1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,400 Welcome to the dark mind Detective. 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,480 My name is Mark, and for the last six years I have been 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,840 researching some of the darkest, most deprived, horrible cases of 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,720 humanity. I spent the last year digging 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:21,360 deep into the trenches, the murky world of Robert Pickton, 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,240 and I will be publishing a book in the near future. 7 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:29,200 I've written my first draft and I was thinking the other day, 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,240 and please forgive me, I have a bit of a seasonal allergies so I 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,640 sound a little congested so please bear with me. 10 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:44,720 So I was thinking of why I keep going and over the last week or 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,840 so I've had about 3 conversations with Chelsea's 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:56,160 dad, Chelsea Portman, her father Michael Kernam, whom I first 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:01,360 interviewed and and talked to and someone I do consider a 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,800 friend. And we talk for always an hour. 15 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,520 Every time we talk. We get along very well and I 16 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:15,560 like him very much. He is a man of true resilience. 17 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,760 Everything he's been through, you know it. 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:24,040 It inspires me to keep going. And then that's basically the 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,120 whole point. Every time I talk to him, 20 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,240 everything comes rushing back. The why, the why. 21 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,120 I started Vancouver true crime now, the dark mind detective, 22 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,720 why I poured 10s of thousands of hours in this work the other 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,720 day. I was scrolling down through all 24 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,200 the posts I did on Instagram. Quote 1500 posts because I 25 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,800 delete a lot of the missing people when they're found. 26 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,720 You know I read 15 to 2000 posts, right? 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,280 All on things that I believe that the community should be 28 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,480 aware of. I never really monetized 29 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,680 anything. If anything, I've given away 30 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,320 more things than I used to do. Lots of giveaways. 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,800 And this never was about me. It's never about credit. 32 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,880 It was something bigger. Let me just be real for a 33 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,040 minute. April is a hard month. 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,400 Yesterday was the 5th anniversary where I lost my wife 35 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,600 to tragedy. I lost my wife to a sudden 36 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,640 aneurysm. We have two small children and 37 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:31,080 the grief doesn't fade, it just changes shape. 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:37,600 The shock never really leaves you and it it wasn't just a 39 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,760 tragedy that scarred me, it was the trauma. 40 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,760 The vultures, the people who circled while I was numb, 41 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,720 stealing from me, picking through my wife's belongings 42 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:53,000 while I stood frozen and me. And I was just stuck in this 43 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,640 people pleasing mode, thinking if I just keep helping others 44 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:04,240 maybe the pain will erase. But I'm going to tell you 45 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,440 something. That mindset broke me. 46 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,880 Instagram, which has been my new nemesis lately. 47 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:18,000 It's a double edged sword. I've met incredible people like 48 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,320 Mike. Solid real souls I'm proud to 49 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,080 call friends, but also face some real human garbage. 50 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,120 The people who mistake kindness for weakness. 51 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,720 People who thinks accessibility means they get the nitpick and 52 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,600 criticize and chip away at you post by post. 53 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,200 And if you follow the podcast, you know I've talked about this 54 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,200 before. Some of you get it. 55 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,360 You're sharp, you're kind, you're here for the right 56 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:51,080 reasons. But then there's the activist 57 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,600 laying in wait. They don't reach out, They don't 58 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,520 ask questions. They slurk hoping you'll mess up 59 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,280 so they can light you up for clout. 60 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,680 Talking to Mike, it snaps back in the focus. 61 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,840 This is why I keep going and This is why I have to. 62 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,400 And because I got a thick skin, and because I'm resilient and 63 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,320 because I refuse to waste energy on anything. 64 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:24,080 That doesn't matter what happened to Chelsea, it should 65 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,120 have never happened. And how her family was treated. 66 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,040 Despicable doesn't even cover it. 67 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,760 Let's stop pretending there's a 2 tier system in this country. 68 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:42,280 Predators like Robert Picton get top tier legal defense victims 69 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,480 and their family. They get silenced, they get 70 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,160 bulldozed, they get forgotten. But I won't forget. 71 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,440 Not Chelsea, not her family, not what they endured. 72 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,000 And from that shared pain came something real. 73 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,120 A connection with Mike, A friendship I don't take for 74 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,080 granted. To Chelsea's family, my door is 75 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,280 always open. There's anything I can do. 76 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:09,640 I'm here. I'm at your service, and I mean 77 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,200 that. I am sorry for how brutally the 78 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,240 system failed you. I wish you peace, healing and 79 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,160 strength. And most of all, I want you to 80 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,320 know this Chelsea will never be forgotten. 81 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:30,080 Her life mattered. Her story will keep shining on 82 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:36,480 the light of injustice to Natasha Harrison, the quem 83 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:42,880 Manuel Godfredson, to Noel O Soup's loved ones, and all who 84 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,240 carry the weight of unjust grief. 85 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:53,680 I speak this with a heavy heart from the same rage and sorrow 86 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:59,000 you feel every day, the kind that doesn't fade because truth 87 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,120 hasn't either. When authorities say nothing 88 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,240 suspicious, what they mean is your child's death didn't matter 89 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:13,080 enough to investigate. When they claim the case is 90 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,760 still open but offer no answers, what they're really saying is we 91 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,160 hope you'll stop asking. This is not justice. 92 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:29,120 This is a system that polishes its words while predators Polish 93 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,360 their methods. The same excuses, the same 94 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,960 delays, the same families left screaming into silence. 95 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:46,160 Chelsea, Tatiana, Noel Quem. Their cases aren't tragedies, 96 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,760 are crimes. Crimes enabled by indifference, 97 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,360 by the lie that monsters like Robert Picton are rare, when in 98 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,680 truth they thrive where the system looks away. 99 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,080 To the mothers, fathers, siblings, communities fighting 100 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,280 for answers, your loved ones deserve more than a press 101 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,120 release. They deserve detectives who will 102 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,320 chase every lead, coroners that will respect their remains, and 103 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,680 the public that refuse to forget. 104 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:26,240 To the authorities, no amount of performative advocacy erase the 105 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,280 truth. Your failures are why predators 106 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,400 still walk free. If he spent half the energy on 107 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,840 investigations as he do on damage control, fewer families 108 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,400 would bury their children. This is not just grief. 109 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,720 It's fury. And fury doesn't fade. 110 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,080 We will say their names until the world stops looking away 111 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:58,600 with rage and solidarity. Mark Chelsea Portman was just 24 112 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,480 years old when she vanished from downtown Vancouver in September 113 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,600 2020. A vulnerable young woman with 114 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,760 physical and cognitive impairments, she was last seen 115 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:17,760 around 1:00 AM near Granville and Davie, then disappeared 116 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,520 without a trace. 18 months later, her skeletal remains were 117 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:28,600 discovered partially covered by a blanket on the back patio of a 118 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:33,480 $10 million mansion in one of Canada's wealthiest 119 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,640 neighborhoods. Her skull and fingers were 120 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,520 missing and the case was ruled not suspicious. 121 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,480 Please theory she wandered there and died alone, but evidence 122 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,200 tells another story 1 of concealment, delayed body 123 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,320 placement and a deeply flawed investigation. 124 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,880 Chelsea's family and the public deserves answers. 125 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:02,840 How does a disabled woman scale an 8 foot fence and vanish into 126 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,120 one of the most secure neighborhoods in Vancouver 127 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,880 without being seen on a single camera? 128 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,920 2 Why was her body found under her blanket with her purse 129 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:21,360 contents still scattered? Yet the scene wasn't treated as 130 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,200 suspicious? And if she died there, why do 131 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,120 drones photos from months earlier show the patio 132 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,840 completely empty? Noel O Sue was just 14 years old 133 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:39,520 when she vanished from ABC Group home in May 2021. 134 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,280 A First Nation teen in government care, she was written 135 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:51,280 off by authorities as a runaway. Her family wasn't even notified. 136 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:58,480 Nearly a year later, Noel's skeletal remains were discovered 137 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,960 in a locked room in the Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, 138 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:08,440 along with two other bodies hidden under garbage. 139 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:13,520 The apartment had already been entered by police months earlier 140 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:18,520 to remove bodies, but there was two other victims that were 141 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,640 missed. The man connected to the 142 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,600 apartment was in a repeat predator offender labeled a 143 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:31,480 public danger years earlier. Say that one more time, how did 144 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:37,440 a child in state care die in the hearts of the Vancouver downtown 145 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:43,800 Eastside and no one noticed? How do police miss 2 corpses in 146 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,880 an apartment they already searched? 147 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:52,240 Why was a 14 year old girl placed in a system that couldn't 148 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,240 even tell her family she was missing? 149 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:01,840 What links does Noel's case? Larger patterns of First Nation 150 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,920 girls disappearing and being forgotten. 151 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:11,840 Tatiana Harrison, a 20 year old First Nation woman who was last 152 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:17,800 seen in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in April 2022. 153 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:24,680 Weeks later, her body was found on a 40 foot yacht in Richmond's 154 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:28,880 dry dock without pants and only wearing a sweater. 155 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,320 The coroner first claimed she died from a fentanyl overdose, 156 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:40,240 but months later the cause was quietly changed to stepsis and 157 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:47,000 the toxicology revealed GHB, the notorious date rape drug in her 158 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,600 system. Despite this, the police de 159 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,920 missed the case as non suspicious. 160 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:59,720 No sexual assault kit, no real investigation, no answers. 161 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:05,440 A young woman didn't just walk onto a yacht and died, someone 162 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:10,040 put her there. How did a woman with no known 163 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:16,920 access to a yacht end up dead on one with her clothes missing? 164 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,800 Why was her toxicology report change months later after police 165 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:28,760 said the case was closed? And who was the unknown man seen 166 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,840 with her just before she vanished? 167 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,320 And why wasn't he ever identified? 168 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,320 Quem Manifold Godfrison, a 22 year old woman. 169 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:45,520 First Nations vanished from Coquitlam in July 2022. 170 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,640 Two days later, her body was found in Vancouver's Downtown 171 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:55,560 Eastside, just one block where Noel O Soup remains were 172 00:12:55,560 --> 00:13:00,360 discovered months earlier. She had no ties to the area, yet 173 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,960 police delayed alerts, downplayed family concern. 174 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,560 Her phone last pinged at the notorious Astoria Hotel, known 175 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,680 for exploitation and trafficking. 176 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,560 No cause of death, no suspects, no answers. 177 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,960 And when her family demanded accountability, silence. 178 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,640 This isn't an isolated tragedy, it's part of a pattern of 179 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:28,600 systemic failures. Why was Quem's body found near a 180 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,800 known predator zone, yet police call it non suspicious? 181 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,000 How did she end up in one of the most dangerous buildings in the 182 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,480 city without ever being known to frequent the Downtown Eastside? 183 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,760 And why are multiple indigenous women turning up dead within 184 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:50,080 blocks of each other with no real investigations to the 185 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,480 outside world? Vancouver markets itself as one 186 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,880 of the most livable cities in the world. 187 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,680 Scenic, diverse, eco conscious and progressive. 188 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:05,960 Canada too it it's sold globally as a beacon of justice and 189 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:10,600 quality and reconciliation. But beneath the glass condos and 190 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:15,160 the curated Instagram filters lie a dark underbelly. 191 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:21,120 A2 tier systems where First Nation girls and racialize women 192 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,200 and the poor are disappearing and being found dead and being 193 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:32,040 dismissed by law enforcement. The deaths of Chelsea poor man 194 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:40,200 Noelo Soup, Tatiana Harrison, now Elma Ennan, forms a pattern 195 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:47,200 too precise to be random, too consistent to be chalked up to 196 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,000 mistakes. The apartment of death on 197 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:58,360 Heatley Ave. in May 2020. A derelict Vancouver single room 198 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:04,120 occupancy we know them as Sr. OS single room occupancies 199 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:10,800 they're cheap little old hotels that dominate the downtown east 200 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,280 side. Four O 5 Heatley Ave. 201 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,720 The decomposing bodies of three people were found. 202 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:24,960 A man named Jimmy Van Chung Pham, a woman in her 30s named 203 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:32,920 Elma Elnan, a 14 year old Noel Oh Soup who's been missing for 204 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,720 nearly a year. But here's the twist. 205 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:40,040 The police had already entered that apartment in February to 206 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:46,520 remove Fam's body, yet they missed two other corpses, both 207 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:53,920 whom were literally decomposing under garbage, Enan reported. 208 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:59,080 A relative to a VPT officer had allegedly died of an overdose. 209 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,360 No full investigation was made public. 210 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,280 Her presence was quietly acknowledged and vanished from 211 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,040 the narrative. No autopsy finding, no police 212 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,280 accountability, no media urgency. 213 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,520 As for Noel, she was in provincial care. 214 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,160 She fled a group earlier and her family wasn't even told she was 215 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,920 missing. And Jimmy Pham, a known predator 216 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,160 with 30 years criminal history, flagged by Canada's border 217 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,280 service as a danger to the public. 218 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:34,560 Chelsea Portman, 24, found in the backyard of a $10 million 219 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:39,320 mansion, missing her skull. Police claim not suspicious 220 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:44,320 circumstances. Tatiana Harrison, 20, found dead 221 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,560 on a dry dock yacht. No pants GHB in this system 222 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,680 ruled an overdose until public pressure forced a revision. 223 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:59,920 Noello Soup, 14, found in a room she couldn't have had access 224 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:04,800 alone, ignored for months by both police and social workers. 225 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,839 Alma Ennan, possibly connected to police, simply erased from 226 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,599 the official story. Each case follows the same 227 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:14,800 rhythm. A vulnerable woman disappears. 228 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,599 A police delay action. The body is discovered under 229 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:19,920 shocking conditions. The scene is declared as not 230 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,000 suspicious. That a family demands answers. 231 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,040 Silence. This isn't about incompetence 232 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,680 that raise uncomfortable questions of design. 233 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,760 When every step of the system fails in the same way again and 234 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:34,320 again, do we still call it failure or policy? 235 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,480 After Picton, nothing has changed. 236 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:42,200 After the horror of the serial killer robber Picton, who who 237 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:47,320 fed murdered women to pigs and lured victims from the very same 238 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:54,040 Downtown Eastside neighborhood, Canada launched its $200 million 239 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,160 public inquiry. The goal to reform how police 240 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,440 and social services protect First Nations and vulnerable 241 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,320 women. That was 15 years ago. 242 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,160 Today, not only nothing's changed, it's gotten worse. 243 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,240 Women are still vanishing, bodies are still being dumped, 244 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,880 cases are still closed without answers, and the system 245 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,360 supposedly reformed. They're doing what they've 246 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:20,840 always did, protecting predators and ignoring the victim. 247 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,720 How does a man with decades of criminal offenses live free and 248 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:31,160 unchecked while vulnerable women and state care end up dead in 249 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,280 his locked apart a Police Department, enter a death scenes 250 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:41,000 and miss 2 rotting bodies? And when the pattern is this 251 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,960 consistent, this brazen, how many women have to die before we 252 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,840 admit it is an incompetence? But policy, What Canada export 253 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:55,320 as progress is a carefully created myth. 254 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:02,200 The truth lives in Vancouver alleys, abandoned hotels and 255 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,280 locked apartments and luxury backyards. 256 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:11,840 The truth is written in the names we know and the many we 257 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:13,960 still don't. Thank you for listening. 258 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,800 In the second part, we'll be going deeper into these cases. 259 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:19,920 The Dark Mind Detective.