00:00:00
Think about everything you've ever learned about
getting healthy. There's a lot of contradictory
00:00:05
information out there, and things like that
old-fashioned food pyramid aren't much help.
00:00:11
There are so many diets out there that it's
nearly impossible to work out what to do. Do
00:00:16
you cut carbs, up your protein, restrict your salt
intake? Enter "Noom". Team member Jess isn't going
00:00:24
to beat around the bush. Over the Christmas
break, she admits she may have had a little
00:00:29
too much pavlova and had a few too many sneaky
cocktails on holiday. With "Noom" that's okay.
00:00:36
Her coach understands that we're all human and has
worked with Jess to get her diet and exercise back
00:00:42
on track and it really is. Jess has lost a kilo
a week since getting back to the "Noom" program.
00:00:49
Best of all she says she's got her energy
back again after spending the holidays
00:00:54
feeling sluggish and in a food coma. There's
a science to getting healthier, it's called
00:01:00
"Noom". Sign up for your trial today at "Noom"
noom.com/casefile Ready to learn how to live
00:01:10
healthier? Sign up for your trial today at "Noom"
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00:01:38
Our episodes deal with serious and often
distressing incidents. If you feel at any
00:01:42
time you need support, please contact your local
crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for
00:01:47
confidential support, please see the show notes
for this episode on your app, or on our website.
00:02:00
Dear Melanie, Hi! Hope all is well with you and thanks for the
interesting mail you’ve sent in the last while.
00:02:08
I’ve been busy in the garden wherever
I can; getting it slowly in shape. We’ve had some really nice weather lately.
00:02:16
I’m still getting harassed from time to time by
someone trying to break in here, but I think we’ve
00:02:21
come up with a solution if it doesn't cost too
much. Gord is going to wire in a sensor for me,
00:02:28
so hopefully we’ll know when someone enters
the backyard and we can quietly call the police
00:02:33
while he is busy doing his thing. I’m really
hopeful we might actually catch him soon.
00:02:40
Wouldn’t that be wonderful! I could
actually start living a normal life again. I’ve almost forgotten what that feels like.
00:02:49
The police have been pretty useless so it would
be wonderful to hand him over on a silver platter.
00:02:55
Well I must bath and get ready for Marion
to pick me up. Hope to hear from you soon,
00:03:02
Love Cindy. 38-year-old Cindy Makepeace was chainsmoking
Cameo Menthol Cigarettes at her dining room table.
00:03:38
It was October 12 1982, and she had just received
her eighth threatening phone call in five days.
00:03:47
During most calls, nothing could be heard
on the line other than heavy breathing.
00:03:52
Othertimes, a man spoke to her in a menacing
whisper. He had made crude sexual suggestions
00:03:59
to Cindy a few days prior - but she hung
up in disgust before hearing him out. The most recent call had really unnerved
her. The man warned: “You’re dead Cindy.”
00:04:15
As nightfell, Cindy went around her
multi-level stuccoed home in Vancouver: Canada,
00:04:21
closing the window drapes. Ten minutes
later, the phone rang. The familiar low,
00:04:28
growling voice said: “Don’t think pulling the
drapes means I don’t know you’re in there.”
00:04:36
Cindy called the police. An officer arrived and
found no sign of the caller lurking outside the
00:04:43
house. He couldn’t do anything except suggest
Cindy make a list of all the calls she received
00:04:50
and to get an unlisted phone number. With
no known enemies, the highly respected
00:04:56
paediatric mental health nurse was at a
loss as to who could be harassing her. One week later, Cindy returned home with friend
Agnes Woodcock after a night out to find that
00:05:09
someone had gained entry into her house.
She raced next door and asked her neighbour,
00:05:15
who was aware of the calls Cindy had been
getting, to investigate. He entered the
00:05:21
house ahead of Cindy and Agnes to make sure
that the intruder was no longer inside.
00:05:27
After a thorough search of all the rooms, the
neighbour told the women that it was safe to go
00:05:32
in. Cindy began to get ready for bed. A few
minutes later, Agnes heard Cindy screaming.
00:05:42
She found Cindy in her bedroom,
sobbing and clutching a pillow. The pillow, concealed under the covers
of the bed, had been slashed to pieces.
00:05:54
The cuts were precise and were carried
out with a sharp object like a razor. Constable Pat McBride of the Vancouver Police
responded to Cindy’s call. As nothing had been
00:06:07
stolen from the house, McBride thought that
someone was trying to send Cindy a message.
00:06:15
Even though Cindy had changed her
number, the threatening calls continued. They were mainly “no-talk” calls. Seeking
comfort, Cindy contacted her husband.
00:06:29
Cindy Hack had met psychiatrist, Doctor Roy
Makepeace, at Vancouver General Hospital
00:06:34
in the fall of 1965. A natural beauty with
long blonde hair, blue eyes, and wide smile,
00:06:42
Cindy would turn heads wherever she went.
She quickly caught the attention of Roy,
00:06:48
who was assisting Cindy with a group
project for her nursing studies. The two became inseparable. In December 1966, Roy,
who was 18-years older than Cindy, left his wife
00:07:03
and two children and married 22-year-old
Cindy. The union was eventually accepted
00:07:09
by Cindy’s parents, Otto and Tillie Hack. Roy
soon became welcomed into the Hack family life,
00:07:17
often playing cards and sharing a drink with
Cindy’s father who was only six years his senior.
00:07:25
The first few years of marriage were an
extremely happy time for the newlyweds. Cindy,
00:07:31
who always dreamed of working with children,
was employed at the Children’s Foundation - a
00:07:36
job where she cared for children suffering from
trauma and mental health conditions. In 1974,
00:07:44
Cindy landed her dream job as the founding
director for Blenheim House - a new centre
00:07:50
for pre-school children requiring mental health
support. Described as gentle and kind but firm
00:07:57
when she needed to be, Cindy ran the centre
with utmost professionalism and passion.
00:08:04
In contrast, Roy Makepeace was not faring as well.
Although a registered psychiatrist elsewhere,
00:08:12
when Roy moved to British Columbia he failed
the accreditation process three times and was
00:08:18
not permitted to practice psychiatry. Instead, Roy
took a job as the head of medical services at B.C
00:08:26
Hydro, the British Columbian electric utility.
According to Cindy, the disappointment of
00:08:33
failing the exams left Roy depressed and
he became short tempered and irritable.
00:08:43
Roy was a keen sailor and fisherman. In 1977, he bought a nine meter catamaran he named “The
Peacemaker.” Cindy accompanied him on some of
00:08:55
his voyages. But the trips were unpleasant,
as Cindy had a severe phobia of water.
00:09:02
Her fear was so great that she couldn’t even get
into a swimming pool. When sailing in Roy’s boat,
00:09:09
Cindy would spend the majority of her
time under the deck with her dog Heidi. Cindy’s lack of interest in Roy’s maritime
activities drove a wedge between the couple.
00:09:22
Cindy preferred tending to her garden, which became a sanctuary where she
could escape her marital troubles.
00:09:29
Cindy and Roy drifted apart over the years.
On July 1 1982, after 16-years of marriage,
00:09:37
the couple separated amicably. They lived in
different houses, but would continue to see
00:09:44
each other for the occasional dinner date or trip
to the symphony - a pastime they both enjoyed.
00:09:51
Roy stayed in their home while Cindy rented
the main floor of a house in East Vancouver,
00:09:56
only 14 blocks from her workplace. Three
months later, the harassing phone calls began.
00:10:06
Sitting on Cindy’s bed, Roy Makepeace examined
the slashed pillow. He tried to reassure Cindy,
00:10:14
who was still very upset about the incident. As Roy left that evening, he took the
pillow with him and threw it away.
00:10:24
The following day, the tenants who
rented the apartment underneath Cindy’s house phoned the local police.
They knew Cindy had left for work,
00:10:33
however they could hear noises
coming from her place above. Officers arrived, but it appeared as though
the intruder had come and gone without a trace.
00:10:47
A few days later, Constable Pat McBride who
had been dispatched to Cindy’s house on the
00:10:53
night of the slashed pillow attack, returned to
her home. To put her mind at ease, he had with
00:10:59
him deadbolts to put on her doors. The two became
good friends. McBride had separated from his wife
00:11:08
and was looking to stay somewhere for a month
while an apartment became available for him.
00:11:14
Cindy suggested he rent a room in her
house, explaining that it benefited them both - he would have somewhere to live and
she would have someone to offer protection.
00:11:25
Constable Pat McBride agreed
and moved in on November 1. The no-talk telephone calls continued. On
November 22, Cindy was getting into her car
00:11:39
after a day of work when she noticed
a note stuck to the windshield. An image of a woman who resembled Cindy had
been cut from a magazine. Her eyes had been
00:11:50
scratched out by a sharp object. Whoever was
stalking Cindy Makepeace knew where she worked.
00:11:59
Vancouver Police increased their patrols
around Cindy’s house. On November 28, Officer Pat McBride returned to the property
mid-shift to have a coffee with Cindy.
00:12:11
After he left, he received a call out advising
that Cindy’s phone lines had been cut. They
00:12:18
had been cut in five places, however the phone
line to the downstairs tenants remained intact.
00:12:26
Cindy had received a hang up call half an
hour before she realised the lines were dead.
00:12:33
Officer McBride and his partner
kept surveillance on the home until their shift finished at 7AM.
But no further incidents occurred.
00:12:42
He continued investigating, discovering that
a woman two doors down from Cindy had also
00:12:48
received hang up and no talk phone calls. A
neighbour told Pat McBride that he had also
00:12:55
seen a strange man lurking around Cindy’s house on
three occasions but couldn’t offer a description.
00:13:06
In early December 1982, Officer McBride
moved out of Cindy’s house. Over the month that they had lived together,
Cindy and Pat had formed a bond.
00:13:18
The pair began dating, before entering
into an intimate relationship. At times they would double date with Roy
Makepeace and one of his female friends.
00:13:30
Even though she was living alone again, Cindy
assured family and friends that she was fine.
00:13:37
Cindy was resilient - she had endured hardships
throughout her life and was not going to let
00:13:42
the recent events get to her. Although loved by
their parents - growing up, Cindy and her five
00:13:50
siblings were disciplined sternly by their air
force instructor father. At age 6, Cindy began
00:13:57
experiencing nightmares. They continued into her
adult years and would cause her to wake screaming.
00:14:06
Young Cindy’s distress was amplified by her
fear of the basement in her family home.
00:14:12
Recalling her childhood to friends, Cindy
remembered having to eat in the darkened
00:14:17
space because there wasn’t enough room for
all the Hack family around the dinner table.
00:14:23
She was also sent down there for misbehaving. Cindy also confided to Roy that she had been
sexually assaulted by one of her brothers as
00:14:34
a child. Being someone who kept things
to herself, she chose not to elaborate. Regular changes in postings for Otto meant that
the Hack family moved often, but Cindy maintained
00:14:48
A-grades throughout her schooling. She had dreams
of attending college, however Otto was of the
00:14:56
opinion that only his sons should attend. Instead,
he permitted Cindy to enrol in nursing school.
00:15:04
In 1963, Cindy met a resident doctor and the two
of them had a brief relationship, ending when he
00:15:11
was killed in an accident. Heartbroken, Cindy
threw herself into her studies and came top of
00:15:19
her class in the psychiatric components of her
course. It was an area she found fascinating.
00:15:29
In December 1982, police on heightened patrol
noted Roy Makepeace’s car circling the block
00:15:36
of Cindy’s residence. He drove into the laneway
behind her house and turned the headlights off.
00:15:44
Officers approached Roy, who claimed he was there
to protect his wife. They advised him to move on.
00:15:53
In the book about Cindy Makepeace by Ian Mulgrew,
Cindy told Officer Pat McBride that one night she
00:15:59
had awoken to a tapping at her window. Terrified,
she pulled back the curtain to find Roy there,
00:16:06
armed with a knife and a rifle. He told Cindy to
sleep easy because he was guarding her premises.
00:16:16
The next day, Roy recounted the night's events
to Cindy, explaining his theory that someone
00:16:22
from the Mafia could be out to get her. He told
Cindy that the phone calls, the stalker activity,
00:16:29
and the slashed pillow were reminiscent of scenes
from the crime film, The Godfather. Roy thought
00:16:36
that Cindy may have upset the family of one of her
patients and that they were terrorising her as a
00:16:42
way of exacting revenge. He warned Cindy not
to use the downstairs laundry room as someone
00:16:50
could easily slip in there and slit her throat,
remarking that she wouldn’t be found for days.
00:16:58
Roy asked Cindy to move back in with
him and was angered when she refused. In late December, Roy went with
Cindy to her parents' place on
00:17:10
Vancouver Island for the holidays. The
pair exchanged gifts like old times, although it was obvious that
their relationship was strained.
00:17:22
On January 15 the following year, Officer
Pat McBride was visiting Cindy when she
00:17:28
received a phone call. McBride listened
in. There was no voice on the other line.
00:17:35
However, a woman’s voice over a P.A
system was audible in the background. It sounded like the call
was coming from an airport.
00:17:45
A wiretap had been placed on Cindy’s phone,
though the caller did not stay on the line
00:17:51
long enough for a full trace. But a partial trace
placed the call as coming from the Richmond area,
00:17:58
the location of Vancouver Airport. On the night of January 27, Cindy
was feeling particularly anxious.
00:18:10
Her friend, Agnes Woodcock, told Cindy
that she would stay the night so she had
00:18:15
someone else in the house with her.
Cindy gratefully accepted the offer. While she waited for Agnes to arrive, Cindy
decided to move some old boxes into the garage.
00:18:28
As she went to turn on the garage
light, she realised it wasn’t working. Suddenly, someone grabbed Cindy by her right arm
and told her to keep quiet. Cindy felt a pin prick
00:18:42
on her right shoulder and although she tried
to fight off her assailant, soon became drowsy.
00:18:50
The man held a knife and threatened
to cut her face if she cried out. She felt something tight being wrapped around her neck
00:18:58
and tried to get a glimpse of her
attacker as she struggled to breathe. He was wearing tight gloves and running shoes but
in the darkness, all his features were hidden. The
00:19:12
man went to leave and as he closed the garage door
said to Cindy: “It will take a long time to die.”
00:19:23
Agnes arrived at 9.30PM and heard a moaning sound
coming from the basement stairwell. She found
00:19:31
Cindy, with a black stocking wrapped tightly
around her neck and numerous cuts on her body.
00:19:38
Cindy was taken to Vancouver General Hospital
where she was treated for 14 cuts to her back,
00:19:44
shoulders, and legs. The emergency doctor
thought they had been caused by a razor
00:19:50
or scalpel, given the neatness of the incisions. She also had a strangulation mark around her
neck caused by the stocking, bruises to her face,
00:20:01
and what appeared to be a puncture
mark from a needle on her right arm. Cindy was hazy about the events. She did her best
to recount what happened to her to the doctor
00:20:14
and to Detective David Bowyer-Smyth
who was assigned to the investigation. Roy Makepeace was considered the prime suspect in
Cindy’s attack. He gave an alibi for the night,
00:20:30
explaining that he had worked late until about
9, before getting some dinner at a restaurant a
00:20:35
few kilometers from Cindy’s house. He then said he
got home after 10, remembering that the late news
00:20:43
had already started on television. Roy agreed to
take a polygraph test to confirm his alibi - but
00:20:51
it never went ahead. Medications that Roy took for
a heart problem could result in false positives
00:20:58
and the stress of the test could trigger his
condition. Roy Makepeace was free to leave.
00:21:07
Following the assault, Cindy moved into a
bungalow style house closer to her workplace.
00:21:14
Friends thought Cindy would be safer in an
apartment building with secure access, but
00:21:20
Cindy turned down the idea. She wanted a garden to
tend to and space for her dog Heidi to run around.
00:21:29
Cindy refused to divulge much information
about the attack to family and friends,
00:21:35
not wanting to burden them with her troubles. An intensely private person, Cindy felt the
attack was hers to deal with on her own.
00:21:45
However, as a last resort, Cindy began seeing G.P
Doctor Allan Connolly to discuss her problems.
00:21:53
She declined seeing a psychiatrist because
she didn’t want the stigma attached to seeking
00:21:58
professional help. Cindy confided to Connolly
that she thought she would never feel safe
00:22:05
walking down the street again. Soon, Dr
Connolly began seeing Cindy in her home
00:22:12
and stopped charging for visits. He
became more of a friend than a doctor, even though he continued prescribing her
medications for anxiety and to help her sleep.
00:22:27
Not long after the move, Cindy started
receiving letters at work. Addressed to her,
00:22:34
the words and letters were cut from magazines and
newspapers. The threatening messages inside - such
00:22:42
as “Soon Cindy,” and “You’re Dead C**t,” terrified
her and she promptly tore up the letters and threw
00:22:49
them away. On other occasions, she threw
the unopened letters straight into the bin.
00:22:57
On October 15 1983, Cindy heard Heidi barking
outside. When she went to investigate, she found a
00:23:07
dead cat in her yard with a note nearby that read,
“You’re next.” No prints were found on the paper.
00:23:18
One month later, Cindy hired private investigator
Ozzie Kaban at the suggestion of Officer Pat
00:23:24
McBride. The physical attack on Cindy had been
marked inactive due to a lack of leads. Cindy
00:23:32
felt that the Vancouver Police Department
wasn’t interested in catching her assailant.
00:23:38
She hoped Ozzie would get
her the answers she needed. Ozzie gave Cindy a two way radio with a panic
button that she could use in case of emergency,
00:23:49
given that Cindy’s phone lines had
been cut at her new house as well. The hang up calls also continued, now
occurring at Cindy’s workplace Blenheim House.
00:24:05
Cindy’s coworkers were becoming
concerned as the bright and bubbly Cindy now seemed frightened and withdrawn.
00:24:14
One day, Cindy awoke to find that her
new garden she had put so many hours into
00:24:20
had been trampled. Flowers and plants were dug up
and strewn around. It was reminiscent of a time
00:24:28
Roy Makepeace had lost his temper and gone on a
similar rampage when they were living together.
00:24:35
Cindy’s co-workers discussed the attacks when she
wasn’t in earshot. They recalled when she had come
00:24:42
to work in 1981 with a foot and leg injury.
She told them that she had injured herself
00:24:49
playing racquetball but later confided to Speech
Pathologist Sue Fisk that Roy had pushed her down
00:24:56
the stairs. Sue also recalled at Christmas that
year that Cindy had come to work with a black eye.
00:25:05
She walked into Cindy’s office later that day to find Roy Makepeace embracing Cindy
saying: “I’m sorry I did that to you.”
00:25:17
Roy’s temper intensified. Cindy confided to
another employee that she required reconstructive
00:25:24
breast surgery following one particularly violent
assault. Her colleagues were relieved in 1982
00:25:33
when Cindy, with another black eye, told
them that she and Roy were separating.
00:25:40
However, Cindy was adamant that Roy was
not responsible for the spate of attacks.
00:25:46
They still went to dinner and dated
regularly. Cindy even broke off her relationship with Pat McBride, telling him
that things were moving too quickly for her.
00:26:01
On January 30, just before 6PM, Ozzie Kaban was
informed by his security company that an odd
00:26:09
rustling sound was coming from the two way radio
owned by Cindy. He made his way to Cindy’s house
00:26:17
and knocked on the locked door. When Cindy failed
to answer, Ozzie peered through the front window.
00:26:26
Scanning the interior, he could make out Cindy
lying on her back on the floor of the hallway.
00:26:33
Her long blonde hair was covering her face.
After returning to his car to alert the police,
00:26:41
Ozzie kicked the front door down and yelled:
“Come out you son of a bitch, I’ll kill you!”
00:26:49
He rushed to Cindy. She was unconscious, cold,
and clammy with a visible bump to her head.
00:26:57
Her left arm was outstretched and
a note was stuck to her left hand, secured in place by a paring knife that
pierced her skin and went into the floor below.
00:27:10
The note - made of letters cut from newspapers
and magazines read: “Now You Must Die.”
00:27:21
Paramedics arrived and a hospital attendant
noticed something hidden in between the skin folds
00:27:27
of Cindy’s neck. Tied so tightly it was initially
obscured from view was a black nylon stocking.
00:27:37
Scans revealed Cindy had not sustained
any brain damage from being strangled and she was released from hospital the
next day. She told the police that she
00:27:47
had returned home from work approximately an
hour before the attack. She was unlocking her
00:27:54
back door to let Heidi inside when she saw a
man coming through the side gate of her house.
00:28:01
Cindy thought it was a
neighbour and called out to him. But the man remained silent and
walked briskly up the stairs to her.
00:28:10
Cindy began to panic and was frozen in fear.
The man struck her over the head with something.
00:28:19
She couldn’t recall the events that followed,
other than waking up on the kitchen floor,
00:28:24
with the impression that there were two men
with her. After they left, Cindy remembered
00:28:31
crawling to the hallway to retrieve the
two way radio and trying to contact Ozzie.
00:28:38
Cindy described her main attacker to Ozzie. He had a brown moustache, blue eyes,
and was wearing a blue nylon jacket.
00:28:48
She confided to Ozzie that she hadn’t given the
police his description as he had threatened to
00:28:54
kill her sisters if she told them anything.
Despite Ozzie’s encouragement, she refused
00:29:01
to disclose any information about the attack
to authorities other than the basic details.
00:29:12
On February 14, Roy Makepeace was
questioned about the incident. Detective David Bowyer-Smyth believed him to
be responsible for the attack. In a six hour
00:29:25
interrogation, he continued to barrage Roy
in an attempt to get him to crack. He warned
00:29:32
Roy that he would be charged with two acts of
attempted murder over the two physical assaults.
00:29:39
After refusing to give in, Detective Bowyer-Smyth
told Roy that Cindy had given him up,
00:29:46
finally telling police that she believed
he was the perpetrator behind the attacks
00:29:52
on her. She had told detectives that he was
a violent man and she was terrified of him.
00:30:00
Roy steadfastly denied any involvement, however
admitted to slapping Cindy on two occasions
00:30:07
when they were living together. He denied
ever punching Cindy, giving her black eyes,
00:30:14
or any of the other incidences
of assault she claimed. Roy maintained his theory that the Mafia were
involved in the attacks and explained this to
00:30:25
the dubious detectives. With no evidence to
charge him, Roy was allowed to leave the station.
00:30:36
Cindy recuperated from her ordeal and took
a brief holiday to her parent’s bungalow on
00:30:41
Vancouver Island. The respite did her good,
and Cindy returned to work happy and upbeat.
00:30:50
Following the previous attack four months prior,
Cindy and Ozzie had devised a safety plan.
00:30:57
She would call his firm when she was leaving her
house and also when she returned so that Ozzie
00:31:04
knew she was unharmed. On July 23 at 8:16PM,
Cindy phoned Ozzie Kaban’s security company
00:31:13
to let them know she was taking Heidi for a quick
walk in a nearby park and would return in an hour.
00:31:21
It was a warm night and Cindy watched the
tennis players at the nearby community centre.
00:31:28
As she walked along, a green
van pulled up alongside her. Its driver was a man with long dark hair, a bushy
beard, and wearing square horn rimmed glasses.
00:31:42
He spoke to her through the open passenger
window, while leaning across a blonde-haired
00:31:46
female in the passenger seat. He asked: “Excuse
me ma’am, do you know where Churchill Street is?”
00:31:57
Cindy started to give the man directions. Approximately three hours later, Regan
Trethway heard a strange noise. He looked
00:32:09
out the front window of his house and saw a
blonde woman trying to open his front door.
00:32:15
It was Cindy Makepeace. She mouthed some words
to him and was about to lose consciousness.
00:32:23
As she pointed to her throat, Regan could make
out a black stocking tied tightly around her
00:32:29
neck. He cut the ligature with difficulty, as it
was so tight he couldn’t get his fingers under it.
00:32:38
Treating doctors at the
University of B.C. Hospital emergency department did not
know what to make of the attack.
00:32:46
Cindy had puffy, red eyes from being strangled,
a bloody left nostril, and a sore right ankle.
00:32:54
Ozzie Kaban had met Cindy at Regan Trethway’s
before she was transported by ambulance.
00:33:01
He informed the doctors of two fresh needle
puncture marks he had seen on Cindy’s inner elbow.
00:33:08
Toxicology tests were run which showed
the presence of benzodiazepines in Cindy’s
00:33:14
bloodstream, but did not give a result as
to the concentration of drugs in her system.
00:33:21
When they undressed her, nursing staff
found twigs and leaves in her underwear.
00:33:28
Cindy’s recollection of events was hazy.
She didn’t remember anything after giving
00:33:33
the man in the van directions - the next thing she
recalled was speaking to a doctor in the hospital.
00:33:42
A search of Dunbar Park where Cindy was abducted located one of her shoes, the canister of
dog repellant she carried for protection,
00:33:51
and a drag mark in the dirt about 10 metres
from the sidewalk where the van pulled up.
00:34:02
Later that evening, in the emergency department,
clerk Lisa Lattimore received a call.
00:34:09
The call was received directly at the emergency
desk, bypassing the hospital’s switchboard system.
00:34:17
A man on the line asked: “Do
you have hospital security?” When Lisa asked him to clarify what he meant
the man replied: “Do you have security guards?”
00:34:31
He also asked what time the
emergency department closed. The perplexed clerk advised
the man that it didn’t close.
00:34:42
He went on to ask how many floors the hospital
had. Not wanting to divulge any further
00:34:49
information, Lisa told the man she would transfer
him to her supervisor. The man abruptly hung up.
00:34:58
Lisa reported the unusual call to Detective
David Bowyer-Smyth who was at the hospital
00:35:04
interviewing Cindy Makepeace. She told
him that the caller had a strange accent,
00:35:10
possibly of South African
or New Zealand extraction. In an attempt to remember details of the past
attacks, Cindy agreed to undergo sessions of
00:35:23
hypnosis. In the book about Cindy Makepeace
by Neal Hall, the sessions were successful.
00:35:32
Cindy was able to recall from the
latest attack the model of the van, that it had chrome mirrors, a rubber pad on the
bumper, and a smoky coloured air vent on top.
00:35:44
She recalled being dragged into the van, which had
carpeting in the back and several people inside.
00:35:52
One had a mask and wig on. She felt a sharp
prick on her arm and voices surrounding her.
00:36:00
One of the voices uttered the word: “Hombagosh.” This was a South African Zulu word Cindy
explained translated to: “Be warned. Do as I say.”
00:36:15
Roy Makepeace was South African
and spoke with a strong accent. At the third hypnosis session held on
October 2, Cindy made a startling revelation.
00:36:31
She recalled a trip that she and Roy had taken
on board The Peacemaker just over three years
00:36:36
earlier in July 1981. They had sailed
to an isolated area of the Gulf Islands, approximately 75 kilometers from
Vancouver. As they tied up to the wharf,
00:36:51
Cindy decided to stay below and take a nap while
Roy went to look at some property on the Island.
00:36:58
Becoming visibly distressed
during the hypnosis session, Cindy recounted how she heard some shouting.
00:37:07
After putting on her jeans and shoes, she went
above deck and shouted back. No one responded.
00:37:16
She investigated the noise, happening upon a
log cabin further inland at the top of a hill.
00:37:24
She approached the front porch.
Firewood was stacked neatly to one side. Cindy knocked on the door but there was no
answer. She cautiously opened the door to
00:37:39
see Roy Makepeace standing there. He was very
angry. On the floor were the bodies of two
00:37:47
people - a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s.
Roy was holding a knife. It was covered in blood.
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Running from the cabin, Cindy screamed out
to Roy that he was a murderer and vomited.
00:44:24
Roy caught up to Cindy, slapped her on the face,
and shook her. The next thing she remembered was
00:44:31
sitting on a bed while Roy hacked the bodies
into pieces with an axe to dispose of in the
00:44:37
ocean. From the book by Neal Hall, Cindy told the
hypnotherapist: “I don’t know how I got there.
00:44:45
I’m just sitting on the bed. I’m numb as if in
a shell. But part of me is screaming inside.”
00:44:54
Detectives attempted to pinpoint the cabin that
Cindy had described in her hypnotherapy sessions.
00:45:01
It was a difficult task given that Cindy
was asleep when they docked and didn’t
00:45:06
know where the cabin was located in
the vast expanse of the Gulf Islands. Although she could recall the interior with
clarity - a rough wooden floor, grey blanket,
00:45:18
a wooden cupboard stacked with books, an
old table that had writing paper on it,
00:45:23
a wood stove and maps on the wall - the
exterior offered no distinguishing features.
00:45:31
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched
the area described by Cindy for a full day
00:45:36
but could not locate the cabin. Employing another tactic, Cindy agreed to call her
husband using a phone that was tapped by police.
00:45:49
On July 2 1985, Roy Makepeace’s telephone rang.
He was surprised to hear Cindy on the other line.
00:45:58
They had not spoken since he found out she
thought him responsible for the attacks.
00:46:04
She began the conversation: “With the help of
hypnosis, I’ve been able to remember a lot of why
00:46:11
things are happening and what happened four years
ago. I wanted to talk to you before letting the
00:46:17
police know that I now remember everything.” Roy
listened as Cindy recounted the bodies in the log
00:46:26
cabin. He sounded shocked and angry when she
told him she believed he was responsible for
00:46:32
the attacks on her and denied any wrongdoing,
telling Cindy he had nothing to do with it.
00:46:40
As she terminated the call, Cindy said:
“We both know that you have been doing it,
00:46:46
I’m not going to listen to that garbage anymore.” Immediately following the call, Roy Makepeace and
Cindy were placed on round the clock surveillance.
00:46:58
This was ceased five days later, due
to the expense and resources required. During this time, Roy made no
attempt to contact or harm Cindy.
00:47:13
Six months later on December 11, Cindy left
work on her lunch break and didn’t return.
00:47:21
That night, Desirie Elsaesser was cycling
near the University of British Columbia.
00:47:27
It was freezing cold as she rode along West 16th
Avenue. The December sun had well and truly set by
00:47:35
6:20 as Desirie came to the intersection of Blanca
Street. She stopped when something caught her eye.
00:47:44
A blonde woman staggered before
falling into a ditch across the street. Racing over to her, Desirie noticed the woman had
a black stocking wrapped tightly around her neck.
00:47:57
She managed to tear the stocking off with
her bare hands and called an ambulance.
00:48:03
When paramedics arrived, they found
Cindy Makepeace standing in the ditch, dazed, with icy cold water up to her thighs.
00:48:13
She was wearing regular clothes with the
addition of a black rubber industrial glove on her right hand. One of her feet was
bare, the other had on a man’s work boot.
00:48:27
Concerned about hypothermia, a paramedic coaxed
Cindy out of the water and worked on warming her
00:48:33
as he took her to the University of B.C Hospital.
Cindy had scratches on her upper chest, arms,
00:48:41
legs, and back that looked like they were
caused from fingernails or tree branches.
00:48:47
She had a dark bruise to her forehead. There was
a fresh puncture wound to Cindy’s right elbow
00:48:54
indicating that she had been drugged. Blood
testing showed the presence of benzodiazepines
00:49:00
in her bloodstream. However, Cindy also told the
treating doctor she had taken 6 milligrams of the
00:49:08
drug Ativan for anxiety earlier in the day.
As with previous attacks, Cindy couldn’t
00:49:19
remember what had happened to her, only events
before and after. She recalled leaving Blenheim
00:49:25
House for lunch and driving to the chemist
to pick up her prescription for Ativan.
00:49:31
The next thing she recalled was going
to the hospital in the ambulance, although she had a vague memory of having her
hands tied behind her in an unfamiliar room.
00:49:43
Cindy poured her feelings out in her personal
diary. She wrote: “I don’t know why it bothers
00:49:50
me so much that I can still only remember bits
and pieces of what happened the last time I
00:49:56
was attacked. I don’t know which is worse -
remembering or not being able to remember.
00:50:03
I think it would be better if
I had total amnesia about it, although it feels so helpless to know things were
done to you and you don’t know what they were.
00:50:14
The police reaction was so confusing. If nothing
else, I learned not to talk to anyone about it.”
00:50:24
Cindy returned to work shortly after the attack
but the experience had a profound effect on her.
00:50:32
She became further withdrawn and it was obvious to her coworkers that she was no longer
coping with the demands of her work.
00:50:41
She looked exhausted. The dark circles
around her eyes accentuated by her pale skin.
00:50:51
Cindy felt she had no choice but to move
house again. She relocated from Vancouver
00:50:57
to the city of Richmond, 15 kilometers south.
Things settled down and Cindy enjoyed the
00:51:04
garden at her new rental house, a modest
brown and white timber multi-leveled home.
00:51:11
Cindy’s close friends, Tom and Agnes Woodcock,
came over on the night of April 12 1986,
00:51:19
four months after the attack in the park. They played cards and decided to stay
the night, retiring to bed at 11 o’clock.
00:51:29
At 2AM, Tom heard a loud thump coming from
downstairs. He was putting on his pants
00:51:37
when Cindy knocked on his door. She had
heard the same noise and asked Tom if he
00:51:43
would go with her to investigate. They made
their way down the hallway together. As Tom
00:51:51
passed the window of the living room he could
see flames coming from the basement below them.
00:51:58
He shouted to his wife Agnes
to phone for the fire brigade. Agnes soon returned, telling Tom that
the phone line was dead. In response,
00:52:10
Tom raced outside to flag down anyone who
might be able to help. He saw a man in his
00:52:16
30s standing near Cindy’s house and called to
him, asking the man to phone for assistance.
00:52:24
The man didn’t reply, instead running down a
side street and disappearing into the night.
00:52:34
The fire was quickly brought under control and
extinguished by the Richmond Fire Department at
00:52:40
2:52AM. Damage was confined to the basement area
and Cindy, her guests, and her dog were unharmed.
00:52:50
An investigation by authorities and a specialist
fire investigator could not find any evidence
00:52:57
to suggest who might be responsible for the
blaze. Cindy thought Roy Makepeace was to blame.
00:53:06
The fire was a massive setback to Cindy.
She became increasingly despondent in the
00:53:11
weeks that followed. The major depression that
arose from Cindy realising that the attacks
00:53:18
had followed her to her new place resulted
in a stay at St Paul’s psychiatric unit.
00:53:25
Gradually Cindy’s mental health improved
and on discharge from the hospital, she finalised her relationship with Roy
Makepeace, officially divorcing in June 1986.
00:53:39
To mark the end of the marriage, Cindy
changed her surname from Makepeace to James. Rather than returning
to her maiden name of Hack,
00:53:49
Cindy liked the short, easy to remember surname
of James and the new beginning it signified.
00:53:58
In mid-1986, Cindy went to Germany to visit and
stay with her brother Roger who worked there.
00:54:05
On return, Cindy, who had taken six months of
sick leave, felt well enough to go back to work.
00:54:13
She was immediately asked to resign. It had been
decided in her absence that she wasn’t coping well
00:54:20
enough to competently continue as director of
Blenheim House. The decision devastated Cindy,
00:54:27
as she lived and breathed her job. As a parting
gesture, Cindy received a payout. Given that she
00:54:36
had worked in her specialist role at Blenheim
House for 13 years, the company also provided
00:54:42
funds for Cindy to upgrade her nursing skills so
she could return to work as a hospital ward nurse.
00:54:50
Not long after, she took a job at Richmond
General Hospital on a ward for patients who
00:54:56
had recently been discharged from the I.C.U
but were not well enough to return home.
00:55:03
This job had Cindy returning to
shift work and working long hours. She had further difficulty sleeping,
relying more on medications such as diazepam
00:55:14
and lost weight, often feeling too anxious
to eat. Her weight plummeted to 44 kilograms.
00:55:26
At the behest of her psychiatrist, who
saw Cindy fortnightly after her release from the psychiatric hospital, Cindy began
keeping a private journal. The psychiatrist
00:55:38
hoped it would help if Cindy recorded
everything and reflected on her thoughts.
00:55:44
From the book about Cindy by Neal
Hall, one entry dated April 30 1988 read: “Got a hang up call about
half an hour after getting home.
00:55:57
Don’t know if it’s that or what, but I feel kind
of jittery. Hope there aren’t any more over the
00:56:04
next few days as that seems to have been a pattern
before my house was broken into each time. Maybe
00:56:11
I’ll take a taxi to work on Monday night so it
doesn’t look like the house is empty. Christ, I’m
00:56:18
sick of this! I’m so tired of living in fear. I’m
so bloody tired period! I’m tired of being tired.”
00:56:29
Cindy used her journal to express her anger
towards the various people in her life that
00:56:34
had left her in despair. Her parents for
her strict upbringing. Roy Makepeace for
00:56:41
his control over her while they were together. And
the Vancouver and Richmond Police who, whilst they
00:56:48
assured Cindy they were doing everything to catch
her assailant, she felt were brushing her off.
00:56:58
On October 9 1988, Roy Makepeace was sitting
in his apartment in Kitsilano, Vancouver,
00:57:06
15 kilometers north of Cindy’s house in Richmond.
Two men approached the main entrance and rang the
00:57:14
intercom for the secure apartment building. Roy
didn’t recognise them so ignored their buzzing.
00:57:22
Several minutes later, he could hear noises
at his apartment door. Roy looked out of the
00:57:29
peephole but couldn’t see anyone, they were just
out of view. He soon realised it was the two
00:57:37
young men who had been outside moments before,
someone else having let them into the building.
00:57:45
Roy heard one say: “You go down -
I’ll wait here until he comes out.” After staying outside for about an hour both men
left. Roy, although distressed by the incident,
00:58:00
did not contact the police. His treatment by
detectives over the attacks on his ex-wife
00:58:07
made him distrustful and he wanted as
little to do with authorities as possible.
00:58:14
Roy decided instead that from now on, any
visitors to his apartment would need to buzz
00:58:20
on the intercom using morse code for the letter
“R” so Roy knew it was safe to let them in.
00:58:29
Two days after the strange men at his door,
Roy was checking his answering machine
00:58:34
when a 12 second message chilled
him. A low, snarling voice said: “Sunday...dead...meat...soon.” Roy
panicked, thinking it was from the
00:58:51
two young men who were at his door the
previous Sunday. He replayed the message.
00:58:58
On the second listen he realised that the caller
wasn’t saying “Sunday,” they were saying “Cindy.”
00:59:19
Roy believed that the caller was the person
who had been harassing Cindy for the past
00:59:25
six years. The next day, as he
checked his answering machine again, Roy had another message. This one,
in the same growling tone said:
00:59:38
“Hey man, more smack, more downers, another
grand after we waste the c** t. No more deal.”
00:59:49
Roy sent a copy of the threatening messages to
his lawyer, believing that he was being framed.
00:59:56
In response, Roy’s lawyer told him to forward
the tapes to the Vancouver Police Chief.
01:00:02
Roy declined and did not
tell Cindy about the calls. Later that month on October 26, Cindy
finished work at 8:30PM after a 13 hour shift.
01:00:19
She was due to clock off an hour earlier but a
patient on her ward died and Cindy stayed back
01:00:24
to complete the required paperwork. Extremely
saddened and dejected at the loss of her patient,
01:00:32
Cindy pulled into her garage and waited with the
engine and lights off. This was a habit she had
01:00:38
gotten into to make sure everything was quiet
and safe at her house before she exited her car.
01:00:46
As Cindy got out, she noticed a man standing at
the rear of her blue Chevrolet Citation. Wearing
01:00:53
a ski mask, the man grabbed Cindy and put a knife
to her neck. He said that he would kill her.
01:01:02
It was then that Cindy realised there was another
man, his face also concealed by a ski mask.
01:01:10
Cindy tried to fight off her attackers but
a needle was pushed into her right arm.
01:01:19
The silent alarm registered to Cindy James
was received approximately two and a half
01:01:24
hours later by Ozzie Kaban’s security company. A
police officer responded shortly after midnight,
01:01:32
parking his car outside Cindy’s house.
Everything was silent. As the officer walked up
01:01:41
Cindy’s driveway, he noticed the interior
light of her car in the open garage was on.
01:01:48
He found Cindy lying in the driver’s seat
naked from the waist down. Her pantyhose were
01:01:55
pulled down around her ankles. Her legs were
protruding from the car door and her hands had
01:02:02
been tied behind her back with a black nylon
stocking. Another was tied around her neck.
01:02:10
In one of her hands was the alarm
device. Cindy’s mouth was covered with grey duct tape and crusted blood formed
around her nostrils. Her skin was cold.
01:02:24
Unable to find a pulse, the police officer radioed
for backup, stating that Cindy was deceased.
01:02:35
A responding officer arrived and heard Cindy
wheeze. Realising she was still alive, the
01:02:42
officers worked to free her from her restraints.
She was taken immediately to Richmond General
01:02:48
Hospital for treatment in the I.C.U, where some
of the nurses recognised Cindy as their colleague.
01:02:56
The next day, Cindy fell into a coma. Fearing
a brain injury, a neurologist had Cindy
01:03:03
transferred to a second hospital. There, she
was intubated and had a number of brain scans.
01:03:11
They revealed no permanent damage. When Cindy
regained consciousness, she was questioned
01:03:20
extensively as Richmond Police investigated
the crime scene. Four Export A brand cigarette
01:03:28
butts were found near Cindy’s car as well as
a kleenex tissue with small spots of blood.
01:03:36
Cindy slowly recovered and
was discharged from hospital. Richmond detectives determined a
pattern in the Cindy James case.
01:03:46
There would be periods where nothing
occurred and then the phone calls and threatening letters began, almost as a warning
to Cindy to be on guard for a physical attack.
01:03:58
An attack would then occur and then the
threats would cease for a short period of time.
01:04:06
Friends and family of Cindy believed
that her attacker wanted to torment and drive Cindy insane from the attacks rather
than kill her. They cited that the attacker
01:04:17
already had multiple opportunities in which
they could have killed Cindy but hadn’t.
01:04:23
In response, on April 3 1989, Richmond authorities
went about installing permanent surveillance at
01:04:30
Cindy’s house. Setbacks, including equipment
failure and technical problems made this a
01:04:37
frustrating and time consuming endeavour. However,
they were confident the assailant would be caught.
01:04:45
It was just a matter of watching and waiting. On May 25, Cindy went for coffee with
a nursing friend Diane Yong. It was
01:04:58
her first day off of five from the hospital.
Together they discussed their travel dreams and
01:05:05
Cindy happily told Diane how the attacks against
her seemed to have quietened down of late.
01:05:13
Later that afternoon, Cindy went to pick up her
paycheck. She had a friendly chat with payroll
01:05:20
clerk Tammy Carmen about all the things she
planned to do on the remaining four days off
01:05:25
she had from work, including attending a birthday
party. Tammy commented on Cindy’s appearance,
01:05:33
telling her how gorgeous she looked in her pink
blouse, burgundy pants, and blue suede jacket.
01:05:40
Cindy explained that she had just had a
makeover at a beauty salon in the mall.
01:05:46
Tammy hadn’t recalled seeing
Cindy that bubbly in a long time. At approximately 9 that night, Tom and Agnes
Woodcock arrived at Cindy’s place to play bridge.
01:06:00
They were confused to find Cindy wasn’t
home, as they had organised the late night
01:06:05
card game only hours earlier. Tom and Agnes
drove around the main streets of Richmond,
01:06:12
hoping to spot Cindy’s car on the road. As they
drove past the Blundell Shopping Centre car park,
01:06:20
Agnes saw Cindy’s powder blue Chevrolet
Citation parked near the Bank of Montreal.
01:06:27
Pulling into the near deserted car
park, they examined the vehicle. It was locked. Cindy’s keys
were visible on the front seat.
01:06:38
A small trickle of blood ran down the drivers
side door. Cindy was nowhere to be found.
01:06:49
Police investigated the scene. Inside the car, two
paper Safeway bags containing groceries were found
01:06:57
on the front passenger seat, with Cindy’s black
purse wedged between them. Her purse contained a
01:07:04
total of $2.77. A further two grocery bags were
found in the floor well of the passenger seat.
01:07:14
On the back seats, lay two Sears bags
containing a croquet set and wrapping paper. Underneath Cindy’s car was her bankcard
with an ATM transaction receipt wrapped around
01:07:27
it. The receipt indicated that Cindy had
deposited her paycheck at 7:58 earlier that night.
01:07:36
The position of Cindy’s car
concerned her friend Agnes. Cindy preferred to park as close to the
bank’s exterior ATM machine as possible,
01:07:47
as this meant that she didn’t have to
walk far from her car at night. Agnes knew that Cindy would wait if needed for
the closest car space to become available.
01:08:01
At 3:16AM, two constables arrived at Roy
Makepeace’s apartment for questioning.
01:08:08
Roy initially refused to let them in,
appearing frightened and argumentative. Eventually he obliged, telling the officers that
01:08:17
the reason for his behaviour was
that he was fearful for his life. He now slept with a rifle beside his bed after
getting numerous hang up calls and phone messages.
01:08:30
Whilst talking to Roy, the officers
took note of his apartment. The rooms were cluttered and in
disarray. His bed appeared slept in.
01:08:42
Roy gave an alibi for the night before, explaining
he went cycling to a market with a friend.
01:08:50
It was then that officers told
Roy about Cindy’s disappearance. He teared up and whispered: “My God, she’s dead.”
01:09:03
A foot search commenced in the Richmond area
with sniffer dogs but there was no sign of Cindy.
01:09:11
Her car underwent forensic testing. Only Cindy’s
fingerprints were uncovered on the vehicle.
01:09:18
The blood on the door handle
matched her blood type. Using the Bank of Montreal records, police
identified the customers who used the exterior ATM
01:09:31
15 minutes before and after Cindy. Barry Leroy,
who used the machine three minutes after Cindy,
01:09:39
told officers he saw a blonde woman resembling
Cindy walk in front of his car in a diagonal
01:09:46
direction across the parking lot. She was
heading northeast away from the shopping center.
01:09:54
At the time, there were about 6 or 8 other cars
parked in the lot. Barry said that the woman was
01:10:02
the only person he saw, although looking at
a photo he couldn’t be positive it was Cindy.
01:10:11
As the search continued, Cindy’s father Otto,
travelled from his home on Vancouver Island
01:10:17
and stayed in Cindy’s house to
await any news of his daughter. Distraught, he offered to provide 500
military men to help search for Cindy.
01:10:29
This offer was declined by the police who assured
him they were looking everywhere for his daughter.
01:10:39
Five days passed with no signs of Cindy. Her
face was splashed across newspapers as police
01:10:47
urged witnesses to come forward. Staff Sergeant
Ron De Roon told the Richmond Review that they
01:10:54
were baffled, explaining that Cindy quote: “Just
kind of floated up into the sky like Houdini.”
01:11:04
Flight and other transportation records were
checked with no indications that CIndy had left
01:11:10
the area. Her family believed that Cindy had been
abducted. Otto Hack told the Province that before
01:11:19
his daughter disappeared, she called a friend.
Cindy said to her: “some people may think I’m
01:11:27
paranoid but I have a feeling I’ve been followed
all week.” This was in direct contrast to others
01:11:36
who saw Cindy that day, saying she was bright,
bubbly and the happiest she’d been in a long time.
01:11:45
A search of Cindy’s house revealed nothing
out of the ordinary aside from four bottles
01:11:51
of prescription sedatives and nine small boxes
of an over the counter sedative, both of which
01:11:57
Cindy used to get to sleep. It became apparent
to detectives that she was hoarding tablets.
01:12:06
Her family also found another 19 bottles of
prescription medication hidden in her home.
01:12:13
They made a list of all the drugs, which totalled
900 pills before flushing them down the toilet.
01:12:20
In addition, her family also found in a spare room a kit containing a needle and syringe, an
intravenous cannula and saline solution.
01:12:32
In the days after Cindy’s disappearance someone
phoned the office where Cindy’s life insurance
01:12:38
policy was held. Claiming to be Cindy’s father,
the male caller requested some information on the
01:12:46
policy. The secretary said that they would have to
visit the office personally to discuss the matter.
01:12:54
The line went dead. Cindy’s
father denied making the call. The secretary told police that the caller
sounded older and had a slight accent.
01:13:12
June 8 1989 marked exactly two weeks after
Cindy James’s disappearance. One and a half
01:13:20
kilometers from the Blundell Road Shopping
Center, a municipal works crew continued
01:13:25
their job repairing part of a pavement on
Blundell Road. At 1OAM, worker Gordon Starchuk
01:13:33
needed to urinate. The busy road offered no
privacy but the house behind him was abandoned.
01:13:42
Making his way down the side of the property, Gordon passed the heavily graffitied exterior
and ventured onto a vacant lot behind the house.
01:13:52
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon saw a pink
blouse and blonde hair. Initially thinking that
01:14:00
a woman was sleeping on the ground, he realised
this was not the case as he ventured closer.
01:14:08
The woman was lying on her right side partly on a
blue suede jacket, and was wearing burgundy pants
01:14:14
and one shoe. The other shoe was lying nearby.
It was apparent the woman had been dead for
01:14:23
some time - her face was completely blackened
from exposure and decomposition. Her wrists and
01:14:30
ankles were tied behind her back. Around her neck
was a black nylon stocking. It was Cindy James.
01:14:43
Police secured the crime scene while onlookers
gathered on the side of the road. Detectives
01:14:49
interviewed locals, none of whom reported anything
suspicious in the past two weeks. At the time,
01:14:56
a squatter was living in a van behind the lot
only five meters from where Cindy was found.
01:15:04
Even though he cooked his meals over
a fire site less than two meters from where Cindy’s body lay, he recalled
nothing out of the ordinary in the past
01:15:13
two weeks and had certainly
not noticed Cindy lying there. The abandoned house - with broken windows
and spray painted messages including the word
01:15:24
“devil”, “666”, and swastikas, was a
hangout spot for a group of local teens. It contained no evidence that it was
ever accessed by Cindy or her attackers.
01:15:39
Although there was some blood staining and cuts
to Cindy’s blouse, there were no injuries to her
01:15:45
skin underneath. Investigators were expecting
the cause of Cindy’s death to be strangulation.
01:15:52
However, this was not the case. There were
no injuries consistent with strangulation.
01:16:01
20 millilitres of blood was
taken for a toxicology screening in the hope it would provide some
answers as to how Cindy died.
01:16:13
Days later, a message appeared on a fuel tank that
lay beside the abandoned house. \ In orange spray
01:16:20
paint, the sentence: “Some bitch died here,” was
written with a line extending from the fuel tank
01:16:27
to where Cindy’s body was found. Whoever
was responsible was never identified. A month later, Otto and Tillie
Hack, as well as Cindy’s siblings,
01:16:40
met with police. Cindy’s family waited,
expecting an update. They were told that the The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
were no longer investigating Cindy’s murder.
01:16:55
They were confident her death was a suicide. An inquest into Cindy James’s
death was held in February 1990.
01:17:07
The toxicology report showed that Cindy had eight
different drugs in her body, including flurazepam,
01:17:14
diazepam, and morphine. The massive drug
overdose particularly of flurazepam and
01:17:21
morphine was concluded to have caused her death. Over the seven years prior to the final attack,
Cindy had made a total of nearly 100 reports to
01:17:33
police departments. These included hang up calls,
threatening letters, destroyed property, physical
01:17:40
attacks, three separate fires, and three occasions
of dead cats being found on her property.
01:17:48
On two of these occasions
the cats had been strangled. As time went by, suspicions grew - but
not towards anyone in Cindy’s life.
01:18:00
Most, but not all of the police investigating the
attacks, started to believe Cindy was responsible.
01:18:09
Cindy’s friends and family were adamant that
she had been the victim of a sadistic stalker.
01:18:15
Five jurors were tasked with having to decide
whether Cindy was the victim of foul play,
01:18:20
ended her own life, or perpetrated the final
attack herself and accidentally went too far.
01:18:29
One of the first to give evidence was
Vancouver Constable Valen Woollacott. Constable Valen Woollacott arrived
at Cindy's home on January 27 1983,
01:18:42
just over six years before Cindy went missing. He had been dispatched to her home after the first
physical attack on Cindy in which friend Agnes
01:18:52
Woodcock had found her in a basement stairwell
with a black nylon stocking around her neck.
01:18:59
After talking with Cindy, who told him of how
she had been attacked in the garage of her home,
01:19:04
Constable Woollacott conducted a search of Cindy’s
house. Everything seemed well kept and in order.
01:19:12
Cindy’s house was full of indoor plants that
were thriving under her care and attention.
01:19:19
The garage light was working, unlike Cindy had
claimed. Furthermore, there was no indication
01:19:26
of a struggle. The boxes that Cindy said she
had been moving were piled neatly in a corner.
01:19:33
The only sign that an attack had taken place
was a mark of blood on one of the boxes - it
01:19:39
looked like a smudged thumb print. When he walked
past the bathroom, Constable Woollacott stopped.
01:19:48
There was fresh blood on the bathroom
counter and a spray of blood on the sink and
01:19:53
mirror. Cindy had never mentioned any
altercation occurring in the bathroom. Given this discrepancy, Cindy James
agreed to take a polygraph test
01:20:06
regarding the night of the attack. She was
asked if she had inflicted the cuts to herself
01:20:12
and tied the nylon stocking around her own neck
on the night of the attack. Cindy replied no.
01:20:20
The polygraph indicated she was being deceptive. The test was repeated another day. Again
Cindy failed the test. When given the results,
01:20:32
Cindy grabbed the polygraph operater’s arm
and said: “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”
01:20:41
Detective David Bower-Smyth thought that
even though she had failed two polygraphs,
01:20:46
the fact that Cindy was incredibly nervous and
emotional may have influenced the results. Cindy
01:20:54
could not recall the night’s events without
breaking down and becoming histrionic.
01:21:00
He asked Cindy to come clean and she changed
her version of events, telling the detective the
01:21:06
attack had indeed occurred in the house, not in
the garage as she had previously claimed. She told
01:21:14
him that she had been too scared to tell the truth
as the attacker had threatened to harm her family.
01:21:23
Vancouver police constable Kiyo Ikoma responded
to the emergency call from Ozzie Kaban
01:21:30
when he found Cindy on the floor with the paring
knife through her hand on January 30 1984.
01:21:38
Ikoma told the inquest that the blood on
the kitchen floor where Cindy claimed the
01:21:43
attack had initially taken place, was
smeared in a circular pattern as though an attempt had been made to clean it. He
also noted that Ozzie Kaban had been forced
01:21:54
to kick down the front door after
both doors to the house were locked. The coroner asked him if he had ever come
across a crime scene before where the
01:22:05
assailant had wiped up blood and then locked
the door behind them before leaving the scene.
01:22:11
Constable Ikoma replied: “The door
yes, but not cleaned up blood.” Cindy's family and friends could not believe
that authorities suspected Cindy of stabbing
01:22:25
her own hand in the frenzied attack but more
testimony implicating Cindy was yet to come.
01:22:34
Detective Gary Foster recounted one of the arson
attacks to Cindy’s basement on August 21 1985.
01:22:43
He went to Cindy’s house after the fire had been
extinguished and along with another detective,
01:22:49
went about searching for evidence. The basement
could either be accessed from an interior door
01:22:55
or from a louvred window that opened
to the outside. Given that there was no evidence of an intruder in the house, the
detectives focused on the basement window.
01:23:09
Divided into three panes of glass, the window
opened outwards, making it difficult for someone
01:23:15
to crawl through. The sills were covered in thick
dust and cobwebs, which were undisturbed. One of
01:23:23
the detectives tried to see if it were
possible to gain entry via the window, covering himself in dust and leaving a trail
of fingerprints in the process. The detectives
01:23:35
suggested that whoever started the fire may
have thrown lit paper through the window but
01:23:41
arson investigators later concluded that the fire
had been lit in six different places from inside.
01:23:50
A roll of toilet paper from the basement
bathroom and a reader's digest magazine
01:23:55
had been used to set fire to a towel,
subsequently igniting the basement bathroom.
01:24:03
Detective Carol Halliday joined the investigation
after this attack. From the minute she spoke to
01:24:10
Cindy, she believed that Cindy was acting
and carrying out the attacks herself.
01:24:16
She argued that Cindy had gotten away with
it because the male investigators overseeing
01:24:22
the case were so enamored by Cindy’s charm and
good looks. Detective Halliday wanted to have
01:24:29
Cindy charged with public mischief and arson.
However, her superiors declined to do so,
01:24:35
in concern for the effect it
would have on her mental health. Cindy was also suspected of lighting the fire on
April 19 1986, when friends Tom and Agnes Woodcock
01:24:48
were staying over. Investigators noticed that even
though the fire had started in the early hours of
01:24:55
the morning, Cindy’s bed appeared to have not been
slept in. This implied she had been up all night.
01:25:05
The fire started amongst a bookcase containing
memories of Cindy’s marriage to Roy,
01:25:11
further adding to the speculation
that Cindy set the blaze herself. Tom Woodcock disagreed, remembering
the strange man he had seen outside of
01:25:23
Cindy’s house soon after who had run down
the road. This man was never identified.
01:25:33
Roy Makepeace, hounded by detectives as the
prime suspect for years during the attacks
01:25:39
on Cindy was finally able to have his say
at the inquest. The police conceded that
01:25:46
there was not one shred of evidence
to link him to any of the assaults. Roy added that he had been in South
Africa on the night of one of the arsons.
01:25:57
Cindy, not aware of this, had told
detectives she believed Roy had lit the fire.
01:26:04
In an emotion filled testimony, Roy broke down
when describing their blissful years as newlyweds.
01:26:12
He denounced Cindy’s story of a cabin murder in
Gulf Islands revealed under hypnotherapy as sheer
01:26:19
fiction. Cindy had failed to disclose that her
sister Melanie was also on board The Peacemaker
01:26:27
and witnessed none of the traumatic events Cindy
described. While admitting to slapping Cindy
01:26:35
twice in their marriage, he clarified that
Cindy did not require reconstructive breast
01:26:40
surgery after a particularly savage assault. She
had an elective breast augmentation procedure.
01:26:50
Explaining the years prior to her death in the
book, “The Deaths of Cindy James” by Neal Hall,
01:26:56
Roy Makepeace said, with a
tinge of anguish in his voice: “It just went from bad to worse to impossible to
death. I did everything possible to be supporting,
01:27:10
comforting, sympathetic. She was a quiet
person who would hold a lot of things in.”
01:27:19
Initially, Roy was of the belief that Cindy
was targeted by an unknown perpetrator.
01:27:26
However as time went on, Cindy kept destroying
the evidence of her attacks, such as the time she
01:27:33
asked Roy to throw away the slashed pillow. He
recalled a time he and Cindy had arrived at her
01:27:40
house together to find two floodlights that were
assembled two meters above the ground had been
01:27:46
unscrewed and smashed to pieces on the concrete
below. Roy suggested to Cindy that they save the
01:27:54
broken glass for police to fingerprint but she
insisted the glass be disposed of immediately.
01:28:03
Around the same time, she asked Roy
if he thought she was losing her mind. Roy told the jury that he reassured
Cindy she wasn’t. In hindsight,
01:28:14
he said he wished he had encouraged her to open
up by asking her: “What makes you think that?”
01:28:23
Roy Makepeace clarified some other points that had
baffled investigators during the years. The word,
01:28:30
“Hombagosh,” that Cindy recalled being
said to her in the van during an abduction
01:28:36
was actually “Hamba Gashle,” a Zulu
term that meant “Farewell, take care.” He explained that his sister used it often in
conversation with Cindy and others and perhaps the
01:28:49
unusual phrase had become lodged in her brian. Roy
also recalled a time just before they were married
01:28:57
when Cindy read him a letter from her mother.
The letter was written in an aggressive tone.
01:29:05
It lectured Cindy about her poor choice in
marrying a divorced man. When Roy asked to
01:29:12
look at the letter later, Cindy sheepishly told
him that she had written it herself and thrown
01:29:18
it out. Looking back, Roy wondered if this odd
event was the beginning of Cindy’s problems.
01:29:28
Roy Makepeace believed that Cindy
had multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity
disorder. He cited the trouble that
01:29:39
Cindy had remembering events, the side of her
personality that he described as childlike,
01:29:46
and the trauma that Cindy had suffered in
her life as pointing towards this diagnosis.
01:29:53
Roy criticised the medical care that Cindy
had been given over the years of the attacks.
01:29:59
Quote: “There was no competent psychiatrist
taking charge of her psychiatric treatment...I’m
01:30:07
so resentful of the inadequacy
of her psychiatric care. Nobody checked the facts of her life and
that is tragic. It cost her her life.”
01:30:20
Roy believed that Cindy’s use of the
black nylon stocking to strangle herself might have had symbolic meaning, stemming
from possible sexual abuse as a child.
01:30:32
Cindy’s brother gave evidence at the inquest
denying he had ever sexually assaulted Cindy.
01:30:40
The phone messages to Roy Makepeace’s answering
machine were played. Richmond Constable Jerry
01:30:47
Anderson believed it was the voice of
Cindy James on the recordings. Others, including Roy Makepeace and
Cindy’s friends and family,
01:30:57
believed that the messages were left by a
male voice. Roy was at a loss to explain them.
01:31:05
The Psycholinguistics Centre in
New York analysed the messages. The report found obvious similarities in
voice characteristics between the recordings
01:31:16
and audio of Cindy James’s voice
taken from a police interview. However, it reiterated that a positive
identification could not be made because of the
01:31:27
apparent disguise of the voice and the shortness
of the messages. The two men who approached Roy’s
01:31:35
door were never identified, however the incident
was believed to be unrelated to Cindy James.
01:31:47
The second part of the inquest focused
on the day of Cindy’s disappearance. Richmond detectives walked through
Cindy’s last known movements. They argued
01:31:58
that Cindy had appeared so jubilant
prior to her death because she had formulated a carefully orchestrated plan of
her suicide and was going to carry it out.
01:32:10
She went to the Blundell Road Shopping Center,
purchased bags of non perishable foodstuffs,
01:32:16
and a birthday present for her friend's son. There
was no receipt with the grocery bags. Detectives
01:32:24
returned to the shop and ran the purchased items
through the checkout. None of the records for
01:32:31
the day of Cindy’s disappearance matched the
dollar value of the groceries in Cindy’s car.
01:32:38
To detectives, It seemed as though Cindy had also
purchased a pair of stockings and other items and
01:32:45
took them out of the bag before leaving the car
park. Lying under the car, Cindy’s bank card and
01:32:53
ATM receipt appeared to have been placed there.
They argued if it had been dropped in a struggle,
01:33:00
the receipt would have separated from the card,
instead of being wrapped neatly around it.
01:33:08
Following the detective's narrative,
sometime after leaving the car park, Cindy consumed a large amount of flurazepam and
morphine tablets. She then had 20 minutes to get
01:33:20
to the abandoned lot 1.5 kilometers away before
the drugs would have rendered her unconscious.
01:33:28
It was clear she had consumed the flurazepam
orally, as residue of the drug was found in
01:33:34
her stomach. To record the concentration found
in her bloodstream, she would have had to have
01:33:39
swallowed between 20 to 80 pills. In addition, if
Cindy also took the morphine orally she would have
01:33:50
had to have swallowed 18 tablets or 20mls of a
liquid preparation. It was assumed Cindy had taken
01:33:58
the morphine orally, as an intravenous injection
would have rendered her incapacitated immediately.
01:34:06
This was despite the fact that a puncture mark
from a needle was found on her right inner elbow.
01:34:13
It could not be explained how Cindy had either
of these drugs in her possession. She was not
01:34:19
prescribed flurazepam or morphine. There were no
missing drugs from the hospital where she worked.
01:34:27
Detectives theorised the puncture
mark on her right arm was caused by Cindy as she took blood from herself to
smear on the door of her car. However,
01:34:38
Cindy was right handed, meaning this would have
been a difficult procedure for her to complete.
01:34:47
Detectives found it a plausible explanation
that Cindy walked to the abandoned lot,
01:34:53
lay down her coat, hog-tied herself, and then
lost consciousness, falling to her right side.
01:35:00
This was evidenced by her blue coat
found partially underneath her body. To show the jury it was possible, knot tying
expert Robert Chisnell took the same length
01:35:13
and make of stocking found around Cindy’s body.
He demonstrated how it was done, completing the
01:35:20
complex tying procedure in about three minutes.
He said that the stocking, when found, was tied
01:35:28
loosely enough around Cindy’s wrists and ankles
that it could be slipped on and off. The hitches
01:35:34
in the knots were also consistent with the
unconventional way Cindy knotted her shoelaces.
01:35:41
Robert Chisnell believed that the knots in this
case matched previous incidents with Cindy.
01:35:48
He also tied a black nylon stocking around
his own neck in the same fashion, remarking
01:35:54
that it was tight enough for him to feel light
headed but not so tight that he would black out.
01:36:02
Cindy’s friends and family were
outraged at this explanation, citing that there was no possible way that
Cindy could have carried this out on her own.
01:36:13
Surveillance on Cindy’s home always resulted
in the harassing phone calls and mail stopping.
01:36:21
The few times that Cindy’s friends or
family had heard calls or seen people lurking around could not be explained. One
detective accused them of covering up for her.
01:36:39
Cindy’s former psychiatrist
was of the impression that Cindy suffered from borderline personality
disorder and post traumatic stress disorder
01:36:48
stemming from unknown childhood trauma.
However, he argued it was difficult to diagnose and build rapport with her because
she was such a guarded and private person.
01:37:01
Other diagnoses by psychiatrists who had
examined Cindy over the years included anxiety,
01:37:08
major depression, paranoid disorder, major
affective disorder, psychotic delusions, and
01:37:14
suicidal ideation. An excerpt from Cindy’s journal
written from St Paul’s psychiatric unit when she
01:37:22
was receiving treatment three years prior to her
death was read out: “I still feel suicide is my
01:37:30
best option in an unbearable situation and as soon
as I get out of here I will carry out my plan.”
01:37:39
The majority of the public sympathised with Cindy,
a woman who was let down in every way by systems
01:37:46
that failed to protect her. Despite admissions
to psychiatric units, she was repeatedly allowed
01:37:53
to go home without receiving consistent
treatment or diagnosis of her condition.
01:38:00
If it was that the attacks were occurring to her, the police failed to catch a perpetrator who
terrorised Cindy for more than seven years.
01:38:11
One forensic psychiatrist, who reviewed Cindy’s
extensive medical history and police files,
01:38:18
told the inquest:“The tragedy is that, with
all these people involved, she wasn’t saved.”
01:38:29
The inquest into the death of Cindy James was one
of most expensive and lengthy in British Columbia
01:38:36
history. In the end, the jury failed to reach a
conclusion as to whether Cindy had been murdered
01:38:43
or had taken her own life. They determined
that Cindy James died as the result of an “unknown event” after one vote shifted
the decision from “suicide” to “undetermined.”
01:38:59
Some thought that another person or persons were
involved in the attacks orchestrated by Cindy.
01:39:05
Others proposed that Cindy knew much more
about the identity of the perpetrator than
01:39:11
she told authorities. One fact that was not
argued by nearly all who knew Cindy was that
01:39:18
if she had indeed carried out the attacks upon
herself, she was not aware that she was doing so.
01:39:26
The terror in her eyes, the very real emotion
she portrayed during countless interviews,
01:39:32
convinced nearly all involved that Cindy truly
believed these attacks were occurring to her.
01:39:40
“This lady suffered very deeply, from within
or out.” One forensic psychiatrist stated.
01:39:48
He suggested that Cindy cast
herself centre stage as the victim in a fantastic plot of her own creation,
adding: “She was in a living nightmare.”
01:40:03
The coroner concluded: “Cindy James was a victim,
real or imagined, and lived in terror for an
01:40:12
unknown period of time throughout her life.”
The Hack family was devastated by the finding,
01:40:20
hoping that the jury would recommend the
case be reopened. They vowed not to let
01:40:27
their daughter’s death go, determined to
find her killer and bring them to justice.
01:40:36
Sifting through the rubble of one of the
fires that engulfed Cindy James’ basement,
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authorities found a mauve coloured notebook.
It was Cindy’s journal. The hard cover was
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decorated with Cindy’s favourite
thing - blooms of coloured flowers. Cindy’s sister Melanie had purchased the journal
for her during her separation from Roy Makepeace.
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On the inside cover, Melanie had inscribed a
note and quote by naturalist John Muir. It read:
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To my dear sweet sister Cindy,
It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower
is forever falling; vapour is forever rising.
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I hope that you feel the wonder of nature as I do. May it make you feel intensely alive
and full of joy now and forever.