William Patrick Fyfe: The Killer Handyman
Overview
For two decades, a shadow of fear fell over the Montreal area as a series of brutal, seemingly random murders of women in their homes remained unsolved. The perpetrator, William Patrick Fyfe, lived a double life as a quiet, unassuming handyman, a facade that allowed him to gain access to his victims' homes and their trust. Known as "The Killer Handyman," Fyfe was convicted of five murders committed between 1981 and 1999, but his reign of terror began much earlier. After his conviction, he confessed to four additional slayings dating back to 1979. His crimes were marked by extreme violence, often involving sexual assault, stabbings, and bludgeonings. A single fingerprint left at his final crime scene would ultimately unravel his decades of deception, leading to his arrest in 1999 and closing one of the most terrifying chapters in Canadian true crime history.
Early Life and Background
William Patrick Fyfe was born on February 27, 1955, in Toronto, Ontario. His early life was reportedly unstable; his parents separated soon after his birth, and he was subsequently raised by an aunt. In 1958, he moved to the Montreal area. As an adult, Fyfe worked various odd jobs and as a handyman, a trade that gave him the moniker by which he would become infamously known. To those who knew him, he appeared to be an ordinary, even generous man, though some noted a tendency to preach to others about their personal habits. For a time, he lived in a small Quebec community where he had sought treatment for drug addiction and later became a counselor to others. Despite this outward appearance of community spirit, Fyfe harbored a dark secret, traveling hundreds of kilometers from his later home near Barrie, Ontario, to commit murder in Montreal.
The Murders
Fyfe's murderous spree spanned 20 years, characterized by long intervals between killings that later accelerated into a frenzy. He was convicted of five murders, but later admitted to four others that occurred between 1979 and 1989.
His first confessed murder took place on October 17, 1979. Suzanne-Marie Bernier, 62, was stabbed and sexually assaulted in her Cartierville apartment. At the time, Fyfe was an inmate at the nearby Bordeaux jail and had been released on a day pass for work; instead, he committed murder. Less than a month later, on November 11, 1979, he stabbed 26-year-old Nicole Raymond to death in her Pointe-Claire apartment.
The first murder for which Fyfe would be convicted occurred on March 21, 1981. Hazel Scattolon, 52, was found stabbed 27 times and sexually assaulted in her Town of Mount Royal home. Fyfe had previously done painting work in her house and knew her son.
After Scattolon's murder, there was a gap in his known killings until September 26, 1987, when he stabbed 37-year-old Louise Poupart-Leblanc 17 times in her home in Sainte-Adèle. On June 9, 1989, he murdered 44-year-old Pauline Laplante in Piedmont. Fyfe confessed to both of these slayings after his conviction, but was never charged for them.
A decade passed before Fyfe's final, brutal series of attacks in 1999. On October 15, 59-year-old Anna Yarnold was found bludgeoned and beaten to death in the garden of her isolated Senneville home. Two weeks later, on October 29, Monique Gaudreau, a 46-year-old nurse, was found in her Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts home, having been beaten, sexually assaulted, and stabbed 55 times.
In November 1999, 55-year-old accountant Teresa Shanahan was reported missing from her apartment in Laval. She was found on November 23, having been sexually assaulted, beaten, and stabbed 32 times. Her jewelry and credit cards were stolen, and the killer had used her PIN to make ATM withdrawals.
Fyfe's final murder occurred on December 15, 1999. Mary Glenn, 50, was beaten and stabbed to death in her home in Baie-d'Urfé. It was at this scene that a tired and reckless Fyfe made the crucial mistake that would lead to his downfall.
The Victims
William Fyfe's victims were women living alone, attacked in the perceived safety of their own homes.
- Hazel Scattolon, 52 — Killed on March 21, 1981, in Town of Mount Royal. She was a mother who was brutally stabbed and sexually assaulted in her apartment.
- Anna Yarnold, 59 — Murdered on October 15, 1999, in Senneville. She was attacked in her home and found in her garden, having been bludgeoned and beaten.
- Monique Gaudreau, 46 — Found dead on October 29, 1999, in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts. A nurse, she was the victim of a frenzied attack in her bedroom.
- Teresa Shanahan, 55 — Killed in November 1999 in Laval. An accountant, she was found in her apartment days after she was murdered, having been stabbed dozens of times.
- Mary Glenn, 50 — Fyfe's last victim, killed on December 15, 1999, in Baie-d'Urfé. She was beaten and stabbed in her West Island home.
Fyfe also confessed to the murders of four other women: Suzanne-Marie Bernier, 62 (1979); Nicole Raymond, 26 (1979); Louise Poupart-Leblanc, 37 (1987); and Pauline Laplante, 44 (1989).
Investigation and Capture
The cluster of murders in the fall of 1999 prompted a massive police investigation, with authorities suspecting a serial killer was at large. The breakthrough came after the murder of Mary Glenn. Investigators conducting a meticulous search of her home discovered a single fingerprint on a door frame. The print did not belong to anyone who should have been in the house. When it was run through the national database, it came back as a match to William Patrick Fyfe, a 44-year-old man with a criminal record.
Police immediately placed Fyfe, who was then living with his mother in Barrie, Ontario, under 24-hour surveillance. Officers watched as he obsessively followed news reports of the Montreal murders, even ordering back issues of Montreal newspapers. The surveillance team saw him dispose of several items, including three pairs of running shoes, in a dumpster behind a church. These items were recovered and later found to have spots of blood on them.
With the fingerprint placing him at the scene and mounting physical evidence, the Ontario Provincial Police moved in to make an arrest. On December 22, 1999, as Fyfe was returning to his truck at a Husky Truck Stop near Barrie, he was taken into custody without incident for the murder of Mary Glenn. DNA evidence would later link him to the other killings. Blood found on his clothing matched Mary Glenn's, and traces of Anna Yarnold's blood were also found on his clothes. A ring stolen from Teresa Shanahan was also found among his possessions.
Trial and Sentence
William Fyfe was initially charged with the first-degree murder of Mary Glenn. As the investigation progressed and forensic evidence connected him to more crimes, additional charges were laid. By June 2000, he was charged with the murders of Anna Yarnold, Monique Gaudreau, Teresa Shanahan, and Hazel Scattolon.
Fyfe's preliminary hearing began on November 6, 2000, under a publication ban to ensure a fair trial. The prosecution, led by Jean Lecours, presented a case built heavily on forensic evidence. On November 16, 2000, Judge Suzanne Coupal ordered Fyfe to stand trial on all five counts of first-degree murder.
As prosecutors prepared for what was expected to be a lengthy trial, Fyfe surprised the court. On September 21, 2001, he pleaded guilty to all five murders. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years, the maximum sentence allowed under Canadian law.
Aftermath and Confessions
About two months after his sentencing, police announced that Fyfe had confessed to four additional, unsolved murders of women that occurred between 1979 and 1989. The confessions were part of an arrangement that saw Fyfe transferred, at his own request, from a prison in Quebec to a federal penitentiary in Saskatchewan. Because he was already serving the maximum possible sentence, authorities announced that no further charges would be laid and no new trial would be held.
Fyfe's capture also led police to consider him a suspect in a series of violent rapes committed in the 1980s by an attacker known as "The Plumber," who posed as a tradesman to gain entry to women's apartments. However, he was never charged in relation to these assaults. Investigators believe Fyfe may be responsible for even more than the nine murders he has admitted to, leaving open the possibility that the true number of his victims may never be known. He is currently serving his life sentence at the Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary.
