The Mind Reader and the Murderer: The Booher Farm Massacre

Published: Sept. 25, 2023, 7 a.m.

b"Episode 286: On July 9, 1928, the Alberta Provincial Police were alerted to a mass murder at the Booher farm in Mannville, Alberta. Upon arrival, they discovered the bodies of Rose Booher, her oldest son Fred, and two hired hands, Gabriel Grombey and Bill Rozak, all shot dead.\\xa0\\nThe younger son, Vernon Booher, was unharmed. He\\u2019d been out in the fields working that evening and, after hearing shots, ran back to the house to his mother and brother dead. It was he who\\u2019d sounded the alarm.\\nTwo Booher daughters were in town during the incident. The father of the family, Henry, also away during the killings, was devastated.\\xa0\\nVernon displayed little emotion and soon became the number one suspect in the slayings. He denied involvement, and the murder weapon, a rifle, was missing. Dr. Adolph Maximilian Langsner, an Austrian criminologist and psychiatrist who claimed he could read brainwaves, was brought in to assist. He claimed he read Vernon\\u2019s mind, and confirmed he was the killer. Langsner also directed police to the missing firearm, claiming he\\u2019d drawn a map taken from Vernon\\u2019s thoughts. Presented with the formerly missing rifle, Vernon confessed, stating he killed his mother over her disapproval of his girlfriend and then eliminated witnesses. But his confession was disallowed. Why? His defence attorneys claimed Dr. Langsner had coerced him into it through hypnotism.\\nSources:\\n1928 CanLII 342 (AB KB) | Rex v. Booher | CanLII\\n2007 SCC 6 (CanLII) | R. v. Trochym | CanLII\\n2009 CanLII 40558 (ON SC) | R. v. Trochym | CanLII\\nHypnotism and its Legal Import\\nTimes Colonist 19 Jul 1928, page 10\\nEdmonton Journal 24 Jul 1928, page 1\\nLangsner on the Stand: The Vancouver Sun 26 Sep 1928, page 1\\nEdmonton Journal 29 Apr 1996, page 1\\nEdmonton Journal 29 Apr 1996, page 7\\nHypnotically Enhanced Testimony in Criminal Proceedings\\nBook: Strange Days: Amazing Stories From Canada's Wildest Decade by Ted Ferguson\\nBook: The Big Book of Canadian Hauntings by John Robert Colombo\\nBook: Murder: Twelve True Stories of Homicide in Canada by Edward Butts\\nDetective Maximilian Langsner and the Murderer's Mind Part 1\\nDetective Maximilian Langsner and the Murderer's Mind Part 2\\nAfter 17 years, Stephen Trochym admits slaying\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"