Murder of Gordon Sanderson
After seeing his leg bobbing in their old septic tank, they alerted the Tofield Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachment.Before his death, Sanderson had been tortured: he had been beaten, tied up, burned with a small butane torch and cigarettes, and sexually mutilated with a sharp object.The weapon(s) used to mutilate Sanderson could not be conclusively determined due to the condition of the remains, although the medical examiner suspected the use of farm shears.In 1979, Sanderson's remains were flown out to Clyde Snow and Betty Pat Gatliff, forensic anthropologist and medical illustrator at the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma who had been creating 3D facial composites from skulls since 1967.Police had submitted DNA to Othram, Inc., a private laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas, and identified Sanderson in January 2021, after which the case became an active homicide investigation.On June 30, Alberta RCMP publicly identified Sam in a virtual press conference as Gordon Edwin Sanderson, a 26-year-old Indigenous man from Manitoba who was living in Edmonton at the time of his death.
ManitobaAlbertaseptic tankLindbrook, AlbertaTofieldIndigenousSixties Scoopfoster careLevi'sWallabeedecomposedRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceEdmontonCaucasiantorturedbutane torchsexually mutilatedquicklimeBetty Pat Gatliffmigrant workerunmarked graveClyde Snowforensic anthropologistmedical illustratorFederal Aviation AdministrationOklahomafacial compositessex crimeunfaithful in a relationshipX-raysgenetic genealogyOthram, Inc.The Woodlands, TexasList of unsolved murdersMurder of Shirley SoosayEdmonton JournalIndigenous peoples in CanadaSettler colonialismGradual Civilization ActNumbered TreatiesIndian ActGenocideResidential school systemgravesitesChanie WenjackForced sterilizationFirst Nations nutrition experimentsKimelman ReportHigh Arctic relocationStereotypesPass systemPotlatch banIndian agentsIndian hospitalsBirth alertsCriminal sentencingMass incarcerationFood insecurityBrian SinclairJoyce EchaquanLong-term DWAsMissing and Murdered Indigenous WomenHighway of TearsWinnipeg serial killingsImmaculate BasilTina FontainePamela HolopainenBarbara KentnerTammy Lamondin-GagnonSerena McKayHelen Betty OsborneJean Virginia SampareLoretta SaundersAmber TuccaroLisa Marie YoungPolice brutality and misconductGustafsen Lake standoffIpperwash CrisisInquiryDeath of Regis Korchinski-PaquetKilling of Chantel MooreSaskatoon freezing deathsNeil StonechildJudge David William RamsayAmINextHistory warsJustice for our Stolen Children CampMoose Hide campaignREDress ProjectRed Dress DayRed handprintSisters in SpiritWalking With Our SistersWomen's Memorial MarchTruth and Reconciliation CommissionHolidayNational Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and GirlsAn Act to amend the Criminal Code for trafficking of minorsProject E-PanaUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ActIndigenous land claimsSpecific claimsBritish Columbia Treaty ProcessYukon Land ClaimsLand BackLand protectionWater protectionBurnt Church CrisisCaledonia land disputeClayoquot protestsOka CrisisOld-growth logging protestsUnistʼotʼen CampPortrayals of the residential school systemFinding DawnFoster ChildMissing and MurderedThe Pass SystemPig GirlQuiet KillingRustic OracleSecret PathThis RiverThe Unnatural and Accidental WomenIndigenous rightsIndex of articles related to Indigenous Canadians