Death of Cindy James

Cynthia Elizabeth James (''née'' Hack; June 12, 1944 June 2—June 8, 1989)}} was a Canadian nurse who disappeared from Richmond, British Columbia, on May 25, 1989. She was found deceased approximately two weeks later in the yard of an abandoned house, hogtied and with a nylon stocking wrapped around her throat. An autopsy indicated that she had died of an overdose of morphine, diazepam, and flurazepam. James's death was notable as she had made numerous reports to authorities dating back to 1982, alleging that she had been a victim of various acts of stalking, harassment, vandalism, home invasions, and physical attacks perpetrated by an unknown assailant.

James's death and prior allegations were subject of great dispute, as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were unable to find any evidence suggesting she had been an actual victim of a stalker. Furthermore, she had a documented medical history of depression and suicidal thoughts, leading authorities to suspect that she may have been fabricating the various attacks and other incidents herself, orchestrating them to appear as legitimate, culminating in an eventual staged suicide. Over the nearly seven-year period James reported the incidents, the RCMP allocated an estimated $1–1.5 million in funds to investigate her claims, marking one of the longest and most costly police investigations in British Columbia history.

Despite skepticism from authorities, James's family members publicly insisted that she had in fact been preyed upon, and eventually murdered. A coroner's inquest was held in the spring of 1990 which included testimony from more than 80 witnesses. The inquest ultimately resulted in the conclusion that James had died of an "unknown event."

James's death received international media coverage and was the subject of an ''Unsolved Mysteries'' segment in 1991. Furthermore, two different books were published in 1991 chronicling her life and death: ''Who Killed Cindy James'' by British journalist Ian Mulgrew, and ''The Deaths of Cindy James'' by Neal Hall, a Canadian crime reporter who had extensively covered James's case for the ''Vancouver Sun''. In 2021, a podcast on James, ''Death by Unknown Event'', narrated by Pamela Adlon, was released by Audible. Provided by Wikipedia