FOLLOW-UP TO THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER 22 MURDERS
The truth about the deadliest criminal incident in Canadian history has remained untold—until now.

Investigative journalist Paul Palango’s 22 Murders examined in forensic detail the shooting spree committed in April 2020 by Gabriel Wortman that began in tiny Portapique Bay, Nova Scotia, and ended thirteen hours later when Wortman was shot dead by RCMP officers. The episode left numerous serious questions in its wake—most especially why was the killer able to evade police in such limited geography for an entire night and much of the following morning?

Since then, the government called a public inquiry into the massacre—the Mass Casualty Commission. Though Palango unearthed a treasure trove of evidence pointing to the possibility that Wortman or someone close to him was acting as a police agent, the MCC evaded all the big questions and let the RCMP off with a slap on the wrist. To this day, no one has been held accountable.

In this new book, Palango continues to crack the case, delving deeper into story, the evidence and witnesses whose testimonies have been ignored. Drawing on his vast experience as an investigative reporter who has found himself at the centre of many high-profile controversies over decades, he has mined the thousands of pages of Commission documents to reveal the wall of secrecy and deceptions constructed by the RCMP and the criminal justice system, exposing new facts that may alter the public’s perception of what really happened.

A tour-de-force of reportage, Anatomy of a Cover-Up accomplishes what the Commission set out to do—uncover the truth about the Nova Scotia massacres and bring long overdue justice to its victims.

PAUL PALANGO was born in Hamilton, Ontario and earned a degree in journalism from Carleton University. He has worked at the Hamilton Spectator (1974-1976), covered the Toronto Blue Jays in their first season for the Toronto Sun (1977), and worked at the Globe and Mail from 1977 to 1990 as City Editor and National Editor—where he was responsible for the supervision of investigative journalism done by Globe reporters across the country. In 1989, on behalf of the Globe and its staff, he was selected to accept the Michener Award from then Governor-General Jeanne Sauve. After leaving the Globe, he worked as a freelancer, writing a city column for eye weekly magazine in Toronto for almost five years. In 1993, he began work as a fraud investigator for a leading forensic accounting firm, which allowed him to see the justice system from a unique perspective. In that capacity, he traveled extensively around North America investigating fraud, including an arson investigation in Saskatchewan, in which he helped the Mounties there focus on the likely perpetrator, who eventually was convicted and went to prison. He has worked on investigations for the Fifth Estate—including a case involving links between Hamilton mobsters and then Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps—as well as investigative journalist pieces for Saturday Night, MacLean’s, Elm Street, Canadian Business and Hamilton Magazine, among others. His books include, Above The Law (McClelland & Stewart) and The Last Guardians (McClelland & Stewart 1998).

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