Dr. Ewen Cameron wanted to win a Nobel Prize for his work in psychiatry. He never got one. He died of a heart attack while climbing a mountain in the Adirondacks in 1967. So we don’t have access to Cameron's thoughts on his own legacy. But we do have his son, Duncan Cameron. In the final installment of “Madness," Amory and Ben sit down with Duncan and explore the shocking ways his father's methods are still being used today.

"Madness: The Secret Mission for Mind Control and the People Who Paid the Price," an Endless Thread series in 5 parts, unravels the shocking history of CIA-funded mind-control experiments. This is Part 5. If you haven't heard Parts 1 through 4 yet, you can find them here, here, here, and here.

In the early 1980s, victims of Dr. Ewen Cameron’s mind-altering experiments at the Allan Memorial Institute began a slow process of finding each other and building a case against the CIA for funding Cameron's work. The legacy of that case has played a key role in two separate lawsuits in progress today. These new lawsuits represent the interests of hundreds of families still seeking justice for the brutal “treatments” their loved ones were subjected to decades ago.

"Madness: The Secret Mission for Mind Control and the People Who Paid the Price" -- an investigative series in 5 parts -- unravels the shocking history of CIA-funded mind-control experiments. This is Part 4. If you haven't heard Parts 1 through 3 yet, you can find them here, here and here.

As the fear of communism was rising in the U.S. after World War II, government officials set their sights on developing a weapon that sounds straight out of science fiction: mind control. This effort was led by the CIA in a program called MK-ULTRA, which was made up of 149 "subprojects" involving more than 80 academic institutions, prisons, and organizations. In this episode, we learn the dark history of MK-ULTRA and examine the origins of Subproject 68: Dr. Ewen Cameron's experimentation on patients at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal.

Hundreds of people who were experimented on at the Allan Memorial Institute over the course of two decades are all connected to one man: Dr. Ewen Cameron. In this episode, we look at how Cameron rose to prominence in his field and investigate the surprising origins of his treatment program.

This episode is part of "Madness: The Secret Mission for Mind Control and the People Who Paid the Price," a five-part investigative series from Endless Thread that unravels the shocking history of CIA-funded mind-control experiments.

Show Notes:

• CBS Radio Workshop's "Brave New World" (1956)
• Audio of Dr. Ewen Cameron's 1955 speech, courtesy of the WNYC archives
• In The Sleep Room: The Story Of CIA Brainwashing in Canada by Anne Collins (1988)
• Psychiatry and the CIA: Victims of Mind Control by Harvey Weinstein (1990)
• A trailer for Eminent Monsters: A Manual For Modern Torture , a documentary film from Stephen Bennett (2018)

"Hey, it's Amory. We've had such a huge response for Beyond All Repair that the team and I are thinking and talking about what we might bring to you in the future. But in the meantime, we wanted to keep things going, at least for now, with something a little different. So, as you may know, I'm the co-host of another show called Endless Thread.

This is a show about mysteries and history, all connected to the internet. Back in April of 2020, my Endless Thread co-host Ben Brock Johnson and I released a real doozy of a story. It's about alleged crimes at one of the highest-ranking institutions of higher ed and medicine, connected to the MKUltra experiments conducted on people by the CIA during the Cold War.

It's also a story about the origins of psychiatry, a dangerous doctor. And a group of people, often women, who have been fighting for their personal stories to be heard. We're putting this series into this feed for just a limited time, so listen now while you can to this set of stories called Madness. And we'll be in touch with more Beyond All Repair news in the future."

About the episode:

Show Notes:

• The comment from Redditor u/Dwintahdt that tipped us off on this story
• Article about this story from Max Binks-Collier for Maisonneuve Magazine
• Audio of Dr. Ewen Cameron's 1955 speech, courtesy of the WNYC archives
• The Fifth Estate episode, "Brainwashed: The Secret CIA Experiments in Canada"
• Survivors Allied Against Government Abuse (SAAGA)
• Video from the SAAGA's October 2019 rally in Ottawa.

What did Susie, Sean's girlfriend at the time of Marlyne Johnson's murder, tell detectives? Was a $10,000 stash of cash ever found in the Johnsons' home? Did Sophia have an alibi?

These are just a few of the many questions listeners sent to the Beyond All Repair team. In this follow-up episode, Amory is joined by Beyond All Repair producer Sofie Kodner to answer these questions and more about the case, the story, and the making of the series.

***

Come to our live event, Thursday, June 20th! 

Go behind the scenes with Amory and editor Zac Stuart-Pontier at WBUR CitySpace in Boston. Tickets and more info HERE.

***

Get access to the "BEYOND" episodes:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support. Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive extra episodes (there are 3 "BEYOND" episodes already waiting for you!) and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond

Amory talks to Shane about the 2010 report, along with the detective who wrote it and Rick Buckner, the lead detective on Sophia’s case 20 years ago.

She explores what can legally happen from here, both with regards to Marlyne Johnson’s homicide case and with Sophia herself.

Amory finally confronts Sophia about the 2010 report, and comes to a conclusion about the case.

***

Consider becoming a "BEYOND" member today:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support. Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive extra episodes and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond

Come to our live event, Thursday, June 20th! 

Go behind the scenes with Amory and editor Zac Stuart-Pontier at WBUR CitySpace in Boston. Tickets and more info HERE.

After Sean’s conversation with Amory, he and his younger brother, Shane, talk to each other for the first time in two decades. Shane is open to hearing his brother out, until Sean denies a painful memory from their childhood.

Their father, who has always defended Sean, starts sending aggressive voice messages to Sophia and Shane. Meanwhile, Amory has even more questions for Sophia just as Shane is coming to his own conclusion that she did not commit the murder.

But shortly thereafter, Amory receives a report of an interview Sophia did with detectives in 2010 that tells yet another story of the day of Marlyne’s murder. Amory is left shaken and wondering if she actually has been talking to a murderer all this time.

***

Consider becoming a "BEYOND" member today:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support. Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive early access to some of the final episodes in the series, extra episodes, and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond

After disappearing before he was supposed to testify in Sophia's second trial, Sean reappears in Guyana under the name Anthony Snow.

He has since launched various ventures, including a short-lived campaign for president of Guyana in 2011, a land development business that’s been the source of allegations of fraud, and a robust social media presence.

Sophia and Sean hadn’t seen each other or spoken in 17 years when he video-called her in early 2023 upon hearing that she’s been talking to a reporter.

Months after this call, Amory talks to Sean herself. He offers up a new detail about the day of Marlyne Johnson’s murder.

If you have questions about the case, the people at the center of this story, or anything else about this series, we want to hear them. Email beyondallrepairpod@gmail.com with a voice message or written message.

***

Consider becoming a "BEYOND" member today:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support. Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive early access to some of the final episodes in the series, extra episodes, and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond

Amory meets Sophia in person for the first time with a sense of uneasiness.

While in jail awaiting her second trial in 2005, Sophia made a friend who convinced her to testify in her own defense. Today, this friend, Morgen, is Sophia’s life partner.

After getting ahold of the footage of Sophia’s second trial, Morgen and Amory discover that Sophia told a different story about the day of the murder on the stand — one that puts her at the scene.

If you have questions about the case, the people at the center of this story, or anything else about this series, we want to hear them. Email beyondallrepairpod@gmail.com with a voice message or written message.

***

Consider becoming a "BEYOND" member today:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support. Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive early access to some of the final episodes in the series, extra episodes, and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond

The jury has reached a verdict: Sophia is found guilty of first-degree murder.

At sentencing, Sophia hears victim impact statements, including one delivered by the woman raising her son.

She is sentenced to 43 years in prison, and just as she’s settling into that fate, she gets a call from her lawyer saying that she’s won the right to a new trial.

If you have questions about the case, the people at the center of this story, or anything else about this series, we want to hear them. Email beyondallrepairpod@gmail.com with a voice memo or written message.

***

Consider becoming a "BEYOND" member today:

This show is made at WBUR, a public radio station, which means we cannot make shows like this without public support.

Join our "BEYOND" membership program and receive early access to some of the final episodes in the series, extra episodes, and a private feed of the show for ad-free listening: wbur.org/beyond