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Written by Eve Lazarus | #NoOneSucceedsAlone

In 1965, CKNW personality Rene Castellani poisoned his wife Esther with arsenic flavoured milkshakes so that he could marry Lolly Miller, the 20-something receptionist. While the murder was horrific, so was the collateral damage caused to the Castellani’s 11-year-old daughter Jeannine.

In 2011, I blogged about the murder, and fortunately for me, I made a mistake. Debbie Miller emailed to tell me that Lolly had a son, not a daughter, and her husband Don had been searching for Jeannine for nearly fifty years. I told her I would also like to find her, and then, last year, Jeannine found me.

She came to my book launch for Blood, Sweat, and Fear at the Vancouver Police Museum. Esther’s murder was part of the true-crime exhibit, situated next to our makeshift bar in the autopsy suite where she had once lain.

I told Jeannine that Don was looking for her, and she got quite emotional. She had also been searching for Don for nearly half a century.

I’m thrilled that my blog and subsequent book reunited Jeannine and Don. Because while it was fascinating to write this 1960s story of lust, betrayal and murder, the most important part was telling Jeannine’s story.

evelazarus.com/blog

 

See Eve at the 2018 Whistler Writers Festival