WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:16.239 Lingo Ann's stories say the Kushtaka or koushtaka is a 2 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:21.320 shape shifting otter like creature that lures people into the wilderness, 3 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:27.679 sometimes trigging them to their deaths. Michael Oros arrived in 4 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.760 the wilds of northwest British Columbia in nineteen seventy two 5 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.560 with a peach fuzz beard carrying a bamboo flute. Henry Vance, 6 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:41.359 a First Nation taunting man who spent winters caretaking a 7 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:45.679 hunting god's cabin and horses in she Slay, an abandoned 8 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:50.640 native village and mining settlement, encountered Oros hiking along the 9 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:55.840 trail from Telegraph Creek. When Oros moved into a deserted cabin, 10 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.600 Vance suddenly found himself with a neighbor. In the beginning, 11 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:02.560 Vance and his wife had to take care of the 12 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.439 boy as he struggled to stay alive, and over time, 13 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:10.760 Vance watched the young man harden and develop his wood skills. 14 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:18.519 He also witnessed increasingly spooky violent behavior from Oros. For instance, once, 15 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:22.000 when Oros showed up asking for dinner, he took offense 16 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.400 when Vance asked him to wash his hands. All of 17 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.760 a sudden, Vance got the feeling that Oros was considering 18 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:33.120 murdering him. Another time, he threatened to kill Vance's wife 19 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:39.040 over a pitied dispute over Oros's dogs. Years later, after 20 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:42.079 Vance learned that Oros had gone on to commit horrible 21 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:45.879 crimes and murders across the region, Vance said he felt 22 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:50.719 guilty for having helped him. Our taulting people are helpful people. 23 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.799 We help people who are down and out, Vance said 24 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:58.560 in an interview on a Canadian radio station. Vance could 25 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:00.480 not have known at the time that he was helping 26 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.040 a man who would become known as she Slay Free Mike, 27 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.760 one of the most infamous and mysterious criminals to ever 28 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:12.719 roam the North Country. At first, Oros's home base was 29 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.680 near the headwaters of the she Sleiy River, which is 30 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:20.280 a tributary of the massive Taco River watershed that originates 31 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:25.599 in British Columbia and drains into southeast Alaska. It's likely 32 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.199 that the isolation of living at she Sleay contributed to 33 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:34.719 Oros becoming increasingly feral, paranoid, and delusional. He took to 34 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.840 carving trees and building with his personal mark, a blazing 35 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.599 sun symbol, which signified that he owned the country and 36 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:47.199 everything in it. He roamed deeper into the wilderness, living 37 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.879 in a tent and in abandoned structures, illegally hunting and trapping, 38 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:57.439 and occasionally raiding a cabin. The heart of Oros's territory 39 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.039 began more or less in she Slay, and stretched west 40 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:04.680 to Atland and north to Teslon to encompass more than 41 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:08.960 thirty thousand square miles. Much of the area is the 42 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:13.639 Taku ling At people's ancestral home, where many still live today. 43 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:18.599 Stories of Oros menacing nature and his cabin raids began 44 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:22.960 to circulate as de detales of his almost superhuman ability 45 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.719 to travel through the woods. He could supposedly snowshoe while 46 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:31.159 hauling a heavy sled at a steady six miles per hour, 47 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:36.120 covering sixty miles a day. He moved like a ghost, 48 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.960 most of the time unseen, and at other times he 49 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.159 would suddenly appear as if he were conjured. Over time, 50 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:47.840 Oros ran the Tesla and Lingot off their legally owned 51 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.560 trapping grounds and claimed them as his own. They could 52 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.639 have filed charges, but they declined to talk to the police. 53 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.680 Sit to ling At culturer bearer Dave Kenoe said that 54 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:02.919 some families moved to southeast Alaska to get away from Oros. 55 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:08.280 Canadian police officer Chris Morgan was stationed in Teslain for 56 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:12.840 several years and had encounters with Oros. In a nineteen 57 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:16.959 eighty five interview for the Vancouver Sun newspaper, Morgan called 58 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:21.240 Oros the missing link, the closest thing a man can 59 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:24.480 be to being an animal and the closest thing an 60 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.439 animal can be to being a man. But he wasn't 61 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.439 always that way. He was born in Oregon in nineteen 62 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:35.759 fifty two, the only child of a single mother who 63 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.800 worked as a petroleum geologist, a chemical engineer, and a 64 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:45.680 university professor. He never knew his father. Arla Clia got 65 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.279 to know the boy and his mother in the early 66 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:52.639 nineteen sixties when the two moved to her neighborhood in Lawrence, Kansas. 67 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:57.639 One of Client's first interactions with the two was taking Michael, 68 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:01.079 whom she described as lonely in show, to his first 69 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.160 day of school because his mom was busy. In nineteen 70 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.120 sixty eight, when Michael was in the tenth grade, he 71 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:12.480 became deeply affected by the Vietnam War. He developed a 72 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.480 deep hatred for the government and authority in general. Not 73 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.199 long after, his mother claimed she sent him away to 74 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:24.040 live with relatives and work horses in Wyoming. Clia never 75 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:27.079 saw Michael or heard his mother talk about him again, 76 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:32.920 and whether Oros actually went to Wyoming is unclear. Either way, 77 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.120 he was soon on his own, wandering the country. When 78 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.079 he turned eighteen, he became a draft dodger and began 79 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:44.759 using aliases. He'd used at least fifteen during his short life. 80 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.879 In Taos, New Mexico, he joined a commune where he 81 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.560 got tangled up in drugs and violence, though the details 82 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.639 around this part of Oros's story are unclear. Eventually he 83 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:03.879 fled to Fairbanks, Alaska. Vernon Frolic, a Canadian writer and prosecutor, 84 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.399 had full access to Oros's diaries. He published the book 85 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:13.319 about Oros entitled Descent into Madness The Diary of a Killer. 86 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.800 The book describes Oros when he first comes north as 87 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:21.199 a hardcore back to Earth, part of a movement to 88 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.759 reconnect with the land that began in the nineteen fifties 89 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:30.639 in response to industrialization and capitalism, and arguably reached its 90 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:34.759 peak during the early nineteen seventies. Like a lot of 91 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.480 young people moving to Alaska in that era, Oros was 92 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:45.040 also looking to escape his past and reinvent himself. Oros 93 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.000 was on a quest for freedom and truth, and the 94 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.759 wild North seemed to be the perfect place to find it. 95 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.519 More than that, he wanted to build a utopic community 96 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.560 in the wilderness that would be a sanctuary for those 97 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.560 seeking escape from society. He read esoteric books, studied zen, 98 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.319 and was obsessed with concepts like trying to grasp the 99 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:12.519 unseen reality. He took up with different small groups of hippies, 100 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:18.240 mostly draft dodgers, and lived in primitive cabins. The cold, 101 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:23.279 darkness and isolation of Fairbanks Winners was too much for him, though, 102 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.920 In the spring of nineteen seventy two, he set out 103 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:32.439 for Telegraph Creek in northwest British Columbia. One story goes 104 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:35.439 that he was run out of Telegraph Creek by locals 105 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.120 and that's why he ended up in She Slay. Another 106 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:41.639 is that he was offered a job helping the same 107 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.480 hunting outfitter Henry Vance was working for. But regardless, She 108 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.279 Slay is the place that marked the beginning of his 109 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:53.759 thirteen year war with the torture Druggers and the sneak Arounds. 110 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:57.360 It wasn't long before he became known as She Slay 111 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:01.439 Free Mike or just She Slay, and before long became 112 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:08.680 bane of the country. Oros kept prolific journals documenting his paranoia, delusions, 113 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:12.759 and rage. He'd leave notes or poems posted to trees 114 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:16.199 or cabin doors, stating things like I'm a free man, 115 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:21.639 let me be. In his journals, he constantly referred to 116 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:26.240 torture druggers who experimented and poisoned him, as well as 117 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:29.399 sneak arounds, whom he never seemed to catch sight of, 118 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.840 but who he believed were stalking him. Armed with a 119 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.039 three to zero three rifle, he'd spend a significant portion 120 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:42.039 of many days hunting sneak arounds. Oros also imagined that 121 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.480 every time a plane flew overhead, it sprayed him and 122 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:50.360 the earth with poisonous chemicals. His hatred of authority figures 123 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.360 had deepened into a murderous rage, and he constantly wrote 124 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.879 in his journals about wanting to kill any government officials 125 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:02.519 he might encounter. At the time, the only government employees 126 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:06.480 who spent time in his territory were Alaska Department a 127 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:11.759 Fish and Game fishery biologists, conducting research annually from April 128 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:17.279 through October. Lead biologist Paul Kissner worked in the Taku 129 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:22.000 Watershed from nineteen seventy one to nineteen ninety. At first, 130 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.919 Kissner told me that he and his crew thought Oros 131 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:29.639 was weird but a mostly harmless mountain man. Mike Beathers, 132 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:33.919 a retired King Salmon biologists who worked with Kissner, said 133 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.679 that changed as they learned more about him. Quote, the 134 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.919 women at camp were especially scared. No one ever saw him, 135 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:45.480 but we were always looking over our shoulders feathers set. 136 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:50.559 In early summer of nineteen seventy nine, Kissner and crew 137 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:54.039 returned to their research camp on the Nakuina River, a 138 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.799 tributary of the taku and found that Oros had stolen 139 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:02.120 their river boat from and raiding their camp. Oros knew 140 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:04.840 at least some of the crew's names and that many 141 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:08.480 of them lived in Juno. Kisner reported the theft to 142 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:12.320 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was willing to testify 143 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:16.799 against Oros. Police were well aware of Oros by the 144 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.360 time and suspected him in numerous crimes. Now they had 145 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:25.720 an arrest warrant, but they made no move. Locating Oros 146 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:29.080 would be difficult and dangerous, not to mention, the charge 147 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:34.480 likely wouldn't amount to a substantial conviction. Despite his aversion 148 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.600 to civilization, Oros would go into the town on occasion 149 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.960 for short term work, to stock up on supplies and 150 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:46.080 look for women. He'd do this sometimes in Juno, where 151 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:50.559 he wasn't infamous. The fall after he stole the ADF 152 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.759 and G riverboat, it appears he went to Juno and 153 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.919 was working with a road crew paving the highway. Kisner 154 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.799 was still up at Taku when lay one night, a 155 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:04.759 hippie with long and sandy blonde hair knocked on his 156 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:09.120 and his wife's condominium door. Through the door, Kisner's wife 157 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:12.200 asked the man what he wanted quote He told her 158 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:15.080 there was a problem with her newspaper and that she 159 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.159 needed to let him in. Kisner said he seemed threatening, 160 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.120 and she retreated to the kitchen to call the police. 161 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.960 The man became irate, pounding and demanding to be let in, 162 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.720 and when a trooper finally arrived, the only sign of 163 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:36.039 the prowler was the evidence he left dripping down the door. Later, 164 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.960 upon seeing a photo of Oros, Kisner's wife guessed it 165 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:45.159 could have been him. Phil Timpany, a Canadian woodsman, was 166 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:50.279 the only member of Kisner's fishery crew whoever actually saw Oros. 167 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.080 It happened sometime after the fall of nineteen seventy nine, 168 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:58.320 while Oros was being held in custody in Atlan, a 169 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:02.440 cop wanted to come in and Oros and Timpany was 170 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.159 out in the same country as the madman, and the 171 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:09.279 cop was worried for his safety. The officer told Timpany 172 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:14.120 they suspected Oros of a number of disappearances and murders. Quote. 173 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.279 I ask what to do if I meet up with 174 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:20.799 him in the woods. He said, don't ever say goodbye. Basically, 175 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:24.919 just shoot him. At the jail, Timpany expected there would 176 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.320 be a one way window or something blocking Oros from 177 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.879 seeing him. Instead, the cop took him right in front 178 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.879 of Oros. Quote. I saw him at the store a 179 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.480 couple of days later, and he never took his eyes 180 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:40.679 off me. He was the most wild looking guy, but 181 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:44.240 not in a woodsy way. His eyes were just intents, 182 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:49.960 like a caged animal in intense eyes. Timpany said. Just 183 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.120 about everyone was scared of Oros, except for an old, 184 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:58.240 enigmatic trapper named Gunther Lishey, an ex Nazi who fought 185 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:01.720 in World War Two before being imprisoned in a Russian camp. 186 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:06.519 Lichy emigrated to Canada to live in the woods. He 187 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:11.480 was tough, and he was woods wise and apparently dangerous Timpany, 188 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:15.240 who also had a trap line, treaded lightly around Lishey. 189 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.759 He recalled hearing a story of Lichy encountering another trapper 190 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.000 on his line. Lichy aimed his gun at the man, 191 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:26.360 and Lishy's companion, who happened to be a cop, and 192 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:30.360 told him to stop. Lischi said something along the lines 193 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.960 that he'd killed many men in his life and one 194 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:38.120 more wouldn't make any difference. Supposedly, Lichi and Oros only 195 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:42.159 met twice. Once was briefly in the Wiles, when Lichi 196 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.159 took a photo of Oros. It was one of the 197 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:49.559 three photos found on the German's cabin wall after he disappeared. 198 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.320 The second was in the late summer of nineteen eighty one. Lichy, 199 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.399 knowing Oros had a cabin and a trap line on 200 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:02.120 Hudsongola Lake, got dropped off by a floatplane. In late July, 201 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.039 Oros was gone, Lichi began building a cabin less than 202 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:12.480 one hundred yards from Oros's cabin. Lishi's actions were bizarre. 203 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:16.360 For one, Lichi knew it was illegal to trap the area. 204 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:21.000 Traplines are owned in British Columbia. You can't go laying 205 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:25.240 steel wherever you please, and second, knowing it was illegal, 206 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.600 why would Lichi allow his business to be known by 207 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:33.480 chartering a commercial floatplane. Finally, Lichi was well aware of 208 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.600 Oros's reputation. Why would he build a cabin so close. 209 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.159 One likely explanation could be that Lichy, knowing Oros had 210 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:46.879 run the legal trapline owners out of the area, planned 211 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:51.159 on taking over the fur Ridge country for himself. After 212 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.559 surviving World War II, the German might have believed that 213 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:59.120 dealing with Oros wouldn't be that difficult. On September tenth, 214 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:03.720 nineteen eighty one, one pilot Dave Weeb landed in Hutzegola 215 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.360 Lake to pick up Lishey as they had scheduled weeks before, 216 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.679 but instead of Lishy, Web was confronted by Oros, who 217 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.519 said he'd never heard of the old trapper, let alone 218 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.799 seen him. Web's instinct told him that Oros was going 219 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:21.159 to try to kill him, so he played it as 220 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.960 cool as he could and he got away. He flew 221 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.559 to Atland and immediately contacted the RCMP. Police, believing they 222 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:35.759 finally had solid evidence on Oros, immediately mobilized the team. 223 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.080 Their plan was to use the arrest warrant from Oros 224 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.559 as nineteen seventy nine theft of the ADF and G 225 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.960 riverboat to pick him up and hold him in jail 226 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.600 while they built a murder case against him. When the 227 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.639 team arrived at Hutsgola Lake on September twelfth, Oros was 228 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:58.120 long gone deep in the wilderness. The officer searched the 229 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.960 area and gathered Lihi's belonging, many of which Oros had 230 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.159 tried to hide. They also took Oros' diaries for evidence. 231 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:11.360 They searched Tor, but they couldn't find Lishi's body. Oros 232 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.200 got caught the following March after he returned to his 233 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:18.440 cabin at Hutzegola for the winter. Oros had spent most 234 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.480 of the winter hunting sneak arounds and fantasizing about killing 235 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:26.320 an ever growing list of people. When police flew in, 236 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.879 Oros inexplicably went without much of a fight. The only 237 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:33.960 thing that Oros seemed to care about were his dogs. 238 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.759 Many people have referenced his devotion to them. What happened 239 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:43.120 after Oros was handcuffed is unclear. Officially, he was put 240 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:47.519 on a helicopter and his dogs were later destroyed. There's 241 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.159 another story that out of spite, an officer shot Oros's 242 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.480 favorite dog right in front of him. Vernon Frolic, the 243 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:59.600 prosecutor who'd later write to sent into Madness, worked with 244 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:04.759 the police during the investigation. Without Lehi's body or a confession, 245 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:08.640 and only minor charges. Frolic and the police tried to 246 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:13.839 have Oros locked up in a psychiatric hospital. While Oros 247 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:18.319 was deeply disturbed, he was also extremely intelligent and cunning. 248 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:23.119 His diaries are largely free form madness, but it appeared 249 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:28.559 that he never wrote anything legally incriminating. By late August, 250 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:32.400 Oros had been acquitted and set free. He roamed all 251 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:36.480 over the Lower forty eight in Canada. Timpany heard a 252 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:39.640 cop in that one claimed Oros was being tracked daily 253 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:44.519 during his travels. Around this time, Oros directed the lion's 254 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.440 share of his hatred toward police officers. He wrote in 255 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:51.880 his last diary that focusing his hatred allowed him to 256 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.599 set back and enjoy himself doing a few things I 257 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.519 wanted to do before I died. One of those things 258 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:02.880 may have been the rape and murder of Cindy Elrod, 259 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:06.559 whose body was found on August twenty third, nineteen eighty three, 260 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:10.799 in Juno. The night before, el Rod had been seen 261 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.640 at a bar with a man described as having long, 262 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:18.000 sandy blonde hair like Oros and being within a similar age, 263 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.440 height and weight range. A composite sketch shows a baby 264 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.839 faced man with long hair parted in the middle, the 265 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:30.759 same as Oro's hair was in pictures. During his last years, 266 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:35.279 Oros's rambling journals showed he believed that an elite paramilitary 267 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:38.799 unit would be helicoptered into an area to hunt him down. 268 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:43.920 This prediction became a reality in March of nineteen eighty five, 269 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.799 after Frank and Aileen Hayes arrived at their cabin in 270 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:52.039 Teslin Lake and found that Oros had looted and destroyed it. 271 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.720 He had taken everything of value, including their wedding rings. 272 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:00.279 He left the partially butchered remains of a Ca hal 273 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.960 mooso In's side. Clumps of hair and rotting blood were 274 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:09.160 splattered on the walls and soaked into the floorboards. The Hasses, 275 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:13.400 rightfully worried for their lives, snow machined back to Teslin 276 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:18.680 and reported to break into the police. The RCMP reconnaissance 277 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.799 flight was sent out, and when the pilot found Oros 278 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:25.720 hauling a slid through the snowy wilderness, the madman fired 279 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:31.440 at the plane. Teslain police contacted emergency response teams and 280 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:37.079 literally overnight, a team of rcmps, most elite officers, were mobilized. 281 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:41.000 Two of the men on the ERT were close friends 282 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.640 with Mike Badey and Gary Rogers, both of whom dealt 283 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.799 with Oros in nineteen eighty two while he was in 284 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:51.400 custody and terrace and afterward while he was waiting for 285 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:56.519 his trial. Budday was a larger than live character. One night, 286 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.839 after having a few drinks and showing up at Roger's house, 287 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:03.000 he decided to use his chainsaw to cut the door, 288 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:08.039 rather than to be rude by knocking and descent into madness. 289 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.440 Frolic wrote that when Oros was detained in nineteen eighty 290 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:15.720 two and tore apart a jail, sell officers went and 291 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.279 fetched Budet, who was off duty and drinking at the bar, 292 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:23.240 to subdue him. Buddet is more than just a muscled 293 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:27.000 up drinker, though. When Oros was waiting for his trial 294 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.119 in nineteen eighty two, he slept on a police station 295 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.759 bench when the weather was bad. If anyone tried to 296 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:35.799 mess with him, but they put a stop to that. 297 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.559 While members of the ERT were on their way north, 298 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.200 Oros slept on Big Island in Tusslin Lake. The burial 299 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.759 place of a lingo Ant shaman. There had long been 300 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:53.279 a belief circulating around Oros, especially with the lingo Ant people, 301 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:57.079 that he was not human. They believed that he was 302 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:01.759 a physical manifestation of the kushta Ka, an evil spirit 303 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:05.319 that preys upon and possesses the loss, turning them into 304 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:10.160 a reflection of itself. The kushta Ka is a shape 305 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:16.319 shifting monster associated with madness and disappearances and wildness. The 306 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.960 kushta Ka can be linked to the wild man of 307 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:22.559 the woods archetype, and that it lures its victims into 308 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:26.880 the wilderness, turns them insane, and causes them to lose 309 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:31.200 their humanity. To this day, many people who were involved 310 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:36.960 with Oros believe this, including Rogers. Some also believe that Oros, 311 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.720 by sleeping at the burial site on Big Island, woke 312 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.880 the spirit of the shaman. One of the most important 313 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.880 functions of the Lingolnt shaman was to battle the cousta Ka. 314 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:52.519 Oros knew police would be coming for him. He could 315 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:55.960 have escaped into the wilderness, but instead he chose to 316 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.799 wait for them. His journals indicate his belief that his 317 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.279 war with the real and imagined world was about to end. 318 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:09.119 In a big shootout. On the morning of March nineteen, Rogers, Badet, 319 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:12.599 and the rest of the ert flew into Teslin late. 320 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:17.720 Rogers in Budet, armed with them sixteen's along with a sharpshooter, 321 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:21.680 made up one of the units. Their unit was dropped 322 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.920 off in front of Oros, while another was dropped behind him. 323 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.200 While Rogers in Bedet were hiding in the deep snow, 324 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.480 hoping to intercept Oros. As he snowshoed toward them, the 325 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:38.039 mad trapper disappeared into the brush unseen. He circled around 326 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:42.400 and snuck up on Rogers in Budet. Oros fatally shot 327 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:44.400 Bedey through the back of the neck with his three 328 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.440 to zero three rifle and then turned to Rogers. Forty 329 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:53.680 four yards separated the two men. Rogers said he believes 330 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.680 he and Bidet had some higher power with them that day. 331 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:01.160 The moment after Budet was shot had an out of 332 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.119 body experience, like he was watching the events happen from above. 333 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:08.559 He says he looked down on Oros as the man 334 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:11.960 worked his rifle. Boat took aim and pulled a trigger, 335 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:16.319 and then Rogers watched himself raise his M sixteen and shoot. 336 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:22.960 His bullet went through Oros's forehead, killing him instantly. Examination 337 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:26.880 of Orosa's rifle afterwards showed that the firing pin had 338 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.720 been worked in, dented the primer, but hadn't ignited the powder. 339 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:36.440 Rogers should have been killed. Lihi's remains were found a 340 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.599 year and a half later when a constable from Teslain 341 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:44.200 flew into Hutzegola Lake and stumbled on the German scattered bones. 342 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.440 There was a bullet hole through the right scapula. Forensics 343 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.960 showed Lichi had been shot in the back with a 344 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.759 bullet matching a three to zero three cartridge. With Oros dead, 345 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:00.279 a wave of relief washed over the region. Forty years later, 346 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:03.480 Much of the land he wants roam is still wild, 347 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.119 though there is a massive mining operation plan for the region. 348 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:11.640 Oros has been pretty much forgotten except by those who 349 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:15.559 are affected by him directly. He remains as cryptic in 350 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:19.160 death as he was in life. People who dealt with 351 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:22.039 him still lower their voices when they talk about she 352 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.599 Slave Free Mike, if they speak of him at all.