Preview

Death by Unknown Event

Written by: Danielle Elliot - writer, Eliza Smith - editor, Skybound Entertainment & Kamala Films - producer
Narrated by: Pamela Adlon
  • Summary

  • For seven years, Vancouver nurse Cindy James reported more than 100 separate incidents of harassment, ranging from threatening phone calls to home invasions to ritualistic assaults, including strangulations and stabbings. Canada’s Royal Mounted Police spent over a million dollars investigating her claims and found zero evidence of foul play, leading them to suspect she was making it all up. Then, in 1989, Cindy was found dead, bound and naked, half a mile from where her car was parked in a shopping mall. What happened to Cindy James remains one of the most bizarre and perplexing true crime stories in recent memory.

    Death by Unknown Event illuminates the enigmatic context around James’s life, the efforts and failures of law enforcement, and the lingering theories around how she died from those closest to the case.

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Episodes
  • Trailer
    Sep 14 2021

    For seven years, Vancouver nurse Cindy James reported more than 100 separate incidents of harassment, ranging from threatening phone calls to home invasions to ritualistic assaults, including strangulations and stabbings. Canada’s Royal Mounted Police spent over a million dollars investigating her claims and found zero evidence of foul play, leading them to suspect she was making it all up. Then, in 1989, Cindy was found dead, bound and naked, half a mile from where her car was parked in a shopping mall. What happened to Cindy James remains one of the most bizarre and perplexing true crime stories in recent memory.

    Death by Unknown Event illuminates the enigmatic context around James’s life, the efforts and failures of law enforcement, and the lingering theories around how she died from those closest to the case.

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    1 min
  • Episode 1: Cindy
    Oct 21 2021
    Cindy James was last seen depositing a paycheck in June 1988. Nearly two weeks later, a construction worker discovered her body in a ditch beside a busy road. Police ruled her death a suicide. Her family and friends insisted that she was murdered. In the years leading to her death, Cindy reported more than 100 incidents of stalking. Now the Vancouver community was left to solve this enduring mystery: Had the stalker taken Cindy’s life? Or had there never been a stalker at all?
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    26 mins
  • Episode 2: A Stalker
    Oct 21 2021
    Cindy’s stalker is becoming bolder. What started with calls and letters soon escalated into a brutal attack. The Vancouver police interrogate Cindy, and start to search for the perpetrator. At the urging of Officer Pat McBride, the police turn their attention to Cindy’s ex-husband, Roy Makepeace.
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    41 mins

Trailer

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What listeners say about Death by Unknown Event

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What a wild case!

Great binge listen! 10/10 really enjoyed this one. Great audio quality and editing. The narrator was good too engaging voice

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Excellent Story

I enjoyed the narrator, the story and development. It's my first true crime story, and I liked piecing it together, and listening to the evidence and other theories.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Best Narration and intriguing story

Months after I listened, I came back to say stop scrolling and click play. I’m STILL thinking about it. It’s the narrator that pushed me over but the story it utterly captivating

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very Intriguing

Interesting story. Excellent performance. Overall a fun listening. Annoying though that they next episode/podcast doesn't automatically play.

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2 people found this helpful

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Very intriguing case

This podcast is well made, and the narrator is very good. I liked it a lot

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The bigger picture

Since I was hired by Cindy James mother to work on her case, it is so interesting to me to be able to hear a bigger picture around the entire Cindy James story.
To hear actual audio of the threatening phone calls and hear the back story of the
participants such as friends neighbours and any of the others who knew her would have been invaluable to me at the time of my investigation. Knowing the scene where her body was discovered since it was only a few blocks from my mother’s home, and being able to visit Cindy’s home in Richmond with her parents makes
the podcast meaningful. Also having attended the Coroner’s inquest and having heard testimony first hand combined with the information in this podcast
gives me such a fuller sense of meaning to the entire case. What I saw at the time
and what I wrote in my book and on serviettes and coffee coasters are now embellished in a fuller fashion.
I like the voices presenting the podcast and the balance of content is perfectly
orchestrated. It is one of B.C.s most important cases that influenced many of the
workings of various institutions such as policing, psychiatry, treatment of women.

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Leaves you thinking

Excellent Podcast, well narrated, and the true story leaves you with many conclusions. It makes you wonder your own sanity.

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Excellent Production

Enjoyed the progression of the story and the inclusion of real audio. Overall it was really well done. Terrifying story. Hard to believe yet true.

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Great Reader

I enjoyed the way this was read. It was easy to comprehend. It was also a very interesting story and easy to follow

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Tragic, fascinating and a few questions

Cindy Hack Makepeace James. It’s the tragic adult life of a well respected nurse, administrator and friend. You do an excellent job of sharing this part of her life. I found the description of her stalking and torment to be heart wrenching. I don’t agree with your likely conclusion. I believe she was driven « crazy » by at least one, possibly more,highly skilled manipulator(s) who, for some unknown reason, wanted to control how she saw the world and how other people saw her. Her ex husband was an abusive husband who abandoned his first wife and young children for Cindy when she was barely old enough to vote. The early part of the relationship was rushed and he married her three days after his divorce. He went on to abuse the girlfriend he was cheating with. At least one possible manipulator was highly trained in sophisticated brain washing techniques and she may have been brainwashed to commit some of these acts on herself. What we're lacking is evidence on a motive although you do a good job of exploring that. While some sound outlandish, they are not impossible. We actually have plenty of evidence that she was, indeed, murdered. The likely connection to convicted sadistic master slave Dr James Tyhurst is far more important than you imply, in my opinion. The lost opportunities to take evidence at the crime scenes, like cigarette butts, show the tunnel vision of police. Those could have been valuable sources of information now with DNA analysis.. The gentleman that she began dating, is it Tom, how did he die? Were any investigations done on his cause of death given his relationship to Cindy? Her private investigator had some excellent points regarding the condition of her body but these seemed too easily cast aside. Lastly, i don’t believe for a minute that she would knowingly leave her beloved dog alone. Likely it will never be resolved and those who love her will never know for sure. Knowing what we do know about coercive control in relationships and the lengths to which some people will go to control their targets and the sophisticated and effective gaslighting techniques which are commonly used I feel that you missed the opportunity to shed some light on how this ligned up to possibly lead to the torture of a woman who simply wanted a peaceful and productive life.



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