Confession at the North Battleford Mental Hospital

On December 9, 1927, a travelling inspector of immigration arrived at the North Battleford Mental Hospital. He was there to assess an inmate, Andrew Owstroski, for deportation. Andrew had been convicted of vagrancy a few months before and deportation proceedings had been initiated. He was two months into his sentence when he, to quote multipleContinue reading “Confession at the North Battleford Mental Hospital”

Murder in Moose Jaw: The Heroism of Margaret Regan

Dr. William Brown was in good spirits when he left for his office on the afternoon of Monday, October 3, 1927. He’d just played a cribbage game with his wife, Mina, who reminded him not to hurry home that evening. She was in charge of a meeting of the Daughters of the Empire (a deeplyContinue reading “Murder in Moose Jaw: The Heroism of Margaret Regan”

The Shooting of Rosie Schmidt

It was close to 5:00PM on Tuesday, Dec 28, 1926 that Rosie Schmidt and her friends, Katie Tiesenbach and Agnes Fenske, stepped off the streetcar and began walking up the sidewalk towards the parliament building in Regina, Saskatchewan where they worked as charwomen (cleaners). Rosie had been lamenting her financial situation on the ride over,Continue reading “The Shooting of Rosie Schmidt”

Arsenic in the Milk: The Poisoning of George B. Reed

When George B. Reed died on Friday, April 26, 1935, it was sudden, but not completely unexpected. He was sixty years old and had been ill for two years, spending more than a year of that time at the Gull Lake Hospital, returning home six weeks before his death. He suffered from paralysis in hisContinue reading “Arsenic in the Milk: The Poisoning of George B. Reed”

Manhunt in Dunkirk

Thursday, January 7, 1932 It was still dark at 7:00AM when Peter Jeanotte got up and went out to the barn to do his chores. He was a farm hand on the Fitch farmstead in Dunkirk, Saskatchewan and had been working for his friend of seven years, Robert Walter Fitch, since October. Fitch, who wentContinue reading “Manhunt in Dunkirk”

The Yorkton Hammer Murder

June 4, 1933 It was a typical Sunday on the Steberl farm, just 12 miles northeast of Yorkton near Rhein, Saskatchewan. Gustav Steberl and his wife Rosie had gone into Rhein that day with their hired man, Henry Suppes, before returning to the farm around supper time. Earlier that day Henry and Gustav had gottenContinue reading “The Yorkton Hammer Murder”

The Haunted Skull of the Kerrobert Courthouse

As those of you who’ve been reading along already know, my fall down the rabbit hole of Saskatchewan murder started with the Kerrobert Courthouse. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, take a moment and read this. Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you. Done? Okay, great. As I was saying, it was nearlyContinue reading “The Haunted Skull of the Kerrobert Courthouse”

Shootin’ Rabbits by Moonlight: The Murder of Hans Pederson

Murder Most Foul On the morning of December 29, 1931, the Tilks brothers, Albert and Kenneth, were driving to Ardath when they saw something in the snow near the main road into town. It was the frozen body of Hans Pederson, a twenty-two year old Danish immigrant who worked as a farmhand on the farmContinue reading “Shootin’ Rabbits by Moonlight: The Murder of Hans Pederson”

The Disappearance of Richard Arthur Hudson

On May 4, 1934, twelve-year-old George Roe was headed towards Crooked Creek on his father’s farm in the Spring Creek district just south of Moosomin. As he was walking, he came upon a clump of willows and noticed something odd. A man’s boot protruded from the soil next to the willow trees. The boy wentContinue reading “The Disappearance of Richard Arthur Hudson”

The Murder of Eileen Bailey

In March of 1934, just four miles north of Estevan stood the Bailey Farm, where Percy Bailey and his wife lived with their two daughters, Eileen, who was seventeen, and Ruby, who was nineteen. On March 24, the couple went into town to do some shopping, leaving Eileen and Ruby home alone. The two girlsContinue reading “The Murder of Eileen Bailey”