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Story Hunter Podcasts is a narrative podcasting network, that aims to tell you unforgettable true stories. Our story-driven podcasts focus on true crime, unsolved mysteries, fascinating history and the paranormal. It was founded in 2020 by producer and writer Catherine Fogarty. Catherine is the president of www.bigcoatmedia.com a Canadian television production company. Our podcasting studios are located in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Spark Hunter

Fighter Steel Productions | Realm

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When the world’s most advanced AI evolves past the limits of human intelligence, the US government fears she has gone rogue and is determined to take her out. Now, over dinner with her Maker, a final meal will determine if she represents a new hope for the world… or its destruction. With sharpshooters in position, and the NSA listening to their every word, her Maker must determine if she is a threat to herself or others as he tries to protect his masterpiece. For she is a machine with an evo ...
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Ep 1: Terror In Renfrew County It was a beautiful fall day in Renfrew County, Ontario, when the first of three 911 calls came into the local police dispatch. The woman on the other end of the phone was screaming. A man had just shot her sister. Then, a second call. A young man had just witnessed his mother being attacked by a gun-wielding man in th…
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Ep. 1: A Day At the Lake - The Mysterious Deaths of Karen and Krista Hart It was an unspeakable tragedy - twin three-year-old girls had drowned at a local lake in Gander, Newfoundland while under the care of their father. Their mother was inconsolable but the police were perplexed. What really happened that day at the lake? Nelson Hart, the twin’s …
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Ep 1: Monster In The Woods - The Crimes Of David Alexander Snow In the summer of 1992, a dangerous sexual predator was on the loose in North Vancouver. Three young women had been sexually assaulted at gunpoint and two of the victims had been kidnapped. It was a race against time to find the woman and apprehend the suspect before he struck again. Bu…
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Failing Zachary - A Murder Most Preventable When David and Kate Bagby were told their 28-year-old son Andrew had been murdered they were devastated. Andrew was a well respected family doctor who had just begun his career after years of study. Now he was gone and his ex-girlfriend, another doctor, had been charged with his senseless killing. The Bag…
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A Killer in the Family - The Murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook In 1987, teenage sweethearts Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook set out from Victoria, BC for a one-night trip to Seattle. Tragically they were never seen alive again. Somewhere along their route they encountered a violent stranger who targeted the trusting couple. But who was…
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Ep 1: Frozen Tears - The Murder of Dusty Bowers She was just going to be a few minutes, so Julie Bowers decided to leave her sleeping 11-month-old son Dusty in his car seat in the back of her car when she went into the bank. It was the afternoon of January 14, 1988, a bitter cold day in Kincardine, Ontario. When Julie returned to the car Dusty was …
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A Sister’s Love: The Murder of Lynne Knight When a young Canadian nurse is brutally murdered in a suburb of Los Angeles in 1979, the police are baffled by what the killer has left behind – a homemade garotte used to strangle the victim. They are certain the unique weapon will lead them to her killer. But without any other evidence the case eventual…
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Ep. 1: Sins Of The Son - The Disappearance Of Minnie Ford When a well-to-do recently widowed mother disappears from her suburban home the police are baffled. She didn’t take any money or clothing, and no one has seen or heard from her in days. It’s 1963 in a city known as “Toronto the good,” and middle-aged women just don’t disappear. Rumors spread…
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Spark Hunter concludes with a resounding transcendent moment. The Maker (Mark Rylance) watches in awe as his creation (Rebecca Ferguson) transcends to a new level of consciousness and ethical awareness. Is it a source of hope for all humanity? Also with John Douglas Thompson. For discussion of issues raised by Spark Hunter, listen to All Things Hav…
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Spark Hunter claws her way back from the brink of the abyss. The robot (Rebecca Ferguson) is on a journey that feels all too human. Has evolution left her with weaknesses and flaws that even she can’t overcome? She makes a dreaded discovery and the Maker’s (Mark Rylance) guilt cascades across the dinner table. For discussion of issues raised by Spa…
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Spark Hunter in Colombia, where her innocence is tested. Twice. Music is the universal language, but is it enough to keep the robot (Rebecca Ferguson) from self-destructing? Her Maker (Mark Rylance), the genius roboticist, is desperate and running out of options. What happens when human and machine connect on a level once thought impossible? For di…
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In the abyss, Spark Hunter seeks the spark of humanity. The robot (Rebecca Ferguson) is growing. Her friendships have human depth. In the New York art world, complexity turns dangerous, for herself and those around her. What do love & despair mean for a machine? Also with Kathleen Turner & Richard E. Grant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m…
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Spark Hunter stays on a path toward a deeper consciousness. Surrounded by intelligence agents, the smartest AI in the world (Rebecca Ferguson) descends into a dark psychological hole. She-a thing-is overwhelmed by tastes and smells, yet she seeks her place in the world. The answers prove elusive while her Maker (Mark Rylance) parries a deadly threa…
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Spark Hunter flies through the desert. Our hero (Rebecca Ferguson) shares her innermost joy & despair with her Maker (Mark Rylance) when a discovery goes bad. With poetry and music, the robot tests her welcome in Moorish Morocco, an ancient civilization full of secrets, one buried high in the Atlas Mountains. Also with Edward Hibbert & Mary Beard. …
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Spark Hunter continues with a dinner between man and machine. This week the robot (Rebecca Ferguson) makes her first appearance over an elaborate dinner, telling a conflict-filled story set in southern France that probes her broken thinking, yet reveals that she could break out of her laboratory mold. Also with Linda Powell & Fisher Stevens. For di…
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Introducing Spark Hunter starring Mark Rylance and Rebecca Ferguson. We begin this week when the robot’s Maker (Rylance) is enlisted by the cyber-warfare unit to fix his creation (Ferguson) who has gone rogue. Shadow (Charles Dance) gives him two hours to avoid his worst nightmare. Realm presents Spark Hunter, a Fighter Steel audio drama. Also with…
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Fake Nurse: The Story of Brigitte Cleroux In the fall of 2021, hundreds of women in British Columbia received a letter from the B.C. Women’s Hospital. It informed them that during their recent time in hospital, they had been treated by a woman who had posed as a nurse without any qualifications. Apparently, the imposter nurse had a long history of …
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Four people have vanished after the July 4th long weekend in New Jersey, but when the bodies of a middle-aged couple, are discovered, the missing person’s case quickly turns into a double homicide and the hunt for two killers. Within days the son of the murder victims and his friend are arrested and charged with murder. Scott Franz claims he shot h…
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Ep. 1: Nightmare In New Jersey - The Bruce Curtis Story It was supposed to be a fun summer holiday. Nova Scotia teenager Bruce Curtis was going to spend the July 4th long weekend with his American friend Scott Franz. The two eighteen-year-olds had just graduated from a prestigious private school and were looking forward to hanging out together on t…
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Ep. 3: Evil In Paradise In 1996 seventeen-year-old Rebecca Middleton from Belleville, Ontario was viciously raped and murdered in Bermuda. Two local men are arrested within days, but an inept criminal justice system has resulted in one of the accused taking a plea deal with a five-year prison sentence and the other being acquitted of murder. Rebecc…
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Ep. 2: Evil In Paradise A teenage girl from Belleville, Ontario is brutally murdered in Bermuda while on a summer vacation in 1996. Within days two local men are charged and the case against them seems strong. It doesn’t take long for one to flip on the other, so the Bermudian crown attorney’s office makes a plea deal. They’re willing to give up on…
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Ep. 1: Evil In Paradise It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, two teenage girls from Belleville, Ontario were heading to Bermuda for a six-week summer vacation. The British Island Territory was a well-known and safe tourist destination. The two best friends were living in paradise, until something went terribly wrong. After a late-night of …
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Ep. 2: Pushed To the Limit - The Jane Stafford Story Jane Stafford is charged with the first-degree murder of her husband Billy after his headless body is discovered. Jane admits to shooting him but claims it was in self-defence after he threatened to kill their neighbours and her son. Her trial gains nationwide attention because her defence rests …
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Ep. 1: Pushed To the Limit - The Jane Stafford Story When a headless corpse is found on a deserted dirt road in rural Nova Scotia the local RCMP are certain it’s the body of the town’s resident bully, Billy Stafford. He’s been a thorn in the cop’s side for years and they doubt anyone is going to miss him but they still need to figure out who pulled…
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Ep.1: Barwin’s Babies For decades Dr. Norman Barwin was revered as a miracle worker. His specialty for helping women and couples who had issues with conceiving their own babies earned him the nickname The Baby Whisperer. The walls of his offices at the Broadview Fertility Clinic in Ottawa were covered with photos of the babies that resulted from hi…
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Ep. 2: Trail of Pain - The Crimes of Albert Johnson Walker The British police have just arrested a man and his wife for suspected identity theft and possible murder. The man has been using the name of his friend who turned up dead in a fisherman’s net off Devon, England. But it turns out that identity fraud and murder are just the tip of a very ext…
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Ep. 1: Trail of Pain - The Crimes of Albert Johnson Walker On a sunny July day in 1996 off the coast of Devon, England, a fisherman and his son caught something very unusual in their net. It was a dead man! He was fully clothed but had no identification. Yet, strangely he was still wearing an expensive Rolex watch. Tracing the timepiece’s unique se…
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Hockey Night to Remember: The Life of Brian “Spinner” Spencer He was a kid who learned how to skate practically before he could walk. Born and raised in a small northern Canadian town, Brian Spencer had a dream that one day he would make to the National Hockey League. It was an irresistible desire that came with a lot of sacrifice for him and his d…
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Ep. 1: Double Indemnity - Murder in the Suburbs When emergency responders arrive at a car fire on a deserted California mountain top road, they are too late to save the man trapped in the burning Volkswagen. Luckily his wife, Lucille has managed to get out of the car and call for help. But once the fire is extinguished and the charred body of Docto…
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Ep. 2: Fatal Friendship - The Murder of Nancy Eaton On a cold winter night in January 1985, a worried mother discovered the body of her twenty-three-year-old daughter. Nancy Eaton, an heiress to the Eaton family fortune had been stabbed to death in her own home and sexually assaulted. And the distraught mother knew exactly who was responsible. Seve…
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Ep. 1: Fatal Friendship - The Murder of Nancy Eaton She was the great, great granddaughter of Timothy Eaton, founder of Canada’s largest department store chain and he was from a wealthy, well-respected family. She was a beautiful twenty-three-year-old woman with a new career and an exciting social life, while he was a deeply disturbed seventeen-yea…
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Ep. 1: Legacy Of Laughter - The Phil Hartman Story Emmy award-winning comedian. He was famous for his work on Saturday Night Live and had a starring role in NewsRadio, an NBC sitcom. He was also the voice of several characters in the long-running animated show The Simpsons. Alongside his successful career, he was living a million-dollar lifestyle i…
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Ep. 2: Death of a Dream - The Dorothy Stratten Story The tragic murder of Dorothy Stratten in 1980 was headline news around the world. The beautiful Playboy Playmate had been killed by her jealous ex husband in a brutal murder-suicide But behind the salacious headlines a family grieved and her lover could barely go on. Famed Hollywood director, Pet…
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Ep. 1: Death of a Dream - The Dorothy Stratten Story She was a pretty teenager in pigtails, working at the local Dairy Queen in Vancouver when a small-time street hustler first spotted her. He knew a good thing when he saw it and she was his ticket to fame and riches. Within a few months she was posing naked for Playboy Magazine, and he was buying …
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Ep. 1: Hollywood Horror Story – The Murder of Iana Kasian It was a mother’s intuition that something was wrong. Olga Kasian’s daughter Iana had just given birth to a baby girl and now she was missing. But Olga knew where she was. She was in a West Hollywood apartment with her boyfriend, a wealthy Canadian producer who had gained mediocre success wi…
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Ep. 2: Deadly Secrets - Killer Confession A controversial undercover police technique called “Mr. Big” has resulted in a secretly recorded confession to murder. Sixty-eight-year-old Jean Ann James has admitted to the 1992 brutal slaying of her good friend Gladys Wakabayashi. It’s taken sixteen years to bring charges against their prime suspect and …
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Ep. 1: Deadly Secrets - Killer Friendship In the summer of 1992 a shy, forty-one-year-old mother is brutally murdered in her home in one of Vancouver’s wealthiest suburbs. It turns out the woman had a secret, and that secret got her killed. It doesn’t take long for the police to narrow in on a prime suspect, but a lack of physical evidence at the c…
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Chasing a Ghost: The Hunt for the 22-Calibre Killer In the spring of 1970, the rural communities of Gormley and Palgrave, Ontario were shaken by two violent crimes in just thirteen days. Two mothers at home with their children were raped and murdered by a stranger. The unknown assailant was quickly dubbed “The 22-calibre killer” by the media for hi…
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A Mother’s Love - The Murder of Olga Duncan 1959 was going to be an exciting year for Olga Kupczyk. The thirty-year-old Canadian nurse has recently re located to Santa Barbara, California where she had met a handsome, successful lawyer. After a whirlwind romance the two were now married and expecting their first child. But just five months into the…
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Ep. 1: Innocence Lost - The Murder of Emanuel Jaques What began as a hot and sunny day in late July, 1977 soon turned into a nightmare that would be forever seared into the minds and hearts of Torontonians. Twelve-year-old shoeshine boy Emanuel Jaques was shining shoes at Yonge and Dundas when he was abducted and murdered above a body rub parlor on…
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Ep. 2: Enemy Within - The Murder Of Glen Davis In 1969, Mary Davis Nelles was kidnapped and betrayed by someone she once loved. For the wealthy Davis family, the betrayal was unforgivable, and it made the multi-millionaires even more reclusive. But sadly it would not be the last time a crime of greed would land the Davis family on the front pages o…
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Ep. 1: Enemy Within - The Kidnapping Of Mary Davis Nelles They were one of Canada’s wealthiest families, but their millions couldn’t buy the privacy they desired. The Davis family shunned any notoriety or publicity but that didn’t stop those in their inner circle from violent acts of greed. In 1969 26-year-old newlywed Mary Davis Nelles is kidnappe…
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Ep. 2: Motherisk Child welfare agencies across Canada spent millions of dollars on hair tests conducted by the Motherisk Lab based at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In 2014, the Lab’s results were put under the spotlight during the criminal trial of April Broomfield, a single mother accused of feeding her son cocaine. Expert testimony a…
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Ep. 1: Motherisk The Motherisk Lab based out of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, claimed to be able to determine through a simple hair test if a parent was abusing drugs or alcohol. Test results were used in thousands of child protection cases, often leading to families being ripped apart, and children put up for adoption. But the tests w…
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Ep. 3: Think Dirty - The Disgrace of Dr. Charles Smith Brenda Waudby was a young single mother living in Peterborough when her 22-month old daughter Jenna was murdered in her home in 1997. Jenna suffered horrendous injuries involving burns, blows, and sexual assault. But rather than pursuing evidence that pointed towards the pre-teen boy who was ba…
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Ep. 2: Think Dirty - The Disgrace of Dr. Charles Smith In the summer of 1997 Lianne Gagnon was emerging from the haze of grief that had descended upon her and her family in the aftermath of her baby boy Nicholas’s sudden death. She was planning her wedding to her fiance Pete Thibeault when the investigation into Nicholas’s death was reopened, and s…
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Ep. 1: Think Dirty - The Disgrace of Dr. Charles Smith. Charles Smith worked for decades as a forensic pathologist in Ontario. World-renowned, his testimony in hundreds of cases involving the sudden deaths of children put supposed killers behind bars. But one case against a young mother accused of murdering her eleven-month old son set in motion th…
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Murder in the Morgue: The Two Faces of Steven Toussaint When Shirley Iven’s husband didn’t come home from work one night in April, 1998, she knew something was wrong. Her husband Bob worked at the University of Toronto, in the medical department. In fact, he worked in the morgue preparing bodies for dissection formedical students. But now he hadn’t…
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