Uncover - S2 "Bomb On Board" E6: Full Circle

Episode Date: November 12, 2018

Ian and Jo weigh all the evidence, and Didi returns a ring that went missing on July 8, 1965. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/uncover/uncover-season-2-bomb-on-board-transcripts-listen-1.5129876

This is a perfect storm of conspiracy theories. On December 15th, 2017, Canadian billionaires Honey and Barry Sherman were found dead in their mansion. To this day, the case remains unsolved. Counterfeit and copied pharmaceuticals was much more lucrative than heroin, cocaine, and the rest of it. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Listen to the no-good, terribly kind, wonderful lives and tragic deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a CBC Podcast. And I still have 2,500 steps to go. So we are at the 100 Mile House Visitor Center, and this is also the location of the CP21 crash memorial.

Okay, let's go. This is a beautiful memorial just on the edge of this lake with a fountain in the background, and there are flowers that are there. And the names of the 52 people who died. So as we walk towards it, what are you thinking? I'm sort of taken aback by the beautiful scene and almost sort of the simplicity of it. There is something about seeing it, though, for the first time. of it. There is something about seeing it though for the first time, you know, the first sign of this community

remembering as a community this crash. One of the things I was thinking is that the names here are divided into two, into the crew the three pilots and as they described them at the time, stewardesses and steward, the passengers, but also, you know, there's a third category, right, that's not separated here, and it's the four people that were identified as suspects.

And so there are those names too, right, beside all the other names. And so I thought that was kind of striking. Also the ages, right? Ranging from 77 to 2 to one little boy, I think, described as an infant. I've only read these names in alphabetical order in the manifest, in the RCMP reports. And to see them here, honoured, is a totally different way to read someone's name and yeah, all of these names stick out to me. Here's a sign off to the left, a plaque.

CP Air Flight 21 crashed en route from Vancouver, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon, taking the lives of all 52 on board. An inquest determined the explosion was a result of a bomb, the source of which was never determined. We recognize and honor the heroic actions of the many people involved in the recovery efforts. Their courage and compassion are remembered here today. And I don't know where this quote comes from.

We'll have to look it up. But at the bottom, rest a weary traveler, for with the dawn comes great joy. I'm Ian Hanamansing. And I'm Johanna Wagstaff. And this is Uncover, Bomb on Board. Investigating one of the biggest unsolved mass murders on Canadian soil, the crash of CP Flight 21.

The final chapter. Good evening. A Canadian Pacific airliner has crashed in rugged country in the Caribou district of British Columbia. There were apparently no survivors. The chief RCMP investigator named the three Steve Kolazar. We can exclude him in large part because his history of violence is exculpatory given what we see. Edgar. My parents had plans for the future.

And that's not a man who is going to go out and kill himself or 51 other people. And Peter Bruce Broughton. He is the prime suspect based on what we know about how these guys operate. The most likely suspect is a man named Paul David Vandermuller. The individual psychiatrist referred to him as a person who shows a deep madness towards the world, capable of violent, irrational acts. This is a small piece of a ring. I would like somebody to have to pay for all those wonderful people who lost their lives. We were told nothing.

I think for all the families of the people that were lost in that aircraft, it would be nice to have an end. As we get to the end of our investigation, this is a good time to look back at what we set out to do. Tell the story about an important moment in history that many people have never heard of. An aviation tragedy and a complex cold case. It's not just a story to us. This is something that drastically affected many, many families. More than seven months after Joe and I started working on this story,

we're ready to go through our results. All the digging through the archives, speaking with families and first responders, it's allowed us to shed light on the original case. And it's given us the ability to look at all of the evidence with 21st century eyes. So, first off, we've eliminated the theory of the fifth man. The fifth man, our shorthand for any suspect who was not on the plane when it crashed. This includes the, quote, disgruntled pilot, or the man with a moon-shaped face that a cleaner said she saw.

The experts are certain that the bomb was placed right in the middle of the bathroom floor when it went off. And so, Joe, it is almost impossible to imagine that somebody would have put the bomb there in plain sight just before the flight took off and just left it there. There were so many other better spots for someone not on the plane to leave the bomb. So ultimately, we're confident

whoever placed the bomb on the plane was on the plane. Which leaves us with four men. And we should point out that we have reviewed the police file on all 52 people on board, and we don't see any other potential suspect on that list. We gathered all of our documents together, literally shut ourselves in a room, and went through everything we know. So we have the four suspects up here on the wall with their pictures, all of the information. We were moving around a lot, which is why some of the audio might sound a little off. Edgar, Vandermuelen, Broughton, Kolizar. So let's start with Kolizar.

Stephen Kolizar, the man with the criminal past. This was the man who had a history of violent crimes. At first, I thought that's what made him a strong suspect. But on top of that, he worked with explosives for a living. He has quite the record. Well, in the sort of criminal code language of the time, the criminal record is for assault, what was then known as carnal knowledge, intimidation. Colazar's criminal record stretched from his 20s to his 40s. But Mike Arnfield, the criminologist, pointed out the kind of violence we see from Colazar is mostly what he describes as reactionary.

A fight, for example, not a premeditated act. His history of violence is exculpatory given what we see in the bombing. He's got a history of hot-blooded violence. You could say reactive violence. So he definitely had a bad temper. But according to his boss, Colazar was a conscientious worker. He was safety conscious when it came to explosives. Mike also points out that at the age of 54, Colazar doesn't fit the profile of most mass

murderers who were younger. Right, so he had the opportunity and means, but where we got stuck on him was he was found at the front of the plane, which is far away from the bomb, just to be noted. And he had an insurance and modest pension, but that was all from work. He didn't take anything out before the flight. And we know from an RCMP report that at one point, police say there was no evidence that he placed the bomb on the plane. Based on our investigation and analysis, we're confident we can rule him out as a suspect.

So we exclude Stephen Colazar. Yeah. Which leaves us with three. Douglas Edgar, Paul van der Meulen, and Peter Broughton. We know this process is going to be hard for the suspects' families. But maybe we can help shed some light on why their loved ones were identified in the first place. Because one big takeaway for me, from all the families we spoke to to was how little they were told by police.

And even if they don't agree, maybe they can see for the first time why RCMP couldn't eliminate them. Let's go right to Edgar. Douglas Edgar. So Douglas Edgar first sort of caught the attention of headlines as well as RCMP because he took out a large life insurance at the airport before he boarded. He also, when we're looking at his profile, has a history of gambling, him being on that flight without a job to head to, but especially the fact that he took out a fairly large life insurance, one that equaled a million dollars, is what put him on the RCMP list to begin with. But the woman who sold him the insurance, like to me, this is a big point. I know you were really stuck on this point. Because think about it.

Even after the crash, when investigators came to her and said, okay, you sold us insurance to this guy and you're thinking to yourself, okay, I know what happened in that plane crash. I know I saw this guy one hour before. I know he bought a lot of it. Was there anything about him that makes me rethink how I felt at that point? There was nothing. I mean, she described him as, you know, just it was an ordinary transaction. If there's anything she remembered, it was how tender I think it was.

He was towards his daughter, Leah. So for me, the analysis of our cold case expert, Mike Arnfield, is persuasive here. That altruism, Edgar killing himself to give his family money, it's just not a strong enough motive for mass murder unless there's some other factor like anger or revenge. And we do know plane bombings happen where insurance was reported as the motive, but we have no idea if that was the

only factor in those cases. And remember that Edgar's the only suspect whose state of mind at the airport was described by someone who's not a relative, the woman who sold him insurance, who didn't see anything suspicious in his demeanor. So that's the main reason why he eliminated Edgar, is because he didn't have motive? So the only thing that points to Edgar as being a suspect here is buying this unusually large life insurance policy, right? So without that, he wouldn't be a suspect at all. Also, Mike pointed out Edgar was a gambler. He was used to bluffing and deceiving other players. So if he was the culprit here, he would likely have bought the insurance long in advance

to be more discreet. I just have a heart. And I know it's tough because I know, you know, Leah's probably listening. And so to be unable to say that I can't take him off the suspect list for the reasons that the RCMP put him on there in the first place. That's why I have to rest on the insurance and how little he was carrying on the plane and how little we know of why he was on the plane.

These are the only facts we have. And while on its own, it's absolutely not enough to say he did it, but it is enough to remain a possible motive, just as it was a possible motive in those other three plane attacks, and to keep Edgar as a possible suspect. Okay, Jo, so we disagree on Douglas Edgar. I would eliminate him. You'd keep him on the suspect list. And now we're down to Peter Broughton, the gunpowder guy, and Paul Vandermuelen, the American prospector. Right. So Vandermuelen was carrying a gun. We can't confirm if it was loaded or if it was in fact on him or if it was in his luggage. Then

there's the family lore. A distant relative who says his ex-wife described Vandermuelen as someone who could have blown up a plane. I mean, that's hardly proof of his state of mind, but a strange thing for a family member to say. And perhaps most intriguing is his mental state. So there's this line in the police reports from a psychiatrist who said he had a deep madness towards the world. We weren't sure how to take that line. Well, and I still don't know how to take that line, right? Like that is an incredibly provocative line. It is. That phrase, a deep madness towards the world, is for me anyway, frustrating because it doesn't come with any further explanation. The clinical psychologist we spoke with, Michael Woodworth, also said that he

wishes that he had more context. Really, we don't know what it means. Well, and it's funny because that really caught my attention and speaking to other experts, including the UBC psychologist, that was notable to him, that wording. Then when I asked Mike about Vandermuelen, I mean, when we had, when we first found these bits of copper in his body, added to the insurance, added to this line about deep madness. And I was, you know, I was excited to tell Mike, have you seen all this stuff on Vandermuelen? And he, you know, kind of discredited that immediately saying,

oh, well, deep madness to the world was a term they would have just thrown around in the 60s. Then there's the other red flag, the insurance. He paid a lot for the premium. He bought it two months before the crash. So maybe that makes us suspicious. But on the other hand, he was heading into the backcountry. And so perhaps he just wanted to make sure his family would be cared for if something bad happened. Okay, this is the big

one for me, though. Van der Muelen is the only person who had copper found in his body, and copper was not part of the plane. We do know that copper is found in blasting caps, which may or may not have been used in this bomb. Those are the forensic facts that we have, and that's why I can't take him off the list. Our experts have said that the bomber likely would have been right where the bomb was or very near it when it went off, and that has been the case in those other situations

where someone was a bomber on a plane, that the most likely suspect had the most damaged body. But here's yet another puzzling thing about this case. None of the suspects had the kind of trauma that would show us that their body was where the bomb was. So at this point, we've eliminated one suspect, Stephen Colazar. We disagree on a second suspect, Douglas Edgar, who I eliminate and you don't. And we both agree that Paul Vandermuelen remains a suspect.

Yes. Okay, so now we go to the last in that list of four. How does Paul Vandermuelen compare with Peter Broughton? So finally, Peter Broughton. Peter Broughton, who raised the suspicion of investigators because of his connection to gunpowder. They went into his room, and he has lots of containers of gunpowder.

He was an avid shooter. For Paul Vandermuelen, it's his mental condition and the insurance premium that puts him near the top of the list. For Peter Broughton, it's his connection to gunpowder. Well, as we've quickly learned, gunpowder is complicated. There are many different kinds, and there are various theories around gunpowder and the explosion that happened on the plane. Black gunpowder was well as dynamite.

Those are the ones you heard. We also tried double-base smokeless gunpowder. It was also tested by the RCMP, and it too caused a massive explosion. But we don't know if Broughton ever owned this kind of powder. The kind police found in his home was a single-base smokeless powder, which has a different chemical makeup. And it wouldn't have caused the same kind of explosion.

But he also had a book in his room on how to make various types of gunpowder. It's hard to say he was a loner, therefore he's a bomber. He took out insurance, therefore he's a bomber. He has mental instability, therefore, I mean, none of these motives hold up on their, any of these motives hold up on their own. If Cy Leyland was right, Broughton was the RCMP's top suspect. He's Mike Arnfield's too. But I disagree with Mike on how we should analyze some of the data. For example, whether authorities had evidence that Broughton was suicidal. A doctor does say, quote, a youth such as Broughton who kept to himself and kept everything to himself would

likely commit suicide in this manner to get attention. But here's the thing, what does a youth such as Broughton mean? Is it that he's a loner with no apparent intimate relationships and that he told a friend that he would get into fights when he was drinking and he would lose those fights? Or was the doctor echoing the suspicions police had that Broughton was gay? And if that's the case, was the doctor linking sexual orientation to a greater likelihood of seeking attention by planning a bomb? That link, obviously, in 2018, we would reject. In a way, Vanermuelen's motives, well, his profile and means may not,

and evidence around him may not be as strong as Broughton. So Broughton and Vandermuelen both have compelling reasons why police first listed them as suspects. As far as motives go,

though, I keep coming back to Vandermuelen. To me, his motives make more sense than Broughton's. Totally. I mean,

if you look at possible motives for Broughton, so... There's no motive for Broughton. I mean, suicide. Did you look at possible motives for Broughton. There's no motive for Broughton. I mean, suicide. You'd have to be homicidal to think that the best way to kill yourself was to kill an entire plane. Notoriety. I mean, that was an interesting one because he was found at the front of the plane. There was some suggestion, especially when we were testing some of the fuses and the length of time it would take. There was some suggestion, well,

maybe he didn't think the explosion was going to be that big, and he just wanted some notoriety. So the evidence on motive is stronger for Vandermuelen than Broughton. For Broughton, it's more about the potential means. Gunpowder. I think the gunpowder connection is very interesting. The room that he stayed in was six blocks away from my home right and so when i saw that yeah when i saw that address i walked to where he lived and i stood outside the house

the house is still there no it's it's it's it's a it's a different little house now but uh but but it's where he lived and i was looking at that and I remember thinking, this guy, like this guy who at that point, we hadn't found a relative of his. No one was speaking on his behalf. Cy Leyland was saying that the investigators at the time thought he was the guy who did it. And it just didn't make sense that he did it, right? Wouldn't he have left some kind of mark or a note? And then the other ones, anger and accidental. I mean, we kind of went through the testing, and RCMP initially went through,

was there any way that powder could have been lit accidentally? And that is highly unlikely. So the last one we're left with is anger. And I don't know if that's enough to just be angry at the world. No, I mean, he, I agree. His sister says Broughton played with her young children at the airport and also noticed the two little Norwegian children.

Was this really a man who was an hour away from killing those kids and the other people on the plane? And again, we struggle with the motive for mass murder. After going through all of our documents, there just isn't enough to take any of these men off our list. Police did a thorough investigation,

and how is it that not a single piece of incriminating evidence was ever found? They stuck probes into backyards. They confiscated belongings. They seized bank and medical records, interviewed friends. Did somebody hide something? Maybe someone might remember something they never disclosed to the police. These families have spent hours with us, telling us their stories, sharing their memories

about a traumatic moment in their lives. And we want to be able to give them answers and to get it right. Especially for Dee Dee Henderson, one of the first people we met when we started our investigation, and her father, Wallace. When I was a child, I used to think about my dad in heaven because my lovely nanny would say he was there looking down on us. I saw my dad in the stars.

I saw him in the twinkling lights of the cross on Mount Royal. I talked to him when I looked out the window and saw these lights in the night sky. That was then. And now I'm kind of reflecting in some new ways having gone down this path for years learning and discovering about the crash I'm wondering now

how I feel about my dad and what his thoughts would be around this. Someone asked me a compelling question. What would I say to him if I could? I can't help but wonder if there was some point to all this research and trying to understand if deep down there was a need to know and in some way vindicate by uncovering or knowing who did this. I don't know if there are souls out there wandering with unrest because all connected to in a way that things will feel more put right by the knowing that's amazing so dad i don't talk to you anymore like I used to when I was little but I think it will matter in big and small ways to all of us who are left behind to know and understand what happened better

but if in some way, on some level this means something to you it will have made it all worthwhile. If there's an ending, if there's a conclusion, if there's any peace to be had, I want it and I hope you get some too. We've been hearing from listeners since we launched this podcast, sharing memories, sharing rumors, but so far, no one's been in touch with that key missing link. No manifesto, no suicide note, no concrete evidence.

Unless someone comes forward with something new, we may never know what happened on that flight. The time to come forward is now. I'm going to read the list of passengers. Alexander Bruce Anderson, 18. Carl Wilheim Berg, 45. John Keith M. Eady, 46. Edna Phyllis Eady, 42. Douglas Garfield Edgar, 40. Wallace Brooks Emo, 33. Seeing the name of her father, Wallace, who we know was known as Wally, and I know his face now.

I can meet Wally. I mean, I feel like we had a lot in common. He had a geology background, he loved skiing. When we first went to 100 Mile House, Didi was so welcoming. She put out those red flowers so we wouldn't miss her driveway, put on a pot of tea. We've been keeping in touch ever since. It's already been snowing in 100 Mile House, but before it gets too deep, Didi tells us she's made another trip out to the crash site to return some of the parts of the plane that people have given her over the years. You know one of the things about this memorial

I was thinking earlier today is that it represents not just a memorial to this crash, but it also represents community. Hello? Hi, Didi. It's Carl calling. Hi, Carl. How are you doing? Carl Covello lost both of his parents in the bombing of CP21. He first met DeeDee Henderson in 2004 when he paid a visit to Hundred Mile House with his son, Joel. Yeah, I remember he was pretty young and so were we. I came across some pictures the other day. Joel, I think he would have been 11 years old at that time. You were kind enough to take the day off from your clothing store and take Joel and I out there. I think you and Joel were some of the first people I took out that I'd never met before. Since that first visit, when Didi took them out to the crash site, Didi and Carl have mainly kept in touch by email.

I remember talking to Joel, saying that, well, Joel, I think we should leave something at the site. And he decided to leave this little model of a die-cast airplane. A model toy airplane nestled under the trees. Joe, did you see this? I did. A little toy plane? Last time, I just kind of vocalized, well, I hope it's still there.

Well, I can answer that question. It is. Joel's little plane is sitting nestled in the rocks and moss and as bright as ever. You can let him know it is there. Oh, that's wonderful. I think that's significant. I think people need a place to go to to remember. Oh, that's wonderful. Carl's parents, Thomas and Dorothy Covello, were on CP21 because they were headed to a funeral.

Dorothy's brother died in an accident just a few days before. Carl and his three brothers became orphans, and the four of them had to leave their home in Winnipeg and were split up to live with relatives in Ontario. Time goes by, but this story just keeps being a part of our lives, doesn't it? Yes, it does. Yeah. Well, I've always appreciated our correspondence and the thoughtful way you think about all that's happened over the years. And it's been great to sort of get to know you via this.

Yeah, likewise, you're the first person that I had met outside of my own family, outside of my brother's, that had lost a loved one in the crash. So virtually no preamble is required. You know, right away you sense a connection that you just, you know, you can speak quite openly. Absolutely. And I think that that was a revelation to me when we had the very first memorial, because up till then it had been sort of my loss, my sister's loss, my family's loss, and I couldn't even fathom beyond that. But then when you meet other people and hear their stories, there is definitely something we share, and that is a bond. Because if you haven't experienced this, you can try to imagine, but you can't.

But you'd be welcome here anytime, you know that I'm sure, and hope that you get out here again sometime before the forest swallows up everything. Yeah. The forest is slowly reclaiming what's left of CP21. But Didi and many other families of victims want to make sure the site is kept as a memorial so future generations have a place to come and pay their respects. Didi's been worried about the threat of clear-cutting

after she found flagging tape on some of the trees in the area by the crash site. Since then, she's been speaking with the logging company, which she says has agreed to not do any harvesting in the area. She's also working to get the site protected under the Heritage Act. It's emotional. It's emotional 53 years later. Just the fact that it is a site that needs to be respected and we hope that that can continue.

In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news. So I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. Hello? Hi, Didi. It's Johanna calling. Hi, Johanna. Nice to hear from you. Nice to hear from you as well. Is this a good time to chat still? Yes, actually, it's perfect. I'm sitting on the porch with that lovely view that you know now. In addition to trying to find answers about what happened on that plane, we've also been looking into something else,

a piece of unfinished business that we want to tell Didi before we wrap up our investigation. We do have an update for you. We have, yes, we have found someone who is the nephew of Joseph Ronald McClellan, the initials of the ring that you wear around your neck. Wow. Yes. That's amazing. So you've been in touch with this person? Yeah. So I just, yeah, I wanted to tell you a little bit about him and, you know, maybe give you some time to think about it. His name is Gary McClellan. He is the son of Joseph's brother and he lives actually on

Salt Spring Island. And I spoke to him on the phone and he's a really nice man. There they are. Does she have the Prius? She's got the Prius. Yes, top electric. Hi! How are you? Good, how are you? Welcome. How are you?

We are on Salt Spring Island going to meet Gary, who is a complete stranger to me. The reason we're doing this has to do with something I'm wearing on a chain around my neck. It was originally a ring that was taken from the crash site. And so I did some research when we sort of narrowed down who we thought it belonged to and could not find any known relatives or any way to track down a family member and I was just thinking I would love to be able to give this back to a family member mostly because if anyone after the fact came up and handed me something that belonged to my dad and that was as personal and important as a like an engraved

signet ring that would be really meaningful to me and for me that kind of feels like like full circle on this story oh right here. Oh this is their home I see. I'm not used to seeing cedar trees and palm. It looks like kind of. Yeah. You don't see that in the caribou. Oh yeah that's true. Sweet. Oh yeah, that's true. Hi, I'm Johanna. Yep, hi Johanna, I'm Gary of course. Really nice to meet you. Hi Gary, I'm Dee Dee.

Hi Dee Dee. Nice to meet you. Come on in. Thank you so much. We arranged for this visit between Dee Dee and Gary. Gary only knows that Dee Dee also lost a family member in the crash of CB21. He has no idea about the ring. A beautiful home.

And the water's right down there, right? Yeah, yeah. We head into the living room, and Didi and Gary sit down by the window across from each other. Dorothy, Gary's wife, brings in coffee for all of us, but no one drinks it. We're all too interested in what's about to happen. So I mean, I thought we could start off with sort of each of you. I mean, maybe Gary, you could tell Dee Dee a little bit about your uncle, because I don't think you really know much at all. No, no, not at all.

know much at all. No, no, not at all. Well, my uncle was born in Saskatchewan, so I met Uncle Joe a few times. I wish I knew more about him to tell you, but I've kind of polled all the family members, and I know he's a pretty good guy. We played golf with him in Vancouver. And my dad was a slightly better golfer than Joe was, but he was pretty good. And he was a miner, as I understand, which I think is the reason he was on the plane. He was heading up north for a job. Did he have any family of his own? He never married, and he didn't have any children. I love that you called him Uncle Joe because I have known so many names from reading the passenger list throughout the years and if you don't know

anything about the person it's just a name and you know I know his full name as Joseph Ronald McClellan which is just a name and you call him Uncle Joe and that makes him a person. Yeah you know I have a picture of him here if you'd like to see it. I would love to see a picture. Oh my gosh. He played for the St. Lazar Manitoba hockey team. My dad was a hockey player too. Oh is that right? Yeah. That's an old

timey hockey shot there. You have to describe the hockey outfits. I know. These hockey outfits are hilarious. I mean there's no hilarious, right? These hockey outfits are hilarious. I mean, there's no numbers, there's no names, there's no helmets. It's just hockey sticks and what looks like sweatshirts.

But there's also suspenders over the sweatshirts. Gary wants to know about Dee Dee's connection to CB21. And so Dee Dee talks about how her dad, Wallace Emo, was on the flight, how her mom was left to raise three young girls, and how over the years, Dee Dee has become the sort of unofficial guardian of the crash site. I've always been happy to help facilitate people who have a connection to go out. And if you ever do want to come out and hike a little bit in the forest and see it, if it means anything to you, just let me know. We've talked about it a lot, Dorothy and I. We are definitely going to come out.

I think I knew more and more about the fact that my dad died in a plane crash and later on learned that it was a bomb, but it wasn't until we actually walked up and saw the crash site and saw what it looked like, that I could really appreciate the scope of what it must have been like for it to blow up and break apart midair and how must it have been for the people when they knew they were going down

if they hadn't already perished. And I mean, when you see it, you get it. You kind of go, wow. You know, there's a reason why I've come to visit you today too. And it's a really, oh, I'm getting emotional just thinking about it now. When we did the 30th memorial in 95, it had some coverage, and local people who hadn't known I was a family member of a deceased started coming and giving me things.

There was one woman who brought me a fully intact mug, CP Air written on it, not a chip on it, and I've been given bits of the plane. And that was one thing, that was just people saying, you should have this. It doesn't belong to me. I want to give it to you. Not that it's mine either. But probably the most significant thing that happened to me was a woman came in my store one day in the late 90s, and she said, I want to give you something. And her husband had been one of the people who helped with the recovery, and he had taken a ring from the site.

He passed away, and she said, you're the only person I know to give this to. And I remember just starting to get to know more about the crash after that first memorial and getting connected with other people because up till then it had just been my story, my loss, my family story. And I remember thinking I wish I could make out the initials on this and I wish I could figure out who it belonged to because I would love to return it to that person one day. And didn't have much luck. Eventually we were pretty sure that it was J-R-M and it matched Joseph Ronald McClellan.

And when I told Johanna and Ian that story, they were on it and they got researchers on it and they found you. on it and they got researchers on it and they found you. Excellent. And, you know, I would like nothing more than to give you back this little keepsake as a memory of your uncle. And I'm actually wearing it around my neck right now. I've always worn it because it's just something that is close to my heart as a memory of my

dad and other lives lost. But it would make me so happy to be able to return this to you. Oh, that's fabulous. Yeah. Absolutely fabulous. Let's see if I can get this off. You know, I had to wear it one last time. That's why I'm wearing it. It's kind of saying goodbye to a piece that I've held onto for a long time. It's kind of saying goodbye to a piece that I've held onto for a long time. Didi has been clasping the ring that's still around her neck in both hands, and now she finally takes it off the chain that she's worn for so many years and passes it across the table to Gary. So this is the initial ring, and you can see how it was kind of a ring

because that's sort of like the sides, and it looks to me like it's silver with a bit of gold on top. Gary holds the ring, turning it over in his hands. And the letters are so scrolled, you know, is this an L, is this an M, is this a T? But this belonged to your Uncle Joe. It belongs to you and your family. So I'm really happy to give it back to you.

Well, thank you very much. Wow, this is pretty amazing. I'm very grateful. And I do remember my Uncle Joe very well. And this is pretty special. Thank you. It's going back to its rightful place that's super

thank you very much you're welcome Gary what does it sort of feel like to hold this in your hand gee I don't know how to describe it actually no this is pretty special this will survive Gee, I don't know how to describe it, actually. No, this is pretty special.

This will survive, and it will continue to be in somebody's hands. Yeah. How do you think this will make sort of passing on the story of your uncle easier to tell? Well, it's very real, isn't it? I mean, it's... Yeah. What you've brought me and what you've done makes the whole story very real. I mean, it was kind of abstract. I was 17 years old when it happened.

Yeah. This makes it very, very real. Yeah. So I don't know what to say except thank you. The original investigation was one of the most thorough and most exhaustive that even our own experts had ever seen. The number of interviews, background checks and leads that they followed was truly impressive. And even though we didn't see anything that they missed, it's possible that there are still unknowns out there. Police were ultimately unable to point a finger at the one person responsible for the crime, and not for lack of effort. Because in the end,

neither were we. But we did manage to get access to a lot of newly released documents and to put a lot of new information out in public about this crash. We can say that definitively that the person who planted this bomb was on board, that it was a simple bomb that almost anyone could have made. And we have confidently excluded some theories and some suspects. You know, I've read of murder cases where there's no body and so police look at possible suspects and at the end of the investigation, when there's no good suspect, they determine that there was no crime, there was no murder. Here we have no doubt, someone on this plane committed a monstrous crime.

But all of those suspects have families, and we've heard how carefully some of them defend their relatives' reputations. To wrongly and recklessly accuse someone would make them victims of this bombing twice. What was also clear to us from the start is how little of that 1965 investigation was actually shared with the victims' families So to be able to present everything we found new and old all together to the families who have given us so much no matter how close we get on the actual investigation

is something that I feel proud that we're able to do for them. So is it remarkable as you imagined? You know, I don't know what, I didn't know how I would feel because I've had that in my possession for probably 20 years now. Wow. I got the sense that it was kind of hard for you to give up at the same time. Well, yeah, it was a bit of a, just kind of like, this is important, and I was hoping it was important to you too, but I, you know, I wanted to. I feel wonderful. I feel lighter. I feel like it's come full circle and the job is done. In my own journey, there's been closure and resolve and understanding as I go along. It's been a heavy thing to carry around all my life, emotionally and with my family. And I ask my daughter.

She knows I take on more than I need to sometimes. And so in a way, it's sort of freeing and good. It's just a little less jingly. Might have to put something on to clink for a while. Ha, ha, ha. Uncover, On Board is hosted by Ian Hanamansing and me, Johanna Wagstaff. The podcast team is Mika Anderson, Alina Ghosh, Polly Legere, Leslie Merklinger, Arif Noorani, Tanya Springer, and Mitchell Stewart. Our team at The National is Catherine Clark, Tiffany Foxcroft, Caroline Harvey, Andy Hinsenberg, and Rob Kravavik. Our digital team is Evan Agard, Sarah Clayton, and Adam Miller.

Special thanks to our transcribers, Varad Mehta and Tiffany Lam, Special thanks to our transcribers, Varad Mehta and Tiffany Lam, Anna Komnenich for additional research, the CBC Reference Library's Diana Redigeld, Catherine Gretzinger and Aaron Burns provided editorial feedback, and Cecil Fernandez, technical advice. For a full list of thank yous, please visit our website, cbc.ca slash uncover. And we really want to thank all of those people who took so much time to share their stories with us.

Bomb On Board is a co-production of CBC Podcasts and The National. And to watch The National's documentary on this story, you can check out cbc.ca slash The National. And it's not too late. If you have tips to share, please leave us a message at our toll-free number, 1-888-224-2949 or email us at uncover at cbc.ca. This is a write-up of my mom, who is Edith Wilina.

She was 95% deaf, so she left school at a young age and became a seamstress and made beautiful wedding gowns. And we came out west in 1953 and moved to the Yukon. We drove across Canada, bought a little house and painted it pink. My name is Shirley Simpson Whitehouse. Simpson White House. And I corresponded with one lady that was from Norway and her son was on his way to the Yukon to teach school for a year. And he had his wife

and two little children. The little girl was about four the little boy was just a toddler but he was running around. The little girl had a knapsack on her back with a doll in it, and the little boy was dressed in an aqua knitted suit. I wrote to the grandmother, and she wrote back that she'd knit that suit for the baby and that she'd given the doll to the little girl. Chère Miss Lott, Tusen, tusen takk for your letter.

Thank you very much for your letter. I've thought a lot about the time at the airport before our dearest ones left, and your description was so vivid that I could imagine all four of them there. They were all so very kind and generous. It would have been very interesting to see what your newspapers wrote about the accident, but I'm afraid that there would be too many horrible pictures. I wish you a good Christmas and thank you for thinking of us. Heartfelt regards from Olga Rognarud. Take a look at this. Tell me what you think as you look at this. Right, this is a... Right here.

Red and blue and white ribbon. I mean, I wonder, is this... So the writing's on this side. on this side. Oh my goodness. In memory of Rogue Nerud family from Norway and all other victims. R.I.P.

So let's say... It's hard to figure out the names, right? Yeah, Trini and Old Nerud from Norway. This is the family family the entire family um and and somebody came to honor all of them so this is the norway flag yeah and we know that i mean not only did this family come here from norway but we also know of families who have come here of people who have been identified by suspects and and how hard it's been on them too.

So I'm going to read the names of the crew members. John Alfred Steele, Captain, 41. Warner Murray Wells, First Officer, 29. Stanley Edward Clark, Second Officer, 26. Marlene Brower, stewardess, 22 years old. And Sue Heinrich, the other stewardess, also 22. And a steward as well. Ernest Wenzel Searle, 31. Alexander Bruce Anderson, 18. Carl Wilhelm Berg, 45. Peter Bruce Broughton, 29. Ethel Belinda Chapman, 59. William Stanley Koons, 77. Thomas Covello, 38. Dorothy Margaret Covello, 34. David Ross Craig, 21.

John Keith M. Eadie, 46. Edna Phyllis Eadie, 42. Douglas Garfield Edgar, 40. Wallace Brooks Emo, 33. Donald Ray Gatins, 40. Nigel Harrington, 58. Doris Alma Harris, 72. Norman Leroy Harvey, 40. Ormond William Hay, 50. Hubertus Anna Jansen, 48. Clem Livingstone Thank you. McMurchie, 22. Kelsey Joseph Moore, 41. Dennis Arman Nesseth, 36. Angela Pagatti, 38. Rita Pagatti, 33. And Rosemary Pagatti, infant. Alsace Lorraine Quayle, 49. Harold Hilborn Riley, 26. Liv Rognarud, 25. Kirstie Rognarud, 2. Elling Rognarud, infant. Barbara Seliger, 25. Edith Buckley-Simpson, 63. Margaret Snonye, 29. Alexander George Snonye, 7. Donald Ernest Titus, 55. Paul David Vandermuelen, 35. Robert Gerald Weber, 39.

George Wimp, 75. Jack Reginald Woodward, 51. And Eugene Peter Zurofsky, 36. And forever they'll be together on this list. The For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.