How I Use Genealogy to Investigate Historical True Crime
Genealogy isn’t just about names and dates—it’s about stories. Some of the most powerful ones I’ve uncovered came not from my own family, but from the pages of old newspapers. A few years ago, while searching for my 2nd-great-aunt’s 1895 birth announcement, I stumbled upon an unexpected article: a violent attempted murder in a small Ontario town. That single discovery led me into the world of using genealogy to investigate historical true crime. And it changed how I see the power of family history research forever.
The short article described a barber from Caledonia, Ontario who went mad and attempted to kill his wife by slashing her throat in the back room of his barber shop. She miraculously survived, and he was sent away to a mental asylum. The article didn't really describe much else about the Sweeney Todd-esque man or his wife, but that didn't matter. I knew I'd easily be able to find out more.
The Gears Started Turning: Practically Using Genealogy With a Few Details
As it turns out, using genealogical methodology to research historical true crime cases is extremely effective to understand the full story. Most crime beat articles will give you enough basic information about a person to be able to start a family tree on Ancestry or whichever tree builder you use. They'll list facts like the perpetrator or victim’s name, age, occupation, and place of residence at the time of the criminal event. Sometimes you'll strike gold and find even more like names of relatives or close friends, where they were born or raised if not local to the area, and background information for context.
In the example of this very first case that I looked into, I knew immediately from the publication year and place that there were plenty of sources for me to look at and learn more. I had the names of a husband and wife, and by 1895 most marriages and births in Ontario were registered. I knew I could probably find their marriage certificate, which would give me their parents' names. I also knew I could likely find their children's birth registrations, giving me names and ages to help track the family in the future.
As soon as I put their information into Ancestry hints started to pop up. Like I suspected the civil registrations were there, along with some other records like censuses. It didn't take me long to build out a basic tree over 4 generations and paint the pictures of what before and after looked like for this family. This whole process took me less than an hour. And then it clicked for me—there are thousands of true crime cases like this from Canada, let alone the world. I can research these cases and tell these stories decades, if not centuries after they happened.
And That's How My Podcast Rooted in Crime Came to Be
I first gave podcasting a shot in 2020 when I first researched the 1911 case of an Italian immigrant named Angelina Napolitano in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She was the first person in Canadian history to use the “battered woman syndrome” defence after she killed her husband to end his physical and sexual abuse. What really spoke to me about this case was that she was pregnant and also had four young children at the time who went into the care of the Children's Aid Society. Angelina never saw her children again, and until that point all of the research about the case that I came across did not include what happened to her children.
Angelina’s case was well researched in the 1990s when a similar case of a woman in Quebec made media headlines for being the first case in Canada to successfully use the battered woman defence. Scholars and historians examined the changes in the Canadian social and legal landscapes over the years between these two cases, but little research into Angelina’s case from during the Internet era seemed to exist. I was determined to find out what I could about her children.
When this first wave of contemporary research into Angelina's case came around, most now-public genealogical records hadn't been released. By the year 2000 researchers would have been able to access up until the 1901 census of Canada, before Angelina and her husband even arrived in Canada. By the time I first looked into the case, two more censuses and her children’s baptism records were available, along with a treasure trove of digitized news articles and court archives. I felt like I could finally give Angelina's story the ending it deserved.
The first time I gave podcasting a try, I only ended up releasing a few episodes. 2020 was a weird, transitional time, and other things in life pulled me away from the podcast. But in 2023 I started it back up with my partner Nima and looked back at Angelina's case for our first episode. In that time the 1931 census had been released along with even more digitized records, and I was able to learn even more about Angelina and her children. I don't want to spoil the episode because writing out a quick summary here just doesn't do the case justice. I highly suggest you check it out (which you can do right on the website here or search up Rooted in Crime on your favourite podcast app.)
Genealogy isn't just about finding out your 3rd-great-grandpa’s name and when he was born. It's about discovering our ancestors’ stories; it's about discovering what their lives were really like. So using genealogy to holistically research true crime and get the full picture allows us to better understand the nature of what really happened.
Unfortunately like in 2020, other things in life came up and we decided to put the podcast on pause after releasing one season. But all of the stories I've come across that I haven't had a chance to tell are still sitting there, waiting for Nima and I to pick up our mics and tell them.
So is it time to bring back the podcast? I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you have a true crime story in your family tree, let me know! I can help give you guidance on how to research, or we can find a research package that's right for you. Check out my services or get it touch with me to see how I can help.
Want to learn how to build a family tree so you can research true crime, your family tree, and more? Check out my blog post on How to Start Your Family Tree and get a free downloadable worksheet to get started!
