Uncover - S38 E7: Supervillians | The Mile Zero Murders

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

Dawson Creek’s drug ring finally sees some criminal charges – but has justice been adequately served? Host Timothy Sawa speaks with the superintendent of BC Major Crimes again, to try to better understand what took so long and ask questions that might help the community finally get some closure.

This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on a Viking long ship, with thoughtful service, destination-focused dining, and cultural enrichment, on board, and on shore. With a variety of voyages and sailing dates to choose from, now is the time to explore Europe's waterways. Learn more at viking.com. We're back in Dawson Creek, one last time. It's a warm spring evening, and the sun is still high above the horizon.

This far north, it won't set for several hours. There's Terry right there. It's Hollywood. You see that a million-dollar smile right there? Yeah, I do see it. I do see it. I'm with Sydney Fedema, a local outreach worker. How are you doing?

Good. Good. Doing right. We can't do. Yeah. So it takes as long to get here. It's all good. How are you? I've just pulled up to the local shelter where people from Dawson needing a bed or a sandwich

or just a place to hang out gather most evenings. It's also one of the first places I visited when my investigation into the Mile Zero murders began more than two years ago, where I met several of my key sources for this series. Posters and photos of Dawson's murdered and missing are plastered on the door and windows of the building. Like most nights, a small crowd has gathered outside. I mean, they take care of each other. I see that. They're such a community that exists.

Everyone's in each other's business in the worst ways, but the best ways. For better and worse. Yes, for better. Sydney wants me to meet someone. Hi there, how you doing? I'm Timothy. Should we call you Hollywood? You could if you want. All right?

Big star in a small town is very. Big star in a small town. I like it. Terry Big Charles' claim to fame, in the 1990s, he was briefly a cast member in the hit Canadian TV show north of 60. He also once held a lucrative job in this region's oil and gas industry. I'm born and raised here in Dawson. You are. Since the time in Evanston, Prince George, Fortune John.

And Wall and Evanston had an acting career. Well, in Fortune John, had oil and gas career. And while in Dawson, well, I have a dozen. What's a Dawson career? Keeping care of our family. Taking care of your family. As much as possible. Is this your family?

This is our family, yeah. Life seemed to be going well for Terry, but then huge volumes of drugs flowed into the peace region, and violence followed. Some of that flow went to Terry, and he now lives day to day, in and out of this shelter, struggling with addiction and finding housing. And he's trying his best to keep his friends, his Dawson family, safe, on this town's increasingly dangerous streets. But I fear for my friends, so I usually do routines, and I do checks and try to make sure that everybody's okay. And when people aren't around, we try to find these people.

Do you worry? Of course you do. It's become worrisome. It's sad because to learn that the other one is gone is very hard. breaking and like how does it happen? Have you lost friends? We all have. Every single one of us here has lost something, you know, and we've all been affected deeply by it, and we all love it one another, you know?

Every time we each other, it's always the hug, right? Like everyone living in this small northern community of just 13,000, Terry wants to know why so many people are dying. 15 murders in the last five years, some of them, Terry's friends. and it's hard to tell where this madness is coming from. In this final episode, we'll do our best to sort out where the madness is coming from. And we'll take that very question to the man overseeing most of the murder investigations in Dawson Creek, following some big news from the RCMP.

Having these charges under our belt, and yes, it's just one case out of many, but there's significant charges. First-degree murder charges in Dawson Creek. Finally. I'm Timothy Sawa, and from the CBC's on cover and the fifth estate, this is the Mile Zero Murders. Episode 7. Supervillains. When we first started investigating this story in 2024, there were 11 murders in the previous three years. Since then, there have been four more.

And there are three things we can say for certain about the Mile Zero murders. One, all of them appear to have been targeted. Two, in most cases, we've confirmed they were tied to the local drug trade. And three, almost all of them remain unsolved. But to really understand the forces at play behind all of these murders, we need to dive deeper into Dawson's drug scene. Local outreach worker Sydney Fedema says on the streets of Dawson, two drugs are most popular.

Down is a huge one. Some of my clients, they'll talk about, you know, doing crack, but it's really meth. Meth study is one of the biggest ones. Down is the opiate. These days, it's often fentanyl-based. Meth, sometimes referred to as speed, is the stimulant people use on the streets. These two drugs have become incredibly plentiful in Dawson Creek, and in communities across the country, as we all grapple with a toxic drug crisis.

But Sydney says the people who use these. These drugs don't tend to be the perpetrators of violent crimes, like murder. The clients that I serve are, they're not major offenders. They're not on big charges. There might be many charges, but they're really, there's survival crimes. They're generally not violent crimes. And just because her clients are the most visible, Sidney says they shouldn't be blamed for the violence in Dawson Creek.

I see it as a very separate issue than what I deal with on the daily or what I see on the daily. The clients that I see the drug users are the people who, they're not committing huge crimes. It's petty theft. It's really drug-seeking, drug-supporting behaviors and crime. It's not vindictive, really. It's not, they're not going to go out and, like, you know, murder someone.

over a debt. That's just not the reality of my work. But Sidney recognizes there can be a crossover between her clients and the violent drug world. I mean, drug users and drug providers are, they all know each other. Oftentimes, the clients that I see may owe a small debt, and that can be dangerous to them. Their information, the information that my clients have, of course, lead into that other world. It's just part of reality. And people like her clients have become victims. Local CTV journalist Michael Popov

remembers when police recently cleared an encampment, the tents that have sprung up across the country as temporary homes to people living on the streets. The teardown left one of the people with nowhere to go. He ended up being lured out to the border by the Alberta, BC border. I think maybe about 30 minutes away from here, so it was northeast.

Yeah, he had the word rat scratched into his chest for something he did against one of the known criminals here, right? Beaten within inch of his life. The man survived the attack, but just barely. The street-level users who Sydney works with, there's not enough of them to explain this town's huge appetite for drugs. So who is behind that appetite? We've touched on this before, but Dawson Creek is surrounded by an active oil and gas industry. This has brought an influx of workers into the region, young men away from home earning big paychecks. People like Terry Big Charles, or Hollywood, as he's known, and Adam Isley, whose story we heard in episode two.

Michael Popov puts it bluntly. There still is a massive appetite for drugs. and prostitution up here. That appetite is fed through the oil and gas industry. And I know people don't want to hear that. But there's a lot of money. You know, there's maybe about 30 homeless people here in the summer. That's certainly not enough people to drive the drug trade.

And it's not $20 a meth at a time. It's cocaine. It's cocaine. And it's not just oil and gas workers. Local drug dealer Aaron Linklater told us many of his clients were white collar, upper middle class. Aaron told us he could sell two to three kilos of cocaine, which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars every single month,

and he wasn't the only drug dealer in town. There's only one way this volume of drugs can make it halfway around the world from where it's produced to Dawson Creek. Organized crime or gangs. My team and I have thought really hard about whether there are competing gangs in Dawson. Whether there is a drug-fuel turf war. You might remember what Aaron had said. It's the same side shooting at each other.

It's the dumbest shit I've ever fucking seen in my life. One thing we can be fairly certain about, all of the local drug dealers were being supplied with drugs by a gang with international connections, who might loan them drugs on a promise to be paid when they're sold. But selling drugs is a messy business. Some users pay on time and some don't. The dealers might use some of the drugs themselves and to party with friends.

And drugs can get stolen or taken by the police in a bust. But none of that changes what they owe the people who gave them the drugs in the first place. And if a dealer can't pay, well, that's when things get really messy, even dangerous. Michael Popov has been reporting on the Dawson drug scene for years. We'll hear stories that the Hells Angels is in town. There was a drug debt that was around $80,000. The Hells Angels is one of the oldest outlaw biker gangs, a huge organized crime syndicate known for ruthless violence.

At one point, members of the gang paid Dawson a visit. And Michael says authorities believed a local dealer's family was at risk over that very debt. They've had to be whisked out of Dawson Creek for safety. There's another person who seems to agree there are growing tensions between criminal elements. I certainly saw a significant rise in violence. Former outreach worker Jan Atkinson used to work at the Nauken Friendship Center. It supports the large indigenous population in town and runs the local shelter. I remember when I first moved up here, I had our CMP officer tell me that there were no gangs.

But I think we had some competing gangs, and it just spiraled out of control. Different sources I've spoken to have dropped the names of different gangs working in the area, including the Hells Angels and the United Nations gang. But the one name that comes up the most is a group called the Wolfpack Alliance. The Wolfpack structure is decentralized, active in different provinces such as BC, Ontario, and Quebec.

It reportedly has ties to international criminals like the Sunoloa cartel in Mexico. That's right, Mexican cartels. Michael Popo says knowing the gangs are in town is one thing. But under the ganges, but understanding their true impact is next to impossible. It's extremely hard to make heads or tales of who's working with who, for who, who are the puppet groups, who are the sport groups.

I think we're making inroads on it, but just to say definitively is really, really hard. It's really, really hard because gangs are secretive and dangerous, and it's tough for journalists to break through that. This is one of the big reasons why I so badly wanted a follow-up interview with the RCA. A chance to dig into what's really behind the madness in Dawson. We've heard about the Hells Angels, the Wolfpack Alliance, and the United Nations gang. Are these familiar names to you? Yeah, all familiar names, I think, to varying degrees, all are at work in the peace region.

That's Superintendent Sanjayat Wajaya Kuhn. He's in charge of the major crime unit in British Columbia. We first spoke to him in 2024, which you heard in episode three. he's finally agreed to talk to me again. What role are they playing in terms of the violence and the homicides, or are they playing a role or have they having an impact in that area in Dawson Creek? They have a massive, huge role, huge role. And I can't get into specifics, but the gang, the main gangs who are working in that area,

they have a huge influence over the level of extremely violent crime that's happening. there. So that's why it's important to us to get them behind bars and lawfully charged where we can. Still, when we last spoke to Superintendent with Jayakun, he wouldn't say there were competing gangs in Dawson, and he still won't. So it still conforms to my original theory that there are just violent people who are at work, especially in the drug world. And it is true we haven't heard about murders being ordered by one gang against another,

which is what you typically think when you hear gang war. Instead, what we've seen looks more like the pressures of a risky job leading to fierce competition, one upmanship leading to desperate and dumb decisions, that also might be fueled by drug use. Essentially, the more successful drug dealers in town flexing their muscles. I've been on a police officer for 32 years, and I've been doing kind of, I've been in murder and mayhem for like 25 of those years. I do believe that some criminals, I put them into the category of supervillains.

And I'm not going to get into any names on this interview, but when you look at the supervillain category across the province, these are the people who kind of keep me up at night. And I put all my resources into getting those people off the street. They're the type of people who, I'm not going to say they're all psychotic, but you could look at them the wrong way and not be involved in crime yourself and then pick a beating. So I believe there are some people in the peace region who I would put into that supervillain category. For outreach worker Jan Atkinson and others have spoken to in Dawson, there's one obvious supervillan. Tanner Marie is pretty much the end all and beal.

I know that he went through like a significant amount of abuse from his mom has zero respect for women. Jan is convinced Tanner is the major reason why Dawson has been caught up in violence. And she believes his half-brother, Jesse Ray Stevens, has some connections to the Wolfpack Alliance. I think until Tanner, you know, sees some accountability, I think that that will continue to be an issue. think people need to recognize that, you know, coming forward and calling it what it is will help the community of Dawson Creek heel, right? Everybody keeping all these secrets and knowing what happened or knowing this person said this and being too scared.

Part of like being human is like being brave enough and coming forward and what Tana's done to this community. Like if we're going to put a stop to it, people are going to come forward, right? And they've got to share what they know. Jan knows it's not easy to come forward. especially with the wall of fear Tanner has built around Dawson Creek, along with Jesse Ray. Remember back in episode three? We talked about the photo Jesse Ray posted after our Fifth Estate documentary, the one with

him masked and pointing a gun at the camera. Well, shortly after Tanner's arrest, Jesse Ray posted another photo on Facebook. It was one of him and Tanner as kids. The photo itself was innocent enough. Two smiling kids. Tanner looks to be about four years old. It's a portrait like the one you could get at Sears. But the caption on the other hand,

You know what this is, Jesse Ray wrote? My G, my little brother, I told everyone not to fuck with my boy. The message to the community was crystal clear. If you speak out about Tanner, even with him behind bars, there could be consequences. It is impossible to get people to come forward.

when the likelihood of the person staying in jail who murdered somebody is going to stay in jail. Like, it's not going to happen. Right. And it didn't happen, at least not at first. The superintendent says that initial failure to trust and inform the police is a big reason why Dawson Creek is where it is today. There's many crimes that happen that go unreported.

And I think there was a history within the Dawson Creek and Peace region where some people who were getting beaten and assaulted or even had their lives threatened weren't coming forward. So it wasn't on our radar. And the more often people don't come forward, the more emboldened the criminals become who are perpetrating the violence.

This climate of fear might explain why Superintendent Wajéyakun still has so few answers in the cases we investigated, 17 months after our first interview. there was the gruesome murder of a couple living in the local trailer park, Tina Nellis and Adam Roy Isley. Sources said the couple suffered from addiction and owed money to local dealers

and were killed to send a message. Adam's family told us his killing was so vicious and open casket wasn't possible. We know there's a limit to what the RCMP can say about open murder investigations, but we asked the superintendent anyway. No updates. Again, it's an active and ongoing investigation.

I can tell you I do get briefed quite regularly on Nellison Isley. It's an active investigation. After Tina and Adam, there were two more murders, local Cree women, Renee Didier, and Daryland Supernant. Daryland's father says that she was killed because she witnessed the murders of Tina and Adam. As for Renee, she had been asking questions about the disappearance of her cousin Darylind and then went missing herself. Renee's body was found months later. Both are active investigation. Renee Didier is our investigation, the BCRC major crime team,

and we are working on both. Both are a priority for us. Superintendent with Jayakun said Daryland's murder is being investigated by the local RCMP and not his team. But he says a fresh set of eyes was recently assigned to her case. I have a senior accredited team commander acting inspector in the north. An accredited team commander is somebody who's got

a documented distinction in investigations. I've had her recently look at the Daryland file. People in town have told us they're suspicious about Tanner Murray and his connections to both women before they disappeared. Daryland's mom told us she was supposed to help Tanner with some painting just before she disappeared. And he was the last person seen with Renee in a hotel room the day she went missing.

And then there was Cole Hosak. His was the story that really brought attention to the situation in Dawson. A grieving young dad, Cole was passing through Dawson before heading to his next job in Alberta. He disappeared on New Year's Eve in 2023 after reaching out to a local drug dealer, a man named Matt Lawton. Earlier in this series, we told you about someone who overheard Matt admit to a role in Cole's death. That person said Matt called it an accident. When we approached him in town, Matt denied even knowing Cole. Well, I can't comment specifically on that, but I can tell you it's an active investigation.

I am periodically briefed on that one. I remember what Cole's mother had said, you know, she felt kind of abandoned by the police. I'm very confident that that's not the feeling anymore. That investigation is active. I do check in on it periodically, but I can't give you an update on progress. And then Emily Ogden and Aaron Link later. Both died in 2025.

Both were directly connected to local drug trafficking, and both of their cases are still active homicide investigations. Aaron told us he was the prime suspect in Emily's case, but now he's dead, so we're not sure where that leaves the investigation into Emily's murder. and we told you about the so-called Queen of the North, Jasmine Hut. Sources told us she picked up Emily and delivered her to Aaron. Emily was later found dead in Aaron's truck.

The Emily Ogden homicide is an open investigation. I check with my team almost daily on it. That investigation, no matter who is involved, is still moving forward. And we've also spoken to a number of people who have suggested Jasmine Hut may have been involved as well. Is she a suspect in Emily's murder? I have no comment on the suspects

or kind of what we're doing on the Emily Ogden investigation. But again, I can tell you it very much is a priority for me and my team. And we look at all possibilities. That's a long list of unsolved murders. and it's not all of them. Also people like Chris Engman, Dave Domingo,

and Robert Gerbov, who we reported could be connected to Darylind's murder. All followed by very little information from the police. So you start to understand why the citizens of Dotson Creek have an ongoing beef with the way these crimes have been handled in their community. It's not just that the murders are unsolved. It's that the community has a pretty good sense of who's behind the killing. And they see those same people walking free,

violent, dangerous people. That concern isn't lost on the superintendent. That's why I feel for my teams, for the Dawson Creek RCMP, having charges against repeat violent offenders, I think that can help kind of thaw that feeling that people have that they don't want to come forward.

He knows charges for repeat violent offenders are important, not just for the community, but as a warning message to the criminals themselves. It gives them the impression that you're not getting away, Scott-free. Look at your buddies, look at your colleagues. They've gone down, so we're coming for you. Now you might remember, back in September of 2024, when we first interviewed Superintendent with Jayakun, he made a promise.

I do feel that on some of these cases we're going to have success and some answers will come for some of the families. I think within the next six months, we will have some level of success. Six months came and went, then ten more months before finally results. When we get first-degree murder charges, it's a big step for us. It is a win for us at this stage. This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on a Viking long shift.

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We begin tonight with an update on a Dawson Creek homicide from December of 2023. On February 1st of this year, a break involving one of Dawson Creek's 15 murders. Three men are now facing first-degree murder charges in connection to the death of Robert Gerbov, who was found dead inside a vehicle. Tanner Murray, along with Ben Touchette and Rob Sinclair, are all facing first-degree murder charges. The first time I came to Dawson Creek, a woman at a bar pulled me aside and showed me a picture from Facebook. She told me if you want to know who's behind the crime and violence, this is your man. That man was Tanner Murray.

Now, nearly two years later, Tanner is facing a murder charge. And can you tell me anything more about what led up to Tanner Murray's arrest? Well, just broadly, we expanded the investigation, right? And it did involve us leveraging relationships in Alberta. We had some, you know, fairly complex investigative techniques that we needed to employ. And so there was a lot of planning. and organizing for the final kind of arrests that were made. Superintendent with Jayakun wouldn't tell me what he means

by complex investigative techniques. But whatever it was, it resulted in three people being charged with murder, bringing some long-awaited relief for a Dawson Creek family grieving the loss of a loved one. Robert Gerboff was found dead on New Year's Eve in 23, the same night Cole Hosak went missing. I've heard from multiple sources that Robert was connected to Tanner Murray in the drug trade

and that he helped dispose of Daryland's supernat's body. If that's the case, it's a good guess Robert would have known who murdered Darylain. But his death meant the loss of a key witness, one of the few people who could have helped the police solve the crime. Now that Tanner Murray has been charged with Robert's murder, if he's convicted, he'll face serious prison time. as long as 25 years.

We've told you before that people in town are suspicious about Tanner and his connections to cousins, Daryland, and Renee before they died. There are still no charges in their cases, but this arrest could bring some relief to their families as well. On top of that, his brother, Jesse Ray Stevens, was also arrested and jailed, in his case for discharging a firearm. That means two less supervillains on the streets of Dawson Creek.

I believe Dawson Creek is absolutely safer. So not just for someone like Tanner Murray, but whenever you are able to put any sort of violent offender in jail or ultimately in prison, it has an effect on public safety. So then the question becomes, what took so long? In September 2024, Superintendent Woodh Jekun said that something big was just around the corner. So you made a promise. results in six months. It's been 17. And people in Dawson Creek, they heard that promise

and they watched the months go by. And I think we've had them tell us that was hard for them. What's your response to that? Well, my response for that is, I'm sorry. I did feel that charges were going to come earlier. Without getting into a lot of details, I do believe that charges could have come much closer to the timeline I had given. However, we did a very robust investigation to ensure that all those responsible were looked at. The superintendent said the delay was due in part to the complex amount of administrative work that police must do in a homicide case. It's actually embarrassing to say that, so I'm in a room right now that's probably six feet

by 10 feet with these headphones on. For some of the investigations, you could actually actually fill a small room with the volume of documents that you need to disclose. But at the same time, you know, I don't expect just the average member of the public who has had a friend or a relative murdered to really want to get into the nuances and the minutia of homicide investigations and disclosure. I feel bad for the people of Dawson Creek, especially anticipating something happening quickly, but it just got delayed. Is it fair to say the investigation got wider and that's why it took longer? Yes, that's accurate.

Okay, okay. Well, I think people could understand that. Unfortunately, the arrest came too late for Daryl and Renee's grandmother, Verna Cardinal. She died while we were making this podcast before anyone was charged with anything, including Tanner Murray, the person she called Dawson's Bad Boy. I just want to say that maybe someday will have the heart to come forward, take the blame for what happened to my girl, my baby, and I... Someone needs to take responsibility. Yes, somebody does.

As we've told you, I've tried hard to track down Tanner. I wanted his perspective. I went to several places in Dawson Creek where I was told he might be living. I also sent him a letter in jail. I never heard back. I even went to Grand Prairie to attend one of his court appearances. There I spoke to his lawyer who said Tanner has no comment. I also tried to reach out to Jesse Ray Stevens.

Fifth Estate colleague Mark Kelly and I waited outside a bar for hours one night, where we were told he might show up. He never did. And I tracked down his dad and asked him to ask Jesse Ray if we could speak. His dad called me back with a message from Jesse Ray. Go fuck yourself. Well, so much for that. So where does all of this leave Dawson Creek?

Outreach worker Sidney Fedema says, if nothing else, the legacy of the murders, has brought out the good and everyday Dawson Creekers. I think that they really started a conversation about the trajectory of where our town's going, what our values are in this small town. And I think that was really amplified by, the idea that you either cared or you didn't care. And, you know, the missing murdered and indigenous women campaign,

that is one that it really got a face in Dawson Creek with Daryland's face actually being made into stickers. It also kind of radicalized people who were motivated for change in our small community. What is it that we can do now? What is it that we don't have to wait to do or experience before we can make change? So that they had a huge impact on life in Dawson Creek in many ways. I've seen what Sydney is talking about. Locals handing out sandwiches and coffee at the shelter.

Fundraisers, marches for the murdered and missing, local police officers working hard to make things better. and many, many conversations with members of the community who shared information with me for this podcast with one goal and one goal only, for the violence to stop. In fact, the longer I worked on this investigation, the more comfortable it seemed people felt scaling that wall of fear,

sometimes sharing information that was so sensitive it could get them killed if the wrong people found out. I wondered if the RCMP was experiencing the same thing. You know, you and I have discussed this before. It's one thing to go to somebody in the media and talk about something you've experienced. It's a different thing to talk to the police. I would say that is trending in the right direction. I think we have a lot of mechanisms in play to help people, to protect people and keep people safe.

And as long as members of the public and people who are involved in this world know that, I think it'll continue to trend in the right direction. Local outreach worker Jan Atkinson certainly hopes so. I have to have like a belief that people are, you know, I'm going to find some courage and that they're going to do the right thing and recognize that this isn't a pattern that they want to continue or see. You know, I think you just have to have enough people that get fed up.

And I have to like have faith that people are going to like have a bit more courage, right? The RCMP has lost a lot of trust with many in the community. The work of winning them back will likely be tough going. I'm wondering what the RCMP is doing to win back the trust and confidence and the people of Dawson Creek.

For my teams, it really is about having success in some of these homicide investigations. But the bigger piece to that is what the Dawson Creek RCMP are doing. I've worked very closely with them and I get updates from the guy running that detachment. He's really bent over backwards to bring in resources.

from all over the province. So a big one is our uniform gang enforcement team. He's also brought in a lot of funding to do that repeat violent offender kind of initiatives. And they've had successes below these homicides. I think it's made a difference. And I know their crime numbers are trending in the right direction. It's true. There hasn't been a new murder in Dawson for nearly a year.

But violent crime is still up and down. It rose slightly in 2022. dropped in 2023 and then went back up in 2024. Now, at the end of the day, there's still 15 murders. There's only arrests in two of those cases. So 13 still unsolved in Dawson Creek. And I know you're probably not going to give me a timeline this time, but what's it going to take for people in Dawson Creek to see more results?

I think, you know, I think as we continue to work on these investigations that make them our priority, you know, I hope we have, success on some levels, whether we're able to, you know, tie people to other crimes or get people behind bars on other offenses or just charge them flat out for these homicides. So maybe the RCMP won't be able to solve every single homicide, even if they suspect who is behind the killing. As what Jayakun said, murder charges are a very high bar. But as some of those same people can be charged with other crimes, at least they'll be off the streets. As long as that trends in the right direction.

And the volume of homicides continues to drop. Yes, we have a lot that we still have to solve and work on. But as long as we're not catching new homicides weekly, we should ultimately have some long-term success. After two years, several weeks on the ground sped over half a dozen trips, dozens of on-the-record interviews, and hundreds of conversations. Here's what we think is going on in Dawson Creek. In the early 2000s, the natural resource industry exploded in the peaks region.

This fundamentally changed Dawson. What used to be a sleepy farming town became a hub for oil and gas activity. This brought new people to town, many of them young men with money to burn, and not just oil and gas workers, but the industries that support them too. All of these new people, with all of this new money, created a new market for drugs, a big one, which attracted international gangs, who recruited local criminals to sell to this new market. I got to know one of those criminals, Aaron Link later. He insisted he didn't want any part of what he called the dumb violence rocking Dawson Creek,

although he ended up as one of the prime suspects in one of the town's murders before he was killed himself. And then there are his counterparts in the trade. People like Matt Lawton, and Jasmine Hut. We've heard stories about both of them being involved in violence and threats. And others, like Jesse Ray Stevens and Tanner Murray, accused of serious and violent crimes, including murder, and seeming to fit the superintendent's definition of supervillain. Some of the casualties in town include users with petty drug debts, witnesses to previous crimes, and potential accomplices to those same crimes who lost the trust of their vicious bosses. From what we've seen, all of this doesn't add up to rival gangs at war per se,

but violence brought on by a toxic stew of competition, paranoia, and maybe even a touch of drug-fueled psychosis. And that's how you get 15 murders in five years. Now, as you would expect, this stoked a lot of fear in the town of less than 13,000 people. And locals would see the people they suspected of murder at the grocery store or local bar. Imagine how scary that would be. That fear was then amplified by those who benefited from the town's silence. Mix that with a history of mistrust of the RCMP,

and you get 15 murders that become really, really hard to solve. All adding up to the perfect storm that became the Mile Zero murders. Which takes me back to where this all started. It was at the peak of that storm when someone from the community reached out to us asking for help. Now we don't have the power to catch the bad guys or force the RCMP to work faster, but we can investigate, ask questions, and shine a light on what we think is really happening, bringing at least some accountability and understanding to the situation. And hopefully that offers a tiny bit of relief to a community that has been so desperate for answers.

How are you? I'm all right. Yeah, you look beautiful. Thanks. Yeah, you look great. Back at the shelter, where much of my work on this series began, Hollywood is helping a friend, a member of his Dawson Creek family, fix a flat tire on her bike. Outreach worker, Sydney, lets them plug the pump into her car. Oh, plugging them into your car lighter? Sure. Sure.

This must be the community Adam Isley saw when he decided to make Dawson Creek his home, before it led to his death. The same kind of community people said Tina Nellis was part of, when she fed and housed young women like Jordan Cornish at her trailer. She's Daryland Supernett's stepsister, the very first person I met as I began this investigation in Dawson Creek. I'm okay. Okay.

I know some days are like easier than others. It gets pretty lonely here. Daryland was like one of my rocks. Like, you know, like one of those people you never thought you'd be without. And it was like I lost all of those people in my life. all at the same time. And it was just suddenly so alone and don't have those friends I can just call

like with Tina. And the same community that was described to me in a letter that arrived at the Fifth Estate recently, reminding us that Dawson Creek is about a lot more than just murder and drugs. It's full of good people doing good things for each other.

People like Hollywood. We're coping as much as you can as well as we can. The best we can is what we have, and we have really good help. And just getting over the next hurdle. I think we're getting close to getting something better. You think so? I do. What do you think is in the future? Well, I think in the future is a home, a family, a career, and new beginnings. That's what you're looking forward to? Yes, I'm looking forward to, definitely.

Perhaps a new beginning for Dawson Creek. person here that doesn't want to be part of the solution. Well, I hope you find your solution. We will. Thanks for talking to us. No problem. All right, man. You take care and stay safe, okay?

Okay. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Take care. Thank you. There's more people on board. You can just have whatever you'd like. You've been listening to the Miles Zero murders from CBC's on cover and the Fifth Estate.

If you want to hear another series by me, you can check out Evil by Design. The show is reported and hosted by me, Timothy Sawa. Our producer is Tiff Lamb. Additional reporting from Mark Kelly, Grant LaFleche, and Lisa Ellenwood at the Fifth Estate. Sound design by Graham MacDonald. Emily Connell is our coordinating producer. Our senior producer is Jeff Turner. Additional audio from CTV, CJDC News.

Our podcast art was designed by... Good Tape Studio. Our cross-promo producers are Amanda Cox, Kelsey Cueva, and Juliana Romanic. Our video producers are Evan Agarred, Tamina Aziz, and John Lee. Legal review by Sean Mormon. At the Fifth Estate, Leanne Stepnow is our rollout producer. Alia Davidson is the executive producer of the Fifth Estate. Emmanuel Marchant is the senior producer. Executive producers for CBC podcasts are Cecil Fernandez and Chris Oak. Tanya Springer is the senior manager. Arif Narani is the director of CBC Podcasts,

and Leslie Merklinger is the executive director. And finally, I want to thank the people of Dawson Creek. From the first day I arrived, almost everyone I met was welcoming and kind, also deeply passionate about making their little town as safe and prosperous as possible. From the friendly lady I met on the plane who gave me the lay of the land even before I landed,

to the folks volunteering to patrol their streets every night, to the RCMP officers who rushed to our aid when they thought we were in danger, to the staff at the hotel who found my AirPods, and mailed them back to me without even being asked. This series wouldn't have been possible without any of them. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.