October 6, 1983. British Columbia, Canada. 27-year old Bernd Goericke and his 22-year old fiancée, Andrea Scherpf, are found shot to death next to a remote road. The couple hailed from West Germany and had been hitchhiking through Canada and an unidentified man driving a pick-up truck is seen using Andrea’s travellers’ cheques in the days following her death. Nearly six years later, a suspect named Andy Rose is charged with the crime based on testimony from a former friend who claimed she heard him confess to the murders. After two trials and two overturned convictions, the charges against Andy are dropped when DNA testing on a key piece of evidence excludes him as the perpetrator, but no one else is ever charged with killing Bernd and Andrea. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel back to our home country of Canada to explore an unsolved double murder which led to a wrongful conviction.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_murder_of_Andrea_Scherpf_and_Bernd_Göricke
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2648100646
https://archive.today/20120723055359/http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/someone_got_away_with_murder/timeline.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/newfoundlander-s-ordeal-with-rcmp-sting-subject-of-cbc-documentary-1.834222
https://vancouversun.com/news/metro/police-seek-new-leads-in-1983-murder-of-two-german-tourists-near-chetwynd
“The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions: A Handbook” by Gisli H. Gudjonsson
https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/files/mrbig.pdf
https://ucfiles.com/filestatus.php?number=104200082
https://www.newspapers.com/image/501465197/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/495935807/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/496051750/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/495047641/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/494831236/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/496376227/
“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 doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” at the Tower Bridge, Leonardo Royal Hotel & Spa in London on June 10-11, 2023, as well as “Crimecon” at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida on September 22-24, 2023. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD23”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.co.uk or https://www.crimecon.com.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 136 – Deanna Cremin & Melanie Melanson
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 135 – Paul Whipkey
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 134 – Louise and Charmian Faulkner
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 133 – Dick Hansen
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 132 – Adele Born Williams
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 131 – Toni Lee Sharpless
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 130 – Tara Breckenridge
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 129 – Little Miss Panasoffkee and the Sumter County Does
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 128 – Roger Dean
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 127 – Shareef Cousin
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 126 – Sherri Holland
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 125 – A.J. Breaux
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 124 – Ashley Estell
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 123 – Marie Blee
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 122 – Linda Sherman
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 121 – Glen & Bessie Hyde
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 120 – Amber Tuccaro & Jolene Cote
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 119 – Lindsey Baum
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 118 – Tom Roche
The Trail Went Cold – Episode 117 – Ricky Hochstetler
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