The RunOut Podcast

The RunOut Podcast


The RunOut #156: The mysterious murder of a neo-nazi crypto king dirtbag climbing outlaw

September 27, 2025

In 2017, a climber was murdered outside of Squamish. His body was found with gunshot wounds, inside a smoldering, burnt vehicle. He was suspected to be the climber known as Jesse James, a Squamish dirtbag who made his mark on the scene, both in real life and online. In fact, it took three years for investigators to discover his real name and his incredible and sordid past. Who was this person really and what clues did his past reveal about who killed him—or why? Steven Chua is a freelance journalist based in Vancouver. He's a rock climber, and the host of Dirtbag Climber, a new true-crime podcast from the CBC's Uncover. This riveting new podcast peels back the layers of Jess James, a former neo-nazi turned crypto king dirtbag climbing outlaw. But first, your well-intentioned hosts try to breathe a bit of positivity into the world by shining our lights on several climbing stories that are all good and about which nothing negative can be said. Today's final bit comes from climber, OG Stone Monkey, public speaker and purveyor of joy, just like us, Timmy O'Neill. He is also the sometimes touring drummer for the Surf Rock Duo, Par Avion. Featured is the track Bikini Beach Bash recorded live at the Eldorado in downtown Carbondale CO. Show Notes Listen to "Dirtbag Climber" from Uncover Follow Steven Chua on X Michaela Kiersch announces first ascent of Mad Lib (5.14d) "Cerro Torre Winter Solo" on Colin Haley's blog Tim Emmett is pretty fired up Dave Graham climbs V16 Walton Goggins - Batso Become a RunOut Rope Gun! Support our podcast and increase your RunOut runtime. Bonus episodes, AMA, and more will be available to our Rope Guns. Thank you for your support! http://patreon.com/runoutpodcast Contact us Send ideas, voicemail, feedback and more. andrew@runoutpodcast.com // chris@runoutpodcast.com