Bound by Silence: The Murder of Dr. Edith Wightman

Bound by Silence: The Murder of Dr. Edith Wightman

Author: Dark Poutine / Curiouscast December 1, 2025 Duration: 53:40
Episode 395: On a cold December day in 1983, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, was shaken by a deeply unsettling crime. Dr. Edith Wightman, a respected scholar, was discovered dead in her office: bound with tape, handcuffed, and suffocated with a cloth. The investigation took an even stranger turn when police arrested Michael Allen Crowley, a chemist from Welland, who had been seen on campus in disguise, dressed in women’s clothing and a wig. With no personal connection to the victim, and the bizarre methods used, the murder left students and faculty reeling, and raised questions still unanswered to this day. Sources:A Brief History Of McMaster UniversityHistory of McMasterWIGHTMAN, Edith Mary | RutgersDec 19, 1983, page 1 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.comDec 24, 1983, page 16 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.comEdith Wightman - Search - Newspapers.com™Michael Alan Crowley - Search - Newspapers.com™"72 Hours: True Crime" Murder on Campus (TV Episode 2005)Canadian News Briefs - UPI ArchivesEdith Wightman | Wikipedia1984_3Winterhttps://www.reddit.com/r/McMaster/comments/jl1ew5/trying_to_find_details_of_on_campus_death/Review: [Untitled] on JSTORWightman: Gallia Belgica (Book Review)Detectives say Robert Garrow now 'best suspect' in 1973 Komorowski murder | CBC NewsAdele Komorowski Homicide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Podcast Episodes
Buried Evidence: The Murder of Erin Chorney [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:35
Episode 344: In 2002, Brandon, Manitoba, was rocked by the disappearance of Erin Chorney, a feisty and energetic teenager with her whole life ahead of her. What began as a simple outing—Erin telling her mother she'd be b…
Remembrance Day 2024: More Badass Canadians at War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:04
Episode 343: This is our special Remembrance Day episode. Each year on November 11, Canadians pause to remember the sacrifices made by those who served in the armed forces, defending our country and our allies with incre…
Still on the Run: The Murder of Krystal Senyk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:20
Episode 342: In the quiet Yukon community of Carcross, a chilling tragedy unfolded on March 1st, 1992, forever changing the lives of those involved and leaving a lasting impact on the region. Krystal Nicole Senyk, a twen…
Satanic Panic: A Canadian Export [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:46
Episode 340: In the early 1980s, a wave of fear with its origins in Canada, swept across North America, igniting what would become known as the Satanic Panic. This moral hysteria, fueled by sensationalized media reports…
Cybercrime in Canada: Staying Safe Online [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:33
This bonus episode of Dark Poutine is brought to you by MasterCard. In this special episode, we’re exploring a growing threat hitting more close to home than ever—cybercrime. We’ve dived deep into all sorts of dark tales…
BC’s Last Man Hanged — The Tale of Leo Mantha [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:11
On the night of September 6, 1958, Aaron “Bud’ Jenkins was stabbed to death as he slept in his barracks at the Naval base in Esquimalt on Vancouver Island here in British Columbia. A man named Leo Mantha confessed to the…
Cold and Dark: The 1998 Quebec Ice Storm [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:17
Episode 338: The Great North American Ice Storm of January 1998 was a devastating natural disaster caused by five consecutive ice storms affecting eastern Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, northern Ne…
Valentine’s Day Nightmare: The Murder of Betty Hart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:02
On the evening of February 14, 1985, Valentine’s Day, at around 6:00 p.m., Bryan Hart of Colborne, Ontario, came home to a quiet house after work. He looked around the house for his wife, Betty, but could not find her. T…
Murder in Fort Mac: The Case of Robert LeVoir [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:30
In November of 2002, friends and family of 25-year-old Fort McMurray DJ Robert LeVoir became concerned that they hadn’t heard from him in over two weeks. Although he’d been a troubled guy, struggling with drugs, cocaine…