Today in History: Son kills mom and three others because he ‘despises her’
He later confessed to the murders, saying that he despised his mom and the rest of the murders happened because the victims walked in on the scene.
He was initially not linked to the murder, but Vernon Booher eventually confessed to murdering his mother, brother and two others.
While the rest of the Booher family was away, Rose Booher, her son Fred, and two hired workers were all shot to death on a secluded farm in Mannville, Alberta, Canada. Although nothing appeared to be stolen from the house and few clues were found, authorities determined that a rifle had caused the gunshot wounds.
Not coincidentally, a rifle had been taken from a neighbour’s farm just prior to the killings. The investigation centred on the Booher family – Rose’s son Vernon, in particular. Vernon was known to have had problems with his mother, but he denied any involvement in the murders.
After persistent interrogation failed to crack Vernon, Max Langsner, who had reputedly solved crimes all over Europe by picking up “mind signals” from criminals, was summoned from Vienna, Austria.
Using his alleged psychic powers, Langsner sketched a scene that included a rifle hidden under some bushes. Using the sketch as a makeshift map, the police discovered the murder weapon near the Booher home.
With this new evidence, Vernon confessed to the crime. He had planned to kill his mother because he despised her. The other three were killed only because they had stumbled onto the scene. Vernon only ever expressed remorse for killing his brother, Fred.
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