Murder in the Prairies

By Charlie O’Brien and Kate O'Dell

On a warm evening in May 1962, twenty-three-year-old nurse and beauty queen Alexandra Wiwcharuk, was brutally murdered, and buried alive in a shallow grave by the South Saskatchewan River.It is a murder that has been investigated for decades, but is still considered unsolved. Alexandra Wiwcharuk had been a beautiful and intelligent young woman in the prime of her life, and had recently been serenaded by Johnny Cash in front of a crowd of more than fifteen thousand people. He had sung his song 'The Girl in Saskatoon' to her. People loved her.

Who would do such a thing, to someone so beloved? This book delves into some of the theories surrounding Wiwcharuk's untimely murder, as there were a great deal of possible suspects at the time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charlie O’Brien
• Release date: May 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201146771

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

It has been nearly fifty years, and the prairie city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is still haunted by the brutal unsolved mystery of Alexandra Wiwcharuk. On a warm spring day in May 1962, young beauty queen and nurse Alexandra Wiwcharuk went for a walk, stopping near weir at the South Saskatchewan River. Witnesses saw her in the area shortly before she disappeared.

For thirteen days, her family and the Saskatoon police searched the city for the missing young woman. It wasn’t like her to disappear like that. Wiwcharuk’s body was soon discovered in a shallow grave by the river, just a short distance from where she had last been seen. A group of children had found her body, after seeing one of her hands sticking up out of the soft soil. Autopsy results determined that she had been beaten unconscious, sexually assaulted, and then buried alive in a shallow grave. Authorities believed that she died of suffocation the night that she had gone missing.

Alexandra’s death stunned the city, as well as people in the small prairie towns surrounding it. She had come from a large Ukrainian family from Endeavor, Saskatchewan, and had been the first of her family to get an education past high school. She had been a charismatic woman, friendly, and outgoing. Alexandra had been chosen in the ‘Girl in Saskatoon’ radio contest that year, and had been honoured to meet country singer Johnny Cash, when he serenaded her in front of a packed Saskatoon arena.

For years, the Saskatoon police investigated her death, questioning hundreds of people. They followed up as many leads as they could, and struggled to find the woman’s killer. But by 1970, it became a cold case.

Through the work of Alex’s friends, and her nieces, they managed to keep Alex’s memory alive, as they fought to keep her murder in the forefront of people’s minds. One of Alexandra’s school friends wrote a book about her murder, and managed to speak to people working on CBC’s ‘The Fifth Estate’. Alex’s nieces had a billboard put up downtown, and personally put themselves into the investigation to find out who murdered their aunt.

Alexandra Wiwcharuk has been dead for nearly fifty years, but her death has still been on the forefront of Saskatonians, as well as people directly affected by her death.

There have been slow advances in her case, particularly as technology advances, such as DNA analysis. A lab has managed to find the killer’s DNA profile. They have managed to exclude a few people from the suspect list.

Investigators, and Alex’s family and friends hope desperately that someone out there knows something that can solve Alex’s murder. Her brutal murder is still unsolved, and her killer is still at large.

CHAPTER ONE

Who was Alexandra Wiwcharuk?

Alexandra Wiwcharuk was born in 1939, in Endeavor, Saskatchewan - a small town 330 KM east of Saskatoon. She was the youngest of ten Ukrainian children, as she had six brothers (Steve, Mike, Nick, Wasyl, Sidney, Daniel), and three sisters (Pearl, Anne, and Marie).

The Wiwcharuks were a traditional, hardworking family that lived on a rural farm. They put their hopes into young Alexandra’s future. She went to high school at the Saskatoon Technical Collegiate, and was an avid member of the drama club. Alexandra yearned to be a stewardess, but she was unfortunately too short, standing at only 5’1". Alexandra had a dark complexion, with black hair, and was only 115 lbs.

After graduating high school in Saskatoon, Alex returned to Yorkton. Alexandra was a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life, and she enjoyed all sorts of activities with her friends. In 1960, Alex was honoured to be named Queen of the Kinette Skating Carnival in Yorkton. She was also an entrant in the 1960 province-wide Saskatchewan Wheat Queen contest.

At the time of the Wheat Queen contest, she was still a nurse-in-training at the Yorkton Union Hospital. She was the Yorkton A.C.T entrant in the province-wide contest (which was sponsored by A.C.T, ‘The Associated Canadian Travellers’ club). there were 25 other contestants, each sponsored by various Saskatchewan organizations. The winner would be receiving an all-expense paid trip to Florida, via T.C.A, which would include a tour of various places of interest, as well as a complete wardrobe, and many interesting gifts.

She was a striking young woman, a beauty queen. When the local Saskatoon radio station hosted their ‘The Girl in Saskatoon’ contest, Alex Wiwcharuk was chosen as the winner. Country singer Johnny Cash sung his song ‘The Girl in Saskatoon’ to Alex Wiwcharuk in a Saskatoon area – in front of 1,500 fans.

Her family gave her financial help, and Alexandra started her nurse’s training, at Yorkton Union Hospital School of Nursing. She graduated two years later, in 1961. She was the first in her family to get any education after high school.

Alexandra Wiwcharuk started working at the City Hospital in Saskatoon, in September 1961. She was a dedicated nurse, a hard worker. She shared a basement apartment in Saskatoon with three other nurses – Alice Hall, Pauline Tyllis, and Doreen Badduke. They all lived at 1223 7th Avenue.

On May 18, 1962, Alexandra Wiwcharuk went for a walk.