The Booher Murders Part 1

*Warning...disturbing content.* This True Ghost Story starts with a mass murder that took place on a rural property on the outskirts of Mannville, Alberta, Canada, on July 9, 1928. The lives of four people were taken by a series of rifle blasts that day - Fred Booher - age 25, his mother - Eunice Booher - age 44, & two farmhands. The only survivors were Eunice’s husband, Henry Booher - age 50, & their youngest son, Vernon Booher - age 19. Vernon’s two younger sisters also survived by not being at home on the day of the crimes. Vernon was arrested, tried twice, sentenced to death & hung approximately one year later. There is speculation as to whether or not Vernon was innocent. Some believe it was his father, Henry Booher, who committed the crimes & that Vernon took the fall so that his younger sisters would still have a parent to raise them. Both sisters always insisted that their brother was innocent. I would like to thank my friend & collegue, Vicky Marshall, her husband, Les Marshall, local historian, Mike Myhovich, for providing access to the building & helping me to verify facts. This story is still unfolding. Part 2 will be posted publicly at a later time…Part 3 &/or Part 4 may come beyond that.

On March 31, 2023, my husband & I were seated in the home of Vicky & Les Marshall in Mannville, Alberta, Canada. I had just finished a day of in-person Tarot Card Readings at Vicky’s store - Shine - on Main Street & I was preparing to teach my Advanced Tea Leaf Reading Class next.

“Let’s do something paranormal the next time I come out,” I suggested. “I’m absolutely fascinated with the paranormal. It will be fun.”

Vicky - being interested in the paranormal as well - mentioned a few local buildings that we might gain access to. When she mentioned the senior’s center that once housed the town’s original jail (circa 1800’s) in the basement, it piqued my interest. Vicky then stated that a local family had fallen victim to a massacre on their nearby farm in 1928. She said that the youngest son of that family was arrested & held in that jail. That was all I needed to hear. Arrangements were made for me to return to Mannville in June & Vicky got in touch with the owner of the building. The only thing I asked of Vicky was for her to not share any additional information with me. I prefer to have my own experiences & verify the details afterwards. Vicky understood & told me nothing more.

On Friday, June 9, 2023, my husband, Chris, & I returned to the area. We had rented an Airbnb for the weekend - an old church that had been converted into 2 separate living quarters. The building was deemed a paranormal hotspot & my husband & I had rented the main floor.

Within the first hour or two of our arrival, the activity began. I had barely set my bags down & was preparing supper when I saw the full-bodied apparition of a woman standing in the hallway at the entrance of the church. She was staring at me. I only saw her for a fraction of a second before she was gone. That woman was slender, had dark hair & she wore either a long dress or a blouse with a long skirt & a sash or belt across her midsection. At first, I didn’t know what to make of her. I thought she might be connected to the church…but I knew that the church was built in 1952 & her clothing didn’t match the era. I then wondered if she was connected to the land that the church was built upon or if she was connected to another building we were planning to visit.

While eating supper, the woman showed me the image of a pram. It was a very old-fashioned style baby carriage. She then made it known to me that her child couldn’t breathe & I could feel her desperation. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it all. I wondered who the woman was with the baby who had choked.

After supper, my husband & I met Vicky, her husband, Les, & Mike at the senior’s center. I mentioned my experiences at the church & asked who the woman with the choking baby was. I told them that it wasn’t clear if the child had lived or died, but that she was panicking about her child who couldn’t breathe. Nobody knew. I mentioned that she was definitely tied to Mannville & that she was from an older era in time.

After a little more conversation, we took my paranormal equipment to the basement of the building where the town’s original jail had once been. Vicky stayed on the main floor of the building while I went downstairs with the three men. Unfortunately, the old jail had been removed - possibly concealed behind a cinder block wall. There wasn’t much to see aside from concrete. We set out some flashlights to see if spirit might be able to turn them on & off for us…letting us know that they were present…& a short time later, one of the flashlights behind me lit up (video below). At that time, I could feel the intense energy of a woman who was absolutely hysterical. I felt immense greif. She was tied to the building - but I didn’t believe she was a prisoner herself - possibly tied to someone who had been held prisoner. I handed my EMF meter (electromagnetic field meter) to Les & Mike - thinking that the woman would likely want to communicate with locals instead of me (a stranger to the community)…but it turned out that I was wrong. We only had some very mild activity with the EMF meter while Mike asked questions. It was disappointing that spirit wouldn’t answer questions or interact with us beyond that.

As Mike was asking questions, I began to feel like I couldn’t breathe. We made a few EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) recordings & upon playing them back, I can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe. There’s something wrong with my neck.” As soon as I said that, Mike mentioned that Vernon Booher - who was arrested for the murders…had been found guilty of the crimes & was eventually hung. The hanging made sense…although I wasn’t sure if the hysterical woman was one of Vernon’s sisters or his mother. I only knew that the hysterical woman was tied to him. Mike happened to have two copies of books that had been written on the Booher Murder Case, which he was kind enough to lend me at the end of the night.

Flashlight test in the old jail - located in the basement of what is now the Manville Senior’s Centre. Flashlight came on dimly while we were attempting to communicate with spirit. We started recording & it continued to light up with no one touching it or standing near it.

After returning to the church & settling in with a movie on the sofa with my husband, I could feel someone playing with my hair. It happened multiple times. My husband saw nothing. I saw nothing. Yet I could feel someone’s fingers stroking my hair.

When I was getting ready for bed, I could see someone out of the corner of my eye peeking around the corner at me. I thought it was my husband, but upon calling out to him, I realized that he was in a completely different part of the building.

At approximately 3am, I awoke from a dream where the woman - who had appeared as the apparition in the church - had communicated with me. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, but I felt no emotion or sadness myself…I only felt hers. The woman had explained to me that she had showed me the baby carriage simply to indicate that she was a mother. There was no “baby”. She was a mother & her child was Vernon. I could feel intense, staggering grief. I could feel trauma & horror. She wept buckets. The details were a little fuzzy beyond that.

As I lay in bed pondering all of this, I could hear what sounded like someone walking around in the common area of the church. It sounded like footsteps & furniture being moved around. I got up to investigate, but there was nothing to see. My husband was sleeping soundly. The lights were off. Everything was still. I then decided to sit at the dining room table to document some of the things that I had experienced. I knew that if I didn’t write it down while the memories were fresh, the details would be lost. In the dark, I set out two flashlights for spirits to light up if they wanted to make their presence known. I got out the books that Mike had lent to me about the Booher Murders & I opened one of the books to the exact page where a photograph of the mother was - Eunice Booher. I recognized her as being the woman from my dream & the apparition I had seen the day before. I then made a list of all of the details of my interactions with her.

After making my notes, I asked out loud, “How do I connect with you outside of dreams to get more information?”

No sooner had those words left my lips when one of my flashlights lit up. I took a photo to document the event & make a note of the time (pictured below). It was 4:19am on Saturday, June 10, 2023. It was then I realized that Eunice hadn’t just lit up the flashlight to make her presence known. The flashlight was shining directly on my Automatic Writing Class handout booklet - where I teach students to channel messages from spirit. I was scheduled to teach that class later that day. I quickly got out a few sheets of paper & asked Eunice why she wouldn’t communicate with us at the old jail? I put my pen on the paper, let myself go into a trance & when I came out of it, I was surprised to see what was written on the paper. It said, “don’t trust men”. It had never occurred to me that I had gone to the old jail surrounded by three men. I had given the EMF meter to Mike & Les to ask questions with. Eunice didn’t want to talk to them…& when I thought about it, I understood why. She was surrounded by men on the day of the murders. Her son was arrested by a man, found guilty by a man - along with a jury of six men. He was hung by a man. Etc.

Flashlight test in the old church converted to Airbnb - Eunice Booher communication. June 10, 2023 4:19am.

1: Flashlight illuminating automatic writing class handout booklet when I asked Eunice how best to communicate with her outside of dreams.

2: Where I was seated at the time that the flashlight lit up…& where I sat when communicating with Eunice through automatic writing.

Automatic Writing Session - June 10, 2023 at 4:19am - revealed the reason Eunice Booher didn’t communicate with us at the site of the old jail was because she ‘didn’t trust men’ & wanted to communicate only with me.

Line 1: scribble then word fight - in my dream, Eunice had shown multiple hands on the barrel of a rifle - indicating a struggle.

Line 2: don’t trust men Line 3: no men you just (or possibly ‘trust’) you

Communicating with sad female in the old jail June 9 2023. This recording came after the flashlight test. This video has sound. The EMF meter lights up fully when I ask why she is so sad. We had no further communication from her after that. It wasn’t until 4am the next morning that I learned that she didn’t want to communicate in the old jail with us because she didn’t trust men & only wanted to cummunicate with me.

Since my experiences in Manville that weekend, I have been visited in my home by spirit. I believe the woman who visited me was either Eunice Booher or one of her daughters. I was fortunate enough to capture an image on camera but haven’t had time to sit down & communicate with them further. It will come. This story is still unfolding. Part 2 will be published at a later time…Parts 3 &/or 4 may come beyond that.

Do you believe that Vernon was responsible for the deaths on his family’s farm in 1928? Do you think it was Henry or someone else? Do you have any other thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment below.