Kriti Mehrotra
It was November 27, 2014, when Shannon Heather Madill Burgess suddenly disappeared from her home in the 1900 block of Spiller Road Southeast in the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The 25-year-old actress and comedian had her whole life ahead of her, but the rug was ripped from right underneath her feet by the hands of someone she once wholly trusted. NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Night of the Audition’ chronicles this tale, shining a clear light upon what transpired on the fateful morning and how authorities managed to secure some much-needed justice.
Shannon Madill Burgess Was Found Murdered Months After She Went Missing
Born to Lisa Madill and David Madill on July 6, 1989, in the wonderful city of Calgary in the province of Alberta, Canada, Shannon Heather Madill Burgess reportedly grew up in a tight-knit family. She was one of four, so she was raised alongside siblings Tyler Madill, Brett Madill, and Erin Madill, all of whom shared an affectionate, loving, and supportive stance towards one another. Therefore, when Shannon developed a passion for the entertainment industry at a relatively young age, they never hesitated to shower her with either constructive criticism or outright praise.
In fact, Shannon’s siblings still remember her quirky sense of humor and her vivacious personality, which is why they wholeheartedly believed she would achieve her dreams of becoming an actress and a comic one day. The fact that she honed her skills through different art/drama programs while attending Central Memorial High School also helped her along the way. After graduation, she was on the Calgary Stampede Show Bands for a while before spreading her wings and doing stand-up comedy routines at the Calgary Fringe Festival. By the time 2014 rolled around, she was already featuring in films and performing her original sketches across the nation.
On a more personal level, Shannon seemed happily newlywed to a man named Joshua Burgess – they had tied the knot relatively recently after having been romantically involved for 4 years. But alas, everything turned upside down on November 27, 2014, as she suddenly vanished from her home after giving arguably the biggest audition of her acting career for a television show. She was reported missing on December 1 after she failed to attend a long-scheduled dinner with family without prior notice because it was extremely unlike her. Thus began an extensive search for the young woman, yet it was only after her killer confessed that her remains were found buried in her backyard. As per her autopsy report, she was strangled to death with bare hands and a belt.
Shannon Madill Burgess’ Killer Confessed Not Long After Being Identified as a Suspect
When officials began looking into Shannon’s case, among the first things they noticed was that her car was still parked outside her home, but her phone was missing. Her then-29-year-old husband, Joshua, initially told them he wasn’t really concerned about her disappearance because she often had to travel for auditions. Her loved ones at the time also asserted that he was very supportive of his wife’s dreams, but it soon came to light that the reality of their union was far from idyllic. As per Joshua’s accounts, they had an open marriage and often spent time with different partners, but it later came to light that she allegedly wanted to close it and had told her husband the same weeks before she went missing.
Joshua’s behavior in the days to follow also raised eyebrows from both investigators and Shannon’s family, especially as he claimed to have suddenly found her phone 4 days after she was last seen. According to police records, he alleged he had found them in a pair of her pants, but it was strange that he hadn’t heard it before, even though it had been continually ringing from worried loved ones trying to get in touch. What’s more is that her phone records showed her phone had gone outside her residence on November 28, the day after she went missing.
Taking all these aspects into consideration, along with reports that Shannon planned to move to Edmond for good for a dream job, detectives filed for a search warrant for the Burgess’ home and their cars. They decided to execute the same on July 8, 2015, but Joshua initially refused to let them inside. It was after an officer talked to him on the phone and calmed him down that he confessed he had killed his wife because he wanted her to shut up and didn’t want her to leave. When he came out of the house, he was rushed to the hospital because he had a self-inflicted slash on his throat. After he received the proper treatment, he was interrogated, where he gave a full confession and revealed the location of his estranged wife’s remains.
Shannon Madill Burgess’ Killer Pleaded Guilty For His Offense in 2017
During his interrogation, Joshua stated that when he came home on the morning of November 27, 2014, Shannon was sitting on the couch watching television. Since their marriage was on the rocks, he said he asked her if she wanted to have “angry makeup sex,” leading them to become intimate right there. He continued to add that it was right after that he learned she had heard “break-up sex” because she wanted to move forward, and that she “regretted” marrying him. A fight between them ensued, with him admitting, “I just wanted her to stop talking… She said she was disgusted touching me … I put my hand over her mouth.”
Joshua then stated that after he had strangled her with his hands, he took his belt from the pants he had been wearing and strangled her again. He even told officials he moved her remains a few times around the house before deciding to bury her in their backyard because he “just didn’t want her to leave.” He was consequently arrested on the charge of second-degree murder, for which his trial was scheduled to begin on December 5, 2017.
However, just a day before, he pleaded guilty to the exact charge against him in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years. During his sentencing hearing, he said, “I’m very sorry for the vows that I made, that I promised to look after her, no matter what the circumstances were. I failed her in that… I failed all of you in that, and I am so very sorry for that and so very sorry that I didn’t say something earlier.”
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