A photo of the Peterson family taken in the spring of 1967. (Prince Albert Historical Society)

It’s a story that’s haunted Saskatchewan for more than five decades and one that’s gripped Brittany Caffet since elementary school when she discovered it in a book of Saskatchewan ghost stories.

“A whole family, nine people, murdered in their home so close to a community I was growing up in. As a child, it seemed like the stuff of nightmares.”

Rawlco Radio podcast producer & host Brittany Caffet shares the story of the Shell Lake Massacre through the voices of those closest to the family. (Photo Provided)

“In it, a story about a mass murder in Shell Lake was prominently featured. I was in disbelief as I read the few details contained within those pages,” says Caffet. “A whole family, nine people, murdered in their own home so close to the community I was growing up in. As a child, it seemed like the stuff of nightmares.”

On August 15, 1967, Jim and Evelyn Peterson and seven of their children were murdered in cold blood. The murders set off a firestorm of media coverage and more than 500 tips to the police. The evidence led to a man from Leask, SK, Victor Hoffman. Hoffman, diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been released from a mental hospital just a few weeks before the murders. It was a crime that became known as “Canada’s worst random mass murders” and one that put Hoffman in the hospital for the criminally insane in Pentaguishe, ON for the rest of his life.

As the only surviving member of the Peterson family, Kathy Hill shares her experiences surrounding the tragedy. (Rawlco Radio)

As an adult, this was much more than a ghost story to Caffet, it was one about family and a community rocked by tragedy. And, it hit a lot closer to home as she learned her husband’s great aunt, Kathy Hill was one of two remaining members of the Peterson family. Hill moved back to the family farm after the murders to take care of her younger sister, four year old Phyllis who had survived that awful night.

Now, in a new six-part podcast by Rawlco Radio, Caffet shares the untold story of the Peterson family through Hill and others in the community who were deeply impacted by the events of that terrible night.

“It’s incredible how long-lasting the impact of the murder of the Peterson family has been,” says Caffet.  “Even all these decades later, rumours about the massacre continue to float around this province, and I wanted to get the people closest to this tragedy on the record before it was too late.”

The podcast is available on all major platforms and here’s the link to the website. New episodes released every Tuesday. Click on the image below to listen to a trailer for the podcast.