The Death of Darcy Allan Sheppard

Written By Lindsay Eldridge

TORONTO, ONTARO

A six-part investigative podcast series

In 2009, a violent collision on a busy downtown Toronto street shocked bystanders - and dominated the headlines.

The cyclist, Métis bicycle messenger Darcy Allan Sheppard died at the scene.

The motorist, lawyer and former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant drove away.

The incident was shocking, unimaginable, unfathomable. And the public narrative went in a new direction after a crisis PR firm was retained to assist one of the parties.

Something didn’t seem right to Darcy Allan Sheppard’s loved ones. Years later, they received freedom of information documents which told a very different story to the narrative presented to the general public.

Who was the primary aggressor?

We analyzed all of the documents, the evidence, and the eyewitness statements and compared it to court documents in an effort to get closer to the truth.

What emerges is a tale of elites against commoners; cars against bicycles; and wealth and privilege against poverty and crime.

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The Episodes

Part 1: The Collision
The lives of a cyclist and a motorist from opposite sides of the tracks merge one night.

Part 2: The Aftermath
A crisis PR firm succeeds in influencing the media with misleading and false information.

Part 3: The Evidence
With the benefit of hindsight, we compare the FOI documents later released to the narrative playing out in the headlines.

Part 4: Criminal “Justice”
A special prosecutor is brought in to avoid a conflict of interest, but there are some alarming discrepancies between his presentation and the evidence in the FOI docs.

Part 5: A Conflict of Interest?
The special independent prosecutor and the defence were praised for their mutual cooperation in a system supposed to be adversarial—but it seemed to go much deeper than that.

Part 6: How did this happen?
In this series conclusion we also speak with one of the main eyewitnesses who contacted us as the series was being released, as well as Allan Sheppard, Darcy’s father

Credits:
Executive Producer, Researcher, Writer, Sound Design: Kristi Lee
Producer, Audio Engineer: Nico Vettese (We Talk of Dreams)
Researcher: Haley Gray
Producer, Creative Direction: Aviva Lessard
Audio Editor: Eileen Macfarlane

Special thanks to Allan Sheppard, Joe Hendry and Victoria (the eyewitness).

Music credits:
Theme Song and other original music: We Talk of Dreams
Blue Dot Sessions: Campsite 9, Uncertain Ground, Gathering Stasis, Dawn Line Approaching, Sunset at Sandy Isle, Sals Place, Evidence Room, Well Water, Drizzle, Access Road 138, Access Road 214, Access Road 442, Game Lands
Kai Engel - Mercy, Delirium, Run, Harbor
Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Two, Cylinder Five
Kevin Macleod / Incompetech - Mesmerize, Echoes of Time, Long Note Two

Resources and information sources:

Comments closed

As of November 8, 2022 we’ve decided to close comments to this page (sorry!)
Kristi here: in the interests of freedom of speech and transparency, we left the comments open for three months after the episode was released and approved all feedback - positive or critical (unless hateful or inappropriate).
At this point comments have become repetitive and points continue to be argued that we’ve already responded to. We know that this has been a very controversial case and appreciate that listeners want to share their opinions but from our perspective, continuing to read and approve such comments is no longer a good use of time. Thanks so much for understanding!

We have provided responses to critical feedback in two ways:

  • In writing: you can read as replies to many of the comments received below (starting from the bottom of the page)

  • Verbally: you can stream our response in the podcast player below (this audio originally appeared in the Major Case Updates and Feedback 2022—Part 1 episode, which was released in October 2022. We’ve isolated the audio).

Lindsay Eldridge
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