You're listening to a frequency podcast network production. It's Halloween 2020. It's a Saturday night. Hello Zeeve is chilly, cool, but it's not raining, not snowing. I remember thinking what lovely weather it will be for the trick-or-treaters. Late that night, residents in the whiskey creek community here on Vancouver Island were called loud explosions, could be gunshots, could be fireworks. Neither are unusual here. It's Halloween after all, and fireworks are common.
As for the shooting, well, there's a lot of recreational target shooting and hunting on the island. Early the next morning, just after 6am, someone spots smoke coming from out in a rural area while driving along the highway. They call 911. It's late in the season, but the witness worries it could be a forest fire. It's not until much later in the afternoon of November 1st that a grim discovery is made. This grim burned out scene still lies off a whiskey creek logging road.
Three people were found brutally murdered, and there are these set on fire on November 1st. At about 2pm on Sunday, the first day of November 2020, a dirt bike rider is out on the gravely Melrose Forest Service Road. He comes across a man who the police will later describe as unresponsive. The rider calls for help. When first responders get there, the man is confirmed dead. Those arriving to the scene are unprepared for the horrific spectacle they encounter.
There are another two dead bodies inside a burned out trailer. There are also four dead dogs. They've been shot. And there is a fourth victim. And that victim? Well, he's still alive. The survivor of the whiskey creek massacre is airlifted to the hospital. I'm Laura Palmer, and this is whiskey creek, season five of Island Crime. Nobody's even trying to figure out who murdered my son. They don't care. I'm sure the police have got a pretty damn good idea who's behind us.
They're basically told me the same thing that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why are people allowed to go out and kill other people and get a wave of them? I miss him every day. I just can't believe somebody like Tyler would end up being murdered. My wristwatch is broken. My shoes are untied. Time is a ticking. So is the time. Once the story hits the news, word spreads quickly across the island. Four people shot. Three dead. Four dead dogs. And incredibly one survivor.
The crime scene is described as something out of breaking bad. That was more than two years ago. There have been no official updates. I make repeated requests for an interview with the investigators. I'm told because this is an active investigation, we aren't in a position to provide any interviews at this time. The victims at whiskey creek were not the kind of folks anyone would ever describe as lighting up the room.
Their deaths were notable because of how they died in a mass murder on Halloween night. The crime scene torched their bodies abandoned in the woods. The victims have never been officially named by authorities. There's no Facebook page dedicated to their cases. No tearful family members publicly pleading for justice. There's a serious hush hush don't talk about it vibe to the whiskey creek story. So in this season of violent crime, I'm digging into a case many would prefer just go away.
I've literally walked deep into the forest of Vancouver Island to learn about the victims and the place in which they lived and died. What I've learned points to a few possible theories regarding the motivation. I'll go there as well. What is local news reporters who identified two of the victims early on? Sean McGrath 51 and his 38 year old girlfriend, Shanda Atkinson, who also is known as Shanda Wilson. The other two victims have not been publicly named, but I wonder what are their stories.
Before I get into this episode, I want to take a moment to thank and acknowledge those who spoke with me both on and off the record. My sources on this story are bravely stepping up to talk about a case many people would prefer simply just goes away. And they're doing so despite the fact they fear for their own safety. The very first true crime story I ever read was about the Black Donnellies. The book was part of the school curriculum when I was a preteen.
The Black Donnellies are a piece of Canadian folklore, although I think it's fair to say their story really isn't well understood. I've been thinking about the Donnellies as I work on Whiskey Creek. The Donnellies were an Irish family who settled just north of present day London, Ontario, Canada in the 1840s. And when I say settled, they were actually squatters, which was not uncommon back then. They set up a homestead, worked the fields, and eventually became landowners.
But tensions developed over land and religion, and the feud was on. The Donnellies were blamed for all the trouble in the area, and they were no saints. Residents formed what they called a peace society, which was in reality a vigilante group, and took justice into their own hands. The Donnelly farm was burned to the ground, the family was massacred, their prized stallion beaten to death. Despite a great deal of evidence, including an eyewitness, no one was ever found guilty of the crime.
In some ways, I've come to see the Whiskey Creek killings as something of a modern day Donnelly story. The Donnelly farm is always victim focused and begins with families. And that is true in this series as well. But first, let me tell you a little about the place itself. Whiskey Creek is mid Vancouver Island, between Qualcomm Beach and Port El Burnie. The community is just a few minutes from some of the island's most stunning tourist destinations and parks.
Just little Qualcomm Falls, Cameron Lake, and Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is home to lush old-growth forests. There are trees here that are over 800 years old, towering giants as high as 250 feet, and almost 30 feet wide. You can't get to Whiskey Creek without driving slowly through this incredible beauty. It's a wooded area in the foothills of Mount Aerosmith. And Whiskey Creek is also a little odd. As you drive along the El Burnie highway, you encounter a curious collection of businesses.
There's a giant purple inflatable bomb, and green and yellow blowing men smoking a joint. They're advertising a bonk shop. There's also a store selling one of a kind sleeping barrels, ureths, hot tubs, or sonnas, made from western red cedar. There's a tie-died shirt store, and a kitschy diner called Bigfoot Burgers. There's a surf shop, too, though the ocean is nowhere in sight. So there is a bit of a hippie vibe here. But there's also something of a down on its luck feel as well.
There are huge signs asking people to refrain from dumping, and you don't have to drive too far to encounter illegal dump sites amid the forests. Matrices, sofas, appliances, bags of trash. When I first moved to the island, I considered moving to this area. Our Realtor put us off. She pointed out that you might have a lovely home on a pretty piece of land. But beside it, there could well be a grow-up, squatters, or worse. I think it's fair to say this is a neighborhood of contrasts.
What I didn't appreciate until I began researching this story is that Whiskey Creek is also a real haven for dirt bike riders. I've seen it referred to as Disneyland for trail bikes. There's a network of single-track trails looping through thick, rain-coast forests. A favorite is called the Roller Coaster, which winds its way up and down the sides of a valley with fast climbs and descents. I think about that Roller Coaster analogy as I work on this case.
It's a pretty crazy story, a wild ride, if you will. When it's hands down the case in which I've encountered the most fear from those I interview, I always write a few goals for myself when I begin researching a story. With Whiskey Creek, I have two. Make people care. Don't get killed. It's unsettling to me that a mass shooting took place on my doorstep and no one seems to care. What happened out here? Why has there been two years of secrecy? Why has no one been held accountable?
I drive across the island in my little Honda to meet up with one of the few people who are open to talking about the Whiskey Creek murders. I cross the mid-Island hump and drive through Whiskey Creek, paying attention to small details in ways I never really did before taking on this case. For a piece of good fortune, Kelly Morris, too, could have been one of the Whiskey Creek victims that day. She counts herself lucky. Kelly also feels some responsibility for what happened. She knew the victims.
Her work took her out into the forest encampments. I meet her at a motel on the highway that's being used to house the homeless. She is all business. I'm going to have you sit there. I'm just sitting there. I'm not going to do for me Patrick as you can keep the people out of the office for now. You have already seen her? Yeah. We can sit right there. Oh, thanks. I may have walked at the same time because there's only a couple of us here. Kelly is a petite woman with long jet black hair.
Every time I've met her, she's well put together. She makes an effort. Her voice is throaty. She is still a smoker. Kelly is now in her 60s and she's led a hard life. I used to own the streets of Parkesville in my addiction doing some bad things. Never killed anyone, but I've done some pretty rotten things in my addiction and I have to own it and look at it and heal through that addiction. It's patient and it's cunning. It's babbling and it's powerful.
Today, Kelly says she puts those hard earned life lessons to use helping others. She's not officially part of the system though. She's not a social worker, not a probation officer. She is more boots on the ground. Kelly, Morris. I'm a certified great-cutter coach, pure support worker, plus push camp. I deal with high-risk people that are coming out of prison, whether it be murder or rape or other things. I have a reprieve with a lot of gang members, a lot of addicts, a lot of student-trench.
I go with a cop's there to go because there's certain things in that bush that make you've got a hot fences, a bobby or fences. You've got to get through, I know where the areas are deep in, where most society doesn't know where those places are. And Kelly, it seems, could easily have been a victim of the Whiskey Creek murders. I wasn't there when it happened. Thank God, because if I had a gun out on Halloween night, I'd be dead today. I wouldn't be here.
The night before the killings, Kelly gets a phone call. Halloween night, people like to throw firecrackers and people's faces, and that happened that day over the suit kitchen, a worker got hit in the face with a firecracker. I got that phone call that night. Actually, it was around, but not mistaking around midnight. Just before midnight, I got to call standard camps. That's all I was told is Kelly, don't go to the camps. Obviously, there you go, I didn't go.
And I couldn't figure out why I figured in my head at this because of fireworks. Middle-difficult, I know there was a murder going on out there, and I had no idea. Do you know who the call was from? Yes, I do, but I can't say his name. I'm protected through some people that watch me when I'm out there. It's like I have an army of people that take care of me when she'd hit something. I've now met with Kelly a few times.
I've observed her interactions with the people she refers to as street entrenched and those suffering from addictions. She appears to be well connected. First what she alleges happened out at Whiskey Creek. I think they went in there and they just gunned it. What you say, they do you think more than one person is? Oh, yeah, definitely. There were dogs killed. There was a trailer. They were burned alive.
They set the trailer on fire, but believe me, there was horrificness that went on with Sean McLaughlin before that happened. There was torture before. I saw a few things with my eyes, and I don't even think the cops do because I look at everything and I don't miss nothing. But what I saw up there was horrific. Whatever happened up there was not good and it wasn't human. Kelly tells me some interesting things that I want to look into.
First, that the attack might have been carried out by more than one person. What could be their motive for going out there? And second, that there was torture happening there. I wonder if there's anyone else who might have experience firsthand. Whiskey Creek residents recall hearing loud noises that night. But remember, it's Halloween and fireworks are a big thing on the island. So is hunting.
I want to go back to the beginning and talk to people who were there when the crime was first discovered. The scene is not found until the following afternoon when a dirt bike rider stumbles across the body of a victim. Remember, dirt biking is a real passion here. Fuck, I have five motorcycles right now. And not long after moving out here, I realized that a street bike, the island, gets small pretty quick.
So I went out and bought a brand new dirt bike so I could just start doing the logging roads. And that was three or four years ago. I think I've got close to 20,000 kilometers on it now. So yeah, when I'm home and I get the itch to go on two wheels, I take the dirt bike out and I go trail riding. Sometimes it just means going down the highway and if I see a trail that goes in the bush, I follow it. This is a local rider. And like almost everyone connected with this case, he asks not to be named.
I know who he is though, he welcomes me into his lovely home and makes me a cup of coffee. We sit down in his bright, pleasant kitchen as he recalls the day the whiskey creek murders were discovered. I remember being a warm day when we transitioned into the fall. I'll put a little windscreen on the dirt bike to deflect the cool air and I can't recall if I had that on or not, but it definitely was warm enough to be riding for our entire day.
And I was this man who posed the first picture of the crime scene to social media. I was out for quite a few hours that day, four, six, at least, but that's of all the roads I drive on. That's the most commonly used. I think there's even a commercial Christmas tree operation on that road. So when I came around the corner, I saw at least two RCMP SUVs. I saw a red pickup and I think I saw a trailer, an investigation team trailer.
So yeah, you know what, I must, they wouldn't have been able to get that thing out there that fast if I had gone by there a couple hours earlier before the scene was even discovered. So I was probably just passing it on my way home. But I stopped and I don't recall seeing any personnel except on the trail that goes into the accident scene. And that's where the red pickup came from. But nobody seemed to say get out of here. It wasn't any police tape at the time.
And I stopped and took a picture and I posted it on a Facebook group and I said, anybody know what's happening out here. So it's at a point where nothing has hit the news. No, no. But when I posted it on a Facebook group, there were two other people that said, yeah, we drove by there earlier and we crossed the police tape. And they said we didn't stick around because we weren't insured on our bikes. Check News reporter Sky Ryan is one of the first journalists on the scene.
Our CMP said the bodies were so badly burned that they're still trying to ID them. Investigators are now also reviewing the sky. Sky is a local TV reporter. She's been covering daily news on the island for a long time. She knows the place well and has great contacts. Check News as a TV journalist is demanding. As we talk, she's getting calls from her editor. Yeah, just go ahead. Hello, Sky here. Hey, just check now. Yeah, just just leaving the scene now. I've got Laura with me.
We're just driving back to Bigfoot. Each year as the anniversary of the Whiskey Creek murders approaches, Sky is reminded of the still unsolved case. Every time I saw fireworks sign, I in the last two weeks, this fireworks are a sale point on a lot of small communities up and down the island. I had a Halloween as a big thing here.
I had every single time I think of this because I know that when I interviewed all the witnesses that lived along here, they were telling me we thought it was fireworks. She remembers the low mist hanging in the mountains that day. But the first thing that strikes Sky, the day she drives out to the Whiskey Creek murder site for the first time, is this. A lot of garbage, right? So it's like, it fell right away like a dumping ground. And that gives me that goosebumps I don't like.
But it felt like a dumping ground from the moment you pulled off this road. Because you've got these little spur roads off of what is now logging road run. You know what people do down those roads. And usually it's dump garbage, dump, you know, poached animals, things like that. She knows she's headed to a serious crime scene. I think at that point, we knew it was a homicide, but we didn't know the elevation of how many people and the details.
But your body's already like starting to get you prepped because you've done so many, I've covered so many murders. And when she approaches, and it's police as far as you can see down the road. And it's a very narrow road. And I think even my cell phone coverage is going to drop here pretty soon. So as a young woman, right? Like you're feeling, well, am I going to be okay?
Situation is probably over, but we know that there's people who have done this to these people that are still out in these woods. And these woods are basically lawless. The description of the area as lawless is one I will hear repeatedly. But on this day, the police are out in full force. I'm going to say there was a couple of dozen police cruisers, but there's also a helicopter above because like, Laura, we're surrounded by woods in a redirection.
And they didn't know who had done this and where they were. The guy isn't on the scene for too long before she's told to get back out on the road. They rerouteed me back to the police station saying there's going to be some type of a release from police. Go there. So when I get there, I'm all alone in parking lot and a woman drives up in a panic and it happens to be one of the mother of one of the boys living in the site. And she asked me, is my son alive? Is my son alive?
And I thought I don't know the identities of the victims yet, but she was just in complete distress. There is a survivor. Who are they? What if anything have they told the police? I want to speak to the survivor, but I don't know if they'll even consider talking to me. The only thing people to go on the record in this story is tough. The issue here is that there's nobody that will go on the record.
I've covered a lot of stories that go cold and I know exactly why they go cold because I know who did it. The family knows who did it. The community knows who did it. So all that information is going in the RCMP as well. But nobody that was there then is saying it because they are so scared. They're living in those communities. It's not like they're just, okay, I've moved away, I feel safe now. They're still in it. It's a pretty entrenched culture.
How do you go up against that, especially when these people have shown that not only will they shouldn't kill three people, almost kill a fourth who probably thought was dead. They then set it on fire and kill the dogs. I mean, in this level of violence and madness, that's some scary stuff. Sky and I don't just share a professional background. She is also an animal lover, like me. You are a dog lover. I love my boy. Yeah, yeah. And so that bothered me. Yeah. That detail really stuck with me.
And the reason it stuck with me is because they were puppies. I understand there was probably three or four dogs. And they were, there were at least two puppies. And puppies are just like, who kills a puppy? That's just ruthless. And it sounds terrible that I wouldn't say that it's ruthless what happened to the human. I do think it is. When there's an additional violence towards completely disinfectants that involve, like when children are killed in a scene.
It is horrifying to me when animals are killed in a scene. It's ridiculous people. We talk for a time about the dogs. And what if anything their executions say about whomever is responsible? Were the dogs killed because leaving them alive could have implied that the killer or killers knew the dogs and cared about them? Did the dogs attack a shooter? Did a shooter leave DNA evidence behind on one of the dogs?
Despite the viciousness of the whiskey creek attacks, Sky doesn't seem to think her reporting on this story puts her in any danger. I have some scary people on speed dial, right? Like in my contacts. Really dangerous people. And I feel like I am always fair. And being fair. I mean, almost people drug addicts, anybody that isn't a position not to talk to me actually always talks to me. I never have a problem with having people talk to me because I'm genuinely fair and I'm not judgmental.
If I didn't know the bad people, I wouldn't be safe to go to the bad scenes. And it's not just civilians who are reluctant to talk. The police have been tight-lipped too. The first part of the RCMP news release from November 2nd, 2020 at noon, less than 24 hours after the discovery. Oceanside RCMP and the Vancouver Island integrated major crime unit are investigating after three bodies were discovered on Sunday afternoon.
On November 1st, 2020 shortly after 2pm, a person riding his off-road motorcycle came across an unresponsive man. When police and paramedics arrived, they located the man and confirmed he was dead. Nearby they found a burned out travel trailer with two deceased adults inside. And a man and another trailer who had appeared to have been shot. The shooting victim was airlifted to hospital and is now in stable condition.
As this investigation is in its infancy, there are many questions that remain unanswered. Initial findings lead investigators to believe that this is an isolated incident between parties well known to one another. We do not believe there is any ongoing risk to the public. To date, neither the police nor the coroners have ever confirmed the names of the victims. When I request an interview from the BC Coroner's Service, I get this response from manager Ryan Panton.
Our investigations into these deaths remain open, and consequently, I am unable to provide any additional information at this time. Once our investigations are completed, coroners reports will be produced that will include the name of the disseedance and how, when, where, and by what means the deaths occurred. We do not provide comment on our investigations beyond this reporting. I also try the local fire department.
And when I first call them, the friendly voice at the end of the line takes my details and assures me someone will be in touch to answer my questions. Then my request hits official channels, and I receive this short reply. Any details that can be released could be accessed through the RCMP. We don't have any information for you on this subject. I've been contacted by the family of one of the victims to try to get answers, but man, it is a tough slog to get officials to speak.
I feel because of who Sean McGrath was. They figure maybe it was a blessing. You know, but there's a lot of unanswered questions for the families of the people that they've lost up there they did deserve to die. Kelly Morris believes there is no public pressure and no real will to solve this case.
So usually I get at least something off the record to know whether I should be pursuing a story of something is, and I run all my details by my close contacts in the RCMP to say, am I on the right track? If I'm not on the right track, just tell me. And I always get that. I don't get anything with this story. And I say story, but if somebody is alive, somebody is stunned. Sky can only do so much. Her job is daily news. She can't devote the time to push for answers.
You're owing that family some type of closure. You're owing them at least that you've asked the questions. I asked the questions. And it's like it's falling on deaf ears. As a mum, I would be climbing the walls. I would be sleepless and I would be doing everything I could. But these mums are dealing with people that are extremely, extremely dangerous in a drug world. And these mums are not from that drug world. They have jobs. They have houses. And they have children, other children.
So they fear for their own safety going after this. So they're hoping that they're going to get the answer somewhere else. So I'm letting them down at this point. I've said it before. I believe in the fictional detective Harry Bosch's motto. Everyone counts or nobody counts. Whiskey Creek is putting that principle to the test. I also will need to watch my back. The fear around this story is real.
Those responsible for the Whiskey Creek murders have proven their willingness and ability to carry out a violent attack. I think they know very well who did it. And I think they just need somebody to come forward. And I think everybody that knows anything is justly afraid they'll be that fourth victim. They've shown their stripes. They've shown their colors. They'll do whatever they wish and for two years get away with it. So I think that's pretty good evidence of why people are not talking.
Even though I knew he's a bad man, I knew some of the people that were out there and it was heartbreaking. Kelly Morris has said a few times now that Sean McGraft was a bad man. I need to find out what she means by this. And that's exactly what I'll be doing in the next episode of Island Crime season 5, Whiskey Creek. I think she could hold a homicide detective to find out why it's taken two years for anybody to give answers to anything when they could solve this crime.
If you have information about the Whiskey Creek murders, please call the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Units, TIP and Information Line at 250-380-6211. In the episode ahead, a look at the events leading up to Halloween night. I'm Laura Palmer. See this is Whiskey Creek Island Crime season 5.