Behind Closed Doors: The Unsolved Murders of Jillian Blatchford Fuller and Sheila Henry Artwork

Valley of Secrets

Valley of Secrets is an independent true crime podcast hosted and produced by Nicci Ruth. This podcast takes you on an immersive journey that focuses on the victims of murder, mysterious disappearances, and haunting unsolved cases in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. Each episode sheds light on the stories behind the headlines, ensuring the victims are never forgotten.

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Valley of Secrets

Behind Closed Doors: The Unsolved Murders of Jillian Blatchford Fuller and Sheila Henry

July 19, 2026

0:00 | 26:23

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In early 1993, two young women were killed inside their own homes in Vancouver. Jillian Blatchford Fuller was found after a fire was reported inside her Marpole apartment. Investigators later determined she had already been murdered before the fire was set. Less than a month earlier, Sheila Henry, a 26-year-old nurse who was newly pregnant, was found dead inside her Kitsilano duplex. The cases were investigated separately, and police have never publicly connected them. But both remain unsolved. Both women were killed in their homes. Both cases involved close-contact violence. And in both cases, there were reportedly no obvious signs of forced entry. In this episode of Valley of Secrets, we look at the unsolved murders of Jillian Fuller and Sheila Henry, the investigations that followed, the unanswered questions, and the families who have spent decades waiting for justice.

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Valley of Secrets covers real true crime cases using public sources, archival reports, and family or community input when available. Episodes may include sensitive topics such as violence, trauma, and loss. Viewer discretion is advised. All individuals are presumed innocent unless prove...

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A woman walks into a marpool pub carrying a pink colored book. She sits alone reading while the noise of the bar moves around her. Less than a month earlier, across the city in Kitsalano, a young nurse is at home in a duplex she shares with her husband. She has recently found out that she is pregnant and is just beginning to imagine what comes next for her and her husband. Two women, two Vancouver neighborhoods, two homes that should have felt safe. But by the spring of 1993, both of these women would be dead. Their cases were investigated separately, and police have never connected them, but both remain unsolved, and both involve questions that have followed their families for more than 30 years. Hey secret seekers, I'm Nikki Ruth, and this is the story of Gillian Blatchford Fuller and Sheila Henry. The family moved to Vancouver in the early 1970s, and Gillian grew up alongside her siblings Therese, Timothy, and Jane. By all accounts, Gillian was outgoing, compassionate, very intellectual, and talented. She spoke English and French fluently, played piano beautifully, and was known to be athletic. At one point, she ranked 23rd among Canadian female speed skaters, which is quite the feat. From the outside, Gillian appeared to come from a close, well-educated, and supportive family. But later in life she began to struggle. It is not clear exactly what changed for Gillian or what she may have been carrying privately, but by the time of her death, she was struggling with alcoholism, and she had been living on income assistance before she was killed. These details are important, not because they define Gillian, but because they help explain where she may have been in the time leading up to her death. She appears to have been going through a pretty vulnerable period, and unfortunately, that may have placed her around people who were not safe. There were reports in the months leading up to her death that Gillian had been assaulted by people that she had been drinking with. And at one point, police reportedly escorted her home after she was injured during one of those disputes. Her father, George, later complained that police had not handled the situation properly. And according to reports, he believed Gillian should have been taken to the hospital rather than been taken home with friends. By 1993, Gillian was living alone in Vancouver's Marpole neighborhood near Granville Street. Marpole sits at the southern edge of Vancouver, close to the Fraser River, with bridges connecting it to other parts of the lower mainland. Today, it is a busy area with major roads, transit, parks, high-rises, and ongoing development. But in the early 1990s, Marpole looked and felt very different. It was more of a working class with older apartment buildings, single-family homes, small businesses, hotels, bars, and neighborhood pubs. One of those pubs was inside the Fraser Arms Hotel, just a few blocks from Gillian's apartment. On the evening of March 3rd, 1993, Gillian walks into the Fraser Arms Hotel. It is only a few blocks from her apartment, so this is not somewhere far or unfamiliar. It is part of her own neighborhood. In the early 1990s, the Fraser Arms had a reputation in Marpool. It was not an upscale lounge or trendy downtown spot. It was more of a gritty local watering hole, known to regulars and late-night drinkers, people passing through that stretch of Granville Street in Vancouver. The downstairs pub was commonly known as the Rock Cellar, though locals refer to it as Fram's. It had once been known as a live rock venue, but by the early 1990s, it had developed a rowdier reputation and is associated with adult entertainment and biker crowds. On this particular night, a waitress notices Gillian. She's wearing a black pullover sweater with a red trim, and she's carrying a pink-colored book. She stands out because she's sitting alone in a bar reading. And that is the kind of detail that someone would remember. In a loud, rough neighborhood pub with people drinking and talking around her, Gillian is sitting by herself reading a book. At some point later in the evening, Gillian is seen speaking with a man inside the pub. Nothing particular about it. This man becomes one of the biggest unknowns in this case, though. Witnesses describe him as being six feet tall with a medium build. He has olive or darker skin, dark color hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows, and is believed to be somewhere in his late 20s. He is reportedly wearing a blue shirt, possibly denim. Gillian leaves the pub around 1.30 a.m., but investigators are never able to publicly confirm whether that man leaves with her or not. Police later suggests the two may have arranged to meet afterward or that he may have followed her. It is also possible he had nothing to do with her death at all. But here, the timeline becomes much less clear. Just after 4 a.m., a newspaper delivery boy is making his usual route near 8770 Gramble Street when he notices smoke coming from an apartment building, and he calls 911 immediately. Firefighters arrive and they make their way inside. The fire is contained to one unit, apartment 109. But once they enter the smoldering bedroom, they find something far more serious than a small apartment fire. According to Vancouver City News, firefighters discover what they describe as the charred remains of a woman. She is lying in her bed and is eventually identified as Gillian Blatchard Fuller. At first, this begins as a fire call, but once investigators start looking at the scene, it becomes clear that the fire was only part of what happened. Gillian did not die in the fire. She had already been killed before it was set. After the fire is extinguished, investigators begin processing the apartment as a homicide scene. Police initially release very little information publicly. They do not reveal her cause of death or if she had been sexually assaulted. And for anyone who follows true crime, we know that investigators usually do this intentionally so that later they can determine whether a tip or confession is actually credible. Over time, more information begins to surface, though, through media reports and later records. Witnesses claim Gillian had been found unclothed and that there was blood at the scene. Investigators eventually confirmed that the fire had been deliberately set, and later, Gillian's death certificate confirmed something police had not publicly shared at the time. Gillian had been strangled. Her estimated time of death is listed as approximately 4:17 a.m. And that detail matters because strangulation is close contact violence. It requires force, control, and time. In many cases, investigators look closely at whether the victim knew the person responsible or whether the attack was personal in some way. Gillian had also been beaten. And after she was killed, the person responsible appears to have stayed inside the apartment long enough to set a fire, which kind of makes you feel and wonder that if he kind of knew the area and knew that nobody would find her until later. Police reports that there are no signs of forced entry into Gillian's apartment. That strongly suggests, again, that Gillian may have known the person responsible, or that she had allowed somebody in. From there, police begin looking closely at the people connected to Gillian. One person investigators looked at was a former fiance, and according to Gillian's father, that man had a lengthy criminal record. Another person police reportedly investigated was a former roommate of Gillian's. The two had lived together in Gillian's apartment for a period of time, and they had met while Gillian was in treatment for her alcoholism. But publicly, neither man was ever named as a suspect, and neither was ever charged. Eventually, investigators kept coming back to the same unanswered question: Who was the identified man Gillian had been seen speaking with at the Rock Cellar pub? Whether he left with her or not, he may have been one of the last people to see her alive. Police interviewed witnesses, followed tips, and released sketches based on the descriptions that they were given. But publicly, that man was never identified. And that leaves a major gap in this case, because this man appears in Gillian's timeline only hours before she is killed, and then he seems to disappear from public record. If he had nothing to do with Gillian's murder, it does raise the question of why he never came forward. There are a few possible explanations. I mean, maybe he never saw the appeal, maybe he did come forward privately and police just never released that information, or maybe he had another reason for staying silent. But publicly, there has never been a confirmed answer. And without that identification, the investigation stalled. Which brings me to another unsolved Vancouver murder that happened only about a month before Gillian's. Police have never publicly connected these two cases, so I do want to be clear about that. But while looking into Gillian's case, Sheila Henry's case kept standing out because of the timing, the location, and some of the details. Sheila Louise McKindo was born on May 27, 1966, to Gary and Linnea McKindo. She grew up in Kimberley, BC, which is in the East Kootenys, and loved skiing and being outdoors. Sheila later attended the University of Victoria, where she met her husband David Henry, and then went to Calgary to study nursing. By 1993, she was working as a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, a girl after my own heart. Sheila and David had married in 1991 while on a trip to Florida. But by early 1993, they had recently learned Sheila was pregnant. Reports say the pregnancy did come as a surprise, but the couple were beginning to adjust to the idea that they were about to become parents. Sheila was about six weeks along at the time of her death. At the time, Sheila and David are living in a brand new duplex at 3356 West 7th Avenue in Kitsalano. Sheila's old high school friend James Becker was also living with them. Kitsalano is a very different setting than Marpole. It sits on Vancouver's west side, close to the beaches, coffee shops, and small neighborhood stores. Even in the 1990s, it had a more of a laid-back, upper to middle class feel. Locals sometimes called it Kitsiformia because its beachy surf shop vibe. It is viewed as a safe neighborhood. But on the afternoon of February 5th, 1993, someone enters their home and attacks Sheila. David pulls up to the duplex around 8 p.m. and enters the home. On the kitchen floor, he finds his wife lying in a pool of blood. He calls Nama 1 and reportedly says, quote, All the kitchen cupboards are covered in blood. Can I what should I do? End quote. When police and paramedics arrive, Sheila's body is cold and she has no pulse. Near her body, investigators find a pillow and a telephone that is off the hook. As police begin processing the scene, more details emerge about the attack. According to reports, Sheila had been beaten, most likely with a flashlight, which was later found inside the apartment on the kitchen counter. Some sources say that she was strangled, while others describe her as being smothered. I was not able to find any clear information on whether or not police believed Sheila had been sexually assaulted. Reporting in the province also stated that the pathologist described bruising on Sheila's arms and hands, which suggested that she probably did try to fight off her attacker. And then there is the entry point. Police reportedly found no signs of forced entry into this home either. That detail matters because, just like in Gillian's case, investigators were looking at a woman killed inside her own home with no clear evidence that someone had broken in. So in Sheila's case, police had to consider a few possibilities. The person may have walked in through an unlocked door, though they may have had a key, or Sheila may have allowed them in as well. It is reported that a sliding patio door was reportedly found open, which may have been the point of entry. So right away, investigators are dealing with a violent attack inside a home, no obvious break-in, and several questions about who could have gotten inside without forcing their way in. Police bring David to the station for questioning after Sheila's body is found. While he is there, he reportedly tells police that he lost his wedding ring while on vacation in Florida. Kind of a strange thing to bring up, in my opinion. But one officer finds that strange as well because he says that he saw David wearing the ring earlier that same evening. So officers then go and search the area where David had been sitting while calling relatives in the police station. And there, hidden in the sofa folds, they find the wedding ring. And that detail is hard to understand, but it also clearly stood out to investigators. When police confront David about the ring, he right away lawyers up and stops cooperating with the police. He also refuses to take a polygraph, although he later states that he wanted to help police, but his lawyer would not let him. Not sure what to say about that one. From there, investigators begin looking closely at David's every move that day. David tells police he last saw Sheila alive around 3 p.m. before leaving the house to run errands. According to his account, he goes to Woodward's department store, then to Oak Ridge Center to buy some clothes, and later spends a long period of time at a computer store. So police now have to work backward. They have Sheila found dead in the home at 8 p.m., and they have David saying he left around 3 p.m., and they have to figure out where he has been during the hours in between. Cellular records become part of this timeline. According to reports, David's phone activity places him in the general area around the time Sheila is believed to have died. Investigators also look at a call made to a dry cleaner where David allegedly tried to ask the clerk for a date on the day his wife is murdered. The call records also show that David called home twice that evening, once at 6.02 p.m. and again at 6.42 p.m. Those calls raise questions because if David believed Sheila was home, police would want to know what happened during those calls. Investigators also speak with James Becker, of course, the roommate, the friend who had been living with Sheila and David. James reportedly tells police that David often worked in the evenings, and he also reportedly says Sheila had once mentioned that she thought David might be having an affair. So by this point, David becomes the focus of this investigation. But suspicion is not the same thing as proof. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Police thoroughly do investigate him, but they do not find any blood evidence on him or in his vehicle. Sheila's parents, Gary and Linnea of Minkindo, would spend years pushing for answers. They fought to have an inquest held into their daughter's death. At that inquest, David Henry continuously denied killing Sheila. And he says that he removed the ring because he felt guilty about what he described as quote-unquote evil thoughts about other women, which he said went against his strong religious beliefs. At the end, the jury recommended that a $10,000 reward be offered for information that could lead to anyone's arrest. But criminal charges were never laid against David. Prosecutors cited a lack of evidence. James Becker was also eliminated as a suspect because he had been out of town for his grandmother's funeral. In 1999, Sheila's family tried another route. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against David under the Family Compensation Act, but the case was dismissed. The court found that the family had missed the legal deadline to file because the law required the claim to be filed within two years of Sheila's death. The court refused to make any exceptions for this family. So even after the inquest, Sheila's family was still left without the answers they had been fighting for. However, according to many reports, the Makindo strongly believe that David killed their daughter. When you step back and look at Gillian's case beside Sheila's, there are clear differences. Sheila was killed in Kitsalano, Gillian was killed in Marple. Sheila was found in her kitchen, Gillian was found in her bed after a fire had been set inside of her apartment. In Sheila's case, her husband became the focus of the investigation, although, like I said, never charged. In Gillian's case, investigators looked at people in her life but also kept coming back to that unidentified man at the Rock Cellar pub. So these are not identical cases per se, but there are details that do overlap and are similar in my mind. So I just wanted to bring that forward. Both women were young. They were both killed in Vancouver in early 1993, within a month of each other. Both were attacked inside their own homes. Both cases involved close contact violence, such as strangulation, and in both cases there were reportedly no forced entry. Both women were also beaten. Sheila's home in Kitsalano was also only seven kilometers from Gillian's apartment at Marpo. That does not prove a connection, but it does show that during this period, Vancouver had two young women killed in their homes within weeks of each other, and both of these families have been left for over 30 years without any justice. Then, about eight months later, after Gillian's murder, her investigation takes an unusual turn. An anonymous typed letter arrives at the Vancouver Police Department. The letter is postmarked November 15, 1993. But what stands out is where it was mailed from. Washington, D.C., nearly 4,700 kilometers away from Vancouver. And that detail raises an obvious question. In 1993, information did not move the way it does now. There was no social media, no Reddit threads, no TikTok, no true crime podcasts, which is what I do. Most people heard about crimes through local newspapers, television, broadcasts, radio, or by word of mouth. So how did someone in Washington, D.C. know enough about Gillian Fuller's murder to write directly to Vancouver police? The envelope was addressed directly to the chief of detectives in the Homicide Division. When the investigators opened it, the visible portion read, quote, Dear Sir, I am writing about the murder of Gillian Fuller on March 4, 1993, for which there has not been an arrest. To say that, if you have not already done so, you should consider, and then end quote. Everything after that was redacted. Police have never publicly revealed what was written in the body of that letter. The final visible lines you can read though, and they stated, quote, Well, I would like to think that if I gave my name, you would hold it in confidence. I hope you will not discount the information or ideas in this letter, because I write anonymously. Was it a theory? Was it a tip? Was it information from someone who knew more than they were willing to say publicly? We we just don't know. We don't have that information. The most important part of that letter has never been released to the public. By 1995, police publicly acknowledge that they have hit a wall. Investigators announce a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and they make it clear they believe someone out there knows something that had happened. That statement still matters today. Because in cases like this, the answer may not only be in the evidence. It may be with someone who heard something, saw something, or has been carrying this information for years because eventually somebody usually does talk. As the years pass, Gillian and Sheila's cases become part of Vancouver's cold case history. But for their families, these were never just old files. Gillian's mother Lois died three years after her daughter's murder, and her father George passed away in 2016 without ever learning who killed their daughter. Gillian's sister Therese also passed away in 2017. Gillian's family has kept her name alive through an endowment fund created in 1993 at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The fund provides an annual bursary to women who may be marginalized in the community or struggling with mental illness. In 2013, on the 20th anniversary of Gillian's death, her sister Jane released a public statement through the Vancouver Police Cold Case website. Part of it read, quote, The toll that my sister's death has cost my family over the last 20 years is truly immeasurable. It cast a dark cloud on our family that has never been lifted. Her loss has left a deep wound in all of our lives, and the fact that her killer was never found means that wound will always be unhealed. And Sheila's family has carried that same kind of pain. Her parents, Gary and Linnea McKindo, never stopped hoping that the person responsible for Sheila's murder would be brought to justice. Their loss was not only Sheila, but also the unborn grandchild that they never got to meet. Over the years, the grief took a heavy toll on the family. Gary retired so he could be there for Linnea, and both of them went to counseling and tried to cope with what had happened. In 2007, Gary spoke about the pain he still carried. He said he felt as though he had failed Sheila because her killer had never been brought to justice. He also described waking up at night imagining Sheila calling for him to help her, knowing that he never could. And that is just one of the hardest parts of these cases. My heart goes out to these families because these cases have remained cold. But for their families, the questions never stop. If you have any information regarding the murder of Jillian Blatchford Fuller or Sheila Henry, you can contact the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Unit at 604-717-2500. You can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. That's it for me today, guys. Don't forget to hit subscribe or follow so you don't miss an upload. And if you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a five-star review. I'll be back in two weeks with a new episode. Until then, stay safe, stay aware, and stay curious.

Nicci Ruth

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