[Intro]
Welcome listeners to another spine-chilling episode of Beyond the Unknown. Im your host Joli, and Im Quinn, and today, we’re diving deep into the sordid tale of a business partnership that went terribly wrong. Fourty-four year old Garry McGrath went missing on February 7, 2004, and in 2006 his remains were found deep in a hole on a property in Alberta. Who was Garry? how did his body end up in Alberta? And who put him there?
[Body]
Originally a fisherman from Conche Newfoundland, Garry McGrath, his wife and four children, moved to Alberta in the 1970s. Then, and perhaps still now, employment in Newfoundland was scarce, and when the fishing industry dried up, all hope was lost. Making a decent living to feed a family proved basically impossible. So like many others before him, and many after him, he made the Western trek to Alberta Canada in search of greener pastures. Alberta has a notorious history of drawing in people from all over Canada in search of employment with a prosperous economy thanks to the oil industry.
While in Alberta, McGrath befriended a man ten years his senior called George William Allen. Eventually, the two opened a truck shop together near Edmonton, Alberta. McGrath was clearly a motivated individual who wanted to provide for his family, so to further earn more cash on the side, he operated a firewood business. This firewood business however was housed on Allen’s property in Antler lake, just east of Edmonton. McGrath would pay rent to Allen in order to use part of the property for storage.
Despite a ten year long friendship, things started to turn sour between the two and tensions began to rise. Allen claimed that McGrath had not been owning up to his end of the bargain, in terms of rent payment, and owed him over $24000.
On February 7, 2004, the two planned to meet in the shop on Allen’s property to discuss the matter in person. Later that day, McGrath called his family to let them know he was on his way home….but he never showed up. The days following his disappearance involved a frantic search to discover his whereabouts, but there was absolutely no sign of him. Allen claimed he had not seen him since he left his place on the 7th. The search continued, his West and East coast families frantically searching for him.
Ten days later, his Dodge pickup truck was found abandoned in the West Edmonton Mall parking lot. The family had a strong suspicion that the business partner may have been involved in McGraths disappearance or at least have better idea of his whereabouts then he let on. The RCMP searched the property, including Allen’s shop and found nothing, no traces of blood and no traces of McGrath. The shop appeared quite clean and immaculate.
In the 24 months that followed, the family was starting to feel hopeless. They felt completely let down by law enforcement. In this instance, the case was being overseen by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detatchment. The family felt as though the RCMP was not making enough effort or giving this case adequate attention. McGrath’s family looking at every way humanly possible to track down their beloved son, husband, brother and father. They used any means necessary to try to find information on what happened that day, including contacting a psychic. Apparently the RCMP weren’t to thrilled with some of the actions of the family, including their attempts to contact Allen…. although confusing and beyond frustrating for the family….. it would later become very clear just why the RCMP wanted the family to just back off.
As it turns out, the RCMP were up to something.
It was not until October 2005 when McGrath’s body was finally found. It was found wrapped in plastic and buried deep in a hole drilled on a property near Edmonton in Antler Lake. And….surprise surprise….this is the property of business partner George WIlliam Allen.
So how did the RCMP do it? How did they finally figure it out?
Allen was secretly under surveillance by law enforcement for quite some time following McGrath’s disappearance. Undercover RCMP officers, posing as members of a well-known crime group involved in poaching and other illegal activities, somehow managed to gain Allen’s confidence over time. Then finally, while being recorded Allen confessed in graphic detail how he murdered his business partner Gary McGrath.
Allen described how he plotted and then committed the murder of McGrath. He describes how he did some research to find out what type of bleach would truly eliminate all traces of blood. He even did a little test using dog blood. He finally found a non-commercially available bleach to do the job. He also combed the city to find a good spot to dump McGrath’s Dodge truck. He thought about leaving it at the airport south of the city, but thought better of that due to the high surveillance and the high cab fare to get back home. He finally landed on leaving it in the West Edmonton Mall parking lot in an area that he determined did not have any security surveillance. He then negotiated a suitable cab fare to take him back to his business. He says he also cleared some snow from the property to create a snowpile to hide the body in knowing he would eventually move it into a hole he had dug 4-5 years earlier. He says the hole was actually dug as grave for his daughters boyfriend whom he had planned to kill, but when he decided not to kill the boyfriend, he covered the hole with plywood incase he needed the hole for the future. He then claims that he called McGrath over to his shop on his antler lake property to discuss the matter of the overdue rent balance of $24000. Allen states he instigated the attack against McGrath by headbutting him then elbowing him to the ground. He then caved in the back of his head using a lead filled hammer. He then carefully ducttaped the body in poly, and then placed the body in the snowbank. He then set to cleaning his shop. He dumped the truck according to plan. Then he later moved and buried the body in the hole.
Allen was arrested and charged with first degree murder of Garry McGrath. The trial was set for the fall of 2006.
Once in court, the story Allen told completely changed. Whilst Allan admitted to killing McGrath, he was now claiming that this was in self-defence. According to the new story, he and McGrath were discussing the dispute in the meat shop on his property on February 7th. He was not looking for rent payment but actually wanted McGrath to stop the firewood business altogether. Allen claims that McGrath arrived into his shop very angry and tried to attack him with a chainsaw. Allen says he was blinded by the oil coming from the chainsaw and he removed his jacket and threw it at the chainsaw which lead to jamming the chainsaw. He then attacked McGrath in self-defence using an aerosol can and a piece of lumber. Once McGrath seemed to stop fighting back, he cleaned the oil from his eyes and realized McGrath was on the floor. He then realized McGrath had died. He then panicked, thinking that no one would believe his story of self defence, as there were no witnesses. SO he then cleared the snow from his property to hide the body in a snowbank until he could figure eout what to do. He then ditched the truck at the mall. He then dug a hole on his property to hide the body more permanently. He also then later admitted the hole was already there, but for disposing of other rodents/pests on the property that he would occasionally shoot. The defence team stated that the only thing Allen was guilty of was poor decision making following the attack.
The crown however felt differently, and evidence showed that Allen’s actions were deliberate, intentional, planned and well thought out. The judge did advise the jury to take note of the smoothness and quickness of which Allen was able to conceal what he had done to determine if the death was in fact a surprise to Allen or as a result of planning. Such things would include using the right cleaning products, getting rid of the truck and concealing the body almost effortlessly and in sequence. To me, and likely the rest of the world, that smooth/quick action would not typically occur in an act that was NOT premeditated, you would be freaking out !!
After a month-long trial, and 130 exhibits, and dozens of witnesses, 12 jurors debated for 12 hours over two days. On December 22, 2006, they returned with a guilty verdict and Allen was charged with FIRST degree murder of Gary McGrath. He was then sentenced to life, which here is 25 years.
In an appeal submitted in 2010, the defence very much felt the judge spoke out of turn, and not according to lawful principles, and that the things he did following the event truly did fit with the “oops, I fucked up, but no one is going to believe me, so I need to hide this”.
In an undercover investigation, apparently, the RCMP/police will leave a suspect alone for a while or quietly surveil them, to make them think they aren’t pursuing the case. This makes them feel as though they potentially don’t have to watch their back, and in doing so, become more careless. The RCMP later apologized to the family for not being able to tell them more throughout the investigations, but I think it is clear that they had to do this in order to solve this murder.
In 2016, Allen, at 64 years old, applied for temporary escorted absenses from prison to visit family at home. HE was denied, the panel stating, that although he and I quote “has behaved well in prison and has completed some counselling, he has a past history of violence and needs to gain more insight into his addictions, family abuse issues and grief and loss issues.” He will be elligable for full parole October 5, 2030 at the age of 78 years old.
[Outro]
So there you have it, the tale of a business partnership gone seriously wrong. Would you do it, would you go into business with your best friend? Let us know!
[Transition Music]
Joli: Thank you for joining us for another episode of "Beyond the Unknown." If you have a story you’d like to share, please email us at moody.mediaprod@gmail.com. You can reach out on our website, and who knows, your story might be featured in our next episode.
Quinn: All of our sources for this episode can be found on our website: beyondtheunknownpod.com.
And don’t forget, if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review.
Joli: Until next time, listeners. Stay curious and remember that the unknown is always just beyond the shadows.
Both: BYEEEE
