Morbid - Episode 522: The Mysterious Death of Christina Kettlewell

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

On May 20, 1947, decorated army veteran Jack Kettlewell and his friend Ronald Barrie barely escaped a devastating housefire at Ronald’s cabin along the Severen River in rural Ontario, Canada. One day later, Jack’s twenty-two-year-old wife, Christina Kettlewell, was discovered dead a short distance from the cabin, lying face down in a pool of shallow water and still wearing the pajamas she had on the night of the fire. During the autopsy, it was discovered that Christina’s lungs were clear of smoke and her body was free of any burns or other signs of violence; rather, as unbelievable as it seemed, the cause of death was drowning. Christina and Jack had married in a secret ceremony held just eight days before the fire, leading many to wonder whether her new husband had something to do with her death. Was it a crime of passion? A calculated murder to cash-in on a life insurance policy? Or was it truly just a tragedy? And what of Ronald Barrie’s presence on the trip? If it was indeed a honeymoon of sorts, why had the young newlyweds brought along a friend? In the months that followed, Christina Kettlewell’s mysterious death captivated the residents of eastern Canada. With each new day, a piece of the puzzle seemed to fall into place, indicating that the mystery might soon be solved. Yet by mid-summer, a police investigation and the coroner’s inquest had failed to provide an explanation for Christina’s death or a satisfactory conclusion to the case. Today, more than seventy-five years later, the death of Christina Kettlewell remains one of Ontario’s most enduring mysteries.Thank you to the wonderful David White, of the Bring Me the Axe Podcast, for research assistance!ReferencesIsai, Vjosa. 2017. What happened to Toronto's 'eight-day bride?'. July 4. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/what-happened-to-toronto-s-eight-day-bride/article_1a09012b-13fa-5931-b512-7cc331d56ed4.html.Kingston Whig-Standard. 1947. "Coroner's jury to view place bride died." Kingston Whig-Standard, June 25: 1.North Bay Nugget. 1947. "Open verdict is returned in Kettlewell case." North Bay Nugget, June 26: 1.Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times. 1947. "Possibility of suicide in drowning of bride investigated by police." Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, mAY 23: 1.Sun Times. 1947. "Open verdict is returned by Kettlewell case jury as no decision reached." Sun Times, June 26: 1.—. 1947. "Open verdict is returned by Kettlewell case jury as no decision reached." Sun Times, June 26: 1.Toronto Daily Star. 1947. "Police report distrubance before Christina married." Toronto Daily Star, May 28: 2.—. 1947. "Suicide notes bride's expert tells inquest." Toronto Daily Star, June 20: 1.Windsor Star. 1947. "Police hint at foul play in mystery." Windsor Star, May 22: 1.—. 1947. "Probe for missing cash in honeymoon mystery." Windsor Star, May 26: 1.—. 1947. "Statement of Ronald Barrie reveals some strange events." Windsor Star, June 21: 8.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You're listening to a Moved Network podcast. Hey, Weirdo's I'm Ash and I'm Alaina and this is More Bed. This is More Bed and I bed my left. She done bit her lip, but it's okay. Actually, it's bleeding, but we all float on. Oh, cry. I tried to sound like a song, but I just sounded cry-cry. You sounded perfect. We all float on all right.

Oh, and I almost just knocked over a Caesar dressing. This is a mess. I know, sorry, I didn't cover that. It's a did a thing today and my we Elena did it. Yeah, say it Here's the thing. I wasn't I wasn't ready to share this with the world But I guess oh you don't have to wait. I can't have to be a dick. What if we just don't say it? That's it I'm just gonna try it. Okay, so this start off. I just get like so very quickly before we start this door It's just enough with like a fun little thing. We're eating mozzarella sticks.

I fancy myself a connoisseur of mozzarella sticks. I love mozzarella sticks. I like dipping mozzarella sticks. But not just in marinara. In fact, I don't dip them in marinara. You don't? Ever? I would if it was the last dip on earth. But what?

Yeah. I never knew this. I never noticed that. Yeah. My favorite thing is dip at a blue cheese. Cheese and cheese. I judged you before and I shouldn't have. I won't judge you about that.

You shouldn't. Because there's many good dips in the world that we are all aware. Yeah, don't. I will dip a mozzarella stick in most of those dips. You shouldn't, because there's many good dips in the world as we are all aware. Yeah, don't. I will dip a mozzarella stick in most of those dips. Just not my winner. And I got Caesar dressing today, and I said,

never done this before, so I just dipped dip right in the Caesar dressing. And I said, that's delicious. And Ash said, I'm judging you a little bit. No, I actually said it with her eyes. I did. I said, I'm not judging you. But did. No, I actually said, she said it with her eyes. I did, I said I'm not judging you, but did you just dip that in Caesar dressing, which is where the judge was going on my eyes?

I was going to say, I have no ash, so I know when the judge was actually coming through her words, but she said, do you want to try it? I said, try it. She tried it. I said, okay. And then she said,

you passed me that dip again, and then she just scooped it like a fucking spoon. Yeah, I love Caesar dressing. And you said, I judged you a little bit. I admitted it after. And you were like, I know you did, you know? If you like two things, try them together. Who knows, might be a great thing.

Yeah, chocolate chip cookies were a mistake. And yeah. So that's, there you go. With ash and a lady. That's weird snack food. Well, I have a strange case today. Wait, to just continue the snack food. Yeah, exactly.

We're at snack food, we're at cases, all of it. Obviously, it's a tragic case because somebody loses their life. But it's the circumstances that lead up to that are very, very strange. And this is one that I've heard before, but I gotta say, Dave did a really good job helping me find some new shit

that I didn't know before. Ooh. So let's do it. Let's go. Today we're gonna be talking about the mysterious death of Christina Kettlewell. And we're gonna start at the very beginning, which is in 1925.

Oh. When Christina Cecilia, I believe it's Mokin, was born on August 7th, 1925 in Toronto, Ontario. She was one of three girls born to parents, Kazmir and Mary. According to our sister Helen, the girls had a relatively ordinary upbringing, and she described Christina as, quote, a very nice girl, everybody liked her. When Christina completed high school in 1943, she found work as a teller at a bank in Toronto and just settled into a pretty normal routine, just live in life. It was

around that time that Christina met 23-year-old Ronald Barry, a local professional ballroom dancer, casual, who lived in the same Toronto neighborhood as she and her family. He was formerly known as Ronnie Sufo and he had immigrated to Canada from Italy years and years earlier, hoping to establish himself in the construction industry. But when that failed, he moved on to selling insurance until he actually started supporting himself as a professional dancer. Wow, just really cool. That is cool. So he and Christina, they knew of each other, you know, they lived in the same neighborhood. They hit it off and they started seeing each other out and about socially. But Ronald insisted there was never anything romantic between them. They were just friends. Okay. He told a jury. He would later tell a jury in 1947. There was definitely

no feelings between me and Christina. Everything was strictly on plane friendship basis. That's nice. Yeah. You know, guys and gals being friends. I have no expectations, just friendship. Yeah, Harry's wrong. Girls and guys can be friends. Oh, yeah. Have you ever seen that movie when Harry met Sally? Yeah.

I just love it for the first time this year. Really? Yeah, loved it. Wow. Fucking loved it. But the platonic relationship between Ronald and Christina was likely due to her interest in his best friend and Rumi Jack Kedawal.

Although he had recently enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in May of 1943, Jack and Christina began dating and Ronald kind of acted as a proxy companion while Jack was stationed elsewhere during the war. Ronald said, I wrote to him steadily while overseas and definitely told him that as long as he was Christine's boyfriend, I took her to the odd dance and show. So he was like, I'll take care of her while you're gone. I'm taking care of you. Yeah.

We're holding down the fort back here. In July of 1946, while Jack was still stationed overseas, Christina went to Ronald and asked if she could borrow some money to buy something, she said. But she was very vague and very avoidant when he asked what exactly she wanted the money for. But he did trust her by that point and he ended up giving her $2,000. Wow. Which, that's a lot of money, I didn't do the conversion I usually do. But they had an understanding that she was going to pay this money back.

However, after a month had passed and she still hadn't returned to the money, he pressed her for an explanation. I was like, hey, where's my money? But according to Christina, quote, somebody was making it very hard for her to do some ins... Excuse me, somebody was making it very hard for her due to some incident that had happened the previous April of 1946. Okay. So still confused, Ronald pushed further and was like, well, what incident, like what happened? Yeah. And Christina explained that in April,

she had gone to a church dance in Toronto, and after the dance, she had been, quote unquote, criminally attacked by five men who she said were now blackmailing her. What? And Ronald was like, that's horrible. Why didn't you go to the police or ask your father for help? Like, why is this the first time hearing of this?

Like, this is a big deal. Yeah. And when he started asking questions, she became very emotional and claimed that she would kill herself before telling her father. Wow. Now, Ronald was worried that Christina really was having thoughts of ending her life if put in that position. So he agreed to keep her secret

and he actually continued to lend her money eventually advancing her more than $12,000. Wow. A lot of money. That's quite an advance. Now, he believed her story at first to some degree, but he definitely at the same time felt like some part

of that seemed off and that she wasn't being entirely forthcoming. But still, he continued to keep the secret, particularly from her boyfriend Jack, despite his growing concern internally. Now, things took an even stranger turn a year later in April 1947 when Christina came to Ronald and Jack's apartment that they shared, and she asked Ronald to speak privately. And the separate room and out of the apartment itself, like they literally like left. With Jack there? Yeah.

Huh. So, and out of Jack's earshot, Christina handed Ronald an envelope that had $10,000 in cash inside of it, and denominations of $10,000 in cash inside of it and Denominations of $50 and $100 bills and when he was like where did this come from like how did you find the money to pay me back She got really evasive and vague with him and according to him She said only that quote the persons that had been blackmailing her had agreed to help her That's strange. Because why would five men attack you outside

of a church event steal money from you and then blackmail you and then decide to help you? To help you. Like what was the point of the blackmailing? I don't know. Now Ronald thought the explanation like us seemed highly suspicious, but the moment he said that,

Christina became very emotional, so he didn't press her any further, he said. And instead, he asked that since she was going out already, would she mind depositing the money into his account? Because she worked at the bank. Oh, okay. She said she would. And later, she returned with his bank book, which indicated that the money had been deposited. So, so pleased with your head. And the month's following her death, because Christina does eventually die, unfortunately,

a lot would be made of her behavior and her emotional state during her relationship with Jack Kettlewell. Later, speaking to the jury during the Corners inquest, one of the medical experts can precisely and somewhat politely refer to her emotional stability as that of a, quote, child who takes tantrums. Oh, yeah. You don't want to be described as that? No.

Christine has request to borrow money to pay off unnamed blackmailers for vague reasons where enough to give Ronald Paul's and even make him somewhat suspicious. But they were also part of a pattern of behavior that should have been more concerning to anybody who knew her. Yeah. Now, like, I know that was all clean in the end, but it's like, what happened there? Well, yeah, like, I need to know what happened here. You can't just let it go.

That's the thing. Now, many of Christina's quote-unquote tantrums it seems came from what sounds like a deep insecurity and fear that Jack would eventually leave her for somebody else. Oh, that's just sad. It's not entirely clear what made her feel that way, but she had this suspicion that things work on an end well between them and that he was going to leave her for some reason.

I thought that's sad because she was beautiful. Who gorgeous. Like, look up a picture of her, because I'm telling you, like, stunning. Yeah, she was really pretty. And Jack's a really handsome guy. Yeah. I immediately looked him up and I was like, okay. Yeah, that's okay.

You can say that. I'll be nice. I know, I was like, I see. Your face was like, can I say that? I see. Please tell me now. No, the day after she secretly handed Ronald the envelope containing the $10,000.

Christina showed up again at Ronald and Jack's apartment. A little before nine o'clock in the morning, she had a dozen eggs in hand, and she told them that she had taken the day off, and she wondered if they would mind her hanging out around the apartment for the day. Yeah, girl. Now Ronald left to run some errands,

and when he came home around lunchtime, or excuse me, he came home around lunchtime, and then he left again, and then returned about an hour later. So it sounds like he was going off to work, came back for lunch, and then like, ran a couple errands. But then he came back.

And when he came back, he told police later, I was back within an hour to find both of them unconscious. At first, I didn't know what happened and I tried to arouse them, but to no avail. They were both definitely unconscious. Like not asleep? No, we're talking like unconscious. For hours.

Like he could not wake them up. This is very, this is a strange case already. I don't know what's happening. Well, and it's so abrupt. Like he... I'm very confused by what's happening. She, she borrows this money, she gives it back. She comes over to hang out.

She's very worried that Jack is gonna leave her all the time, she comes over to hang out, she's very worried that Jack is going to leave her all the time, but she's still hanging out at the apartment. He comes back and everything's good and then he is only gone for an hour when he comes back the second time they're unconscious. The two of them. Yeah. So Ronald spent the next several hours instead of calling the police trying to revive Jack and Christina.

And while they were both still breathing, he was unsuccessful at getting either of them to come to. Like, he could tell that they were breathing, but they weren't waking up or responding. So on his way to the bathroom to get cold towels to, you know, see if maybe that would make them wake up, he noticed an envelope sitting on sitting on an end table with his full name written on the outside of it in Christina's handwriting. This is weird, man. In the envelope was what appeared to be a suicide note written by Christina that explained she had killed Jack and herself. In her words, quote, if Jack didn't marry her, she didn't want to live. And she couldn't be Mrs. Kettle. She couldn't be Mrs. Kettle. Well, no one else was going to be if she couldn't be.

Wow. This is escalating very quickly. Very quickly. So, fearing what their friends or family might think, if they learned the truth of this situation, Ronald stuffed the letter in his pocket and spent the rest of the evening trying to bring them back from the brink of death really.

So to be clear, they've been unconscious this whole time. Yeah. And he's just milling about trying to wake them up and then he finds this letter. And he reads it and he's like, I don't know what her family is going to think or what his family will think. So I is going to think or what his family will think. So I'm going to hold on to this. But in the meantime, I got to try to wake them up. This is so, this is so weird. It is. Like, what's going on here? What's going on? I'm dying to know. Like, what is the, why are they unconscious? Are they going to wake up? What's gonna happen? There we go. Okay.

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Follow American Scandal on the Wonder App, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge American Scandal, Aaron Hernandez, early and ad-free right now on Wonder Plus. So he spent nearly all night moving Jack and Christina's limbs for them to keep their blood moving and applying cold towels to them. Never calling an ambulance? Okay. The next morning they were both still unconscious, so Ronald called a local pharmacy to ask their advice.

He later told police, quote, they got too nosy and I hung up. The second one told me to give mustard and warm water to induce vomiting. I gave some to Christina, but all she vomited was the mustard and the water. I wish I had like adequate questions right now, but I'm so confused. That's confusing.

That's what is happening right now. They've been unconscious since yesterday. Is anyone going through active brain death right now? Like what is going on? Oh, no. Like he's just like, well, they're breathing, I guess. So I'm, what? Couldn't tell you.

Why is this man calling someone? You'll find out later why he doesn't call out. Okay. At least I, there there are explanations for why he doesn't call someone I guess you could say. You don't find out definitively. I am confusion. I bet. But I was too this whole time and then I got to the end and I was like oh good you didn't end up confusion. So that's it. I ended up with some confusion. Still it but there are a couple things that made me, you know, figure it out.

Yeah. Yeah. All right. At least I won't end up completely confusion. Yeah. You never know. You feel like maybe you might. Maybe you might. I'm not confusing it now. Now, Jack and Christina did finally regain consciousness by doing the next day, but they both remained very groggy and very violently ill

for the remainder of the day. What the fuck? Later in his statement to the police, Ronald recalled that several times throughout the day, the phone and the door buzzer rang, but he ignored it, worried that he wouldn't be able to explain the scene in the apartment. Now by the time Jack was finally alert enough

to understand what was going on, his immediate concern was Christina's reputation and what he assumed would be her family's concern that she hadn't returned the previous evening. Because remember, she doesn't live there. She was just hanging out for the day. Yeah. And now she's been gone for like a whole day, a whole night, and into noon the next day. Yeah. Now Ronald's later said, quote, jox seemed to think maybe if we sent a telegram saying that they were married, it would keep her people from worrying too much. This is so extra. Like what the escalation that is happening here, it's like, what?

Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. I'm married. Thank you. I'm married. According to Ronald, they didn't get married. They didn't get married. Let's tell everybody we did, though.

Yep. According to Ronald, the telegram was only intended to buy them all some time until Christina regained her faculties and could decide for herself what she wanted to do and, you know, explain things to her family. Yeah, I mean, it would be awesome if she explained things to me as well, because I don't have any idea what the fuck is going on right now. However, when she did regain full consciousness, Christina could not be more pleased with the plan. Of course.

And rather than explain herself, she convinced Ronald to call her sister Helen and tell her that she and Jack had gone up to his cottage. Ronald's cottage. Okay. Ronald felt that the telegram had been enough notice, but he was worried that Christina might be come hysterical or try to self harm if he didn't do what she wanted, so he reluctantly agreed to make the call. There seems like there's just so much happening.

There's everything is happening. Wow. Now by the next morning at at Sunkin, that started to sink in for the both of them, that in trying to avoid a scandalous situation, they had started to sink in for both of them, not in trying to avoid a scandalous situation, they had actually created a potentially larger problem for themselves by telling Christine his family that she and Jack had gotten married. Yeah. Ronald said he really, I suppose, intended to get married someday, but he said he wasn't

rushing into anything unprepared. I mean, that's smart. It is. And by all accounts, Jack cared really deeply for Christina. Oh. But when it came to the subject of marriage, he always seemed to have an excuse for not wanting to fully commit. Okay.

But now, he had not only informed Christina's family of their supposed wedding, but had also given Christina every reason to believe that he intended to realize the scheme by getting married. Yeah, when you're suggesting, instead of just saying we fell asleep, I'm sorry. Oh, man, crazy us. When your first thought is let's just tell your parents we got married, that would give me the idea that you wanted to get married. Yeah, 100%. I think because of the time period, yeah, I know I've been getting a full of the 20s.

Or the 40s. Or yeah, yeah. The we fell asleep thing, everybody would start calling her names and saying that she had, no, that doesn't mean that. She's out of wedlock. But I can definitely understand why she would take that as like a hint of like maybe,

you know, he came up with that idea. Yeah, so I keep mostly thinking about it, like I can understand that. And especially when you really, really like someone. Yeah, and she really, I mean, you can tell she like, seems like she loved him. Yeah, I mean, to the point that she didn't want anybody else to be this is kind of well. Because was that real?

I didn't know if that was real or not. I didn't know what the, it's hard to even say if it is very fever dream-ish. I think it all does. That's the perfect way to describe it. I think, yes, but you don't really know for sure because Christina ends up dying at some point. She's not around to confirm, to confirm more to Nye.

All right, interesting. Uh-huh. Okay. Either way, we know she really loved him and was very much invested. She did really love him. Desperately. In-huh. Okay. Either way, we know she really loved him and was really invested. She did really invested. Desperately.

In this relationship, so hearing him say, what's just pretend we got married. She's like, or we could do it. That's like the dream. Yeah. You know, now later that afternoon, after Jack and Christina appeared to be covered, appeared to be recovering from the previous day's events,

Ronald finally felt comfortable leaving them alone in the apartment while he ran out to run some errands. To be clear. Ronald has not asked them what the fuck happened. No. My first that question would be what happened. I don't really know if he asked them any questions. It sounds like from what I read is that he read the suicide note or what was intended to be a suicide note and not answered his questions. And then to be clear here. Yeah, to be clear.

He read that. Yeah. A note which says, I kill, I'm like, we're dying together. I made him do this. I killed him. And then myself, he read that. He found them in that state. Yeah. And then when they woke up, he didn't think to say like, hey, um,

about that like attempted murder, do you want to talk about it? Like do you want to, should we, he might have, he did, we have a conversation about what I read. I don't know. If we want to all live together and all, like I'd be like, I would like to move out. Like I don't want to live here anymore. Like that's a, this is also non-fucking shawant. It's like, it's true. Very much to move out. Like, I don't want to live here anymore. Like, that's a... This is also non-fucking shawant. It's like...

It's true. Very much stressing me out. No, it's very stressful. Because I keep having to be like, am I hearing this correctly? No, I can't be doing weird things. I don't know if there was any kind of discussion once they woke up or if it was like,

we don't want to make her upset. So we're just gonna let this be what it is, because now Jack wants to marry her. So like, okay. Yeah, it just seems like so much is happening, and not enough questions are being asked. That's actually what's happening, I'm not sure. But so what I don't agree with is that,

once they woke up from this failed murder suicide attempt, allegedly, he was just like, I have errands to run. Are you guys good? Like, okay. You just left the apartment. I mean, but I mean, hey, I guess he's not responsible for either of them. I don't know.

Yeah. But as Ronald was leaving, Christina asked him where he was going and he told her he was on his way to the bank and she immediately broke down crying. Oh, and when he was like, why are you like, what's the problem? She explained that she had said that she deposited that money

into his account a few days earlier, but she had in fact lied and never truly put the money in the $10,000 that she returned to him or the additional $5,000 he gave her to deposit into the account. But she was able to produce the book? Yeah, saying that she did, right? She worked at the bank.

Wow. Mm-hmm. It's a lot of power. Yeah. She messed things up. Oh, man. So as the current ledger keeper at the local branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Christina had fraudulently entered the deposit of Interonald's bankbook as having been deposited, but then kept the money for herself. So she made a note looking like, oh yeah, it's been like

in a garden, but it had it. Oh no. He recalled later, Ronald. I've never been so stunned in all my life. I had done everything under the sun to help her, had placed myself heavily in debt to come to her assistance. And here I found out that I'd been living in a fool's paradise thinking the money was in my account. Oh, damn. So he started pressing her for an explanation like why the fuck did you do that? Yeah.

Because not only, she owed him $10,000 and then gave him an envelope full of $10,000. And he was like, oh, do you mind running that to the bank for me since you work there? And can you take this too? So he gave her more of his own money. Like he's not as like a, not as like a favor, but as a hey, can you also put this in my account

since you're putting it? And she took it all. She took all of it. Oh, damn. So he was like, why the fuck did you do that? But she just started crying hysterically and begging him not to tell anybody. So he dropped the matter a few minutes later when Jack came into the room because remember, Jack knows nothing about this whole money situation. Now, after learning that Christina had once

again manipulated him and taken his money, Ronald had every intention of getting an explanation for this behavior and this like, you know, screwing him over this. Yeah. But given everything that had happened that last week of April, you know, the murder suicide plot. Oh, the alleged murder. The alleged murder. Yeah, it's going to say. He decided to wait for, quote, unquote, more favorable circumstances before raising the issue.

This man has a lot of patience. He's a lot of patience, potentially kind. He seems kind. Yeah, I hope he is. He feels like he is. I'm like, damn, for you not to be losing your mind right now. It's the way that I would lose my shit. And not telling Jack, like he's thinking of everybody here.

That's a pretty impressive. They've sent himself really. Yeah, exactly, everybody else. Now by May 3rd, 1947, the tension in the drama had subsided and somehow things returned normal between Christina, Jack and Ronald. That morning, May 3rd, Jack and Ronald had planned to leave for a weekend trip to go to Ronald's cottage on the Severin River, I think it is.

But first, Christina and Jack were going to go get their marriage license in order to make everything official, because they were doing it. Oh, they were doing it. But by the time they got everything together for the trip, the licensing bureau had closed for the weekend. So they decided to wait until after the weekend, like go on Monday. And Ronald and Jack were going to make their way to the cabin, but now Kristina was coming along.

So they had planned to go just the two of them, but then she ended up going. Oh, okay. Yeah. So the trio spent four days by the river, and during the time, or during that time, Jack and Kristina got along well and seemed to be having a good time. They had put that wildness behind them.

Yeah. And although he hadn't exactly planned on getting married, Jack told Ronald, he was willing to make a go of things if she was. Wow. And for her part, Kristina was elated with his decision to go ahead with the marriage. She was insisting that that was what she wanted all along.

Oh, boy. And when they returned to Toronto on Wednesday, May 7th, she immediately began making plans for her and Jack's wedding. Now, for reasons still unknown, because everything is unknown, she asked Ronald if he would go to the parish priest, Father Markle, and explain the circumstances on their behalf. He agreed and a few hours later, return to the apartment with the news that the priest would like to see them immediately. Like to figure out this whole marriage thing. Yeah. Now, although he was hesitant to bring up the matter of the missing $15,000 now, and he was, you know, hesitant to risk ruining the good mood and triggering

another suicidal homicide episode. Ronald claimed he did eventually get the nerve to bring it up, but they were either, quote, interrupted or she got hysterical and I dropped it. Finally, on the morning of May 11, he raised the issue again, now determined to get an answer. And after more than a little insistence, Christina claimed she had, quote,

given it back to those fellows that she had, or that had been blackmailing her. But I thought the fellows that, okay. They gave it to her. She said she gave it back to them. No, she, it's, so they blackmailed her for money. Yeah. She borrowed the money from Ronald.

Yeah. She gave it to the blackmailers. They gave it to her. They had to change a heart, gave it back to her. She gave it back to quote unquote, give it back to Ronald, but actually took it and then didn't actually just take it. She gave it back to the blackmailers. Yeah.

Okay, I got it. Yeah, you do. Yep. Good for you. That was a nice of us. Thank you. Lots of, just making sure this all does it makes sense. Lots of red yarn all over the fucking.

This is like, this is, I feel like I'm serpentineing. So this is our, our, our, our, our, and we all are. Yep. So she said she gave it back to them and he was like, okay, why? But she seemed deeply upset and spend thrust of the day sulking, so he didn't really know what he was to do about all of this. No. The next morning, May 12th, Christina woke up early

and left the apartment without saying a word to Ronald or Jack about where she was going. She literally just dipped. So Ronald stuck his head out the window and called after her and he was like, hey, where are you going? And she was like, I'm going for a walk. I'll be back soon. After several hours had passed,

both of them, you know, became concerned that Christina hadn't returned. And their landlady, Mrs. Barger, reluctantly informed them that over the weekend, Christina had asked her to borrow a large sum of money from the landlady. Oh shit. Quote, to go to Hamilton, Ontario,

where some boyfriend of hers lived. What? Yes. Now, she comes back, though. Later, when she returned to the apartment, the only explanation she offered was that she had gone to see her parents, where she quote, had a sort of favorable reception

of telling them about the wedding. Among other things, which like she said she had a sort of favorable reception, but then she explains it and it doesn't sound favorable at all. Because the family was disturbed by her behavior and the unexpected announcement that she was marrying Jack all of the sudden. Kazmir and Mary, her parents, didn't fully object to her relationship with Jack, but they were flatly opposed to the idea that she was going to marry him because he was not Roman

Catholic like they were. So that was out of the question that they get married. They could date and have a good time, but they could knock him married. This is the problem. It was the four years. All right. Now, there was also the matter of his relationship with his roommate and best friend, Ronald Berry. It's unclear whether Christina's family had actually met Ronald by this point, but she must have at least told them something about him because they quote, couldn't understand the relationship between he and Jack. They thought it was strange. What? Yeah. Christina's sister Helen said,

when Jack and Christina got married, we thought it was very strange that Barry went along on the honeymoon. Ronald's very, that, that's what made us wonder if Ronnie was also in love with Chris. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. I am. So later that evening when Jack Christina and Ronald had joined some friends for dinner, like after she tells them about how everything went with her parents, they had some friends over for dinner. The group was surprised when their meal was interrupted by Christina's two sisters showing up on announce to the apartment, and their names were Helen and Sophie, and they were quote, quite mad and antagonistic.

What? So, who knows? This is so chaotic. It's the most chaotic story that I think I've ever heard. I just, real quick, before we get into this, I'm sure about to unfold. No, this is good. That's what we do.

We don't have to keep explaining it a long way. So, the landlord's story, just moving on past that. It like sort of comes back later. Okay, I was just wondering. I was like, okay, so the landlord is like, hate to break it, but she borrowed money from me. So she could go see a boyfriend and Ontario

and she comes home and is like, no, I saw my parents and they're like, okay. Yeah. Like what is Mrs. Berger or Berger? Berger, what'd you do withger or Berger? Berger. She's not lying for any reason I would assume. No, I don't think she's lying. Maybe not.

I think, I know our sister show up on a nowhere they're fucking pissed. They're fucking pissed. Yes, they were quite mad and antagonistic. So mad. But reports of this encounter vary widely, depending on who's telling the tale, of course. But Ronald insisted he tried to talk to Christina's sister to find out what they were so upset about,

but they, quote, kept shouting something about giving Christina opium and trying to force her to marry Jack. This can't get more bizarre. No, it does. Every paragraph gets more. I'm crazy. So confused and rather frustrated by the situation, Ronald turned to Christina and was like, listen, make up your mind. Do you wanna be with Jack or not? Like what's going on here? And Jack was like, yeah, like what's going on?

He was equally confused. Now, in Helen's, the Christina sister Helen's version of events, Christina, quote, was nervous and she wouldn't listen to anyone. You couldn't get any sense out of her. But what both versions agree on is that Christina clearly stated she did want to marry Jack and at that point they called a cab so that they could leave the tent situation. Okay. Ronald said Sophie tried to stop them

and kept crying that Christina was being kidnapped, which was ridiculous as Christina was walking ahead of Jack. What? Now, once they had left the scene at the Rode apartment, tensions escalated as Helen and Sophie continued to accuse Ronald and Jack of drugging and manipulating their sister. When it was clear that there was nothing more they could do, Helen left the Barger apartment

house and went to the police station to enlist the help of the authorities to stop the marriage. But she was informed that because Christina was an adult, there was nothing that the police could do to intervene. Now, the other sister Sophie, meanwhile, continued escalating in her emotional accusations until Ronald actually had to call the police to have her escorted out of the apartment. This is a fever dream. No, truly. Okay, so given the fact that Jack Kettlewell never made a formal public statement about his marriage or the death of his wife? He didn't? No. Never. The only accounts of this altercation on record come from Ronald Barry, who gave his statement to the police

and Helen, the sister, who told the story to a jury during the coroner's inquest and during subsequent interviews with press. So it's difficult to establish what exactly happened at the apartment that night. But it sounds like during her visit to her parents' house to inform them of the marriage, Christina may have given an inaccurate account of the suicide homicide attempt, maybe presenting herself as the victim and Jack and Ronald as the villains.

And that's where they were talking about drugging and opium and all that. So she went to her parents house to be like, hey, let's talk about me marrying Jack. And they were like, yeah, that sucks. We're not cool. The fact that he is not Roman Catholic. And she was like, well, this is really gonna blow your fucking top because he also jumped me with opium.

Like, that's what some people did. That's what some people did. And the villain in Sophie were like, wait a second, like a that's what some, that's what some people did. And the hell in it, Sophie were like, wait a second, like a day later, look, or later, they were all of a sudden, just like, wait a fucking second. And they just showed up at the house and were like, we just realized what you said.

Maybe they were at home and then the parents told them, I don't know. Why don't you just go and tell her parents that she was drugged with opium. Couldn't tell you. But that she's marrying one of them. I don't know. I'm confused.

Maybe I'm missing a giant part of this puzzle, but like this big. No, we all are. No, we literally all are missing like the biggest part of this puzzle. Yeah. So we'll never really know which a which version of the events is true. But it seems like Christina was trying to hedge her bets, weaving a story that would absolve her of her responsibility for the murder suicide attempt

if her family found out about it without her compromising her impending marriage to Jack. But like, feels like it would compromise it a little bit. Feels like that to me too. Like I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say if my child told me that their future husband drugged them unwillingly with opium, yeah. That's gonna compromise the marriage in my mind.

I wonder. And in my heart. I think. I wonder though if she said it was Ronald and not Jack. But she can, it seems like she was saying Jack and Ronalds are like the villains of this story here. Yeah. I don't know.

It's very confusing. And it looked damn. Okay, so that happened. Heads those bets, I guess. But after Satisfactorily explaining himself to the police, Ronald returned to the apartment because the police were like, yeah, I think this is all a big mess. But like, did you drug anybody with OPM? And he was

like, no way. The police were like, we don't know what's going on either. So we went back to the apartment where Christina and Jack had returned and told him that they didn't want to wait any longer to get married to because they didn't want to risk further interference of her family. The ones you told that he drugged you with OPM? Yeah. Okay. Or Ronald, who knows? And they decided they wanted to get married that very evening. Wow. Okay. So Ronald was like, okay, should I call the priest? Like, this is for realsies? And Ronald, you can have an opinion at some point. Like, you can step in and be like, friend to friend, can I just like, both of you? Like, I don't think this is the time. I would say that.

Like, Ronald, I know you're trying to not ruffle feathers here, but ruffle feathers. It's time to ruffle some fucking feathers. There are a whole a few feathers. He didn't. He called Father Markle, who agreed to see them all that evening. And they all were like, oh my god, let's go get buried. So they all left to go to the pre-souse.

That evening in Markle's living room, Father Markle there. Jack and Christina were married before a wedding party that included, of course, Ronald Barry. Of course. The land lady, Emma Barger. I'm obsessed with that. The couple's friends, the Thomas's. And they used Emma Barger's wedding ring

as proxy for the ring that Jack had yet to buy. And Christina was wearing a borrowed dress. They did the damn thing. They got married. They did it. If that's how they wanted to do it, then they did it. Yeah. This is very chaotic. The most bizarre story of all time. You know, tend your own garden. Yes. That's all. That's all on you. She says she eats a mozzarella instant dented Caesar. Exactly. She just keeps moving away from the microphone. I don't want you guys

to hear it. That's, that's like so thoughtful, but it's funny to watch you crunch. You're just like home, Caesar, home, what's real? Well, in order to excuse me, in Ronald Berry's version of events, the three of them decided as a group that it would be best for Ronald to join them at the cabin on their honeymoon because, quote, they had so much stuff to take along. Drew and I had a lot to bring on our honeymoon. Like we each had a suitcase that we had to check

and to carry on, like that's four bags right there. It was just us. And you didn't need me to come with you. No, love you so much. Like I'm not inviting you. I'm not inviting my best friend. Like what? Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. Different strokes for different strokes. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Different strokes for different strokes. Yeah, I don't know. In May of 1980, near Anaheim, California, Dorothy Jane Scott noticed her friend had an inflamed red wound on his arm and seemed unwell. She insisted on driving him to the local hospital to get treatment. While he waited for his prescription, Dorothy went to grab her car to pick him up at the exit, but would never be seen alive again. Leaving us to wonder, decades later, what really happened to Dorothy Jane Scott? From Wondery, Generation Y is a podcast that covers notable true crime cases like this one and many more.

Every week hosts Aaron and Justin sit down to discuss a new case, covering every angle and theory, walking through the forensic evidence and interviewing those close to the case to try to discover what happened. With over 450 episodes, there's a case for every true crime listener. Follow the Generation Y podcast on the Wonder Yap, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Generation Y ad-free right now by joining Wonder Yap Plus. So on the morning of May 16, 1947, all three of them drove down to the cabin in a car that they borrowed from a friend.

Okay, have fun, you guys. Yeah, at the best time. The first few days of the trip were casual and unabentful, but on the morning of Sunday May 18th, Ronald entered the kitchen to find Christina sitting at the table crying. And he was like, what's wrong? Like, why are you so upset? On Christina said she, quote, didn't know whether Jack had married her because he loved her or on account of, you know,

the murder suicide attempt. I feel bad. Yeah, of course. That's that. I think the realization is hitting her. Yeah. That like this was all that was gone about in the wrong way. It's very like twisted or Romeo and Julia kind of,

you know what I mean? Like that whole story where like, you know, I know about it. I know about it. So you were just playing for so long that you had to go to one break. I don't know. I don't even see it like that.

I kind of just see it like, she kind of forced this to happen. So it's like, and now she, I think it's see it like she kind of forced this to happen. So it's like, and now she, I think it's hitting her that she kind of forced this whole situation. And now she's like, well, I thought it, what's sad about it is she thought she was going what, by getting what she wanted, it wouldn't matter how she got it. She got it. She got Jack. She got to marry him. But I think all of a sudden she woke up in the morning and it's like, okay. But it still bothers me. Like, I got what I wanted, but like, now I'm really thinking about it. And I would rather have the love attached to this.

Yeah. And have it be his decision or like more her decision at that, but like, get a girl. So that like, it'll be pressured anybody. Yeah, that like you two were just so in love that you wanted to get married. Yeah. And not because something had pushed you to having to do this, you know.

Yes, yes, yes. And it's just really sad that she did come to that realization because that's a hard realization I imagine to hit. It's sad. Which is you've got exactly what you wanted, but you still didn't get exactly what you wanted. It's like a careful what you wish for me. Yeah.

But Ronald said he reassured her that Jack did indeed love her, and she seemed to accept that fact. But there were several points throughout that day where Christina seemed to be just lost in her thoughts. And Ronald became concerned that she might try to hurt herself or somebody else again. I mean, yeah, this is not, there's no way you're gonna trick yourself into believing

that everything is hunky-dory here. It's just simply not. So the following morning, Ronald left the couple alone and went out for a long walk. I think he was like, I need to remove myself from the situation for a minute and think it's heavy and seem having seem okayish right now. And when he returned, he found Christina at the table writing a letter and Jack seemed

like he was sleeping on the couch. Now, he tried to like talk to them like he was like, oh, hey, how are you guys? But Christina ignored him and Jack was deeply asleep. So rather than repeat himself, he just went to the couch to make Jack more comfortable. He said not wanting to intrude any further. He left again and told Christina he was gonna go lay out in the sun for a bit and then he'd be back in a few hours,

but that he would come back and check on them periodically throughout the afternoon to see if they needed anything. Okay. When he returned later that afternoon, he found Christina still sitting in the kitchen and Jack still on the couch where he had last seen him several hours earlier still asleep. But this time Ronald noticed

that the pillow under Jack's head was covered in blood. Oh, so assuming he had a nose bleed Ronald took a closer look and realized that the blood was actually coming from Jack's head. What the f**k? So concerned he started cleaning his friend's head and face looking for a So concerned, he started cleaning his friend's head and face looking for a cut. He told police, I asked Christina what happened, but she just looked up at me and didn't say a word. What the fuck?

So he's wiping Jack's face and head and he begins to notice the faint smell of coal oil and fearing that there might be a leak somewhere. He said he lifted Jack off the couch and carried him outside to get fresh air. This is a good friend. I know, honestly. After getting Jack situated on the ground by the river, and when he's turned to start back towards the cabin to figure out what

Christina was doing, he saw smoke billowing from the exterior door leading to the kitchen. What? So he ran back into the cabin yelling out for Christina, but by the time he made his way back into the front part of the cabin, he could barely see anything through all the smoke, but still he was yelling, making his way to the front room calling out for Christina, but he wasn't getting any response,

so he was like, is she not in here anymore? Cause like fire hadn't started here, but he had to get out of there. He couldn't tolerate the smoke filling the cabin, so he made his way back out the front door, leading outside, and he grabbed a couple small items on the way, including one of Jack and Christina's small suitcases. Man, he's a good friend. I know. Damn. No, he'd only reach the shore where Jack sat when he looked back and saw that the cabin was now in golf and flames. And we're, mind you, this is his cabin. This is his cabin. Oh, yeah, this is his.

So he later claimed that he dragged Jack further from the house to a safer location and then went in the direction of the woods calling out for Christina, but he didn't see her and he didn't hear her anywhere. So after about 30 minutes of searching for Christina, Ronald returned back to Jack's location and managed to flag down a passing boat. He explained to the men in the boat what had happened and that he hadn't been able to find Christina anywhere. So one of the men volunteered to stay behind and look for Christina while the other men took Jack and Ronald to meet the nearest car to go and get them to the hospital. So after checking Jack in at the hospital, Ronald went straight to the provincial police to report what it happened. And that was when he learned that Christina's body had been discovered near

the shore of the river, about 200 yards from the cabin. What the fuck is going on? So she made it out of the house before the fire started. But she's dead. Holy shit. So authorities were able to locate Christina's body lying face down in a 9-inch pool of water, adjacent to the riverbank. What? Still dressed in the floral print pajamas that she'd been wearing the night before. There were no burns on her body, no evidence to suggest that she had been in the fire. There were no signs of violence or indications of what had caused her death.

Jack remained hospitalized, where he claimed to have no memory of violence or indications of what had caused her death. Jack remained hospitalized where he claimed to have no memory of the fire or the events leading up to it. What? So he was of little help to the investigators. Now, given the wildly mysterious circumstances under... You need to make up a new word from a serious. Truly. Under which Christina had died, authorities opened an investigation to determine whether or not she'd been murdered. What the fuck? Because this is also bizarre. They're like, was she murder? Like what happened? This makes no fucking sense. On the morning of May 22nd, 1947, an autopsy was

conducted by the chief coroner, Dr. Smurl Lawson. Following his examination, he confirmed there were no signs to indicate that Christina had been in a fire. There was no smoke in her lungs. She wasn't burned. Nothing to indicate that she'd been in the fire. What? And he deemed that her cause of death had in fact been drowning. What? She drowned in a nine-inch pool of water.

With no smoke in her lungs, like, she wasn't really affected by the fire. No, she got out in time. Somehow. And, like, and right before that, according to Ronald, She wasn't really affected by the fire. No, she got out in time, somehow. And right before that, according to Ronald, Jack has a head injury. He found Jack lying unconscious with a head injury and said it to Christina.

And was like, what happened to his head? And she just looked at him and didn't answer him. Like, what was happening here? All I can say, Lawson told reporters, that's the corner, is that Mrs. Kettlewell was definitely drowned, to make sure that she wasn't drugged or poisoned, specimens of her body are being examined, while the contents of her stomach and other material have been sent for chemical analysis.

A short time later, when the lab results came back, Lawson learned that there was coding in Christina's stomach at the time of her death. Oh, okay. On its face, Christina's death and the circumstances leading up to it were the most suspicious thing anybody had ever heard of in their entire fucking life. Why had she been so quick to marry Jack? Why had they done it so secretly? What the fuck was going on? Why was Ronald Barrio is around? Yeah. Why would a newlywed couple bring a third party with them on their honeymoon? Exactly. And how does somebody ostensibly escape a roaring house fire without a scratch only to drown in what was more or less a

puddle of water? This is the most bizarre thing I think I have ever heard. Me as well. So those unanswered questions led investigators to suspect foul play. And what they learned next did little but make them more suspicious. Oh no. The statement given by Ronald to the police was sus, but it only got more so when he got to the subject of money. There was of course the $15,000 he claimed Christina

had stolen from him over the course of the previous year and refused to return. But there was also the matter of insurance money. Between having bought the cottage, the previous year and the fire, he had procured insurance on the home for $3,000. Now, that wouldn't have been unusual in and of itself. But in his statement to the police, he mentioned that he had become, quote unquote, financially embarrassed. but in his statement to the police, he mentioned that he had become, quote unquote, financially embarrassed due to the large sums of money

that he'd lent Christina, and he was unable to pay many of his bills as a result. Okay. So they were like, are you trying to cash in on the $3,000 to like make up for some of your bills? Oh, that feels like it would be. But it's like a lot. It's only $3,000 and you're out of like 15,000. Yeah. And I'm not saying

only 3,000 obviously. That's a lot of money. But if you're out 15,000, like is that really worth all of that? Right. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. Now, given that he, you know, had become financially embarrassed and needed money, it did seem plausible to investigators that the fire could have been set intentionally in order to collect on the insurance. And also, Ronald had sent to and received a telegram from an unknown person in the United States, which just added to the mysterious facts of the kettlebell case. And given all the talk of large sums of money, led the investigators to wonder whether there was some kind of illegal business being operated by Ronald Christina and Jack. So in a statement given to the police, Ronald very flatly rejected the possibility that

he had burned down his own cottage for insurance money. He said, we lost everything. When a thing like this happens, one does not think of insurance. It is something that cannot be replaced. It is like a life lost. We had planned on staying here all summer away from everybody. The flowers were beautiful. We were going to plant so many more,

but I guess I shouldn't say anything else. I've said too much. What? Investigators found his statement to be quote unquote fantastic. Like, fantastic, like, whoa, not like fantastic, like amazing. Like fantastic, like, little hard to believe.

Yes, fantastic. Exactly. Yeah, I little hard to believe. Yes, fantastic. Exactly. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, with the thing he's saying, everything he, that you wanna hear from somebody. But they either doubt it or at the very least, were very suspicious of many of his claims. But just a few days later,

Chief Inspector Albert Ward formally announced that there were no signs of foul play and no suspects, but emphasized that the case would remain open. Okay. Ronald talked to reporters after Ward's statement and he doubled down saying there was no foul play on that I would stake my life. I mean, I'm not saying Ronald has anything to do with it, because I honestly, nothing up to this point would lead me to believe that he would hurt her.

No. But like, this play looks pretty foul. It's just wild. It just looks strange. Like, what happened? I have no idea. It's like a Riley Saver novel. It's a literally a short explaining that one to me the other day.

It sounds like this. It does. Like, I'm just so confused. I'm so confused. I'm so confused how this woman was sitting there. And Ronnie's asking her like, hey, Jack's got a massive head injury and is bleeding all over the pillow and has been out for several hours.

And she's just like, you know what happened here? And she's just like, and then just a fire starts and he carries Jack out and she somehow makes her way out. And then toots along 200 yards or so and drowns in tiny puddles. I'm

I'm gonna have to think on this one so hard. Well, we're not done yet, Curly. So meanwhile, it is shocking. Meanwhile reporters were attempting to get their own statements from Jack and Ronald with the latter having promised to make one in the days immediately following the fire. But the statement, however, was never given and Ronald did seem to be avoiding the press at that point, so they turned to their next best contact, his brother Mario. Ronald's brother Mario. And Mario told the press, Ronnie has always been a secret of fellow. According to his brother, the family had always found his closeness with Jack somewhat unusual.

Okay. He said, we often remarked on the close friendship between Ronnie and Jack. It seemed they were always together. Both worked for a box factory and when one was discharged the other quit. So he was like, they were just very close. Yeah. Now, as far as Jack Kettlewell was concerned, investigators were very clear that he was never a suspect. No time was he detained for questioning. Okay. And Inspector told the press he is not under arrest nor in any kind of custody. As far as I'm concerned, anyone can see him. But the problem was that even once Jack had been released

from the hospital for a head injury and quote, the apparent effects of a drug which left him in a day's condition had wore off. He had said little to investigators or reporters. So nobody knew what the fuck had, like they were like, did anything happen before, but he wasn't, he didn't remember allegedly.

What? In his initial statement to the police, he insisted he remembered nothing from the morning of the fire until he came to in the hospital. I need to know. Like you gotta, rack the deepest parts of your brain.

Yeah. I gotta know. But it seems like he was in a dazed condition. Yeah, so it's like he would drive in. Which I was like, did she give you coding to? Well, that's what I'm wondering. I'm like, what's happening here? Because also, I'm still wondering what happened at the apartment.

Oh, yeah, I mean, everybody's wondering. I'll never, like, never forget what happened at the apartment. I will not. So it's like, I'm still wondering what happened there. Like what drug was used? What's going on over there? And now this happens.

And it seems like there's more drugging happening, possibly allegedly. Yep. And it's like, by whom I do not know. Normie. I wish I had ideas or I got nothing. Well, the wreckage of the cabin also yielded few clues to an explanation.

Oh, good. Among the debris investigators found a gallon jar of coal oil, which Ronald claimed he had brought along for cleaning pots and pans, and they also found a five gallon can, which a neighbor claimed was used to power the generator. OK. Otherwise, there was nothing at the scene

that could have explained Christina as death or the fire. Having ruled out the foul play and potential that the death was the result of drug trafficking operation between the can't between Canada and the US, they ruled that out. The only theory investigators were left with was that Christina had indeed taken her own life after setting fire to the cabin. Okay. In fact, among the only physical evidence in the investigation had indeed taken her own life after setting fire to the cabin. Okay.

In fact, among the only physical evidence in the investigation was the couple suitcase that Ronald grabbed on his way out of the burning building. Oh, shit. Which contained the letter Christina was writing on the morning of the fire. Oh. Which turned out to be yet another suicide note again addressed to Ronald. Because remember the other one was too when she allegedly had tried to end her life and Jack's allegedly.

This time, Christina stated that she did not believe Jack's proposal of marriage was genuine and that he instead made it out of fear that she might harm herself if he didn't go through with it. She wrote, this will be the best way out as I can not bear to see another girl have him. This is like heart-wrenching. It is. It really is. It's sad. She was so sad.

Like, she needed someone to just talk to her. Yeah. So Ronald turned both suicide letters over to the investigators, which appeared to corroborate at least part of his story, particularly his account of the murder suicide attempt in April, and Christina's behavior on the morning that she died. In the third suicide note, written on the morning of the fire and addressed to Mrs. Thomas, Christina wrote, Ronnie is in the boat outside somewhere. By the time he gets back, everything will be all over

with. He must have been afraid something would happen because he's staying an extra day to make sure we go back to Toronto with him. I actually wondered if that's why Ronnie was hanging around so much. Yeah. Because either he, Jack, or both of them were worried about not having a potential third person to watch over things. Yeah, it kind of seems like that. I wondered if that was part of it. I think that's part of it. Especially when Ronnie was coming in and being like, you guys need anything? Yeah. Just going outside for a little while, like I'll be back.

I'll be back. And I can bring you something if you need it. Like it seems like he was there to be like, just keeping everything. Keeping tabs on it. Okay. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah.

And I especially think so when you find out details later. Oh. So nevertheless, the suicide notes didn't explain all the unanswered questions. So a coroner's inquest was scheduled. So it was like someone get me in a coroner's inquest. Doesn't really do much to be honest. The primary motive for the coroner's inquest

was to identify the circumstances of Christina's drowning. Sorry, I was just shifting there. And definitely, or definitively, I can never say that. Rule out foul play. But from the perspective of the public, it was the mystery surrounding Ronald's involvement that more people wanted to learn about.

This aspect of the case was significantly amplified by Christina Sister Helen, who was always heavily suspicious of Jack and Ronald, and especially now. She believed full-heartedly that they were responsible for Christina's death. Wow, yeah. CP Hope, the special counsel to the crown, was also suspicious of Ronald's involvement in the drowning.

At one point, just before the Inquests began, Hope told reporters Ronald was a liar of the most blatant kind whose sinister figure permeates the whole of this tragedy, but whose purpose and design are shrouded in mystery. Whoa. Yeah. The inquest began on June 19th, 1947, with the jury hearing from several medical experts,

including RC Wade, the doctor who treated Jack at the hospital, and the coroner himself, Smirlossin, Dr. Smirlossin. Wade explained to the jury that Jack had indeed been treated for a head wound, but when it came to his days and confused state, Wade said, I suggest he was not ill. He was upset. He did not act like a normal individual. What? So like he was upset because he had been drugged. And I don't think you've mentioned it, but they don't know what kind of head wound this is.

No, like what it's from. He was bleeding. He was bleeding from his head. Wild. But according to Wade, he said Jack was more likely suffering from shock in the after effects of trauma. But he was unable to explain the head wound that he arrived with. He did have a head wound, but he did not know

how the idea where it came from, what kind of head wound, like, no, wow. No idea. This is very strange. So the second witness called was Helen, Christine Sister, thank you. And her testimony would do little to exonerate Ronald or Jack.

She told the jury that Christina was always a happy girl before Jack and Ronald came into her life and that she had never, ever suffered any bouts of depression. Moreover, she refuted Ronald's claim that her sister had been sexually assaulted or blackmailed and emphasized that Christina had never talked about or been in possession of a large amount of money. She said, if she had that kind of money,

I would have known about it. Or so you think. That's okay. You know, like I understand thinking that, but it's like, you never know. Yeah, you don't know. People act strangely, especially when they're like in a new relationship or something's different, like it can change. Or they're suffering. They're suffering. You know, yeah, mentally with something. It's like, I can understand why she would think that she would know that. It's like there is a small chance that you wouldn't. When it's like, sometimes you lie to your sister. Exactly. I mean, Ash never lies to me and I never lie to her. But that's true. That's actually very true. Yeah. I've always got the memory of me.

Yeah. But the real problem Helen claimed was Ronald Berry. She said, anytime Jack went out with Chris, Christina, Berry was with them. And in fact, contrary to what anybody had heard, it wasn't Jack that their family objected to, but Ronald. According to Helen, Ronald Berry was a generally bad influence on Jack and her sister. And Helen said that Ronald had even convinced Christina

to try drugs on at least two occasions. Oh. In this case, Helen was referring to the incident in which she confronted the trio at the barger apartment and attempted to convince Christina not to marry Jack. She had no evidence to support her belief, but she claimed that Christina had been doped up when she agreed to marry Jack.

There's so much happening. Everything is happening. Because like in the reality of the situation is it from like what you can tell from the whole story is that like that murder suicide thing happened. And that's where the marriage was born out of. Yeah. So it's like, I think everybody was under an influence of many different kinds of stress. Yes, stressors. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I think the problem here is like that marriage never should have happened.

Well, and I think, yes, I think that. And I think one of the other bigger problems is that nobody really knew what Christina was going through I think that's a thing Christina was going through some kind of suffering alone It sounds like it sounds like a big time and it sounds like she had a lot of secrets Maybe yeah Thing she was going through that and it sounds like she Like she clearly loved Jack Well, and it sounds like she, like she clearly loved Jack.

Uh-huh. But it sounds like it was, it got to be a little bit of an unhealthy love. A bit of an obsession to, yeah, like for lack of like, like when it comes to the, I'd rather you die than be with anyone else. It's like that's when it's crossed over into a little bit unhealthy. And it's like love can make you do crazy things. It can make you feel an orthodox things. And it's like, that's why you need somebody to talk to you about it to kind of bring you.

Right. Out of that, it sounds like she didn't have that or didn't think she had that. Yeah, because I honestly think she could have talked to Ronald. Ronald seems like a very understanding person. That's what they're saying. It sounds like there was people around her that would have talked to her.

Exactly. But maybe she just didn't know it. And then what was the money? Well, that's the other thing. I just can't wrap my brain around this money thing. Why did she need that? That's a lot of money to need. Yeah.

And back to it. So it sounds to me like there was a, now. I think she was in some kind of trouble trouble. I don't know why. I don't know why. It's being blackmailed by these men. It's possible, yeah. Maybe she got roped up with the wrong people somehow.

Yeah. Or it was something else completely that she was in trouble with. She was in trouble. She was in trouble. You don't need that much money when you're not in trouble. No. So that's a huge part of this thing is like, what the fuck was going on? Uh-huh.

That nobody knew about. Yeah. And now I want to dedicate my entire life to figuring out what the fuck she going on? Uh-huh. That nobody knew about. Yeah. And now I want to dedicate my entire life to figuring out what the fuck she was doing for this. Me too. I'm so invested. But I haven't found anything that gives you any kind of clue because we're about to get murkier. Awesome. So despite testifying that their family had no objection to Jack Kettlewell, Helen went

on to explain that the time Christina left the apartment and told Ronald she was going for a walk. She actually had gone to visit another boyfriend just like she told the land lady. She visited her boyfriend, Eddie Cura, whom the family preferred over Jack cut a well. So the family did have a problem with Jack cut a well. And what? She was so in love with Jack.

Like an obsessive love. Yeah, that she was willing to go through all that, but she's also dating another guy. And she not only told the land lady that, but her sister knew about it too, which leads me to believe, was she going, and it just leads me to question, not to believe anything.

Oh my gosh. It leads me to question, was Eddie? Some, it was he related to the trouble that she was in? That's of them, like who the fuck is Eddie? Bring me Eddie. That's the thing. Bring me Eddie. And also, it's like, so she didn't go to her parents that night.

I think she went to both places. Oh, she went to both places. Because that sounds like. Because then the sisters came over all up in arms. And it's like, but did she even see you today? Did she even tell you? I think she went to see the boyfriend and I think are the previous boyfriend

and told her parents that she's getting married. Was she going to see the previous boyfriend to tell him that she was getting married? To break things off and be like, I'm actually getting married now. Right. Where's Eddie? Where's Eddie?

I don't know. But according to Helen, the sister, Christina was quote unquote afraid of Ronnie and Jack. So she said that like Helen said she came to me and my sister Sophie, and she had Sophie buy her a ticket to Hamilton, where Eddie Curie lived at the time. So Helen is saying my sister bought her a bus ticket to go. Could I take it? But the landlord also said she gave her money. But she gave her money.

She didn't give her a ticket. So maybe she needed a ticket and money? So what did she need that money for? Did she owe Eddie money? And she asked for more money from this landlord, got the money and then went to her sister and asked for a bus ticket, what the fuck was that money for?

And why did she need all this money? her sister and asked for a bus ticket, what the fuck was that money for? And why does she need all this money? And Helen claims that she said that she was a, she said according to Helen, Christina was afraid of Ronnie and Jack. Did she explicitly say that she was afraid of Ronnie and Jack? Or did she seem afraid to you when she was going to visit this Eddie character?

And did they know about like, they said they preferred Eddie over Jack, but does, and then I'm thinking I'm like, does Jack and Ronnie know about Eddie? Is there like some complete farce happening right now? And this wasn't a honeymoon at all. But what would it be if not like, like, I'm like, were you all there for some other reason? And you masked it as a honeymoon maybe, and there was that weird telegram that nobody ever figured out.

And it's weird that Ronnie was there, even though we did come up with a, this is what I mean, there's so many different explanations, you can kind of explain away anything. Uh-huh. Because obviously we explained away, like Ronnie being on the honeymoon is maybe, you know,

like they felt like they needed somebody else there because she was kind of going through it at the time and they wanted to make sure everything was okay. Right. But it's also weird that Ronnie was at the honeymoon. So it's like maybe it wasn't a honeymoon at all. I mean, this marriage is strange. And it's, I mean, yeah, and it came to be a strange way. And it came to be in a strange way.

And she keeps questioning it and worrying about it. And I just, I'm not hearing anything about them. I don't know. This is just weird. Well, it gets weirder. Oh, Lord. So, Sophie, the sister, by said she bought her the ticket to go visit Eddie and she went to go visit Eddie.

And Helen continued the story and said, although Christina gave no explanation as to why she feared Ronnie and Jack, she did say the men were at the apartment, quote unquote, fooling around with handwriting and said, let's see you write your name to Christina. Okay. So Christina went and told Helen allegedly that that Ronnie and Jack were fooling around with handwriting and made her write her her name for them. Okay. Now, Helen believed her sister had, quote, discovered Ronnie and Jack were a bunch of crooks and intended to do something nefarious,

which is why she went to visit Eddie that afternoon. But if she discovered that they were a bunch of crooks and she did indeed go to visit Eddie that afternoon, why did she go back to the house that very night? That's what I don't care. Or like the next night and then get married. So, Jack, this is what I'm not understanding. Unless she was kidnapped and like forced into it,

but then the priest said that everybody was happy that night. Yeah, I don't know. So, Helen's story fed into the prosecutor and the public's belief that Ronald was somehow responsible for Christina's death, but it was based purely on her own interpretation of events that not only was unsupported by the facts of the case, but also contradicted directly, directly contradicted the testimony of others. For example, like I just said,

Father Markle, the priest who performed the wedding ceremony, told the family, told both the family and the jury at the inquest that, quote, he had not observed anything unusual about Christine as a parents or her behavior on the day of the wedding. He went on to explain that though he understood the family opposed the marriage, both Jack and Christine were clear that they wanted to be married and entered into the marriage of their own free will. Okay. And remember that night,

she looked at her sisters and said, I wanna marry Jack. Yeah. And Helen was like, no, and went to the police and the police were like, we can't do anything. And this is what's making me even more, just wilding out over here

because I'm like, her sisters were so serious. You were so upset that they went to the police. They went to the police. Like, what the fuck is going on? What's going on? Because that leads me to believe that maybe Christina did say to them,

I'm scared of Jack and Ronnie. And maybe she did. And maybe she did. Okay, we got to get her out of there. And then it's like, did she just say that to double down on the story that she had nothing to do with the, to again, try to preserve her innocence in the story of the murder suicide,

allegedly, the alleged murder suicide, yeah. I don't know. Wow. But ask for Helen's comments about Jack and Ronald quote unquote fooling around with handwriting. That might have been an attempt to dismiss the inevitable issue of the suicide notes supposedly allegedly written by Christine.

Ah. Helen insisted Christina never experienced depression or mental illness and that she would have never taken her own life. However, Toronto handwriting experts Steven let testified that he examined the letter supposedly written by Christina and determined or confirmed that the handwriting was undoubtedly that of Christina, which it's a shaky, it's a shaky. But it's also a mark, but many times when someone takes their life, the people around

them say they were never depressed. They were never depressed on that. They never would have done that. Right. So it's one of those things where you just don't realize that some people suffer silently. Yeah, absolutely. Which is not anybody's fault that they don't know that. You know what I mean?

No. Like it's not her sister's fault for being like, I never saw her depressed. I've never. So it's like, but that is absolutely something that could have been happening without your knowledge. And the handwriting expert was not the only person who believed that the letters were indeed written by Christina. Dr. C. S. Tenet, a local psychiatrist, also testified as to the content of the

letters, telling the jury he believed Christina, quote, belong to a group of people who are abnormal in certain ways. They are abnormal habitually, habitually abnormal, and their emotional reactions from childhood or early adulthood. He went on to say that people like Christina, quote, demonstrate rather poor judgment, often had tantrums, and in their emotional outbursts, they may commit acts which may be a crime in which they would not ordinarily commit. And hadn't she been described before as having tantrum? Yes. So whatever it is, he's describing seems to be like some fine. She might be suffering from at least around something like that. Yes. Now going into the corner's inquest, Helen was confident that the proceedings would clear up the mysteries around in Christina's death, but with just a few days, the conflicting

testimony from Helen and the other witnesses really only seemed to further confuse things. Ultimately, and somewhat ironically, it was testimony from Ronald Barry and Jack Kettlewell that would provide clarity around many of the more confusing matters. That's a time, kind of. In his statement given to police shortly after his discharge from the hospital, Jack Kettlewell admitted to the police

that in addition to his three-year relationship with Christina, he had also been engaging in quote-unquote unnatural sex relations. He says that because of the time with Ronald Barry, and that the two had been quote-unquote male lovers for many years. Okay. So when Hope confronted Jack with his statement during the Inquest, Jack actually tried to walk back his admission, telling the jury that he had been pressured into that confession by the police, which maybe he was pressured into that confession, or maybe he just wasn't willing to admit in front of an entire room full of people

in the 40s that he was a gay man. Exactly. The problem with his recantation was that it had already been confirmed by Ronald Barry in his own statement to the police. But nevertheless, when he was called to testify, Ronald Barry still tried to corroborate Jackson's assertion telling the jury that they had only engaged in sex a few times and it had been over a long time ago.

This makes me really sad. It's really sad that they're both like, they both clearly like each other. And it's like, and it's like, and it's making me really sad that they're having to like, run it backwards. Like, you're like, nope, it was just like, it happened a long time ago. And it's like, it's okay, man. It's really sad, but it's like the 40s and it's like, fuck. That's the thing.

And still convinced of Ronald Barry's guilt. And that's the sad thing. I think, I think Ronald Barry was always around because he loved Jack. He was worried about Jack's safety.. I think Ronald Barry was always around because he loved Jack. He was worried about Jack's safety. And I think he knew that obviously he and Jack had been involved in some way. And I think he knew that this seems like, you know, like it's a bad idea. Yeah, this marriage to her team.

Because this isn't for the kind of love that you are looking for exactly And that's really sad it is and it's really sad to that everybody thinks that he has something to do with this woman's death If he didn't I still have my fucking idea one way or the other, but it just doesn't feel like it It doesn't totally I wouldn't say like a hundred percent. I'm unconvinced, but I wouldn't say I'm a hundred percent convinced No, oh no At all. No. No, but that's the sad thing is that most people did suspect him and one of those people convinced of Ronald Barry's guilt was the was hope there and he rejected his attempts to shield Jack and pursued this angle as one of the driving forces in the case. And actually, Dr. Ask to Dr. Tenant, the psychologist, his opinion of the men's

relationship. This is the 40s, remember, according to Tennant, quote, the case of homosexual is a case of a rusted development. Many matured slowly, but they did mature, he said, others told him that women nauseated them. So we cannot tell what the girl found out or experienced emotionally. That is some 40s ass backward shit. Absolutely. And that was said with his whole chest. Oh, like, that was tired. Yes. Public being like, I am a doctor. And this is true. And at the same time, was he saying we cannot

tell what the girl found out or experienced emotionally because did she find out? That's the thing that they were together and that's what she was so upset about. She discovered this and that's what had triggered this entire thing. Potentially. But then you wonder too, because in her notes, she says another girl. She says another girl. Does she say that to save Jack or does she say that because she possibly believes it? Who knows? girl. Does she say that to save Jack or does she say that because she possibly believes it? Who knows? But then at the same time, she would say another person. At the same time in her emotional state, would she possibly, and this is just a question, have you sat to her advantage and outed him? Because this was a time where you could do that and people could have

suffer serious consequences. So did you? Yeah, that's what makes me think she didn't know. Yeah. But then again, I don't know Christina. I don't know. I don't know if that would be something she would do. You know, that she didn't know. I don't think really, I don't think anybody really knew Christina. Oh, man.

At this point, anyways. Now, after several days of testimony, the coroner's inquest came to a close on June 25, 1947, when the jury returned an open verdict, meaning that while they didn't believe Christina had died as a result of murder, they nonetheless still found the circumstances very suspicious and recommended further police investigation.

Yeah. In their statement, they said, due to the fact that the post-mortem examination disclosed coding in the stomach of the deceased, and the suspicious fact that she was found drowned in nine inches of water. The jury is unable to decide from the evidence given, whether or not there were foul means employed in her death. Because I mean, coding will knock you out.

Yeah. So it's like if she staggered away from that fire, the stress of a fire, that's an adrenaline rush. She get an adrenaline crash with coding and your stomach, you fall down flat unconscious and nine inches of water. You're still breathing. And you breathe that water in your arms. I don't know, but it just doesn't explain anything else.

The jack of it all. Well, did you drown? Did you drown jack? And what, where does head wound, I don't know about the head wound. The head wound is strange. And why was he just laying on the couch? He was laying on the couch. That's what I mean. why was she just laying on the couch? He was laying on the couch. That's what I mean.

Why was he just laying on the couch? Did he, like, stumble and fall after ingesting some kind of coding, whether or not she drugged him or he took it? I have no idea. And then she took some to it. And what was the reason for that? If it did happen, the only thing that I can think of,

and this is, again a legend and just a a thought, a theory, did, was she upset, because remember she was upset that morning saying to Ronald, like, he, I don't know if he married me because he wanted to or if because, you know, the alleged murder suicide. Yeah. Did she get to a point of like deep, deep sadness again and realize that he didn't love her and maybe he was going to leave. And she ingested some kind of coding herself and gave him some and somehow he stumbled and hit his head

and then climbed up onto the couch and fell asleep. I mean, maybe, I don't know. That's a possibility, absolutely. The head wound of it all is the part that kind of, yeah of is strange to me. But without any suspect leads or even evidence of a crime, the police declined to pursue the case as a murder and Christina's death to this very day remains a mystery.

Now, obviously the corner's inquest was intended to provide answers for many of the lingering questions in the case of Christina's death and to determine whether foul play was involved. And although many felt like those lingering questions were never answered or an explanation was provided, it's more likely that they just didn't like or couldn't accept the explanations they were given. Yeah. This was a time where mental illness was a very taboo subject and was very poorly understood. And in addition to that, the type of illness described by Dr. Tenant is essentially a personality disorder. Yeah.

It was hardly what anybody had in mind when they considered a mentally ill person. Yes, of course, then. So they were like, no, she didn't have, she was a mentally ill. And it wasn't something that they would apply to a quote unquote seemingly normal young woman. But the suicide notes corroborated by Dr. Tennant and Ronald Barry's descriptions of Christina confirmed that she was emotionally unstable, impulsive when it comes to the marriage and potentially

dangerous, but what she had done allegedly, who had already shown herself as willing not to just end her own life, but jacks if they couldn't be together. Yeah, all that is true. So if all that is true, it is entirely possible that Christina did take her own life and tried to take jacks a second time, but we'll never know if that happened or not. That's a thing. And as for the suspicious behavior of Ronald Barry, that was more or less explained in his statements to the police and the jury, not in a way that they would have been able to understand at the time, though.

As a closeted gay man, his entire life was ruled by secrecy and ambiguity in order to protect his privacy and his relationship with Jack, and realistically, both of their personal safety. Yeah, absolutely. But unfortunately, in this case, that drive for secrecy made his behavior seem more and appropriate, suspicious, or malevolent. Yeah, even if it was really innocuous. Right.

For example, in hindsight, his attempts to revive his friends after the first suicide attempt rather than call a doctor or a hospital seem suspicious because it implies that he's trying to do something. But instead, according to his own statements, what he was really concerned about was protecting his relationship with Jack and not wanting to put Christina in a scandalous situation, should the truth about

her actions come to light. That's true. Now, what confirms this even further for me is that three years after Christina died, Jack remarried and had a son, but he did separate from his wife in 1969, excuse me, and he never remarried. And when he died in 1998, he left his military pension to Ronald Barry. Wow.

So they absolutely were in love at some point. I just got like chills from now. I know, I did too. Wow. Jack's family never knew about Christina or Ronald and they only learned about the case after his death when his daughter-in-law discovered something about it and an old newspaper.

Shut up. So he just went on to live life alone without Ronald even. Oh, that like, shatters my heart. Yeah. Alone in the way of not having a romantic partner is what I mean. Because obviously, yeah, like family and a son and everybody. But like never really, it seems like never really like getting what he wanted. Yeah, no, because I mean still 1969.

Yeah. He was still closeted at that point, you know? Wow. So to me, I do come out of this leaning toward that it was a second suicide murder attempt, murder suicide attempt. Yeah, I kinda seems that way. And that the coding in her system

made her fall into that puddle after she escaped the house fire. Yeah, it kinda seems that way. And who knows if the house fire was just an accident? I don't know if I believe that she intended to set fire to that house. I don't know if it was an accident with the coal. What happened to Ronald? Ronald stayed in, I think it's Mumiko, for about 10 years after the Inquest, but in 1956 he left Canada for New York and dropped out of sight. He left his peak and ease dog, Ling, for Jax, then two-year-old son, Richard.

So Jack leaves his military pension for Ronald. Yeah, and Ronald leaves his beloved dog for Jax to your old son. Yeah. Like, I'm sorry. Like, they weren't such a love story. That's a love story. That is such a love story.

That is such a love story. The most tragic love story. And you feel bad because Christina's like... Christina lost in here somewhere. Yeah. In the confusion and the mystery surrounding all of it. Yeah, because we don't know. No.

If that's really what happened, if she did try, you know, a second time more. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we really don't know if she tried the first time. Yeah, it's like, this is all just, she's not here to say. Wow. But it truly is one of the most confusing

and just unclear tragic cases I've ever heard of. And the fact that it's still unsolved is just like, what? I'm, that I truly think that might be the most bizarre story I've ever heard, right? I don't think I've heard anything that shocking and confusing. And forever. Like, my brain will not stop just like trying to piece these things together. Cannot compute.

Wow. But yeah, that is the tragic death of Christina Kettlewell. And the tragic and mysterious death that Christina Kettlewell. And with all of that, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you. Keep it. We're not sure where the someone out there someday doesn't solve this because, wow,

I really need answers. I'm gonna solve this, man. You got this. Keep it that weird. Thank you. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

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