Death By Unknown Event

Episode Sample

Listen to a sample clip of Death by Unknown Event, narrated by Pamela Adlon.

Episode 1: Cindy

Cindy James was last seen depositing a paycheck in June 1988. Nearly two weeks later, a construction worker discovered her body in a ditch beside a busy road. Police ruled her death a suicide. Her family and friends insisted that she was murdered. In the years leading to her death, Cindy reported more than 100 incidents of stalking. Now the Vancouver community was left to solve this enduring mystery: Had the stalker taken Cindy’s life? Or had there never been a stalker at all?

Episode 2: Stalker

Cindy’s stalker is becoming bolder. What started with calls and letters soon escalated into a brutal attack. The Vancouver police interrogate Cindy, and start to search for the perpetrator. At the urging of Officer Pat McBride, the police turn their attention to Cindy’s ex-husband, Roy Makepeace.

Episode 3: A Private Investigator

Frustrated with the Vancouver police’s inability to come up with any convincing leads, Cindy hires a private investigator to handle her case: Ozzie Kaban. Ozzie’s unorthodox methods lead to the first real clues.

Episode 4: A Suspect

When the perpetrator returns with an even more brutal attack, Ozzie helps Cindy remember events from her past, and those memories help the police narrow in on a suspect.

Episode 5: Clarity

Cindy confronts her ex-husband, Roy Makepeace. Lacking progress in the case, the Vancouver police invite another detective to join the investigation. With her help, the police narrow focus on a new suspect – one who’s been here all along.

Episode 6: Struggle

Cindy, her family, and Ozzie Kaban are getting frustrated with the lack of progress in catching a perpetrator, while Detective Halliday becomes further convinced that Cindy is perpetrating the attacks against herself.

Episode 7: Treatment

Regardless of who is doing this to her, the harassment is taking a serious toll on Cindy. Her doctor has her committed to Vancouver’s most notorious mental institution, where psychiatrists begin to understand her inner turmoil.

Episode 8: Recovery

Out of the hospital, Cindy begins to form a new friendship. She makes real strides towards recovery – but the attacker is not ready to let her go free.

Episode 9: Lost

Cindy is missing, and Detective Anderson struggles to determine how and when she disappeared and who might be responsible.

Episode 10: Found

A construction worker finally finds Cindy’s body. Those who know her debate whether she was murdered or died by an elaborate suicide.

Episode 11: Inquest

In an attempt to understand what happened to Cindy, the coroner calls for an inquest into her death.

Episode 12: Answers

After the inquest jury determines that Cindy died by an unknown event, we examine one of the most persistent theories behind her death, and offer our own conclusion to this 40-year mystery.