The 519 Podcast

In November of 2022, the Windsor Police Service’s Major Crimes Unit was recognized for solving a 48-year-old cold case murder. It was the gruesome killing of six-year-old Ljubica Topic, which stumped investigators at the time. 

It led to a hectic investigation that, unfortunately, did not turn up many promising leads. 

As time passed, it became what’s known as a ‘cold case’ that would haunt investigators for decades. 

That is, until the case was re-opened in 2016.

This is the story of how the tragic murder of a little girl was solved decades after it happened. 

Over the last decade, a startling number of horror stories have come out of the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre. Inmates assaulted by guards, inmates murdered by other inmates, drug overdoses, and outrageously awful living conditions.  And what makes it worse is that these aren’t little known events. They’ve been reported on heavily over the last several years.

There have been lawsuits that have brought the problems at EMDC to the forefront at Queens Park. 

However, things don’t seem to have gotten much better. , 

Overcrowding continues to be a problem. And just recently, another inmate died at the jail. When you add up the problems at the EMDC, it becomes clear, it is one of Ontario’s most dangerous places to live. 

This is ‘Surviving the EMDC'

The late Joe Egan of Sarnia was like so many Canadian men of his generation. The Second World War meant that young men would need to volunteer to take up arms against the facist threat of the Nazis. When Canada called, Joe Egan answered. He served on a navy ship in the Atlantic. With German U-Boats patrolling the ocean, looking for merchant ships and navy ships to torpedo, the risk of death was a daily reality. 

But where Egan differed from many of his comrades, was his understanding that many of the German sailors who were trying to kill him were not Nazis. Many were, like him, men who had patriotically answered the call of their country. So, when he was tasked with looking after U-Boat sailors who were taken prisoner, he treated them with kindness, dignity, and respect. So much so that the captain of U-575 invited him to the crew's reunion years later, a reunion he travelled to Germany to attent. 

This is his story. 

There are some stories that are so startling you’d think they would make it beyond their county’s limits. 

If you grew up around Woodstock, you’ve probably heard of the Topping family. The Topping farmhouse was on Lot Eight on Cuthbert Road, Concession Six just south of Sweaburg in Southwest-Oxford. And it was in that farmhouse that Timothy Topping massacred his family on a chilly winter morning.

But, this is not just another murder case, it’s grown into a whole lot more. 

Maybe you’ve gone out to Critter’s Lane yourself, late at night with your friends, hoping to catch a glimpse of a ghost. Could these ghosts be the spirits of the Topping family, lingering in the last place they were happy together?

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at the Topping family tragedy and whether or not the ghosts of the victims still haunt the area.

In May 2003, Walter Zepeda was put through a seven day exorcism that ended in his death. This happened in London, Ontario.  

The exorcism was carried out  by his father, Diego Zepeda-Cordera, as well as his mother, Ana Mejia-Lopez, and family friend, Alex Osegueda. Allwere members of the now shuttered Pentacostal Missionary Church of Christ. They tied Walter down in the basement of their family’s basement apartment, praying to rid him of his demons over the one week period. 

And according to them, it worked. But, at what expense?

A mother and father lost their child, and the three were tried in a court of law for murder. 

On this episode of ‘The 519 Podcast’ we present "The Exorcism of Walter Zepeda."

On the second annual Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the 519 Podcast speaks with Indigenous leaders in our communities. What does the day mean to them? How does Canada continue with reconciliation? How can reconciliation help all of us?

The morning of August 26, 2021 was like most mornings in the town of Wheatley Ontario. 

Kids were getting ready for another day of summer, people headed off to work, and it was a fairly normal day. 

Until it wasn’t. 

The calm of that summer day in the Lake Erie town was shattered when an explosion rocked a section of the downtown. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we present  ‘Rising from the Ruble: The Wheatley Explosion’. 

It’s a first in Ontario.

A cow manure powered garbage truck has hit the streets of Hensall, Ontario, a small town in Huron County. 

These carbon negative garbage trucks are a part of a 6 month pilot program run by Bluewater Recycling and Enbridge. If all goes well, manure powered garbage trucks could be a mainstay in our municipalities. And potentially well beyond. 

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at whether these, shall we say, poop powered garbage trucks give us a glimpse into the future of fuel. 

Long wait times, understaffing and underfunding in hospitals we’ve seen before, but ER closures and this level of surgical cancellations is completely new. We are in the middle of a healthcare crisis, and experts say it might not get better any time soon.

The 519 Podcast looks at what’s going on inside our healthcare systems and asks experts about solutions that could solve some of the issues.

In Part 1 of “The Windsor Spree Killer: From Horric to Surreal” we took a look at Matthew Charles Lamb and the fateful day he became Canada’s first spree killer. 

But, his story didn't end with his arrest. It continued in directions that are really quite unbelievable. 

Sitting in his holding cell and awaiting trial, there were really only two options for Matthew Lamb. Execution, or life in prison. And as far as open and shut cases go, this was definitely one of them.

In part 2 of The Windsor Spree Killer, we hear again from Will Toffan, author of  “Watching the Devil Dance” and find out how Matthew Charles Lamb spent the rest of his very short yet chaotic life.