Copyright © 2009 Mark Fremmerlid All Rights Reserved.
I finally have had a chance to review Barbara Smiths new book sent to me thanks to Carrie Gour. It was
written in conjunction with the recent TV documentary about the mad trapper. After going through it I found
it startling how much the evidence continued to back the supposedly disproven Sigvald theory. Perhaps
the mad trapper Albert Johnson was a similar to Sigvald type person who matched Sigvald's lifestyle and
geographic origins step by step. When I first learned that the nitrogen ratios(indicative of protein intake)
from Albert Johnson indicated a high corn consumption diet (while his adult teeth developed), I took the
opportunity to test this against the Sigvald theory. I asked my Aunt Auslaug who lived the first nine years of
her life(1919 to 1928) on Sigvald's home farm in Norway whether they ate much corn. Her immediate
response was "We never ate corn. They grew lots of corn but we fed it to the cows. Over there it was
considered an animal food but we never ate it." At first I considered Aslaug's response as one heavily
weighted against the Sigvald being the mad trapper theory. Dr. Lynne Bell who did the research on Albert
Johnson herself seems to have quickly jumped to the conclusion that Albert Johnson came from the
American corn belt even though there doesn't appear to be a direct way of telling where the corn came
from.
In the June 2007 issue of Forensic Magazine I read "The American diet is high in maize (corn) due to the
widespread use of corn as animal feed in the production of meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy foods – the main
sources of protein in the domestic diet." I found this scenario also fits Sigvald growing up on the Haaskjold
farm in Norway perfectly. He would have developed the corn intake through eating corn fed animal farm
products he consumed just like the Americans.
In Barbara Smith's book Dr. Lynne Bell also indicates that the isotopic values in Albert Johnson also fit
someone who ate a lot of marine food. Again this fits Sigvald perfectly because Norwegian coastal diets
were heavily marine oriented. In addition, the marine diet during the time he lived self sufficiently on Digby
Island fits. For reasons she does not elaborate on Dr. Bell still "feels" he was an American.
Dr. Bell also took oxygen isotopes to determine where Albert Johnson drank his water in his developing
years. She narrowed it down to two specific geographic areas. The north mid-west USA was one area and
portions of Scandinavia the other area that fit the isotope values . The area Sigvald grew up in Norway was
in that part of Norway that fit the isotopic just as well as the area in the mid-west US, hence it is hard to say
why some people are assuming he was from the states. I would favour Scandinavia based on the first words
in the first hand-written document about him when he arrived in the north; "Johnson- Scandinavian Accent"
written in conjunction with the recent TV documentary about the mad trapper. After going through it I found
it startling how much the evidence continued to back the supposedly disproven Sigvald theory. Perhaps
the mad trapper Albert Johnson was a similar to Sigvald type person who matched Sigvald's lifestyle and
geographic origins step by step. When I first learned that the nitrogen ratios(indicative of protein intake)
from Albert Johnson indicated a high corn consumption diet (while his adult teeth developed), I took the
opportunity to test this against the Sigvald theory. I asked my Aunt Auslaug who lived the first nine years of
her life(1919 to 1928) on Sigvald's home farm in Norway whether they ate much corn. Her immediate
response was "We never ate corn. They grew lots of corn but we fed it to the cows. Over there it was
considered an animal food but we never ate it." At first I considered Aslaug's response as one heavily
weighted against the Sigvald being the mad trapper theory. Dr. Lynne Bell who did the research on Albert
Johnson herself seems to have quickly jumped to the conclusion that Albert Johnson came from the
American corn belt even though there doesn't appear to be a direct way of telling where the corn came
from.
In the June 2007 issue of Forensic Magazine I read "The American diet is high in maize (corn) due to the
widespread use of corn as animal feed in the production of meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy foods – the main
sources of protein in the domestic diet." I found this scenario also fits Sigvald growing up on the Haaskjold
farm in Norway perfectly. He would have developed the corn intake through eating corn fed animal farm
products he consumed just like the Americans.
In Barbara Smith's book Dr. Lynne Bell also indicates that the isotopic values in Albert Johnson also fit
someone who ate a lot of marine food. Again this fits Sigvald perfectly because Norwegian coastal diets
were heavily marine oriented. In addition, the marine diet during the time he lived self sufficiently on Digby
Island fits. For reasons she does not elaborate on Dr. Bell still "feels" he was an American.
Dr. Bell also took oxygen isotopes to determine where Albert Johnson drank his water in his developing
years. She narrowed it down to two specific geographic areas. The north mid-west USA was one area and
portions of Scandinavia the other area that fit the isotope values . The area Sigvald grew up in Norway was
in that part of Norway that fit the isotopic just as well as the area in the mid-west US, hence it is hard to say
why some people are assuming he was from the states. I would favour Scandinavia based on the first words
in the first hand-written document about him when he arrived in the north; "Johnson- Scandinavian Accent"
Have your own thoughts on this mystery? Visit the forum here.
| Investigative Report June 23, 2009 |
Owen Beattie's age estimate based on some bones indicate that Albert Johnson was 35 years old plus or
minus 9 years. However, he sounds confident that he was not under 30 and unsure whether he could be
as old as 40. The original RCMP conclusion made in 1932 was between 35 and 40. Sigvald would have
just "celebrated" his 37th birthday while the RCMP were chasing the mad trapper, so he still fits very well
with all age estimates.
That brings us to the DNA analysis. Some DNA was tested even though Barbara Smith didn't seem to
consider Sigvald a good candidate. Barbara Smith assumed Sigvald and his parents were too poor to have
had the expensive dentistry done. She appears to have made this assumption without interviewing family
members about that. Firstly, we have no idea what Sigvald was doing or how much money he had in the
years 1913 to 1917 between Vancouver and Prince Rupert. His family back in Norway owned a successful
store in Volda and had a very lucrative silver fox farm. That is why they were able to finance to my
grandfather's search for Sigvald. I arranged for two blood samples to be compared to Albert Johnson,
Sigvald's niece Magnhild and my own. I did this because I did not consider Magnhild or myself to be close
enough related to Sigvald for one sample to provide a conclusion. Unfortunately they only looked at
Magnhild because she was a generation closer and ruled us both out based on her sample alone. Not
satisfied that a sufficient study had been done, I brought my aunt Aslaug in for a more definitive
mitochondrial test at my own cost. The results came back negative with one disturbing element. According
to the report the evidence from Albert Johnson's grave was only alleged evidence due to lack of an
appropriate chain of custody before arriving at the lab.
Now I have just read in Barbara Smith's new book that Dr. Sweet was surprised by the condition of Albert
Johnson's DNA. This is part of Dr. Sweet's quote in her book "...I was very surprised when we got a full
DNA profile. I was elated. I don't know how to interpret that result. It's another part of the enigma- a
paradox. We've got a situation where we can't get DNA sometimes in cases that are only two years old,
and here we get a full DNA result from someone who's been in the ground for 75 years..." While it is not my
intention to insinuate that evidence was somehow replaced with a different persons bone in the chain of
custody, I think it would be helpful if the evidence could be reviewed. If there is a plot to make Albert
Johnson into an American it certainly must be an elaborate one. Dr. Sweet considers the permafrost a
possible reason for the DNA condition although I note the body did actually decompose.
While Dr. Sweet has his enigma, I still have my own enigma. Why did everything I could learn about Sigvald
always line up so well with Albert Johnson? From his Gillette razor and mirror, to his tendency to make stuff
out of lard tins, his fortress like cabin, his obsession to not be captured by police, his age, his appearance,
his accent, the timing of the incidents, his extreme child jealousy of one Albert Johannes which could lead
to the alias Albert Johnson, and now finally the presence of three dietary elements in his childhood all line
up. The marine food, the water from a restricted geographic area, and the corn intake through the corn
fed farm animal products on his home farm all agree with the new autopsy. All this yet a negative result on
a DNA test which unfortunately may never be available for review. I 'm going to try to believe he's not the
guy, but he whoever he was, he must have been a lot like Sigvald. I doubt he was an American.
minus 9 years. However, he sounds confident that he was not under 30 and unsure whether he could be
as old as 40. The original RCMP conclusion made in 1932 was between 35 and 40. Sigvald would have
just "celebrated" his 37th birthday while the RCMP were chasing the mad trapper, so he still fits very well
with all age estimates.
That brings us to the DNA analysis. Some DNA was tested even though Barbara Smith didn't seem to
consider Sigvald a good candidate. Barbara Smith assumed Sigvald and his parents were too poor to have
had the expensive dentistry done. She appears to have made this assumption without interviewing family
members about that. Firstly, we have no idea what Sigvald was doing or how much money he had in the
years 1913 to 1917 between Vancouver and Prince Rupert. His family back in Norway owned a successful
store in Volda and had a very lucrative silver fox farm. That is why they were able to finance to my
grandfather's search for Sigvald. I arranged for two blood samples to be compared to Albert Johnson,
Sigvald's niece Magnhild and my own. I did this because I did not consider Magnhild or myself to be close
enough related to Sigvald for one sample to provide a conclusion. Unfortunately they only looked at
Magnhild because she was a generation closer and ruled us both out based on her sample alone. Not
satisfied that a sufficient study had been done, I brought my aunt Aslaug in for a more definitive
mitochondrial test at my own cost. The results came back negative with one disturbing element. According
to the report the evidence from Albert Johnson's grave was only alleged evidence due to lack of an
appropriate chain of custody before arriving at the lab.
Now I have just read in Barbara Smith's new book that Dr. Sweet was surprised by the condition of Albert
Johnson's DNA. This is part of Dr. Sweet's quote in her book "...I was very surprised when we got a full
DNA profile. I was elated. I don't know how to interpret that result. It's another part of the enigma- a
paradox. We've got a situation where we can't get DNA sometimes in cases that are only two years old,
and here we get a full DNA result from someone who's been in the ground for 75 years..." While it is not my
intention to insinuate that evidence was somehow replaced with a different persons bone in the chain of
custody, I think it would be helpful if the evidence could be reviewed. If there is a plot to make Albert
Johnson into an American it certainly must be an elaborate one. Dr. Sweet considers the permafrost a
possible reason for the DNA condition although I note the body did actually decompose.
While Dr. Sweet has his enigma, I still have my own enigma. Why did everything I could learn about Sigvald
always line up so well with Albert Johnson? From his Gillette razor and mirror, to his tendency to make stuff
out of lard tins, his fortress like cabin, his obsession to not be captured by police, his age, his appearance,
his accent, the timing of the incidents, his extreme child jealousy of one Albert Johannes which could lead
to the alias Albert Johnson, and now finally the presence of three dietary elements in his childhood all line
up. The marine food, the water from a restricted geographic area, and the corn intake through the corn
fed farm animal products on his home farm all agree with the new autopsy. All this yet a negative result on
a DNA test which unfortunately may never be available for review. I 'm going to try to believe he's not the
guy, but he whoever he was, he must have been a lot like Sigvald. I doubt he was an American.
Reference: Smith, Barbara. The Mad Trapper: Unearthing A Mystery. Surrey, BC: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd, 2009 |