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London, Ontario - Once Known as the Serial Killer Capital of the World · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Two hours west of Toronto along Highway four oh one
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  is the small city of London, Ontario. Referred to as
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  the Forest City. This locale is notable for being the
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  birthplace of celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling and
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  Rachel mccadams. Additionally, from nineteen fifty nine to nineteen eighty four,
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  it was the site of the highest known concentration of
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  serial killers globally. Over a span of twenty five years,
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  the city experienced twenty nine horrific murders. Of these, thirteen
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  were linked to three individuals who were ultimately apprehended and convicted,
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  Gerald Thomas Archer, infamously known as the London Chamber Made Slayer,
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  Christian Macgee, referred to as the Mad Slasher, and Russell Johnson,
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  known as the Balcony Killer. Sixteen of the murders remain unresolved. However,
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  a recently published book, drawing from recovered police files, presents
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  a new theory regarding this dark period in the city's history,
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  revealing the identities of two suspected serial killers. Dennis Olsop,
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  a detective sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police, served in
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  the London area from nineteen fifty to nineteen seventy nine.
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  He meticulously documented his findings and research on the murders,
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  keeping them concealed until his passing in twenty twelve. It's
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  unclear when it all came together, but Alsop established this
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  compendium of his original diary entries from the sixties and seventies,
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  old documents from a bygone era, photostats, teletype transcripts, and
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  documents created from now extinct technologies that were thought lost
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  to history, said Mike Antfield, a local detective with the
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  London Police Servis and professor at the London based University
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  of Western Ontario. Alsop left the cash to his son,
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  who ultimately turned them over to Artfield. Upon obtaining the
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  documents and case files, Artfield embarked on a mission to
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  identify the individuals responsible for the unsolved murders and sexual
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  homicides from that era. He utilized this unique collection of
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  information while leveraging resources from his academic and law enforcement background.
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  The peer reviewed findings presented in his recently released book
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  Murder City, The Untold Story of Canada's serial Killer Capital,
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  revealed the identities of two killers for the first time,
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  one of whom is suspected of having murdered four children
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  in Toronto after evading capture in London. Through Alsop's diary entries,
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  he was aware of the perpetrator's identity, but faced significant
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  obstacles in making arrests as authorities believed he lacked sufficient
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  evidence they were seeking a definitive case. Artfield stated consequently
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  he monitored these individuals independently until they relocated from London,
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  and it appears that at least in one instance, there
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  are additional victims in Toronto linked to the same assailant.
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  By examining the similarities among crime scenes and utilizing resources
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  and technologies that were unavailable to the original investigators, Artfield
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  concludes that there were at least one and potentially as
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  many as four serial killers operating in London during that period,
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  all exhibiting similar methods of operation responsible for the unsolved murders.
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  Why London The reasons behind London's status as a center
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  for homicidal activity during that period remain unclear. However, Artfield
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  offers several theories in his publication. London frequently serves as
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  a testing ground for major brands aiming to launch new
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  products in Canada. Its population size, average income and demographic
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  composition contribute to its reputation as one of the most
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  typical cities in Canada, making it a key location for
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  marketers to assess the potential success of products on a
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  national scale. American test markets such as Richmond, Virginia, Munsey, Indiana,
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  and Rochester, New York have exhibited strikingly similar patterns, with
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  violent crime rates surpassing the national average. It is not
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  the case that being the first to have the macrib
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  or being designated as a test market city inherently attracts
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  serial killers. Rather, the sociological factors that render these locations
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  appealing to marketers also appear to correlate with a higher
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  prevalence of sexually deviant and violent offenders. Antfield stated. One
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  notable element is Highway four one, which traverses the southern
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  boundary of Ontario and was established four years prior to
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  the inception of the American Interstate Highway system. Research has
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  indicated that from nineteen fifty six onward, the US interstate
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  system significantly altered the landscape of criminal activity, stated Aarntfield,
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  who further noted that the FBI has initiated a highway
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  serial killings program to explore the relationship between major highways
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  and serial homicides. Additionally, the forest city offers more secluded
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  environments compared to typical urban areas, while still maintaining a
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  sufficiently large population for offenders to target potential victims. According
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  to Aartfield, such isolated municipalities often experience a deficiency in
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  informal social control and lack the extensive media and communication
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  networks found in larger cities.