The Invisible Stalker

The bizarre death of Cindy James.

At 19 years old, Cindy James married a 37 year old doctor named Dr. Roy Makepeace. He was 18 years older than her, with quite a headstart in life. Cindy began working as a nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital and soon took a second part-time administrative position at a preschool for children with emotional and behavioral problems. While she loved nursing, counseling these children was her gift. They lived in the quiet suburb of Richmond, near Vancouver, British Columbia, with no children of their own.

In July of 1982, at 44 years old and after 16 years of marriage, Cindy filed for a divorce from Roy and conveniently, or not, that’s when the trouble started. She was living alone and working longer hours. Within four months of being single, she began receiving harassing phone calls and threatening letters in the mailbox. The caller would whisper her name through the line along with threats. Once, Cindy hung up the phone and closed the blinds in the front room, only for the caller to ring again and tell her “There’s no use in hiding, I know you’re in the living room.”

She stayed in touch with her ex-husband as the threats graduated from verbal abuse to violent and destructive. Obscene notes made of cut up newspapers kept arriving in her mailbox and one day, Cindy came home to find three dead cats…