Blind River Rest Stop Murders
On June 28th, 1991 Gord and Jaqueline McAllister(from Lindsay, Ontario), who were married for 39 years were sleeping in their motor home at a rest area in Blind River, Ontario. Suddenly at around 1am a man knocked on their door claiming to be a police officer and told them that they had to move the vehicle. Jaqueline went to open the door and a man brandishing 2 guns said "First I am going to rob you, then I am going to kill you". At the time Gord McAllister didn't think that the man would shoot them. He took some rings as Jaqueline pleaded not to be killed the man shot her in the chest. Gord was able to jump from the motorhome and roll under it and hide.
While the man was getting ready to flee the scene a car pulled up driven by a 29 year old father named Brian Major. He was fatally shot by the gun man through the front windshield. The gunman then got into his van and drove off a van that was spotted speeding and driving erratically at the time out of the rest stop heading east. The witness who seen the van could not tell if it had American or Canadian plates. It was heading east towards Sudbury, Ontario.
Gordon who unknown at the time had also been shot in the back and ended up going to the road to get help. Jaqueline McAllister and Brian Majors were already dead at this time. Gordon was able to help make a police composite of the gunman.
Suspects: Pictured above on the left is the composite that Gordon McAllister gave to police of the gunman. The man on the right is the main suspect in this case and his name is Ronald Glenn West (Born 1947) a retired police officer from Toronto, Ontario. He lived in the Blind River area at the time of the murders. He is also accused of murdering 2 women in 1970. West is currently serving 2 life sentences for a bunch of robberies and the murders of the 2 women in 1970 as of 1999. He didn't admit to killing the 2 women until 2001. Although it is believed that West was the killer he has never been charged in the murders. While incarcerated West is kept in a private cell for personal safety. Due to the fact he is an ex-cop, sex slayer, and suspected of attacking seniors.
In 1970 West was convicted of killing 2 nurses in what police call sex slayings. They were Doreen Moorby 34 and Helen Ferguson 38. They were both from Toronto.
When Jaqueline McAllister and Brian Major were murdered West was living in Blind River with his second wife and 2 teenaged sons.
West also served 4 years of an 8 year prison term in 1995 for a string of robberies in the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario area.
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| The Van blue van seen speeding away. |
Victims:
Brian Major: 29 year old Brian Major was a father and resident of Elliot Lake, Ontario who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but then again so were the McAllisters.
Jaqueline McAllister: Jaqueline McAllister was 59 at the time of her death.
Gord McAllister: Later remarried Suzanne Willis. Gord McAllister was 62 at the time of the killings. He was shot in the back and survived. Sadly on February 14th, 2012 Gord passed away never knowing the truth about his wife's murder.
My Thoughts: I am certain it was Ronald West who committed the crimes. It makes the most amount of sense. He was also rumoured to own a blue van at the time of the murders and does fit the description well. It is too bad that Gord McAllister couldn't of had closure before he died. West should be in jail for the rest of his life which is a good thing.
Some References:
Guys, I'm going to put the truth out there. A truth that no one has ever considered or even mentioned on the internet. Gord McAllister paid a hitman to kill his wife. The witness was eliminated and of course you can't find the guy because his description is false as it was given by gord. It's the perfect cover.
ReplyDeleteNow before you freak out, allow me to explain. The couple were sleeping at a somewhat secluded rest stop. In the 80s everyone assumed rest stops were dangerous and filthy. It's not difficult to see this being an ideal setting for an "unsolved maniac murder-botched robbery" to occur.
Let's start bit by bit from the beginning. Gord says a man pretending to be a police officer knocked on his trailer until his wife answered the door. I'm not sure about you guys but even if I had lost my mind and decided to actually answer the door late at night in a rest stop it most assuredly would have been me and not my wife answering it. But who knows it could have happened. The killer comes in and says quote, "I'm here to rob you and then I'm going to kill you...". Now I'm not an expert murderer or Thief but if one were to to be a professional killer or Thief, you don't want to let the couple you're about to kill know you're going to kill them until you're actually done with the robbery. If it was simply a maniac, then the whole preface of saying this is a robbery would be ridiculous. This is even assuming that there are actually any Maniac killings out there. There are serial killers and there are spree killers, but the old 50 stereotype of some Maniac killing people is so rare as to be absurd. If he did happen to be some guy who flipped the switch then wouldn't he have just driven his van to a gas station or someone's house shortly after and blew them away too?
Still I suppose we can still assume the above happened with a straight face, but what can't be accepted is that a grown man with a shotgun in closed quarters, having just shot an elderly woman would allow an elderly man to turn into Jason Bourne and roll out of the trailer without shooting him and managed to duck under the trailer without him simply stepping off and shoot him in the face. The witness then became a very fortunate distraction for police as it gave some sliver of an excuse for how Gord would survive and Escape. Keep in mind his gunshot was very mild and the killer would have known an elderly man wouldn't be far away and having already eliminated one witness would have found it imperative to take an extra 10 seconds to get rid of gord before fleeing.
There are several other things I won't belabor you with but it is fairly clear through his reactions and later statements as well as him remarrying and coming into a bit of money that this was clearly a murder for hire set up to be unsolvable as well as provide Gord very convenient way of being above suspicion and for the hit man to never get caught. And hence 27 years later he still hasn't been caught because no one is looking for the right man and the one who masterminded it is now dead. Cvc
Never thought of it that way but you do bring up a good point. It is also ironic how he got married soon after her death also.Sadly I bet we will never know the truth. Great post and outlook on the case.
DeleteColonel either the man confided the truth to you before he died or you are the supposed hitman. I still feel Ronald West committed these murders and I will till I am disproven. The reason I feel that way is because he tried to kill my husband & I in a rest stop in Parry Sound in much the same fashion.just before he was arrested for the two nurses murders. It was a snowy night. The roads were horrendous. Highway 69 as it was known then was usually a bad road to travel in the winter. I was a fair weather driver terrified to drive on bad roads so my husband pulled over for a brief rest and soon fell asleep. I thank the good Lord to this day that he didn't pull right into a parking space. He just pulled in by the outhouses and parked and fell asleep. I didn't know why but I was uneasy. It was dark and there was only one other vehicle in the area, a large older model car. I can't remember the make now. It's many years on. I observed a male get out of the car come around to the trunk open it and remove a large object, He then went into a strand of trees and I lost sight of him. The next thing I knew he came from around the outhouses holding a large shotgun. I shook my husband to wake him and by the time he did wake up the man was standing beside the passenger side of our car. I'll never know but I think he wanted to have some "fun" with me before he killed me. My husband did a 360 and as I looked back he had the shotgun raised and I think probably ready to shoot. I can still remember his face and the look on it to this day. I was given a book of mug shots to look through but at that time he hadn't been arrested for the nurses murders. It was only after that arrest that I was able to identify him as the man I saw that night in the rest area. I came forward again when the Blind River murders happened and I was told at that time that while he was a suspect he didn't fit the composite. I think he saw the rv figured there was a younger couple in it, figured he could get the wife and when he found out she was an older woman he lost interest. Brian Major probably recognized him so he had to dispose of him. Elliot Lake isn't that far from Blind River as the crow flies. I could be wrong but I always go with my first thought and my first thought when I heard of the murders was my encounter with Ronald West.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that heartfelt telling of a horrible incident in your life. Of course we internet sleuths dont have the whole picture and are just trying to come up with theories from an entertainment point of view and a little genuine wanting to see justice done. I have looked into the Ronald west angle before my theory and found it lacking but certainly not impossible.
DeleteTo be honest, I am also unconvinced by retroactive identifications once a criminal has achieved some notoriety as it often leads to false or at best inaccurate identifications. Basically a witness gets to see a random slate of images for as long as needed. If a year later they see some criminal on tv it is a very delicate situation to then reopen the witness's memory to match it without error. It's how convictions of innocent people happen quite often. Again not saying this is you but we dont know each other and while your telling is compelling it is not directly involved in this incident.
Now if you will allow a defense of my theory, the most glaring problems are
1)why was an elderly witness not eliminated while a younger, more mobile witness eliminated when it would have been easy in close quarters to do so before and after the younger victim was killed. Why leave loose ends?
2)why would his wife be allowed to open the camper door in a scary rest stop era and then the only comment relayed to police is.. "I'm going to rob you and then I'm going to kill you"??? It kind of makes a robbery harder if you let your victims know they are going to die and if he's a maniac why even bother saying I'm going to rob you if his goal was sheer terror. They dont fit.
3) finally the older man both remarried and came into a good bit of money shortly after this murder. Of course we can't completely prove this but from an armchair sleuth's perspective is this not the easiest, most comprehensive way to both get rid of your wife and never fall under suspicion? Why has the killer never been found? Motive understood? The only witness left alive just happened to have most to gain?? It is not far fetched to at least consider a cunning plan made unsolvable by planning and an unfortunate random victim giving it credence.
Again we need more info from the older gentleman's friends, family, and acquaintances to even see if this was feasible but I don't think it's an unfair analysis.