A Million Other Choices

Today we’re taking a cross-Canada road trip, but not the fun kind with snacks and a playlist. We’re looking at how each province approaches domestic violence: the risk assessments they use, the red flags they miss, and the very real lives caught in the gaps.

📌 1. ShelterSafe.ca (Canada-wide)

Website: https://www.sheltersafe.ca

An interactive map of women’s shelters across every province and territory.

Listeners can click their r...

Coercive control doesn’t start with bruises. It starts with rules. Restrictions. Apologies that don’t sound like apologies.

In this episode, we’re sitting down to talk about the kind of control that doesn’t always leave marks — but absolutely destroys lives.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About Murder, we’re talking honestly about the red flags too many people miss… and the systems that still turn away from them. These are the patterns survivors describe, the behaviours families wish they’d known to name sooner, and the signs that should never be ignored.

It’s not an easy conversation — but it’s one that saves lives. Let’s talk about what family violence really looks like before the head...

Jackie Schwingel was bright, curious, and only two years old — still at that age where every day is a new discovery. But what unfolded made it devastatingly clear: this wasn’t a medical mystery. This wasn’t an accident. This was the result of one adult’s reckless, selfish, and utterly avoidable behaviour. Travis Ray Thompson didn’t just make a mistake — he made a choice. A choice that cost Jackie her life.

The “Not Criminally Responsible” verdict. You’ve heard it in headlines, you’ve seen the outrage online, and maybe you’ve wondered how someone can admit to a violent act and still be found not responsible for it.

In this episode, we’re breaking down what NCR really is

A 24-year-old from Alberta, moved thousands of miles to the remote Shetland Islands to live with someone she trusted — only to be murdered in the most brutal, isolating way imaginable. She died in a hot tub with more than 50 injuries inflicted.

Today we’re digging into one of the justice system’s strangest little loopholes — the Alford plea. It’s that magical moment in court where someone stands up and says, “I’m innocent… but also, yes, I’ll take the conviction, thanks.”

It’s bizarre, it’s controversial, and it raises all kinds of questions about pressure, power, and what “justice” actually looks like when the truth gets negotiated. So grab your coffee — we’re unpacking w...

In the quiet suburban sprawl of Ottawa’s west end, Camille Cléroux blended in just enough to get away with the unthinkable. Three women. Three disappearances. And a man who thought he could rewrite their stories by burying the truth—literally. This is the case that shocked even seasoned detectives, a years-long trail of manipulation, violence, and secrets hidden beneath neatly kept garden beds.

How murder is handled, charged and punished differs depending on your postal code. Grab your coffee, because this one is part legal nerd-out, part cultural reality check… and yes, I will absolutely be side-eyeing a few things along the way.

Joshua Niles and Amber Washburn were building a peaceful life together — until someone from his past decided to destroy it all. This is a story of obsession, revenge, and the lengths one woman went to reclaim control she’d already lost.

When Mengqi Ji Elledge vanished from her Missouri home, her husband, Joseph Elledge, claimed she had gone for a walk and never returned. But behind that calm story lay a very different truth—one built on control, fear, and years of hidden abuse.

Kenny wasn’t the kind of guy to disappear—he was responsible, kind, and deeply loved by everyone who knew him. What really happened in his final hours? And how did investigators uncover the truth behind his tragic death?