This week The Lake Eries murders look at one of Canada’s most dangerous predators, David Alexander Snow.
In April 1992, Ian and Nancy Blackburn were expected at a maple tapping celebration near their recreational home in Caledon, Ontario; unfortunately, they never arrived.
The couple were found at their home in a Toronto suburb where their bodies had been stuffed into the trunk of Nancy’s car.
David Alexander Snow had run an antique store in Orangeville, Ontario, but when it closed down in 1992, he disappeared. He had begun a transient existence, which involved breaking into the empty holiday homes that were so prevalent in that part of Ontario.
One day when Ian and Nancy Blackburn turned up at their holiday home, they found Snow on the premises. He threatened them at gunpoint and forced Ian to drive him to their home in Toronto. Police believe that Nancy was already dead and stowed in the trunk for the journey.
Ian was murdered once they arrived in Toronto, and his remains were put in the trunk with his wife. Snow had strangled them both.
‘Cottage Killer’ David Alexander Snow continued his crime spree in Vancouver
Snow then fled to Vancouver, where he proceeded with a two-week crime spree of kidnapping, rape, robbery, and violence. He attacked and sexually assaulted four women.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelNorth Vancouver RCMP eventually apprehended him on July 12, 1992.
In 1997 Snow was found guilty in an Ontario court of murdering the Blackburns and was sentenced to life in prison. In British Columbia, he was convicted on 15 counts involving five complainants, including five counts of robbery, three counts of kidnapping or unlawful confinement, and four counts of sexual assault.
Snow has been found guilty of 22 serious offenses overall, which includes the murders of Nancy and Ian Blackburn. He was charged with three crimes while in prison; assault, causing bodily harm and for attacking another inmate and threatening to kill them.
He remains in prison, having been denied parole in 2019, and is reported to be slowly coming to terms with the gravity of his disturbing crimes.
More from The Lake Erie Murders
Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on The Lake Erie Murders.
Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was found dead on the floor of a hospital chapel in Toledo, Ohio, in 1980. She had been choked to the edge of death before being stabbed in the head, neck, and face. She had been draped with an altar cloth, and nine of her stab wounds were in the shape of an upside-down cross.
Her killer was a priest, Father Gerald Robinson, who was the chaplain at the hospital in what is the only recorded case of a priest killing a nun.
Leslie Williams was a habitual criminal, who went on a vicious killing spree in rural Michigan in the 1990s when he callously murdered four teenage girls. On his capture, he said I should be locked up.
Catch this episode of The Lake Erie Murders April 19 at 8/7c on Investigation Discovery.