Mad Trapper not Canadian, researcher finds
Lynne Bell, 778.782.7240; lynneb@sfu.ca (available from Friday May 22)
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.4323
A page of history is being rewritten in Canada’s far north based on scientific proof that the infamous Mad Trapper was not Canadian, but rather American or Scandinavian.
The research of Simon Fraser University forensic anthropologist Lynne Bell, one of a team of researchers, will be highlighted in a television documentary - The Hunt for the Mad Trapper, produced by Myth Merchant Films. The show airs on the Discovery Channel on May 21 at 8 p.m. (ET).
Albert Johnson, known as the Mad Trapper, shot and killed an RCMP officer in 1932 and set off an intensive, high profile six-week police chase through the Arctic. He was eventually tracked down and shot nine times before he died. No one knows why he was in the high Arctic or who he really was.
The film company recruited Bell, who had done similar isotopic testing to determine the origins of the crew of Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, to apply her expertise in forensic applications related to human identification.
Her tests on the remains of the legendary figure, which were exhumed from the cemetery in Aklavik, involved tracing the levels of two different oxygen isotopes found in water systems. Scientists use the oxygen isotope to build life histories of unidentified human remains.
“The water we drink leaves an inherent signature in tooth enamel, making it possible to determine where a person lived during their childhood while their teeth were developing,” says Bell.
Comparative studies were also performed by other research team members using DNA from individuals who believed they were related to Johnson – and whose own personal histories have now been reshaped.
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ANDREW VARADY
I FOUND THE ACCOUNT OF "THE MAD TRAPPER" VERY INTERESTING WHEN IT PLAYED THIS WEEK ON TV. I FIRST READ ABOUT HIM IN MY LATE TEENS (NOW 78). WHEN THE EVIDENCE SHOWED THAT HE HAD VERY EXPENSIVE AND GOOD DENTAL WORK DONE.
THIS GAVE ME PAUSE FOR THOUGHT. THE TIME WAS RIGHT IN THE DEPTHS OF "THE GREAT DEPRESSION" WHEN SO MANY LOST FORTUNES.
COULD HE HAVE BEEN A POOR FARM BOY WHO WENT OUT AND MADE HIS FORTUNE AND LOST IT ALL? SO MANY OTHERS COMMITTED SUICIDE OR WENT MAD.
TACK THIS ON TOP OF HIS ILLNESS AND PAIN ALL HIS LIFE YOU'VE GOT TICKING TIME BOMB.
HE MUST HAVE BEEN FAIRLY INTELLIGENT TO SET THAT LITTLE CABIN UP AS SUCH A STRONG FORT WITH THE WAY THE DEFENSES SET UP AS THEY WERE.
WHERE DID HE LEARN HIS WOODSMAN SHIP AND MARKSMANSHIP. HE HAD ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH IN HIS SHORT LIFE.
THANK YOU THE ANCIENT 1