Canadian True Crime - 54 Misty Cockerill and Tanya Smith - Part 1

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

[ Part 1 of 2 ] The Abbotsford Killer, BC - On October 13, 1995, two teenage girls were walking along a familiar street as they were heading to a party. Along the way, they encountered a man who would change not only their lives, but the lives of their two families, multiple police districts and an entire community. For the next seven months that man played a game of cat and mouse, terrorizing the community. Thanks for supporting my sponsors!The current discount codes can be found hereFind out more about:CANADALAND podcast and the True Crime episode from last yearFool Me Twice podcastCredits:Research and writing: Stephanie MooreEditing and narration: Kristi LeeAudio editing, music arrangement, audio production, theme song: We Talk of DreamsVoice of Terry Driver: Jack Luna Dark Topic / Crime Machine podcastVoice of 911 operator: Lisa Mark Hines The Secret Life of Weddings podcastDisclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True CrimeAll other credits and information sources can be found at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes on the page for this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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I didn't expect my first time on the cover of the National Post to be my mugshot. That's what we do on the Canada Land podcast every Monday. And then every Thursday, I talk about what is happening in the news with the best journalists in Canada. If you live here, Canada Land is the news and current affairs podcast that you need to listen to. I hope you check it out. adjacent to the US-Canada border to the state of Washington. It's located in what's known as British Columbia's Bible Belt, where people are said to be conservative and hold on to old-fashioned and traditional family values. Residents who settle in Abbotsford are typically looking for a small-town feel with the amenities of a larger city.

In the 1990s, with more affordable housing in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford was considered a great place for young families to settle. The semi-rural lifestyle and amenities were luring residents from the Vancouver area about 71 kilometres away. They could enjoy the small-town feeling while also being able to commute to Vancouver for work. It was just before dawn in the morning hours of October 14, 1995, and a teenage girl stumbled her way into the lobby of a hospital emergency room. She had blood all over her, including in her hair. Medical staff rushed towards the girl and took her into care immediately because it was evident that she was seriously injured. It didn't take doctors long to see that she had a fist-sized hole in her head and deeply embedded skull fragments.

Her core body temperature was so low that she was suffering from exposure and hypothermia. She had a broken arm and finger. She was barely hanging on to consciousness, but she was able to tell them her name, Misty Cockerel, and she was just 16. But then she insisted she had a friend called Tanya still out there in the bushes, waiting to be rescued. She insisted that staff go outside and have a look. Hospital staff couldn't find anyone and didn't know whether this person actually existed, or if the severely injured girl they were caring for was suffering delusions. So they called the police to report a violent and brutal attack had taken place,

and that there was a possible second missing victim. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 54. While Misty remained in the hospital with an uncertain medical outcome, the police began their investigation into finding her missing friend, Tanya. At 5.30am, officers were called and woken up to get on the case. One of them was RCMP Inspector Rod Gill, the staff sergeant in charge of the Criminal Investigations Branch of Abbotsford Police. He was told there'd been a violent attack on a teenager and that she was in critical condition. He was also told that there was possibly a second victim still missing.

The Abbotsford Police continued with their search around the hospital in nearby school, looking for Tanya. They also used search dogs to help check the surrounding area, but they didn't have any luck. They had no idea that about 20km east, something related was unfolding. The Vedder River was a popular spot for fishermen at the time of year, who wanted to take advantage of the salmon run that comes up the river to the spawning grounds on the Chilliwack River. Two of these fishermen were out at dawn and noticed a young girl's nude body floating face down in a shallow backwater area, shocked by their discovery they immediately called 911. Because the location fell within the jurisdiction of a different police agency, the Chilliwack RCMP, a local team was dispatched immediately.

Back at the Abbotsford Hospital, Misty's mother had arrived and was given the news that her daughter had been assaulted and was in critical condition. As Misty continued to fall in and out of consciousness, she gave conflicting information to authorities. At one point, she stated that the person who attacked her had been seven feet tall and married to the nurse providing her care. She was clearly delusional in her semi-conscious state and the police didn't know what to believe. Misty's mum was able to give the Abbotsford police the name of the other missing teenager, Tanya Smith, Misty's best friend. Meanwhile, the Chilliwack police were still trying to identify the female body found at the Vedder Canal. It didn't take law enforcement long to realise that this discovery may have been connected to the girl in hospital. The Abbotsford police made their way to the location with a photo of Tanya Smith and were able to make a positive match.

The body of the 16-year-old had been found. The two crimes were deemed to be part of one extended criminal event, so it was quickly decided that they needed to work collaboratively as a joint task force. Both police jurisdictions needed to work as efficiently as possible, obviously, but they also knew they would need to reassure the public. Sergeant Bill Emory of the Abbotsford police was named as one primary investigator with Corporal Kevin McLeod of the Chilliwack RCMP identified as the other. The new team was given a name, the Homicide Task Force, and Sergeant Rod Gill was put in charge. It helped that all three leads were personal friends and former co-workers spanning decades. They would rely on that relationship to be successful. It was clear that the investigation in this case would clearly be high profile and it was important for the joint agencies to show a united front for what they knew would be a large number of concerned residents.

Because the attacks had started out in Abbotsford, it was decided that Rod Gill and his team from the Abbotsford police would take the lead. 16 year old Tanya Smith had recently moved to the nearby community of Arnold on the Sumes Prairie about 16 kilometres from Abbotsford. Her parents, Terry and Gail, made the decision to move the family, including Tanya as well as her younger sister and brother, to the quiet village so they could enjoy the safety of farm life and have horses for the kids to ride. They had come to love their new community and the safety it provided, so it was a shock when they found out in the early morning hours of October 14th that their daughter had been attacked and was missing. And a few hours later, they would get the devastating news that Tanya's body had been found in the river just a few kilometres from the safety of their own home. The family would come to rely heavily on both the Chilliwack RCMP and the Abbotsford Police Department in the following months. The first order of business for the task force was to provide around the clock protection for Misty Cockrell, their only living witness. Due to the severity of her injuries and the swelling in her brain, she was soon moved to the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster for immediate surgery to save her life.

Doctors needed to drill holes in her head to relieve pressure from brain swelling as well as insert pins and reset her many broken bones. If Misty was able to make a full recovery, she would be a huge threat to the killer still at large because she could potentially identify him. So because of this, her whereabouts were a closely guarded secret. The Chilliwack RCMP finished their search of the area where Tanya's body was found. They determined that the attacker dragged her down the path through the mud and trees and then dumped her face down into the river. It was a long list path that they found a pair of sandals that Misty had loaned to Tanya as well as other items of clothing which matched the description of what Tanya was reported to be wearing that night. The Joint Task Force soon developed a media strategy to release some basic facts surrounding the attack on the two girls and they asked for the public's assistance in sending in any information that could help with the investigation. They decided a call centre would also be set up to receive and record tips.

The joint press release informed the public that Tanya's main shoes were still missing and asked for help in finding the missing items. It also reported that a white van was seen with two men coming and going at the place that Tanya's body had been dumped. Despite the progress they had made in the investigation, the police were still unable to find the crime scene, the location where the attack took place. So they informed the public that one victim had made it to the hospital on her own and the other victim's body was found hours later at the Vedder Canal. They asked the public for any information they might have about this including any good Samaritans who may have assisted Misty in getting to the hospital. The press release also advised the public that an unknown attacker was still at large and warned everyone to be cautious. The media immediately ran with the story, focusing on the facts that a sexual predator was still at large in their community. The community itself was whipped into a frenzy, everyone was terrified, especially families with teenage girls.

While Misty was still fighting for her life, Tanya's body was sent for autopsy. The pathologist discovered that Tanya's injuries were very similar to Misty's injuries. There was evidence of strikes to the head and defensive wounds to her arms. And while these wounds were every bit as severe as Misty's, Tanya still may have survived had she been able to get to the hospital as Misty did. Despite all of Tanya's injuries, it was surprising to discover that the cause of her death was actually due to drowning. This meant that she was likely unconscious but still breathing when she was dumped face down in the Vedder Canal. Dr Sheila Carlile, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Tanya, discovered other injuries. In addition to the evidence that Tanya had drowned, there were also abrasions on her back parallel to her spine.

This indicated she had been dragged over a rough surface to her final resting place. Swabbing of her genital area revealed that she'd been sexually assaulted and luckily there was enough semen present to collect and test for DNA. Dr Carlile saw muted bruising and abrasions on the centre of the right breast and suspected that it was a bite mark. A well-known forensic dentist was called to consult and confirmed that yes, not only was it a bite mark but it also showed enough unique characteristics to make it identifiable to a specific set of teeth. The odontologist then took a swab of the bite mark to be used as suspect DNA and it yielded a full DNA profile. With all this evidence, the Task Force members had a strategic decision to make, which evidence would they release to the public and which details would they keep quiet as hold-back evidence. Hold-back evidence is when the police decide to withhold a piece of information or detail which is unique to the investigation and would only be known to the killer. They then protect that evidence and don't release it to anyone, including the family.

Hold-back evidence is often a critical element in successfully resolving and prosecuting a case and it can also be used to distinguish a true confession from a false confession. Unfortunately, hold-back evidence often means that the families of the victims don't find out the details of what happened to their loved ones until the trial. It was quickly decided amongst the Task Force members that their hold-back evidence in this case would include this bite mark evidence on the breast. They hoped that soon they might be able to use this protected information to verify that they had caught the person responsible for the attack on Misty and Tanya. The fact that Tanya died of drowning in the river, yet Misty got away, led to many questions and speculation around why the attacker would take the body of one girl and not the other. Misty was still recovering in hospital, unable to be questioned, so police had no choice but to speculate. Perhaps it was because Tanya was sexually assaulted before she was dragged off and therefore held distinguishing evidence which could identify her attacker. Or maybe Misty had been able to escape during the brief time when he was putting Tanya's body in his vehicle.

Perhaps the attacker suspected that finding DNA in a body is indicative of sexual assault and this could elevate a second degree murder charge up to a first degree murder charge. In 1995, DNA evidence had only just started to be accepted by the courts in Canada. In just four days into their investigation, the Task Force had already found DNA evidence and they had dental impressions of the bite mark to use as hold-back evidence. Having all of this evidence meant that the team wouldn't have to waste time on investigating alibis or conducting mass background checks. They would simply need to test DNA or compare dental impressions to either positively include or exclude a prime suspect in the investigation. But currently, they had no one. Five days after the attack, Misty was finally awake and responsive. She assumed that Tanya was also recovering and insisted that a bunch of the flowers and gifts she'd been sent should be delivered to her best friend that she'd witnessed being attacked and sexually assaulted.

She had no idea that her friend had passed away. Her family decided it was time to tell her that Tanya didn't survive. Naturally, Misty was inconsolable and began blaming herself for failing to save her friend. As she tearfully accepted her friend's fate, she was determined to give as much detail as possible to catch the person responsible. Misty told her story to Sergeant Rod Gill, who would go on to write a book about the case called, Through the Valley of the Shadow, The Search for the Abbotsford Killer. As detailed in this book, Misty told Sergeant Gill that on the night of October 13, 1995, she and Tanya Smith had arrived back at Misty's house after attending the birthday party of a friend. It was around midnight and Tanya's mum had just given her permission to spend the night there. Misty's parents were still out for the evening and their 16-year-olds decided they didn't want their night to end just yet.

They knew another friend was having a party just a few blocks over and they decided to bend the rules of their curfew by taking a walk over to check it out. And as the girls began walking, they joked about how it was Friday the 13th and they might meet a violent and crazed killer. They were enjoying the scary conversation, but neither were really concerned because they lived in the safe community of Abbotsford. The well-lit streets were mostly quiet, but as they walked, they did notice that a brown sedan had driven past them a few times. They passed the halfway point to their destination and as they continued walking past a dense hedgerow of trees, a man suddenly appeared from behind them with wild eyes holding an aluminium baseball bat. He said, Do you bitches want to party? And before they knew what was happening, he had grabbed both girls and forced them through the hedge to a clearing on the other side. The girls found themselves in a deserted 8x8 foot grassy area in the corner of the parking lot.

It was secluded and boarded the back of the extended care unit of the old MSA hospital. The man threatened them and called them vulgar names. As he wielded the bat over his head, he demanded that they both take their clothes off and get down on the ground. He made it clear that he would harm them if they didn't comply. Tanya was terrified and started taking her clothes off straight away. The attacker seemed to forget that Misty was there and pushed Tanya down on her knees. Misty could see what was going to happen and tried desperately to distract him. She began coughing, trying to appear like she was struggling to breathe and the hope that he would believe she was having an asthma attack and therefore stopped the assault on Tanya.

Or alternatively, she hoped it would allow for them both to escape. But the attacker laughed at her and told her she was a bad actor. He said if she were really having a real asthma attack, she would have an inhaler with her. The attacker believed he had the situation under control and he put down the baseball bat while he removed his pants. Misty saw that the attacker was on his knees with his pants around his legs and was distracted. She could have very easily run away and escaped, leaving Tanya behind to get help. But she did neither. She chose to stay and fight her attacker. Misty recalled that she looked into Tanya's eyes and saw a look of emptiness and terror.

Misty mustered every bit of inner strength she had, grabbed the baseball bat and swung with all her might. She hit the attacker on his shoulder. Before she was able to get off a second swing, the attacker was able to rise to his feet and take the bat from Misty. She pleaded with him not to hit her, but he began hitting her with brute force, calling her a bitch and telling her she was going to die. Misty repeatedly apologized to her attacker and begged for her life, promising to comply, but her cries and pleas fell on deaf ears. Worried that she wouldn't live much longer, Misty began screaming at Tanya to escape and run for help. But Tanya was in shock and was frozen to the spot in terror. The blows kept coming at Misty, each one eroding her sense of hope.

As he continued to swing at her, she recalled that she hadn't felt any pain. One swing broke her arm, preventing her from adequately fending off the rest of the blows. Another swing broke a finger on her other hand. She recalled that she was no longer able to defend herself and had to admit defeat. Misty counted the blows to her head, unable to move. She got up to seven blows before she lost consciousness. What happened next is still largely unknown to Misty. Her first memory after the attack was waking up next to Tanya.

Their attacker was nowhere to be found. She begged Tanya to get up. She knew they needed to move and get help immediately. But Tanya wasn't responding and Misty was still foggy and lapsed back into unconsciousness. Her next memory had been waking up alone, hidden in the bushes over a hundred meters away from the site of the original attack. Over the next five hours, Misty tried to look for Tanya. She explained to the investigators how she struggled with fading in and out of consciousness and hid in the bushes and shrubbery until she ultimately walked into the hospital.

She said she had no outside help getting to hospital, a piece of information that meant the investigation team could stop looking for a good Samaritan witness. Thanks to Misty's direction, the crime scene was located the same day and processed for evidence. But unfortunately, it was now five days after the attack and it had been raining, so the attack site offered no other forensic value other than finding one of Tanya's earrings. But the police decided to keep the location of the crime scene as hold back evidence. Eventually, a farmer would find an aluminium bat and a ditch near the Vetta Canal, which corroborated details of the attack provided by Misty.

The same day Misty was talking to police, the tip lines continued to ring all day long. In the morning, Corporal Kevin McLeod picked up the line. There was a male caller who said that he was the one who'd helped Misty get to the hospital and he just wanted them to know. The police officer tried to keep him on the line but he hung up. They traced the call to a pay phone but there were no witnesses and he was long gone. The Task Force leader, Sergeant Gill, happened to pick up the next ringing line. Just a content warning for sensitive listeners.

This next part does contain some graphic details. I grappled with whether or not to include this information or whether to glaze over it. On this occasion, I've decided to leave it in as it is a fact of the case and it's a demonstrative of his character. On the other end of the line was a male voice. I know where the murder happened. We sight a walkway that runs north and south on a grassy knoll behind trees. Sergeant Gill asked the caller how he came upon this information. I'm the killer. Her right nipple tasted pretty good.

Stunned into momentary silence, the sergeant suddenly realized that both details were their hold-back evidence. The location of the attack site and the dental impression of the bite mark from Tanya's right breast. The caller immediately hung up. Knowing that they just had the killer on the phone and the conversation had been recorded, the Task Force immediately began efforts to trace the call back. The location turned out to be a phone booth located near the MSA hockey arena. While the payphone was checked for fingerprints, they also had eight patrol cars in the vicinity looking for someone who may have witnessed seeing anyone there.

But they had no luck. As the investigation continued, the police began interviewing homes near the site of the attack. They found a witness who remembered seeing a brown or tan sedan circling the area a few times that night before parking up ahead. The witness also heard screaming that night, which she quickly dismissed as kids falling around. Later that same day, a 911 operator received another call. Your guys do a real thorough job, but do you think I would be stupid enough to leave fingerprints behind when I make a phone call? Again, the caller hung up, but police recognized the voice from the recording and quickly determined he was obviously watching from a location close enough to know that the police had dusted the phone booth for fingerprints.

The caller sounded both agitated and excited at the same time. Police believed that this wouldn't be the last time they heard from him. And they were right. Just 30 minutes later, the task force would get the third call that day from the alleged killer. Do you need fire or police? Police. Go ahead. Are you having trouble finding the killer? I'm not sure. Do you want to provide information through to our members?

No. I'm the one. You're the... I'm giving you the chance to try and find me. I'll be cruising around looking for someone else. And what is your name? Just to let you know who I am. Tonya's right here. He repeated the whole back evidence with the bite mark. This call was traced to a telephone booth at the Ventura grocery store, which was just a few blocks away from the Abbotsford police station.

But again, he was nowhere to be found. The killer was making it clear that his threat to the community was real and imminent, and the police needed to take him seriously. In a period of just one day and three telephone calls later, the task force went from a high priority homicide investigation to receiving an overt threat to the public safety. Police believed the killer was no longer just a threat to Chillerwack or Abbotsford, but a threat to the entire Fraser Valley.

The police were also hoping that the killer's brazenness would be his ultimate undoing, so they got some advice from a professional. Dr Mike Webster, a well-known psychologist with a specialty in conflict management. He had previously helped them with some advice around suspect behaviour during high-profile active investigations in the past. Dr Webster quickly came to the same conclusion as the task force, confirming that this was indeed an overt threat to the community. Threats like the ones the caller made were unusual for a suspect, he said,

which meant they were dealing with someone impulsive and unpredictable. After reviewing the three taped phone calls, it was clear from the suspect's tone and inflection that he was actually satisfied or even excited by these police interactions. Overall, these interactions with the killer were perceived as a positive by the investigative team, because with each one came the chance that he would give clues or pieces of a puzzle that could later be fitted together. More importantly, they wanted to release portions of his call to the public

and see if someone might recognise his voice. The negative side of these interactions meant that the police had to share these threats with the public. They never wanted to raise the level of public anxiety, but it may have been warranted. After all, one girl had been assaulted and bludgeoned, and another had been similarly assaulted and drowned. It was the obligation of the police to raise the alarm and give the community the proper warning that it expected. They released a statement to the media, which simply stated,

Police investigating the murder of Tanya Smith and the attempted murder of Misty Cockrell had received phone calls from a male claiming to be the killer. From the content of the calls, police believe that the killer is the person responsible for the murder. The calls are of a threatening nature, and police are cautioning the public to take extra precautions to protect their safety. As the case captured the attention of the entire country, the local community was still terrified and devastated. Feeling helpless, they organised candlelight vigils and marches in Tanya's memory.

Misty was still recovering in hospital, still under police protection. She was able to work with an RCMP forensic artist on a composite sketch of the killer that would later be released to the public. It showed a balding man with dark hair, high cheekbones, a large forehead and a moustache. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Square Space makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago,

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That's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC, and get your passion project off the ground today. On October 21st 1995, three days after the phone calls, the city came together with Tanya Smith's family to celebrate her life. As hundreds gathered, the police conducted surveillance of the services and covertly videoed all the family, friends and supportive community members as they left the church that day. As far as the police could tell, there was no overly suspicious behavior from anyone in attendance. It was simply a family and a community coming together to grieve for a lost child.

Tanya's gravestone featured a photo of her alongside an engraving of her favorite flowers, sunflowers. It featured the words, our sunflower forever in our hearts. Unbeknownst to police at the time, a young father attended the funeral along with his two small children, but he wasn't there to pay his respects. After her funeral, Tanya's uncle spoke to McLean's magazine about the community atmosphere, saying that people were definitely being more careful. He wrote, you won't see a whole lot of people on the streets at night. There's an atmosphere of frustration and fear.

McLean's reported that local martial arts schools were experiencing an increase in registrations as people brushed up on their self-defense skills. Sales of personal alarms and police scanners were booming. The community was bracing themselves for another strike. The investigation would remain mostly quiet until Halloween. At 9.10pm on October 31st, a 911 operator received another call. This call is even more graphic in nature than the other calls, and this is where I've chosen to draw the line.

It mentioned the same holdback evidence as well as an additional vulgar threat. It was definitely the same voice as the other calls, and this time the caller seemed extra excited. It was thought that he was masturbating during this phone call. The call was traced to a telephone booth outside of a local pub and close to a freeway entrance. Again, it was empty when the police arrived, and again, they were unable to find any fingerprints. At this point, the task force consulted with the RCMP's behavioural science unit from Ottawa.

They wanted assistance in crafting a criminal profile for their suspect, especially when it came to his possible geographical location. Based on the locations of the three phone booths as well as the site of the attack and the site that Tanya's body was dumped, the conclusion was that the suspect likely lived and worked inside of a 20 block area of Abbotsford. On November 6, 1995, the Joint Task Force held a press conference where they released the composite sketch of the suspect, along with several edited portions of the phone calls.

They set up a special 800 number that played excerpts of the phone call on a loop for the media and the public to listen to. The hope was that someone's friend, co-worker or relative was the killer, and the police were counting on one of them identifying him from his voice and ending their search. With the saturated media coverage, the tips began rapidly coming through. Even with 20 officers on the Joint Task Force, they knew they would need to prioritise the tips. So they came up with a list of categories for the tips. Did it sound like his voice? Did he look like the composite drawing?

Was he linked in some way to either Misty or Tanya? Did he have a past record for violence or sexual assault? Was he linked to the area of either the attack site or the dump site? The tips with the most category check marks moved to the top of the priority list for investigation. Meanwhile, Misty Cockrell had recovered enough to be moved from the hospital into official witness protection with her family. The killer was still an imminent threat and she had to be kept safe. As preparations were being made for this,

she worked with another sketch artist on an updated version of the composite sketch, which was released to the media. The tip lines rang hot and there was a big breakthrough. In the days after releasing the updated sketch, the line received three tips, all identifying the same man. The callers said he was a suspected drug trafficker with contacts in the area of the attack site. They reported that he'd committed prior assaults using a baseball bat and that he had a birthday party the day before the attack,

where he had a cake in the shape of a pair of breasts. There was a report of him allegedly biting into the cake in a manner that sounded eerily similar to the secret hold-back evidence, the bite mark impression. They said he'd also commented to associates that he would like to grab a couple of bitches off the street for some fun and in terms of his appearance, the man they identified matched the composite sketch perfectly,

lots of check marks for their tip categories. In fact, he was already known to police. Before his name came up repeatedly in the tip line, two unrelated women had picked him out in a photo lineup as their attacker. They did a lineup with Misty. Despite him looking exactly like the sketch, she was unable to identify him as her attacker. But they felt like they had their guy

and they had a plan to make sure he didn't slip away. On the morning of December 1st, the man was arrested at his house and held in custody for the sexual assault of one of the women who had previously identified him on another attack. Their plan was to hold him in custody and get a warrant for his DNA and bite impression. The man fiercely denied any involvement in the attacks

and was cooperative in the investigation, readily agreeing to do the DNA and bite mark impressions. This was 1995, so results from DNA tests could take months. The forensic dentist was back with results after just four days. The man's teeth impression was not a match to the bite mark evidence. Members of the task force already suspected that they may have had the wrong man, just based on his interviews, but now they knew.

But they would need to wait on the DNA results before he could conclusively be eliminated. Luckily, it only took six weeks. On February 15th, 1996, the DNA evidence came in from the Vancouver Crime Detection Lab, officially eliminating this man as their suspect. After two months in jail, the media captured him being released

and walking down the street back to his life. But with the release of this suspect, came the renewed threat that the Abbotsford Killer was still at large. And while this suspect had been in custody, the task force hadn't heard from the real killer. He'd remained silent, because they knew that this man likely wasn't the right guy. They thought that maybe the actual killer was staying silent,

happy to let another man take his limelight and consequences for his crime. But also, there was a worry that he might have left the area. Just two days later, a DJ at a local Abbotsford radio station called Radio Max received a phone call on the public phone line. The caller instructed him to go outside to their parking lot because he'd left a gift for him.

The employee went out to the parking lot and saw a piece of stone lying on the hood of the branded Radio Max vehicle. Walking up to it, he saw that it was the granite headstone that belonged to Tanya Smith. The killer had actually stolen her 190-pound headstone and managed to dump it on the car in a busy parking lot one block off Main Street, all without any witnesses.

He'd defaced it, too. He wrote a series of short messages on the stone right over the portrait of Tanya Smith. There was also an arrow pointing to Tanya's right breast with a vulgar comment. So, not only was the killer still in the area, but his sadistic stunts were escalating and he insinuated that this wasn't the first time

he'd killed someone, but he'd also just threatened Misty Cockrell, their only living witness. Luckily, she was safe in witness protection now. But the police were now wondering if they might actually be dealing with a serial killer. The task force had grown close to the Smith family during the investigation

and they decided they would all pitch in and replace Tanya Smith's headstone. According to Rod Gale's book, The Search for the Abbotsford Killer, the ceremony to replace the headstone was quietly attended by the Smith family and investigators only. Two days after the Radio Max stunt,

the killer called 911 again. He asked the operator how they liked the present he gave them. Then he stated it wouldn't be the last and quickly hung up. The call was traced back to the Rotary Stadium and again, the police were unable to obtain any fingerprints.

However, there was a witness who said he saw a possible two-tone beige sedan in the area. This description matched the earlier description of a brown sedan, which was seen from the night the girls were attacked. The task force had a composite sketch of the car made and released it via the media.

Just days later, the killer came up with another creative way to contact police. Unfortunately, the killer was found on February 21, 1996, on a dark residential street without street lights. The killer threw an object through the living room window of a random house. At home was a mother with two young kids

and she immediately called the police. She wisely didn't touch the item, leaving it where it landed on the living room floor. The police took it, seeing that it consisted of a dark blue envelope, which had been scotch-taped to an adjustable metal wrench that could double as pliers.

The instructions were printed on both sides of the envelope with large block letters. It stated, After canvassing the area, the police were told by potential witnesses that no one saw anything. However, this time,

his new method of communication would prove to be far more valuable to the investigation. The Abbotsford Police forensic identification expert, Constable Mike Olson, began painstakingly examining the letter. He carefully peeled back each layer of tape and separated them from the envelope and the wrench.

Taking great care to inspect each item separately, he was on the last layer of tape when, to his utter shock, he discovered what was almost a full fingerprint. This was exciting news to the investigators at the time, because the profile of their killer included the detail that he would most likely have a criminal record.

They assumed this meant they would be able to quickly identify him from police records. But after running the print through the Canadian database, they didn't get any hits. They decided to check the United States databases, too. But those, too, came back without any matches. This fact made them realize they needed to change the way they were rating the leads from the public tip line.

Previously, they were moving anything from the public tip line to the Canadian database. Previously, they were moving anything with a check mark in the criminal history category to the top of their list. After the print didn't garner a hit in any criminal databases, they decided to do the opposite. They moved anyone with a criminal history to the bottom of their priority list.

As the rest of the letter was disassembled, it was found to contain four separate newspaper clippings. Two of the newspaper clippings contained pictures of Misty and Tanya, written across the picture of Misty over her forehead. It said, The third and fourth clippings were articles relating to the deaths of three women,

who were victims of sexually motivated murders in 1985, 10 years beforehand. All three of the unsolved murders had been the subject of a Vancouver Sun newspaper article in 1989. It was obvious to police that their suspect had been hanging on to the clippings for almost seven years. The letter started with more vulgar comments

before moving on to a confession that it was him that phoned from the rotary station. In the letter, he took credit for the three unsolved murders from 1985 that he included the clippings for. He also detailed three other attacks on women in Abbotsford in the year before his attack on Misty and Tanya. The letter contained more offensive comments clearly included for shock value.

He ended the letter with Hey guys, I'm bad. I will strike again one day. I will be caught. I will not move from Abbotsford. Bye guys. This is the last time you hear from me till next time. Good luck.

It was after this letter that the investigative team realized that they were in fact dealing with a serial offender. After confirming that the three incidents of attacks he outlined in the year before had actually happened, they began to examine each incident for any evidence that could help them catch their suspect.

They discovered that on July the 5th, just three months before the attack on Misty and Tanya, a 12-year-old girl was sitting on the front lawn of a building on the busy street across from a McDonald's fast food restaurant. It was just after 10pm. A man came up from behind the girl and grabbed her breast, placed his hand over her mouth and attempted to drag her away.

She fought her way free and managed to run. She didn't see the suspect's face, but she did describe his arm as freckled with reddish hair and a possible tattoo of an anchor on his right arm. The next offence happened the year before, on September 16th, 1994, at 10.30pm. In this case, the woman attacked was living in an outpatient home for people with mental illness.

She'd gone out for an evening walk and because it was very dark, she only remembered being struck from behind on the head. She recalled that she regained consciousness while being dragged by her feet. When a car came around the street, the suspect let go of her and ran off. The most interesting to the police

in terms of information that could apply to their current investigation was the most recent incident mentioned in the letter. It occurred at 5.30 in the morning on August 8, 1995, a little over two months before the attack on Misty and Tanya, and occurred right across from the front entry of the MSA hospital. This is a significant location because the attack on the girls

happened almost directly behind the MSA hospital. During the similar incident, a young woman had left a downtown bar after having an argument with her boyfriend. Walking past the front of the MSA hospital at around 5.30am was the last thing she remembered. She was found unconscious by a passing motorist lying on the sidewalk and bleeding from her head.

In the letter, the killer had mentioned that he'd used the same baseball bat for this attack that he'd used to attack Misty and Tanya. The survivor's injuries were treated by a doctor. Her injuries included a compressed skull fracture, meaning that the bone had been driven into the brain tissue. It was caused by blunt force trauma to the head. The injuries would likely have been fatal

without immediate medical intervention. In his letter, the killer also spoke about this survivor's appearance using a racial slur to describe that she appeared to be Indigenous. She was in fact of European heritage, more specifically, she was Norwegian, but she had a darker complexion and could have been mistaken as Indigenous. The killer also said that he took her backpack,

kept the $200 that was in it, and then threw it up on the roof of a brick shop. Detectives discovered that these details were correct. Her purse was missing and was later found by a maintenance worker on top of a brick retail store north of the hospital. What's more, the survivor also reported that her purse was also missing $225,

corroborating the killer's story. The location of the purse was hold back evidence in that case, so police were able to quickly establish that their suspect was also most likely responsible for this attack. When it came to the three unsolved homicides from 1985, there wasn't enough evidence to link him to those attacks. However, they confirmed that each attack was sexually motivated and the violence had been excessive and extreme,

and all appeared to be opportunistic in nature, just like the attack on Misty and Tanya. If the police were able to take the killer's most recent letter and attachments at face value, which seemed to be corroborated, then they were looking for an experienced serial killer who had not yet been touched by the legal system, a terrifying prospect.

It was now March of 1996, five months after the attack on Misty and Tanya, and it had now been a few weeks since they had last heard from the killer. The police needed to do something to push things along. The investigators and the psychological profiling team suggested utilizing the media in some way. They wanted to give him the attention he seemed to crave without inciting him to commit more violence,

so they decided to launch what they called Operation Mousetrap. Dr. Mike Webster, the psychologist from their profiling team, developed a strategy. In order to execute their plan, the media would need to be involved, and they would need to agree to stick to a carefully worded script using reverse psychology, designed to incite the killer into reaching out again to police.

The media agreed to participate and to be discreet, knowing that they were an important part of this next stage of the investigation, and everyone in the community had a vested interest in getting this man off the streets. The other side to this Operation Mousetrap strategy was manning the payphone sites. The killer made a large number of his calls from payphones, but he always managed to be gone by the time they traced the call

and arrived at each booth. So, the police dispatched a large number of police cars in the vicinity of the payphones he'd used in the past, and they worked with the BC phone service provider to see if there was a way they could get ahead of the call, possibly learning his location before 911 even answered. The company was helpful, and they came up with a plan to leave the phones to ring for five times before it was answered,

providing extra time for tracing before the call even started. This translated into an advantage for police. The strategy was executed on March 26, 1996. The media reported, the killer has not been heard from since February 21, and the police psychologist Mike Webster commented to the media Monday that he thinks it will be some time before the killer contacts police again. Dr. Webster was interviewed on multiple media outlets,

saying, I think that when he takes these long periods of time off without making contact, these are the times when he's working up the courage or confidence to make contact again. The killer is struggling with two powerful needs. One is the need to demonstrate his power and control over the police, and the other is to preserve his own freedom. Dr. Webster went on to say that, in his opinion, he thought the suspect understood the risks he takes,

but likely didn't feel comfortable in taking that risk. Quote, and looking at the elements of this case, I don't think that he is able to taunt the police like that over a long period of time and not compromise his freedom, his liberty, and I think at some level he knows that as well. This messaging was obviously a tactic to try and get the killer to make another brazen move. For the next five days after the orchestrated media release,

the police were out on the streets and alert for someone matching the killer's description. Hopeful that their enticement strategy had worked, they concentrated on each of the pay phones inside the 20 blocks identified in the geographical profile of the killer. But the plan didn't work. The killer did not call back. A month later, they decided to release additional information to the media designed to increase the quality of the tips.

At a news conference, they brought up the composite sketch of the two-toned Brown sedan that was seen in the area of the attack site, and they again tried to have the public refocus on the voice tapes, which they now enhanced for clarity. They also offered a reward of $40,000 for information leading to the identity and capture of the suspect. Only three hours later, the task force received a call that would change everything.

On the other end was a distraught woman who said that she was sure that the voice on the tapes belonged to her son. This is where we'll leave it for part one. If you're a patron, you will of course receive the second part early and ad-free via my exclusive feed on Patreon. And if you're not a patron, it's only $2 a month and you'll get immediate access to one bonus episode, as well as my monthly debrief episodes called Chats with Christy,

where I talk about my experiences covering each case and what else has been happening. To learn more, go to patreon.com. Thanks for listening and special thanks to the other two Canadian podcast voices you heard on this episode. One is Jack Luna from Dark Topic, which is unfortunately about to be retired, but I'm excited that he's coming back soon with a new podcast called Crime Machine.

And the other voice was Lisa from The Secret Life of Weddings, a hilarious podcast about real wedding stories. Today's podcast recommendation is Fool Me Twice, a new podcast that explores the ugly side of online dating. This is the second successful podcast produced by my friend Jules Hannaford, except this time it's actually narrated by her daughter. They tell you they're in love with you and you feel optimistic for the first time in a long time.

They have a successful career yet somehow they need money from you to solve a short-term problem, always with the promise of paying you back. Time goes on and they need more money more urgently. You've started to see the cracks and begin to wonder whether they've been lying this whole time. All of a sudden it hits you. You've been scammed. Fool Me Twice is the story of my mother, Jules Hannaford,

a woman who was drawn into the dangerous world of sweetheart scams. After a trip overseas to meet a stranger, a dangerous altercation in a Manchester hotel room and thousands of pounds lost for good, she's here to tell her story. Fool Me Twice, a true crime podcast, is available on Apple Podcasts, Oscars Network and anywhere you listen to your podcasts. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched

and written by Stephanie Moore, edited by me and audio production was by We Talk of Dreams, who also wrote the theme song. The host of the Beyond Bizarre True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer. I'll be back soon with part two. See you then. I'll be back soon. My name's John Weir. You don't know me, but you're gonna.

Because I know the people that have been watching you, learning about you. They know you've done well for yourself, that people like you and trust you. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you've freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. Radical, starring Kiefer Sutherland. New series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.