The disappearance of 14-year-old Jule Ann Stanton in 1990 marked the beginning of a significant chance in Canadian policing. This case would launch Canada’s first multi-departmental task force.
On Monday, April 16th, 1990, Julie Ann Stanton disappeared from her home in Pickering, Ontario. Her neighbour, James Ascott, was the last person to see her before she went missing.
When her parents reported her missing, James told police that he saw her walking down the street in a dark bomber jacket, and jeans. He also stated that he saw her get into a grey car, a late-70s model Monte Carlo. While he didn’t get a good look at the driver, he was able to describe him as a white, scruffy looking male with shaggy hair.
This description shocked the Stanton family. They knew who James was talking about. James had seen Julie get into her best friend’s father’s car. But Peter Stark wasn’t talking. He denied ever seeing Julie that day. But the same couldn’t be said for what had occurred a year prior.
In the summer of 1989, Peter Stark invited Julie to meet him alone on his boat at the local marina. He wanted to talk to her about his daughter, Kim. He knew that Kim and Julie were best friends. He used his daughter as a lure.
Julie was young, vivacious, and trusting. She didn’t think Stark meant her any harm – she wanted to make sure Kim was alright. Stark offered her an alcoholic cooler, and Julie accepted. (It’s unclear whether or not Julie was aware that the beverage was alcoholic.)
Five hours later, Julie was unceremoniously dumped on a friend’s doorstep. She was incoherent. The top button of her pants was undone, and her clothing looked dishevelled. She was completely ‘out of it’.
Julie stated that she couldn’t remember anything after Stark had given her a ‘blue-coloured liquid’ to drink. When Stark was questioned, he denied any wrongdoing, or having done anything inappropriate. He admitted to giving Julie ‘just one drink’, but he said she had ‘had a reaction’ to it. So, he said, he put her in a cab and sent her home.
But to everyone else, it clearly appeared as though Julie had been drugged. However, by the time the police arrived to investigate, it was too late to determine whether or not this was so. But, Stark definitely had the opportunity.
He’d been prescribed halcyon in pill form. He said it was for his heart. But he also had it in liquid form. This, he could not explain. The symptoms of liquid halcyon include: “extreme drowsiness, dizziness, feeling of lightness, coordination problems, and larger doses can lead to extreme memory impairment and confused states” (Dark Poutine Podcast). Julie exhibited all of these symptoms.
There wasn’t enough to charge Stark with anything at the time, and the incident was all but forgotten. Until Julie went missing.
Suspicion immediately fell on Peter Stark. Everyone knew he was involved. But no one had any solid proof.
Desperate, distraught, and enraged, the Stantons refused to remain silent. They loudly proclaimed to anyone who would listen that Peter Stark had taken Julie. They even banged on his car windows, while he was inside, demanding to know where Julie was.
As days, weeks, and months wore on, the search for Julie kept coming up empty handed. And Peter Stark continued to deny his involvement in her disappearance.
In March of 1991, Detective Herb Curwain joined the Durham Homicide Unit. At the time, it was standard procedure for homicide detectives to be assigned an unsolved case. He was assigned the Julie Stanton missing person’s case.
As he reviewed the case file and began his investigation, Detective Curwain was made aware of one very troubling thing – his prime suspect, Peter Stark, had an extreme history of violence towards women.
In 1970, Nancy Nelson was hitchhiking when she was picked up. She was young (18), blonde, blue-eyed, and trusting. She looked exactly like Julie Stanton would 20 years later.
Peter Stark picked Nancy up, but he told her his name was Michael. They drove a while, and then he parked in a location Nancy wasn’t familiar with. When Stark attempted to assault Nancy, she fought back. He then proceeded to attack her with a knife.
Nancy managed to escape and get away from Stark. She was brought to hospital, where she suffered a slashed liver, a punctured lung, and a near-severing of her spine. She died three times on the operating table.
Nancy was too terrified to testify against Peter Stark in court. He was charged with the lesser offense of assault, and sentenced to six months.
Relaying the story to Detective Curwain 21 years later, it was clear that Nancy was still terrified of Peter Stark.
Digging deeper, Detective Curwain found another incident, in 1981.
On Tuesday, September 22nd, 1981, 31-year-old Maria Woods was reported missing by her colleague in Scarborough when she failed to arrive to work the day prior. Police discovered that she’d last been seen on Saturday, the 19th.
Her vehicle was found in the parking lot of the Scarborough Town Centre, but she was nowhere to be found.
Five years later, on Monday, November 10th, 1986, York Regional Police were called to the location of discovered human remains new the town of Newmarket. On the 27th, dental records identified the remains as those of Maria Woods. At the time, investigators could not determine a cause of death.
However, the did discover that Maria had a sketchy boyfriend at the time of her disappearance – Peter Stark. When questioned, he denied knowing what had happened to her.
With all of this information, Detective Curwain knew that Peter Stark was a predatory, and dangerous man. He also knew, without a doubt, that he was responsible for harming Nancy, Maria, and Julie, if not more that had gone unreported.
As Detective Curwain began his own investigation from scratch, he re-interviewed everyone in and around the case. James Ascott repeated his story, and the Stantons were vocal about Peter Stark’s involvement. But, Detective Curwain had a new witness he could interview.
Allison Stark was separated from her husband, Peter. At the time, spouses were not forthcoming with information, and could not be called to testify against each other. Seeing as she was separated from Peter Stark, Detective Curwain took his chances and spoke with Allison about Julie’s disappearance.
Allison stated that Stark had seemed strange after Julie went missing. He as more stressed out than normal, she said. He was afraid that he was being watched, listened to, and followed. He became extremely paranoid, and even began wetting the bed.
But that wasn’t all Allison had to say. She explained to Detective Curwain that Peter Stark liked to play a game. He called it The Hitchhiker Game.
Peter Stark would ask his wife to dress up as a hitchhiking teenager in a blonde wig, and pretend to be a stranger to him. He would pick her up, tell her his name was Michael, and then drive them a ways in order to engage in sexual activities. Allison hated this game. Stark needed to get violent during sex in order to become aroused. And Allison hated it.
Detective Curwain kept it to himself that this game sounded exactly like the attack on Nancy Nelson. But Allison wasn’t finished telling her story.
She said that on the day Julie went missing, Stark had been after Allison to play the game. She didn’t want to, and she went to work. When it was time to be picked up, Stark was late, and he was filthy.
He told her that the catalytic converter had fallen out of his car while he was on the highway. Later that night, when Allison noticed deep scratches on Stark’s back, shoulders, and arms, he said he’d gotten them by crawling under the car to fix the catalytic converter. He also threw away his clothes when they couldn’t be cleaned.
But here’s the thing – Peter Stark’s car, a 1979 grey Monte Carlo, didn’t have a catalytic converter. Stark had lied through his teeth.
Feeling brazen, Detective Curwain approached Julie’s best friend, Kim. Just to see if she had anything to say. What she told the detective didn’t necessarily stun him.
Kim said that her father had admitted to her that he’d picked Julie up in his car that day, and had given her a ride. But he swore to her that he would never hurt Julie – he and Julie were friends, after all. But that didn’t change the fact that he’d lied in the initial investigation when he told police he hadn’t seen her at all.
It didn’t slip the detective’s notice that Stark moved to Niagara Falls shortly after being questioned about Julie’s disappearance in the initial investigation.
On June 29th, 1991, a fisherman and his son made a call to police when the found something horrific while pulling in a line. They found a concrete block with a body part encased inside.
When police arrived on the scene, they pulled up more blocks, with more dismembered body parts. The victim appeared to be young, 13-15 years old, female, and blonde. Detective Curwain was sure he’d found Julie Stanton.
However, the dental records came back to Leslie Mahaffy, who’d disappeared from Burlington earlier that month. It was highly suspected that Peter Stark had murdered the young teenager.
Investigators found a hair from the suspected murderer in one of the concrete blocks. When tested, the results showed that it did not match Peter Stark.
Detective Curwain was flummoxed. He needed more resources. More manpower. He needed a lot of help.
Stay tuned for part two.
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Sources:
Man convicted in 1990 killing of Pickering teen dies in prison – Joshua Freeman – CP24.com
CBC – The Detectives – Season 1, Episode 2 – Project Hitchhiker
My Favorite Murder podcast – Episode 164 – Live at the Sony Centre in Toronto
Dark Poutine podcast – Episode 74 – The Julie Stanton Story