The famous Canadian ‘Bathtub Girls’ murder remains shrouded in mystery, even 20 years on.

We still don’t know the true identity of Linda Andersen and her daughters, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen.

Aged 16 and 15 respectively at the time of their crime, the girls became 'fed up' with their mother's alcoholism and depression and decided to do the unthinkable.

It was a case that captured the world's attention, as the girl's story unravelled in Canadian headlines.

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What happened to Linda Anderson?

Linda Andersen was a mother of three. Because of Sandra and Elizabeth’s status as minors, all three were given an alias as the crime unravelled, with their real names still unknown. Anderson's son, Bobby, was also given an alias, and remains untraceable to this day.

The family of four lived in Mississauga, Ontario. The children’s father had left many years prior, and her second husband, also unnamed, was convicted of drunk driving and domestic abuse. Andersen’s drinking worsened when he left her and the children.

Andersen was an X-ray technician but was unemployed at the time of her death, and suffered from both depression and alcoholism, something that greatly frustrated her two daughters.

The amount of money she spent on alcohol angered the girls, who reportedly wanted money for things their friends seemed to have - namely nicer clothes and a house with a swimming pool.

They hatched a plan to murder their mother and make it look like an accident in 2003. They decided to do so by drowning her in a bathtub.

Their mother drank regularly, so they plied her with liquor and several tablets containing codeine, which slowed down her heart rate. They drew her a bath and helped her in, then held her head under until she died.

Sandra and Elizabeth had confided in friends about their plan, and used them as part of their alibi. After murdering their mum, the sisters went out to a local restaurant with the group of friends, as 'proof' they weren't home.

They returned home at 10:30pm and called emergency services to report that their mother had drowned while they were out.

All of this amounted to seemingly the perfect crime. But just a year later, the girls would be caught.

Catching the 'Bathtub Girls.'

At first the girls got away with the crime, but it seems their tendency to brag about their success got the better of them.

They were sent to live with their aunt, while their brother, who was only three, was sent to live with other family members. The sisters were paid out $130,000 in life insurance, while their brother received $67,000. Apparently, they had been aware of their mum's life insurance policy when they murdered her.

It’s believed the friends they told maintained silence, but one of the girls admitted to a male friend at a party that she had murdered her mother, leading him to report it to police. The police wired the young man, hoping he could get an audio confession for them. Over a period of one month, he discussed the details of the murder, feeding back the information that would lead to their arrest.

Sandra and Elizabeth were arrested in January, 2004, and placed in different youth correctional centres. Both girls made taped confessions of the crime, and a computer taken from their home found a search history detailing their plans and the effects of mixing alcohol and Tylenol-3.

Their trial began in late 2005, and they were found guilty of first degree murder. The following year, they were handed the maximum sentence: 10 years' imprisonment. They served six years in custody and four under community supervision.

Justice Bruce Duncan said in court, “the two defendants set out to commit the perfect crime, but instead they created the perfect prosecution. The case against them is overwhelming. It is probably the strongest case I have seen in over 30 years of prosecuting, defending, and judging criminal cases.”

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