Mary O’DONNELL – Case Overview

It was just after midnight on July 28, 1988, when Mary O’Donnell left the A&W restaurant at Lakewood and East Hastings Street, heading for home. She would never arrive. Just a short while later, at 1:40 a.m., her body was discovered on the grounds of Templeton High School. She had been robbed and beaten to death.

Mary, who was sometimes called Marie, also used the names Patricia Marie Rafferty and Marie Patricia Janulus. She was often seen in the 2100 and 2200 hundred block of East Hastings – she was well known not just at the A&W, but at the Dairy Queen and Church’s Chicken.

Mary would usually walk south on Templeton Street from East Hastings, and through the schoolyard to her home in the 2100 block of Adanac Street. She sometimes liked to go to the Grand Union Pub at 74 West Hastings and the West Hotel at Carrall Street.

The petite 53-year-old had lived alone, since losing her husband of 14 years to a heart attack the year before, and she struggled with mental illness.

Someone preyed on one of our most vulnerable citizens that night – a woman who was living her life as best as she could, despite her struggles and challenges. She was just trying to get home and go to sleep. Help us catch a killer. It’s been 38 years now, but somebody out there knows something.

This is an ongoing file. Please check back regularly for updates.