The First Investigations.

After I joined GMPS, I figured it would be a little bit before we would gain some good credit from investigating public areas before we would get any residential calls. But I was wrong! We had a few contact us right away. Before we had done our first residential investigation, we had done a history/ghost tour with the Albert County Museum, which is said to have its share of odd happenings. A very controversial trial went on there in 1905. It was the trial of Tom Collins. It is said a judge has been seen in the courthouse (possibly one who was involved in one of the three trials), and knocking sounds have been heard in the gaol (jail). It is also said that when Tom’s body was buried on the property, grass never grew on the spot where he laid, but after his body was moved to a cemetery the grass began to grow there again. (Weird!!) It was a great spot to explore. In the gaol they have the walls in one cell preserved behind clear glass. And behind it is drawings, poems, etc, written on the walls by people who served time there over 100 years ago. So crazy to see! There’s dates drawn on as well, one drawn on the wall saying 1905, another one carved into the door, if I remember correctly, saying 1871. Also in one of the cells they have the actual axe that was used as the murder weapon in the Tom Collins case. With it they also have a door that was smashed open with the axe during the murder. So while everyone else was finishing up the tour, just for fun the founder of the group (Charmian Douthwright) set up an audio recorder in one cell, and took a K2 meter into the cell with the door and the axe in it. She asked a number of questions,  but when she asked the question “Did you kill Mary?” the K2 went off and flew into the red. We didn’t catch anything on the audio so we aren’t sure if the reaction was a ‘yes’ or a frustrated ‘NO’.(The case went to trial three times, with two guilty verdicts and one hung jury, raising speculation on whether he really did it or not.) But nonetheless, because of that we asked if we could come back some night and do a formal investigation, and they said yes! So now we have that coming up with Global News attending as well to do a little piece on us (: I’ll admit I’m kinda nervous but at the same time really excited.
                GMPS had actually gotten quite a bit of publicity for such a small group. So far, we’ve had two or three newspaper articles, a couple radio stations contacted us, different commercial buildings have been wanting investigations, and even a few residential investigations. Also, this thing with Global News coming up.  We’ve already done one residential investigation, which went fairly smoothly for it being all first timers, with the exception of Nick Leblanc. Nick is the lead investigator for GMPS and also the founder of Atlantic Canada Paranormal. He has done 25+ investigations.
                I was so excited/nervous that I could barely sleep the night before (which resulted in the biggest energy drink I’ve ever had being purchased.) & couldn’t eat the day of cause my stomach was just doing flips. On the drive there, I can’t explain the feeling, it was just kinda like ‘wow, I’m really doing this, it’s actually happening.’ It felt like a huge accomplishment already and I wasn’t even there yet. The family was very nice and welcoming, and had a very friendly dog, whom I was later shown can give high five and LOVES attention. We had a medium do a walkthrough and share with us her feelings and visions and such, which were pretty spot on! Then the video equipment was set up and we split into two groups, and went into various rooms of the house where activity was reported. My group wasn’t seeming to have much luck at the time, so I had make a joke about the other group getting all the attention. Well about ten seconds later, the K2 began to go off, then it stopped. I had checked to see if it was the audio recorder or the flashlight that set it off. It wasn’t. So I thought hmm maybe that was the spirits response to my joke! The wife was in my group, and she had said before she never had any experiences, so this was her first. It was kind of a cool feeling to know I had given the first experience for her.  We also had a spirit box session, and got what we thought was a response a few times. For someone who’s not used to staying up past 11 most nights by the time we left around 1 o’clock, I was pretty tired but I still couldn’t even sleep that night cause the excitement was still there even after I had gotten home.
                I have been informed by Nick that we have a few possible EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) to listen to. So here’s hoping they are something solid! And I cannot wait to do this again! I’ll be sure to keep updating on what we find!

Links:
GMPS Facebook Page

Tom Francis Collins

K2 or EMF detector

                                           The beautiful view from the front of The Albert County Museum.

The inside of the courthouse from upstairs.

The judges chair where a spirit of a judge has been seen.

The gaol(pronounced jail) where knocking sounds have been heard.

Some of the drawings on the walls inside one of the cells.

No that's not the real noose that Tom Collins was hung with, but that would be kinda neat!

The axe used in the murder and the door that was damaged. This is where Charmian got the K2 hit when she asked the question "Did you kill Mary?"

The end with the shackle on it is not the original. But the rusted ring attached to the floor and part of the chain attached to it is the original, that means it's over 100 years old!