[narrator] A magnanimous neighbor...
-Thanks so much. -...can be the pillar of a community.
Just helped my neighbor fix his septic tank.
I always quite liked him.
-You're an angel. -My name is Gabriel.
[narrator] But when that pillar's sordid professional
-and personal affairs are exposed... -Hi, gentlemen.
He made a living smuggling drugs across the border.
There was two sides to him.
[narrator] ...his retribution will rip that community apart.
This was the largest cluster-[bleep]
in Canadian policing history.
[Anne] That's when I knew. "You're a serial killer.
-I'm in danger." -He's gonna kill me!
Move!
You psycho!
He had a hair-trigger temper.
It left many of us traumatized.
-[screaming] -He was always out there, hunting.
[yelling] I'll stuff you like an animal!
[gun firing]
[theme music playing]
-[person grunts, groans] -[man 1] I know what you did.
-[distorted gunshot] -[faint scream]
-[woman] Get out of my neighborhood! -[man 2] Stay away
from my wife!
Get on the ground, now!
-[woman gasps, screams] -[distorted gunshot]
[narrator] The town of Portapique, Nova Scotia
overlooks Canada's Bay of Fundy,
and the world's most dramatic ocean tides.
Fifty-three vertical feet, between high tide and low tide,
moves through the bay twice a day.
There's something in the air there.
It's almost mystical.
[Cyndi] The beach drove me, and was always welcoming.
These quiet little villages are all connected.
Homey.
[car door shuts]
[narrator] Portapique attracts nature lovers, beachgoers,
and those seeking a simpler life,
like schoolteacher, Lisa McCully,
who's looking to buy a home.
Lisa McCully had gone through a divorce.
She had two children.
It seemed like an idyllic property.
[narrator] The price is more than she can afford.
But a Good Samaritan is about to intervene.
-Oh! -[man chuckles]
-You scared me. -Can I help you?
Sorry. I was snooping.
This is my uncle's property.
That's my place across the way.
-Gabe Wortman. -Oh. Lisa McCully. Nice to meet you.
Gabriel Wortman opened a denture clinic
in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, that is quite prominent.
[narrator] Gabriel takes pride in helping his patients achieve
their best smile.
Here at the Atlantic Denture Clinic,
we invite you to come and smile with confidence.
But when Gabriel Wortman wasn't working as a denturist,
he spent a lot of his time on his rural property in Portapique, Nova Scotia.
[narrator] Gabe has amassed a portfolio of properties in the township,
including a million-dollar cottage on the beach.
I'm hoping I can buy the place,
but... I'm in a bit of a cash crunch, so...
Tell you a secret.
You can knock 30 grand off the price, and he'll take it.
You're an angel.
My name is Gabriel.
-[chuckles] -Gabriel Wortman assisted Lisa McCully
in purchasing the property for lower than market value.
[narrator] With Gabe's help,
Lisa moves onto Orchard Beach Drive,
and a home by the sea,
perfect for her nature-loving children.
[Anne] She got a divorce and bought that house with the settlement.
[Cyndi] She always had the kids with her.
To me, she was a nice person.
[narrator] Once settled, Lisa hopes to run into her neighbor again.
[Adam] Lisa McCully's home
was directly across from the, uh, warehouse
where Wortman spent a lot of time.
It was a really nice building.
The warehouse was the party place for Wortman.
They used to have social visits.
[narrator] First, she's introduced to another Portapique local.
-Hi. -Hi.
-I'm Lisa. -[softly] Hi.
-Is Gabe in? -Nope. He's helping a neighbor.
-Are you his wife? -[chuckles] No, no.
Like, his housekeeper, but... No, we're friends, too.
-Hello. I'm Cyndi. -[chuckles]
Gabe was my best friend.
He was good to talk to.
He wasn't judgmental.
-Nice to meet you. [chuckles] -Yeah.
I actually need a plumber, and he said he'd help.
Ah, that sounds like Gabe. Yeah.
-[vehicle approaching] -Ah, speak of the devil.
-Here comes "The Mayor" now. -"Mayor"?
Yeah.
I just called him "The Mayor," right?
If I needed something, I'd go to "The Mayor."
-That would be Gabe. -[engine stops]
-Ladies, what can I do for you? -[Lisa chuckles softly]
[Lisa] You mentioned you knew a good plumber.
You're looking at him. I just helped my neighbor fix his septic tank.
-Let me take a look. -[Lisa] Okay. Thank you.
[Paul] He always had this, sort of, side
of his personality,
where he was helpful to people.
[narrator] But sometimes, one neighbor's helper
is another neighbor's nightmare.
-[gun firing] -I will take you out!
[screaming]
-[men conversing indistinctly] -[narrator] The next day,
-Lisa seeks Gabe out to thank him... -Yeah, Okay.
-Yeah, yeah, I can do that. -...for his help.
-[Lisa] Hey, guys! -I can do that.
[Gabriel] Water heater okay?
[groaning] Oh, just great. Thank you.
-You're handy. -Nah...
This guy is handy.
Meet Rob, my carpenter.
-Hi, I'm Lisa. -Hey, Lisa.
Rob, the carpenter, was working
as a handyman,
helping Wortman do all sorts of work in his property.
You got a visitor.
[Gabriel] Thanks so much. Have a great day.
[Lisa chuckles]
I always quite liked Gabriel.
He was very kind.
[Anne] Gabriel had a presence.
He had a smile that could light up a room.
Very flirtatious.
Say, you want to come to a party?
I invited Rob, too.
Sure, why not?
Bring your swimsuit. There's a hot tub.
[Jordan] Given how helpful Gabriel Wortman was to Lisa McCully,
and, uh, given his position in society,
I could see Lisa McCully seeing him
as an eligible bachelor.
[narrator] Portapique may be small,
-but the community loves to socialize. - [indistinct chatting]
The parties are often attended...
- [inaudible conversation] -...by police
-and military. -Hi, gentlemen, martini?
-Oh, thanks, Brenda! -Here you go. Oh, cheers!
Hey, who's your new friend?
My neighbor, Lisa.
-Mmm. -She's great!
[Brenda chuckles] You're welcome.
[narrator] Gabe has his own understanding of what's socially acceptable.
[Jordan] Wortman decided to enter the hot tub with his...
private parts on full display.
He was described as being, uh, very well-endowed.
-[narrator] And he's fixated on Lisa. - [chuckles]
You know, Lisa, you're incredibly attractive.
[chuckles nervously] Hey, easy, tiger.
Oh, come on. I'm just having some fun.
[Rob] Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy.
I think she, uh... I think she needs some breathing room,
-okay? -[Gabriel chuckles]
[Rob] All right?
[annoyed] Hey, man. She likes me!
[Rob] Yeah, I know, I know.
But still...
-[sighs in exasperation] -I'm just saying. Come on.
[scoffs softly]
[Jordan] Rob, the carpenter, claims that Gabriel was coming on...
very strongly, and he asked Gabriel
to cool down, take it easy.
[narrator] Lisa now sees a new side of her neighbor.
Gabe can be crude and controlling.
Gabriel would try to seduce her,
and she would reject him over and over again.
At the same time, since her divorce,
Lisa is lonely.
And money problems are a constant concern.
Her situation gets worse when tragedy strikes her family.
I heard the bad news.
I'm so sorry.
[Paul] When Lisa McCully's brother died,
Wortman was there for her.
Also...
I was out of line at that party.
It won't happen again.
Promise.
[Paul] He'd be a shoulder to cry on.
He'd be there giving advice.
[narrator] That night, one thing leads to another.
Lisa McCully and Wortman had
a relationship.
[narrator] And Gabe soon offers Lisa deliverance from her money troubles.
Hey. You said you were "in a cash crunch"?
If you'd like,
I could buy your property.
You could live here rent-free.
[Paul] Lisa McCully would fall right into that.
[chuckling] Thank you. I mean, that's an incredible offer.
That this is a guy who's there to be your friend.
"He has money. He takes care of me."
[no audio]
[narrator] Lisa and Gabe's relationship seems promising.
Howdy, neighbor.
- [narrator] But at one of his parties... -[Lisa] Hi.
...that promise is broken.
-[softly] Hi. -[chuckles softly]
Do I know you?
-[Lisa scoffs] -This is a private party.
[chuckling] Um... It's Gabe's party.
Who are you?
I'm his wife.
[Jordan] Lisa Banfield was his long-term common-law partner,
but she spent a lot of time
back in Dartmouth, running the denture clinic,
while he was alone in Portapique.
Lisa McCully is now realizing that Gabriel Wortman has a lot more baggage
than she expected.
[owl hoots]
[narrator] According to Lisa McCully,
she gets an unexpected visitor later that night.
[knocking loudly]
Keep your filthy hands off of my husband!
Lisa Banfield's not an idiot.
That relationship from the very beginning,
between Lisa Banfield and Lisa McCully, was chilly.
Whoa. Back off.
I didn't even know he was married.
Don't think I don't know what's going on,
'cause I know exactly what's going on.
"If you want to [bleep] with me, go for it.
But I bite back."
Banfield knew that McCully and Wortman
were having some sort of relationship.
And she was trying to put the kibosh on it.
[narrator] Lisa McCully can't stop wondering
what kind of marriage Lisa Banfield has with Gabriel Wortman.
You never really know a person.
You never really know all of the aspects.
[Paul] Even though they're together for 19 years,
it's not clear
what the glue is that holds them together.
Banfield is not really part of Wortman's everyday life
in Portapique, where he spends most of his time.
[narrator] The truth is, despite having a common-law wife,
Gabe Wortman views Portapique
as his private sexual playground.
Some of the darker things that seemed to be going on
in Gabriel Wortman's life
was, again, due to his interest in the opposite sex,
that seemed to be well beyond what would be appropriate and reasonable.
[narrator] And when his spouse complains,
sometimes he punishes her.
[frantically] Help! Help me!
-[woman] Lisa? -Help me! He's gonna kill me!
-[Adam] Lisa Banfield went to a neighbor... -What's wrong?
...after she had been abused by Wortman.
Gabe is gonna kill me. [sniffles, breathes heavily]
Please. Come inside.
-I know a shelter we can call. -[panting, whimpering]
-No. -No--
-No, no, no, no, no! -No. No! They'll protect you.
-You'll be safe there. -No, Gabe will come and kill me.
-You don't know him! -Please! Lisa!
I'm calling the police.
The neighbor called the police,
and, uh, reported it.
You realize that you're the third officer telling me you can't do anything?
Doesn't seem like they were really acted upon.
[narrator] And more information
about how dangerous Gabriel really is reveals itself.
Gabriel Wortman has a stash
of illegal guns, okay?
And his wife could get killed!
[Adam] The fact that Wortman had guns was known,
like, one of the next-door neighbors saw the guns...
and told the police so.
[narrator] Later that weekend,
Lisa Banfield returns to her home in Dartmouth,
-safe, for now. - [engine starts]
However, the neighbor she ran to is anything but.
[yelling] Don't you ever call the cops on me!
You scared me.
I will take you out!
You're gone, you frigging bitch!
He was not above threatening people.
I'll stuff you like an animal!
[narrator] Gabe's reputation as a Good Samaritan is unraveling fast.
Gabriel Wortman seemed to take great care
to maintain the facade of an innocent, helpful, rich man.
[Paul] But, it was a thin veneer of civility, because beneath that,
he was very domineering, uh, controlling.
[narrator] Many of Gabe's nefarious activities
take place under the cover of darkness,
especially those concealing the extent of his sexual depravity.
He tried to sleep with every single female
of sexual age that was in that area.
Wortman took an interest in everyone, every woman.
It didn't matter what their age was, what they looked like.
He was always out there, hunting.
[narrator] This includes those who work for him,
like his housekeeper, Cyndi Starratt.
[Cyndi] He was self-proclaimed sex addict.
He confessed that to me.
Cyndi worked for Gabriel as a cleaner and doing unskilled labor.
But they also had a sexual relationship.
We knew what we were doing.
We were going hardcore sex, and that's what it was about.
There was no romance or lovey-doveys or anything like that.
-[loud rock music playing over speakers] -[narrator] Late one night,
two young women enter the warehouse,
invited to party with its esteemed proprietor.
Yeah, it looks like Gabe made this pitcher of martinis for us.
-[narrator] Anne Rogers and her friend... -Sounds good.
...find themselves in Gabriel's playland.
[bartender] Oh...
Just so you know, Gabe's probably gonna want a threesome. So...
[loud rock music playing continuously over speakers]
[narrator] As the women survey their surroundings,
Anne can't believe what she sees.
[Anne] There is a fully-marked...
RCMP car.
As far as I knew, this is a real RCMP car.
I was like, "What is going on?"
[narrator] The RCMP, or Mounties,
serve as the local police force in Portapique.
[Anne] I've been in police cars before,
and it looked like it was down to the T.
[Gabriel] You like?
[nervous chuckle]
I did the work myself.
What are you, a... cop?
Or a... biker?
Bit of both.
What's the car for?
I'm saving it for the apocalypse.
[Anne] He's like, "Oh, see, it's, it's...
It's the end of the world." And little did we know,
in a few months,
what is coming.
Let me pour you a drink.
[Anne] As the night progressed,
he's feeding us alcohol this whole time.
[Gabriel chuckles]
Cheers.
-Mmm! -[Anne] My friend became...
just obliviously drunk
to the point of not functioning.
And he seemed to be focused on me.
What's that for?
He's, like, a friend.
I stuffed him myself.
He was trained originally as an embalmer.
[Paul] Wortman cultivated this persona
of being this dark, dangerous guy.
He worked at a funeral home
back in the mid to late '90s.
He was familiar with working with the dead.
[Anne] In that moment, I felt like a fly
under a glass microscope, just the way
he was, like, looking at me.
Restroom, please?
Like a cat playing with a mouse.
Follow me.
[button clicks]
[Paul] He had false walls here and there,
little places to hide.
[Anne] He just had all these strange sex toys.
[narrator] Anne realizes she is cornered
in a secret den of twisted perversion.
[Anne] I knew, like, "I'm in danger."
What's going on?
I'm having very... dirty thoughts.
[narrator] The frightened guest suddenly has
a dark premonition.
[Anne] I thought somebody could be chained there for weeks,
just sitting on the toilet, chained there.
The way that room was all cement...
[screaming, cries]
...you could sit there and you could scream,
and nobody would ever hear you.
[shrieking]
[Anne] I looked in his eyes, and there was nothing,
just darkness.
That's when I knew. I was like, "You're a serial killer."
[anxiously] I have to pee.
[narrator] Lisa McCully is left wondering,
exactly what kind of man is her neighbor?
On the surface, if you walked into Gabriel Wortman's denture clinic...
We invite you to come
and smile with confidence.
...he came across as soft-spoken, quiet, friendly.
But I think people, who got closer to him,
saw that there was two sides to his personality.
It's very clearly
a Dr. Wortman/Mr. Hyde-type situation.
I would say Portapique is Twin Peaks' Nova Scotia's version.
The relationships between the people
are always surprising,
and there's always two versions,
the one that's on the surface,
and the one that only their close friends know.
[narrator] Gabriel Wortman's erratic behavior...
I'll stuff you like an animal!
-...has the community of Portapique on edge. - [woman screaming]
He made a lot of people around him nervous.
[narrator] Lisa McCully is moving on
-from her affair with Gabe Wortman... - [speaks indistinctly]
-[chuckles] -...and hoping to find someone new.
Howdy!
Could you folks use some firewood?
Heck, yeah. Thank you.
[narrator] She soon meets Leon Joudrey.
[Leon] Great!
[Peter] Leon had an extremely good work ethic.
And when he wasn't working at Natural Resources...
-I'm great. -...he was working privately
on his own, and he was... He was an expert hunter,
fisherman, woodsman.
[narrator] Lisa finds herself instantly attracted to the handsome local.
Okay. [continues indistinctly]
Leon Joudrey was interested in meeting someone.
I'm not surprised at all that he would meet Lisa McCully,
and the two would be drawn to each other.
[no audio]
[narrator] Gabriel Wortman quickly zeroes in on Lisa's latest romantic interest.
Howdy.
I see you've met my neighbor, Lisa.
Gabe Wortman.
Oh. Yeah. Leon.
Hey, Leon. You want a free flat of rum?
I snuck it across the border.
From the moment Leon Joudrey met Gabriel Wortman,
he had a bad feeling about him.
Wortman saying, "I smuggle things across the border.
I can get you what you want."
That made him nervous.
Uh... I'm... I'm okay. Thanks.
Mmm. Suit yourself.
-Say, how are things going with Lisa? -She's nice.
You know, early days, one step at a time.
She's a great woman.
[menacingly] A really... great woman.
Wortman was very possessive.
Everything he wanted was his.
He likely saw himself as the owner of Lisa McCully.
Let me know if she's made a decision about selling me her property.
I'm here to help.
[Jordan] Leon saw
through Gabriel's thin veil
of nice, friendly guy.
He saw him for who he was, from the beginning.
[narrator] Lisa and Leon are aware
that their neighbor still has his eyes on Lisa,
her property, and more.
[Jordan] He seemed to have intentions
of buying up as many properties
as he could out there.
[chainsaw whirring]
[narrator] One day, Leon witnesses Gabe approach
the home of Portapique resident, Aaron Tuck.
Aaron. Hey.
My neighbor, Cyndi, tells me you're thinking about selling your old cottage.
Yeah, I'd be open to an offer.
I'm sure it would be okay to let this place go
for, I don't know...
50, 60 grand?
Hmm...
The Tucks were considering selling their property.
They had plans to sell it and move to Cape Breton.
How about 18 grand?
How about you get off my property?
[Paul] After, uh,
Wortman made this rather aggressive offer of $18,000,
it was quite clear that Wortman had no respect for Tuck.
Now!
Aaron...
the shack is a teardown.
Take the money.
I said, "Move!"
The only person moving... is you.
[Paul] He could instill fear in you...
by what he said,
and by getting right in your face.
You can just smell his breath and see into his soul.
Look, we don't have to settle this right now.
I'll drop by later.
We don't have to settle this, ever!
You psycho!
[Paul] Wortman, in his bravado,
wanted to be the king.
But some of the men weren't afraid of him,
and that would piss him off.
[Jordan] Aaron Tuck, he doesn't look
like someone that Gabriel Wortman could physically push around.
[narrator] But that night, an intruder...
-makes a mess of Aaron's lawn. -[engine whirring]
-[engine revving] -[yelling] What...
[continuous revving]
[yelling] Stop it!
Aaron Tuck had issues
with somebody operating an ATV on his property,
this sort of intimidation.
[narrator] It turns out the stranger ruining the Tucks' property,
-is affiliated with Gabe Wortman. -[engine revs]
[yelling] Get out of here!
Aaron Tuck was almost coming to blows
with one of Wortman's lackeys.
[narrator] Confrontation is averted when Gabe pulls up
in his replica police cruiser.
Hey. Sorry about the ATV.
He's a friend of mine...
in the Hells Angels.
You can't drive an RCMP vehicle. That's illegal.
Don't you worry.
They're friends of mine, too.
They call me "The Mayor."
[narrator] "The Mayor's" message is clear.
"I'm bulletproof, and the police are going to do nothing to me."
And that certainly was his reputation.
Crazy behavior, racing around the community
with impunity.
[narrator] Yet, few know just how deep Gabriel's ties to both the law,
and outlaws, run.
He liked to flaunt the fact that he had police relationships,
but he also had criminal relationships
with a lot of outlaw bikers.
Wortman fit in perfectly because he was a criminal at heart.
[motorbike engine whirring] Throughout his life,
Wortman had underworld connections.
He made a living through university smuggling cigarettes
and drugs across the border.
And literally turned that into a business
that he continued all his life.
It seems like a fair amount of his wealth came from that.
[narrator] It's suspected that Gabriel Wortman's cross-border operation
is what connected him to biker gangs in the first place.
Wortman's association with organized crime goes way back
with biker clubs, where he provided motorcycle parts for them,
uh, suspected of providing guns
that he smuggled across the border.
[narrator] Law enforcement also recognizes how malevolent he can be.
The provincial bureau that fights organized crime even issued a police bulletin,
warning that Gabriel Wortman is dangerous.
Wortman had been reported for threatening
to kill a police officer,
assaulting his common-law wife.
But every time,
he was pretty well given a pass.
He always got away with things, and always got a soft ride from the police.
I was told that Gabe played both sides.
Informant and criminal.
Good guy, bad guy.
[Paul] So, he's the perfect double agent.
However, the government
and police deny that Wortman was an informant.
[narrator] But Gabe engages in some activities
that indicate his relationship with law enforcement
is more involved than they will admit.
[Paul] There are strange things going on,
which suggests that Wortman had a special relationship
of some kind with the police.
Because there's no other way to explain some of the things that happened.
[narrator] This includes him making cash withdrawals
from an unusual location.
[Paul] People just don't go to Brink's to get money.
But it is something that happens
with RCMP informants, police informants.
[Jordan] That would become a pivotal part of the theory
that Gabriel Wortman was working as a confidential informant,
that this money was some sort of payment from the RCMP
for his work as a confidential informant.
[narrator] Even with his ties to authorities,
the denturist still seeks
to keep some of his dealings discreet.
[Jordan] Gabriel Wortman is up to something
that he doesn't want people to see.
He doesn't want law enforcement to be knocking on the door.
[narrator] And he has means of achieving that secrecy.
[Jordan] Gabriel was maintaining a network of trails
that seemed to stretch from his property
to different locations such as the waterfront or back roads,
for the purpose of smuggling in illegal weapons.
-Great. Just in time. -Yeah.
I want to use the forest trail to get these to my cottage.
Why not just... put them in your truck
and take them on the road? It'd be a lot easier.
What do you think?
[lid clicks]
[lid creaks]
[Rob] Jesus.
[gun cocking]
This guy... is scary.
Like, be on guard with this guy.
Gotta keep these babies away from prying eyes.
[Anne] I knew something very dark
-was going on... -[machine gun firing]
...and something very bad was going to happen,
and nobody was prepared for this.
[distorted gunfire]
[machine gun firing]
Gabriel Wortman was dangerous,
and he had prohibited weapons.
And they failed to take action on it.
Wortman fit the profile
of someone who has a special relationship
with police or government authorities.
[narrator] And not just the police.
Where'd you get it?
Uh, from my guy in Maine.
[Rob] Holy crap!
What are these for?
You don't want to know.
That's the way he behaved.
He saw himself as superior,
and everyone else was beneath him.
[narrator] Feeling untouchable,
Gabe Wortman treats the neighborhood like his personal kingdom,
which still includes Lisa McCully and her home.
-Oh. Hey, Gabe. -I was just wondering
if you had thought about my offer to buy your property.
[narrator] He is relentless in his bid to buy Lisa's house
and add it to his empire.
Wortman had long coveted that property.
And one of his tactics was to help people buy something,
and then take over the deed.
Many people had lost their properties to Wortman
because of his "helpfulness."
-Um... -[narrator] But Lisa is more concerned
with distancing herself from her former lover.
I'm getting more serious about Leon.
He's not a fan of yours.
When she went with Leon Joudrey,
that would be an affront to him,
and he would take that badly.
Understood.
-Goodbye, Lisa. -[Paul] That would cause a lot of heat.
And I don't think Lisa McCully had
any idea how hot it could possibly get.
[narrator] And while relationships crumble
in the small town of Portapique,
the entire outside world grinds to a halt.
To slow the spread of COVID-19,
both Canada and the United States will temporarily restrict
all non-essential travel across the Canada-US border.
[Jordan] When COVID happened,
everything changed.
They've shut the border!
I don't know how Gabe would have coped with the COVID.
Losing money would probably be an issue.
The damn border is closed!
[yelling] What am I gonna do now?
Gabriel couldn't go into the United States.
He all but had the rug pulled out from underneath him.
[narrator] Adding more fuel to the fire,
Gabriel's wife moves full-time to Portapique
to isolate with him,
bringing his adulterous sex life to a screeching end.
The denture clinic closed down.
Lisa Banfield would be with him full-time.
He wouldn't be able to...
keep the sex lifestyle.
He needed to have time away from Lisa Banfield
and the ability to bring people close to him.
COVID prevented that from happening as well.
[narrator] Then, one day,
Gabe watches a news report
that, many believe, sent him off the deep end.
There was a significant drug bust
-in New Brunswick. - [siren wails]
[Paul] Various Hells Angels had been arrested
in very dramatic busts.
[Jordan] A confidential informant was the linchpin that allowed
this significant drug bust in New Brunswick to occur.
Gabriel Wortman could have been involved in this
as a confidential informant.
If the biker suspected he was the guy who appointed the police to them,
in Wortman's mind, that would have made his life worthless.
He was a dead man walking.
It was time to cash out.
I want to make a withdrawal.
All of it.
[narrator] That afternoon, he enters a Brink's company outlet.
[Jordan] What Gabriel Wortman does there, is he receives
just under a half a million dollars in cash
before walking out of the building.
[Adam] It seemed initially that
that probably was evidence of, uh,
an undercover operation, and payment by the police.
He went in with, uh, you know, a piece of paper, and he came out
with the money in a bag.
And off you go.
[owl hooting]
[narrator] That night, Gabe asked Lisa Banfield
to help him hide all his money.
He had $705,000 in cash
at his cottage.
That cash was hidden in fireproof bags.
[narrator] Yet, for all the effort,
it's money he will never spend,
as darker plans now possess him.
I don't understand. Why are we doing this?
It's over.
What's over?
Everything.
[narrator] He makes good on that apocalyptic message.
[narrator reading]
No one knows what's going through Gabriel Wortman's head this night.
[Adam] Maybe he resented
the police for having put him in that position,
and lashed out.
He didn't expect to be around much longer.
[narrator] One thing is certain,
Gabriel Wortman will be cementing
an infamous place in Canadian history.
[gunshots]
Nobody knew that it was going to go that far off the rails,
that he was going to go that crazy.
[narrator] At 10:00 p.m., on April 18th,
Gabriel Wortman leaves his warehouse
after setting it on fire.
He went from home to home in his neighborhood,
presenting himself as a cop.
[narrator] He drives to the home of neighbors, Greg and Jamie Blair,
and their two young children.
Gabriel Wortman approached the home of the Blairs.
-[distorted gunshots] -[thudding]
Greg came outside where Gabriel shot him.
[narrator] Jamie Blair calls 911.
[inaudible]
She made it clear that it was her neighbor,
Gabriel Wortman, dressed as a cop,
driving an RCMP car,
that shot her husband.
[narrator] Greg Blair lies dead in front of his home.
[distorted gunshots]
Gabriel Wortman killed Jamie Blair.
[narrator] Thankfully, the shooter doesn't discover
where the Blair's two boys are hiding.
[Jordan] Her children call 911,
and the children also recount that he was dressed as a cop,
but he's not a cop,
he's their neighbor, Gabriel.
And that he's driving a cop car.
[narrator] Hearing the commotion outside, Lisa McCully investigates.
She heard a dispute
and told her two children to stay inside.
Gabe. What's going on?
[distorted gunshots]
[narrator] Lisa dies from her wounds.
Fortunately, Gabriel does not pursue her children.
Instead, he heads to the home
of his romantic rival, Leon Joudrey.
[engine accelerating]
Gabriel hated him the most.
[narrator] But Leon has gone to bed early,
making the house appear vacant.
Gabriel moves on.
His next destination is the home of Aaron Tuck...
I said, "Move"!
...who is there with his partner, Jolene,
and their daughter, Emily.
He approached the Tuck home.
[knocking on door]
What do you want?
Just this.
[distorted gunshots]
The killing in the Tuck home happened fast...
[gun firing]
-[thudding] -...and violently.
[gunshots]
The three members of the family...
were found almost on top of each other.
[gun fires]
He was shooting people...
-[flame hisses] -...and lighting their homes on fire,
one after another.
Many of the victims had their guard down.
Their last moments were likely when they were realizing that this wasn't a cop.
[narrator] Gabriel Wortman murders 13 people
in Portapique that night,
and sets 16 houses on fire.
He may have been just trying to create a chaotic situation
in order to distract
the police from trying to figure out exactly where he was.
[narrator] The denturist is not only murdering his immediate neighbors.
-He extends his killing spree to the larger community. - [gun fires]
[siren blaring]
Somehow, police fail to capture him.
They knew that this guy had committed multiple murders,
that he was driving a police car.
There was a massive failure in communication.
[narrator] Authorities only notify the public
with a post on Twitter.
[Adam] The RCMP sent out a tweet
that night that there was a firearms complaint
in Portapique, and...
just, sort of, left it at that.
Using Twitter to notify the public,
demonstrates gross negligence and mass incompetence.
There's no other word for it.
It's gross negligence, overwhelming incompetence.
[narrator] In the early hours of April 19th...
-[whimpering, knocks on door] -...Leon Joudrey is awakened
-by a panicked Lisa Banfield... - [knocking on door]
...banging on his door.
-[Leon] Oh, no. What's wrong? -[whimpering]
Help me, please! [breathing raggedly]
[Leon] What's going on? What's happening?
I've been hiding...
-in the woods all night. -In the woods?
-[breath trembling] -[narrator] Before starting his rampage...
-[breath trembling] -...Gabriel handcuffed and locked Banfield
in his replica RCMP vehicle.
[Jordan] He's gathering firearms
and ammunition, and loading them
into the front seat of the car.
-[whimpering frantically] -[handcuffs jangling]
It's during this time that she sees the opportunity...
[whimpering frantically]
to sneak from the back seat,
which had locked doors,
into the front seat of the car
through a small opening that was in the window.
-She escaped in a police cruiser. -[whimpers hysterically]
She was running for her life,
ran into the woods,
and she found a place
to hide, and she spent the night there.
-It's not safe for you to stay here. -[panting]
[Adam] Leon Joudrey was concerned,
concerned about both of their safety.
[siren blaring]
[narrator] What no one realizes,
is that Gabriel Wortman is long gone from Portapique,
and spent the night sleeping in a parking lot, 15 miles away.
[Peter] What I couldn't understand,
was how this guy pulled a rabbit
and was able to jump out of the area.
We were dealing with a massive screw-up here.
There was no secondary perimeter set up.
Additional police forces weren't drawn in.
[narrator] Twelve hours after the first murder,
-authorities finally warn the public. -[distorted gunshots]
But Gabriel Wortman's killing spree continues,
as he tears through a rural Nova Scotia.
Driving his vehicle alongside a vehicle and shooting,
shooting a woman who just out for a walk.
[distorted gunshots]
[narrator] By chance, Wortman encounters another RCMP cruiser,
slays the officer,
then sets both their vehicles on fire.
Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year RCMP veteran,
leaves behind two children.
Meanwhile, law enforcement searches for the killer,
some in unmarked vehicles.
Gabriel Wortman ends up in a stolen vehicle
that, thankfully, is almost out of gas.
So, he had no choice but to stop at a gas station.
[narrator] The station's security cameras...
capture the gunman's arrival.
Over 13 hours,
Gabriel Wortman has murdered 22 people.
[distorted gunshots]
But his rampage is about to come to an abrupt end.
A tactical police unit chances upon him at the gas station,
and approach in their unmarked vehicle.
Officers see the suspect go for his gun.
[gun firing]
-[indistinct shouting] -[narrator] The target is brought down.
The largest mass murder in Canadian history...
has finally ended.
And people immediately want answers.
This was the largest cluster-[bleep]
in Canadian policing history.
[Paul] Is he doing all of this
to exact revenge on the RCMP?
He dressed up as a Mountie,
and went around killing people in the name of the Mounties...
to pay them back.
For what?
That his cover was blown as an informant?
That his life was... was over,
and he's blaming them?
[narrator] In March of 2023,
the $30 million Mass Casualty Commission...
delivers a scathing report,
criticizing the RCMP.
Among our recommendations we are calling for... major changes
to RCMP oversight, processes, and culture.
[narrator] Survivors in Portapique band together,
desperate to heal from overwhelming tragedy.
I was extremely traumatized.
Well, I couldn't see any beauty anywhere for a while.
[narrator] Leon Joudrey is outspoken in condemning
the authority's failure to support victims' families.
One of the things Leon kept saying over and over again,
was that Lisa McCully
hadn't done anything wrong,
and this was just wrong.
He said, "I lost the gal that I used to go out with."
Just the weight of this situation and the fact
that he wasn't asked to testify at the commission.
He was just bearing it all on his own.
[narrator] Severely depressed,
he eventually takes his own life.
[Adam] He wasn't getting any counseling,
but he definitely needed help,
and he was crying out for it.
And, uh, that led him to... to that decision,
and so, it was a reallyad thing.
[Anne] Uh, the whole province just...
died... that day.
This whole event hugely impacted Nova Scotia,
and left many of us traumatized.
[Anne] There's so much blood that's been spilled on that land,
and I can't go back there.
I wish I didn't even know what Portapique was.
This season on...
I really don't want to live anywhere else.
Fixing flats is my specialty.
Mighty kind of you.
The people there make it special.
[ting of golf club]
Good on ya, mate!
The kids got to know each other and started hanging out.
I was thinking that the relationship is unbreakable.
Cheers!
You think that we're pieces of crap.
You said it, not me.
I told you to deal with this!
The only one he disliked was his neighbor.
Just keep your stuff on your side.
Do it cause I said so.
There's two sides to him.
What are you hiding back there?!
I don't think anyone expected things
to escalate the way that they did.
Daddy!
You're a pathetic loser.
...a hair trigger temper.
[scream]
Your whole family is worthless scum!
Let's settle this once and for all!
[gun shot]
I guess it's an eye for an eye.
That's what you get!
♪♪