Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
Among the most heinous criminal cases in Canada are the murders of the Bentley and Johnson families in the picturesque Wells Gray Park. In August 1982, three generations of one family vanished without trace whilst on a camping trip in British Columbia. It all began as an ordinary holiday in Wells Gray Provincial Park, a 5,000 km² natural paradise featuring 39 impressive waterfalls, majestic mountain ranges and over 200 kilometres of hiking trails. Yet what started as a harmonious family holiday turned into an unprecedented crime that shocked the Canadian public. Wells Gray Park attracts crowds of people, both locals and tourists, who enjoy hiking, fishing or canoeing in the summer and hit the ski slopes in the winter. The park is accessible from three points: Murtle Lake in the west, and Mahood Lake and Clearwater in the south. This is where the road ends, and adventure-seekers can venture further into the wilderness on foot. Despite its beauty, the terrain harbours dangers that sadly proved fatal for the Bentley-Johnson family. On 2 August 1982, 66-year-old George Bentley and his 59-year-old wife Edith set off on their holiday adventure together with their 41-year-old daughter Jackie, their 44-year-old son-in-law Bob Johnson and their granddaughters, 13-year-old Janet and 11-year-old Karen. Whilst the Bentleys were travelling in a 1981 Ford Camper Special, the Johnsons were in their family car. They parked their vehicles in a secluded spot near the Bear Creek prison grounds, where abandoned cabins still stood from the time when it served as a rehabilitation centre. But whilst they were pitching their tents and enjoying life in the great outdoors, someone was sneaking through the woods and watching their activities with malicious intent, without the group of six having the slightest inkling. The families had planned to return from their two-week holiday on 16 August. When Bob failed to turn up for work at Gorman Brother’s Lumber, his concerned colleagues alerted the police. After all, Bob had never before missed a single day of work without giving notice. At that time, searching for missing persons proved difficult, as there were no mobile phones or GPS trackers to pinpoint their location. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP for short, immediately launched a search. Numerous witness interviews led to a number of theories. Some claimed to have seen two unkempt French-Canadian men, which is why the investigators followed a false lead for months. It was not until 13 September 1982 that a mushroom picker discovered a burnt-out vehicle on Battle Mountain Road. He alerted the police, who made a gruesome discovery: the charred remains of the two families. Post-mortems revealed that all four adults had been murdered by gunshots to the head. The two girls were found dead in the boot. A year after their disappearance, on 18 October 1983, two forestry workers finally found the Bentleys’ camper van on Trophy Mountain, near the crime scene. Investigators suspected that the perpetrator was not an outsider, as only a local could find their way so easily through the labyrinth of forest tracks. This new lead and the subsequent questioning of local residents directed suspicion towards a local resident, 24-year-old David William Shearing. He had been questioned previously, but it was only now that earlier statements came to light which revealed his involvement: for instance, he had detailed information about the vehicle used in the crime before it was discovered. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested on six counts of second-degree murder. David Shearing, the son of a prison guard, was no stranger to the criminal underworld and already had a history of minor offences. Furthermore, he was due to appear in court on a separate charge of possession of stolen goods. During the investigation, it also emerged that he had been involved in a fatal accident which he had never reported. David’s friend, Ross Coburn, confirmed to the authorities that in 1980 he had been the passenger in a car driven by David Shearing when they ran over a drunk man lying in the middle of the road. However, neither of them reported the incident at the time. David Shearing pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree murder and, in April 1984, was sentenced to six concurrent life sentences, with the option of parole after 25 years. This was the first time in Canadian history that a defendant had been sentenced to the maximum 25-year term for second-degree murder before becoming eligible for parole. It was also the most expensive investigation in Canadian history. Although he claimed in court that his motives were purely financial, his true motivation later came to light, as he had been targeting Janet and her sister Karen from the very beginning. David had been watching the group of six since their arrival and had been following them for days. On 10 August, he waited until dusk fell. As the four adults sat round the campfire, he crept up on them and killed them with a shot to the back of the head. He then hid their bodies in the back seat of the car before going into the tent where Janet and Karen were. He claimed that a dangerous motorbike gang was on the move in the wilderness, which was why their parents and grandparents had set off to fetch help. He was supposed to take the two girls to them. The girls unsuspectingly followed David into the woods, where he tortured them both and repeatedly raped them over the course of a week in various locations. On 16 August, he first killed Karen with a shot to the head. After a day and repeated sexual abuse, he then shot Janet, placing their bodies in the boot. He subsequently set the car alight to destroy all evidence. Since his conviction, Shearing – who subsequently took his mother’s maiden name, Ennis – has made several unsuccessful applications for parole. Despite legal provisions that would have allowed him to be released on parole, any prospect of his release remains highly controversial due to the brutality and scale of his crimes. His latest application, made in 2021, was once again rejected. The murders of the Bentley-Johnson family remain a dark chapter in Canadian history, serving as both a memorial and a poignant example of investigative work and the pursuit of justice. Wells Gray Park is therefore known today not only for its natural beauty, but also for having been the scene of one of the nation’s most harrowing crimes. This horrific crime starkly illustrates how, without any apparent warning, a harmless outdoor adventure could end in utter brutality.
