Amber Kirwan: Pictou County's Angel
By Kate O'Dell
()
About this ebook
In October 2011, nineteen-year-old Amber Kirwan disappeared after spending the evening at a downtown pool hall. She had walked a few minutes down the road to meet her boyfriend, but never made it. New Glasgow, Nova Scotia were terrified, and the community stepped up to search for Kirwan throughout Pictou County, plastering her missing poster everywhere they could.
After an exhaustive search, her remains were discovered a few weeks later on an old logging road a half hour from where she'd last been seen. She was naked, lying facedown in a shallow, muddy grave, clothing discarded in the bushes. She had been bound, stabbed multiple times, and had bled to death. The trial of her murderer, Christopher Falconer, became the most high profile trial the county had ever seen.
Read more from Kate O'dell
Adam's Treasure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPaper Boys: The Disappearance of Marc Allen, Johnny Gosch, and Eugene Martin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Murder of Janet Smith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurder in the Prairies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarriet Quimby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Rabbits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSylvia Plath: A Brief Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLarry Eyler: A Brief Biography of the 'Highway Murderer' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of Ida Tarbell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlfred Ely Beach's Pneumatic Subway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Wilkes Booth: A Brief Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNessie: Story of the Loch Ness Monster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Really Happened to Billy Stone? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsErnest Hemingway: Literary Giant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNellie Bly, Woman of Wonder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Amber Kirwan
Related ebooks
The Disappearance of Juanita Nielsen A Collection of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Ardeth Wood An Anthology of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Emma Fillipoff Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJeffrey Mailhot Serial Killer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFractured Silence: The mysterious death of Norma Rhys McLeod, 1929 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Bianca Carrasco : An Anthology of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKelly O'Donnell The Killer Stripper A Collection of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJolly Thomas, Serial Killer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTashia Stuart & Other Stories A Collection of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Kimberly Moreau Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of the Clinton Avenue Five Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVanished Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKiller Doctor : The True Story of Kathleen Hagen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Child Star To Criminal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Danielle Imbo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Kemberly Ramer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpree Killer : The True Story of Michele Anderson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrazy Women Killers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Kristen Modafferi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilliam Pierce, A Killer On The Loose A Collection of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Juanita Jean Nelson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Marsha Brantley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Imperfect Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKiller Swedish Girl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Hailey Dunn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh An Anthology of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvil Bitches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Lynne Schulze Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Caroline Rose Isenberg : An Anthology of True Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Laureen Ann Rahn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Abductions & Kidnapping For You
A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear Jacob: A Mother's Journey of Hope Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Behind Closed Doors: Four children by her father. Thirty years of horrific sexual abuse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tears of Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Playing Dead: A Memoir of Terror and Survival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man with Candy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl With No Name Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stolen in the Night: The True Story of a Family's Murder, a Kidnapping and the Child Who Survived Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Searching for Savanna: The Murder of One Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Against Their Will: Sadistic Kidnappers and the Courageous Stories of Their Innocent Victims Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Child: The powerful true story of a boy abandoned as a baby and left to die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from the Terrifying Cult Nxivm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder in Old Kentucky: True Crime Stories from the Bluegrass Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darker than Night: The True Story of a Brutal Double Homicide—and an 18-Year-Long Quest for Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister and the Truth of Her Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (Text Only) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Lost Angel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Crime Trivia: 350 Questions & Answers to Quiz Yourself and Challenge Your Friends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSavage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Amber Kirwan
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Amber Kirwan - Kate O'Dell
INTRODUCTION
On October 9, 2011, a young nineteen-year-old woman named Amber Kirwan decided to spend a few hours getting drinks with her friends at the local pool hall. It was a Saturday night, and she was enjoying her evening at Dooly’s, which was located in downtown New Glasgow. Dooly’s Pool Hall, was located at 60 Archimedes Street, in downtown New Glasgow. It was part of the Dooly’s franchise – with other locations spread throughout the maritime provinces, as well as Quebec, and Ontario. It was sometimes also called Dooly’s Billiards.
What should’ve been just a simple night out with friends, became a nightmare for young Kirwan. At 1:30 AM, Amber was supposed to walk to Big Al’s, the nearby convenience store, to meet her boyfriend for a ride home. But Amber never showed up. Kirwan’s family, and her boyfriend contacted the police, and filed a missing person’s report.
For weeks, her boyfriend and family searched for her. The entire community rallied together, trying to find Kirwan, hoping desperately that nothing nefarious had happened to her. And in the beginning of November 2011, Kirwan’s remains were discovered in a shallow grave. It was devastating news. There were so many questions swirling around. Who could have killed her in such a grisly fashion? Why her? What had happened on that short walk from Dooly’s, to Big Al’s on October 9th? There were so many unanswered questions, as police investigated. Kirwan’s case officially went from a missing person’s case, to a homicide.
An arrest was finally made – a convicted murderer who had just recently gotten out of prison. Christopher Falconer, whose family lived in the area where Kirwan’s body was discovered, was charged with first-degree murder. In one of the highest profile court cases in Pictou County, Falconer pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. Despite having no witnesses to the actual crime, and no murder weapon, the crown put together a case against Falconer. After weeks of testimony from dozens of experts, police, friends, and family members, Falconer was given a twenty-five-year sentence.
To my knowledge, I have never met Amber Kirwan. I did, however, live for a number of years in both Stellarton, and New Glasgow. Residents in both towns are very interconnected through friendship circles, and large family trees, that a great deal of residents know each other through the degrees of separation.
It is totally possible that during my years living in both towns, I may have met Amber Kirwan briefly. Playing with the dozens of friends at the Albion park, watching a game at the baseball diamond, or sledding with kids of all ages on a snow day. It is highly possible, though it is something I will never know for certain.
When Amber Kirwan first disappeared, I was temporarily living outside of the province. The news of the missing Pictou County teen stunned me. In all the years I had lived in Nova Scotia, there had been few large crimes, and only one murder that I could recall. That murder had been difficult on the community, and people reacted by banding together in times of grief, and trying their best to show support for a deceased woman that many had never met in person. This was true for the Kirwan case as well. Amber Kirwan was a omplete stranger to me. She was four years my junior, and I had never even attended school at the same time as her. And yet, when the news broke, I felt fear and anxiety, and dread about the girl’s disappearance. I wanted so much for her to be found safe, to be returned to her boyfriend and family.
Tragically, that was not the case. The very idea that anyone could have gone after the young teen in such a brutal manner, still deeply upsets me. As terrible as it was that Kirwan would never return home, it was a small relief to know that her friends and family would be able to lay her to rest. And that there would be justice for what happened to her.
Though I didn’t know Amber Kirwan, I did know some of her friends, and even a few of her cousins. As I investigated this story further, a few familiar names came up in regards to witnesses, or people who gave testimony at