Canadian True Crime - 70 The Survival of Zach Miller

Episode Date: June 15, 2020

SASKATCHEWAN - It was 2006, and ten year old Zachary Miller was enjoying the summer on his family’s farm near the tiny town of Whitewood, Saskatchewan. A man walked up the driveway with a teenage boy, wanting to buy eggs—and Zach's life would never be the same again.Child Personal Safety Resources: Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a national charity dedicated to the personal safety of all children, and provides resources and education.The National Crime Prevention Council provides resources to parents on how to teach kids about strangers:Canada: The Missing Children Society of Canada provides resources for what to do if your child goes missing:United States: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides resources for what to do if your child goes missing: https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/isyourchildmissing.#BlackLivesMatter donations and support:Canada: How You Can Support Black People Today, Tomorrow & Forever by Refindery 29United States: Places to Donate thanks to The Fall Line PodcastPodcast recommendation:Fetal AbductionsThanks for supporting my sponsors!See the special offer codes hereCredits: Research & Writing: Haley GrayWriting: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True Crime Theme Song: We Talk of Dreams All credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime supports and has donated to blacklivesmatter.ca and other organizations that advocate for justice and systemic change. If you'd like to learn more, check the show notes for resources and links. This podcast contains course language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. Hi there, just an additional warning about this episode. It's a powerful story of survival, but it involves a serial child predator. I won't be including any graphic details out of respect for the survivors, but it might not be suitable for everyone.

Bringing my story out is to help raise awareness on us and to help identify that there is these wolves among us, these predators. This is me, this is what happened, and this is how we made it through. It was 2006, and 10-year-old Zachary Miller was enjoying the summer on his family's farm. They lived near the tiny town of Whitewood, Saskatchewan, and tended to a range of animals. Zach was the second youngest of six kids. He was outgoing and inquisitive and loved the farm life. He enjoyed helping out in his family shop, as well as exploring the farm and building things. As is common with many farms, the Miller family often sold eggs to

locals via a sign at the end of the driveway, saying, eggs for sale. One day that summer, a man and a boy came down the driveway to buy some eggs. Zach stood by as the man introduced himself to Zach's parents as Robert Summers and introduced the 14-year-old boy with him as his nephew. After making some light conversation, Robert and his nephew left with the eggs they just purchased. Robert seemed like a decent guy, very amicable and friendly. The next day, the pair came back to the farm, and Robert suggested that maybe 10-year-old Zach and his nephew Joshua should play together. At 10 and 14, they weren't too far apart in age and it seemed like a good idea. A play date was scheduled for later.

As Robert went to drive off, his van got a flat tire. Zach's father Lyle said that he'd take a look at it and told the man and his nephew that they may as well stay for dinner, prairie hospitality. Now, the dinner was awkward. Zach and his family noticed that while Robert ate dinner at the table with them, 14-year-old Joshua sat in the living room with a sullen look on his face. The Millers offered him some dinner, but Robert intercepted and said no. Joshua didn't eat a thing. The Miller family thought it was weird but shrugged it off at the time. A week later, on July 30, 2006, Robert dropped his nephew Joshua off at the Miller house for his scheduled play date with Zach. The boys decided to ride their

bikes around and explore some nearby farmland. They said goodbye to Zach's parents and rode off. Zach's mum Pam told the boys to be back for lunch. But they weren't back in time. It wasn't like Zach to not come back when he said he was going to, so it wasn't long before Pam started to get worried. So she decided to take the quad bike out to look for the two boys. She rode over to the farm they said they were going to and around the area, but couldn't find any sign of either of them. So she drove into town and asked a few people if they'd seen Zach. Zach had a distinctive look, fiery red hair and freckles, but no one had seen him. Rattling her brain for any other ideas, Pam then decided to go to a different farm to take a look.

She came across an abandoned garage and went inside. There she saw the two bikes the boys were riding. They were parked, meaning the bikes were standing upright, leaning against the wall. Pam suddenly knew something was seriously wrong. Zach never parked his bike, he would usually just lay it on the ground, and the boys were nowhere to be found. Pam immediately called up her husband Lyle to tell him that their son was missing. Quote, that guy has him. This is Christy and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 70. Zach's parents Lyle and Pam were terrified and prayed that Zach would show up soon or someone would find him. They waited a bit longer before calling the RCMP to report Zach missing.

An officer showed up that evening and showed them a picture of a tall, stocky white man with brown hair. They didn't know how the police knew, but Lyle confirmed, that's the guy. The man in the photos was Robert Summers, the uncle of Joshua. With confirmation that this was the same man, the police took off to continue searching for the boys. Zach's family and friends were out there too by this time searching the area. Lyle and Pam Miller were beside themselves. Lyle already had a funny feeling about Robert Summers. Stemming from that odd interaction in the dining room when 14-year-old Joshua wasn't allowed to eat dinner with them. And as Pam reflected back on their interactions with Robert,

she realized that he was a smooth talker who seemed to have a story ready for everything. Did he genuinely have a flat tire on his van or was it just an excuse? With an a few hours of learning about Zach's abduction, the first ever Amber Alert was issued in Saskatchewan. The public heard that Zach was 10 years old, four feet six inches tall, 70 pounds with red hair and brown eyes, and he was wearing black track pants with a red and white stripe and running shoes. The alert also featured pictures of the man who was presumed to have taken Zach, but Robert Summers was not his real name. He was in fact 35-year-old Peter Whitmore, six feet tall, white with a heavy-built brown hair and brown eyes.

He was possibly driving a 1988 Blue Dodge Caravan with wood panelling and Alberta plates. The alert also said that he might be with a 14-year-old Indigenous boy. Lyle and Pam Miller were told that the 14-year-old boy Peter said was his nephew was not. See, Peter Whitmore was a convicted sex offender and one of Canada's most notorious pedophiles. He was born in 1970, the youngest of four siblings, and his parents had separated before he was born. The majority of the information on Peter Whitmore's childhood and background came from the book Devil Among Us, how Canada failed to stop a pedophile by Mike McIntyre. But Peter Whitmore is known to be a manipulative liar.

This is being confirmed by prison psychologists. The book's preface states that all the information is factual, but for some of it, the only source is Peter himself. Peter described a volatile childhood, but many of the stories he told didn't fit together. In one retelling, his mother was admitted to a psychiatric facility and his father was never in the picture. In another version, Peter and his siblings were transferred around to several different foster homes, as well as stints living with their mother and her partners, who were often described as abusive. He also described living with his aunt for a time. That same aunt would say that at age two, Peter sustained a head injury in a car accident.

In other retellings, he lived with friends of his aunt and recalled a relatively happy childhood. Peter would also say he was a survivor of sexual abuse, which he says started when one of his older brothers raped him at nine years old. That brother has since stated publicly that this didn't happen. Peter also said that he had suffered other sexual abuse from adult males, but he couldn't provide any further information because he had blocked those memories. He also said he started having sexual fantasies involving young boys, and his first sexual experience was when he was 14, and the other boy was 10. By age 16, Peter had dropped out of school after being suspended and expelled from several schools

for bad grades and behavior. He would say that even though he was just 16, he traveled to California in the US where he took acting jobs and earned money through sex work. Bizarrely, he claimed that while living on the streets, he met an LA police officer who was 22 years old. Bear in mind, Peter was just 16. According to him, they got married and she had a baby who he didn't keep in contact with. In fact, he says that soon after this, he moved back to Canada, to Alberta, where he lived with his biological father. But soon after he moved in, he stole his father's car and was sentenced to 30 days in a youth offender facility for theft. Remember, these all appeared to be unverified accounts of Peter's life that originated from him. But in this instance,

it was able to be verified by court documents that Peter Whitmore stealing his father's car at age 17 was his first run-in with the law. What wasn't confirmed was his teenage marriage story. He went on to say that the LA cop that he married when he was 16 and she was 22 died tragically a few years later after her car plunged over a cliff. According to Peter, their baby, a boy, went on to live with the gay couple and he kept in contact with him. Peter also claimed that he fathered another two children to two other mothers and he said that one of the mothers was just 14 years old, although he didn't say how old he was. Peter would say that by the late 1980s he was 18 years old and living on the streets of Toronto. It was there that he decided to commit his first official sex offence,

or so he said. He said it was an 11-year-old boy who had cycled through a number of foster homes and was vulnerable. Peter struck up a friendship with the boy and offered to start a relationship where he paid the boy money in exchange for sexual acts. Their relationship went on for a few months. A few years went by and in March of 1993, 23-year-old Peter managed to befriend another vulnerable teenage boy and turn him into an accomplice. Being seen with one boy would make it easier for him to lure more victims and it wasn't long before they came across one, an 11-year-old boy who had been dropped off by his parents to go swimming at a local pool. The teen helped Peter lure the boy with the promise of a job and some money but he ended up

in a basement storage room where he was sexually assaulted for hours. Peter told the boy he would let him go if he promised not to tell anyone. His parents had of course reported him missing when he failed to return home from the pool and when he did he told them everything. A few days later Peter and his teenage victim who he turned into an accomplice found another 11-year-old boy in Toronto. Peter offered him $100 for a sexual favour. The boy said no and ran away. When he saw his parents he told them what happened. He tried again with a boy aged 12 and again with another boy aged 13. Both boys escaped unharmed and told their parents too. All the parents had reported these incidents to police who suddenly realised that there was a

serial child sex offender out on the streets of Toronto. The police interviewed survivors and witnesses to each incident and it didn't take long before a name was put to the face. Peter Whitmore was tracked to Sault Ste. Marie some 700 kilometres northwest of Toronto and he was arrested. In September of 1993 Peter pleaded guilty to all those charges of abuse and attempted abuse. He was sentenced to just 22 months in prison plus three years probation. Because he'd already served six months in jail waiting for trial he only had to serve an additional 16 months. But while he was in there he was devising new ways to access young children. He came up with a plan where he would tell people he was the head of an international

search and rescue service that tracked down lost children. Finally he had a plan he could put into action. He just had to find a suitable target. In the lead up to his release Peter became friends with another inmate who was also about to be released. The inmate said he wanted to see his son when he was out but he didn't think the boy's mother would allow it. He mentioned that she also had an eight-year-old daughter. A light bulb went off in Peter's head and the next manipulation began. He told the inmate that he was the head of child protective services and that he would help him to get his son back. It's not known if the other inmate believed him but he certainly needed help with his son. When both men were released from prison in July of 1994 Peter showed up at

court in an attempt to help the inmate get a temporary visitation order. But what the inmate didn't know was that Peter had already met with the boy's mother in Guelph, Ontario telling her that he was the head of child protective services and that the father wanted visitation. When the woman became visibly upset Peter suggested that perhaps would be a good idea to get the eight-year-old girl out of the house for a bit to avoid the stress. He offered to watch her himself. The woman agreed. Of course he took off with her and sexually abused her. In the meantime her mother had called up the inmate who told her that Peter was a convicted sex offender. The police were called.

After five days Peter tried to check into a hotel. Unbeknownst to him a retired RCMP officer was waiting behind him and grew suspicious as he listened to the interaction. It wasn't long before Peter was arrested and the little girl was recovered. A search of Peter's apartment was fruitful when it came to evidence. Police found 15 binders with pictures of young boys and girls modeling clothing and swimsuits from catalogs. There were posters of child movie stars as well as a bunch of self-help books regarding parenting and home remedies for sick kids. This man was obviously preparing for grooming a child. In April of 1995 Peter took a plea deal. In exchange for the abduction charge being dropped he pleaded guilty to two charges related to sexual abuse.

He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to stay away from the children forever with one exception Peter's son. The judge seemed to have evidence that a son existed and said that this was the only child he could have contact with. According to the book Devil Among Us when Peter started his next prison sentence at Milhaven Institution he was given the hair psychopathy checklist assessment which gives a score of one to 40. People with no criminal background normally score around five or below. 40 is the maximum and denotes a prototypical psychopath. Those who score 30 or above qualify for a diagnosis of psychopathy. Peter Whitmore scored 30. This also meant that he

had a very high chance of reoffending. While at Milhaven prison officials received so many complaints from inmates about his toxic and disruptive behavior that they decided to send him to Kingston Penitentiary which was considered better equipped to deal with him. As his next release date approached Toronto police were worried about the safety of the public. Although he'd been ordered not to have any contact with kids they were certain it wouldn't be long before he offended again and they wanted to be ready. They issued a press release alerting the public of his release which got people talking. Peter also agreed to keep a peace bond a formal statement of his intention to keep the peace and not offend again. When he was out part of his

parole conditions was a requirement to check into the Toronto police sex crimes unit every day but he didn't even make the first appointment. A national arrest warrant was issued with the news making headlines. His recently acquired lawyer Dan Brodsky publicly blamed the press release issued by police saying that it likely resulted in his client being run out of town. Five weeks later Peter was tracked to Mexico and arrested. Police seized his notebook and found that it detailed the names and ages of 13 children. He was taken back to Canada and was sentenced to 12 months for parole violations. During his prison stints he showed little interest in participating in the rehabilitative programs available to child sex offenders. He was found

with pictures of children he'd cut out from magazines and he was always plotting. During one open house session he was observed to have no visitors of his own but approached two young boys there to see their father. While he'd been sentenced to 12 months he was released after nine and moved into a Toronto neighbourhood. It didn't take the locals long to learn that a convicted serial child sex offender had moved close by. Hundreds of parents protested demanding that he move out of their neighbourhood. Peter would say he was worried about his own safety so he left and moved into a budget hotel. Peter's lawyer Dan Brodsky knew that his client had a chronic PR situation on his hands. This situation was becoming untenable. He contacted the media to

see if anyone was interested in perhaps interviewing Peter. Maybe if Peter were able to give his side of the story and state his intentions moving forward then the storm might die down. The late Christy Blatchford was one of the journalists who grabbed the carrot eager to interview what author Mike McIntyre described as arguably the country's most controversial pedophile at that moment. She observed 30-year-old Peter Whitmore to put on quite an act. He said he was committed to his rehabilitation and staying away from children. He insisted that he would likely be celibate for the rest of his life. He claimed that he felt nothing sexually for young children anymore and said that he knew he wasn't going to re-offend. What he did do was try to minimize his crimes

and the effect that it had on the survivors and their families. But overall he seemed to have charmed Christy Blatchford. She wrote a piece for the National Post where she essentially said she was angry that he was subjected to constant police surveillance and had to be in hiding when he had served his entire sentence and had not re-offended. Quote, The difference is that before I met him I was furious about all this and now that I have I can barely rouse myself to care. I expected I might feel the need of a shower afterwards. What's so frightening is that I didn't. She wasn't the only one. Peter had fooled them all into believing he had no intention of offending again. Just weeks later Peter Whitmore arrived at a Toronto hotel

with a young boy in tow who he introduced as his son who wasn't feeling well. Someone didn't buy it and called the police. They found him with a 13 year old who was a runaway from New Brunswick. The boy was unharmed. Peter pleaded guilty to a breach of probation and was sentenced to a year in jail followed by three years probation. His lawyer Dan Brodsky argued that he should be released from jail immediately as he was ill and needed medical treatment. This was denied. He served eight months of his 12 month sentence and was released in November of 2001. This time the courts discussed giving him an ankle bracelet to wear a newer technology for Canada but they decided against it instead giving him a curfew. Peter had to be at his residence by 6pm and

wasn't allowed to leave until 6am. But within three months Peter had taken off again. Police immediately issued another Canada wide warrant for his arrest. Police knew he'd been living in a budget motel and interviewed his neighbours there. One was a single mother of three young children and she told police that he took a special interest in the oldest child who was five years old. Luckily nothing happened but the police were now on high alert. They knew that Peter had been in contact with children which was against his court order and had now taken off. The risk of him reoffending again and soon was high. Someone tipped off police to his whereabouts. He'd gone to British Columbia to visit his aunt and when he was arrested there he was found with latex

gloves, duct tape and pictures of young children. In June of 2002 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison which included 12 months of psychiatric treatment. During his time in prison a search of his cell unearthed pictures of young boys as well as outlines of plans he had for when he was released. Obviously his parole hearing was not going to go well. The board noted that no progress had been made when it came to Peter taking responsibility for what he'd done and sincerely participating in programs designed to prevent a relapse in his behaviour. The written decision stated, your file information indicates that on several occasions you have identified your victims as willing participants and you have further stated that you did not force any of your

victims to become engaged in sexual acts. Accordingly you failed to realise the long-term impacts that your actions have caused on these young impressionable children. In Peter's mind he hadn't done anything wrong. The parole board also noted he'd shown a blatant disregard for his previous release orders and he was likely to reoffend against the child again. They wanted to keep him in prison as long as they could but his sentence was only for three years. That time came. It was now 2005 and 35 year old Peter Whitmore was again preparing for his release. Beforehand authorities had obtained a community supervision order that allowed them to monitor his movements within British Columbia for 12 months but they also

needed to warn the public again. On the day of Peter's release the RCMP issued another Canada wide warning. Quote RCMP are warning about a well-known offender Peter Whitmore 34 was released by Corrections Canada Thursday after serving his entire three-year sentence for breaching a probation order which was implemented following past sexual offences against children. The announcement described his physical appearance and stated that he wasn't allowed to be within 300 meters of any area where children could be found. When he was released Peter went to live on a property owned by his aunt and requested to be called Robert instead. During this time Canada had implemented the National Sex Offender Registry which was designed to give law enforcement a way to access

up-to-date information on convicted sex offenders including where they were living. Peter was served with documents to register himself and at first he declared he intended to fight it but ended up complying. But then it all came crashing down. As the expiry date of his 12 month community supervision order was nearing the Crown discovered a communication failure in the court system that meant the order would expire before they could obtain a new one. The Crown and the RCMP scrambled to get something else in place to try and continue his supervision. After all he'd just gone for 12 months without a major incident. In the end in desperation they asked Peter to agree to another peace bond. He was under no obligation to agree but he did.

A formal hearing was scheduled for a few weeks later but the man in question did not show up. Peter Whitmore had changed his mind and disappeared again. 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 I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose Square Space because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It's important to have a

website that looks good and I was inspired by Square Space's wide selection of clean and modern templates. They can be easily customized with pre-built layouts and flexible design tools to fit your needs and you can even browse the category of your business to see examples of what others have done. I use the built-in blogging tools to create a new page for each episode and there are so many intuitive options from embedding an audio player so listeners can stream episodes to scheduling posts to be published on a certain date, an easily moderated comment section and automatically displaying recent episodes on the homepage. Every Square Space website and online store includes SEO tools to help you maximize your visibility in search engines

and I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools helping me better understand who's visiting the site, where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial and when you're ready to launch use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain that's squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. He surfaced in a small community in Newfoundland in Labrador called Top Sale near St. John's telling neighbors that his wife died and he wanted to bring his two young kids to the area. Neighbors noted that he inserted himself into the community very quickly paying

particular attention to the local kids. They felt something was off. After just a few weeks though he was gone saying he'd be back with his kids. Another report came through later that Peter had paid a boy in the Newfoundland town of Conception Bay South $40 in exchange for a sex act. The boy agreed at first but became frightened and ran away. After that Peter started driving west and ended up in Winnipeg Manitoba. Using the name Robert Summer he got a job at a construction site where he met a man called Bill who he had a lot in common with. Within days the two men were friends. Peter said he was between homes and managed to manipulate his way into staying at the home his new friend Bill shared with his

partner and her four children. One of them was a 14 year old called Joshua. The teenager had run away from home many times and was always getting into trouble. The same day that Peter moved in he suggested to Bill that it might be a good idea to take his stepson Joshua away on a camping trip because it would get him away from the bad crowd of friends he'd been hanging with. Because Bill was only Joshua's stepfather they had to check with his mother first. She agreed but only if Bill went to. Peter drove the pair in his van and Bill and Joshua went to sleep. At 1am they woke up to find the van parked at a bus station two and a half hours away in Brandon Manitoba. Peter told Bill that the car had been having problems and wasn't going to make

it the rest of the way. He needed to get it fixed but he said he had no money but there was $2,000 back in Winnipeg. Peter Whitmore master manipulator was able to talk Bill into leaving his stepson and taking a bus back to Winnipeg to pick up the money. Of course Peter took off in the van with Joshua. When Bill arrived home and his partner Joshua's mom found out what had happened she was beside herself. Her husband had left her son with a virtual stranger but Peter phoned Bill saying he was arranging to get the van fixed and promised to bring Joshua home as soon as it was. Bill believed him. The next day Peter called again and said the same thing. Joshua would be home soon and this time he let the 14 year old speak to his parents. Joshua said he didn't

know where he was but he was okay. His mom decided she'd had enough and reported his disappearance to police. The police said the situation didn't meet the criteria for an amber alert because Joshua hadn't been abducted he'd been willingly left there by a parent, his stepfather. Additionally Joshua had a documented history of running away from home so the police assumed that he'd be back soon. It should also be noted that Joshua was indigenous. Feeling helpless Joshua's parents and other relatives drove to Brandon to look for Joshua themselves asking around at campgrounds, gas stations, mechanics, and stores. Nothing. Nearly four days after 14 year old Joshua had been left with Peter Whitmore,

Winnipeg police announced his disappearance to the public. Meanwhile Joshua was now a victim of ongoing sexual abuse by Peter Whitmore who ordered him to submit and do what he was told or he and his family would be killed. They drove and drove in the blue van crossing from Manitoba to Saskatchewan. Peter had nowhere to go but he knew what he wanted to do. He drove by the miller farm and saw the sign advertising eggs for sale. When he saw 10 year old Zach standing with his parents he hatched a plan to have Joshua help lure the boy. After all he'd done it successfully before. By the time of the bike ride play date Joshua had been gone for eight days and was under Peter Whitmore's full control. Likely filled with

terror and completely defeated he did exactly what the man told him. On their bike ride Joshua told Zach that he wanted to explore an abandoned building they'd seen on a neighboring farm but when they got there Zach felt someone grab him from behind. Tape was put on his mouth something was put over his head and he was shoved in the van. Zach was absolutely terrified as he was sitting in that van rattling down the road. All number of thoughts were going through his head. He didn't know what was happening but he knew that it was bad. After about 20 minutes the van pulled up at a new location which would later be revealed as being near Kipling Saskatchewan. Zach and Joshua were dragged into the old farmhouse and separated.

Since Zach already knew who Peter was there was no point in keeping his head covered. Zach saw that Zach saw that all the farmhouse doors were nailed shut and the windows were closed up. It was clear that he was going to be kept here for some time. A Canada-wide warrant had been issued for Peter Whitmore. Over the first 24 hours the police received over 80 tips. While they were investigating Zach's parents Lyle and Pam were beside themselves. They had found out that the 14 year old that Zach had gone on the bike ride with wasn't Peter's nephew as he'd told them. They were shocked to discover that Peter had taken Joshua too by tricking his family over a week beforehand. Lyle and Pam were stunned. Joshua had been in

their home in their lounge room and had multiple opportunities to blurt out the truth and save himself but he didn't. They thought back on their interaction at the dinner where Peter wouldn't allow Joshua to eat. They realized that Joshua was under the total control of Peter Whitmore and now he had taken their son too. Zach's parents couldn't help but think about what this man might be doing to him. They had to confront the very real fear that he might not make it out alive. Their only wish was that if he was going to murder Zach that it would be fast so their little boy didn't have to suffer. During this time Zach's mother would say that they lived to hear from the police. Any check-in was valuable just to have that reassurance

that someone was still on the case. Any speck of hope. As the investigation went on many people made public pleas for Peter Whitmore to release the boys. Zach's father made a plea and also sent a message through the RCMP to Zach. His family were thinking of him and working hard to bring him home. The public even heard from Peter Whitmore's former lawyer Daniel Brodsky who was interviewed on CBC News. Quote, Peter if you're watching this broadcast go and turn yourself in put the kids on a bus. The RCMP delivered the message to Peter that the situation needed to come to an end. Quote, the best thing for you to do right now is to find a way to do what you've always done before and release the children. Back in the abandoned farmhouse

Peter put a dog leash around Zach's neck and chained him tightly to a metal bed. Zach was assaulted repeatedly both physically and sexually. Peter threatened to kill Zach and his family. Peter told Zach that he was in the military likely in an attempt to get the 10-year-old to stop fighting back but Zach didn't believe it. He could tell Peter was lying and trying to look tough. He refused to do what Peter asked. In return he would again be viciously physically assaulted into what he described as being in a vegetable state and when Peter decided he'd had enough for a while he would have Zach do cleaning. There was no rest, no break. The first night in captivity Zach was kept tightly chained to the bed. His wrists were

beginning to throb and sting in pain. All he was given to eat was a couple of crackers. He couldn't sleep so he watched as mice came out of the vents looking for food. On the farm he was raised to believe that animals always came first so he shared some of his crackers with them. Feeding those animals gave him a little courage and strength to keep going. Zach would say that up until that point he was just your average farm boy. Quote, after that day I was never the same. And the abuse continued the next day. Zach constantly worried that he was going to die. He thought about his family and whether he would ever see them again. The 10 year old never gave up hope. His stubbornness and resourcefulness were always bubbling under

the surface. He had to do what it took to survive even if it cost him more pain. He tried to escape the house several times but was always captured and made to suffer the consequences. But no matter how much it hurt he didn't want Peter to win. The morning of August the 1st 2006 after surviving the second night in captivity Zach had hatched up another plan to escape. That same morning a Saskatchewan farmer called Pat was on a mission. He had heard the amber alert and had taken a special interest in the case. Today he was going to explore a few of the back roads to see if he could see anything out of the ordinary. He knew about other land nearby that contained several abandoned barns and buildings. He had to do his part. As he was driving

around near an abandoned farmhouse Pat saw a set of tyre tracks. This was not an area where tyre tracks should be. He also saw a bucket of half eaten KFC that had been discarded. Someone had been in this area recently with a vehicle. Being careful Pat followed the tracks and found they led to an abandoned garage. He looked inside the garage and saw a van half covered in blankets. He lifted up the blankets and saw that the van matched the description from the amber alert. A blue dodge caravan with wood paneling and Alberta plates. Pat quietly called his wife and arranged for her to call the police and a neighbour to meet him for backup. He and the neighbour quieted down and he and the neighbour quietly waited at the end of the driveway until police showed up.

For safety reasons they didn't want to disturb the scene but they also wanted to make sure that Peter Whitmore did not flee. The RCMP were about a kilometre away near the highway where they'd set up a mobile command area for their emergency response team. They were getting their game plan together and wanted to be close by but didn't want to alert Peter to their presence. They were far enough away that Peter wouldn't be able to see them there as they planned their next move or so they thought. In the abandoned farmhouse 10-year-old Zach Miller saw Peter Whitmore start to freak out. He ranted that he'd heard helicopters flying overhead and could see cars parking together

off the highway. He grabbed the boys both still with their wrists duct taped together and dragged them out of the farmhouse and across the land. Once they got to the abandoned shed that was several hundred metres north of the farmhouse Zach heard sirens. Peter pushed the boys inside the shed and blocked the only exit. Zach's only thought at the time was that Peter was going to kill them to eliminate the witnesses. Terrified he wrote a crude version of his last will in the dirt just in case but at the same time his will to live was still strong. He didn't want to be a statistic. He knew he needed to find a way to get out of there. The sirens were getting closer now. Zach was smart and resourceful. He reached around for anything he could find that

might be helpful in escaping. Peter clearly hadn't had the time to scope out the abandoned shed. Zach felt around and grabbed what turned out to be an old hacksaw blade. He used it to cut off his bindings and then put his hands back behind him again so Peter wouldn't suspect anything. Then he waited for the right moment. When Peter turned away from the door Zach made a run for it. Despite being almost completely depleted of energy he ran straight out the door and passed Peter. Now into the light he quickly set his eye on the nearest police car running across the farm property towards it not caring that he fell into a few gopher holes on the way and had to dive through a fence. He made it to an RCMP officer and collapsed. His nightmare was over. But he knew that 14-year-old

Joshua was still in there even though they hadn't had much contact with each other because Peter had kept them apart. RCMP negotiators were sent in and began discussions with Peter that they hoped would lead to him giving Joshua up and himself. Police did not know if Peter was armed or not and they needed to be careful. There was a long standoff. To Joshua's family it must have felt like an eternity. According to the Globe and Mail Joshua saw Peter attempting to harm himself by mixing a can of WD-40 with a packet of tobacco and then swallowing it. Nothing happened. Negotiations continued. During this time the RCMP told the media that they wanted a safe resolution so they weren't going to rush things. As you'll recall Peter Whitmore had a defense

lawyer called Daniel Brodsky who had worked with the authorities previously to get him help to safely re-enter the community when his previous sentence was over. Brodsky was no longer representing Peter but kept a keen eye on the case. He told the CBC that he couldn't believe the convicted pedophile was allowed to travel freely from province to province. Quote, it's amazing that with Peter's history where even his own defense lawyer says he's a high risk, high needs individual who can live in the community but only if he's properly supervised how you can let the conditions of his supervision expire. After 10 hours of negotiations Peter Whitmore finally gave himself up. Joshua came out with him. Both boys were now free.

Joshua went into RCMP care until he could be reunited with his mother the next day. Remember he traveled from Manitoba to Saskatchewan. 10-year-old Zach had already been taken to the police station to give a statement. He was put in a room with a male and a female officer. His clothes were taken off and entered into evidence. At around midnight he was allowed to see his parents. Zach saw his mother crying and his first instinct was to apologize over and over again. He felt immense guilt for his parents' anguish. Despite all he'd been through and the fact that he'd been chained to a metal bed so tight that his wrists would be scarred for life he blamed himself for what happened. After Zach was done at the police station

he went to the Regina Children's Hospital. Medical professionals examined his severely bruised and battered body and tended to his injuries. They took blood samples. He was given a rape kit, an invasive but necessary procedure. Obviously in cases like this risk of sexually transmitted disease is high. Zach started a daily post-exposure prophylaxis medication regime for HIV as a precaution. He described how the dosage was so high that it shut his little body down and he would sit in a ball on the floor for around an hour. After the hospital Zach and his family were finally able to go home. The media spoke to Zach's father, Lyle, who said that his son was doing about as well as can be expected. Quote, my son had done everything that I knew he

would to get away and he did. He's a very strong little boy and he will get better. Zach's physical injuries had been tended to but his emotional and psychological injuries went much deeper. Quote, the nightmare isn't the three days that you went through. The nightmare is actually the life you live after it, reliving every moment of that. Before he was abducted Zach was a typical 10 year old with no cares in the world but when he got home his life fell apart. He said things just weren't right. He couldn't sleep for days and it wasn't long before depression set in. Zach was only given a few weeks to recover before he was required to go back to school. And that didn't go well. While you would hope a soft landing would be given by the community to

a 10 year old who'd been kidnapped by a violent pedophile and kept in captivity for two days, this didn't happen. Zach was viciously bullied at school. He was called all number of homophobic slurs by other students and he never saw teachers making much of an attempt to stop it. This was in 2006, only 14 years ago. As a result of all he'd suffered, Zach now had a number of triggers, things that set off negative memories and transported him back to the event of his trauma. He was scared of men and did not want to change at the gym in front of the other boys but his teachers didn't give priority to his feelings. He recalled a time when he tried pretending to forget his gym clothes so that he wouldn't have to get changed but his teachers found items from

the lost and found and made him get changed into those instead. Each day he would come home from school feeling completely broken and Zach wasn't the only one. His entire family was struggling to get their life back together and to make matters worse, they felt that the town turned their back on the family. They were treated like outcasts. After a few months, Zach was taken out of school and his parents decided to homeschool him. It would be a long journey of psychological healing for Zach Miller. Originally, the federal government gave him the grand sum of $1,200 which was supposed to be payment for all the therapy he needed. In reality, it would have amounted to about eight to ten sessions, nowhere near enough. But the Canadian Centre for Child Protection

showed up with an offer to pay for all the treatment that Zach needed. He had to see a special therapist because of his age and the severity of what he went through. It was a four and a half hour drive to therapy for the family and they'd have to stay in a hotel. But Zach's family were incredibly grateful to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection for what they now say ended up saving their family. Zach found coping methods including animal therapy. I asked him about that. So in a small child, after even what happened, I still had to go out every morning and take care of these animals. I had that responsibility. It didn't matter how bad of a day I was having or any other thoughts like that. That animal, that sheep, cow, horse, whatever I had to take care of

that day, was happy to see me every morning no matter how unhappy I was, how much I didn't want to be there. That animal still needed to be taken care of. That animal always showed compassion towards me no matter what. That gives children, even myself at the time, that gave me a kind of confidence that there is something out there that does care for you no matter what you've been through. Gardening also helped. Zach felt a sense of accomplishment from taking care of plants, watching them grow and then reaping his harvest. He felt a great sense of satisfaction from working with his hands so started learning about blacksmithing. Now when Zach and Joshua were first abducted, the media reported their real names. But after they were released as minors who were now victims

of sexual assault, a publication ban was put in place to protect their identities. So as Peter Whitmore approached his trial date, the two survivors were now being referred to as the 10-year-old and the 14-year-old. Just before trial, Peter was found with two self-inflicted injuries. One involved pieces of a ballpoint pen that had been lodged in his scrotum that had to be removed surgically. It's not publicly known what the story was with that. But the case never made it to trial. Behind the scenes, Zach had been cross-examined by Peter's defense lawyers during pre-trial interviews and his parents decided that enough was enough. They didn't want to have him testify in front of Peter. Zach had been through enough.

So the crown went to Peter with a plea deal. He would plead guilty to two counts of a range of charges including kidnapping, sexual assault causing bodily injury, death threats, unlawful confinement and child pornography. The plea bargain would spare the expense of a trial and would also mean that neither Joshua nor Zach would be called to testify as witnesses, which would revictimize them. In exchange, Peter would be sentenced to life in prison but would be eligible for parole after seven years. Additionally, the crown agreed that it would not seek to have Peter designated as a dangerous offender. The dangerous offender status is rare. It's put in place to protect the public from the most dangerous and violent offenders

and those with the designation are usually never released. Think Paul Bernardo. Clearly, Peter was exactly that, a dangerous offender, but it was a priority for him not to be given this designation. And additionally, if the crown pursued this designation, both boys would have had to testify, which Zach's parents at least were not willing for him to do. So an agreement was reached. Zach's parents made a decision not to tell him about the plea deal at the time. His dad wanted to spare him. Zach now says he appreciates his father fighting for him, but he also says that Peter got a good deal for the crimes that he committed. At the sentencing hearing, the survivors and their families gave victim impact statements.

Joshua wrote that he no longer felt like himself. He said he could no longer trust people and that the only place he could sleep was the living room. It was the only place he felt safe. Zach wrote that Peter stole him. He said thoughts of what happened constantly into his mind and all he wanted to do was forget what happened. He said he now needed to take sleeping pills to sleep. Zach's parents said that they would never be able to trust people again and added that they were homeschooling Zach and his two sisters because of the bullying that Zach had received at school. Peter Whitmore's legal aid lawyer, Mervyn Shaw, read a statement from Peter that said he was

ashamed of his actions and realized that what he'd done was wrong. The 36-year-old was observed to show little emotion during the hearing and when asked if he had anything to say, he simply said, I'm sorry, your honor. Justice Ian McClellan said the plea agreement was best for the victims. This was likely in response to outrage from child protection groups. The CBC reported that residents of Whitewood signed a petition to have Peter registered as a dangerous sex offender there. After he was sentenced, Peter wrote a letter to prison officials saying he wanted to be chemically castrated. This is not a surgery, but voluntary drug therapy intended to reduce testosterone levels and decrease the sex drive. Peter had requested it before, but according

to the CBC, officials couldn't find a doctor who would take him on as a patient. At the time of the request, a spokesperson for Beyond Borders, a children's protection advocacy group, spoke to CBC and questioned Peter's motives and requesting chemical castration. The spokesperson said he was highly manipulative and stated that this request was just another ploy to manipulate the parole board when the time came to try and get out of prison again. It's not publicly known whether his request was ever granted. As you know, the identities of both Zach and Joshua were put under a publication ban when they were released because they were minors who were also subject to sexual assault. Joshua is not his real name, but Zach's is. See, when Zach Miller turned 18,

he immediately started the process to have the publication ban lifted on his name, with the goal of sharing his story and helping others. This request was rare, and the court system really had no blueprint to follow. Additionally, any possible consequences of lifting the ban had to be considered. But Zach continued to fight because it was important. I asked him to explain why. If you look at anybody who's trying to bring their message across or trying to bring their story to raise awareness, you don't have a name to that story. You don't have that verification for it. So that was important for myself and my family to come forward saying, this is me, this is what happened, and this is how we made it through. I couldn't say that with

having this publication ban. After three years, the ban was lifted, and in early 2016, Zach was able to go public and share his story. This is a rare occurrence, so the media scrambled to speak with him. While it was cathartic for him to finally be able to share his story and his message, he was not happy with the headline chosen by several mainstream media outlets. Zach Miller, held as a sex slave at 10 by Peter Whitmore, tells his story. Although the goal of a headline is to attract readers, it shouldn't be at the expense of upsetting a survivor with a headline that's disrespectful and in poor taste. And those headlines are still there today. But Zach is not easily deterred and continues to move forward with

his message of hope and encouragement for kids who have suffered in similar ways to him. And this is all despite continuing his own journey of healing. Today, Zach has survivors guilt, a mental condition that occurs when a person feels guilt and believes they've done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. When a sexual predator kidnaps a child, it's not often that the child survives. Zach also suffers from diagnosed complex PTSD, a condition that comes after repeated trauma rather than a single event. The experience continues to affect his sleep. He says he's lucky to get four hours of sleep a night as an adult and suffers from bad nightmares where he relives everything he went through. And he constantly hears Peter Whitmore laughing in

his dreams. Even after all this time, he never knows what's going to trigger a memory. Quote, every time you close your eyes, smell a certain smell, hear a certain voice, see a certain scene, you relive your trauma. Zach struggles with suicidal thoughts and chronic loneliness. He doesn't have anyone else to relate to, no one to talk to about his experience. All of the other survivors of crimes by Peter Whitmore are still under publication ban and they don't stay in contact. Zach said as long as Peter is alive, he'll always be looking over his shoulder. All aspects of his life have been affected, including his dating life as a teen and now as an adult. He tried online dating but found the one downside to having the publication

ban lifted. As soon as people find out his real name, they'd Google him. Then they would either ghost him, become over sympathetic, or they'd become wary about being with him. Zach said dealing with bouts of depression and his CPTSD can be very trying on a relationship and finding someone who can understand is difficult. I asked Zach how he deals with all of his trauma today. It's been an ongoing thing. I do have my ups and my downs, my good weeks, my bad weeks, my good months, my bad months, but I've learned over the years what dealing with it is not too pushed away, not to hide it, not to hide it in that back party of anyone you'll never think about it in because unfortunately those issues, those things you need

to deal with while we come back and you can't hide it with drinking, drugs, nothing like that. The best thing I found is dealing with it. It happens, letting the emotions come. As my forensic psychologist taught me is to live through the emotions. So when you're feeling upset, you've got to be upset. When you're feeling down, you've got to feel angry when you are. You can't push those away. And then I've just kind of gotten into different hobbies, I guess, immersing myself in something. And then I've just also found with helping people has helped me greatly. Peter Whitmore has been eligible for parole since 2013. Whenever a date comes up, Zach writes a letter advising that he plans on being there and then he says Peter doesn't go

through with the hearing. In May of 2019, Zach hit the headlines again when he found out that Peter has a profile on the inmate penpal website, Canadian inmates connect. Peter's profile says that he was convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault, but nowhere does it mention that he was convicted of sexual offences against children. Instead, his profile sounds cheery as the reader is told Peter is now 48 years old and says he's made a choice that he'll never be released. He goes into his various health problems, including leukemia, and talks about his interests, which include video games. He says, quote, I am a very caring and loving person who cannot begin to describe my loneliness. The owner of the website said that it was up to the users

to Google the person they were communicating with. Zach explained that he understands inmates have a human right to communicate with people, but added that websites like this should look into users and make sure they don't have a history of praying on the vulnerable. Zach hopes that his story will lead the government to change how they treat sex offenders like Peter Whitmore. There's a lot of things I'd like to see changed, but the biggest thing right now is accountability. Whitmore was released countless times from prison with high-risk re-offend every time he was still released. There was no accountability and we need to start making people accountable for this. So unfortunately, predators like this never change.

While the National Sex Offender Registry exists, there is still no public sex offender list in Canada. According to the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General website, no public access to such a database means that the offender compliance rate stays high and the data is more accurate. Police also have direct access to the database whenever they want, which the website states improves their ability to investigate sex-related crimes as well as monitor and locate sex offenders in the community. Zach is also working to convince the government to set up a fund to support child survivors of crimes like this, not only in the time after their trauma, but also to address the challenges they will face as adults.

The survivors of this, once they pass that into their adulthood, it is very hard to deal with things with triggers and etc. And there's very little funding or government assistance for them. So I've had a lot of trouble from the past dealing with jobs where you're trying to make a living, but all of a sudden you start having a bad couple of days or a bad couple of weeks and the next thing you know you're being laid off because of poor work ethic. Not something that I would like to see change because unfortunately a lot of people who've made it through, they're abused. I have a lot of troubles in life. Zach Miller is now 24 years old and lives in a different town in Saskatchewan where he says

he's treated like family, not like an outcast. He's a volunteer firefighter and he volunteers at a lot of community events. He still enjoys working with his hands and is now an experienced blacksmith and knife maker. Zach gives multiple interviews a year. He works with the Ontario Provincial Policies Amber Alert program and he also makes himself available to families who reach out. He says he doesn't have all the answers but he knows where to go to get them the help that they need. He's part of a wide network of survivors and families who all support each other. In fact, it was Rodney Stafford, Victoria Stafford's father who told me about Zach and introduced us. I asked Zach what his message is for others who have been through similar ordeals. Speak out.

Once you speak out about this, that violator loses their power on you and for kids and people who've gone through this, you're still going through it. Tell as many people as you can come across. There's people like myself who work with advocacy groups, who work with the police, who work with the RCMP. There's a lot of people out there who are willing to help, they're willing to be there, get these children out of harm's way. But people are so scared to talk about it and unfortunately a lot of people went through that generation where this is something you never talked about. Unfortunately, we need to start bringing it to the forefront because this is an epidemic we're dealing with and we need to put a stop to it. According to the Canadian

Centre for Child Protection at protectchildren.ca, child sexual abuse is more prevalent than we would like to believe. Research shows that about one in 10 children will be sexually victimised before they turn 18 and in the vast majority of cases, the offender is someone the child knows. In an interview with CBC, Zach Miller's father Lyle said that it's vital for parents to talk with their children and the conversation should start in kindergarten because often you don't think about the possibilities until it's too late and something happens to you. According to protectchildren.ca, research shows that offenders are less likely to target children who present a risk of telling someone or advocating for themselves. And the way to do that is by

empowering kids with knowledge about personal safety and boundaries. Teach your kids the difference between secrets that are okay to keep and secrets that need to be told to a safe adult. Teach children to take ownership of their bodies and be assertive if anything's happening that they aren't comfortable with. And as Zach's father Lyle said, you should tell your kids to run, shout. If someone asks you to go, don't go, you run, you shout, don't go. More information and resources can be found in the show notes or on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca. Thanks for listening and thanks again to Zach Miller for sharing his incredible story of survival and bravery. Thanks to Rodney Stafford for introducing us

and thanks also to Hailey Gray who researched the episode. Speaking of Hailey, my long-term researcher, she has just spearheaded an excellent new podcast called Fetal Abductions, which is narrated by the amazing Erica Kelly from Southern Fried True Crime. Pregnancy is an exciting time full of hope and wonder and even trepidation. The addition of a child changes a person's life forever. And for victims of fetal abduction in the United States, their lives were brutally changed in a way they could never have imagined. In this series, we will explore cases of fetal abduction in America, from the highly publicized cases to the little known and every case in between. Join me, your host, Erica Kelly for Fetal Abduction,

a True Crime podcast. It's a new podcast where we take a closer look at this rare yet heinous crime. Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by searching Fetal Abduction pod and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched by Hailey Gray and audio production was by We Talk of Dreams who also composed the theme song. The host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then. you