Dateline NBC profiles a wild Canadian murder case

The disappearance of an Edmonton man and the subsequent search for a killer that led investigators through multiple jurisdictions in Alberta, BC, and the United States was featured on an episode of Dateline NBC late last week.

The two-hour episode, titled “The Case of the Man with No Name,” aired on NBC last Friday and highlighted the murder of Dwayne Demkiw, an Edmonton man who went missing in 2015.

Demkiw was last seen on May 31 of that year after finishing his shift as a limo driver in Edmonton. Later that day, his car was found on fire 300 kilometres south of Edmonton in a Calgary parkade. Investigators found the driver’s seat and door and the back seat area were stained with Demkiw’s blood.

A year later, Demkiw’s remains were found scattered in a field near Innisfail.

Demkiw was killed by Jason Steadman, an American citizen who had been living in Canada for years under another alias: Robert Aubrey Maxwell. Steadman fled the United States after a warrant for his arrest in 2012. Around the same time, Robert Aubrey Maxwell disappeared from the streets of Vancouver.

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Steadman assumed his identity, going so far as to obtain a passport, a BC photo identification card and an Alberta driver’s license in Robert Aubrey Maxwell’s name. He lived in Edmonton for years until leaving his home at the Salvation Army Shelter on June 1, 2015, the day after Demkiw went missing, court documents show.

As Robert Aubrey Maxwell, Steadman met and began dating Dimkew’s former common-law partner, which is said to have caused friction between Steadman and Demkiw. Steadman didn’t like that Dimkiw and his partner were still friends and blamed Demkiw for the breakdown of his relationship, which ended about two weeks before Demkiw went missing.

Two weeks after Demkiw’s disappearance, Steadman’s truck was found abandoned in a parking lot at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver. A Sea-Doo Steadman had purchased was later found lying at a boat launch in Washington near a US border crossing.

Steadman, once investigators discovered his true identity, was arrested and extradited from Seattle to face the first-degree murder charge.

He was found guilty of first-degree murder and arson in 2019. A total of 92 witnesses testified. Robert Aubrey Maxwell has never been found.