Canadian Killers Series: The Roadside Stalker - Part 2

Updated: Sep 18

During the 1960s in London, Ontario, young women began vanishing from the side of the road, disappearing without a trace, only to reappear later when their bodies were discarded around the region.

In last week’s episode, we told you about four victims:

20-year-old Georgia Jackson
16-year-old Jacqueline Dunleavy
19-year-old Lynda White
15-year-old Jacqueline "Jackie" English

In the Roadside Stalker - Part 2, we explore some of the more bizarre details of Jackie English’s case, and then delve into the unsolved murders of three more women whose deaths all share so many commonalities we have to wonder- was there just one man stalking the roads looking for women who were alone and vulnerable... a man who has yet to be caught?

The victims:

Betty Harrison, of London

Betty Harrison, a patron at The Metropolitan the night Jackie English disappeared, claimed to have seen the waitress upset while talking to a man during her shift shortly before she vanished. Betty provided police with a sketch of the man, which was published in the local papers with her name and address. She then began receiving threatening phone calls, before she was attacked and stabbed in her vehicle one Winter evening.

The Supects:

Glen Fryer, known by police as 'The Porn Man,' was the Principal of the Children’s Psychiatric Research Institute in London who had already garnered the attention of investigators for his alleged run-ins with young children around town. Fryer was brought to the attention of Betty by a colleague who was alarmed by his odd behavior and felt he was mentally disturbed. Fryer was eventually charged and tried for the attack on Betty, but after his wife testified that he was with her during the time of the stabbing, he was acquitted. Multiple pieces of circumstantial evidence pointed to Fryer for the attack on Betty and potentially the murders of other young women.

Soroya O’Connell, 15, of London

Soraya O'Connell | Courtesy: FindAGrave.com

Soraya O'Connell left the Fanshawe Youth Centre in northeast London on foot on August 14, 1970. When her mother arrived to pick her up from the facility, Soraya was nowhere to be found. Her body was found four years later on May 26, 1974, south of Stratford.

Suzanne Deborah Miller, 26, of London

Suzanne Deborah Miller | London Free Press

Suzanne Deborah Miller was a hard-working mother of three young children. She worked as a waitress at The Metropolitan, the same restaurant Jackie English had worked at the night she was killed five years earlier.

On September 15, 1974, Suzanne seemingly vanished after leaving her London apartment. Eight days later her car was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Argyle Mall. The car didn’t show any signs of foul play. Nearly a month later, her body was found in a forested area in the town of Thorndale. The pathologist determined that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head. The autopsy didn’t uncover any signs of sexual assault and the evidence suggested that she had been killed elsewhere, then brought to the forest in an attempt to conceal the crime.

The Suspect:

A strange, unrecognized man appeared at Suzanne's funeral and signed the ledger as 'a friend.'

Police later released a sketch of him in an effort to bring him in for an interview.

Donna Jean Awcock, 17, of London

Donna Awcock | Courtesy: CBC News via Tammy Dennett

It was the night of October 12, 1983, when 17-year-old Donna Jean Awcock babysat her neighbor's children. The neighbor returned home late but asked Donna to run across the street to purchase a pack of cigarettes and bring them back to the apartment before she went home. Donna never returned and was never seen alive again. Her body was soon found halfway down an embankment leading to a man-made lake.

There are so many patterns, and so many questions left unanswered. Were most or all of these women killed by one man? Who is responsible for the deaths of these girls and how many men are still walking free or died without ever allowing the truth to be discovered?

This is the sixth episode in our Canadian Killers series, which is now exploring a rash of unsolved homicides that occurred during the period when multiple serial killers were active. Perhaps, through your sleuthing, you can help to solve some of these crimes and bring resolution to the victims' families.

If you have any information on these crimes, please visit https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org.

Sources:

Canadian Killers Series: The Roadside Stalker - Part 2

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