Shannon Burgess and Her Husband Had a Seemingly Happy Marriage. Then, He Killed Her So She Would ‘Stop Talking’

Dateline has covered many missing-person and murder cases, but the death of Shannon Burgess was especially heartbreaking.

Shannon, a 25-year-old aspiring Canadian actress, disappeared from Calgary, Alberta, in November 2014. Her car and personal belongings were still at home, but her husband, Joshua Burgess, told police he didn’t suspect anything because Shannon often traveled for auditions.

“It didn’t feel like any alarm bells had been set off,” Calgary Police Detective Christina Witt said in Oxygen’s 2019 docuseries A Wedding and a Murder. But months passed, Shannon never returned, and authorities began to suspect Joshua.

In July 2015, when police presented a warrant to search their cars and cell phones, Joshua confessed that he had killed Shannon and buried her in their backyard.

Here’s what happened to Shannon Burgess and what her killer told police.

Shannon went missing in November 2014

On Dec. 1, 2014, Shannon was reported missing after she missed a dinner with her brother. Her car and belongings were still at home, but she was gone.

“I was really concerned that something bad had happened,” her sister, Erin Madill, told Dateline. “I became really obsessed with trying to find her, and it became all-consuming for me.”

Joshua, 29 at the time, told authorities he wasn’t worried because Shannon often traveled for auditions. That year, she appeared in several short films, including Scared Stiff and Ascension. Erin described Joshua as “phenomenal” in supporting her sister’s career.

Shannon and Joshua had an open relationship, but she wanted to close it

Shannon and Joshua were in an open marriage, which meant they spent time with other partners, including Shannon’s boyfriend Ian Wallace. Weeks before she vanished, Shannon and Joshua argued about a woman he was dating.

Shannon reportedly told Joshua she wanted to close their marriage, but he continued seeing the other woman.

Police and Shannon’s family found Joshua’s behavior suspicious

When police questioned Joshua, his memory of the night Shannon disappeared seemed unclear. He also acted strangely in the following weeks.

According to A Wedding and a Murder, Joshua found Shannon’s phone four days after she went missing, even though it had been ringing constantly with calls and texts from worried friends and family.

Although Shannon was last seen on Nov. 27, 2014, her phone records showed activity outside her home the next day. “Her phone had done a walkabout in the alley behind their residence,” Witt said. “But who was with this phone? Was it Shannon?”

Joshua confessed after police brought a search warrant

On July 8, 2015, six months after Shannon disappeared, investigators arrived at Joshua’s home with a warrant for their cars and Shannon’s phone. After stalling, Joshua confessed.

“Within the first 10 minutes of our conversation, he became very emotionally upset and crying,” Witt said. “And then he blurted out to me that ‘I killed my wife.’”

When he left the house, Joshua was covered in blood from trying to cut his own throat. He recovered at a hospital and was taken into custody the next day.

He said he strangled Shannon to “stop her talking”

Joshua told police he asked Shannon if she wanted “angry makeup sex.” They did, but afterward, he said she thought he said “break-up sex” and regretted marrying him.

“I just wanted her to stop talking,” he allegedly said. “She said she was disgusted touching me … I put my hand over her mouth.”

Joshua strangled Shannon with his hands and a belt, then placed her body in a Rubbermaid container. He moved her remains several times before finally burying her in the front yard. Police later found Shannon’s body.

Joshua was sentenced to life in prison

Joshua was charged with second-degree murder. He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty the day before his trial in December 2017. He received life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

“I’m very sorry for the vows that I made, that I promised to look after her, no matter what the circumstances were,” Joshua said during sentencing. “I failed her in that.”

He added, “For several months afterward, everybody stood by me, unquestionably … 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.”