Archive - 1975
Homicide #??
Date - 1975-09-23
Victim - Sheen, Julie (81)
Accused - UNSOLVED
Charge -
On Saturday, September 27, 1975, Julie Sheen, an
81-year old widow was found stabbed to death in the living room of her
home at 162 Inkster Blvd.
Mrs. Sheen was last seen alive on Thursday night (September 25) by
friends who had visited her home for cake and coffee. She had also
spoken with her daughter at 11:00 p.m. that night as well. At about
10:45 a.m. the following morning (September 26) an operator at the
Citizens Inquiry Board received a phone call from an unknown woman with
a heavy accent stating that she was about to be killed, robbed of all
her money and buried in her back yard. The phone was subsequently
disconnected.
It was unknown who this caller was, however when Mrs. Sheen?s body was
found, the number for the Citizens Inquiry Board was found written on a
piece of paper beside her phone. Furthermore, Mrs. Sheen was a former
immigrant from France and had a strong French accent. As such it is
believed that Mrs. Sheen was the caller and that she was killed shortly
after 10:45 a.m. on Friday, September 26, 1975.
Because Mrs. Sheen had immigrated to Canada after the great depression,
she did not trust banks and kept most of her money hidden about her
home wrapped in pieces of aluminum foil. When Mrs. Sheen was found, her
purses had been emptied, closets and cupboards searched, mattresses
turned over and pieces of aluminum foil were found scattered throughout
the house. The money that she had hidden was missing, suggesting that
robbery was the motive for this crime and was again consistent with the
phone call received by the Citizens Inquiry Board.
At about 11:15 a.m. on Friday morning, about the time the call is
received by the Citizens Inquiry Board, one of Mrs. Sheen's neighbours
reported seeing an old panel van drive away from the front of her
house. The neighbour felt that the license plates on the van were not
from Manitoba, but looked familiar to him and believed they may have
been issued by Washington State. While this van has not be connected
with any certainty to the murder, the reason it was there and its
owners have never been identified.
Mrs. Sheen lived alone. She was extremely conscious about home security
and kept all her doors locked. Due to failing eyesight she would not
open the door to anyone unless she had confirmed his or her identity.
Mrs. Sheen would go so far was to refuse entry to a delivery person,
insisting that the package be left on the step. As there appeared to be
no sign of forced entry, it is possible that Mrs. Sheen let the
suspect(s) into her house believing that she knew them.
While some neighbours were aware that Mrs. Sheen kept a large amount of
money in her house, her family believed that generally no one outside
of the family knew to what extent she had hidden money about her home.
In total, the last time the money was counted; there was roughly
$15,000.00, many of the bills being the old King George IV series $20
bills. Present at this time were Mrs. Sheen's daughter and her
granddaughter.
Shortly after the money was counted the granddaughter split from her
husband and moved to Florida. It is unknown whether or not the
ex-husband was aware of the money, however he was out of work, in debt
and trying to obtain credit at the time. On September 16, 1975, shortly
before the murder, he bought a one-way ticket to Florida with a bad
cheque to visit his ex-wife. He arrived in Florida on September 17,
dropped off their son and left. It is unknown if he returned to
Winnipeg but he has never been interviewed by the police and has not
been seen or heard from since, indicating he may have changed his name
or passed away.
Two days before the murder Mrs. Sheen called her daughter and indicated
that she had just received a surprise visit from her late husband's
brother's ex-wife ("Mary") and her new young boyfriend from Oakland,
California. She indicated they were hungry and looking for something to
eat before traveling to on to Edmonton. Apparently Mrs. Sheen was not
happy with their company as they drank too much and sent them on their
way.
Police investigation has never identified "Mary" or her boyfriend, as
the real "Mary Sheen" of Oakland had died several years earlier.
However neighbours did report seeing a blue Lincoln Continental with
California license plates parked across the street from Mrs. Sheen's
house on September 23, 1975, and two new picture postcards from
Oakland, California, were found beside Mrs. Sheen's phone.
It would appear that only someone known to Mrs. Sheen, or whom Mrs.
Sheen believed she knew, could have gained entry to her home.
Furthermore this person would have been well aware that she kept large
amounts of money secreted in her home. As such the killer knew Mrs.
Sheen or knew enough about Mrs. Sheen to convince her that she knew
them and let them into her home. The killers probably did not intend on
killing Mrs. Sheen, but may have panicked when they caught her on the
phone to the Citizens Inquiry Board.
While there is no indication whatsoever that Mrs. Sheen's
granddaughter's ex-husband was in Winnipeg at the time of the murder,
because of his financial situation at the time and his suspicious
disappearance, the police would still like to speak with him
today.
If you have any information about this case, please contact Crime Stoppers at 786-TIPS (8477), or e-mail Sgt. Al Bradbury and Det. Jon Lutz of the Cold Case Homicide Unit.
http://winnipeg.ca/police/Unsolved_Cases/Homicides/1975_sheen.stm