Naman Shrestha
Hulu’s ‘Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae’ is a four-part true crime documentary series that takes a detailed look into the life and murder of 30-year-old Nova Scotia native — Annie Mae Pictou Aquash. While her death took place in late 1975, it took the investigators about three decades to get to the bottom of the case and find the killers responsible for her murder. Meanwhile, her loved ones played their parts in pressuring the authorities and getting justice as well.
Annie Mae’s Family Found Relief After the Conviction of Two Killers
Annie Mae Pictou Aquash was brought into the world by Mary Ellen Pictou and Francis Thomas Levi, whose love she shared with her siblings — two sisters, Mary and Rebecca “Becky” Pictou, and a brother named Francis. As part of her family, she also had a couple of daughters — Denise and Deborah Maloney — with James Maloney, with whom she was married for a few years between 1965 and the mid-1970s. Upon learning about the tragic demise of Annie in early 1976, her family members were traumatized and began fighting to give her the justice that she deserved.
Even decades after the murder, one of her daughters, Denise Pictou Maloney, claimed that she still felt goosebumps while reminiscing her last meeting with Annie. She was nine years old when she last saw her mother. Denise told the Canadian Press, “She got down on her knees and looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I want you to please look after your sister.’ The second thing she said was, ‘Always speak the truth.'” Annie’s family was relieved when, several decades later, the killers — Arlo Looking Cloud and John “John Boy Patton” Graham — were finally convicted and sentenced. However, according to Denise, the ones who ordered the killing of her mother were not brought to justice.
While Annie’s Sisters Lead a Quiet Life, Her Daughter Continues to Raise Her Voice Against Injustice in the Community
While Mary Lafford resides in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Becky Julian stays in Indian Brook, Nova Scotia. The former seemingly enjoys a retired life with her loved ones, and Becky works as a Language Teacher at LSK School. The latter also creates and sells beautiful and colorful wooden rose bouquets and bowls. Married since October 1960, Becky has a daughter named Wanda Julian and a couple of granddaughters — Mirya Obomsawin and Ashley Rebecca. Like her, Mary Lafford also shares a close-knit bond with her granddaughter.
Denise Pictou Maloney was raised in Boston, Massachusetts, but later moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. At some point in her professional career, she worked at Grassroots People before joining National Inquiry MMIWG / Enquête nationale FFADA in Ottawa, Ontario, in February 2017. After a couple of years, she switched to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, where she was employed as a National Family Survivor Circle from September 2020 to October 2023.
In July 2023, Denise took a trip down to Badlands, South Dakota, and remembered her mother’s death anniversary while talking about the killers receiving the wrath of justice after several years. On June 21, 2024, she wrote, “It was 20 years ago June 21st, that we brought our mother Annie Mae Pictou Aquash home to Mi’kmaki. Betrayed by those she thought were friends and “family” we reclaimed her back to her community of Sipekne’katik…” Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she remains quite vocal about her mother’s murder case and her perpetrators on her social media handle.
Read More: Annie Mae: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
