Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History
Spooktober 2026: Keeper of the Light — John Radelmüller’s Ghost
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About this episode
Episode 441: In January 1815, the keeper of Toronto's Gibraltar Point Lighthouse vanished, and John Paul Radelmüller was never seen alive again. Within weeks, two soldiers from a nearby garrison were under arrest for his murder. Months later, a jury acquitted them both. Over two centuries later, the case remains legally unresolved, and the lighthouse where Radelmüller spent his final years has become the basis for Toronto's oldest and most enduring ghost story—one that's grown so far beyond the documented record that most people who know it can't say which parts actually happened. This episode goes back to the original sources — the coroner's inquest, the trial record, the earliest newspaper account — to find out. Sources:York Gazette | Sat, Jan 14, 1815 | Page 3Gibraltar Point Lighthouse — WikipediaNew Light on Toronto's Oldest Cold Case: The 1815 Murder of John Paul Radelmüller — Eamonn O'KeeffeToronto's First Murder at Gibraltar Point Lighthouse — my-toronto.caThe Ghost of the Rock: Toronto's 200-Year-Old Lighthouse Cold Case — SofistikateitGibraltar Point Lighthouse — Toronto Island Investigation — The Paranormal SeekersGlengarry Light Infantry — WikipediaBattle