June 9, 1959. Clinton, Ontario. After failing to return home, 12-year old Lynne Harper is reported missing and her body is discovered in a woodlot two days later. She has been sexually assaulted and strangled to death with her own blouse and suspicion turns towards her 14-year old classmate, Steven Truscott, who claims that he gave Lynne a ride to the highway on his bicycle and saw her climb into a passing car. Steven is soon charged, convicted and sentenced to death for Lynne’s murder, but his sentence is commuted to life imprisonment and he is paroled in 1969. Decades later, Steven files a successful appeal to have his conviction overturned, but there is still a lot of debate about who was actually responsible for Lynne Harper’s murder. To commemorate the eight-year anniversary of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be releasing the first part of a special two-part episode about one of the most controversial murder cases in the history of Canada. Special thanks to listener Sarah Browning for narrating the opening of this episode.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Truscott
“Until You Are Dead: The Wrongful Conviction of Steven Truscott”
“Steven Truscott: Decades of Injustice” by Nate Hendley
https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/truscott/index.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/truscott/timeline.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/01/29/can_science_clear_truscott.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/court-acquits-truscott-calling-conviction-miscarriage-of-justice-1.668524
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/victim-s-family-stunned-by-truscott-compensation-1.747261
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/who-killed-lynne-harper-retired-opp-sergeant-says-travelling-salesman-a-suspect-in-string-of-murders
https://web.archive.org/web/20070401115048/http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/ccr/kaufman/exec.html
If you would like to make a donation to “Season of Justice”, please visit our donation page at https://givebutter.com/SOJ_thetrail or text “TRAIL24” to # 53555.
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon” in Nashville on May 31-June 2, 2024 and “Crimecon UK” in London on September 21-22, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD24”, by visiting Crimecon.com or Crimecon.co.uk.
“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Denver Marriott Westminster in Colorado on July 12-14, 2024. To get a 15 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://truecrimepodcastfestival.com.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 250 – Moses Lall & Lila Buerattan
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 249 – Sarah Saganitso
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 248 – Susan Walsh
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 247 – Charles Walton
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 246 – Yasmin Acree
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 245 – Crystal Champagne
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 244 – Richard Lancelyn Green
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 243 – Jamie Santos & Rebecca Young
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 242 – Michael Sullivan & Camden Sylvia
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 241 – Patti Adkins
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 240 – The Bishop Family Murders
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 239 – Ted Loseff
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 238 – Harry & Megan Tooze
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 237 – Sister Roberta Elam
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 236 – Jill & Julie Hansen
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 235 – Shannon Green & David Dewayne Bell
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 234 – The Durham Family Murders
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 233 – Wallace Guidroz & Lenoria Jones
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 232 – Gary Simmons
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 231 – Richard Colvin Cox
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Mortal Musings Podcast
True Crime Investigators UK
Scaredycast
Dateline NBC
Crime Junkie