The Mad Trapper of Rat River

Fargo · Post by **Fargo** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:48 am

In the summer of 2007 the Mad Trapper of Rat River was exhumned. The story of the trapper is well known in northern and western Canada.

For those not familiar with the Mad Trapper, the link below tells the story.

http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/NWT/madtrapper.htm

A Documentary about the exhumation was to be released sometime in 2008. I have found out that the DNA testing has taken longer than expected and that the documentary should be shown on the Discovery channel in about April or May of next year. The decendants of many people who had been suspected of being the Mad Trapper, have provided DNA samples for testing. The real identity of the Mad Trapper was never known.

The movie Death Hunt with Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin was based on the story of the Mad Trapper. Although the movie did have a few of the main facts wrong. In the real story, officer Spike Millen and Mad Trapper, Albert Johnson ( an alias ) did not survive the manhunt, while in the movie they both survived.

The big mystery has always been who was the trapper? One book written on the case, by author Dick North, names American fugitive Johnny Johnson as the Mad Trapper. I hope the Documentary will finally answer the question.

kssunflower · Post by **kssunflower** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:05 pm

Thanks for that great article. He must have been almost superhuman! I'll be looking forward to the Discovery channel documentary.

Fargo · Post by **Fargo** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:09 pm

The Hunt for the Mad Trapper will be shown on the Discovery Channel May 21st at 8:00 PM EST in Canada. I am not sure if it will be shown on the same date in the U.S.

Fargo · Post by **Fargo** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:33 am

Two more days till the Mad Trapper Documentary. It is on the Canadian Discovery Channel here at 5 pm and 9 pm Pacific Time, I don't know about in the U.S.

Fargo · Post by **Fargo** » Mon May 25, 2009 1:39 am

Well, the Mad Trappers real identidy is still a mystery. They have the Trappers DNA profile but none of the DNA that they checked it with were a match.

From the forensic testing they believe the Trapper was from the north cental U.S. He have expensive dental work done which makes them think that at one time he was well off.

They also found that he had had extensive injuries to the right side of his body from 5 to 15 years before his death. They did a facial reconstruction as well, to show what he looked like in life. The pictures taken of him after his death showed a face disfigured from malnutrition and from being frozen, so they were not an accurate record of what he looked like in life.

This documentary should get others interested in the case and get more people who think he may be a relative to provide DNA for testing. I am confident that eventually they they will find out who the Trapper was.