Four Bullets, Four Witnesses, Four Liars

The True Story of a Murder and the Trial That Followed

By: Brian Barrie

Narrated by: John Chancer

On April 26th, 1988, a man was shot and killed in a remote cabin in rural Ontario.

Four witnesses were questioned by the police. Each one told a different story. Worse, they continued to change their stories, repeatedly contradicting not only each other, but also themselves. Ultimately, a woman named Mae McEachern was charged with murder. But what really happened that night?

Author Brian Barrie acted as Mae’s defense lawyer at her murder trial. In this scintillating true crime novel, Barrie uses the trial transcripts, newspaper articles, and his own memories to piece together the story of who the victim was, who the witnesses were, and how the murder came to pass. He goes on to detail the gripping courtroom drama of the murder trial, where Mae’s innocence was judged by a jury of her peers.

Grappling with themes of mental illness, domestic violence, misogyny, and disability, this astonishing exposé casts a light on how the Canadian justice system can further victimize those who are already vulnerable, while also laying bare the simple kindness and love that can exist between people, even in the harshest of circumstances.

©2024 University of Toronto Press (P)2024 University of Toronto Press