- This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we uncover the eerie story
of the Eight-Day Bride, a bizarre twisted tale
of a hasty marriage, a secluded cottage, and a love
triangle with a deadly end; you know, all the makings
of a terrible rom-com, but a great case for us. - You don't want a hasty marriage. - You don't want any of those things. A hasty marriage--
- Hasty marriage, bad. - Secluded cottage? - Mmm, I wouldn't mind it. - I'm just saying, the combination of these
three things together is the amalgam that you don't want. - Bad brew. Let's hear about the bad brew. Let's get a big ol' ladle full of it. - Yeah, just scoop it up. - Scoop it up, baby! Scoop it up, let's slurp. (slurping)
- [Ryan] Smells spicy. (laughing) All right.
- Take it away. - [Ryan] On the evening on May 20th, 1947, the body of 22-year-old
Christina Kettlewell was found 150 feet from
her honeymoon cottage in just nine inches of water on the banks of a river
in Severn Falls, Ontario. But before we get into
the details of her death, let's dissect the circumstances
that would lead to the discovery of Christina's
body in the river. Christina Mocon lived in Mimico, Ontario, and worked at a bank, where she was described
as a capable employee. On May 12th, 1947, Christina eloped with John Ray Kettlewell, a 26-year-old war veteran
better known as Jack, after knowing each other for three years. Christina's family had a
concern about the marriage. Ronald Barrie, a 28-year-old
immigrant from Italy, was Jack's best friend and a
professional ballroom dancer. It's said that Jack, Christina, and Ronald spent an inordinate
amount of time together. Christina's sister, Helen, would comment that the family thought that perhaps Ronald was
in love with Christina. So, this is the classic case of two people in a relationship, but then there's this best friend who third-wheels quite a bit. For instance, I third-wheel
you and Sara all the time. - If I'm Christina-- I'm putting myself into Christina's mind right now, you know? I'm a beautiful woman. I'm married to this man, Jack. What's he got going for him? He was a veteran? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Okay, there's Jack. - It's weird to talk to you
when your eyes are closed, but-- - And Jack's, "Ooh, let's go elope." "Okay, we'll go to the church. "Who's this friend of yours?" - What's happening right now? - "Wow, who is this strapping
man who is your friend?" "Oh, this is my friend. "Don't worry about him. "He's just a lousy
professional ballroom dancer." "My stars! "Humma-mumma! "I can't get over this guy!" That's me putting myself
(laughing) into her mind. - That was highly disturbing. I didn't like it. - I just think, if I were
a woman in the '40s or '50s and you meet a professional
ballroom dancer, you're gonna be swept off your feet, maybe quite literally if
all goes well. (laughing) - Oh my dear Jesus. Okay, very good. Yeah, yeah, sure, I get it. The family was saying that he
was in love with her though, not the other way around. - Oh! So, I'm a professional ballroom dancer. - Okay, no, please don't do this again. - And my friend-- - No, no, please don't do this again! - (laughing) All right, okay. - [Ryan] Following the elopement, the Kettlewells spent the next few days at an apartment in
Toronto on Tindle Avenue. Bizarrely, Ronald joined them for the entirety of their honeymoon. And on May 17th, the trio headed out to Ronald's remote
cottage in Severn Falls, only accessible by boat. Now, we could both agree that bringing your best friend along to your honeymoon is an odd choice. - [Shane] That's a little
strange because the honeymoon, I've heard, is for sex. - [Ryan] Yeah, it's for the sexy time, and he's just sitting there in a chair-- - [Shane] He's just, (crunching). - [Ryan] Eating a peach. (laughing) - [Shane] "We gonna head down "to the hot tub after this or...?" - [Ryan] "Hey, you guys, "could you get some more beer in here? (Shane laughing) "I'm getting a little thirsty." - [Shane] (laughing) A little weird! - [Ryan] During their time at the cottage, it's reported that Christina
began to act out of character. She would go into crying fits while, at other times, seemed completely dazed. Evidence suggests that Christina had conversations with Ronald about whether or not Jack truly loved her. On May 20th, Christina
disappeared from the cottage, curiously on the same day that Ronald's cottage
mysteriously caught fire. Ronald returned to the cabin
to find a disoriented Jack sitting in the cabin with
an apparent head injury and pulled him out of the blaze. He looked for Christina, but couldn't find her
anywhere in the cottage. Ronald recalled that the
cottage burned to the ground in just an hour. He took Jack on a boat to
Severn Falls to reach a car to drive him to the hospital
and contacted the police. It was then that Ronald discovered that the situation became even worse. That evening, Christina's body was found in nine inches of water just 150 feet away from the
cottage by Neville Sweet, an owner of a boathouse in the area. Her body was free from burns
or any signs of violence. An official autopsy found traces
of codeine in her stomach, but her ultimate cause of
death was declared a drowning. Interesting, Major Lawrence Scardifield, who tried to help put out
the fire in the cottage, said he saw no signs of
Christina's body in the area when he went to fetch water from the river to help with the flames
just hours earlier. That's interesting. - [Shane] Maybe this guy's
just not good at his job. - [Ryan] Or, she was moved there later, 'cause her body was found
at night, hours later. - [Shane] Oh, I see, okay. If you're arriving to a scene and there's a building on fire-- - [Ryan] Yeah, I guess your focus is on the burning building. - [Shane] Usually, people
focus on the burning building. - [Ryan] That is true. Jack, Ronald, and 20 other people were questioned by police
in connection with the case. Jack was interrogated by
the police for three hours after being released from the hospital, where he was treated for burns, shock, a head injury, and apparent drugging. Seems odd to drug yourself. - [Shane] Again, unless he was just-- - [Ryan] Unless he was just
like, "Let's cover it up." - [Shane] Yeah, some
codeine for me as well. "That'll puzzle 'em." - [Ryan] That's true. I mean, it's working; I'm puzzled. However, Jack claimed
to not remember anything that occurred after 11 a.m. on
the day of Christina's death. Ronald was questioned by the
police for a grueling 13 hours, in which he provided
a 3,000-word statement that the police would
describe as "fantastic." - [Shane] (laughing) Fantastic? - [Ryan] Yeah, I don't know how, I found that very funny too. (Shane laughing) "Great statement. "We all were blown away,
what a performance." - I just imagine the cops reading it and just finally putting
it down like, "Fantastic! "I'm sad it's over!" - "Good read." - "Wish I could read it all over again." - Yeah. "Good job, sir, you're free." - "You ever thought
about doing some sci-fi?" - Yeah. (laughing) "Can you sign the back of this, (Shane laughing)
"right there?" On June 19th, an inquest
into Christina's death began, which became quite the spectacle. The public packed not only the courtroom, but the grounds outside, with some even approaching
Jack and Ronald, the main witnesses, for autographs. It should be noted that Jack and Ronald were not on trial for murder. This was simply a case to
determine whether or not foul play had been involved
in Christina's death. While the highly-sensationalized
investigation uncovered many interesting
bits of information, the jury of the inquest
ultimately could not agree on whether Christina's death was the result of foul
play or not, stating, "Due to the fact that the
post-mortem examination "disclosed codeine in the
stomach of the deceased, "and due to the suspicious fact
that she was found drowned, "this jury is unable to
decide on the evidence given "whether or not foul means
were employed in her death." Jack and Ronald were in the clear, as there was no evidence implicating either of them in the death. But their relationships to
both Christina and each other were thoroughly exposed in the process. The police report claims that
there were signs and evidence that Christina was very distressed by the "unnatural conduct
of her husband and Barrie." - [Shane] Wait a minute,
were they smoochin'? - [Ryan] Maybe. I did mention a love triangle up top. - [Shane] A love triangle. - [Ryan] You were just
thinking of a love triangle with Ronald and Christie, not-- - [Shane] I was doing some
heteronormative bullshit! - [Ryan] You were. Unbelievable. - [Shane] I apologize. (Ryan laughing) Do you think everyone in town was also scratching their heads over-- I mean, were people-- - [Ryan] It's '45, 1945, so yeah. - [Shane] Yeah, a lot to talk about then. - [Ryan] Yeah, probably. With the circumstances
surrounding her death laid out, let's get into the theories
of just how Christina died. The first theory suggests that Christina may have been dealing with mental illness and killed herself. The largest pieces of evidence that Christina may have killed herself are the several suicide notes written prior to her untimely end that were uncovered during the inquest. The first note, written on Easter Sunday
before their engagement and about five weeks before the wedding, was addressed to Ronald. In it, she writes that she
tried to poison herself and talks about "the uncertainty of receiving
a proposal" from Jack. In it, she claims, "This
will be the best way out, "as I cannot bear to see
another girl have him." Jack recalls Christina
being sick that day, but claimed in his testimony that he was unaware of the suicide note. She wrote another suicide
note at the end of April. This time, her intention,
as detailed in the note, was to not only kill
herself, but Jack as well. In this note, also addressed
to Ronald, she wrote, "When you love someone,
you really love him, and I know there is no
one for me but Jack, and if I cannot have him, I
do not intend anyone else to. "I waited, as you might say, "in the hope that Jack
would ask me to marry him, "but I now realize I am
just a passing fancy." The last note was written
the day before she died. It was addressed to a Mrs. Thomas, who owned a home in Mimico that Christina and Jack
stayed in for a little bit. Once done, Christina asked Ronald to mail the letter for her. She writes, "Ronnie is in
the boat outside somewhere. "By the time he gets back,
everything will be all over with. "He must have been afraid
something would happen, "because he is staying an extra day "to make sure we go back
to Toronto with him." - [Shane] Now I'm suddenly wondering if Ronnie is concerned for these people. - [Ryan] I think Ronnie may have sensed something was wrong and was like, "Oh, maybe that's why I
should go on the honeymoon. "Maybe that's why I
should stay an extra day." Her saying, "He's on the
boat or something somewhere, "by the time he gets back
it's all gonna be done," which I guess you could
interpret as many things. She could be talking about
a pot roast or something. But I don't think she's
talking about pot roast. - [Shane] I'm gonna put it out there, I don't think she's
talking about pot roast. - [Ryan] I mean, maybe it went bad, it burned down the house. I've almost burned down my apartment trying to make cheesy bread. You could interpret that
letter however you want, even though there's two
letters that precede it that state her intentions pretty clearly. All notes were confirmed
by a handwriting expert to have been signed by Christina. Ronald held on to all
the notes from Christina, but he never told Jack about
them until the inquest. Strangely, Ronald was able to and chose to save the letters
from his burning cottage. Okay, if Ronald is in fact innocent, he sees this burning house, it is a little weird that he thinks, "Oh, let's go find these letters "and save them from the fire." - I feel like he is so
intertwined in their drama, he knows that getting those letters is gonna help clear
things up for everyone. I would guess he'd probably saved Jack-- - "Got some time, better
grab those letters that--" - "It's not Backdraft yet. "So, I jump back in, grab the letters." - "Those exonerate me, good." - "Good, got that, great!" - "Okay, now where's Christina? "I don't know."
- "Don't know! "Lunchtime!" - At that point, I would
hope I don't run into her, because if she just knocked
him out, set the house on fire, I probably would be imagining the Bride from The Haunted Mansion
with a hatchet in her hand. - Yeah. - [Ryan] Furthermore,
one newspaper reports that Christina may have
been in the cottage when Ronald rescued Jack. In either his testimony or one of his two lengthy
statements given to the police, Ronald claimed to have
returned to the cottage after sunbathing and found
Jack with blood on his face and clearly disoriented. However, in this
description of the events, Ronald says that Christina
was in the cottage too. When Ronald asked what happened to Jack, Christina did not reply and simply stood there with teary eyes. Ronald carried Jack out of the cottage. And when he went back in for blankets, he saw Christina for the last time. He noted a strong scent of
coal oil in the living room, and smoke began spilling
out of the kitchen about 15 minutes later. Ronald could not find Christina
when he returned for her and he also noted that a weapon or anything that could've
been used in Jack's injury was not to be found. - [Shane] This is a
completely different account! - [Ryan] Drastically different. - [Shane] I'd like to put it out there that the new version of events
that is catalogued here, equally confusing. - [Ryan] Yeah. - [Shane] It's just, still strange. - [Ryan] You gotta take
the newspaper report with a grain of salt, especially because it does
make us look at this case in a very different lens. - [Shane] Yeah. - [Ryan] While this seems
to implicate Christina, it should be noted that this is different from every other telling
of the story by Ronald. Crown Counsel C.P. Hope, the
lawyer leading the inquest, called Ronald "a liar
of the most blatant kind "whose sinister figure permeates
the whole of this tragedy, "but whose purpose and design
are shrouded in mystery." This guy's like fuckin' R.L. Stine. That's a good quote. - [Shane] I'm gonna
remember that word-for-word and just start saying that to people. - [Ryan] (laughing) Yeah! - "You know what, I
gotta be honest with you. "You're a liar of the most blatant kind "whose sinister figure
permeates this whole tragedy, "but whose purpose and design
are shrouded in mystery." - He might as well have
finished it off with, "In the Twilight Zone." The guy's a goddamned Rod Serling. It's unbelievable.
- I like it! - [Ryan] This brings us
to the second theory, that perhaps Jack and
Ronald were not so innocent. The first bit of evidence that suggests the duo
may have planned this is a series of insurance policies purchased before Christina's death. Jack took out two separate
life insurance policies on himself and Christina
before the marriage. Each 5,000-Canadian-dollar policy contained a double indemnity clause which would allow the beneficiary to collect twice the amount if the cause of death was accidental, a sum worth around
200,000 US dollars today. Strangely, Ronald was the beneficiary listed on both policies. Ronald had also taken out a 5,000-Canadian-dollar
insurance policy on his cottage that would later mysteriously burn down and named Jack as his beneficiary. It should be noted that
Ronald had failed careers in both construction and insurance. Additionally, the inquest revealed that Jack had given his war gratuity, a payment to Canadian servicemen
when discharged, to Ronald, and that Jack had
removed all of his family from his will for reasons unknown. That's interesting. So, they both file these insurance claims and list each other as the beneficiaries for a situation that seems very outlandish that just somehow happens shortly after they file these policies. - [Shane] Could just be bros, you know? - [Ryan] Bros that just so
happen to get incredibly lucky, I suppose? - [Shane] Yeah. You know, the beneficiary
thing is a little, it's fishy. - [Ryan] Also, Christina's wedding ring became a suspicious detail in the inquest, as it was never recovered. Reports defer as to whether Ronald purchased the ring for Christina or if Jack borrowed the
ring from a married friend, and the true price of
the ring is also debated, ranging from $1,000 to $13,000. Nevertheless, it was never
found after Christina's death. - [Shane] I mean, it sounded like she was having a rough weekend. It's totally possible-- - [Ryan] So, she just took it off? - [Shane] She's out there by the docks, she takes that wedding ring
off and just throws it-- - [Ryan] Oh, I guess, yeah-- - [Shane] Teary-eyed into the lake. - [Ryan] That's true, you
could look at it that way, where she was not sure about the marriage, she's obviously maybe about
to do something horrible. Let's just chuck this
ring out for solidarity. - [Shane] Chuck that fucking ring. - [Ryan] Or you could look at it as they carried out this
plan to gain some finance and then they were like,
"Let's take the ring too." You would think that ring
would turn up eventually then if you hocked it, like at a pawn shop. - [Shane] Eh, would it? I mean, rings all kinda
look the same, right? - [Ryan] Well, especially after, I mean, this case is
quite famous in Canada. That probably would be worth a lot. - [Shane] Oh yeah, this is Canada, right? - [Ryan] Yeah. - That paints this in a
whole new light for me. - Does it? - Yeah, they're very-- Obviously, the stereotype is that they're a very polite people. - Yeah, peaceful. - So, this is very funny to me now. - Oh, you're just
imagining it kind of like-- - "Ah, jeez! "Oh no!" - "Oh no, you're bonked on the head!" (both laughing) - "Ah, the dang cottage
burned down, oh no." - "Oh no, Jackie." - (laughing) "Oh, Jackie." - [Ryan] Jack's statement
to the police after the fire was another fascinating exhibit
entered into the inquest. In the statement, Jack
states that he and Ronald had been in an intimate
relationship for some time. However, in court, Jack claimed he was coerced to make that statement, as the police wanted to build
that story in their report. The police commissioner did in fact touch on this relationship in the report of Christina's case. In it, he writes that the relationship between Jack and Ronald was, "To put it mildly, to be unnatural." There was no evidence to
prove this relationship, but it was highly suspected. In the inquest, Crown Counsel C.P. Hope didn't believe Jack was coerced and suggested that the
two were actually lovers. Jack finally agreed to this after Hope hammered him with questions. The Toronto Star describes the questioning in an article from June 20th. "When Kettlewell, after
vigorous questioning, "agreed with Mr. Hope's
repeated suggestion "that he and Ronald were male lovers, "the fantastic triangle of twisted "and thwarted emotions took shape." I will say that I, in a weird way, kinda feel bad for them
if they didn't do it, because now not only are they
being suspected of murder, but they're being outed,
which is not cool. - [Shane] Now I wonder if
they drove her to this. You know, she's thinking
that this is her idea, they're driving her to this and sort of, they know her moves. - He knew her moves for sure, Ronald did, 'cause she wrote these letters to him. - She's confiding in him, but he can also be reporting back to Jack. - For sure, yeah, exactly. - She's gonna try and burn the house down. She thinks I'm gonna
leave and go, you know? - So, it's not like the murdered her, but they didn't stop her. - Right. Oh what a tangled web we weave. - [Ryan] Christina's sister, Helen, claimed Christina was drugged
just prior to the wedding. And when she came-to married,
she just accepted it. Indeed, the police report states that there was a strong suspicion that Christina's state of mind was something other than normal for a while before her death. They believed that the
mind-altering effects were a result of drugs or medication. It's unclear if Christina was
self-administering these drugs or if she was being drugged. Helen also claimed that
Christina appeared to fear both Jack and Ronald. The owner of a home that Ronald
and Jack lived in together said that Christina had mentioned she was worried something bad may happen if Ronald went with
them on their honeymoon. It appears Christina
was right to be worried. Jack went on to marry another woman three years after the tragedy, and the two of them lived a short while in the same home he briefly
shared with Christina. Jack started a family with her, but they separated in the late-'60s. - [Shane] Do you think he was like, "This honeymoon's a lot
better than my last one"? - [Ryan] (laughing) I'm sure he did. - [Shane] And she was like,
"Oh, what do you mean?" "It's actually a very sad story." - [Ryan] Yeah. Jack never spoke of the
incident or his first marriage. In fact, his son Richard
and daughter-in-law Sharon only discovered this part of Jack's life after Sharon came across an article while doing family research at a library. Even though they uncovered the story while Jack was still alive, they never broached the topic with him before his death in 1998. As for Ronald, he moved
to New York in 1956. Before he left, he gifted
his pekingese dog named Ling to Jack's son, Richard, who
was two years old at the time. And then, Ronald was
never heard from again. Was Christina Kettlewell murdered by two of the closest people in her life in a sinister plan to break
a tragic love triangle and collect insurance money? Did the bride endure great internal strife to which she saw no end? Perhaps it was simply a freak accident that took a young life. In any case, it appears that the death of the Eight-Day Bride
will remain unsolved. (eerie music)
Ryan calling himself Shane and Sarah's third wheel 🌝
A little OT but I'm a bit sad they still haven't hit the 1mil subs mark and therefore the views aren't quickly picking up either. I always wanted for them to get their own channel but in hindsight they might have benefited from being on Buzzfeed Blue with a 8mil+ sub count of randos, thus having non-fans tuning in occasionally.
Fun note: I live one street over from Tyndall Ave in Toronto, where a part of this story takes place. Neat! 📸
You know, seeing as how they were all from Mimico, I feel like that perhaps, maybe, the Mimico Newsomes were involved. They did have several run ins with the Toronto Police, especially Det. William Murdoch, and Ins. Thomas Brackenreid. Who knows? Maybe this was some bizarre scam by them?