The life and death of the 'Monster of the Miramichi'
CBC
A book author and former journalist says notorious serial killer Allan Legere was raised in a situation where it was hard to be surprised that he became psychopathic.
“His mother was rough and ready, he grew up rough and ready," said Rick MacLean. "He learned to fight early on, because that's what his life required.”
Legere died on Monday while serving a life sentence at the Edmonton Institution in Alberta, Correctional Service Canada confirmed in a news release.
Legere has been called the "Monster of the Miramichi” for the crimes he committed in the area in the 1980s, including murder, rape and arson. He had been in prison for the murder of shopkeeper John Glendenning and the beating of Glendenning's wife, Mary, but escaped May 3, 1989, while being escorted to a medical appointment in Moncton, about 120 kilometres south of the Miramichi region.
During his 201 days as a fugitive, Legere brutally murdered four more people in three separate attacks.
MacLean was the editor of the Miramichi Leader at the time and co-authored the books, Terror: Murder and Panic in New Brunswick and Terror’s End: Allan Legere on Trial.
MacLean said one of his co-authors on the second book, former CBC journalist Shaun Waters, dug up a black and white photo of Legere as a child.
Waters, who covered Legere on trial, said the photo depicted young Legere with his chest stuck out like a bantam rooster.
“He would have his chest stuck out as he marched around as a child, and it's kind of a lasting image for anybody who knew him as a child, who spoke with us,” Waters recalled. “I don't know what that says about his personality, but he was someone who did create a lot of tension, you might say, fear.”
MacLean said Legere grew up in Miramichi, which was a collection of communities at the time, including Chatham and Newcastle.
Directly across from Newcastle, MacLean said, was Chatham Head, where down near the river was a community called Verdun.
It was considered "the roughest part of town,” MacLean said. “That's where he was.”
A Parole Board of Canada decision from December, which denied Legere release from prison, detailed his criminal history and background.
It says Legere’s criminal record began in 1964, including several convictions related to property crimes, provincial incarceration and a past federal sentence.
Nova Scotia RCMP have conducted a second round of polygraph examinations in the disappearance of Jack and Lilly Sullivan, with two of those tests focused on one of the only pieces of physical evidence in the case: a light pink blanket found hanging in a tree.
A book author and former journalist says notorious serial killer Allan Legere was raised in a situation where it was hard to be surprised that he became psychopathic.
CBC News has learned two people — including a 22-year-old international student — died after giving plasma at Winnipeg collection centres that pay people for their donations.
Stephanie Faure knew something was wrong when she woke up feeling pressure in her head.
The City of Charlottetown is considering adding more transitional housing in the city.
Edmonton could begin seeing surgical cancellations and other impacts to patient care in the next few weeks, a group of physicians warn in a letter to two of Alberta’s health ministers.
Earlier this week, a great white shark "pinged" off the coast of Vancouver Island, researchers say.
The Hamilton Public Library is pitching a new check-in system at Central branch after months of struggling to stop people selling or using drugs inside.
Rainfall warnings are in place across southwestern Ontario for Wednesday. As much as 40 millimetres could fall in some spots — with even higher amounts possible in areas that receive thunderstorms.
As the Ontario government continues to push for development in northern Ontario, an Anishinaabe First Nation in the region is praising a mining company for “demonstrating true reconciliation” by agreeing to withdraw from an area in the community’s traditional territory.
Severe weather in parts of southern Ontario is leading to school closures in the cottage country region to power outages in Barrie, Ont.
A museum in Mississauga that tells the story of the Sikh community in Canada has suffered severe water damage from a fire, and staff are now trying to salvage artifacts from its collection.
Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m., the temperature hit 18.7 C at the Region of Waterloo International Airport, setting a new record for the warmest March 10.