The Seventh Shot: On the Trail of Canada’s .22-Calibre Killer

By (author): Ann Burke

The Seventh Shot is a recounting of two grisly Ontario murders some thirty years on, and the remarkable efforts of police detectives to unravel the senseless brutality of these crimes.

The author and one-time classmate of the killer, haunted by the grisly crimes and some demons of her own, sets about shedding light on the dogged determination of Ontario Police Detectives to bring a killer cop to justice, involving a little luck, and a whole lot of talent.

Drawing on faded archival copies, hours of interviews and first hand accounts, This one time journalist follows the life of Ronald Glen West, once referred to as’ The 22 Calibre Killer’, from birth to time spent on the range with the likes of Bernardo and Williams, with whom, among many other coincidences, he has more than crimes in common.

Besides the 1970 murders of two young mothers in the Oak Ridges Moraine, Burke addresses the yet unsolved Blind River killings at a roadside rest stop in 1991 for which West has long been suspected.

One cannot read The Seventh Shot without comparing the parallels of the Golden State Killer: both cops, long undetected and ultimately charged through the science of DNA. The Seventh Shot is my story of pursuing the remarkable apprehension of a perpetrator of two horrible crimes from a long cold case, a man whom I just happened to know. I think too that it is unique in revealing the remarkable number of parallels and links in the lives of many involved.

AUTHOR

Ann Burke

After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Navigational Operator/Radar Technician, Ann turned her interest to her greatest love, writing. Working largely in the social services sector as a counsellor in a Women and Children’s Shelter, co-ordinating a Homeless drop-in and directing a rural community centre, she free-lanced for newspapers, including The Toronto Star. Her most memorable years were spent working for The Walden Observer in Lively, Ontario and covering events for The Sudbury Star. She now lives in Innisfil with her husband.


Reviews

“Ann Burke takes us on a remarkably well-researched journey through a serial killer’s shadowy past, leaving us wondering how many other lives this long-overlooked Canadian monster has devoured.” Dr. Lee Mellor, criminologist and author of Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder

The Seventh Shot is an exhilarating road trip of true-crime horror through rural Ontario of the early 1970s. Ann Burke’s brisk pacing and heartfelt, evocative writing are propelled by years of meticulous research and interviews with key players in the mystery of the .22-Caliber Killer. Two at-home afternoons – shattered by murder – devastatingly set the scene for this cold-case page-turner. A must-read for Canadian true-crime enthusiasts!” Geordie Telfer, author of Hogtown Empire: The Disappearance of Ambrose Small

“With autobiographical components Ann Burke carries us into a known and yet foreign world – a world of stalking, abuse and horrendous acts, but involving people we know and the very environments we pass through every day. The Seventh Shot brings exceptionally detailed research into a fast-paced true crime mystery that touched many parts of Ontario, but can easily be imagined in any combination of rural environments. Take a second look at the photo in the yearbook and you are in for the ride.” Anita Arvast, author of Bloody Justice: The Truth behind the Massacre at Shedden and What Killed Jane Creba: Rap, Race and the Invention of a Gang War


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The Seventh Shot is a recounting of two grisly Ontario murders some thirty years on, and the remarkable efforts of police detectives to unravel the senseless brutality of these crimes.

The author and one-time classmate of the killer, haunted by the grisly crimes and some demons of her own, sets about shedding light on the dogged determination of Ontario Police Detectives to bring a killer cop to justice, involving a little luck, and a whole lot of talent.

Drawing on faded archival copies, hours of interviews and first hand accounts, This one time journalist follows the life of Ronald Glen West, once referred to as’ The 22 Calibre Killer’, from birth to time spent on the range with the likes of Bernardo and Williams, with whom, among many other coincidences, he has more than crimes in common.

Besides the 1970 murders of two young mothers in the Oak Ridges Moraine, Burke addresses the yet unsolved Blind River killings at a roadside rest stop in 1991 for which West has long been suspected.

One cannot read The Seventh Shot without comparing the parallels of the Golden State Killer: both cops, long undetected and ultimately charged through the science of DNA. The Seventh Shot is my story of pursuing the remarkable apprehension of a perpetrator of two horrible crimes from a long cold case, a man whom I just happened to know. I think too that it is unique in revealing the remarkable number of parallels and links in the lives of many involved.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

174 Pages
8.5in * 5.5in * 1in
1lb

Published:

October 22, 2020

Country of Publication:

CA

ISBN:

9781988989235

Book Subjects:

TRUE CRIME / Murder / Serial Killers

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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