Whispers in the Dark: The Bedroom Strangler

Content Warning: This post includes references to sexual assault and murder

Photo: Torstar file photo

It took four years for Russel Maurice Johnson, aka the Bedroom Strangler, to be arrested for the multiple rapes and the murders of seven women. At first glance, it seemed as though the first few victims died of natural causes. After the murder of Diane Beitz, who was strangled and raped on New Year’s Eve of 1974, the police started to suspect murder. Even at that time, they had no idea they had a serial killer on their hands. It wasn’t until the murder of Louella George in 1977 that police realized just how dire the situation was.

Early Life

According to an interview by Mary O’Connell of CBC, Johnson’s childhood was rough. He was born in St. Thomas, Ontario. His parents were deeply religious, and money was tight. His father didn’t let their family celebrate Christmas. As early as 13, Johnson started stealing women’s underwear. He did not graduate high school. He started work as a mechanic at Ford in Talbotville. By 1969, he began breaking into women’s homes to steal underwear, eventually graduating to rape, which then escalated to a string of murders from 1973 to 1977.

Early Victims

As far as we’re aware, Johnson’s first victim was 20-year-old Mary Hicks on October 19th, 1973. Initially, she was thought to have died from an allergic reaction, which is part of what hindered the investigation into Johnson. She had no obvious injuries. There isn’t much information on the following victims. The specific dates and order aren’t known.

Alice Ralston’s death was wrongly attributed to “hardened arteries.”

In March of 1974, Eleanor Heartwick was also thought to have died from an allergic reaction to prescription drugs.

Doris Brown, who was 49 when she died, was thought to have died from pulmonary edema.

According to the interview with CBC, Johnson took great care staging these early murders to avoid suspicion. He must've gotten sloppy as time passed and he still wasn’t caught.

Diane Beitz

It was Diane Beitz’s case in Guelph, Ontario, that finally sparked a murder investigation. On December 31st, 1974, she was found by her fiancée with a pantyhose tied around her neck. The autopsy found that she had been assaulted postmortem. Even though this was the first case where murder was suspected, it took three years for the case to be solved. At this point, police didn’t suspect a serial killer.

Louella George

Donna Veldboom: Canadian crimeopedia

In April of 1977, Johnson broke into a fourth-floor apartment. He strangled and raped Louella George before killing her. According to the National Post, he made her bed afterwards. Police finally realized that there was a serial killer on the loose. The media nicknamed him “The Bedroom Strangler”.

Donna Veldboom

Donna Veldboom was the final victim before Johnson was caught. She was found strangled and stabbed in her own apartment. She lived in the apartment above Johnson. Police found this to be a pattern. Johnson had allegedly lived in the same apartment building as Louella George and one of his ex-girlfriends lived in the same building as Diane Beitz. Johnson was caught shortly after.

Arrest and Trial

Johnson quickly confessed to Veldboom, Beitz and George’s murder, as well as Ralston, Hartwick, Hicks and Brown. The crime scenes of the latter three victims were so meticulously cleaned that police had no idea they were murdered. According to Guelph Today, while imprisoned, he confessed to seven more murders and 17 assaults.

Police Inspector Robert Young stated that Johnson said: “If he had received proper medical treatment, this wouldn’t have happened.” Apparently, during a voluntary stay at a psychiatric hospital, Johnson was diagnosed as a “sexual deviant.”  Nowadays, he would be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.

Johnson was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to life at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, where he still resides today.

Aftermath

Victims Families gather for hearing: National Post

Despite his arrest and imprisonment, the family of Johnson’s victims still fear that he might be released. Every year, Johnson is entitled to a hearing regarding his release, movement to another facility, and special privileges to leave Waypoint’s grounds. Every year, the families attend the hearings and voice their protests.

Bill Veldboom fears that victims’ survivors are the last line of defence in cases such as these. Johnson’s lawyer argued that he was “too old” to pose a threat. Thankfully, Johnson’s doctor disagreed, saying he was physically and psychologically capable. Veldboom urges citizens to pay attention to the Ontario Review Board to prevent leniency toward inmates like Johnson and keep extremely violent offenders off the streets.

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Shannon Brownell is a student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She’s originally from Calgary, Alberta, and has her horticulture technician certification. She loves horror movies and writing about anything spooky. Her favourite horror movies are Scream, Midsommar, and The Others.

The Unsettling Murder of Gabby Petito

Gabby Petito - Instagram

More than a million people remember Gabby Petito's disappearance and the hectic investigation that followed. Her case went viral shortly after her disappearance, and her Instagram gained more than a million followers over the following months. There were 12,000 posts under the hashtag #gabbypetito. But what made this case different from the thousands of people going missing daily? There’s really no reason other than the wealth of videos, images, and the human urge to investigate.

Gabby Petito was a kind, joyful person who loved exploring nature. She had just started her vlogging channel, Nomadic Statik, with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in the months before she disappeared. She and Laundrie set out on a cross-country road trip on July 4th, 2021. She dreamed of becoming a Van Life vlogger and capturing her life on the road. But the trip quickly turned into a nightmare as Petito and Laundries’ relationship took a turn for the worse.

The first sign of trouble was on August 12th, 2021, in Moab, Utah. A concerned witness reported seeing the man hit the woman before they ran up the street, where he hit her again, and then they drove off together. Police pulled the van over to find Petito sobbing, saying that the two were fighting and hitting each other. No charges were filed, and police separated the pair for the night.

Although the couple seemed to reconcile as they posted a cute video together on August 19th, the next few days would be the last time Petito was seen alive. Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, recalled receiving a few strange texts that gave her pause but thought nothing of it at the time. One text allegedly said, “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.” Stan was her grandfather, but her mother said that Petito never referred to him by his first name.

Octavio jones - Getty images

Petito’s family only grew more concerned when Brian Laundrie returned home from Wyoming without Gabby on September 1st. He had the van, but there was no trace of his fiancé. Suspicion grew even more when Laundrie refused to talk about her or her whereabouts. By September 2nd, he had already lawyered up. He even went as far as to say Petito was just “gone.” Not suspicious at all, right?

Petito’s family felt betrayed by the Laundrie family with their refusal to cooperate or talk about Gabby. Heartbroken and scared, Petito’s mother reported Gabby missing on September 11th. By September 13th, the case went viral, with thousands of people posting on Twitter and Instagram demanding answers from the Laundrie family and the Florida Police. Brian Laundrie is promptly named a person of interest.

As if Laundrie couldn’t get any more suspicious, he went missing on September 13th. His parents claimed that he just “went for a walk”, however, he never returned. Police searched the 24,000 acres in the Carleton Reserve near the Laundrie home. He was not discovered until October 20th, 2021.

Sadly, Gabby Petito’s body was discovered discovered on September 19th in Grand Teton National Park, where she was last seen. Her father thanked everyone who helped search for her at at her funeral, saying, “So when you leave here today, be inspired by what she brought to the table.” She was only 22 years old. The FBI raided the Laundrie home on September 20th and then issued an arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie on September 23rd.

The autopsy findings were released a month later. Petito had died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and she had been strangled. Her friends and family spoke to news outlets about their outrage, saying that her killer deserved to burn in hell.

Gabby petito foundation

Brian Laundrie was found in the Carleton Reserve on October 20th with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In a notebook near his body, he expressed his guilt and regret about killing Gabby. There was no funeral. Finally, on January 21st, 2022, the FBI named Laundrie as Gabby’s murderer.

Gabby Petito’s case touched thousands, if not millions, of people. Everyone came to Gabby’s defence by helping with the search, making petitions, and posting about the case to spread awareness. Her family founded the Gabby Petito Foundation, a foundation meant to give a helping hand to families of missing persons, either through funding for searches, guidance, and support. Despite the end of her story, Gabby Petito inspired many to live freely and escape the cycle of domestic violence.

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Shannon Brownell is a student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She’s originally from Calgary, Alberta, and has her horticulture technician certification. She loves horror movies and writing about anything spooky. Her favourite horror movies are Scream, Midsommar, and The Others.

The Peculiar Case of Elisa Lam

Photo: LAPD

The mysterious death of Elisa Lam has puzzled everyone from armchair sleuths to bonafidefide detectives. Her manner of death, along with the video of her final moments, made the case go viral in 2013. Internet sleuths came up with conspiracy theories to try and make sense of the strange events – going as far as saying it was a government cover-up of a tuberculosis outbreak. But the reality of her death, detectives would say, is a heartbreaking case of mental illness.

Her disappearance

Elisa Lam, a Canadian university student, disappeared from Los Angeles during her stay at the Cecil Hotel in January 2013. She was on a trip up the coast when she stopped communicating with her parents. Her parents were worried about her travelling alone, so Lam was supposed to check in with them daily by phone. When she didn’t call on January 31st, the day she was supposed to check out of the hotel, her parents filed a missing person’s report. Her personal belongings, including her medications, were still at the hotel. Police searched the hotel and the surrounding area but found no sign of Lam. That’s when the viral footage was released.  

The Elevator Footage

The elevator footage is part of what makes this case so confounding. Lam is seen on camera in the elevator, popping in and out of the doors and hugging the wall as if hiding from someone. Halfway through the video, she seems like she’s talking to someone in the hall in front of the elevator, but there’s no one else in the footage. She makes strange hand movements that had some sleuths theorizing that she was high or drunk. This is the last time Elisa Lam was seen alive.

Discovery

According to the LA Times, on February 19th, 2013, guests at the Cecil Hotel complained that the water pressure was low and it was coming out brown. A maintenance worker checked the water tank on the roof, only to discover Elisa Lam deceased inside one of the tanks. She was found naked with her clothes beside her in the tank. There was no evidence of injury or trauma that would’ve suggested homicide.

What Really Happened?

Photo: KTLA

These findings don’t take away from the peculiarity of this case. For Lam to make it into the tank, she would have had to climb one of the three fire escapes after climbing out of a window or go through a locked door to the roof, which would have set off an alarm. The maintenance worker at the hotel stated that the alarms were in working condition on the day she died, and they did not go off. She then would’ve had to open the 20-pound lid to the tank and close it behind her. With all of this in mind, people were skeptical that she would’ve done that all herself. An army of web sleuths tried to crack the case.

Theories

Theories on Elisa Lam’s death ran rampant from the moment the investigation went viral. Many speculated that it was a cover-up by the hotel staff or the police. Since the only door to the roof (other than the fire escapes) had an alarm that went off without a key, one of the main theories was that a hotel worker murdered her. In the Netflix series The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, former LAPD officer Greg Kading explained that theory was not likely as Lam’s body would’ve sustained injuries from being carried up a ladder and shoved into the tank. The show covers one of the wildest theories, in which the US government was experimenting with tuberculosis on Skid Row, where the Cecil Hotel was located, and Lam was meant to start an outbreak. This sparked because the tuberculosis test was named “Lam-Elisa.” There was no evidence for this in the autopsy report.

The main contributing factor was that Lam had bipolar disorder. Many people argued that she took medication for her disorder, but according to the autopsy report, she was not taking her medications at the correct dose. Judy Ho, a clinical psychologist, stated in The Vanishing that this could easily lead to a psychotic episode. Detective Tennelle, the lead investigator, theorized that Lam fell off her medication, causing her to hallucinate and act erratically, which explains her behaviour in the elevator. He continued that she most likely climbed into the tank when it was full, but as guests used water, the water level went down, making her escape from the tank impossible. Despite these theories, we still don’t know what happened that night to make her climb into the tank.

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Shannon Brownell is a student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She’s originally from Calgary, Alberta, and has her horticulture technician certification. She loves horror movies and writing about anything spooky. Her favourite horror movies are Scream, Midsommar, and The Others.