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Evil in the Okanagan

Photography by Gary Moore

Evil came for Mindy Tran shortly after dinner on August 17th, 1994, when she vanished while out riding her bike near her home in Rutland, British Columbia, Canada.

We fast forward two months and we follow an ageing searcher, his trusty divining rod and a strand of hair from the missing girl, Rex Fitz-Gerald, a civilian co-coordinator, was able to lead investigators to a shallow grave solving a mystery that had confounded more than 400 searchers. Mindy Tran had been sexually assaulted and strangled discovered just blocks from her home.

The RMCP suspected Shannon Murrin, who lived near the Trans, from the start but the evidence was largely circumstantial. The trial was originally scheduled to begin in May 1998, but was postponed after DNA tests that linked Murrin to three hairs found in Mindy's underwear at the gravesite had been inconclusive.

The Crown suggested that Murrin had killed and sexually abused Mindy, stuffed her body into a suitcase and then buried her in a Kelowna Park. More than 80 witnesses testified at the trial that lasted nearly seven months.

The defense argued that Murrin was at a friend's house at the time Mindy Trans disappeared and that police had convinced a defense witness, Murrin's main alibi, to change his story and say Murrin was there more than an hour later. Murrin's lawyers accused the RCMP's lead investigator Sgt. Gary Tidsbury of trying to manufacture a case against their client, and of manipulating witnesses. Murrin had been badly beaten by three men who said the RCMP in a bid to get him to confess enlisted them. No one has yet been convicted of the crime.

Some questioned the quality of the police investigation after suspect Shannon Murrin was acquitted in January 2000 after a lengthy trial. Kelowna RCMP still consider Mindy's case an open investigation. Since the investigation into the Mindy Tran murder, a major case management model has been developed nationally to deal with any serious or complex investigations.
A photo of Mindy Tran sits on the floor of the Tran home for release to the media ...
A photo of Mindy Tran sits on the floor of the Tran home for release to the media ... Members of the RCMP mobilize themselves for a search of the area after eight-year-old Mindy Tran vanished
Members of the RCMP mobilize themselves for a search of the area after eight-year-old Mindy Tran vanished Lead RCMP investigator Sgt. Gary Tidsbury looks over maps just after the call goes out for the missing girl
Lead RCMP investigator Sgt. Gary Tidsbury looks over maps just after the call goes out for the missing girl As the hours pass, Mindy’s mother, father and a relative await word on the search for their missing daughter
As the hours pass, Mindy’s mother, father and a relative await word on the search for their missing daughter A neighbor comforts Mimi Tran, Mindy’s sister, as hundreds search into the night.
A neighbor comforts Mimi Tran, Mindy’s sister, as hundreds search into the night. A worried sick father outside his home as it gets later into the night.
A worried sick father outside his home as it gets later into the night. A searcher talks to Mr. Tran trying to assure the worried father.
A searcher talks to Mr. Tran trying to assure the worried father. Neighbors talk to Mrs. Tran as hundreds of police and civilians search for the 8 ...
Neighbors talk to Mrs. Tran as hundreds of police and civilians search for the 8 ... Rex Fitz Gerald,(right), a civilian co-ordinator, organises a group outside the Tran ...
Rex Fitz Gerald,(right), a civilian co-ordinator, organises a group outside the Tran ... Head of the RCMP and a Homicide detective break the news everyone had dreaded, they had found the body of Mindy Tran
Head of the RCMP and a Homicide detective break the news everyone had dreaded, they had found the body of Mindy Tran Two of the suspects accused of beating a confession out of Shannon Murrin.
Two of the suspects accused of beating a confession out of Shannon Murrin. Another player in the investigation whose lawyer accused the RCMP’s lead investigator Sgt
Another player in the investigation whose lawyer accused the RCMP’s lead investigator Sgt Shannon Murrin’s lawyer answers questions to the National media as the trial begins Aug 4th 1999.
Shannon Murrin’s lawyer answers questions to the National media as the trial begins Aug 4th 1999. Shannon Murrin is lead away in a police vehicle after being returned from Newfoundland
Shannon Murrin is lead away in a police vehicle after being returned from Newfoundland Family members break down over the casket as it is lowered into the cold ground at the Kelowna cemetery
Family members break down over the casket as it is lowered into the cold ground at the Kelowna cemetery A shrine decorated with flowers and toys marks Mindy’s final resting place in a Kelowna cemetery.
A shrine decorated with flowers and toys marks Mindy’s final resting place in a Kelowna cemetery.