Investigative journalist Avery Haines and the W5 crew have released Death’s Playground. The short documentary focuses on the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Jackie English. She disappeared on October 4, 1969 from London, Ontario.
There were 8 unsolved murders of children and young women in a 21-month period, including English. There was no word for it then, but now we say, “serial killer”.
Haines reviews evidence, talks to family members, and to topical experts Michael Arntfield and Vanessa Brown.
She retraces English’s steps during a memorial, and hears about a suspect that may, or may not, be known to police. She speaks with the RCMP, and even tries to talk with the still-living suspect.
Watch the W5 episode at the CTV News website.
Arntfield, a retired cop turned university professor, is the author of many books about serial killers:
Murder City: The Untold Story of Canada’s Serial Killer Capital, 1959-1984 (Friesen Press, 2015) is the story of London, Ontario. It was for many years an unrivalled breeding ground of depravity and villainy, the difference being that its monsters were all too real. London became the serial killer capital of not just Canada, but the world. If New York had the same per-capita number of serial killers, there would be 80-90 walking around right now. The London crimes over this quarter-century period remain unparalleled and for the most part unsolved. One lone detective struggled to find the answers, but died before arrests could be made. His son discovered a box of documents, and the investigation restarts. Non-fiction.
Monster City: Murder, Music, And Mayhem In Nashville ‘s Dark Age (Little A, 2018). An investigative look at Nashville and Pat Postiglione. Postiglione works his way through sex slayings up to detective sergeant heading the cold-case Murder Squad. Some of Americas savage serial killers were calling Nashville home. Postiglione wants to catch them. Non-fiction.
Murder In Plain English: From Manifestos To Memes – Looking At Murder Through (Prometheus Books, 2017). This book examine murder through the written word. It looks at literary fiction and crime dramas. It investigates the narrative impulse that drives killer’s. Arntfield takes an interesting look at how both mass and serial murderers perceive their crimes as stories. From the Son of Sam and the Zodiac Killer to the Columbine attackers, the Unabomber, and the recent mass shooters using social media, Arntfield digs deeply into psyche, literature and murder. Non-fiction.
Mad City: The True Story Of The Campus Murders That America Forgot (Little A 2017). In the fall of 1967, the University of Wisconsin became the hunting grounds for a serial killer. One friend of a victim, Linda Tomaszewski, can’t let it go as easily as the police did. She begins a cross-country quest to find the man she knows to be the killer. When she discovers a book written by the murderer’s mother, she learns Christine was not his first victim–or his last. The Capital City Killer must be stopped. Non-fiction.
Also interviewed was Vanessa Brown, author of, among other books, The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, A Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice. The book is about the author’s journey to find information on Jackie English, her murder, and other unsolved murders in London, Ontario. The book has mixed reviews, and I have not read it yet.