that he was carrying several thousand dollars in cash, which struck him as odd because most trappers sent their money

elsewhere and rarely carried any cash. There was something different about this man. 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 heart-breaking 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. Bill was also concerned about the fact that Rat River was notoriously treacherous and posed considerable safety issues for someone who wasn't familiar with the area. It was 1931

and the Great Depression had motivated many desperate men to head north into the bush to try and earn some money through hunting and trapping. Very few of them seriously considered how difficult trapping animals really was. They had a lack of awareness and knowledge of the area, but also they didn't know what they didn't know. They seemed to have no idea just how unqualified they were to trap their safely and successfully. What ended up happening a lot of the time was that they would get into a dangerous situation and it would be up to the Gwichin and the RCMP to get them out of it, an annoying inconvenience. But the local Gwichin people were sympathetic to their plight. According to an essay called What is My Responsibility to the Story by oral

historian Leslie McCartney, even though trapping was their livelihood and primary means of income, if newcomers to the area announced themselves and their intentions, as was the cultural norm, the Gwichin families would help them out, sewing warm clothing for them, showing them how to travel safely on the land, locations that might be good to lay new trap lines, and of course how to survive the different seasons. And when they got themselves into trouble, the Gwichin were often instrumental in calling for the RCMP to come and assist. But this newcomer, this Albert Johnson, had said nothing. He didn't announce himself when he arrived and he didn't behave the way other newcomers did and that had the locals on edge. It didn't take long before the reports of the

mysterious newcomer reached the RCMP detachment at Eklavik, the regional administrative centre for the territorial government at the time. Constable Edgar Millen was dispatched to go south to Fort McPherson, check in on the man, make sure he knew what he was heading into and was properly equipped and didn't end up causing any issues for the RCMP or the Gwichin. Millen was known to be fair in all his dealings and was well regarded. He was born in Balfast, Ireland and as a child his family immigrated to Edmonton, Canada. At age 19 or 20, Millen joined the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, which soon became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP. He volunteered for a posting up north and was sent to Eklavik where he'd been stationed for eight years at the time. Millen

was said to be quite a popular man in the area, so it was the natural choice to approach Albert Johnson in an unassuming way. When he arrived in Fort McPherson, he went to the trading post first to talk to Bill Douglas and find out all he could about the mysterious Albert Johnson. Bill told the Constable that the man had now bought a nine-foot canoe off a local Gwichin and by all indications he still had plans to go trapping up Rat River. Constable Millen tracked down Johnson on a steamboat landing where he was assembling his gear. Millen sized him up. Johnson was a white man and appeared to be about 35 to 40 years old, about five foot nine or ten with brown hair and those ice blue eyes. He was also fairly clean shaven which was not common for

trappers. Constable Millen shook hands with him and casually asked him if there was anything he could do to help. Johnson said no, he was about to leave. Millen detected some kind of Scandinavian accent. He asked how the man arrived. With as few words as possible Johnson said that he came from the prairies via the Mackenzie River system. But Bill Douglas from the trading post said the Gwichin reported that Albert Johnson came via the Peel River. The two rivers were only a few miles apart and could have easily been confused or maybe the man was lying for some reason. According to the book Mad Trapper of Rat River it was common for men in that area to be hesitant about giving details like where they'd come from and where they were going and it was in

their own self-interest not to tell others where they'd been. Trapping was a competitive livelihood. Regardless Constable Millen's first concern was potential risk mitigation when it came to the man's safety. Whether Johnson was lying or not Constable Millen wanted to keep things civil and didn't press that particular issue. He asked Johnson if he was going to stay around for a while. Johnson said he didn't know. They spoke briefly about going to Rat River and the Constable told him that it was impossible to do alone. He said Johnson would need a trapping license and offered to help him get it and also advised him to hire a local guide who knew the area. At this suggestion Johnson bristled up. He insisted that he preferred being alone and didn't want people bothering him.

According to a 1955 article in McLean's magazine called Who Was the Mad Trapper of Rat River Johnson said that the police always caused trouble and he didn't want anything to do with them. Constable Millen noticed Johnson's eyes flashed with a look of hatred and sensed that any efforts to deter him would be in vain. He didn't want to inflame the situation. It was clear that the conversation was over. Constable Millen had done his duty so he shrugged and walked away. That was the summer of 1931. By December, the winter had set in and the situation had changed. A group of Gwichin people showed up to the RCMP post angry and frightened. They said that the strange white man called

Albert Johnson was sabotaging and vandalizing their traps. The RCMP heard that Johnson had failed to get up Rat River Rapids, just as everyone predicted. But he set up camp near the mouth of Rat Canyon and bought a cabin close to a trap line that had been used by the Gwichin for centuries. They found their traps disabled and destroyed and sometimes Johnson would substitute them with his own. To the Gwichin people fur trapping was their livelihood. There was room for everyone, but Albert Johnson was not playing nice. The Gwichin reported that they went to his cabin to reason with him, but Johnson threatened them with a rifle. They were out of ideas, so they reported it to the RCMP.

Constable Millen had two men who were perfect for the job. His second Constable, A.W. King, was an athletic man known as one of the most rugged at the RCMP headquarters. Accompanying him was Gwichin's special Constable, Joe Bernard. Both King and Bernard were familiar with the area where the cabin was located. So on Boxing Day of 1931, the pair set out on dog sleds to scope out the situation. Their goal was to have a casual conversation with Johnson and try and resolve the issue peacefully. The journey took almost three days, but eventually they rounded a bend on the frozen Rat River and spotted the cabin that Albert Johnson had built. Smoke billowed from the stove pipe,

indicating that someone was likely inside. King knocked at the door. There was no reply. Perhaps Johnson was out and would return soon. King walked around the cabin. It seemed not very high, but he saw that the bottom part of it was sunk three to four feet into the gravel bank. He estimated the cabin size to be roughly eight by ten feet. The roof was made up of poles that had been reinforced by sod or turf that was now frozen solid. King also noticed there were rifle holes built into every corner of the cabin which unnerved him. He knocked again and looked through a window to peer in. Immediately a sack covered up the window and then there was silence. There was definitely someone in there and he was making it clear he did not want to be interrupted.

King cursed. This meant he would have to trek back and get a search warrant and then another two to three days to get back to the cabin to present it and he was really looking forward to attending a New Year's party in Fort McPherson. The search warrant was arranged by Inspector A. N. Eames, the officer in charge of the RCMP's western Arctic region. King and Bernard would go back, but just to be safe they would be accompanied by another RCMP constable, Robert McDowell, and another Gwichin special constable, Lazarus Cittatulis. The group set out on December 31st 1931 for sure missing that New Year's Eve party. When they reached the cabin they each had assigned roles. The Gwichin special constables Bernard and Cittatulis would stay with the dogs and scout

around the back. The RCMP constables would approach the cabin door. King first with McDowell covering him. They knew there was a likelihood that the man inside might be hostile but they wanted to start things as amicably as possible. When King got to the door he asked, are you there Mr Johnson? He heard movement from inside the cabin but there was no answer. According to the documentary Arctic manhunt they had no idea that the cabin had been set up as a kind of bunker. King yelled back that he had a search warrant and if Johnson didn't open up he'll have to break the door down. There was still no answer. King tried to use his shoulder to forcibly open the door multiple times. Suddenly bullets pierced the door and hurled King backwards into the snow

he'd been shot in the chest. While he staggered away and collapsed into the brush the other three men returned fire but they had to retreat. King had been shot in the chest and desperately needed to be rushed to hospital in a clavicle. First they bandaged his wounded side bundled him in iderdowns and tied him to the toboggan to be towed by the dogs. King was suffering massive blood loss and there was no time to spare so the three men travelled day and night. McLean's magazine described their thighs being completely numb as they carried King into hospital in a clavicle. They made it in just 24 hours half the time it would usually take. Miraculously the bullet had just missed King's heart and lungs by an inch and doctors were able

to save his life. But what to do about Albert Johnson? He was no longer just a problem. He had now shot a police officer and was officially a wanted man. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you've freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have in it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Square Space 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

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ground today. As word of the shooting started spreading across the area inspector Eames decided to go back himself along with a strategically picked group. McDowell, Citigelous and Bernard would return. This time Constable Millen would go as well since he was the one who had spoken to Johnson soon after he first came to town and accompanying the three RCMP and the two Gwichin special constables were three more men, trappers. Inspector Eames chose the trappers because he figured they may be able to relate better to Johnson given he was also a trapper. Once the sled dogs had recuperated the eight men set out for a third time. This time they were armed with dynamite and ready for battle. When they arrived at the cabin site they quietly

waited at the sides of the riverbank that cradled the cabin. They listened for noises coming from the cabin that might indicate someone was inside. They knew Johnson was highly unpredictable and they wanted to make sure that they knew where he was before they did anything. Soon they heard the sound of kitchen utensils. Inspector Eames yelled out that the RCMP had arrived and asked Johnson to come out. Eames said that there was no serious charge against Johnson and that the man he shot wasn't dead. They waited for a response but only silence came. Eames told Johnson he may as well give up because this time there were eight men including three trappers. Quote don't make it tough for yourself. More silence. As Eames instructed the men to start approaching the

cabin from behind the riverbank the sound of gunfire came out of the small holes in the cabin providing protection for Johnson as he went on the offensive. Because the holes also meant visibility from inside the cabin would be limited the men dropped to the snow where Johnson wouldn't be able to see them and then slowly inched forward. Two of them made it to the front door of the cabin and rammed their rifle butts against it repeatedly in an effort to smash it down but the gunfire erupted again and drove them back. Their efforts had managed to break the door open slightly and Inspector Eames caught a quick glimpse of Johnson inside lying by a double barrier of logs sunk at least three feet into the earth. The cabin had been fortified with a double

wall. This man was clearly intelligent and strategic. It was time to take a break and re-strategize. Luckily the eight men had escaped being hit by bullets and retreated to the river to set up camp. It was January of 1932 and it was freezing. Their hands were starting to get frostbite and they needed to get warm as soon as possible. They built a fire which they also used to thaw out the dynamite they had brought with them. As for strategy one of the three trappers a man called Lang suggested that they throw a small charge of dynamite over to try and open a hole in the cabin wall. A small hole because they didn't want to kill him they just wanted him to leave. Inspector Eames gave his approval for this plan but the dynamite exploded before it hit the cabin

and had no impact. Plan B. Lang suggested that he get on top of the roof of the cabin and drop a bigger dynamite charge on it to see if it would do more damage. This was given the nod of approval. Dodging constant gunfire Lang made it to the roof lit the fuse and flattened out for impact. This time the blast left a hole in the cabin. They were certain that this must have done the trick and Johnson would now surrender. According to McLean's Lang peered down into the cabin and saw Albert Johnson crouched on the floor completely unhurt. He had a revolver in one hand and a sawn off shotgun in the other and there were two other rifles next to him. Suddenly Johnson looked up and saw Lang. For what felt like a minute the two looked at each other in the eye

and then Johnson fired off another shot. Lang was able to dodge it and retreated back to the river bank. It was clear that Johnson was prepped for battle and was not going to give himself up anytime soon. Throughout the night they threw flares at the cabin to see if the light would reveal what Johnson was doing through the whole of the cabin but he hid himself in there well. Time for a new plan. Constable Mellon would move in quietly while the other men banded together to fake a diversion but Johnson was no fool. He heard the crunch of Mellon's snowshoes and started firing again. At 3am they decided to make one last attempt before giving up. The symptoms of hypothermia were starting to show. The men were exhausted both by the impact of the

cold and the physicality of the night's activities and they were running low on food and supplies. One last attempt. They threw the last of their dynamite at the front of the cabin and when it exploded Inspector Eames and another one of the trappers called Guardland ran towards the broken door. Guardland with a flashlight so that Eames with the gun would be able to see what he was firing at. They hoped that with all the kerfuffle they may be able to get a clear shot at Johnson but Johnson was again on the ball. As soon as he saw that flashlight switch on he shot it clean out of Guardland's hand. Without being able to see what they were doing the men knew that Johnson had won again. By now it was minus 50 degrees. The men had no choice but to retreat back to a

clavec, restock their supplies and come up with a new strategy. By this point newspapers had started reporting heavily on the hunt for Albert Johnson and the story made headlines across Canada and the United States. It was also one of the first instances of people using radios to follow along listening in for daily updates about the search and about Johnson's whereabouts. Author Dick North credited the search as quote boosting radio from a curiosity piece to a place of importance in the news media field as well as being a major contributor to a boom in radio sales across North America. The media gave Johnson the nickname the mad trapper of Rat River which many took to mean he was a loner, an extreme risk taker and

perhaps not of sound mind. But to the men who had been exhausting themselves trying to catch him he was anything but mad. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing. They decided that he must be some kind of criminal that was on the run. There was simply no need for him to be acting this way. After all he'd had multiple offers of help when he first arrived but he was cagey and then completely hostile. The only possible explanation was that he must be a dangerous fugitive. A group of men got together to go back with Constable Millen and one of the trappers going ahead of the others. When they arrived at the half-collapsed cabin they saw that it had been completely abandoned. The fugitive had moved on. They went inside to look around and were amazed

to find that the sunken floor had been dug up and turned into a series of bunkers just large enough for Johnson to hide in. There was also a pretty smartly designed heating system in the cabin which was further proof that he knew what he was doing. The two men looked around some more hoping to find anything that might reveal where he'd gone, who he really was or what he was running from. But all that was left inside the cabin were some empty shell casings and half-raw caribou scraps. And a recent blizzard had swept away any tracks or evidence of Johnson's whereabouts. After the rest of the group arrived they had a discussion about what to do next. They assumed that Johnson could not have gone far. There had been that blizzard. They knew he had no dogs so

he was on foot with whatever he could carry himself. His snowshoes were homemade and would leave distinctive tracks and he would have to hunt or trap as he travelled to get food. They were certain that Johnson must have stayed somewhere within the Rat River Canyon. They spent four days searching the entire area but saw no trace of him. After assessing how much food and supplies they had left, Inspector Eames decided to cut the group in half, leaving only Constable Millen, an army sergeant and two of the trappers who were considered expert shooters. The rest were sent back to a clavec. So now the four remaining men hunted in pairs. At one point they found some caribou meat that

had been stashed. This must be him. They assumed that Johnson would return to the area and staked it out for a few days but he didn't. They kept going. Occasionally they would catch his tracks in the snow but then they would just stop. According to the book The Mad Trapper unearthing a mystery by Barbara Smith. Sometimes Johnson seemed to avoid leaving tracks and when the group found them again they wondered if he was doing it on purpose to toy with them. They discovered that sometimes he would even wear his snowshoes on backwards to steer them in the wrong direction. Skilled Gwichin trackers joined the search and soon so did the Inuit of the Western Canadian Arctic region. It was clear to everyone that the fugitive was heading to the Yukon and

would likely try and get past the continental divide and through to Alaska. The indigenous trackers knew the land and knew that no man had ever crossed the divide alone on foot and was certain that Johnson wouldn't be able to either. After all this was in the middle of winter in the Arctic with white out blizzard conditions and temperatures routinely at minus 40 degrees Celsius and there's no need to convert to Fahrenheit because minus 40 is where the two scales converge. It was that cold. Also Johnson's backpack must have been heavy considering it held his guns and ammunition making it even harder to track and with the kind of physical activity he was undertaking he would need three to four times the normal amount of calories every day just to sustain himself.

According to forensic experts on the documentary Arctic manhunt he was in effect completing a marathon every day a real feat of human endurance and if he used his rifle to hunt the sound would give his location away so his activities would have been limited to whatever game he could trap along the way. He couldn't light a fire to warm himself or cook as that would have also given away his location unless he first built a shelter in a snow drift. The odds were completely stacked against Johnson making it past the divide so the four hunters kept going sure that he would exhaust himself before too long. On January 28th 1932 almost two weeks into the manhunt one of the trappers picked up a faint blue haze in the distance indicating a camp. They scrambled to a cliff

edge to get a better look and saw the speck of a man sitting beside a campfire. There was no one else it could be but Johnson. But the two trappers didn't know what to do about it. They weren't RCMP and they didn't want to shoot and kill him and potentially be charged with manslaughter. They decided to make a note of the location and meet back up with the other pair and then Constable Millen would need to determine the next step. The next morning all four men went back to the cliff edge to get another look at the camp. This time they couldn't see Johnson and one of the trappers suggested he might be sleeping. Constable Millen was usually known as someone who was proactive and almost took on too much risk but now he seemed hesitant. Albert Johnson was clearly tough and

resilient, had great powers of endurance and was also super smart in how he moved and strategized. The men figured he might have had some kind of special training at some point in his life, perhaps military. Constable Millen had a new plan. The four men split into two different pairs according to McLean's the army sergeant and one trapper would search the edge of the campsite and Constable Millen and the other trapper would go straight at the campsite. Quote if he comes out and starts shooting at us you guys pick him off. If he doesn't lift his gun he won't get hurt. Once the two men started charging towards the campsite the pair at the edge of the campsite saw Johnson dive into a snow trench he'd built. Always prepared he then

started shooting at them and the men fired back then silence. Constable Millen called out Johnson cut the shooting you can't get away put down that rifle before you kill someone again silence the men waited patiently for Johnson's next move seconds went by then minutes and before they knew it two hours had passed and it was starting to get dark Millen signaled to the men that it was time to move in Johnson fired more shots Millen fired back and Johnson fired three more shots Millen fell face down in the snow the other men came crawling over and quickly tied the laces of his moccasins together so they could drag him to safety once they got to the riverbank they saw that Millen's face was gray and his body had already

begun to freeze Constable Edgar Millen had received a fatal shot to the chest and had died age 31 many retellings of this story report that the remaining three men heard Albert Johnson laughing although this hasn't been verified regardless the three were shocked they couldn't believe how things had turned out they checked Millen's rifle and saw that a missing screw had caused it to jam which is what gave Johnson the time to get those last shots in as they huddled together trying to figure out what to do next they heard Johnson coughing they were devastated what seemed to be an adventure had quickly turned into a tragedy and they were now out of ideas on how to catch Johnson two of the men agreed to stay they would continue watching Johnson and ensure that Millen's

body wasn't ravaged by wildlife the other man trekked back to a clavec to deliver the tragic news to inspector Eames and get instruction about what to do next by the time the news made its way to newspapers and radio in north america the public were transfixed and outraged the man had now shot two rcmp officers and one of them the highly respected constable millen was dead the intriguing manhunt for the mad trapper of rat river was top news and everyone in the north was now on the look out for him four days later inspector Eames trekked to the site with another group of carefully selected men but once they got there they were told by the two that had been waiting that johnson had managed to slip past them the night before they followed tracks he left that showed he'd gone

to look at constable millen's body but the trail went cold after that they had no idea where he'd gone the group continued to hunt for the next three days but came up empty-handed but johnson continued on and on some days would make his way more than 50 kilometers through the freezing cold arctic winter dealing with constant snow storms that completely darkened the sky some days he was expected to cross the richardson mountains and there were only two passes over the mountains so the rcmp and the ucon made sure they were both manned but somehow johnson got past them he found another way that no one had even considered in yet another extraordinary feat he managed to do what many experienced climbers with the correct equipment

and right weather conditions had failed at johnson had scaled a steep ice covered mountain side that was 2100 meters high this was hailed by many as being next to impossible my name is john weir you don't know me but you're gonna because i know the people that have been watching you learning about you they know you've done well for yourself that people like you and trust you trust you now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you freely shared with the whole world now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it yeah i'll be in touch radical starring kiefer settlund new series now streaming exclusively on barramout plus

by now it was well into february and the manhunt had gone on for six weeks leaving one rcmp officer dead one seriously injured and countless resources depleted it was all starting to take a toll inspector eames made an unprecedented call he needed a plane with an experienced pilot to help johnson seemed to have superhuman strength and maybe someone in a plane would be able to spot him better than the man on the ground this would be the first time in history that a pilot would give direct assistance in a ground manhunt and they didn't just get any pilot they got captain wilfred may the canadian icon better known as wop may may was well known from world war one as being the final allied pilot to be pursued by the german fighter pilot manfred von rick tofen

better known as the red baron after the war wop may returned to canada where he pioneered the role of bush pilot and was stationed in edmonton alberta about 1300 miles south of where the search group were in the uconn when asked to help with the hunt for the mad trapper wop may in his mechanic jack bowen were up for it ready to help both with the search itself and to replenish the food and supplies for the men on the ground without them having to trek back to a clavik there was blizzard after blizzard making it difficult for may to fly anything but short distances at a time at one point the plane was grounded in snow and he and his mechanic had to dig it out and the constant barrage of fresh snow also made it difficult for the men on the ground to track anything

but they all kept looking doing whatever they could two days later tracks were spotted but they were running in different directions the group on the ground split up hours later the two groups were frustrated when they came face to face with each other again while the tracks had appeared to be in opposite directions they went in a circle it was clear that this was another deliberate attempt to try and confuse the searches and wear down their energy according to the book the mad trapper unearthing a mystery by barbara smith the odd thing was that instead of spending all his time devising ways to trick and confuse the searches johnson could have put all his energy into getting to alaska and outside of rcmp jurisdiction he was somehow covering ground on foot faster than the

men who had dog slits so why didn't he just get out of there they decided that he mustn't have cared and maybe he even enjoyed this game of cat and mouse a sobering thought since johnson was aware he'd killed one of them already despite the treacherous flying conditions there were clear skies for a short time on february 11th of 1932 and wop may was able to get a good look around he spotted the unique pattern of johnson's snowshoe trail this was confirmed by indigenous trackers who spotted fresh tracks that led down the bal river they told the rcmp who reported back to inspector eames wop may took off again flying inspector eames the army sergeant and one of the trappers along

the river checking for signs that johnson had been there they spotted some tracks that stopped at the mouth of the eagle river it was clear that johnson had taken his snowshoes off here and was continuing along the tracks already made by migrating caribou this development was communicated to the men on the ground who arrived at the spot two days later and picked up johnson's trail along the eagle river major url hersey from the royal canadian signal regimen that handled military communications was one of them he had vast experience in the north and was known to be an expert with his rifle they spent the next few days searching with no luck but then hersey sled rounded a bend and he spotted johnson in the river but johnson

spotted him too and scrambled to climb the steep riverbank to safety hersey dropped to one knee and fired his rifle from behind him another trapper in the group also fired johnson turned around and fired back one of the bullets hit major hersey and he fell to the ground seriously injured by this point the rest of the group had arrived all yelling at johnson to surrender the riverbank johnson tried to climb was too steep so he retreated and made his way over to the other riverbank that had a gentler slope as he did he stopped to reload his gun and fire more shots at the group they returned fire suddenly johnson dropped to the ground the group thought he may have been shot but just seconds later they realized he was just getting flat on the ground

behind his backpack so he could begin rapid fire inspector eames called out johnson this is your last chance to give up johnson fired again from there the entire search team let loose and started firing back at full force they could see from his squirms that he was getting hit but they didn't hear a thing from him he was completely silent and then he lay still one of the searches gingerly approached him hesitant because johnson was known for his tricks and maybe this was one of them maybe he was just playing dead they flipped his body over he was dead according to author barbara smith on the documentary arctic manhunt johnson was so underweight that he looked quote totally emaciated just a shallower man left there and frozen on his face was this terrible

grimace that looked like he was still laughing at them but this was the end it was february 17th 1932 and albert johnson had finally been captured after he abandoned his cabin and went on the run over the next 30 or so days he had moved through the northwest territories into the ucon and over the great divide covering between 150 and 250 kilometers all on foot and all in the harshest of winter weather it was only the assistance of the airplane that allowed the search team to catch up with him miraculously the only other person who'd been shot was major hersey who had survived but needed immediate medical attention just as this all happened what maze plane arrived and was able to taxi close to where hersey lay wounded writhing in pain he was kneeling to fire when he

was hit and the angle of the bullet did a lot of damage including shattering his elbow smashing two ribs and piercing his lungs hersey was hemorrhaging blood what may gave him a sedative loaded him into the plane and set off to get him to hospital but it was a rough flight as they hit the mountains there was another blizzard and even though may was afraid he knew the landscape like the back of his hand so he was able to fly hersey to safety according to the website what may.com may remarked that when they got to a clavec the doctor said that if they had arrived just 15 minutes later hersey would have died luckily his life was saved Johnson's body was examined by the rcmp he'd been shot five times one of them severed his spine

he was buried in a cemetery in a clavec with a giant yellow sign erected above his grave that read in part the mad trapper albert johnson arrived in ross river complaints of local trapper brought the rcmp on him he shot two officers and became a fugitive of the law with howling huskies dangerous trails frozen knights the posse finally caught up with him he was killed off the eagle river february 17 1932 the rcmp also examined what was in his backpack and his pockets looking for clues about who he was and how he'd sustained himself according to the book the mad trapper of rat river he had around 2400 in canadian and american money worth 40 to 50 000 in today's currency his pack also included a small glass jar containing

five pearls five pieces of gold dental work and some small pieces of gold as well as an axe two rifles a shotgun an ammunition a compass a dead squirrel and a dead bird known as a whiskey jack or gray jay clues as to what he was eating he also had several knives fish hooks matches a razor a chisel a sewing kit wax string and salt and pepper even though he had identified himself as albert johnson they had no information to confirm his identity or where he came from and as you'll remember constable millen detected a scandinavian accent the rcmp took pictures of his face and body and distributed them through newspapers in north america and beyond hoping that someone would recognize him the pictures of his face are quite haunting he died with a look on

his face that's a cross between a smile and a sneer whatever was happening he didn't seem to be scared of it the rcmp fielded hundreds of reports from europe the united states and canada who thought they knew who johnson really was according to mclean's various women claimed that he was their husband father brother or son and other people thought he was a multitude of characters including quote an escaped criminal called the blueberry kid a murderer from michigan a world war one sniper and an ex-provincial policeman the rcmp investigated each claim his estimated age of 35 to 40 years at time of death means he could well have served in world war one which would possibly explain his accurate marksmanship and his ability to keep calm under fire but none of the leads panned out

his fingerprints and photographs were sent to the central bureaus of federal police in washington stockholm and london they traced his weapons and banknotes but all of these leads came to a dead end over the years several promising leads would emerge some trappers saw the albert johnson picture and contacted the rcmp to say they knew him in the 1920s some six years before he strode into fort mcpherson and disrupted the equilibrium except the trappers knew this man as a different name artha nelson apparently artha nelson came from british columbia and spent a few years in the uconn before he disappeared in may of 1931 and two months later the man known as albert johnson turned up in fort mcpherson according to the trappers there artha nelson was a physical

match for albert johnson they were both loners who said very few words and both had the same scandinavian accent the two men had similar guns and possessions and were both excellent marksmen this lead was investigated by author dick north who was researching for the two books he would later write on the case the mad trapper of rat river which was originally released in 1972 and then tracked down the search for the mad trapper in 1989 north spoke to the people who had knowledge of the case and were still alive when he was investigating artha nelson he discovered that the man had once described himself as a swedish american farm boy from north dakota in following that lead dick north came across a person called johnny johnson a criminal from

north dakota johnny was also around the same age he was born in norway and moved to north dakota with his family as a child he was taught to use a rifle to catch food and then as a teenager he committed two robberies and was able to get away from the police before eventually being arrested in wyoming he was released from prison but a few years later he was imprisoned again for stealing a horse when he was released once again it was 1922 and that was the last of johnny johnson on the historic record this was nine years before the hunt for the mad trapper of rat river could the two men have been the same in his book dick north suggested that these three characters were all the same men albert johnson artha nelson and johnny johnson fingerprint comparisons at the

time were inconclusive but it certainly seemed promising in 2007 author mark frameled would release a book called what became of sigvold anyway in it he wrote that he'd been researching for 25 years and put forward a new theory of albert johnson's real identity he believed johnson was a man called sigvold peterson haskjold a reclusive norwegian living in canada who avoided being conscripted to the first world war and was then paranoid for the rest of his life thinking that the authorities were looking for him he was known for having built a cabin that doubled as a fortress on digby island on the north coast of british columbia before disappearing all together this was about four years before albert johnson arrived in fort mcpherson and again he was a physical match

so albert johnson was believed to be several different people each match was highly plausible but they were based around circumstantial evidence and lacked concrete proof in 2007 as part of a discovery channel documentary called arctic manhunt hunt for the mad trapper that would be released in 2009 the remains of the man known as albert johnson were exhumed from his grave at a clavik several scientists including forensic odontologists dna extraction experts forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists examined the remains dozens of canadians had submitted their dna for testing thinking that they might be related one by one the experts used dna and eliminated all four suspects albert nelson johnny johnson and sigvald peterson haskeld in fact

none of the dna samples submitted were a match nor was there a match found to johnson's fingerprints or dental records the dna did yield several pieces of interesting information it was determined that the man known as albert johnson was not canadian oxygen isotopes developed from his teeth enamel indicated that he was either from the corn belt of the midwestern united states or from scandinavia it was also determined that he had sophisticated dental work done he had some fancy bridge work and a tooth coloured filling which was quite rare for the times this indicated that in his pre fugitive life he was likely a wealthy man or came from a wealthy family what was even more surprising was that this man who had amazed everyone with his strength

endurance and seemingly superhuman abilities had scoliosis a sideways curvature of the spine that caused one of his legs to be longer than the other he likely dealt with chronic pain in 2009 as the documentary called arctic manhunt was released cbc radio novus kosher heard from the johnson family in pikdu novus kosher who said they had long believed that albert johnson was actually their relative a man called owen albert johnson he apparently left pikdu at the beginning of the depression to find work in the united states and their last letter from him was posted in early 1931 from revel stoke british columbia sadly they never heard from him again and just months after he posted that letter albert johnson showed up at fort mcpherson

some 3000 kilometers north of revel stoke according to the radio interview a relative was arranging for dna tests but there has been no public update given that 11 years have passed that lead was likely ruled out the mad trapper spent 48 days on the run he travelled 240 kilometers on foot across two territories of arctic canada during the winter and murdered one rcmp constable leaving two other people seriously injured the search for the mad trapper of rat river was and still is widely considered to be canada's largest ever manhunt but there certainly are other contenders if the criteria for largest manhunt is the amount of geographical distance covered or how serious

the crime was most canadians will vividly remember what's now known as the bc manhunt or the manitoba manhunt or as wikipedia lists it the 2019 northern british columbia murders in july of that year two men aged 18 and 19 quit their retail jobs and reportedly told their families and friends that they were headed to the uconn to look for work a few days later the bodies of a young couple were found on the side of the alaska highway in british columbia 24 year old china dies from the united states and 23 year old lucas fowler from australia had been on a three week road trip around canada but it ended when their bodies were found in a ditch by the side of the road with visible gunshot wounds and four days later the body of 64 year old vancouver university lecturer

lennard dick was found with similar circumstances police soon linked both of these crimes to the young men who had been reported missing 19 year old cam mcleod and 18 year old bryash migalski at first it appeared that they might also be victims of some highway killer but before long it was announced that they were actually the suspects and they were still on the run the rcmp initiated a manhunt with up to 160 officers working constant shifts on the investigation and thanks to various sightings including convenience store surveillance footage they tracked the pair 3200 kilometers across british columbia to alberta saskatchewan and then manitoba during this time the manhunt made international headlines

and kept canadiens on the edge of their seats after all there were two armed gunmen on the loose in what appeared to be a random murder spree were there other murders that hadn't yet been discovered or more to come the two men were on the run for a tense 20 days before their bodies were found in thick bush in rural manitoba they died by suicide after recording a series of videos where they confessed to the murders but expressed no remorse they also gave no motive for any of it since today's episode was originally released the global mail published an article called one year after the manitoba manhunt the grief and unanswered questions left behind by ian bailey and mike hagar it had been revealed that just before the pair left on their road trip they

told their families and friends that they had quit their retail jobs and were headed to the uconn the next day cam mcleod texted his girlfriend to tell her that he's sorry but he's not coming back and when she called him for more details he hung up on her according to the global mail both men met in elementary school were considered inseparable and shared an interest in first person shooter and survivalist computer games both exhibited behavior that their peers dismissed as just odd or unsettling and they posted racist and violent comments in the game chats and on social media bryash migelski in particular was known for wearing military fatigues and a swastika armband he also carried a replica nazi knife and spoke positively of hitler while the pair

were still on the run schmigelski's father confirmed that the teenager openly admired donald trump and russian president vladimir putin but didn't think he actually held nazi beliefs he just thought that the memorabilia was cool in the time after the manhunt finished journalists traveled to the small town of port alberny on vancouver island where both mcleod and schmigelski from to see if they could get any more information to help people make sense of what happened none of the pair's gaming buddies would speak to the media and other than the comments that schmigelski's father had provided none of their other relatives would respond to the media's request for comment even the mayor of the town declined to speak about it the ashcroft case creek journal

in british columbia wrote a series on the albert johnson case an author barbara rodin drew parallels between the 1932 manhunt and the search for mcleod and schmigelski 87 years later quote the remote locations of the killings and the manhunts the involvement of the rcmp the use of the most modern technology and resources in both cases the unknown motivations for the killings the widespread media attention the fear that residents of far flung remote communities lived in while the manhunts took place and the fascination the cases held for people around the world were all things that were similar in both cases the article noted a difference in the public attitude towards the killers in the two situations quote mcleod and schmigelski were

universally decried for their crimes while albert johnson was regarded with sympathy by many at the time who saw him not as a cold-blooded killer but just as a defiant loner taking a stand against authorities the other update related to this case is that in march of 2021 it was announced that the memorial dedicated to constable edga millen had been rebuilt the memorial called the millen can is situated exactly at the spot where edga millen was killed in the line of duty on january 30th 1932 accessible only by snowmobile the memorial is 40 kilometers outside fort mcpherson on the millen creek near the rat river permanent parks have been installed in the area in english french and gwichin to recognize the sacrifice that millen made and a small ceremony was conducted on site by

community members whoever the mad trapper of rat river really was he left a man dead in his tracks two others seriously injured and he didn't seem to care even in death his real identity continues to evade the public but the legend of the mad trapper of rat river lives on as always thank you so much for your kind ratings reviews messages and support it's so much appreciated for the full list of resources we relied on to write this episode and anything else you want to know about the podcast including how to access ad-free episodes visit canadiantruecrime.ca thanks also to eric crossby for voicing the disclaimer and we talk of dreams who compose the theme song i'll be back soon with another canadian true crime story see you then

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