Uncle Peter | Episode 5: Charges, Destruction, & Realization

Summary

Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield Episode 5: "Charges, Destruction, & Realization" Release Date: February 13, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 5 of "Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield," titled "Charges, Destruction, & Realization," Ashleigh Banfield delves into the harrowing downfall of Peter Nygaard, a once-revered Canadian business tycoon who transformed into a convicted sex predator. Through intimate interviews and insider accounts, Banfield unpacks the intricate web of Nygaard's rise to power, his subsequent moral collapse, and the devastating impact on his family and victims.

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Peter Nygaard: Rise to Power and Image

Peter Nygaard's ascent in the fashion industry began in the 1970s with the launch of his women's clothing line, catering to the burgeoning workforce of women seeking affordable and practical attire. Nygaard cultivated an image of an international playboy, blending charisma with flamboyance—reminiscent of icons like Liberace, Hugh Hefner, and Fabio. His larger-than-life persona, marked by extravagant fur coats, open shirts, and flowing blonde hair, made him a beloved figure in both his family and community.

Notable Quote:

"He fashioned himself an international playboy and society agreed. Yet that Playboy image wasn't so playful; it was dark, dangerous, and destructive."
— Ashleigh Banfield [02:37]

Despite his public image, Nygaard's private life was marred by severe misconduct. He was often described as "worse than Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Bill Cosby combined," highlighting the gravity of his offenses.

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Family Dynamics and Early Red Flags

Nygaard's family, deeply entwined with his business empire, initially saw him as an avowed patriarch and pillar of success. However, cracks began to appear as Nygaard's obsession with control and his predatory behavior surfaced. Angela Dyborne, Nygaard's niece and childhood best friend of Banfield, provides a poignant account of these dynamics.

Notable Quotes:

"He would seize and fixate on, like tiny minutiae... signing off on Housekeepers' paychecks...[Nygaard] was more interested in what time cards for the marina housekeepers... how they were getting paid."
— Angela Dyborne [06:29]

"I believe he's lost it over the years. It's not just one mental illness or psychotic break. It's been a slow slide and then it's been living in this fantasy world."
— Angela Dyborne [08:08]

Nygaard's fixation on trivial business details, especially during periods of financial instability, was a manifestation of his declining mental state and obfuscation from the company's looming bankruptcy.

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The Downfall: Legal Battles and Public Exposure

By 2020, Nygaard's empire began to crumble under the weight of bankruptcy, rape allegations, an FBI raid, and his arrest in Canada. These events exposed the depths of his exploitation and abuse, revealing that he had raped and trafficked over 130 women, with many more potential victims.

Notable Quotes:

"It took until Peter Nygaard was arrested before many in his family finally saw him for the criminal that he was."
— Ashleigh Banfield [09:24]

"It was a bit of a process because at first I absolutely was a defender... The truth started lining up."
— Angela Dyborne [17:26]

The initial charges in 1980 were dismissed by his family as a setup, maintaining their unwavering support for Nygaard despite growing suspicions about his behavior.

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Personal Accounts of Abuse and Family Trauma

Angela Dyborne bravely shares her experiences growing up in Nygaard's shadow, highlighting the normalization of sexual deviance within the family. She recounts instances of her own abuse and the broader environment where women were objectified and mistreated without question.

Notable Quotes:

"Angela is speaking publicly for the first time about what life with her Uncle Peter was like. His volatility and explosive anger, the sex cult in which she grew up, and the sick lessons that he made normal in their family."
— Ashleigh Banfield [19:11]

"It felt like this person... it's still Uncle Peter, still my uncle... It's heartbreaking."
— Angela Dyborne [18:11]

One particularly disturbing incident involved Nygaard physically assaulting Angela over wasting money, demonstrating his volatile and abusive nature.

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Impact on the Family and Legacy

Nygaard's reign of terror extended to his own children, with allegations of statutory rape and abuse emerging from within the family. Several of his sons have publicly turned against him, accusing him of forcing sexual encounters as rites of passage.

Notable Quotes:

"How angry are you at Peter?"
— Ashleigh Banfield [38:30]

"I think he deserves to die alone. I think he's hurt so many people... buried in an unmarked grave."
— Angela Dyborne [38:33]

The family's discovery of Nygaard's true nature has led to deep fractures, with members grappling with betrayal, financial ruin, and emotional trauma.

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Business Failures and Egotistical Decisions

Nygaard's business acumen was overshadowed by his erratic and financially draining decisions. Extravagant projects, such as a denim jacket line emblazoned with his likeness and overspending on personal luxuries like private jets and yachts, contributed to the company's downfall.

Notable Quotes:

"He hemorrhaged money and then also got crazy with business... would rot in warehouses."
— Angela Dyborne [32:27]

"He threw the leftover peas and rice on the ground, cursing at me for wasting his money."
— Angela Dyborne [34:36]

These reckless expenditures not only strained the company's finances but also exemplified Nygaard's lack of boundaries and disregard for those around him.

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Conclusion: The Aftermath and Quest for Justice

Nygaard's arrest and the subsequent legal battles have left a trail of broken lives and shattered families. Victims and family members alike seek justice, grappling with the enormity of Nygaard's crimes and the intricate family dynamics that enabled his actions for decades.

Notable Quotes:

"Which of the victims is going to get justice? Which ones might not? And what exactly would justice even look like?"
— Ashleigh Banfield [38:15]

"I would like to see him suffer and see, you know, guilty, guilty, guilty... that's justice."
— Victim Advocate [38:56]

Banfield emphasizes the lingering questions surrounding Nygaard's legacy and the broader implications for those impacted by his abuses.

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Key Takeaways

• Dual Facade: Peter Nygaard's public persona as a successful and flamboyant businessman masked his dark, abusive behavior.

• Family Loyalty vs. Reality: Family members initially defended Nygaard despite growing evidence of his misconduct, leading to deep personal and familial conflicts.

• Normalization of Abuse: Within Nygaard's sphere, sexual deviance and exploitation were normalized, creating a toxic environment that perpetuated abuse.

• Business Mismanagement: Nygaard's egotistical and financially irresponsible decisions contributed significantly to his empire's collapse.

• Quest for Justice: The aftermath of Nygaard's actions has left victims and family members seeking accountability and understanding amidst complex emotional landscapes.

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Final Thoughts

Ashleigh Banfield's comprehensive examination of Peter Nygaard's life serves as a sobering reminder of how power and wealth can obscure true character. Through personal testimonies and meticulous investigation, "Drop Dead Serious" sheds light on the profound damage wrought by Nygaard, offering a platform for victims to voice their experiences and seek the justice they deserve.

Disclaimer: This episode contains material that may be distressing to some listeners. Viewer discretion is advised.

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If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, please reach out to your local sexual assault hotline for support.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

This episode may contain material which may be unsuitable for some listeners.

[Podcast Host]

This is an insider's account of a colossal fall from grace. A family insider's account. How a global business tycoon, a true rags to riches story, got away with decades of rape and sex trafficking. Peter Nygaard was once an icon of his family. But now he sits in a Canadian jail cell, nothing more than inmate number 100-15-37716. He was once one of the richest men in Canada, idolized by both his family and his community.

[Narrator]

Welcome to Warren, Ohio. I was selling tons of your clothes last night.

[Podcast Host]

He fashioned himself an international playboy and society agreed. Yet that Playboy image wasn't so playful full it was dark, dangerous and destructive. He's always been a spectacle. One part Liberace, one part Hugh Hefner and one part Fabio, with his flamboyant fur coats, open shirts and long flowing blonde hair. But he's also been described as worse than Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Bill Cosby combined. Today, Peter Nygaard is locked up for the sexual assault and rape of multiple women. And he's also facing several more criminal trials across Canada and the US on top of that, he stands accused of the rape and trafficking of more than 130 women who've signed on to a class action civil suit. But here's the thing. It's estimated that there are so many more victims, maybe even thousands, who haven't yet come forward and likely never will. Women who Nygaard typically lured with the promise of modeling contracts that would make them famous. Or maybe he'd offer a lifestyle of glamour and excess that they could never achieve on their own. But some he didn't even bother to entice. Instead, they say he just drugged them. He drugged them to have his way. Nygaard got his start back in the 1970s with women's clothing. Affordable, easy to care for clothing when women were just entering the workforce.

[Narrator]

He had charisma, he had this larger than life ego, larger than life personality, and he was a huge flirt. Women swooned. He entered the room and it was like a light went on.

[Real Estate Agent]

We do the real people. That's our marketplace. You will not find another property as competitively priced as ours.

[Angela Dyborne]

Welcome back to Uncle Peter, a Drop Dead Serious podcast.

[Podcast Host]

As he rose in stature and mega wealth, his appetite for women in power seemed insatiable. And eventually, Peter Nygaard came apart at the seams. He was out of control. His employees worked around the clock, answering to his every demand until they could no longer. Because in 2020, Nygaard's empire came crashing down. Bankruptcy, rape accusations, and an FBI raid of his New York headquarters, plus a stunning arrest in Canada. It is unclear exactly when Peter Nygaard turned into the monster that he became, or if that monster was always lurking beneath the surface. He had an unrelenting obsession with work, rivaled only by his obsession with women, whether they wanted him or not. In today's episode of Uncle Peter, we look into the unraveling of Peter Nygard, the path of destruction he left in his wake, and the devastation that he caused his family. All of this through the eyes of my childhood best friend, friend Angela Dyborne, Peter Nygaard's niece. Growing up, we called him Uncle Peter.

[Angela Dyborne]

I want you to describe, if you can, Peter seemed to lose connection with reality, especially when it came to business. And as you've described it to me, he would seize and fixate on, like tiny minutiae, signing off on Housekeepers, paychecks, like, describe how that came about and what it was like.

[Narrator]

An example would be when the company was in almost bankruptcy weeks beforehand, where he should have been focusing all of his energy on saving his company and working with the creditors. He was more interested in what the time cards for the marina housekeepers, the staff in Marina Del Rey, what time they were logging in, and how they were getting paid. So he was sitting there literally going through hour by hour of staff, signing in to make an adjustment of 275, $300. It doesn't sound like a lot, but.

[Angela Dyborne]

The whole ship is sinking.

[Narrator]

The whole ship's sinking. But he's more interested.

[Angela Dyborne]

He's not rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. He's rearranging the toothpicks on the Titanic.

[Narrator]

In the canisters in the bar. Yeah. Yep. And he would spend hours doing this. I think it was avoidance almost. Right? It was like avoidance, like all this delusion, delusion, avoidance. It was mind boggling that he could spend that much time on. And then he also wanted to approve every single little thing, every paycheck, every everything for a company payroll. The company was in financial chaos, financial collapse. He should have been on that upper macro side, steering the ship, not arranging the deck chairs.

[Angela Dyborne]

30,000 foot view. So had he lost his mind?

[Narrator]

I think he has. I believed. I believe he's lost it over the years. It's not just one mental illness or psychotic break. It's been a slow slide and then it's been living in this fantasy world. Then people building a fantasy world around you where everything you say is right and whatever you say happens.

[Angela Dyborne]

It just.

[Narrator]

And it's completely disconnected from reality.

[Angela Dyborne]

I think Peter had a ton of hangers on all through his life who thought they were going to get something like ride those coattails and get a great job or get a modeling job or if you're a executive, stick with it because you'll end up as the top paid executive. Bonuses, et cetera. You'll ride the jet, you'll live the lifestyle, you'll get to be with the girls with him, etc. But once the power ended, he is jailed with no bail. You know, was it just an epiphany of how many people were like, I'm out. No point. I'm out.

[Narrator]

Everybody left him. Everybody left the minute everything started going down. Because it wasn't just the transactional girls and it wasn't just some of the people to hang on. It was everybody.

[Angela Dyborne]

It was executives, it was everybody.

[Narrator]

It was everybody.

[Podcast Host]

It May be hard to believe, but it took until Peter Nygaard was arrested before many in his family finally saw him for the criminal that he was. And some of them never came to terms, having died before he was truly exposed. Nygaard always insisted on fierce family loyalty. He got it, perhaps blinded by his fame, his fortune, and his penchant to retaliate. It wasn't until the drumbeat of accusations became just too loud to ignore that they saw the real Peter Nygaard. For decades, those accusers, they were considered liars to the family. Jilted women who were out for a payday. That started with a case in Winnipeg way back in 1980. A young woman who reported Peter to the police. And remarkably, even though it was 1980, he was charged.

[Angela Dyborne]

What did the family make of that 1980s rape charge? I mean, that got serious. The police charged him. It was a case. It was an actual case, not just a whisper and not just a rumor.

[Narrator]

Peter wasn't wrong. I mean, the family. Peter wasn't wrong. Peter was in the right, and they were doing this to Peter. Peter was innocent and it had nothing to do with.

[Angela Dyborne]

They really believed it.

[Narrator]

They really believed it.

[Angela Dyborne]

There was no chance it could have been true.

[Narrator]

Obviously, now we know there was a chance now, but back then. Back then, it was just a setup. I've been 13 years old and heard about it, and it made the news all over Winnipeg. It was devastating. I went home that day from school and explained, but my parents explained. I remember hearing that it was a setup. They wanted to get into his office. There's all this justification, but that would.

[Angela Dyborne]

Have come from Peter as things became obvious, that he had an insatiable, voracious appetite for women and eventually girls. Did the family's estimation of him, pride in him, ever waver? Did his sister or his mom or his dad before they died, did it ever waver? Did they ever start wondering?

[Narrator]

I feel that they've always felt that that was just part of him. I think that that's that overarching playboy part was still him. But I do think we started to wonder, where was it going to end? I remember my mom saying, like, what's next? Where does this end? From overheard conversations, I could hear that there seemed to be some kind of concern about what his actual behavior behind the scenes might be or what he was really into. I think my mom was afraid of him. Like, my mom worshiped him on one hand, but was terrified of him on the other hand.

[Angela Dyborne]

But never. Did anybody say, we need to pull him aside. He might be bordering on Illegal here.

[Narrator]

They wouldn't have. They would have never. And they would have never seen it. They would just have seen that women wanted his money, that women and girls like, because it didn't look like that from the outside. All for so many years. It was just women kind of him hitting on women, hitting on him.

[Angela Dyborne]

Girlfriends, girlfriends, girlfriends. Normalized.

[Narrator]

It was a normalized thing. And my grandparents, my mom, nobody would have ever said anything to him.

[Angela Dyborne]

There were, let me tell you, there were no whisper rumors when we were growing up in the 80s that there was anything wrong with what he was doing, like having all those girls and women around him. I don't recall anyone looking askance or criticizing it ever. If this was all happening in the lens today, do you think that your grandmother and your mom would have been way more savvy and like, snapped into reality for what he was doing sooner? You know, I know again, today's lens is very different.

[Narrator]

Even today's lens. I think it would take a lot of convincing. I think it would take a lot. I think their. Their brains were still so much, and they were so locked in on condition.

[Angela Dyborne]

That he was perfect, that he was.

[Narrator]

Perfect, that he was the hero, that it was the women that were throwing themselves at Peter, that he could do no wrong.

[Podcast Host]

It may have been hard to see Peter for what he really was, because Peter was such a showman with unbridled potential. He built a huge clothing empire from nothing, but then blew it all up by his own doing. My mom, Susie Lound, knew Peter Nygaard well. They were friends. So too were my mom and Peter's sister Lisa. I sat down with my mom to talk about the Nygaard that she remembers. An astute businessman man, again, with all that potential, but a playboy whose behavior.

[Susie Lound]

Nobody questioned when all of the economics were so wonderful. One doesn't want to question where the basis of that comes from in that particular case, when the power model extends to the family at that point. That's right. Yeah. Well, you know, his mother and father were so proud of him, and his sister Lisa was so proud of him. I mean, they were all very, very proud of Peter. And he was so good to them. I don't know whether they ever looked at the cracks. He really has destroyed his image and others. He had a great deal of talent, and he worked very hard to get to a point where he was highly regarded in the fashion industry. And then it became a disaster.

[Podcast Host]

I remember as, you know, a teenager hearing about Peter's lifestyle. And back then it wasn't considered illegal, but it was Sort of gross.

[Susie Lound]

It was sort of gross. Well, I think men today cannot behave the way men got away with behaving in the 50s, the 40s, the 50s.

[Angela Dyborne]

The 60s, the 80s.

[Susie Lound]

I guess even up to the 80s, they were closeted away and they were whispered about. I think Peter was always whispered about. Hugh Hefner was always whispered about.

[Podcast Host]

Did he seem like a Hugh Hefner?

[Susie Lound]

I think he did. And I think he saw himself as the same as Hugh Hefner, that Hugh was able to do all this. So why shouldn't he? I do think so. And I'm not sure that Hugh Hefner was any better than Peter.

[Podcast Host]

So the way people looked at him with all of his young women that he surrounded himself with, you know, the bachelor for life kind of lifestyle, nobody derided him for it, right?

[Susie Lound]

No, they didn't. I think there was a certain amount of secretive lifestyle then. Some of these men lived very, very nasty lifestyles. They did. And they were never questioned about it. He was the rich and famous. He very definitely was. He could have anything he wanted, he could buy anything he wanted. And unfortunately, as we all know, he sank into a depth of depravity. Depravity. That's what I was thinking. That's the word. Because that's exactly what it was.

[Podcast Host]

As for his family, Angela really filled in the blanks on loyalty. She told us the family stood by Peter Nygaard despite everything, despite all the accusations, until 2020. That's when vile and ugly details began to surface in lawsuits and maybe more importantly, details with a lot of corroborating evidence. The reports became impossible to ignore.

[Angela Dyborne]

How did you finally see the light and go from defender to believer?

[Narrator]

It was a bit of a process because at first I absolutely was a defender. I'd been a defender my entire life and conditioned to defend. I think after that first case and after the first iteration of the class action was one of the first times that I started looking at what nuggets of truth are in here, not what nuggets of lies.

[Angela Dyborne]

And. And the truth started lining up. I mean, even just the, the filthy stories of his, his kink matched what you had to face. You'd see some detail that didn't match up and you'd seize.

[Narrator]

I mean, maybe that's a self protection thing, right? Like you don't want to see it. Like this is, like this is this person that has, as crappy as he's been to you all his life, it's Uncle Peter. It is still Uncle Peter, still my uncle. And all through Time. You've only ever been conditioned to say, no, no, this isn't true, this isn't true, this isn't true. And it's like holy hell, this is true. It's heartbreaking. It's left a path of destruction.

[Angela Dyborne]

Was he ever inappropriate in any way with you?

[Narrator]

Not, yeah, not, not sexually inappropriate. But I remember one time we were at a party and he came up behind me and he kind of his handsy as we talked about and he grabbed my butt. But then I looked back, I don't think from the back, I don't think he realized it was me. I turned around and he was completely horrified that it was actually my butt that he grabbed. I was equally mortified, disgusted and mortified.

[Podcast Host]

Angela may have been mortified by that encounter, but not unaccustomed to sexual deviance. Throughout this podcast, Angela is speaking publicly for the first time about what life with her Uncle Peter was like. His volatility and explosive anger, the sex cult in which she grew up, and the sick lessons that he made normal in their family. He was crude and inappropriate and very, very mean. Angela grew up in that environment where women were objects, paraded around and cast off at will. Angela herself was sexually abused several times by different men. But in Uncle Peter's world that was just part of life.

[Narrator]

I wound up being sucked in almost as one of. Not a sexual victim, but a victim to his, his way of thinking, his worth, his thinking and my life. And I became dependent. Later on I become more kind of dependent for a. And depended on stuff because I started to kind of fall into place. This is not right. My dad said this isn't right. My dad was just horrified. There was a big rift between my dad and Peter over the years. My dad got further and further out of that and my parents relationship kind of broke.

[Angela Dyborne]

Sounds like he was getting wise.

[Narrator]

So my dad stepped away from all of like the family and the stuff.

[Angela Dyborne]

And so you think your dad got wise to Peter?

[Narrator]

Oh, my dad worked for Peter in the 70s.

[Angela Dyborne]

And your dad didn't want a part of it?

[Narrator]

My dad want no part of it.

[Podcast Host]

Here's how Peter's dysfunction rubbed off on the whole family. At 17, Angela got pregnant by a 35 year old married man. Through the lens of Peter's world, Angela didn't see it as rape. Her mom, Peter's sister lost her husband when he simply would no longer stand for Peter's behavior. And then there are the children. It is unclear exactly how many children Peter Nygaard fathered. Angela counted nine children to seven different women. But other reports put it at 10 children to eight different women. And it's believed Nygaard has many more children we don't even know about. And in perhaps some of the more disturbing revelations to emerge from the lawsuit, Peter Nygaard's own sons described vile behavior and sexual abuse.

[Angela Dyborne]

One of the biggest aspects of this story is that his own kids have turned on him. Three of his sons kai very, very publicly in the press. And then two of his other sons are suing him for statutory rape, alleging that he sent his girlfriend in to make a man out of them, effectively, at 14 and 15 years old, have sex with them to make them men.

[Podcast Host]

It's unbelievable.

[Angela Dyborne]

Except for we're talking about Peter Nygaard.

[Narrator]

There are no lines in Peter's morality. There are no lines in anything. I just think that that would just be no different than giving your. In his brain, giving your child a bicycle. I'm not sure what.

[Angela Dyborne]

So there, that's an interesting concept, is that he would think he would look at it as a gift to his 14 year old and 15 year old. He would never consider that it's statutory rape. Exactly.

[Narrator]

Yeah, but I can see it happening. I can see him being somebody looking at it like a favor or a gift. No different than giving his kids a bicycle. I mean, that is what he would have done.

[Angela Dyborne]

Does Peter just not believe that people can be raped?

[Narrator]

Yeah, I don't know. It feels like it. Like right now. It certainly feels like it when you start to look at this whole case and all the people involved and everything going on.

[Angela Dyborne]

It's just that if he wants sex, he gets it. And that's just the way of the world that it's. There's nothing wrong with it.

[Narrator]

And if you, and if you want to, you know, if I want to send this person to have sex with that person, they should be fine with that. If I have an executive in town, I'm gonna send this person to go have sex with him, then sex is.

[Angela Dyborne]

For gifting and using at your own leisure, regardless of the.

[Narrator]

And there's really nothing more tied to it.

[Angela Dyborne]

Yeah, there's nothing else there. And it doesn't matter what the partner thinks.

[Narrator]

Looking at from Peter's, the degrees or whatever's gone on with it. I can see though, I can see Peter doing something like that.

[Angela Dyborne]

You could see him doing it. You could see his personality believing that this is the right thing to do. It's time to make my boys into men. And in his estimation, you're only a man if you've had sex. If You've lost your virginity.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Angela Dyborne]

How is the family processed? Because that is really on the inside. I mean, family members being victimized by rape and joining class action suits, how are they weighing in?

[Narrator]

I think the initial class action sort of started to create cracks and started to like sever the family a bit. But something like that completely shattered it. The case. So complex.

[Angela Dyborne]

It is complex. It's not as though, like I don't see any family members that disbelieve that Peter was capable of this behavior. And yet there are still schisms. Is it money, is it frustration? Like what's causing this incredible series of fissures throughout all the kids and cousins?

[Narrator]

I think there's so many different. Like a kid, there's this, there's the class action. So there's so many parts where people are even in the suit are almost being pitted against each other where we should be working together because I think together it would be an easier way to help the victims. We all want to help the victims. So I think we should instead shattering, kind of trying to play the he said, she said and what's really going on. We should be really looking and saying, look, these things all make sense. What else can we find that will help and support people?

[Angela Dyborne]

There's one photo you showed me that was so disturbing. It was something that Peter gave to his son Kai. And he had a handwritten note on the side. Describe it and explain what that was.

[Narrator]

So Peter having no boundaries on virtually anything. When I was cleaning up some old paperwork, I saw two. My number one son found a woman for you. And it was some scrawny, like old, like 90 year old woman in these pornographic positions, completely naked. Supposed to be completely naked and sagging. And it was supposed to be imagined in his brain. It was like horrifying. I mean, you look at it, it takes a second to realize what it is.

[Angela Dyborne]

This is what he gave his son as a fun little letter memo joke.

[Narrator]

Like a joke like a joking.

[Angela Dyborne]

A naked woman, you know, of extreme advanced age posing in pornographic positions that would be appropriate in Peter's mind.

[Narrator]

And during a period of time there when it was right, when you could start pulling images from the Internet and having them printed, I think he was sort of finding some fun.

[Angela Dyborne]

Well that would be fun for him.

[Narrator]

And you know, printing.

[Podcast Host]

Did Kai say anything about that?

[Narrator]

Did he understand that? No, I just found that. No, Kai, that would be normal. That would have been. That wouldn't have been. That been like a ha ha ha, happy, merry Christmas.

[Podcast Host]

I am holding that photo in my Hands right now. And I am trying to imagine Uncle Peter scribbling those words in the margin. To my son, Daddy knows best. This is the woman I found for you. Enjoy. Peter Nygaard. It is one of the more disturbing series of pornographic shots I've ever seen. An extremely old woman completely naked and contorted into vile sexual positions. It is so hard to think that a father would pass something like this along to his own son.

[Angela Dyborne]

How angry are you at Peter?

[Narrator]

I'm beyond angry. I don't even look at him like an uncle. I know I've used the term my uncle and acknowledging that he is my uncle, but I really. I think I mourn the loss of the businesses more than I mourn the loss of him right now. I'm sad that the entities that I grew up with, the companies and the people I worked with and stuff, aren't there anymore.

[Angela Dyborne]

Where is all the money? All the untold hundreds of millions? Where is all the money?

[Narrator]

I think there's a couple things there. I think that he over inflated when people say that he was like had $900 million. I don't think that was ever what he had in his bank account that was the worth or the sales, the volume for the company, like a big company. So that number is skewed. He has been engaged in legal fees, like legal fights, like huge, like legal wars for well over a decade. Millions and millions of dollars there. He's had some per month, by the way. He has had some huge ego projects, like his 50th anniversary party. That was in the millions and millions of dollars.

[Real Estate Agent]

Tonight we celebrate our 50th anniversary in business. A spectacular achievement under the leadership of Peter Nygaard. Peter, I'd like you to stand so all of us can tell you with applause how highly you are regarded Peter nygart.

[Podcast Host]

Peter Nygaard's 50th anniversary party.

[Angela Dyborne]

Wow.

[Podcast Host]

It was a party he threw for himself, for his business and for his ego. It was back in 2018 and even then, few thought twice about celebrating the successes of Peter Nygaard. The party was chock full of dignitaries. I was invited. I couldn't make it though. My mom was invited and she went. His reputation, whatever it was, wasn't bad enough. A lot of people gravitated to that party.

[Susie Lound]

Just hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of people. All the dignitaries and all the people that are very proud of Peter and what he've done. And it was a big fashion show, the whole nine yards. And he was there enjoying watching the whole thing go by. All his clothes. Well, and it Was over the years of all of the clothes and all the styles. It was a historical show.

[Real Estate Agent]

I appreciate you all for coming. It's important for me to make a contribution to everybody's life in this stage of my life.

[Susie Lound]

I think they were just all celebrating this very successful clothing designer and creative man. 50 years of an exciting time.

[Podcast Host]

Lots of successful people came.

[Susie Lound]

Oh, there were tons of them.

[Podcast Host]

There were politicians, There were.

[Susie Lound]

Everybody was there and everybody enjoy it very much.

[Real Estate Agent]

Representing the governor of Finland in Canada to congratulate you and the whole Nygaard team.

[Podcast Host]

Peter, or Pekka, as his Finnish friends call him, has succeeded in a tough industry for 50 years because of his foresight. And nobody felt as though I shouldn't be there.

[Susie Lound]

Nobody felt that they shouldn't be there because of Peter's behavior. Not at all. Or they wouldn't have been there. No. And the celebrations went on for two days.

[Podcast Host]

Even country legend Tanya Tucker was a guest of honor at the big celebration right up there on stage, helping him to serenade him himself.

[Narrator]

I love you, Peter. My God.

[Podcast Host]

Throughout the big celebration, she was right by his side, taking in the big show in the seat next to Peter. People close to Peter say Tanya Tucker was a dear, dear old friend of his. Peter Nygaard, a sex predator operating in the spotlight, almost always right in front of an audience and all the while hemorrhaging millions to bolster his ego and live a life of caviar dreams.

[Narrator]

He's bought bizarre, you know, airplanes and yachts and all these things.

[Angela Dyborne]

And you once said that he would leave a jet on the Runway for hours and hours and hours waiting for him, burning through jet fuel at like $60,000 for being late.

[Narrator]

Yep. Yeah.

[Angela Dyborne]

Like, this was how he kind of hemorrhaged money. He hemorrhaged money and then also got crazy with business. Like, he started doing these business projects that made zero sense and would rot in warehouses.

[Narrator]

He did at the end, when we were. When they were so the receivers or the people that took over. Like when the company went into basically bankruptcy, American equivalent bankruptcy, There were containers and warehouses full of future business ideas where he would. Ego projects.

[Podcast Host]

One of those ego projects, a denim jacket. He had thousands of them made for the 50th anniversary of the company. But instead of a giant 50 on the back, which would have been appropriate, he stenciled his own likeness on the back. Folded arms, bulging muscles and flowing hair at $120 a pop, it is unknown if even one of them sold.

[Angela Dyborne]

His business decisions were terrible.

[Narrator]

Terrible at the heat and irrational.

[Angela Dyborne]

Like he got crazy.

[Narrator]

He did.

[Angela Dyborne]

There was an incident you told me about in the Bahamas. There was some kind of big party. And you were in the kitchen at the end, and the leftovers from the food were in the kitchen. And the Bahamian specialty is peas and rice, which is basically beans and rice. It's the cheapest food you could ever find. And there was a bowl full that was left over, maybe a quart or something, or maybe a couple quarts or whatever of peas and rice. And he went ballistic.

[Narrator]

Ballistic.

[Angela Dyborne]

Like, what was that about?

[Narrator]

It was just that warped mind. He thought we were wasting his money.

[Angela Dyborne]

On peas and rice.

[Narrator]

On peas and rice. So he came in to the kitchen, looked at the pot. There was maybe a quart at most of like stuff on the bottom of a pot, a big catering pot. Slammed it onto the ground, threw it on the ground. Threw it on the ground. The food, what was left in it, kind of spread all over the pan. And then started cursing at me and poking at my chest to the point where I got bruises. Cursing and spitting in my face for wasting money. For wasting his money. How dare I waste his money at this exact same time we'd been trying to get him out, trying to get him to leave the property to go to his airplane that's sitting on the tarmac burning thousands of dollars of fuel. Of fuel every minute. You know, as he's sitting there arguing about, there's maybe what, 13 cents, 15.

[Angela Dyborne]

Cents worth of food, peas and rice on the floor.

[Narrator]

That took like so that.

[Podcast Host]

And he's physically.

[Angela Dyborne]

He's poking you and you were bruised.

[Narrator]

That's a physical assault. I mean. Yeah, that is. But it wouldn't have crossed my mind that I should have said something to the police about it. I wouldn't. I mean, I should have.

[Angela Dyborne]

And it's your fault. You probably thought it was your fault.

[Narrator]

Yep.

[Podcast Host]

It was always all about Peter. He even believed he could clone himself. The reason to leave all of his money to his clone to himself. His kids. They got nothing. I actually got a hold of a picture of Peter on his private jet where he is holding a small square plus plexiglass container. It kind of looks like the contents are liquid. Peter insisted it was his scientific clone in that liquid. The people around him used to joke that it was his mini me.

[Narrator]

In.

[Angela Dyborne]

One of the text chains you showed me with one of his children. Upon hearing of the horrifying class action civil suit allegations that turned into criminal charges and convictions, she seemed so shocked that this was possible.

[Narrator]

We were broadsided. It kind of just came out of, you know, just slammed.

[Angela Dyborne]

It was, you didn't know before the.

[Narrator]

Before the press, it was out of the blue. It was just all of a sudden we started reading it and it was just like, you know, it was like a full break, full stop. What's happening?

[Angela Dyborne]

And in one of the parts of the text chain it said, is he just not going to leave us anything? Like, she, she seemed bewildered that she was going to be left destitute. Did the kids always think there was going to be something there for them?

[Narrator]

I think they did. I think they believed it. They thought one day all of that will be theirs. They got nothing, nothing from Peter. I think that's the other kind of fallacy.

[Podcast Host]

Like people believe.

[Angela Dyborne]

Everybody believes every one of his kids and the family were all rich.

[Narrator]

Yeah, that we were like, you know, living. You watch stories on Ralph Lauren or some people who have children and even their nieces and nephews who are living large dynasties. But it was a dynasty. But it certainly wasn't our dynasty.

[Angela Dyborne]

I remember being sort of angry, realizing after 20 some odd years that you were living paycheck to paycheck.

[Podcast Host]

But I thought, you've been working for.

[Angela Dyborne]

This guy for so long and you literally work 12 to 14 hours a day. How are you struggling? You know. But you weren't the only one.

[Narrator]

Yeah, no, I wasn't. I mean I had two or three jobs. Once he'd leave town, you know, my hours would go down a little bit. Focus to him and so I'd be able to pick up some other gigs. Still though, answering 24 hours to him, it was a call from the Nygard company.

[Angela Dyborne]

But the kids too. Not living large either.

[Narrator]

Yeah, nobody was. Everybody was living. And to think. Oh, I think the idea though became almost from my, from some people. Oh, but we're living off of him. We're taking advantage of his money by.

[Angela Dyborne]

That's what he made you think.

[Narrator]

Yeah, exactly.

[Angela Dyborne]

That's what it's just weird to think. This guy's jetting around the world and he's basically, if not a billionaire, he's just a shade under it. And his kids are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling driving beat up cars, you know, like. And working hard for him.

[Narrator]

And working hard, working.

[Podcast Host]

On the next episode of Uncle Peter. Will anyone claim Peter's body when he dies? Especially since he'll most likely die behind bars after fathering so many children with so many mothers, the answer might surprise you.

[Narrator]

I'm not sad that he's dying alone. So it's so hard to. I haven't.

[Angela Dyborne]

You think he deserves to die alone?

[Narrator]

Yeah, I think he deserves to die alone. I think he's hurt so many people, I think he'll be buried in an unmarked grave somewhere with a little plot.

[Podcast Host]

Plus, with four criminal trials in two countries, which of the victims is going to get justice? Which ones might not? And what exactly would justice even look like?

[Victim Advocate]

I would like to see him suffer and see, you know, guilty, guilty, guilty, and all of the things thrown at him and just to hurt his pride, you know, he has a God complex. And if we can just. If we can chip away at that while he's still alive, then for me, that would be justice.

[Podcast Host]

Plus, Peter Nygaard writes to me from jail. I'll read you what he wants me to do. You've been listening to Uncle Peter, a drop dead serious podcast. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, please, please call your local sexual assault hotline.