S16: “Kuper Island” E1: A School They Called Alcatraz

Four years later, a Canadian college student named Corale needs to identify the father of her unborn baby. The 19-year-old turns to Viaguard Accu-Metrics for a prenatal paternity test. Like John, her world is rocked by tests that name the wrong dad. Unlike John, she starts asking questions and connecting dots. “Are there other people? Am I the only one?” A legal note: Over the course of this podcast, a number of allegations are made against Viaguard Accu-Metrics and its employees. When asked, company owner Harvey Tenenbaum said he stands by the test, and that any errors were caused by customers during sample collection.Hear Episode 3 right now — early and ad-free — by subscribing to CBC True Crime Premium on Apple Podcasts.

4 Joulu 202428min

On the surface, Accu-Metrics was making headlines and growing strong. But two former employees paint a troubling picture of what was going on inside, from staff who don’t seem properly trained to a stream of customers complaining about test results. Plus, the questions they were instructed to ask just didn’t seem right… A legal note: Over the course of this podcast, a number of allegations are made against Viaguard Accu-Metrics and its employees. When asked, company owner Harvey Tenenbaum said he stands by the test, and that any errors were caused by customers during sample collection.

3 Joulu 202429min

After years of expansion into different DNA services, controversies around the company begin to surface — publicly. There’s a lawsuit against the company, journalists (including our co-host Jorge Barrera) start sniffing around; and a poodle is falsely identified as an Indigenous person. Meanwhile, prenatal paternity testing quietly disappears from the services on the Viaguard Accu-Metrics website. A legal note: Over the course of this podcast, a number of allegations are made against Viaguard Accu-Metrics and its employees. When asked, company owner Harvey Tenenbaum said he stands by the test, and that any errors were caused by customers during sample collection.

2 Joulu 202427min

What’s really going on inside Accu-Metrics? Co-host Rachel Houlihan goes undercover, posing as a mother who needs a paternity test. Once inside, she meets face to face with the company’s owner, Harvey Tenenbaum. She also connects with an ex-employee who reveals what he witnessed in the lab. A legal note: Over the course of this podcast, a number of allegations are made against Viaguard Accu-Metrics and its employees. When asked, company owner Harvey Tenenbaum said he stands by the test, and that any errors were caused by customers during sample collection.

1 Joulu 202430min

In September 2024, a senior employee at Viaguard Accu-Metrics is sentenced for running an unrelated $6 million hair-testing scam. Will this development prompt the police to investigate his former employer as well? Will it finally push Tenenbaum to comment on the record? And what options remain for John, Corale and the other customers living with the long term impact of their bad results? A legal note: Over the course of this podcast, a number of allegations are made against Viaguard Accu-Metrics and its employees. When asked, company owner Harvey Tenenbaum said he stands by the test, and that any errors were caused by customers during sample collection.

30 Marras 202425min

Who is this baby’s father? It’s a question a DNA lab promised to answer with “99.9% accuracy” — but instead, routinely identified the wrong dads. Investigative journalists Jorge Barrera and Rachel Houlihan track down the families whose lives were torn apart by these bad results and the story behind the Canadian company that stands by its testing and continues to operate today.

23 Loka 20244min

Part 1: Five colleagues are shot dead. Everyone is traumatized. On that day, June 28, 2018, what can the remaining staff of the Capital Gazette do that might make a difference? Publish "a damn paper."

21 Loka 202435min

Part 2: How do you try to return to normal after a mass shooting? The Capital Gazette moves into a tiny, temporary office, and staff members confront the challenges of producing a daily paper while dealing with fear and guilt.

21 Loka 202431min