John Martin Crawford (March 29, 1962 – December 16, 2020) was a Canadian serial killer. Crawford was convicted of killing four women in Saskatchewan and Alberta, between 1981 and 1992.^[2]

He was born in Steinbach, Manitoba to a single mother in 1961. His mother would remarry in 1964 and the family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his sister being born shortly after the relocation.^[1] Crawford struggled early in life, he began to frequently run away from home at the age of three, in kindergarten his teacher said that he was "stupid", and he failed grade one and had to repeat the grade.^[1] He did not grow up in a good home as his parents were both addicted to gambling and his step-father was an alcoholic. Crawford himself would begin a life of substance abuse when he began sniffing glue at the age of 12.^[1] As a teenager he began using other drugs such as marijuana, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms and other prescription drugs.^[1]

Crawford was sentenced in 1981 to ten years' imprisonment for manslaughter in the killing of Mary Jane Serloin, in Lethbridge, Alberta. He was released from prison in 1989.^[1]

While under police surveillance, Crawford sexually assaulted Theresa Kematch,^[3] who was herself arrested, while Crawford was not.^[1]

In October 1994, a hunter came across the remains of the women in heavy brush outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.^[4][5] In 1996, Crawford was convicted of one count of first degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the 1992 deaths of three Indigenous women identified as Eva Taysup, Shelley Napope, and Calinda Waterhen.^[6] Crawford was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences.^[7]

Crawford is discussed in Warren Goulding's book Just Another Indian, A Serial Killer and Canada's Indifference with the message that crimes against marginalized minorities go unheeded by an uncaring society at large. The theory is posited that Crawford's case was played down by the media because his victims were Aboriginal women.^[8] The story of the last three victims, identified under pseudonyms, was the subject of season 4 episode 14 of the true crime tv show "Exhibit A" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibit_A:_Secrets_of_Forensic_Science

Crawford died on December 16, 2020, while serving his sentence at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon.^[9][10] No cause of death was released.^[11]

• List of serial killers by country

• Discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada - Report Summary (mentions John Martin Crawford)