Episode description

June 9, 1959. Clinton, Ontario. After failing to return home, 12-year old Lynne Harper is reported missing and her body is discovered in a woodlot two days later. She has been sexually assaulted and strangled to death with her own blouse and suspicion turns towards her 14-year old classmate, Steven Truscott, who claims that he gave Lynne a ride to the highway on his bicycle and saw her climb into a passing car. Steven is soon charged, convicted and sentenced to death for Lynne’s murder, but his sentence is commuted to life imprisonment and he is paroled in 1969. Decades later, Steven files a successful appeal to have his conviction overturned, but there is still a lot of debate about who was actually responsible for Lynne Harper’s murder. Last week, we released Part One of our special eight-year anniversary episode of “The Trail Went Cold” about one of the most controversial murder cases in the history of Canada. This week, in Part Two, we will share the rest of the story before breaking down and analyzing all the details about the crime.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Truscott

“Until You Are Dead: The Wrongful Conviction of Steven Truscott”

“Steven Truscott: Decades of Injustice” by Nate Hendley

https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/truscott/index.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/truscott/timeline.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/01/29/can_science_clear_truscott.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/court-acquits-truscott-calling-conviction-miscarriage-of-justice-1.668524

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/victim-s-family-stunned-by-truscott-compensation-1.747261

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/who-killed-lynne-harper-retired-opp-sergeant-says-travelling-salesman-a-suspect-in-string-of-murders

https://web.archive.org/web/20070401115048/http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/ccr/kaufman/exec.html

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“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon” in Nashville on May 31-June 2, 2024 and “Crimecon UK” in London on September 21-22, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD24”, by visiting Crimecon.com or Crimecon.co.uk.

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Denver Marriott Westminster in Colorado on July 12-14, 2024. To get a 15 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://truecrimepodcastfestival.com.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.