Uncover - The hidden story of a notorious serial killer — and his secret calls from behind bars

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

The voice of a killer. The truth uncovered. Coming April 23, 2025.For years, journalist Arlene Bynon took forbidden jailhouse calls from notorious murderer Clifford Olson. Hundreds of hours of secret recordings — hidden from prison guards and the public — are now being revealed. In Uncover: Calls From A Killer, Arlene, joined by Nathaniel Frum, will expose what Olson told her, what police got wrong, and why authorities paid a serial killer $100,000.Calls from a Killer unearths secrets that have been buried for decades. Episode 1 premiers via Uncover on April 23, 2025.

This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, Sam here. I want to tell you about the upcoming season of Uncover, slated to be released next month. It's called Calls from a Killer. It's 1990, and reporter Arlene Beynon gets a collect call. On the other end of the line is Clifford Olson, a man convicted of killing 11 children less than a decade before. This began years of secret conversations, recorded without the knowledge of his prison

guards. Now, for the first time, Arlene is sharing those tapes. Here's the trailer for Calls From A Killer, from CBC's Uncover. phone ringing Clerk call for Eileen Bynum. Yes. From Clifford Olsen, will you accept the charge? I was a young journalist when Clifford Olsen first called me. Okay, listen, just don't let anything out that I'm calling you or we're cut right off.

Are you supposed to call the media? This is a conference call. A reporter getting secret phone calls from Canada's most notorious serial killer. He was serving a life sentence for murdering 11 children. His oldest victim, 18, the youngest, 9. Captured only after the police offered him a shocking deal. Cash for bodies. And then the prosecution announced an unusual trade. The location of the missing bodies, in return for $100,000.

Today, the news that crime does pay was a concern all across the country. I was desperate to understand why he did what he did. I knew I was killing the children, but I couldn't stop myself. I wasn't insane. I knew what I was doing at the time. And how to stop it from happening again.

You say you have nothing to lose, so are you going to kill again? One of these days, Arlene, I'm going to make a move and it's going to be a bloodbath. For 30 years, these recordings have been sealed away. Secrets kept in boxes in my basement. But it's time to unearth the tapes, because I believe that the police could have stopped him sooner. When we get down to the point where you got a missing nine-year-old kid who's six blocks from his home and disappears when he's at the corner store getting an ice cream or a candy bar,

you got a big problem. That the pain left behind is still wrong. I still have rage and anger. I can't even go out at night. I have a fear to go out at night. The RCMP and what they did caused us so much damage. And I believe that there were more victims. So when you went to the police, how long did it take for them to follow up after you said those things to them?

I don't even know if they've still followed up on that. I've never heard another thing. I'm Arlene Bynum. From CBC's Uncover. Calls from a killer. Super Olsen's calling. We accept charge. Yes, I will. Coming soon.

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