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February 12 was a strange day for the man who two months later would murder 22 people

That snowy Wednesday morning, he had a bizarre run-in with Halifax police — one he gleefully bragged to Frank Magazine about. That evening, he was ticketed by an RCMP cop for driving 1-15 kph over the speed limit on a rural gravel road in Portapique — but the cop won't talk about it.

August 10, 2020 By Paul Palango 40 Comments

Last February 12 began as a poor-weather day in Nova Scotia. The province was pretty well shut down because of an overnight snowstorm. Schools and public buildings were closed in Halifax and Truro. The temperature was hovering around the freezing mark. More snow was forecast. It was not the kind of day to be wandering […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News Tagged With: Andrew Douglas, Bible Hill, bikers, Brink's, Catharine Mansley, Chief Dan Kinsella, CIBC Intria, Cliff Boutilier, confidential informants, Const. Duane Stanley, Const. Tracy Longpre, Ed Powers, fake RCMP car, Frank Magazine, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Hell's Angels, LIDAR, Natasha Pace, Nicholas Andrew Dorrington, Portapique Beach Road, Portapique mass shooting murder spree, RCMP, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Larry Tremblay, RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke, Red Devils, Sgt. Michael Sims, Staff-Sgt Tanya Chambers-Spriggs, Stephen Maher

300 family members and friends of mass murder victims march and demand public inquiry

July 22, 2020 By Yvette d'Entremont 2 Comments

About 300 family members and friends of the 22 people killed in April’s mass shooting gathered in Bible Hill on Wednesday morning to draw attention to their united demand for a public inquiry.  The crowd gathered at the local Foodland parking lot armed with signs featuring the names and faces of their loved ones. All […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Bible Hill, Darcy Dobson, Heather O'Brien, Joey Webber, Kristen Beaton, mass shooting victims Nova Scotia, murder spree Portapique, Nick Beaton, Premier Stephen McNeil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, PTSD, Public Inquiry, Tony Webber

“Insufficient grounds”

Susie Butlin repeatedly pleaded with the RCMP to intervene to stop her neighbour Junior Duggan from harassing her. The police took no action. A friend says an RCMP officer told Butlin her allegations against Duggan made her, not him, a "menace to society." Three days later, Duggan killed Butlin.

June 18, 2020 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

Since September 2017, when her best friend, 58-year-old Susan (Susie) Butlin, was shot and killed in her home at Bayhead, near Tatamagouche, Suzanne Davis has been in pain. Davis still thinks about her friend — whom she’d known since kindergarten — all the time. She says if they didn’t speak on the phone three times […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Bible Hill, Councillor Mike Gregory, El Jones, Jeanne Sarson, Judge Al Bégin, Junior Duggan, Linda MacDonald, peace bond, Portapique, PTSD, RCMP, red flags, sexual assault, Susan Butlin, Suzanne Davis, Tatamagouche, violence against women

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Keonté Beals. Photo: Keke Beatz

Episode #21 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

The young R&B artist Keonté Beals — Tara’s former NSCC student, by the way — started out singing in church in North Preston and performing popular covers before digging into who he is an artist. On his debut album KING, he sings about love, loyalty, and authenticity. He zooms in for a chat about its creation, his children’s book, and how not even a pandemic can keep him down.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

  • City lawyers see potential ‘perception of a conflict of interest’ in representing Halifax police board April 16, 2021
  • A “Conversation About Femicide” connects domestic violence to mass murders April 16, 2021
  • 1 more COVID death in Nova Scotia and 6 new cases; Rankin rejects redeploying vaccine to provinces with out of control outbreaks April 16, 2021
  • Rankin refusal: No straight answers on Northwood April 16, 2021
  • Group asks for more funding for grief counselling: “Canadians have been robbed of goodbyes” April 16, 2021

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