Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Rita Morel

Episode Date: November 17, 2021

When a plane crashed in Canada in 1949, investigators uncovered a conspiracy that had 29-year-old Rita Morel at its center. The full plot became clear only after they tracked down a woman known around town as “The Raven.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes dramatizations and discussions of domestic abuse, murder, a suicide attempt, assault, and gore. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In early fall of 1949, the wooded hills surrounding Quebec City, Canada, were just starting to slip into their fall colors. Patrick Samard stood on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, and cast his line into the rushing water. The 35-year-old fisherman gazed across the river, delighted by the bright smudges of orange and gold that dotted the hills.

The roar of an airplane shook Patrick out of his reverie. Planes were to be expected. The Quebec City airport was 40 miles away, but it was still annoying. Patrick settled back into fishing. Just then, a sharp bang erupted from above and a cloud of white smoke engulfed the aircraft. The left side exploded.

A hole gaped beneath the cockpit. The plane reeled through the sky like a wounded bird. The fisherman clapped his hands over his ears as it crashed into the hillside. He dropped his eel traps and ran up the riverbank. No one knew these woods like he did, and the survivors would need help getting out. But when Patrick arrived at the crash site, There were no survivors.

Arms, legs, and torsos lay all over the twisted metal. One body remained in its airplane seat. It was a woman, dark-haired and elegant. Her head was tilted back at an odd angle, and her face was smashed in. A single gloved hand clutched the armrest. Her name was Rita Morel,

and she was the whole reason the plane went to. down. Welcome to Solved Murders True Crime Mysteries, a Spotify original from Parcast. I'm your host Carter Roy. And I'm your host, Wendy McKenzie. Every Wednesday, we step into the world of true crime's most fascinating murder cases and tell the tale of how real-life detectives close the case. You can find episodes of Solve Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free exclusively on Spotify. This week, we'll cover the next to 1949 crash of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 108. The sudden explosion caused the deaths of 23 people.

Soon enough, investigators discovered that a single victim, 29-year-old Rita Morel, was at the center of a shocking conspiracy. We have all that and more coming up. Stay with us. Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney Plus. Let's go! Get ready for a new case. We're going to crack this case.

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Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record-breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly working at. Zootopia, too. Now available on Disney Plus rated PG. On September 9th, 1949, air traffic controllers at Canada's Quebec City Airport lost their signal with Flight 108. Such a communication failure was confusing. The plane had left the airfield just 20 minutes before, and it had been following a standard route. The airliner started in Montreal

at 9 that morning and followed the St. Lawrence River toward Canada's eastern shore. It stopped in Quebec City to pick up new passengers and cargo. After a slight delay, flight 108 took off around 1025 a.m. headed for the small city of Bay Comol. About ten minutes following takeoff, the captain responded to air traffic control's recommendation to adjust his route, but after that, Flight 108 went silent. Ten minutes later, numerous witnesses

watched the small, propeller-driven plane make its way over the St. Lawrence River. Out of nowhere, an explosion ripped through the aircraft's left side. The wreckage careened into a steep hillside known as Cap Tourmont, or in English, Cape Torment. All 23 people on board died on impact. The crash was a perplexing tragedy. Immediately, Jean E. Belanger, the head of investigations for Canadian Pacific Airlines parent company, resolved to find out what caused such a terrible event.

He sent one of his most trusted assistants, who will call Oliver Boland. to assess the damage. Oliver rushed to Cape Torment. After a grueling trek through the brush, he saw a flash of white. From a distance, the plane appeared to be in fairly good condition. Its fuselage remained intact and no fires were burning. As he got closer, Oliver saw dark splatches on the wreckage. Then the smell hit him.

The plane was covered in blood and human remains. Holding back a wretch, Oliver could see the propellers were twisted, which seemed strange. If a mechanical issue caused the plane to explode, as he'd assumed, the blades would have stopped turning and crumpled when they hit the ground, but they'd continued to spin all the way down. Eventually, a small army of investigators from the provincial police, Department of Transport, and Royal Canadian Mountain Police descended on the scene. They spread out, interviewing witnesses.

First, they spoke to a group of railway workers who ran to the crash site when they saw the plane go down. I'm still in shock, to be honest. The plane was right above us when it blew. Then it straightened out, so for a second we thought it was going to be okay. Then it went straight down. Stuff was falling out of that big hole. Luggets just raining from the sky. I think I saw a leg.

We ran to see what happened. When we got there, there were hands, arms, even heads all squashed up in the cockpit. Children's bodies mangled on the ground and the smell. Even before the bodies started reeking, it smelled odd, like T&T. First responders also smelled something like dynamite when they arrived at the scene. But in the early hours of the investigation, they assumed the crash was an accident. Either the plane or the crew was to blame. Airline investigators like Jean Balanget weren't happy with these explanations.

Even with business interests aside, Belanger had good reason to question if the crash was accidental. The plane went through a standard inspection at the Quebec airfield and was deemed safe to fly before it took off. It was hard to believe something went so wrong, so quickly. So over the next several days, airplane inspectors and medical examiners picked through the wreckage in search of anything that could explain the disaster. More inconsistencies arose. Based on descriptions of the plane exploding, they initially suspected fuel tank combustion. But the fuel tanks were intact. They didn't even catch fire, so there was no way they were responsible for the tragedy. The other accessories that could have exploded all seem to be working as well.

pieces of batteries and fire extinguishers were scattered around the crash site. They'd all taken a beating when the plane went down, but there was no evidence of defects or combustion. The crew wasn't at fault either. The pilot was a decorated veteran of the Royal Air Force who'd been flying commercially for more than seven years. And when the crew members were autopsied, there was no evidence that they'd experienced heart attack, strokes, or other emergencies that, might cause them to lose control of the aircraft. After assessing all the victims, a coroner's jury called the crash a case of, quote, accidental death due to an explosion of undetermined origin. They also concluded that the explosion didn't come from any part of the aircraft, but from an

outside source. In other words, it seemed likely that someone put a bomb on the plane. This ruling meant Canadian Pacific Airlines was off the hook legally. Nothing about their plane or employees caused the crash. Still, corporate investigators weren't ready to walk away. The coroner's jury didn't mention anything about where the explosive device came from or who put it there, but a brief look at the wreckage revealed exactly where the explosive had been placed. The hole on the plane's left side clearly originally, originated from one of the front storage compartments.

Specifically, the passenger bagged section. The seat nearest to this area was hurled out of the plane with such force that it landed nearly a quarter mile from the crash site. It looked like someone hid a powerful explosive among the cargo, which explained the smell. Dynamite was forbidden on planes, but without x-rays or luggage inspections at the airport, it would have been easy to sneak in.

The key question, though, was why someone would do that. Belanger, who'd recently arrived in Quebec, combed through the airline's cargo log with his assistance. So in that compartment, we've got eight pieces of luggage, three suitcases, three packages, and two typewriters. Any details on the packages? According to the passenger manifest, all three were added in Quebec. One's got automobile parts, one has ladies' underwear, and they don't say what's in the third. Heavy, though, more than 11 kilos. Sound suspicious enough.

Since it was sent from a Delphise-Bouchard in Saint-Semion to an Alfred Plouf in Baicomont. Either of them on the passenger list? Uh, no. The unlisted package, which weighed about 25 pounds, seemed like the best place to start. Throughout September of 1949, authorities worked on tracking down the people listed on the box. Alfred Plouffe and Elfiz Bouchard. Investigators also took a closer look at the plane's passengers. There were 19 in total.

All but three were Canadian, and none had a substantial criminal history. The three non-Canadian passengers were all American businessmen. They were high-level executives from a copper company. At first, the Canadian Pacific team wondered if this could be a case of extreme corporate espionage. But when the team of investigators looked into the men's backgrounds, they found nothing that could lead to mass murder. After a few days of fruitless searching, investigators realized that there was no one named Alfred Plouffe in Bay-Common. There was a Delphiz-Bouchard in Saint-Semion, but this person knew nothing about the package. package. The names were fake. Clearly, whoever sent this package didn't want to be identified,

but someone must have dropped it off at the airport. So Jean Belanger's team spoke with the attendant who manned the baggage desk on September 9th. The heavy package? Hard to forget the lady who brought that one in. Felt like she was going to yell my ear off. Short lady, middle-aged, kind of stocky and dressed all in black. Now that I think of it, she didn't even kill. She carried in herself, got her taxi driver to do it. The attendance description was vague, but it did provide a few key insights about the woman who dropped off the package.

The detectives knocked on doors all over Quebec, asking if anyone matched her description. In the working-class neighborhood of Lower Town, several neighbors said the woman sounded like 41-year-old Marguerite Petra. Marguerite was known for her booming voice and earned the nickname, The Corbeau, or the Raven for her distinctive black clothing. Neighbors described Marguerite as an abrasive woman who always seemed to be just a bit short on money.

She was friendly with everyone, but most commonly seen with two men. Her older brother, 51-year-old Genereu Ruest, and a 31-year-old jeweler named J. Albert Gay. The investigators were taken aback by the name Jay Albert Gay. One of the victims of the crash, 29-year-old Rita Morel, had a ticket purchased by him. A background check showed that even though Rita usually used her maiden name, her legal name was gay. She and Albert had been married for eight years. They had a four-year-old daughter together, one who was now motherless. Airline records also showed that Rita was one of the only passengers who'd bought flight insurance or had it purchased for her.

Rita's husband paid an extra 50 cents for $10,000 in life insurance should any accident occur. He named himself as the only beneficiary. Sensing that they were on the right track, detectives dug up a photo of Marguerite Petra. The baggage attendant said that she'd come by taxi so they just needed to. find the driver. Only he could confirm if Marguerite was actually the woman with the package. Luckily, Quebec City taxi drivers all kept track of their trips in a central logbook. Only one driver took a woman on a round-trip journey to the Quebec City airport that day. His name was Paul Henri Pelletier.

When the investigator showed him Marguerite's photo, he recognized her instantly. Paul Henri remembered a black-clad woman clutching a large box marked fragile. She seemed anxious to check her package before the 10.20 a.m. flight. Though Paul-on-Rie had driven Marguerite to and from a hotel near the airport, the police determined where she actually lived. They asked Paul Henri to identify her in person and sent him to her address, a run-down apartment building in lower town. Now all they needed to do was wait for this woman.

They're only real suspect to come outside. Hours passed. Paul Henri camped out in front of the apartment building, but the woman never came outside. The investigators were almost certain that Marguerite Petra put the explosive package onto Flight 108, but they still had no idea why. She didn't appear to have a direct connection to anyone on the plane,

so it seemed unlikely that she acted alone. But the fact that she was friends with Albert Gay sure seems suspicious. They needed to learn more about him and fast. Up next, the detectives look into Albert's past, and a shocking new source comes out of the woodwork. For centuries, the world has been fascinated by them. In films like Pirates of the Caribbean, they're portrayed as squaggering anti-heroes. In books like Treasure Island, they're fearsome villains.

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Tickets on sale now at Yamavah Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. And now, back to our story. The days after flight 108's crash near Quebec City, Canada were frustrating. But when investigators found Marguerite Petra and Albergay in mid-September of 1949, it finally felt like they were getting somewhere. The investigative team from Canadian Pacific Airlines worked with local police to dig up information on 31-year-old Elbeir.

They found more and more reason to be suspicious. There was his oddly time to purchase of life insurance and his connection to Marguerite Piers. Petra, who put the explosive package on the plane, but that wasn't all. Several of Albert's neighbors gossiped about him when they heard his wife Rita died in the crash. He had a reputation in Quebec City, and even those close to him didn't hesitate to share the unsavory details. Never trusted Albert. He's always making up some new scheme and flashing his money left and right. And was there anything wrong in this relationship?

with Rita. Oh boy, was there anything right? Sure, he'd make a show out of bringing her flowers and kissing her in the middle of the street, but then you'd see him stepping out with some young girl an hour later. Made me sad. Rita was the only one not in on the joke. Acquaintances described the 31-year-old as a short man with thick black hair and a nervous smile. He owned a small jewelry shop in Lower Town, but spent most of his time away from Quebec City, selling watches and crucifixes in the fishing towns that studded the St. Lawrence River. He'd been married to Rita since 1941. They met while working at an arsenal together during World War II. This was also where Albert met Marguerite Pietre. Marguerite introduced Albert to her brother, Gennarou Ru-West.

Jean-Aru was a talented watchmaker. Never one to miss an opportunity, Albert hired Janiru the moment he started his jewelry business. Albert was essentially a door-to-door salesman, and his constant travel created lots of chances to see other women. Not long after he and Rita got married, he started flirting with younger girls. According to rumor, he began building up a roster of extramarital lovers.

Albert made little effort to hide his infidelity. Meanwhile, if Rita so much as glanced at another man, he became instantly jealous. He had a violent streak that attracted police attention. Soon after his name circulated as a suspect, a Quebec City detective, found an arrest record from June 1949, about three months before the explosion. According to police records, Albert was filed. found on a Quebec City sidewalk brandishing a gun at a 19-year-old waitress. We'll refer to this woman as Juliette d'Oetto.

She was one of his many mistresses, and she wanted to end their relationship. Juliette was walking to work in the early evening when Albert ambushed her. He pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot himself, or her, if she didn't take him back. Policemen broke up the conflict and Albert ran away before they could identify him. An officer stayed with Juliet throughout her shift, and 31-year-old Albert returned a few hours later, presumably to threaten her again. He was taken to jail and booked for attempted assault. City records showed that Albert called Marguerite Petre from jail and asked her to get him a lawyer.

She did, and by morning the attorney successfully reduced her. his charges. Albert paid a $25 fine for illegally carrying a gun and was set free. His history of domestic abuse made this incident sadly unsurprising, but to get the full story behind the arrest, officers contacted Juliette Nuitteau. I met Albert when I was 17. It was the summer. I was working in a cafe and he struck up a conversation. He seemed charming. One thing led to a Soon after that, we were going on dates. Did you know Albert was married?

He told me eventually. He said their marriage was on the fritz, and I was the only one he wanted to be with. I never understood why he latched on to me. So you started seeing him in the summer of 47, and you stopped... We haven't stopped. Not really. I tried to cut it off, but he just comes back. He thinks it's destined.

The last time I left, he gave me a letter saying he still loved me and would be with me again soon. I'm still not sure what he meant. Juliet talked with detectives for hours, telling them all about her on-again, off-again affair with Albert. The two met in the summer of 1947 in Quebec City. By the summer of 1948, he was visiting Juliet at her parents' house, up to three times a week. Albert took on a fake identity with Juliet's parents. He pretended to be a young bachelor named Roger Angers and courted the teenager like he didn't have a family at home.

He even gave Juliet a ring. Gossip ran rampant in Lower Town. It was only a matter of time before Rita heard about the affair. In November of 1948, Rita made a surprise visit to Juliet's parents and told them Roger Angers was actually her husband, Albert Gay. Juliet's parents kicked her out of the house. The young woman called Albert, and by five the next morning, she was living in a spare room in Marguerite Petra's apartment.

The timing was fortunate for Juliet. Marguerite was moving to another apartment a week later, so Juliet stayed on, and Albert continued to pay rent for her. He didn't care that his wife knew about his infidelity. He kept his teenage mistress just a few blocks away from the family home. The affair took a dark turn in the winter of 1948. Albert became increasingly controlling, and Juliette cut off most of her contact with her parents. He hardly allowed her to leave the apartment.

In early 1949, Juliet tried to escape. She borrowed money from someone at the restaurant, she'd worked to buy a train ticket and planned to meet her parents at the Montreal station. She made it all the way to her sleeping car and put away her luggage, relieved to be free, but she'd been followed. Albert cornered her in the bathroom and forced her to come home with him. Back at the apartment, Albert hid Juliet's gloves and coat, so she wouldn't be able to go outside in the cold Canadian winter. The next morning he attacked her. He bit her face, leaving visible marks. Then he went back to the train station to return her ticket.

The abusive relationship continued through spring of 1949. Juliet left Albert and was supporting herself with another waitressing job in the same part of the city. In June, Albert accosted Juliet on the sidewalk while she was walking to work. He threatened to shoot himself if she wouldn't come back to him. The scene attracted the attention of the Quebec City Police. Juliet tried to stay away, but within a month, she'd moved in with Albert again. According to Juliet, Albert repeatedly said he planned to marry her. This was confusing for Juliet because, despite his philandering,

Albert considered himself a staunch Catholic, just like the other members of their community. A divorce would ruin his reputation, and his wife might not even agree to it. Albert worried that he would have to sue her for one. But if he got rid of Rita another way, maybe all that trouble could be avoided. The new information about Albert's affair with Juliet Doetto moved him to the top of the suspect list. He was clearly capable of violence and may have wanted to kill his wife to be with Juliet. Detectives planned to quietly build their case before moving in on 31-year-old Albert, and his accomplice, 41-year-old Marguerite Petra.

But six days after the crash, a new headline kicked the case into high gear. Paul Henri Pelletier, the taxi driver who was staking out Marguerite's apartment, got impatient. He contacted a reporter and tipped him off about the investigation's progress. The reporter relayed this information in a short article on September 15, 1949. Quebec City Police and related authorities are still actively investigating the crash of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 108. A source close to the case says police are hot on the trail of a woman who dropped off an unusual package at the airport. Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is encouraged to contact the Quebec City or Royal Mounted Police. The story was light on details, but it was enough to make the suspects nervous.

Five days after the article was published, on September 20th, The police were alerted that Marguerite Pietre was in the hospital. She'd nearly overdosed from sleeping pills. There are conflicting reports as to when Marguerite landed in the hospital and why. According to a 1953 New Yorker article, she had checked into the hospital complaining of stomach pains. As soon as she was admitted, she swallowed a handful of sleeping pills. But in 2018, an article from Vice suggested that she was,

was found close to her home, quote, near death after taking the pills. The police considered the incident an attempted suicide, and suicide attempts were a criminal offense in Canada at the time. As soon as she was deemed healthy enough to leave the hospital, police detained Marguerite. She told them something truly shocking. After Albert Gay found out about the article, he told Marguerite to kill herself and leave a note saying, she was solely responsible for Flight 108's crash. And for reasons even she wasn't sure of, Marguerite complied. As the 41-year-old recovered in jail, she switched to allegiances. By September 23, 1949, the woman who brought the bomb to the airport was ready to tell police everything.

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Now back to the story. Two weeks had passed since Flight 108 exploded, killing all 23 people on board. While some investigators continued combing through physical evidence on Cape Torment, detectives in Quebec City were closing in on the culprits. On September 23, 1949, Marguerite Petra broke her silence. Detectives were certain that the 41-year-old woman assisted their main suspect, 31-year-old Albert Gay by bringing the explosive device to the airport. Still weak from her ordeal, Marguerite admitted that she did drop off a package at Albert's request on September 9th,

but she claimed she had no idea what was inside. I thought I was doing a favor for a friend. He asked me to drop off a package and said he wanted it in Bay Camo as soon as possible. He didn't say what was inside? Said it was a religious statue. The Virgin Mary, I think. That's why it was so heavy. After the plane went down and read a past,

the statue was the least of our worries, so I mostly forgot about it. So when did you find out it was a bomb? Four days ago. He saw the article, came to my apartment, sat me down in my rocking chair and said, Marguerite, on the ninth, I said that package was a statue,

but today I'm telling you the truth. It was a bomb. Police likely didn't believe Marguerite's explanation, but her admission was all they needed to arrest Al-Bair Gay. Quebec's Attorney General issued a warrant on September 23, 1949, one day after Al-Bair's birthday. The newly 32-year-old was taken into custody. Albert awaited trial in Quebec men's jail,

where he claimed to be innocent in front of the wardens. But as soon as the doors closed, Albert bragged to his cellmate about convincing one of his employees to build a time bomb. That employee was Genarou Ruest, Marguerite's older brother, and the inmate Albert confided in

was a mole who reported straight to the police. Within hours, 51-year-old Jenneru was also behind bars. Like his sister, he quickly admitted his involvement but claimed he didn't know the full story. Albert told me he needed some explosives to blast tree stumps on a property. He bought me an alarm clock and told me to attach some dynamite, some detonating caps, and a fuse. It sounded interesting, and Lord knows I needed the money.

Who purchased the dynamite in detonating caps? Oh, that'd be my sister. Now that all three of the suspects were in jail, Albert and Genereu for the bomb and the murder and Marguerite for attempted suicide, detectives could put together the timeline of the case, and it looked like the siblings weren't as innocent as they claimed. Marguerite eventually admitted to buying all the supplies for the time bomb, but she sided with her brother, saying she thought Elbeir just wanted to clear away tree stumps. She also admitted to being $600 in debt to Albert. According to her, he promised to forget about the money she owed him if she purchased the bomb material. and drove his package to the airport.

The investigators found it hard to believe that Marguerite and Gennarou didn't put the pieces together. The siblings were well aware of Albert's desire to marry his mistress. Marguerite had bailed him out of enough messes to know he was capable of extreme cruelty and violence. When Albert Gae's trial finally started on February 24, 1950, the siblings were quick to volunteer as witnesses. probably because they wanted to protect themselves from prosecution.

But before any witnesses could come to the stand, the chief crown prosecutor ran through the physical evidence. Examiners had been scrutinizing the crash site for months, using chemical analyses and x-ray scans to prove that Genoos' time bomb brought down the plane. The evidence was overwhelming. Clothing found at the scene had chemical deposits that indicated they were blown up with dynamite. A sweater that blew away from the wreckage had two slivers of blue metal stuck to the shoulder, the same color as a popular brand of dry cell battery. There was also a distinctive circular dent in one of the plane's metal plates.

It was the same size and shape as the top of a battery. Two small holes showed where parts of the timer punctured the plane's exterior. The prosecution also showed the plane was in good condition before the explosion and illustrated exactly how Genarou's homemade time bomb worked. When the siblings were finally able to speak in court, they held nothing back. It all started around August 18th. Elbeir just came back from a business trip. I thought he was coming up to my apartment to hand over some watches.

My sister was there too, and he asked us for help making a bomb to deal with those tree stumps. Just after I said yes, Albert left on vacation with his wife, some kind of apology to her, I guess. But the moment he got back to Quebec, he ran to my apartment to check on the bomb. Seemed real excited to see it in action. Genaroor Ruas never explained why he built a timer into the bomb, which wouldn't be necessary for a stump removal job. And even though Marguerite Petra admitted to buying the supplies for the bomb, she claimed she didn't. make the connection between that errand and the package drop off. The siblings clearly had their own motivations for presenting this evidence against

Albert. But as more objective witnesses testified, it became abundantly clear that Albert Gay was responsible for the 23 deaths on Flight 108. The most gutting testimony came from Juliet Du Atoe, the 19-year-old waitress, though Albert was literally willing to kill for her, the feeling was nowhere close to mutual. The young woman looked heartbroken and confused as she took the stand, unable to comprehend why 23 people died for a relationship she didn't even want. After the police were called in June, I tried to stop seeing him, but he just kept pulling me

back. I thought he'd change, and when he suggested spending the summer together and Seven Islands, I said yes. As soon as we got there, we started fighting again. I left at the end of July. Then Marguerite invited me to her apartment a few days after the crash, and Elbeir was there. I told him how sorry I was that Rita had died and all. He seemed glad it happened. Then he said we'd finally marry after he mourned for a few months.

And do you want to marry him, Miss Duol? No. I don't love him anymore. Albert was calm throughout the trial, but as Juliet took the stand, he sat up straight. When the 19-year-old proclaimed she didn't love him, the color drained out of Albert's face. After Juliet left the stand, the nail was firmly in Aldeer's coffin. The lead prosecutor gave a full summary of the events leading up to the plane crash. That account and a multitude of reports since then offer this view of events.

In the fall of 1948, Albert Gay and Rita Morel's marriage was rapidly disintegrating. Rita knew about the affair between Albert and Juliet, which had been going on for a little over a year. Albert started thinking about how to get Rita out of the way so he could marry the teenager. A divorce seemed like an impossibility. He needed something more final, something he could get away with at some point in the earth. months of 1949, he decided he had to kill her. The jewelry salesman knew he'd be the prime suspect, if anything happened to Rita. At one point in the spring of 1949, he offered a friend $500 to give Rita poisoned wine.

The friend dismissed the idea thinking it was a sick joke. After this plan was foiled, Albert saw a news item that inspired him to change tactics. On May 7, 1949, a Philippine Airlines plane exploded and fell into the sea near Manila. All 13 people on board died. Detectives eventually figured out that a man planted a time bomb on the plane, intending to kill the husband of the woman he wanted to be with. If Albert read about this story, as many people in Canada did, it must have looked like the perfect plan.

It would save him from embarrassment while swiftly ending. his marriage. Plus, it would let him play the part of the grieving husband. Whenever Albert decided to come up with his plan to murder his wife via airplane, it seems he didn't care about or even consider the fact that this was a mass murder, a sin far worse than filing divorce papers. His number one priority had always been his own image, and his inflated ego made him sure he'd get away, Scott. free, even with dozens of bodies in his wake. By summer, Albert was carrying a stopwatch on his routine flights to the river towns east of

Quebec. He marked down when the plane was over the St. Lawrence River and when it passed over land. If the wreckage fell into the water, he reasoned, it would destroy the evidence and save him from suspicion. He just needed to time it right. As Albert ventured up and down the river, his wife finally finally, reached her breaking point at home. Rita took their four-year-old daughter to her mother's house and started using her maiden name. Around the same time, Albert's mistress Juliette became fed up with him and broke things off once more. Thirty-one-year-old Albert was suddenly alone and he didn't like it. Not long after Juliet moved out, he accosted her on the street, leading to his brief

for rest. Juliet tried to stay away from Albert after the ambush, but soon enough he convinced her to revive the relationship. She stayed with him for a few weeks, but their dynamic quickly soured. She left Albert at the end of July 1949, hoping this would be the last time. But Albert had other plans. He felt like he could only be happy with Juliet. He needed to marry her.

even if she didn't love him back. Albert doubled down on his plans to kill Rita. By mid-August, he contacted Jean-Aru and Marguerite, asking for help with the time bomb. Albert knew he could manipulate them into doing almost anything, especially if he forgave some of their debts to him in the process. With the bomb in progress, there was one last hurdle to clear. Albert needed to get Rita on the plane.

He launched a charm offensive, trying to get back in her good graces. In late August, the couple took a week-long vacation. Then Albert asked Rita for a favor. He said he'd left two suitcases of jewelry in Bay Como and needed them back in Quebec City. He didn't have the time to fly and pick them up, so Rita needed to do it, alone. On September 6, 1949,

Albert made a reservation for his wife on the next available flight. It was the 10.20 a.m. flight on September 9th, Flight 108. He purchased a round-trip ticket for Rita, though he knew she wouldn't need it. On the morning of September 9th, Albert slipped out of bed early and headed to Geno's workshop. According to his calculations, if the bomb exploded at a moment, exactly 10.45 a.m., the wreckage would fall into the widest part of the St. Lawrence River. This would destroy most, if not all, of the evidence. He set the timer and placed the bomb in a cardboard box, scrawling on fake names and addresses at the last minute.

Albert met Marguerite at a railway station where he handed off the bomb. Then he rushed back to his mother-in-law's house. At 9.30, Albert climbed in a railway station where he handed off the bomb. At 9. At 9.30, Albert climbed into a taxi with Rita, headed for a hotel where she would board an airport shuttle. A hotel employee later remembered seeing Rita arguing with Albert on their way out, telling him she was scared to fly alone. But Albert convinced her to get on the shuttle, and by 9.45 she was on her way to the airport. Around the same time, Marguerite dropped off the package, and after Albert had said goodbye to Rita for the last time,

He warned it around downtown Quebec. It's possible he settled onto a terrace with a clear view of the St. Lawrence River and sat there smugly waiting for the explosion. Everything was going exactly as planned, until it wasn't. Albert looked up at the sky at 1020, searching for the doomed plane. It wasn't there. Flight 108 experienced a slight delay and didn't leave the airport until 1025. The calculations were off. He held his breath for five minutes until the plane finally

appeared over the river. Between 1045 and 11 a.m., the plane became a puff of white smoke and hurtled down onto Cape Torment. It didn't go into the water like it was supposed to. The plan had failed. But Albert had slithered out of sticky situations before. Even with 23 dead bodies scattered over the hillside, he was positive he'd get away with it. And now he could finally have Juliette. Five months later, Juliette stood before a packed courtroom and told the world that she didn't love Albert anymore.

23 people were dead for nothing. Albert Gay remained stone-faced as the presiding judge sentenced him to hang. He stayed in prison for over a year. He made no attempts to appeal and told the press he didn't care if he lived or died. Without Juliet, nothing mattered. But even at his most depressed, Albert was vengeful. He resented the siblings for testifying against him and dictated a long, detailed statement about their involvement in the bombing.

On June 6, 1950, Generuru West was a rist. arrested and charged with making the bomb and with murder. During his trial, his sister Marguerite was arrested for intimidating a witness and later charged with murder. Soon she, too, was behind bars. It's still unclear why the siblings were so willing to help with the bombing. Even in their own trials, no one attempted to establish motives for them. It's possible that the debts they owed Albert were enough,

and some journalists have posited that one or both of them planned to blackmail him after the murder had been committed. Less than a year after their so-called perfect crime, all of the suspects had been brought to justice. Then, one by one, they were executed. Albert was the first to be hanged on January 12, 1951. Before going to the gallows, media reports at the time said he gave one fine, statement to the small crowd of onlookers. At least I die famous. The siblings met their fate soon after.

Genereau died in July of 1952, and Marguerite in January of 1953. She was the last woman ever executed in Canada. A few days after Marguerite died, Canadian Pacific Airlines finally closed the case. Three and a half years after the crash, the pile of metal and debris that had once been Flight 108 was finally moved into the scrap heap. The explosion was deemed one of the worst air crimes in Canadian history.

Albert Gay's mass murder was the first attack against civil aviation in North America. He was one of the first criminals to use a plane as a weapon and to see its passengers as mere collateral. His actions were followed by the skyjackings of the 1970s and the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. When the legacy of this attack is considered, Albert Gay seemed to have a lot more blood on his hands than just the 23 he killed in 1949. But if Albert was here, perhaps he'd say it was all worth it. After all, in his mind, He did it for love. Thanks again for tuning in to Solved Murders.

We'll be back next Wednesday with a new episode. For more information on the murder of Rita Morel, amongst the many sources we used, we found the New Yorker article, A Husband, a Wife, a Time Bomb by E.J. Khan Jr., extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Solved Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast

for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. If we live till next time. Solve Murder's True Crime Mysteries is a Spotify original from Parcast. It is executive produced by Max Cutler. Sound design by Michael Langsner with production assistance by Ron Shapiro,

Trent Williamson, Carly, Matton, and Freddie Beckley. This episode of Solve Murders was written by Kylie Harrington with writing assistance by Giles Hofseth and Karris Ehris. Allen. Fact-checking by Claire Cronin and research by Mickey Taylor. The amazing cast of voice actors includes Joe Hernandez, Drew Lawn, Cameron Nicod, and Rebecca Thomas. Solved Murder stars Wendy

McKenzie and Carter Roy. For centuries, the world has been fascinated by them. Blackbeard, Charles Vane, and Bonnie. Who were they really? Real Pirates is a new Spotify original from Parkast. Join us starting November 15th, as we bring the true story of Pirates to life. Thanks.