Yukon writer Dick North, who has spent more than 20 years on the trail of the Mad Trapper of Rat River, said Thursday he is hopeful an Alberta filmmaker gets permission to exhume the trapper's body.
Myth Merchant Films wants to dig up Albert Johnson's body from the Aklavik, N.W.T., cemetery in which he is buried and take DNA samples from the corpse to determine his true identity. The film company is hoping to use the information as part of a documentary it is making.
Johnson was killed by police in 1932, following a five-week manhunt through the remote winter wilderness, south of the community. He was wanted for killing an RCMP officer who had visited his trapline on the Rat River.
'It's a mystery and mysteries are meant to be solved.'-Yukon author Dick North
After years of research, North thinks the trapper was an American named Johnny Johnson whose family originally came from Norway.
North tried to have the body exhumed more than 15 years ago to see if his research was on target, but his bid was turned down.
He hopes documentary filmmaker Carrie Gour of Myth Merchant has more luck.
"I think it's a part of the history of the country," North said in an interview with CBC News Thursday.
"I don't believe in leaving these things undone like that. It's a mystery and mysteries are meant to be solved."
Aklavik residents will get their say
Meanwhile, Aklavik mayor Knute Hansen says the hamlet plans to hold a public meeting to gauge the community's feelings about the proposal.
The hamlet council has already passed a motion supporting the project, but Hansen says it may reconsider that if there is strong opposition from the public.
The final say rests with Northwest Territories' registrar general, Donna Manuel, who requires the support of the hamlet and the First Nation before she can approve the exhumation.
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