Canadian True Crime - The Rallo Family Murders—Part 1

Episode Date: February 15, 2023

[Part 1 of 2] In the summer of 1976, the Rallo family appeared to be living the picture perfect family life in the “Golden Horseshoe” area of Southern Ontario.Parents Jon and Sandra with young children Jason and Stephanie had enjoyed a warm family summer full of trips to visit grandparents and swimming... that is, until one morning when Jon woke up to an empty house, and a devastating note.This two-part series provides a snapshot of Canadian history at a pivotal time for both the burgeoning city of Hamilton and the criminal justice system.An additional content warning: this case includes the murder of a child, although no graphic details will be given. Please take care when listening.Release schedule:Part 2 will be released to everyone on February 22 - one week after Part 1.If you're listening ad-free on a premium feed, Part 2 is available now on Amazon Music - included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. Canadian True Crime donates monthly to help those facing injustice.This month we have donated to Interval House of Hamilton, an organization that provides emergency shelter, safety planning and support services for women with or without children that have experienced abuse or violence.Credits:Research: Gemma HarrisWriting, sound design, additional research: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of DreamsProduction assistance: Jesse HawkeScript consulting: Carol WeinbergTheme songs by We Talk of DreamsDisclaimer voiced by Erik KrosbyFor the full 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.

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Welcome to Season 2 of Canadian Time Machine, a podcast that unpacks key milestones in our country's history. This podcast receives funding from the Government of Canada and is created by the Walrus Lab. I'm Angela Misry. There's a lot we learned about Canada in history class and through the Heritage Minutes, but there's also a lot that was missed. There are so many elements of history

that we're learning and unlearning, and we're inviting you to join us. You'll hear from some of Canada's most notable history makers and experts who will shed light on the remarkable journey of our country's evolution to its present state. So be sure to hit that follow button so you don't miss them. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. ACAST.com. Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in in and thanks also for your patience and understanding over this last couple of months. I also really appreciate the kind messages of support that you've been sending. I wish I had more time to reply, but I've read all the messages and I can't thank you enough. I don't want to keep you for long today and frankly I've had just

about enough of hearing myself talk lately anyway. So just quickly, this is part one of a two-part series to be released a week apart and you can always find the release schedule in the show notes and on the website. My big priority as I mentioned is to make the production of this podcast more sustainable, but it does take time. One thing I can tell you is that we won't be releasing episodes on the 1st and 15th of each month anymore. Instead, we'll promise you at least two episodes a month. In fact, this month, there will be three, and you won't have to wait more than a week

between parts of a series. Now, I know consistency is a big deal for many listeners. And frankly, it's a big deal for me too. But I'm going to be taking some flexibility time now so that I can make changes and see how everything shakes out over the next few months. I'll be keeping the website updated as much as possible during this time. And I really, really appreciate your understanding and flexibility. I'll have more to say in the coming months, but until then, it's on with the

show. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, 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. An additional content warning. This case includes the murder of a child, although no graphic details will be given. Please take care when listening. The port city of Hamilton is located in a large natural harbour at the western tip of Lake Ontario. It's part of a densely populated area known as the Golden Horseshoe that wraps around the shoreline.

If you imagine it as a letter C and start at the bottom or southern end of the horseshoe, you'll be in the Niagara Falls region. And if you follow the shoreline along this imaginary letter C up and around the lake for about 130 kilometres, you'll end up in Toronto on the northwest shore. And right in the middle of that horseshoe, where it curves around, lies the city of Hamilton. It's known for stunning hiking trails and gorgeous conservation areas featuring over a hundred waterfalls. And these bounties of nature are strangely intertwined with a highly visible industrial area where multiple smokestacks can be seen spewing smoke and vapor into the air. Hamilton's history is in the steel and heavy manufacturing industries, and it's often referred to as Steel City. It's an interesting place.

The 1960s and 70s were a pivotal time for Hamilton. The city's business elite started lobbying politicians to develop it into a kind of modern downtown hub to rival Toronto, or at least to provide a viable alternative. It sounds simple, but the big problem was space. Since the mid to late 1800s, the central Hamilton area had been progressively built up with rows of old Victorian buildings of various shapes and sizes, buildings that many residents and small business owners called home. But in the late 1950s, the business elite were trying to convince the politicians to view this area, and the working class people who inhabited it, as unattractive urban decay that was holding the city back. By 1960, a controversial

decision had been made to clear out two entire blocks in central Hamilton, kick out all the residents and the business owners, and demolish all the buildings. 43 acres worth. Urban renewal, it was called. The argument was that a drastic modernist makeover would attract a higher class of resident and shiny new business opportunities. Historians were aghast as wrecking balls started crashing into historic buildings like the former Hamilton City Hall, built in 1888 and known for its iconic large clock tower. In 1961, it was one of the first buildings to be reduced to a pile of rubble, taking 75 years of history with it. Isle of Rubble, taking 75 years of history with it. Despite the controversy, the 1960s was an exciting time for Hamilton and its half a million residents, which included young couple John Rallo and Sandra Pollington. John worked in the surveying department at the new modern City Hall, and Sandra worked at a law firm as a title searcher.

In 1966, after four years of dating, the couple married. A wedding photo published by the Hamilton Spectator shows a happy-looking couple sitting in the back of their wedding car, Sandra's classic 60s brunette bob dotted with confetti and framed by a puffy tulle veil. And sitting next to her is a debonair-looking John in a classic black tux with white bow tie. They looked like typical newlyweds, wide smiles on their faces and eyes bright with dreams of building a happy and successful future in one of Canada's most up-and-coming cities. A decade later, it was 1976, and John and Sandra Rello were celebrating 10 years of marriage,

two young children and the purchase of a tidy bungalow to raise them in. It hadn't all been smooth sailing though. They'd hit a bit of a rough patch in their marriage a year earlier, but they resolved to patch things up and stay together. Their financial prospects were also looking good. 33-year-old John Rallo was still with City Hall, but he'd been promoted to office manager of the engineering department. And outside of his career, he had separate business aspirations. He'd been working with Sandra's father and another business partner on a potentially lucrative opportunity. They'd invested in a piece of land and had just been given the green light to build a racket club on it. As for Sandra, she still worked as a law firm title searcher.

According to reporting by Susan Claremont for the Hamilton Spectator, the 29-year-old had taken up yoga and macrame as hobbies, but her number one priority was being a mother. She doted on their two children, six-year-old Jason and five-year-old Stephanie. During the summer of 1976, the kids could often be found outside playing t-ball in the quiet cul-de-sac where they lived in the neighbourhood of Hamilton Mountain. In the late afternoons, their aunt Janice, Sandra's sister, would come and look after them until their parents arrived home from work. School would be starting up again in just a few weeks. Jason was looking forward to starting grade two, and Stephanie would be starting at nursery school. forward to starting grade two and Stephanie would be starting at nursery school. But until then, they wanted to get in as many swims as they could while the weather was still warm. And their

favourite pool was at their grandparents' place in the nearby city of Cambridge, where Sandra's father Doug was the chief of the fire department. Father Doug was the chief of the fire department. So on Monday, August 16th, 1976, John Rallo took the day off work and the family drove the 40 minutes for one of their regular visits with the grandparents. According to court documents, six-year-old Jason Rallo was desperate to dive into the pool,

but when he got to the end of the diving board, he would freeze. So that evening, his uncle David was pushing him to conquer his fears, and when little Jason suddenly dove in, there were loud cheers. After dinner, the Rallo family drove back to Hamilton, arriving home just as the sun was starting to set. They were a social family, well-liked by their neighbours, and Sandra was often seen outside chatting with someone. That night was no different. Just after they arrived home,

she reportedly ran outside to chat to a neighbour about music lessons. Sandra was on the lookout for an activity that she and John could do together as a couple. Perhaps couples' piano lessons would fit the bill. Shortly after that conversation ended, another neighbour stopped by the Rello home. ended, another neighbour stopped by the Rello home. Barb Swinn lived next door, and she and Sandra were good friends, so Sandra put the kettle on while John went with the kids to start the bedtime routine. It was now just after 9pm. The two neighbours chatted for the best part of two hours until about 11pm, when Barb placed her empty coffee cup on the bench and returned to her home next door. That was Monday night.

The next morning, Barb's husband Larry Swinn was getting ready to leave for work between 7 and 7.30am. As he walked to his vehicle, he glanced at the Rallo house and raised his eyebrows. The family were not early risers and the blinds were always down when he left for work, but that morning he noticed that the blind in the main bedroom was up. A bit unusual, but he shrugged and went about his day. Neither he nor Barb saw any members of the Rallo family that Tuesday. The following Wednesday morning, August 18th of 1976, Barb heard a knock at her front door. She opened it to find John Rallo blurting something out about Sandra and the kids leaving him. Barb was shocked. John told her he first discovered they were missing the previous morning, Tuesday the 17th.

He woke up at about 9am to find the house empty, and after searching high and low, the only thing he found was a note from Sandra, indicating that she was leaving him and taking the kids. Barb expressed her condolences and asked if he knew where Sandra might have gone. John said he had no idea, and he'd spent the rest of that day racking his brain while he cleaned up the house for something to do. He excused himself, promising to keep her updated. Next on his list was to tell Sandra's father the news. Music Music Music Music Music

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music An hour or so later, John showed up at the Cambridge fire station

to speak to his father-in-law, Doug Pollington, who was the fire chief there. Doug was shocked at the way John looked when he walked in. His son-in-law and business partner in that racket club plan was always impeccably dressed and groomed, but that day he was wearing old clothes. He hadn't shaved in at least a day and he was clearly nervous. John delivered the news that he'd woken up to discover Sandra had taken the kids and left him, and he had no idea where they were. Doug could see that he was clearly distraught.

But Doug himself was also shocked and had many questions. For starters, how did Sandra manage to gather the kids and leave the house that early without John knowing or hearing anything? John explained that on the Monday night after they returned from the dinner and swim at Cambridge, he'd slept in the basement den, not on the main level where the rest of the family slept. He woke up at 9am the next morning and ventured upstairs, expecting to hear the hustle and bustle of kids having breakfast and getting ready for their day. But the house was eerily quiet, and all that remained of his family was a typed letter he found on a chest of drawers. He handed a piece of paper to his father-in-law. It read, quote,

I'm writing this letter to say goodbye and ask you to try and understand what I am doing, John. I've met someone who I love very much. He's a rich lawyer from out west who I met while working last year. He can give us everything we would ever want. Doug handed the letter back and together they decided that the next step was to head over to the Pollington home in Cambridge and tell Sandra's mother what had happened. As John relayed the story once more, he sobbed as he covered his face with his hands. Doug and Margaret wanted to know if there was anything missing from the house. What did Sandra take with her? John said her wallet was missing but her handbag was still at home. What about clothes for the kids, toothbrushes, their favorite books and toys?

John said it was all still there. The family suitcases were there, the clothes were there, and so were their credit cards. Sandra's parents wanted to call the police, but John urged them not to, and stressed that he didn't want anyone going back to the house. He'd put together a plan of his own and his next step would be to visit his lawyer who would put him in contact with a private investigator to help track down his family. The Pollingtons accepted their son-in-law's plan of action and watched him drive off. their son-in-law's plan of action and watched him drive off. But as they thought more about it,

Sandra's parents decided they couldn't just sit and do nothing. When they noticed cuts and scrapes on John's hand and suggested he get it seen by a doctor, he dismissed the idea, explaining that it was just an injury from falling off his bicycle. And according to John, it had now been more than 24 hours since he discovered Sandra was missing, along with six-year-old Jason and five-year-old Stephanie. He seemed certain that she'd left him, but the Pollingtons weren't so sure. Knowing their daughter as they did, they felt it would be extremely unusual and out of character for Sandra to just take off like that with the kids and not tell anyone. As Cambridge fire chief, Doug was closely connected to the police and he had a direct line of communication to Gord Torrance, the chief of Hamilton Police at the time. He couldn't think of

a better time to take advantage of that connection. He picked up the phone. Meanwhile, John Relo drove back to Hamilton to visit a lawyer friend that he'd known since high school named Dennis Roy. He relayed the story of waking up to find an empty house and a typed note that indicated his wife had left him for another man. He went on to say that the whole thing made him so angry that he went into a rage and tore up some of the carpet in the main bedroom. He explained that it was dirty anyway, with an odour that his wife always complained about, so he took the strips straight to the dump. He told the lawyer that the reason for his visit was to get help and advice on how to track down Sandra and the kids, wherever they

were. As Dennis Roy handed over contact details for a private investigator, he noticed that John's left hand and wrist were injured. Again, John told him he'd fallen off his bicycle the night before. Next, John Rallo drove to the home of his own parents to tell them what had happened. John Rallo drove to the home of his own parents to tell them what had happened. His father, Jack Rallo, was the manager at the Liquor Control Board, the LCBO, and he used to work as a crime scene photographer for the Ontario Provincial Police, or OPP. John was their only son, and he was said to be especially close to his mother, Dorothea. When she saw his injured hand, she encouraged him to get medical treatment, but again, he refused. More important priorities.

John asked his mom to go with him back to the family home, so he could pack a bag and return to his parents' home to stay with them. He said he didn't want to spend another night in his empty family home. John had arranged to meet private investigator Ron Arnold back at his parents' place. There, he relayed everything he knew and handed over Sandra's typed note that indicated she'd taken off with a rich lawyer. The private investigator asked John if there was ever infidelity on his side, and John insisted he'd always been faithful to his wife. The PI got to work. And then Sandra's sister Janice arrived unexpectedly. She had heard the story from her parents, but she wanted to hear it from John and see if she could get any more information. But John said he'd already told the Pollingtons everything he knew and he was tired.

After their very brief chat, he walked Janice back to her car. That was Wednesday, August 18th. It had been a very busy and stressful day, starting with John telling Barb what happened, then the Pollingtons, then his lawyer friend, his own parents, and the private investigator. But that same day, in a different part of the Golden Horseshoe, another situation had been developing, and now there was an unidentified body in a morgue. Hi everyone, today we're talking passion projects that turn into careers, a topic that obviously resonates quite a bit with me. In collaboration with the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAST Creative,

I want to introduce you to someone who took his passion for cannabis, turned it into a career, and is now an industry trailblazer. This is Nico Soziak. He's the chief financial officer of Canara Biotech, a prominent producer based in Montreal. Nico, I know that you've had a passion for cannabis for quite a few years, but you seem a lot younger than what I was expecting. I have to know how and when you got into the cannabis business. Yeah, absolutely. I look younger, but I'm aging

by the day. But no, I'm 35 years old. I got into cannabis about five years ago. I started with Canara. But you were a consumer before that. Yeah, I've been a consumer. I had friends in the legacy side of the business and watched what they did. I tried the different strains and genetics, watched how they grew, really found a passion for cannabis and the products. But my professional career is an accountant. So while I had a passion for cannabis, I was also a straight-A student. Wow. And then Canada decided to legalize cannabis.

And that was when I was like, okay, this is kind of my calling. I have to try to figure out how do I can get into the industry. And Canara had just became a public company. I joined them in April, 2019 and built the finance department here at Canara and worked with the founder. And at one point I was given the keys to that. And now I'm here today. Wow. That's such a cool story. So how do you feel about being called a trailblazer in the legal market now? It's an honor. I've looked up to many trailblazers in this industry today that come from the legacy side that went to legal. You know, I'm happy to be part of that.

Actually, I wanted to ask you about the legacy market. How did you incorporate it into operations on the legal side? I don't pretend that the cannabis market just got created in 2017, right? For me, legacy means that everyone that's been working, all the businesses that have been in the industry pre-legalization. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel in terms of thinking I know what consumers want. There's been an industry that's been built for many, many, many years. So it's all the ideas and creations that were pre-legalization, figuring out how do we evolve that into the legal side

with all the regulatory frameworks. What would you say is the best part of working in the legal market? Knowing that your product is clean, knowing what you're consuming, we're ensuring quality, we're ensuring the price. I think we're ahead of other industries. Okay, so final question. What gets you excited to go to work every day? This is my dream. This is my passion. I get excited. Work doesn't feel like work for me.

When you're creating things that you dream about, I give the idea to the team. The team is able to execute different innovations. That's what really gets me excited. able to execute different innovations, that's what really gets me excited. Thanks for listening to this Trailblazers story brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAST Creative. If you like the trail Nico Soziak is blazing, you will love what's happening in legal cannabis. Visit ocs.ca slash trailblazers to learn more. It was now Thursday, August 19th, 1976, and John Relo returned to work after being absent all week. On Tuesday, he said he'd woken up to an empty house, and the Wednesday is when he started telling everyone what had happened. When he showed up at City Hall, he'd shaved,

showered, and was back to his usual snappy dressing, 70s style. He wore a light green leisure suit with a white shirt and statement tortoiseshell glasses that crossed over his thick sideburns. When he bumped into his co-worker and friend Marjorie, he told her the sad news that his wife had left with the kids. At the end of their conversation, she reminded him that her birthday was the next day. He promised that he wouldn't forget. her birthday was the next day. He promised that he wouldn't forget. John had no idea that two police investigators had been dispatched to find him, and at that very moment, they were on their way to City Hall. The night beforehand, Hamilton Police Chief Gord Torrance had received a phone call from the Cambridge Fire Chief, Doug Pollington, who reported that his daughter and grandkids were missing.

The case was escalated immediately. The next morning, Thursday, the investigators arrived at City Hall and found John Rallo. arrived at City Hall and found John Rallo. He told them he was just about to call the police himself to report his family missing, and then gave them all the same details he'd given to his father-in-law and everyone else he told the day before. After they left, he went on with his day at work. But at about two o'clock, he received a phone call from the police asking him to come to the station because they had some follow-up questions. He promised to be there as soon as he could and requested a chauffeured City Hall car, a perk that he had access to as part of his job. John Rallo arrived at the police station about 30 minutes later and asked his driver to wait for him. Investigators knew that John had woken up at 9am on Tuesday morning to an empty house,

and they wanted to know why he was sleeping in the basement den and not the usual bedroom he slept in with his wife. bedroom he slept in with his wife. John said he'd actually slept there the two nights before that as well, after an incident on the Friday night. He explained that he and Sandra were socializing with friends, and as the evening wound down, he found himself alone in the pool with just one other person, a neighbor of theirs who was a woman. He told investigators that Sandra was very upset about it, and despite his reassurances that it was all innocent, the argument continued the next day, leading to John's decision to sleep in the basement den that Saturday night, and then the Sunday night. On Monday, he said tensions were still high, and after they got home from dinner and a swim with the grandparents, he slept in the basement that night as well.

And that's why he didn't hear Sandra and the kids leave the next Tuesday morning, why he woke up at 9am to find a typed note from Sandra indicating she'd left him for a rich lawyer. About that, John told the investigators that he was starting to develop a theory. He'd remembered that about a year ago, a man started calling the house when Sandra wasn't home. The man never identified himself and refused to give his name, but he seemed to know an awful lot about their personal lives, and at one point he inadvertently revealed that he was a lawyer. John said he confronted Sandra about the calls, but she denied having any knowledge about them or the man who was calling. He said she also berated him for not trusting her.

The next time the mysterious lawyer called, John said he requested that they meet outside the Hamilton courthouse so they could sort it out like grown-ups. He told investigators his intention was to get the calls to stop, but the man never showed. John said he still didn't know who the man was, and the calls continued for months after that. He explained that he became convinced that Sandra had been having an affair with a local lawyer, and he now believed that lawyer was the reason she had taken the kids and left. He told investigators, quote, If she came home tomorrow, I don't know whether I could forgive her or not. For her to be proven wrong and me to be right, she made me look like a damn fool for a whole year.

At this point, it was 4pm and John advised the investigators that as manager he had to go back to City Hall and lock up his office. And his driver was waiting for him. He wasn't detained and investigators asked him to come straight back to the station to finish the interview. The police knew more than they were letting on. The day before that, Wednesday, as John started telling people that his family had left him, a body had been found about 45 kilometres away in the Niagara Falls region. A woman and her two sons had been fishing at Jordan Harbour, near the city of St Catharines, about a 40-minute drive from Hamilton, as you follow the curve of the horseshoe south and around to the east. The two boys spotted a big, bright blue duffel bag floating in the water, and they waded in to pull it out. After unzipping the bag, they saw the plastic of a green garbage bag, and through a hole, they caught a glimpse of what looked to be the back

of a human body. The body was taken to the morgue at St. Catherine's General Hospital, where it was determined to belong to a little girl, naked, with visible bruises on her temples. That Wednesday night, she remained in the morgue unidentified. But thanks to Doug Pollington's decision to contact the police chief, a connection was made to the missing Rallo family the next morning. One pair of investigators were dispatched to City Hall, but unbeknownst to John Rallo, another investigator had been dispatched to the Cambridge home of Doug and Margaret Pollington. The mission was to collect a photo of their five-year-old granddaughter, Stephanie Rallo, and then drive it to the morgue at St Catherine's, just over an hour away.

then drive it to the morgue at St Catherine's, just over an hour away. Later that afternoon, Doug Pollington received a phone call with news no family ever wants to hear. They had compared Stephanie's photo to the unidentified body, and there was enough of a similarity that a formal identification was necessary. The whole family, Doug, Margaret, and their two remaining adult children, Janice and David, decided to make the drive together. After Doug Pollington confirmed that yes, this body belonged to his five-year-old granddaughter, he went outside and sat on the curb, devastated. By this point, it was about 5pm, and just as promised, John Rallo was dropped back at the police station. Over the next few hours, he was informed that the body of a young

girl had been found near St. Catharines, and it had been positively identified as his daughter Stephanie. He asked, are you sure it's her? He started sobbing immediately, rubbing his eyes as he asked out loud, why did she do it. He was heard berating himself for sleeping another night in the basement instead of on the main level where his wife and kids were. Things were getting serious now and the police told John they needed to search his house and car. He handed over his keys just as his lawyer arrived and advised him not to say anything more to the police. But John had a lot more to say. Likely against the advice of his lawyer, he requested another interview so he could give the police more details about what he was doing between 9am Tuesday

morning and the following Wednesday morning, which is when he went over to tell Barb what had happened. He explained that when he first woke to find the house empty and the note, he was frustrated and angry. After calling in sick to work, he didn't know what to do with himself, so decided to relieve his frustration by taking apart the marital bed. He said he listened to the radio while he worked and answered the phone a few times while it rang. One of those calls was Sandra's mum Margaret, then a neighbour, and then Stephanie's daycare also called. He told them all that Sandra was out and would call them back when she returned. She didn't. John continued explaining his decision to rip up that section of stained carpet in their

bedroom. He said that the kids had vomited on it, their cat had soiled it, it stunk and it was time to go, along with some chunks of the carpet underlay. He said he also cut portions of the mattress underlay for the same reasons. As for the rest of that Tuesday morning, John told investigators that he did laundry, and in the afternoon he got dressed and went to a Canadian tyre store to return a faulty light switch. and went to a Canadian tyre store to return a faulty light switch. Then in the early evening, he said he decided to go on a long drive in his car to Toronto, following the curve of the Golden Horseshoe north and around to the east,

the opposite direction to the Niagara region where Stephanie's body had been found. John said when he reached Toronto, he turned around and drove back to Hamilton, but he didn't go home just yet. He continued driving further west, away from Lake Ontario and into the country, through two small towns before driving back home. Again, nowhere near the Niagara region. Investigators asked about John's injured hand, the cuts and scrapes. He said that when he arrived home from his long drive at about midnight, he decided to take his bicycle for a ride. But in the darkness, he hit a stone or a brick and fell As for what he did the next morning, Wednesday, John said that he woke up at about 5am and decided to vacuum and dust the house to pass the time.

He told investigators that he gathered the pieces of carpet and underlay he'd ripped off and drove them to the Glanford dump, where he said he spoke briefly to a person he called the garbage picker. John said that when he got home from the dump, he went over to his neighbour Barb's place to tell her what had happened. She was the first person that he told. Meanwhile, investigators had arrived at the Rallo home and found it in a total state of disarray. Chunks of carpet were missing, furniture had been disassembled and moved around, and a mattress had been cut and was lying up against a wall. Investigators requested the assistance of the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

At about 11.30pm that Thursday night, John Relo was charged with the first-degree murder of his five-year-old daughter Stephanie. His wife, 29-year-old Sandra, and six-year-old son Jason were still missing. The investigation continued the next day, which was Friday. As one group of investigators started talking to family members and others who knew the Relo family, another group went to the Glanford dump to look for the discarded carpet scraps. They didn't find anything. So they decided to check another dump, the Ottawa Street dump. They showed a photo of John Relo to a security

guard there, who said he remembered seeing the man that Wednesday morning at around 9 or 9.30am. He was dumping three green garbage bags and two boxes of garbage. That was just before he went and told Barb what had happened. Investigators searched that dump and were able to find most of the matching carpet scraps. They saw some blood smears that looked like someone had attempted to wash a stain out. Meanwhile, the search for Sandra Relo and six-year-old Jason Relo continued, and police divers were dispatched to search the local waterways in the Niagara region. In the area near where Stephanie's body had been found, divers found a submerged car that had a body inside it. The car was dredged up.

The body ended up belonging to a 73-year-old man who'd been reported missing about five months earlier. He'd apparently suffered a heart attack while driving to a fishing spot. According to the Hamilton Spectator, another body was recovered, and this time it was a woman, but it wasn't Sandra. It was a middle-aged woman who'd also been reported missing. She was determined to have died by suicide. Two families now had some answers, at least. As the search for Sandra and Jason Rallo widened and helicopters were brought in, a funeral was held for five-year-old Stephanie Lynn Rallo. The autopsy determined that Stephanie's cause of death was asphyxia from being smothered. There was no evidence of sexual assault. from being smothered. There was no evidence of sexual assault.

Two days after Stephanie's funeral, an OPP search helicopter was flying over the same general area in the Niagara region where her body had been found. It was now August 26, 1976, eight days since Sandra, Jason and Stephanie Rallo had first been reported missing. The pilot spotted something floating in the Welland Canal, and after doing a few passes, he got on the radio and notified investigators on the ground. It was a green sleeping bag and had been tied up with a rope and sash cord in a series of intricate, complicated knots. In the open end of the sleeping bag, there was a green garbage bag that covered a pair of feet with red toenails. Doug Pollington was called back to the morgue, this time to confirm that the body did belong to his 29-year-old daughter. The autopsy determined that Sandra had been badly beaten shortly before she died, perhaps until she was unconscious. Her cause of death couldn't be confirmed because of the state of decomposition. couldn't be confirmed because of the state of decomposition. According to the Brantford Expositor,

her body was sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto for a second opinion. Still no confirmed cause of death, but it was determined highly likely that she died from strangulation. A funeral was held for Sandra Pollington Rallo on August 31, two weeks after her husband had started telling people she'd taken the kids and left him. She was buried next to her daughter Stephanie in Woodland Cemetery in Hamilton. There was still no sign of six-year-old Jason, and the search would continue, but at this point it was assumed that he likely met the same horrific fate as his mother and sister. When investigators informed John Relo that his wife's body had now been found, he refused to believe it was her. 33-year-old John Rallo was charged with two additional counts of first-degree murder. As he protested his innocence, he was taken to the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, now known as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, or CAMH.

A man murdering his own wife was bad enough, but it wasn't so uncommon. According to historical data from Statistics Canada, three quarters of all the spousal homicides in the mid-70s were cases of men who killed their wives. But a man who murdered his wife and his children? There were no statistics on that. In fact, it was almost unfathomable. So for almost two months, John Rallo underwent a multitude of psychiatric and psychological tests to determine where his head was at. At one point, doctors even administered what's referred to as a truth serum, a combination of mind-altering drugs that were believed to make a person more likely to tell the truth. These kinds of serums are widely considered to be unethical today, and in reality, all they really did was send the person into a hypnotic state

where they were prone to suggestion, or perhaps calmed the person down to a point where they lost their inhibitions or became more talkative. Whatever happened with John Rello and the truth serum, his story didn't change, and at the end of the testing, doctors declared him to be mentally fit to participate in the criminal justice system. That meant his first bail hearing. On Christmas Eve of 1976, he was released to his parents on $100,000 conditional bail. Every day, he made a point of visiting the grave where Sandra and Stephanie were buried to lay flowers. There was also now a spot there for Jason, although it was empty. The police had spent about two months searching for the six-year-old with no luck.

Given what had happened with his mother and sister, the general consensus was that there was next to no hope that the little boy was still alive, and the police had decided to call off the search for him. While John was out on bail, he also showed up at the family home on the quiet cul-de-sac and was seen doing some maintenance work. The home had been sitting empty for about three and a half months, and according to the Hamilton Spectator, he waved at neighbours as if nothing had happened. None of them wanted anything to do with him. In the new year, 1977, John requested permission to return to work at City Hall. His request was denied.

About three months after John Rallo was released on bail, there was a development in the search for six-year-old Jason Rallo. It was now April of 1977, and the skeletal remains of a young boy had been found in a park near Barrie, a city about an hour north of Toronto. It wasn't anywhere near the Niagara region where Sandra and Stephanie's bodies were found, but it was suspected that these remains might belong to Jason. A forensic pathologist compared the remains to Jason's dental records and determined it to be a match. Doug and Margaret Pollington were informed about this last tragic piece of the puzzle and a third funeral to organise.

a third funeral to organise. John Rallo didn't attend his son's funeral because his bail conditions didn't permit it, but he reportedly sent a bizarre note to the funeral home advising them not to organise a procession for Jason. The Pollington family arranged for the little boy's remains to be buried next to his mother and sister, and then they turned their attention to the upcoming trial, which would be held later that year. But in the lead-up to the trial, they received some very distressing news. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, in the province of Alberta, had been investigating the disappearance of a five-year-old boy, and their search led them to Ontario, to that same area where Jason's

remains had been found. There were strong suspicions that the remains determined to belong to Jason might have been identified incorrectly. A heartbreaking decision was made to exhume the remains and get a second opinion. The remains were sent to a forensic dentist in the United States who confirmed that there had been a terrible error. The remains did not belong to Jason Rallo. The RCMP were right. The remains belonged to the five-year-old boy that they were searching for. The coroner's office apologized profusely for the error and reimbursed the Pollingtons for the money they'd spent on Jason's funeral and burial. But just like that, their grandson was still missing, still out there somewhere.

that, their grandson was still missing, still out there somewhere. That November of 1977, John Rello pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, and the trial was set to begin. Jason Rello was still officially missing. There had been so much publicity about the missing Rallo family members, the discovery of the bodies and the remains, and of course, John Rallo's arrest and charges. And there was a lot of public interest in attending the trial or closely following the news, especially when it was anticipated that John Rallo would be testifying in his own defence. What kind of father would kill his entire family, and why? As a teenager, John Rallo attended Cathedral High School in Hamilton,

where he reportedly developed that distinctive sense of style that set him apart. Details about John's background were later published in Susan Claremont's special long-form report for the Hamilton Spectator. While John's classmates dressed casually for school, he was always dressed to impress, as though he was off for a job interview or special dinner, instead of ordinary high school math class. Freshly pressed slacks, crisp shirts, vests, blazers and overcoats. It might have looked as if he took his studies very seriously, but that wasn't why he was dressing up. He ended up dropping out of grade 12 and finished via correspondence before taking some college courses in management and communication.

The thing he most preferred to study was girls, and he was dressing to impress them. According to journalist Susan Claremont for the Hamilton Spectator, John Rallo, quote, his unruly hair and lanky limbs were not the stuff of conventional good looks. Yet there was something about him. He had style, confidence, charm. The teenager fancied himself as a ladies' man. He befriended a lot of girls, asked them out on dates, and was often seen hanging around street corners,

just watching and admiring the girls who walked past. But all that changed a few years later in 1963 when he set eyes on a young woman described as a lively brunette with green eyes and a quick smile. 15-year-old Sandra Pollington was from Hamilton as well. In fact, at the time, her father was a local firefighter there. At first, Doug and Margaret Pollington weren't particularly fond of their daughter's new beau. He was 20 years old, five years older than Sandra. Doug also didn't like the fact that John was from a Catholic family, but he seemed to make Sandra very happy and that made her parents happy. They eventually came around. John and Sandra seemed to live an idyllic life. Amazing wedding, two kids, a lovely family home. But John's straying eye was always a part of it. When he wasn't taking attractive female co-workers out for flirty lunches, he continued to admire other women from street corners just like he did as a teenager. The Hamilton Spectator would detail stories of two of John Rallo's co-workers at City Hall, and both women would testify for the prosecution.

In early 1975, the year before Sandra and the kids disappeared, John was having regular lunches with a young, attractive co-worker, Marjorie, who worked in the City Hall legal department. The same Marjorie he bumped into the morning he returned to work after reporting his family missing. Marjorie was also married, and while her friendship with John Relo started with a casual conversation about family vacation cruise options, it soon grew into regular lunches together.

As they talked more, they grew closer, and one day Marjorie confided in John that her marriage was on the rocks. John told her that his own marriage was the same. Sandra wasn't naive. She had strong suspicions about John, and if he wasn't being unfaithful, she suspected at the very least he was disrespecting her and their marriage vows. In April or May of 1975, Sandra told John she wanted to join her closest friends on a girls

trip to the Caribbean. He protested, saying he didn't want her to go. Behind the scenes, she'd reportedly told her girlfriends that John wasn't satisfying her sexually and she was considering separation. But almost too suddenly, John changed his mind. He told Sandra to go on the trip, saying it might be a good opportunity for them to get some breathing time and a break to think.

John Relo may have had an ulterior motive for his change of heart. His friendship with co-worker and regular lunch partner Marjorie had just turned physical into a full-blown affair. When John Rallo took to the stand in his own defense, he told the court that it was around this time that his own marital problems began, and it was those anonymous phone calls from the mysterious man who inadvertently revealed himself to be a lawyer that started it all. He'd noticed that Sandra stopped wearing her wedding ring. John also confirmed that his affair with Marjorie also started at around this same time, but denied that this was the reason he suddenly changed his mind and allowed Sandra to go on vacation to the Caribbean. While Sandra was gone and after the kids were asleep, Marjorie would come over and they

conducted their affair in the marital bed. Marjorie testified that before and during their affair, John had showed her, quote, compassion, understanding, and later, I thought, love, during a time when both of them were having marital problems. John would later state that he did feel remorse about having the affair. Quote, with the young lady, kiss my children goodnight and tuck them in bed and say to myself, what the heck are you doing? If you ever get found out, you are going to lose everything. He testified that it lasted for about five months and then it was a mutual decision to end it. He told the jury, quote, the lady and I discussed it at length. We both established our priorities. For her part, Marjorie testified that John had told her he was prepared to leave his family and be with her. And in fact, it was her decision to end the affair, to try again with her husband.

it was her decision to end the affair to try again with her husband. Marjorie did agree with John's testimony that the affair ended in August of 1975, a year before Sandra and the kids disappeared. She said that she and John remained friends after that. But the court heard that the affair might have gone on a bit longer than either of them admitted to. During a search of the Rallo home, an investigator found a series of notes and cards from Marjorie in John's locked desk, indicating that the affair continued until at least November of 1975. On cross-examination, John was asked if the affair might have still been going the following August of 1976, which is when Sandra and the kids disappeared. He said no, he and Marjorie were just friends at the time. It's unclear whether Sandra ever knew about the affair with Marjorie specifically, but her suspicions and general discontentment were fuelled by a separate incident that happened that same summer of 1975. And this she knew about. In fact, the whole street did.

One evening, neighbour and friend Kay Scordino dropped by the Rallo home to ask a favour. Kay and her husband Phil Scordino were not only good friends with the Rallos, but Phil was John's other business partner in the Racket Club proposal, along with his father-in-law Doug Pollington. That summer evening, Kay knocked at the door asking to borrow some liquor, and as John handed it to her, he appeared to deliberately touch her on her breast. Kay told all their neighbours about it, which left Sandra humiliated and embarrassed, and heightened her suspicions about her husband's lack of integrity. and heightened her suspicions about her husband's lack of integrity.

If things were a bit tense between the two families for a while, it appears they managed to smooth over the issue and move on. But John and Sandra's marriage was still on the rocks, and Sandra confided in neighbour and good friend Barb Swinn that John was going to leave because apparently he'd found someone else. Barb testified that she essentially dismissed her friend's concerns, assuring Sandra that John loved his family and would be the last person in the world to leave. Barb told the jury that she later realized that John had become quiet and withdrawn for a few months. It all culminated in the couple going to see John's lawyer friend Dennis Roy about the process for divorce

and to enquire about who gets what when it comes to property rights. Over the next few months, they even put the house on the market briefly. But according to John, when they realised how much selling it was going to cost them, not to mention the divorce itself, they decided to give the marriage another go. A fresh start for the new year. And that's where they were as 1975 rolled into 1976. The couple appeared to be making an earnest attempt to repair their marriage. Or at least Sandra was. John was always a womaniser and it wasn't long before he started paying closer attention to yet another attractive female co-worker, a young City Hall stenographer.

Julia was also married. In fact, John and Sandra had been invited guests at her wedding. She went for regular work lunches with John and considered him a good friend. In early 1976, as John and Sandra were trying to repair their marriage, Julia confided in him that her own was breaking down. Julia testified for the prosecution that this prompted John to tell her about his own marital problems. He mentioned that he and Sandra had spoken to a lawyer, who reportedly said Sandra would get everything if they divorced. According to Susan Claremont for The Hamilton Spectator, Julia and her husband officially separated, and John was there to console her, going out of his way to call her, showing up at

her parents' place where she was staying and sometimes waiting for hours until she returned. place where she was staying and sometimes waiting for hours until she returned. Julia told the jury that shortly after she moved into a new apartment by herself, John showed up one evening with a gift and a bottle of wine, and he stayed until midnight. As he left, she said he planted a kiss right on her lips. If this behavior made Julia uncomfortable, she kept it to herself. By all accounts, she sincerely believed the relationship was platonic on both sides. And for his part, John testified Sandra always knew when he was with Julia and why, but that was easy testimony to give since Sandra wasn't there to refute it. But a few months after that incident at Julia's new apartment, at the beginning of the summer of

1976, John's behavior had started to make someone else increasingly uncomfortable, and she was definitely keeping it to herself. She didn't know what else to do. It was Janice Pollington, Sandra's younger sister. At the start of the summer holidays, Janice had been helping out by watching little Jason and Stephanie in the afternoons, until their parents returned from work. This was about six weeks before Sandra and the kids disappeared and things went well at first. But then John started arriving home earlier than expected before Sandra did and Janice thought he seemed to be flirting with her. She made a mental note to keep her eye on the situation.

That's where we'll leave it for part one. Thanks for listening. In part two, the conclusion, we continue to unravel the events of 1976 up until August, when Sandra, Stephanie and Jason Rello disappeared. We'll also unpack the full story of that Friday night fight that resulted in John Rello sleeping his first night in the basement through to Tuesday morning when he said he woke up to an empty house. The evidence told

a different story about what happened and what he was doing. Part 2 will be released to all in a week and it's available now ad-free for premium feed subscribers on Amazon Music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. See the show notes for more information on where and how to listen. 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. We donate monthly to those facing injustice. This month, we've donated to Interval House of Hamilton, an organisation that provides emergency shelter,

safety planning and support services for women with or without children who have experienced abuse or violence. Learn more at intervalhousehamilton.org. Thanks for listening, and special thanks to Gemma Harris for research in this series. Audio editing and production was by We Talk of Dreams who also composed the theme songs. Production assistance was by Jesse Hawke with script consulting by Carol Weinberg. Writing, narration, sound design and additional research was by me and the disclaimer was voiced by Eric Crosby.

I'll be back soon with part two. See you then. Thank you. you