‘Death in a Small Town’: A new podcast hosted by Kevin Donovan debuts Monday

It is 722 steps from the McLellan home to Grandpa Wayne's house, down a gravel and dirt road. Corn fields, wild flowers, and wind turbines in the distance - that's Parkhill, Ont.

Nathaniel McLellan walked that route often, a family member or neighbour Kathy Webster at his side. A lovable, loud, often funny and very curious 15-month-old, he'd motor ahead on his toddler legs to see his Grandpa.

Oh, he could walk from his house to Grandpa's house," says Kathy. He was very inquisitive. If he saw something he wanted to investigate ... he was cute to the core."

Nathaniel died mysteriously in late October 2015. His death, his life, his family and the police investigation were the inspiration for Death in a Small Town," an investigative podcast from the Toronto Star that debuts Monday. The seven-part series will be available, one episode each week at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. All seven episodes will be available immediately to Star subscribers Monday.

At Wayne's house, there was always lots to do. Nate loved tools. He saw something he would have to figure out how it worked. He wasn't interested in toys," Kathy says. Parkhill, where three generations of the McLellan family live, is a 30-minute drive from London.

We were right there," says Grandpa Wayne McLellan, pointing through his kitchen window to a patch of grass under a tree. He's reflecting on his last experience with Nathaniel back in 2015, two days before a mysterious accident sent Nathaniel to hospital. Nathaniel and I were outside playing soccer. He would kick it right back to me." Then, tears, which Wayne says still flow easily, and help him grieve. I never wanted to outlive my children. My grandson. It's not right."

Shortly after Nathaniel went to hospital, police descended on the family, suspecting his parents were somehow involved in his death.

In the podcast, you'll hear about the criminal case, what went wrong, and the extraordinary efforts Nathaniel's family went to in an attempt to find answers from the justice system. There's a lot of characters whose voices you will hear - Kathy, Wayne, parents Rose-Anne and Kent McLellan (Kent's dad is Wayne), siblings, relatives, doctors, police investigators, social workers, etc.

Nathaniel was born July 16, 2014 in Strathroy and died 15 months later. Had he lived he would be turning eight in two months, probably playing hockey like his older siblings, running cross country and joining in the family chores.

Though he was young enough to have his age measured in months, Nathaniel was, by all accounts, a force of nature. Rose-Anne's dad, Richard Van De Wiele, recalls Nathaniel's booming voice" in church one day, calling out across a sea of adult heads to his older brother who was an altar server up front. The congregation cracked up.

Everyone who worked on this podcast is a parent, some (like me) with adult children, others, children roughly Nathaniel's age or a little older.

Sean Pattendon, the extraordinarily talented sound producer at the Star who put our podcast together, reminded me this week that when we began working on the podcast last fall, his daughter Amelia was 15 months - Nathaniel's age when he died.

It was easy putting myself in the shoes of Rose-Anne and Kent," said Pattendon, who also wrote and performed the music for the series.

The Toronto Star's JP Fozo and Raju Mudhar who, with Pattendon, produced the podcast series, brought a laser focus for both content and my narration - Kevin, can you redo that sentence with more emphasis on the last two words so they really hit home?" And then - Can we try that again and just slowwwww it down a tad?"

The podcast has its roots in the Star's written series of the same name, published last year. Those stories, with updates on the ongoing criminal case are available at thestar.com.

Death in a Small Town, a brand new investigative podcast from the Toronto Star, debuts on Monday, May 16. Check out the first episode here.

Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-312-3503 or kdonovan@thestar.ca