SERIAL KILLER: Highway of Tears

[00:00] This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. For some of us, summer means more juggling, which can lead to overwhelm and worry. BetterHelp makes it easy to get the support you need. Having served over 6 million people globally, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. They'll match you with a quality licensed therapist, so you can focus on your therapy goals. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. That's betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. [00:29] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock [00:59] Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And Britt. [01:04] Do you know what this week is? Uh... [01:07] Is it our birthday? Well, yeah, but it's our birthday, but it also means it's officially two years since we started this podcast. So it's Crime Junkie's birthday, too. Yeah, it's like our anniversary. [01:20] It's blowing my mind. When I think about where we were two years ago, I mean, everyone who's listening every week. I mean, we were on tour this year, which is insane. Oh, my gosh, yeah. So, like, thank you to everyone who's listened. You know, whether you found us a day ago or you've been with us for the full two years, like, we can't thank you enough.

[01:37] On that note, though, I mentioned touring. It reminds me of something to mention. [01:42] We get messages all the time asking when we're going to do live shows and when we're going to start touring. And I don't think people know. We've been doing them. Yeah, we've been on the road since like June doing live shows across the country. So we don't ever really like put it in our episodes. We often just talk about our tour on our website. We have an events page that we update all the time. We have our newsletter. We have social media. We have the fan club. We really try and keep the show just for like the real content. If you don't want to sign up for any of those things, you don't want to use social media, [02:12] pre-roll ads because if we have an announcement about a new show or merch or anything, we put those in there. But it's just a friendly reminder because, again, I think half the world thought we were never going on tour and we've been doing it for like the last six months. Yeah. I think like while we were in Florida, someone messaged us and asked us when we were coming to Florida. And we were like, we're here. Honey, we're here. Oh, and on that note, what we've learned from touring is everyone thinks that I'm brunette and you're blonde. And that we're six [02:42] one's mind right now. If you don't know what we look like, you can see us on Instagram, Crime Junkie Podcast. And we are a mere 5'2 and three quarters inches. Right, right. So yeah, happy anniversary. All that out of the way. Let's do what we do best. Let's get to the content because today I'm going to be talking about one of Canada's most notorious and deadly highways, the Highway of Tears. [03:05] Music

[03:36] I'm going to start our story late one November night in 2010. There's this rookie RCMP officer on patrol that sees this big black pickup truck racing out of this logging road on a desolate stretch of highway between the communities of Vanderhoof and Fort St. James in British Columbia. Now, this might not have been a suspicious sight if it had happened in the middle of the day, maybe. [04:06] in late November. And the truck is not only moving fast, but also driving super erratically, like something that just didn't seem right to this Mountie. So the officer, who'd only been policing for like a year at that point, radioed for backup and started to follow the truck. Now, given the location, he suspected that the driver might have been poaching, which is like hunting animals illegally, like either with or without a license or without a season, whatever. So [04:36] we have tears, the officer pulls over the truck and he's kind of surprised to find this 20-year-old guy, like basically a kid in the front seat. He's even more surprised when he noticed that the young man had blood smears on his face, his chin, and his legs. Do you mean on his pants? Oh, no. So that's the other thing that stood out to this officer. He could see his bare legs because this

[05:06] night and he knew that like anyone spending any amount of time outside would have to be layered up for sure. [05:13] So the officer asked this kid about the blood because the more he's shining light into the car, the more blood he's seeing. Like there was a pool of blood at his feet. [05:23] So the officer kind of prompts him, like, what were you doing? Were you poaching? And the kid, like, fesses up to it immediately. He's like, yep, yep, I was. But I wasn't poaching with a rifle. He said that he and a friend had clubbed a deer to death with a pipe wrench. What? Listen, I don't do any poaching ever, so I don't know what I'm talking about. But that seems really like an odd way to do it. And the officer was understandably skeptical. [05:53] Like, none of this was making any sense. But according to a 2018 Globe and Mail article I read, the guy basically just told the officer that he was a, quote, redneck. And that's just, like, what they do. Okay, here's the thing. I grew up in the sticks. I grew up in the sticks. [06:11] I kind of get this culture, but I have never heard of [06:17] anybody doing something like this. Exactly. It does not feel right. So the officer holds this 20-year-old driver in custody at the scene on possible poaching charges under the Wildlife Act, and he calls in the game warden. Now, while police wait for the game warden to arrive, they start searching this guy's truck. They found the pipe wrench that he claimed to have used on the deer. The blood is still on it. They also find a knife, which was covered in blood. They also

[06:47] a backpack. And now attached to this backpack was this little stuffed toy dangling from the zipper and it didn't seem to fit to the officer. Like, not that guys can't carry around backpacks with little stuffed things on the zipper but it didn't seem to fit with who this guy was. This like self-proclaimed deer clubbing redneck in a big truck. And [07:06] That is, of course, because it wasn't his. When they open the backpack, they quickly find a wallet. And in that wallet was a children's hospital card with the name of 15-year-old Lauren Leslie. Now, at first, the officer isn't sure what any of this means. Like, had it been stolen? Was this girl with him earlier in the night? So he decides to contact Lauren's family to see her. [07:31] When the officer phones Lauren's home, he reaches her dad, Doug Leslie, and the officer asks him if Lauren's home. And her dad's like, no, why? And the officer tells him that he found this ID bracelet in someone else's vehicle, someone that he pulled over off a logging road on Highway 16, and he was checking to make sure that it hadn't been stolen. So now knowing that Lauren isn't safe at home, the officer starts to get a really bad feeling, like he needs to find Lauren. So he tells her dad that he's going to check things out. [08:01] you back with an update soon. [08:03] Now, when the game warden finally arrives, the officer pointed him down that logging road where the truck had left fresh tire marks in the snow. And he said, listen, just follow those tracks down that road. Let us know what you find. Again, thinking they're finding a deer or a moose, maybe an elk. But the game warden didn't find any of those things. Instead, those fresh tire tracks led him straight to the body of a young girl half buried in a gravel pit. No signs of life and fresh blood whatsoever.

[08:31] all over the snow. And according to an article in the Huffington Post, her body was still warm to the touch. Whatever had happened to this girl had just happened. Now, shortly after discovering who they believed to be Lauren, the worst possible thing happened. Someone came driving up to the scene and it was her father. [08:53] In an interview for that same 2016 episode of 48 Hours, he said when he got out of his vehicle, the first person he saw was that game warden who was white as a ghost. And Doug introduced himself to the officers on the scene and said that basically he was looking for his daughter. He wanted to know what was going on. He's like, listen, I got your call. It freaked me out. I kept trying to call her phone over and over. I couldn't get a hold of her. And when I wasn't hearing back, like I just decided to start driving on Highway 16 till I found the cops. Here I am. What the heck is going on? [09:23] Now, police, of course, are really hesitant to provide any information about anything at this point. There were way too many unanswered questions. But what they did tell him made his stomach sink. This wasn't a routine traffic stop anymore. This was a homicide investigation. [09:42] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades.

[10:01] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [10:08] wherever you get your podcasts. [10:12] The body in the woods was virtually unrecognizable. So even though Doug was showing them pictures of his daughter Lauren, like it wasn't helping them at all. So finally Doug told them, if it is Lauren, you'll find a small tattoo on her wrist that says grip fast. Doug had the same one on his wrist. It was their family motto. This was the information they needed to confirm the body in the woods was in fact that of 15-year-old Lauren. [10:37] Now, at this point, they still had the driver in custody and they already made an arrest. But now, instead of poaching charges under the Wildlife Act, he was the number one suspect in the homicide of Lauren Dawn Leslie. [10:51] Even though they have their suspect, though, so many unanswered questions swirled through everyone's mind that night. What brought her out there to this desolate stretch of highway in the middle of the night? What happened to her in those woods? Who was this man in the truck? And how did she know him if she knew him at all? [11:08] Police began their investigation by learning as much about Lauren as they could. And the more they could find out about her, the easier it would be to answer those questions about how she ended up in those woods with a man who her father said she probably didn't really know. [11:22] They learn that Lauren was a quiet but friendly 15-year-old living in the small northern British Columbia town of Vanderhoof. [11:29] All of her friends described her as a super sweet girl, always ready to lend a hand and help other people. And the police also learned that Lauren was legally blind. She actually only had 50% of her vision in one eye and none in her other. And because of this, she had to wear prescription glasses. But all the people who knew her said that if it weren't for the glasses, you would never know that she was blind. Now, Lauren had a close circle of friends in her hometown, like girls she went to school with.

[11:59] town of Prince George. And her parents really worried about the time that their young daughter spent on the road between Vanderhoof and Prince George because what I've heard, I've talked to a girl that lives in Canada and she said Prince George could be kind of a rough place. But more concerning than her just being in Prince George was how she got there. Like she got there along Highway 16, which was then and still is today infamously known as the Highway of Tears. Now, [12:29] 725 kilometer stretch of highway that runs from Prince George, which is basically the center of the providence of British Columbia, to Prince Rupert, which is on the western coast. But between those communities, you'll find like a couple of small logging towns like Vanderhoof, where Lauren is from, and 23 First Nations. But mostly what you'll find is absolutely large. [12:51] nothing. On both sides of the roads are just dense, dark woods. There are no streetlights, [12:58] Very little traffic. Like it is just this stunning, uninterrupted natural scenery, which is incredibly isolated and remote. Right. [13:07] People have said in the past, this is the perfect place to commit murder and go undetected and the perfect place to dump a body and let nature just cover your tracks. And that is something that is said because it's something that's been happening there for decades. Women have been going missing or turning up dead along Highway 16 since the late 60s. How many women in total?

[13:37] of Tears. Now, officially, the RCMP say that there are 18 official victims from 1969 to 2006. These 18 women and girls are part of the RCMP's official Highway of Tears investigation, which they're calling Project EPANA. But... [13:55] Local estimates put the number over 40. [13:58] Like I said earlier, this is like an infamous stretch of road and it's become so well known that if you travel the road today, you'll see actually huge billboards that read, quote, girls, don't hitchhike on the highway of tears, killer on the loose, end quote. [14:13] Even though people have known about the dangers that lurk on this highway for nearly 50 years, women and girls are still going missing. And the reason for this, I feel like there are a couple of reasons. The first is that a disproportionate number of victims along the Highway of Tears are indigenous. Now, according to a 2016 article in the New York Times, the First Nation communities in that part of British Columbia, like so many others across Canada, are marked with high levels of poverty, incarceration, and substance and alcohol abuse. [14:43] places, they lack even the basic amenities like safe drinking water and public transit. So that public transit piece is really important because people who live in those logging towns and First Nations along Highway 16 had no access to reliable public transportation until 2017, just two years ago. So, you know, the question is, like, what do you do when you don't own a car? Neither do any of your friends or family. There's no bus to get you to school or work. And you have to run into the

[15:13] Now, I mean, a quick reminder, like many of the cases that we talk about of missing and murdered women and girls along the Highway of Tears are from like the 70s, 80s, even 90s. And, you know, like hitchhiking was never really encouraged, but it was far more common than it is today, which is not to say hitchhiking doesn't even happen anymore. It totally does. [15:30] Risky or not, like when you have a job to get to because you have to feed your children, like you do what you have to do. And for many, that meant relying on the kindness of strangers along that stretch of highway that you knew could be dangerous. [15:44] Now, lots of people theorize at least some of the women who met their end along the Highway of Tears were simply like in the wrong place at the wrong time. Victims of crimes of opportunity. They were maybe alone and vulnerable in this isolated area surrounded by woods. But police also haven't ruled out the possibility that there's this serial killer or more likely serial killers that are preying on women and girls and using this long stretch of highway as their hunting ground. Killers like Bobby Jack Fowler. [16:14] Thank you. [16:14] Thank you. [16:14] Bobby Jack Fowler was an American construction worker who was known to travel extensively through the U.S. and Canada for work, always in beat up old cars and often picking up hitchhikers along the way. So he had many run ins with law enforcement as a violent sexual offender dating as far back as the late 60s. [16:33] But it wasn't until much later in 1995 that he was finally put away for good. He had basically tied a woman up in a motel room, tried to sexually assault her, but somehow, somehow, she was able to escape. Like, she literally jumped out of the window, naked, bleeding, with ropes still tied around her ankles. Oh my God. Her testimony was enough to land Bobby Jack in prison for a 16-year sentence for attempted rape and kidnapping.

[17:03] that RCMP named Bobby Jack Fowler an official suspect in three of the Highway of Tears murders. [17:11] They suspected him when they learned that in the 1970s, he'd been in Prince George, British Columbia, working at a local roofing company. Now, after he was suspected, DNA evidence conclusively linked him to one victim, Colleen McMillan, who, according to the Vancouver Sun, was just 16 years old when she left her Lack-Lahash home in August of 1974 to hitchhike to her friend's house just a short distance away. Now, her body was found a month later near a logging road off of Highway 16. [17:41] Shortly after this, police also named Bobby Jack as a suspect in the murders of Gail Ways and Pamela Darlington, both of whom were 19 years old and both of whom disappeared in 1973. [17:54] Now, he's also been suspected of murdering four teenage girls in Oregon as well. And you'll notice I'm saying he's a suspect, not that he's been charged. And there's a reason for that. Because Bobby Jack Fowler died in prison in 2006. So when police announced that they were naming him as a suspect in those Highway of Tears murders, like, he'd already been dead for six years. So do they suspect him to be responsible for, like, all the Highway of Tears murders or missing person cases? No. So, I mean, he died in 2006. [18:24] And he was in prison a long time before that. And while he was locked up or dead, women were still going missing and being killed. I think he was just one of a number of predators lurking along that stretch of road. So while Bobby Jack is clearly not a viable suspect in Lauren's murder, understanding one of the men who preyed on women in this area could give police a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding Lauren's murder.

[18:54] as she traveled along this highway to and from Prince George. Yeah, I mean, this highway has decades of bad news around it. Exactly. So as they're looking at this dangerous stretch of highway, they still don't know if Lauren was killed by someone she knew or a complete stranger. And as it would turn out, the man that they pulled over that night was in fact dead. [19:15] Both. [19:18] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [19:37] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [19:44] wherever you get your podcasts. [19:47] It doesn't take long for police to learn the name of the man that they pulled over that night, Cody Lejabokoff. Lauren's parents believe that Lauren met Cody by chance during one of these trips that she would take to Prince George. But it's also possible that they first met on a Canadian networking site called Nextopia, where we know for sure he messaged her for the first time on November 1st. [20:17] online at night. [20:19] Lauren's friends say that she was super trusting. She was very quick to develop relationships with people she met online. Like people trusted her. They confided in her. And she did the same. And Cody seemed...

[20:30] nice he was just 20 years old and by all accounts he was this popular well-liked young man just starting out on his own he was training to become a mechanic and he had a job at a car dealership in prince george and he lived nearby in a house that he shared with three roommates all of which were women all of which were close friends it feels very safe and he had a steady girlfriend too and she was studying to be a teacher [20:52] McLean's magazine goes on to describe him as basically this country boy with a baby face and a bruiser's body. He was like 6'2", 220 pounds. And this is kind of what I mean when I say Lauren both knew him and he was a stranger. She felt like she knew him. They talked a lot. They confided in one another. She felt like she knew a lot about him. But she only knew what he wanted her to see. She wasn't aware that he regularly used drugs, specifically crack cocaine. [21:22] that he had a minor criminal record, though even if she had known, she still wouldn't have truly known him or the darkness that was in his heart. And really, no one did. According to the Vancouver Sun, Cody did not have the kind of background that you might expect in like a 20-year-old caught virtually red-handed for a violent murder. There was no dysfunction, no child abuse, no neglect. Like he came from this well-to-do family in Fort St. James. He had a dad that coached his hockey team. Like his parents were still together. [21:52] He had two other siblings. He was just a really normal dude. Yeah, again, no red flags like in his upbringing that would make you think this is who he was going to turn into. So 27 days after their first exchange, Lauren decides to meet this stranger who she feels she knows. The two arrange to meet at a school playground near her hometown of Vanderhoof.

[22:13] Now, Cody, who was over the legal drinking age in Canada, said that he's going to bring some alcohol. And according to Huffington Post, this is where she was last seen alive, in that school playground. And an eyewitness placed her there with a man wearing shorts, which is important because remember, those shorts are memorable because it's November 27th in Canada. It is freezing freaking cold in northern British Columbia. [22:37] Now, when police are kind of like piecing this together and looking at their interactions, it's super clear to them that from the very beginning, the two had very different ideas about how this night was going to go. Because in their text message history, which was presented by the prosecution at trial, it showed a message from Lauren that night that said, quote, we're just hanging out, right? Like nothing sexual, end quote. But Cody had other plans. [23:02] The only people who know for sure what happened that night are Cody and Lauren. But here is what we do know for sure. When Lauren's body was found off that logging road, her shoes, pants, and underwear had been removed. She had been sexually assaulted, and she had suffered massive trauma to her head and had multiple stab wounds on her neck. Like, this was a gruesome scene. It was a senseless crime. [23:32] something truly horrifying. [23:34] With Cody in custody on first-degree murder charges in the death of Lauren Leslie, police began what would be a lengthy and surprising investigation. Investigators had a lot to review in terms of physical evidence, like they had a crime scene, they had the place where Lauren's body was found, they had Cody's truck, they had the one that he was driving that night along with the place that he lived, and of course they had Lauren's body, which was sent to an expert forensic pathologist in Pennsylvania for review. Okay.

[24:01] In addition to all of that, they also had Cody and Lauren's digital records. And as McLean's magazine put it, the tracks that Cody left on the internet were just as important as the tracks his truck made in the snow that night. [24:14] Now, [24:15] While they're doing this, like, investigation and putting this case together, police were also quietly comparing what they'd found during their investigation into Lawrence murder with the dozens of unsolved cases along the Highway of Tears. And they found some eerie similarities. Investigators found that while Cody was partying on weekends, he was also a frequent user of cocaine, and he would often source that cocaine through sex workers. [24:45] Jill Stuchinko, a mother of six who was last seen on October 9, 2009. Now, Jill was a frequent user of cocaine and was involved in the sex trade, and she was reported missing later that month by concerned family and friends. Now, any hope of Jill coming home was dashed when the woman's body was discovered half buried in a gravel park. [25:06] pit. Now, according to the Vancouver Sun, Jill had suffered multiple blows to the face and arms and her torso. So, [25:13] Now, at this time, Jill's remains had been found just over a year before Lauren was discovered. Now, these victims had almost nothing in common in life, but what had happened to them in death was shockingly similar. Right. [25:27] And sure enough, when police tested the DNA found on Jill's body against a sample from Cody, they got their match. You said that was like a year before? Mm-hmm.

[25:38] Cody would have been like, what, 19 when he committed that murder? Yeah, 19 years old. I mean, everyone knows, like, we tell a lot of murder stories here on Crime Junkie, but it always rocks me when we talk about someone who is basically still a child committing these horrendous crimes. I mean, technically in Canada, he's legally an adult. You can buy alcohol at 19 in British Columbia and just 18 at the Providence next door. But to be 19 and already linked to two murders is crazy. But it gets even crazier. [26:08] Dozens of unsolved cases in and around Prince George. 18 that the RCMP is actively investigating as part of that Project EPANA. So... [26:18] Investigators keep going, and they find DNA evidence linking Cody to two more cases. [26:26] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [26:46] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [26:53] wherever you get your podcasts. [26:56] Cody is linked to the murders of 35-year-old Cynthia Moss and 23-year-old Natasha Montgomery, both who went missing in 2010. [27:06] Now, the last time anyone saw Natasha was on August 31st, 2010. She was leaving a friend's house. But her DNA was found in bloodstains that investigators found in Cody's apartment. And they found these bloodstains on an axe that they dug out of the linen closet.

[27:24] And in addition to that axe, her DNA was also found on those pair of shorts that Cody was wearing when he was arrested by police for Lauren's murder. Wait, are those shorts part of like a murder uniform or something? [27:37] Well, it's weird, right? So it makes me wonder if maybe that's why he was wearing shorts in the dead of winter. Like, they're already a mess. They already have blood on it. Like, in his mind, might as well not ruin other clothes. Like, if you think about it, Natasha went missing at the end of August or, like, early September, which is, like, a much more reasonable time to be wearing shorts. Yeah. So, I mean, maybe it was, like, a mental thing for him and that was just, like… [27:59] the thing that he wore or it could just been like convenient yeah i mean it's just bizarre now it was also in cody's house where they found the dna of the other woman cynthia police found cynthia's dna on a sweater and a sock that they found in cody's truck along with a pickaxe tool and a pair of shoes from his apartment [28:18] Cynthia was last seen on September 10, 2010, leaving a friend's place with a man that no one could really remember or identify at the time. And then a month later, her body turned up in a Prince George park, naked from the waist down. [28:32] Like Lauren and Jill and probably Natasha, given the acts that they found, Cynthia had died of blunt force trauma to the head and puncture wounds. At trial, the prosecutor would tell the court that Cynthia had a hole in her shoulder blade, her jaw and her cheekbones were broken, and the injuries to her neck were probably caused by someone stomping on it. Oh my God. Now, all four women, though Natasha's body has still never been found, died incredibly violent deaths.

[29:02] And based on the media coverage coming out of the local and national press, it seems like people in Prince George and especially in Cody's hometown of Fort St. James, which has just a population of like 1600, like they all really struggled to make sense of how so much violence could come from such a young person against women who were, again, virtually strangers to him. And it truly did rock these communities. Yeah. [29:25] Now, before I tell you about the trial and about where Cody is now, there's like one important thing I want to address. Like it is impossible to tell the story about the Highway of Tears without acknowledging the fact that it is overwhelmingly a story about missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Like two of Cody's victims, Cynthia Moss and Natasha Montgomery, were from First Nation families. [29:55] not enough material out there on indigenous victims to build an entire episode. Like, if the media didn't follow these stories to begin with, like, we can never find enough source material to write a show. And it's awful because I feel like the cycle just kind of continues and continues. And I've said it before, like, we're super passionate about telling these victims stories, especially victims whose stories may have gone unheard otherwise. And there are several cases of missing and murdered women connected to the Highway 16 that have been [30:25] national media but the ones who have been covered are usually young white women [30:30] According to an article that I read in New York Times, indigenous women and girls make up about 4% of the population in Canada, but they represent 16% of all female homicide victims. And an analysis done by The Globe and Mail in 2016 found that indigenous women are seven times more likely than their non-indigenous counterparts to be victims of serial killers. Seven times. That is crazy.

[30:56] crazy. That's incredible. The RCMP count 1,200 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls across Canada in the last three decades alone. But other estimates put that number as high as 4,000. And here's the thing, no one really knows for sure what the real number is. And that is a really sad fact in and of itself. And I tell you this not to downplay or devalue the tragedy of Lauren Leslie's death or the deaths of any other victims that we've covered on the show. I just [31:26] We're trying to do things differently here on Crime Junkie, but it's hard. And we recognize that there's a gap in the public history books. And, you know, we'd love to do everything we can to start trying to close that. We will keep trying. Yeah. I mean, we were really passionate about telling Amber Takaro's case. Oh, that's like the perfect example. Yeah, exactly. Almost the same place. Yeah. But like you said, there's often not a lot for us to go off of. And the best way for us to get information in cases like that is when, you know, like [31:56] Yeah. I mean, that's a great call out. Like we love hearing from family members. Like if you have a story that you want told, again, this is the only way we get information is when people reach out to us or when it's been reported on. So, you know, we we want to close the gap, but we need help to do it. So going back to Cody's trial, the defense made a critical decision during Cody's murder trial, one that I'm glad they made, but I feel like we don't see very often these days. They put him on the stand, didn't they?

[32:26] I'm not sure why they made this decision. From what I've read about this case, his testimony did him like zero favors. Now, initially, Cody pled not guilty to all four murders. And by the time the prosecution presented its evidence and Cody was called to the stand, he had changed his tune. In his testimony, he said that he was present and even involved in all four killings, but that Lauren Leslie's murder had been a suicide. [32:56] and he just happened to be there all three times. Okay, what? I don't mean to skip over the drug dealer thing, but wasn't Lauren's cause of death like, [33:04] blunt force trauma to the head and she had like multiple stab wounds there's no way she could have done that to herself listen i agree but this is what he is saying at trial he told the jury that 15 year old lauren was quote a psycho who for no apparent reason like jumped from cody's truck ran into the darkness off a dangerous highway and started to hit herself with a pipe wrench and [33:34] Again, because it didn't happen. At the trial, experts testified that either of Lauren's injuries, meaning that either the blunt force trauma or the stab wounds would have been fatal. So there's no way physically for you to deliver like a fatal stab or a fatal blow to yourself and then continually like follow that up with the other. Like it's just not possible.

[34:04] Misery. [34:05] Now, his entire testimony had to have been absolutely enraging for the victim's families. He told the court that he was there for the murders of Cynthia, Jill, and Natasha. But... [34:18] Basically just out of like a wild stroke of bad luck, really, because he said like, I'm not the person responsible. He blamed the deaths on a drug dealer that he would only call X. And there were two other men known only as Y and Z, which is like literally the worst defense I've ever heard in my entire life. [34:35] It was super clear to everyone that the evidence against him was incredibly strong. And in his closing arguments, Cody's own lawyer asked the jury to find his client guilty of second-degree murder instead of first-degree, which is what the charge was, and the one that he pled not guilty to. But after less than 24 hours, the jury was back with a verdict. Cody Lejabakov was found guilty on all four counts of first-degree murder. [35:05] maximum sentence in Canada at the time, which was four counts of first-degree murder, and he got life with no chance of parole for 25 years. [35:14] Now, during sentencing, the justice who presided over the Prince George court for nearly 25 years was visibly emotional at times during the sentencing. And he told the courtroom that despite Cody's inability to take responsibility for his crimes, there wasn't a single shred of reasonable doubt that he killed Lauren, Natasha, Cynthia and Jill. Yeah.

[35:35] And in his remarks, the justice also noted that the budget for the RCMP's investigation into these 18 missing and murdered women girls under that Project EPANA had been reduced by 84 percent. And in the courtroom during sentencing and quoted later by CBC, the justice said, quote, it is a mistake to limit the seriousness of this issue, end quote. Meaning like why are we reducing the amount of funds being put towards like such a big – there are literally billboards still up. [36:05] saying, don't hitchhike this highway because there's a killer, but we're not going to allocate funds. Right. The problem isn't solved. Let's not take money away from it. There are still so many women and girls and families crying out for justice. Now, we know that Cody Lejabokov is responsible for at least four murders. Bobby Jack Fowler was named as a suspect in the deaths of three of the 18 RCMP on their official list. There is a man named Gary Taylor Handlin, [36:35] just recently found guilty for the murder of a 12-year-old girl named Monica Jack. And this happened like 40 years ago. Monica was last seen riding her bike near Nicola Lake on May 6 of 78. Now, her bike was recovered right away, but it took 17 years before her remains were found in 1995. There was another guy who popped up over the years named Leland Switzler. He was convicted of murdering his own brother. And eventually they looked at him as a suspect in at least

[37:05] the cases. [37:07] I believe that there have been a number of predators lurking along this stretch of lonely road. And I think there could be new ones popping up every single day. The Highway of Tears isn't home to just one killer. It's provided a secluded hunting ground for many. [37:23] And [37:23] I'm not sure which is more terrifying. I think we talked about this in the List case. Like, is it scarier that there's one guy or... [37:30] that we have many of them running around. [37:34] But police say they won't stop looking for answers in the cases of all of the missing and murdered women and girls along BC's Highway of Tears. As of the time of this recording, the RCMP are still running the EPANA project, and they ask that if you have any information about these cases, you call their tip line at 1-877-543-688. [37:55] 4 8. [37:56] 2-2. [37:58] We have barely scratched the surface on all of the stories we could tell about the Highway of Tears. We're going to include all the links on our blog for all of our sources, for more information. We're also going to have who to contact if you know anything about the cases. So visit our website, CrimeJunkiePodcast.com. [38:28] Crime Junkie Podcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

[38:50] you [38:51] you [38:52] *music* [38:54] you [38:56] *music* [38:59] Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? [39:07] Okay, Crime Junkies, you know, I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [39:25] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [39:29] I think you'll love it too. [39:30] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.