The Second Shift, a Crime Beat Podcast episode, discusses the murder of Dilleen Hempel, a 26-year-old Canadian server, in Calgary in November 1992. About five months after her body was discovered, the police launched a months-long sting operation to apprehend the murderer. We’ve got your back whether you’re curious to learn more about the case, the killer’s identity, or their motivations for committing the crime. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Dilleen Hempel Die?
In 1966, Sharon Skogman-Doran gave birth to Dilleen “Tinker” Hempel in Calgary, a cosmopolitan Alberta city in Canada. She acquired the moniker Tinker after Tinker Bell, a fairy tale figure from Peter Pan. Dilleen was adored by her friends and family and was very close to her older sister, Jilleen. “She had that little spunkiness to her,” the family pastor remarked at her funeral. “She was a really charming individual.” She enjoyed laughing and interacting with people, Sharon recalled. You fall in love with her the moment you meet her.
In November 1992, Dilleen and her newlywed husband Troy, who was 22 at the time, made Dalroy, a small hamlet northeast of Calgary, their home. In Calgary, the 26-year-old worked as a waitress at Confetti’s Restaurant and Bar. On November 17, 1992, Dilleen finished her night work and was en route home when she vanished without a trace. Her worried relatives alerted the authorities the next day when she didn’t come home that night.
The young waitress was last spotted returning home in her bright blue automobile. Before her body was found in early April 1993, the missing woman’s body was sought for by the police and her family for five months. Dilleen had been shot twice behind her left ear, according to the autopsy report, and then buried. She was also still dressed in the same black top, white skirt, and dark green bomber jacket that were reported missing.
Who Killed Dilleen Hempel?
Dilleen’s automobile was discovered by the police after she went missing near the crossroads of Highway #1 and Highway #9 east of Calgary. Jilleen Kosko, Dilleen’s sister, spent months relentlessly looking for her and at times even risked her own life in the process. I spent overnight in my car, which I had parked in the same spot where they had discovered my sister’s vehicle, essentially using myself as bait, the woman claimed. I’m imagining that I might be able to take action.
However, as soon as many sources revealed Steven Roy Beirnes had been boasting about killing the recentlywed woman, the police had a person of interest. He was reportedly born on October 31, 1963, in Cheadle, a small town east of Calgary. Steven’s relatives spoke about his abusive background, which included spending time in an alcohol- and violence-filled environment. When he was just eight years old, the former frequently offered himself for prostitution to a brewery maintenance worker, according to his brother Jim.
By the age of 15, Steven was hustling on Edmonton’s streets, driven by his hunger for money. It’s like I have a greed sickness that I cannot control, he stated in a letter to his lawyer. No matter how much I have, it feels like I constantly want more. Officers began around Steven as the probe into Dilleen’s death developed. Two Canadian Mounties who were working secretly befriended him for five weeks in the summer of 1993 in an effort to get him to confess to his wrongdoing. They went Steven to a Red Deer strip club to celebrate a fake cocaine deal while posing as members of a small-time gang.
On the journey back to Calgary, Steven began to tell them his story as he described to them how he killed Dilleen after downing eight one-liter jugs of tequila paralyzers. He also revealed to the agent that the police had interrogated him and had him hooked up to a lie detector at one point during the inquiry. They don’t think I’m guilty, Steven remarked. In your presence only, I’m f***** nasty. I struck her. Although he shot Dilleen hours after she had served him drinks at the bar, he never publicly explained why. However, Steven boasted to the agents that he killed the waitress because she knew too much about a bank heist the two of them had allegedly done because his companion reportedly told her about it.
How Did Steven Beirnes Die?
According to a comment from Steven, “It was all business. She took a close-range shot to the back of the head from me. She suffered severe loss. For the murder, he was detained on August 5, 1993. Steven had a lengthy criminal history by that point, dating back to 1980. He was initially detained on suspicion of trafficking drugs, having stolen goods, aiding in the delinquency of minors, stealing a car, evading arrest, and other offences. In 1982, he was taken into custody once more on charges of evading police, stealing more than $200, and drug use.
Prior to receiving a seven-year jail sentence on robbery charges on January 8, 1988, Steven was charged in 1986 with possession of property obtained via criminal activity. Later, on November 10, 1994, he was found guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Dilleen and given a life sentence. He allegedly terrorised his friends and family even while incarcerated and attempted to betray them.
In a letter, the former allegedly requested Steven’s father to blame his brother Jim for killing Dilleen. He also made an attempt to persuade his ex-wife Helen to kill Jim and his closest friend by writing out specific, comprehensive instructions on how to carry out the murders. Early 40-year-old Steven committed suicide while incarcerated in 2005. Jilleen, Dilleen’s sister, remarked, “I can only hope it was because of remorse.”
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