John Marten Crawford was a Canadian offender known for multiple homicides and sexual assaults committed in Alberta and Saskatchewan, primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. He was convicted in separate cases and is serving life sentences in a Saskatchewan penitentiary.

Key Facts

• At least four victims have been linked to Crawford, with some sources listing additional suspected attacks.
• He has been referred to by the nickname “The Lady Killer.”
• Crawford received a 10-year prison sentence in 1981 for the homicide of “Mary Jane Sirloin”.
• He was released from that sentence in 1989 and later sexually assaulted Theresa Kematch while under police surveillance.
• In 1996 he was convicted for the killings of three local women and later received multiple life sentences.
• His known methods in confirmed cases included strangulation and stabbing with a knife.
• The offenses attributed to Crawford took place in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada.
• His period of criminal activity and conviction history spans the 1980s and 1990s.
• Concerns about release, supervision, and subsequent offending have been raised in public records and reporting.

Crimes and Victims

Public records and reporting tie Crawford to multiple homicides and at least one documented sexual assault. Victims included women found in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the confirmed homicide in 1981 involved “Mary Jane Sirloin”.

Investigations identified stabbing and strangulation as methods used in several of the confirmed cases. Authorities later connected Crawford to three additional murders for which he was convicted in the 1990s, bringing the total number of known victims to four or more.

Capture and Trial

Crawford was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1981 for the homicide of “Mary Jane Sirloin”. He was released in 1989 and subsequently came under renewed investigation after further violent incidents.

Following later charges related to multiple killings, Crawford was tried and sentenced in 1996 for three additional homicides and is now serving concurrent life terms. Court records and media coverage document the sequence of charges, convictions, and the prison terms imposed.

Psychology and Motives

Limited publicly available information exists about Crawford’s psychological profile, and formal psychiatric evaluations are not widely published. Commentators and some reports have noted a pattern of violence against women and incidents involving sexual assault, but definitive motives beyond those patterns have not been conclusively established in the public record.

Where professional assessments have been cited, they emphasize the complexity of motive in cases that combine sexual violence and lethal force. Observers have also highlighted the challenges of interpreting motive from case files alone, urging reliance on court and forensic documentation.

Background / Early Life

Few verified details about Crawford’s early life and upbringing are available in mainstream reporting. Public sources focus primarily on his adult criminal history and the events that led to arrest and conviction rather than comprehensive biographical background.

Available records place his activity and convictions in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but do not provide extensive public documentation of his personal history prior to the crimes. As a result, assessments of how background factors might have contributed to his behavior remain limited in published sources.

Legacy and Media Coverage

Crawford’s cases have drawn periodic media attention in Canada, particularly around the time of arrests, trials, and sentencing. Coverage has included reporting on the 1981 conviction, his 1989 release and subsequent assault allegations, and the 1996 convictions that resulted in life sentences.

Reporting and public discussion around the cases have also touched on questions of police supervision, victim advocacy, and the criminal justice response to repeat offenders. Articles such as those referencing Theresa Kematch illustrate ongoing public interest in the interactions between law enforcement and survivors connected to these events.