Identified! Canada - Tofield, AB, 'Septic Tank Sam' Ntv/WhtMale 1046UMAB, Apr'77 - Gordon Edwin Sanderson

[Feme98]

They look strikingly similar. And the timelines seem to add up, as well. The only thing that I'm stuck on is that it's a 6 hour drive between Dawson Creek and Tofield, but assuming he was travelling to find work, that might not have been a problem. Also, there was a couple of years in-between when Williams went missing and when John Doe was discovered, so I guess time will tell.


I just called the Dawson Creek RCMP to let them know about this possible link!! They're going to look into it and let me know if anything comes of it. I will, of course, keep this thread updated as well!

That’s great news! I think that he was abducted, hence the beating, burning, mutilation, perhaps he did something

 

[MorbidLace]

That’s great news! I think that he was abducted, hence the beating, burning, mutilation, perhaps he did something

My assumption on that front has actually always been something like an Emmett Till situation. Speaking as someone who lives in Alberta, and has spent quite a lot of time in Northern Alberta specifically, I always assumed that this had something big to do with his race. While it unfortunately gets played down here a lot, racism against Indigenous peoples is a pretty big problem in Canada.

 

[Feme98]

My assumption on that front has actually always been something like an Emmett Till situation. Speaking as someone who lives in Alberta, and has spent quite a lot of time in Northern Alberta specifically, I always assumed that this had something big to do with his race. While it unfortunately gets played down here a lot, racism against Indigenous peoples is a pretty big problem in Canada.

I agree, I’ve always thought of this case as a hate crime, perhaps he was a molester

 

[MorbidLace]

I agree, I’ve always thought of this case as a hate crime, perhaps he was a molester

Or a perceived one. And it seems like he was a migrant worker of some type, so he was seen as a transient. Could have been seen as an easy target? Who knows.

 

[Feme98]

Or a perceived one. And it seems like he was a migrant worker of some type, so he was seen as a transient. Could have been seen as an easy target? Who knows.

I think that the mutilation is way too personal

 

[MorbidLace]

I think that the mutilation is way too personal

Yeah, you're totally right.

 

[Astrophel]

I grew up not too far from Tofield, and I really feel drawn to solving this case. Has anyone yet considered the possibility that "Septic Tank Sam" could be Mervin David Sinclair? He seems to match a lot of the details of the case.

Sinclair was a First Nations man born in Saskatchewan in 1935, which would have put him at around 41-42 years old at the time of the murder - it's a little older than the 35 they suspected, but it still seems to be within the realm of possibility. He went AWOL from the military in 1958 while serving in Wainwright, Alberta - he left the base saying that he was going to hitchhike to Calgary, and was never seen or heard from again. Being AWOL from the military could explain why Sam was leading a transient lifestyle, flying under the radar. He stood 5'9 and weighed 145 - he's a bit tall to be Sam, but they did say that he was within 3 inches of 5'6, which doesn't seem totally outside the realm of possibility. The pictures also seem reasonably close, given that he would have been 20 years older at the time of his death compared to his missing persons photo.

Thoughts?

The Doe Network: Case File 1994DMSK

 

[Feme98]

I grew up not too far from Tofield, and I really feel drawn to solving this case. Has anyone yet considered the possibility that "Septic Tank Sam" could be Mervin David Sinclair? He seems to match a lot of the details of the case.

Sinclair was a First Nations man born in Saskatchewan in 1935, which would have put him at around 41-42 years old at the time of the murder - it's a little older than the 35 they suspected, but it still seems to be within the realm of possibility. He went AWOL from the military in 1958 while serving in Wainwright, Alberta - he left the base saying that he was going to hitchhike to Calgary, and was never seen or heard from again. Being AWOL from the military could explain why Sam was leading a transient lifestyle, flying under the radar. He stood 5'9 and weighed 145 - he's a bit tall to be Sam, but they did say that he was within 3 inches of 5'6, which doesn't seem totally outside the realm of possibility. The pictures also seem reasonably close, given that he would have been 20 years older at the time of his death compared to his missing persons photo.

Thoughts?

The Doe Network: Case File 1994DMSK

Did he have an illness? I’m not sure as to what illness the UID had when he was 5, I think it was polio

 

[Astrophel]

Did he have an illness? I’m not sure as to what illness the UID had when he was 5, I think it was polio

I've never seen any official sources indicate that it was polio, so I'm a little hesitant to jump to that conclusion - there are a lot of childhood illnesses that could be detectable later on in a person's bones and teeth. Also, the medical examiner who concluded that he had an illness at 5 years old is also the one who concluded that he was a European-Canadian in his late 20s, when specialists later concluded that he was actually an Aboriginal man in his mid 30s. So I'm not sure how much faith to put in anything from the initial autopsy.

In any case, there's no other information available on Mervin's early life. There's no information on him that I can find beyond what's listed in the missing person's report. It's certainly possible that he had a childhood illness. Unfortunately, I think a lot of missing persons involving Aboriginal men in this era are going to be missing a lot of information.

 

[Astrophel]

Canada's national missing person database is neither user-friendly nor searchable, so I'm going through open cases one by one to see if there are any matching cases that the WebSleuths community think are worth calling in to the Tofield police - I'm new to this "web detective" thing.

Another case that I think might be a possibility is that of Rene Joseph Bruneau.

Rene was born in Saskatchewan in 1941, which would make him 35-36 at the time of the murder - exactly the age range that the Coroner predicted. His missing persons file lists him as "white", but he is also noted to have a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes. Thanks to a quirk of Canadian law, many white/Native mixed race people were classified as "white" under the Indian act from 1867 - 1985, and since he's from North Battleford, an area that has always had a large First Nations and Metis population, it is not at all unlikely that he was actually mixed-race. The fact that he has a French surname in a non-French area also points to the possibility of being mixed-race/Metis. Burneau disappeared from a hospital in Saskatchewan in June of 1965. He was apparently there the previous day, but was gone when staff did morning rounds the following morning. It doesn't seem impossible that he may have made his way out to Alberta from there. He reportedly had a scar across his forehead from a surgery to remove a tumor - could a healed scar be the "childhood illness" that the coroner was talking about? He stood 5'7 and weighed 154lbs, putting him squarely in the height/weight range for Sam.

There aren't any better pictures available, unfortunately, but based on the one we've got, it looks like Rene might be a rough match for Sam's face shape/jaw.

The Doe Network: Case File 4292DMSK

 

[MorbidLace]

I grew up not too far from Tofield, and I really feel drawn to solving this case. Has anyone yet considered the possibility that "Septic Tank Sam" could be Mervin David Sinclair? He seems to match a lot of the details of the case.

Sinclair was a First Nations man born in Saskatchewan in 1935, which would have put him at around 41-42 years old at the time of the murder - it's a little older than the 35 they suspected, but it still seems to be within the realm of possibility. He went AWOL from the military in 1958 while serving in Wainwright, Alberta - he left the base saying that he was going to hitchhike to Calgary, and was never seen or heard from again. Being AWOL from the military could explain why Sam was leading a transient lifestyle, flying under the radar. He stood 5'9 and weighed 145 - he's a bit tall to be Sam, but they did say that he was within 3 inches of 5'6, which doesn't seem totally outside the realm of possibility. The pictures also seem reasonably close, given that he would have been 20 years older at the time of his death compared to his missing persons photo.

Thoughts?

The Doe Network: Case File 1994DMSK

Canada's national missing person database is neither user-friendly nor searchable, so I'm going through open cases one by one to see if there are any matching cases that the WebSleuths community think are worth calling in to the Tofield police - I'm new to this "web detective" thing.

Another case that I think might be a possibility is that of Rene Joseph Bruneau.

Rene was born in Saskatchewan in 1941, which would make him 35-36 at the time of the murder - exactly the age range that the Coroner predicted. His missing persons file lists him as "white", but he is also noted to have a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes. Thanks to a quirk of Canadian law, many white/Native mixed race people were classified as "white" under the Indian act from 1867 - 1985, and since he's from North Battleford, an area that has always had a large First Nations and Metis population, it is not at all unlikely that he was actually mixed-race. The fact that he has a French surname in a non-French area also points to the possibility of being mixed-race/Metis. Burneau disappeared from a hospital in Saskatchewan in June of 1965. He was apparently there the previous day, but was gone when staff did morning rounds the following morning. It doesn't seem impossible that he may have made his way out to Alberta from there. He reportedly had a scar across his forehead from a surgery to remove a tumor - could a healed scar be the "childhood illness" that the coroner was talking about? He stood 5'7 and weighed 154lbs, putting him squarely in the height/weight range for Sam.

There aren't any better pictures available, unfortunately, but based on the one we've got, it looks like Rene might be a rough match for Sam's face shape/jaw.

The Doe Network: Case File 4292DMSK

These are definite possibilities! But the amount of time between when they went missing and when Sam was found is a touch concerning. But they are probably leads that should be brought to the RCMP's attention, because even if they're eliminated, that at least eliminates 2 possible identities.

 

[Feme98]

These 2 latest suggestions can be submitted to LE, I can’t call from here as roaming isn’t enabled in Chile, can someone from this thread call LE with these possible identities?

 

[Astrophel]

These 2 latest suggestions can be submitted to LE, I can’t call from here as roaming isn’t enabled in Chile, can someone from this thread call LE with these possible identities?

I can call them in! I will let you all know what they say.

 

[MorbidLace]

UPDATE: The constable in charge of Murphy Williams's case, and I told him about the possible connection to Sam. He seemed to take the tip seriously, and said he would contact Tofield RCMP about it.
He said that they recently switched over the way that they store their DNA? And the RCMP in BC use a different system than the rest of the country, apparently, so actually looking up cases from another detachment is difficult.

 

[dotr]

UPDATE: The constable in charge of Murphy Williams's case, and I told him about the possible connection to Sam. He seemed to take the tip seriously, and said he would contact Tofield RCMP about it.
He said that they recently switched over the way that they store their DNA? And the RCMP in BC use a different system than the rest of the country, apparently, so actually looking up cases from another detachment is difficult.

That is awesome, also interesting in terms of comparing other mp and uid cases in BC.
CANADA - Murphy WILLIAMS, 35, Dawson Creek, BC,15 August 1974

 

[Feme98]

Perhaps we might give the UID his identity back! And maybe figure this out

 

[Feme98]

UPDATE: The constable in charge of Murphy Williams's case, and I told him about the possible connection to Sam. He seemed to take the tip seriously, and said he would contact Tofield RCMP about it.
He said that they recently switched over the way that they store their DNA? And the RCMP in BC use a different system than the rest of the country, apparently, so actually looking up cases from another detachment is difficult.

Did anything come from this tip?

 

[Feme98]

Would it be a good idea if we ask Carl Koppelman for a reconstruction for the UID? The clay bust doesn’t do much justice

 

[Feme98]

They look strikingly similar. And the timelines seem to add up, as well. The only thing that I'm stuck on is that it's a 6 hour drive between Dawson Creek and Tofield, but assuming he was travelling to find work, that might not have been a problem. Also, there was a couple of years in-between when Williams went missing and when John Doe was discovered, so I guess time will tell.


I just called the Dawson Creek RCMP to let them know about this possible link!! They're going to look into it and let me know if anything comes of it. I will, of course, keep this thread updated as well!

Hi! Did any update came out of this?

 

[Doogie12]

I'm curious as well. Did anything come of this?