Allan Joseph Legere, also known as The Monster of the Miramichi, is a Canadian serial rapist, arsonist, robber-turned-serial killer, and serial abductor most notoriously known from an escape from custody and a resulting killing spree that lasted months before Legere was recaptured. Legere's conviction was the first case of DNA evidence utilized by prosecution in Canadian legal history.
Background and First Crime[]
Allan Joseph Legere was born in the Chatham Head neighborhood of Miramichi, New Brunswick. Little is known about Legere's life except for his previous work as a car salesman at Winchester before his first arrest. On June 21 1986, Legere and accomplices Todd Matchett and Scott Curtis targeted a convenience store in Black River Bridge late in the evening. After cutting the power, and while the store was being looted, the group broke into the store and attacked the elderly couple who ran it, John and Mary Glendenning. John was beaten to death, and Mary was beaten and raped by the three attackers before the group fled. Mary woke up and, after seeing her husband dead, crawled upstairs to call emergency responders who spoke with her until she was rescued. The police identified and arrested the three robbers and attackers shortly there after; while Matchett took a guilty plea to murder and assault, Legere and Curtis were convicted on their charges in court. Legere specifically was sentenced to life in prison from a conviction of second-degree murder.
Escape, Other Murders, and Capture[]
On May 3, 1989, Legere was transferred from maximum security to the Dr. Georges L. Dumont Regional Hospital for treatment of an ear infection. Legere requested of correctional service personnel to use the restroom, where he pulled out a metal shiv concealed in his rectum and picked the locks in his full body shackles. Exiting without restraints, Legere threatened the personnel with the shiv and held Peggy Olive hostage to keep everyone present at enough a distance while escaping from the hospital, releasing Olive around the time Legere sped off in her car. Legere stayed on the run from numerous acts of carjacking, auto theft, and robbery. During the months Legere was on the run, yet still residing in New Brunswick, the entire region was terrified to the point of most family and friends living together for safety and trick-or-treating being cancelled that year.
On May 29, Legere attacked shopkeeper Annie Flam and her sister Nina in Chatham. Annie was murdered and Nina was beaten and raped, before their home was set on fire to destroy the scene, but Nina was rescued in time by responders. Legere went largely dormant for a couple months, and around that time, his appeal in absentia for his first conviction was shot down by the Canadian Supreme Court on October 1, as Legere was refused a ruling unless he was in custody, even in spite of five similar cases later receiving rulings from the court. On October 13, Legere broke into the home of two sisters, Donna and Linda Daughney, and raped and murdered them both before also setting their home on fire. Legere's final confirmed murder is on November 16 of James Smith, a priest who was killed in the rectory of his own church, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Chatham Hill. Legere had made off with valuables from the safe in the rectory and Father Smith's car.
On November 24, Legere carjacked a taxi driver, a truck driver, and even an off-duty constable starting in Saint John and made it all the way to outside Rogersville, trying to make it to Moncton, before he was arrested without resistance by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at a blockade they set up, until being aggressively subdued and trying to strike back at the officials knocking and pinning him to the ground. Rewards of 50 grand were given to civilians who provided information. Legere was convicted in August 1990 on escape charges and received nine more years. Legere was indicted and convicted on murder charges in November, the trial being the first time a Canadian prosecution used DNA profiling to convict, not exonerate. Legere was transferred from super maximum security to maximum security in 2015. In August 2020, Miramichi was set on edge when Legere motioned for day parole. Parole was denied at a hearing on January 31, 2021, and Legere remains incarcerated. The provincial jail Legere was in previously was turned into a science museum, where Legere's cell became an exhibit for DNA profiling in forensic investigation.
Modus Operandi[]
Legere's victims were elderly and middle-aged generations, mostly women, preferring couples such as sisters and spouses. Legere would kill men when seeing them as obstacles or witnesses. Legere broke into homes, shops, and even a church to commit murders, rapes, and robberies. Legere would also steal money, cars, and other belongings from the scenes, as well as set homes on fire to destroy the crime scenes and in failed attempts to kill any living victims. Legere's M.O. was often direct violence, most often beating, but also stabbing and strangulation. Many of the women Legere attacked were also raped, and some women were left for dead only to live after the assaults. Legere kept on the run by repeatedly carjacking and stealing the vehicles of numerous residents of the local area. During Legere's prison escape, he hid a metal shiv made from a TV antenna in his rectum, excused himself to a washroom, pick his handcuffs with a key in his cigar, and used the shiv to keep officers back and briefly take a hostage before fleeing, leaving the woman behind unscathed. When Legere committed the store robbery as his first crime, he worked with two accomplices, cut the power before burglarizing the store, and attacked the elderly couple running the place while robbing it, torturing and beating the husband to death and beating and raping the wife.
Known Victims[]
- June 21, 1986, Black River Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada: The Glendenning couple convenience store robbery and attack
- John Glendenning, 66 (beaten, tortured, and strangled to death)
- Mary Glendenning (beaten, raped, and left for dead; was rescued)
- May 3, 1989, Dr. Georges L. Dumont Regional Hospital, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada: The hospital escape
- Peggy Olive (held hostage at knifepoint with a metal shiv; was released; stole her car)
- Unnamed corrections personnel (threatened with a metal shiv)
- Unnamed hospital staff (threatened with a metal shiv)
- May 3-November 24, 1989, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada: Numerous unspecified carjacking, vehicle thefts, and assaults
- May 29, 1989, Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada: The Flam sisters
- Annie Flam, 75 (beaten to death)
- Nina Flam, 61 (beaten and raped; was rescued)
- October 13, 1989, Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada: The Daughney sisters (both raped and beaten to death)
- Donna Daughney, 45
- Linda Lou Daughney, 41
- November 16, 1989, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Chatham Head, New Burnswick, Canada: Reverend James Smith, 69 (beaten to death; stole his car and looted the safe in the rectory)
- November 23, 1989, New Brunswick, Canada:
- Saint John: Ron Gomke (carjacked in his taxi and held hostage; later escaped)
- RCMP Constable Michelle Mercer (carjacked in her vehicle and held hostage; later escaped)
- November 24, 1989, Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada: Brian Golding (carjacked in his truck and held hostage; was rescued)
Note: Legere has been suspected of numerous additional assaults, robberies, and auto thefts, though most haven't been confirmed, and thus Legere was never charged.
On Criminal Minds[]
While Legere was never directly mentioned or referenced on the show, he appears to have been an inspiration for the following unsubs:
- Season Five
- Dale Schrader ("Retaliation") - Both were robbers turned serial killers that committed their first crimes with accomplices, assaulted and escaped custody of law enforcement, committed murders and kidnappings in locations across the city they lived in, had varying victimologies and M.O.s, committed at least one murder in a home invasion, raided at least one vault to steal valuables from it, and were subdued by federal law enforcement in the respective countries where they were at large.
- Season Eight
- John Myers ("The Silencer") - Both are serial killers with nicknames for their crimes, were originally sent to prison for murder, escaped when were transported to a hospital for a severe medical episode, attacked (and killed in Myers' case) at least one law official standing guard over him, attacked certain victims in their homes, and were caught after a carjacking they intended as a means to escape.
- Season Fourteen
- Dustin Eisworth ("Night Lights") - Both were serial killers previously imprisoned for sex crimes and violent assaults, targeted victims in pairs, broke into their homes where they were held captive, tortured them before killing them, left behind at least one survivor during their sprees, and attacked a police officer.
References[]
- The Wikipedia article on Allan Legere
- The Murderpedia article on Allan Legere
- SKDB's article on Legere
- The Crime Junkie podcast episode on Allan Legere
- The Canadian Encyclopedia article on Allan Legere
- Chronology of Allan Legere's killing spree and nearby crimes at the University of New Brunswick
- The 72 Hours: True Crime episode on Alan Legere
- The Born to Kill? documentary on Allan Legere
- The Nighttime Podcast episode on Allan Legere
- The Crime Stories episode on Allan Legere
- The this is MONSTERS episode on Allan Legere