Out In The Open·Audio

Why a cold-blooded criminal spared the life of the man that killed his loved one

During a robbery-gone-wrong at Hudson's Bay in Toronto, Glen Flett shot and killed the store's manager. At the time, he felt no remorse for the deceased man. But his mindset changed when a beloved mother figure was killed, and he found himself on the other side of crime.

Hear the story of how a seasoned criminal learned to forgive the man that killed his beloved mother figure

In 1978 Glen Flett shot and killed Ted Van Sluytman, a Hudson’s Bay store manager. He thinks about his crime every day. (Nick Purdon/CBC)

NOTE: This story was originally published on April 12, 2019. Since then, Glen Flett died at age 69.

During a robbery-gone-wrong at Hudson's Bay in Toronto, Glen Flett shot and killed the store's manager. At the time, he felt no remorse for the deceased man. But his mindset changed when a beloved mother figure was killed, and he found himself on the other side of crime.


This story appears in the Out in the Open episode, "Switching Sides".