by Dale Brawn
Emerson Shelley:
A Neighbour Kills Again
August 16, 1909
Shelley kills Michael Hall.
August 17, 1909
Shelley arrested and charged with murdering Hall; coroner’s inquest begins its deliberations.
August 19, 1909
Inquest reconvenes, concludes Shelley shot Hall accidently and charges of murder previously laid against Shelley are withdrawn.
December 7, 1909
Shelley convicted of stealing a gun; receives a suspended sentence.
June 12, 1913
Shelley burns neighbour’s house; charged with theft and arson.
June 27, 1913
Shelley acquitted of arson; sentenced to two years in jail for theft.
May 10, 1915
Shelley tells friends of his plans to rob and murder Shoup.
May 11, 1915
Fifty-seven-year-old Christian Shoup robbed and murdered near Simcoe.
May 11, 1915
Shelley and an accomplice break into general store.
May 11, 1915
Warrant issued for arrest of Shelley on charge of rape in Norwich.
May 12, 1915
Shelley arrested for rape of thirteen-year-old girl; questioned about Shoup’s murder.
May 14, 1915
Shelley pleads guilty to the sex charge; sentenced to two years in jail.
May 19, 1915
Inquest into Shoup’s death concludes Shelley likely responsible.
June 5, 1915
Preliminary hearing into Shoup’s murder begins; reconvenes on June 12, Shelley committed to stand trial.
September 23, 1915
Shelley’s two-day murder trial in Simcoe ends with verdict of guilty; Shelley sentenced to hang on December 18.
October 5, 1915
Shelley blames accomplice in store break-in for murder of Shoup; a month later the accomplice is sentenced to five years in jail.
December 18, 1915
Shelley executed.
Larry Harold Hansen:
Killed by His Best Friend
November 19, 1976
Hansen and his neighbour, Joseph Baraniuk, argue about trees cut by Baraniuk.
November 20, 1976
Hansen murders Baraniuk.
November 22, 1976
Hansen charged with murder; remanded to custody.
June 6, 1977
Pleads guilty to second degree murder; sent to Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
January 1987
Hansen released from prison on full parole.
1995
McKay becomes RCMP informant in Operation Decode; paid $250,000.
1996
McKay’s work as informant for RCMP comes to an end.
1997
McKay returns to Manitoba; moves into acreage next to Hansen.
mid-January 1998
McKay receives death threats; reports them to RCMP.
April 16, 1998
John McKay shot as he drives out of his farm yard.
April 21, 1998
Hansen soloist at McKay’s funeral; sings I Have A Friend.
June 12, 1998
Manitoba M.P. accuses RCMP of gross negligence in death of McKay.
June 1998
Hansen charged with driving offences; violates parole terms; sent back to prison.
September 18, 1998
Hansen hangs himself in his cell at Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
September 20, 1998
RCMP confirm that Hansen was suspect in shooting of McKay.
3: Reprieved to Kill Again
Gary Richard Barrett:
One Second Chance Too Many
1852
Garry Richard Barrett born in Michigan.
1872
Barrett marries; by 1882 he is father of eight children.
1905
Barrett marries Johnson, and converts to Mormonism; moves to Egg Lake, Saskatchewan.
October 14, 1907
Barrett shoots his stepson Brunell Johnson; stepson dies.
June 3, 1907
Barrett sentenced to hang on July 17, 1908; jury recommends clemency.
June 2, 1908
Barrett’s trial for murder begins in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
August 5, 1908
Sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
January 1909
Deputy Warden Richard Stedman refuses to let Barrett see prison doctor.
April 15, 1909
Barrett kills deputy warden at the Alberta Penitentiary in Edmonton.
April 24, 1909
Preliminary hearing held at the Alberta Penitentiary; Barrett to stand trial.
May 17, 1909
Barrett’s trial for murder of Stedman begins in Edmonton; jury deliberates for five minutes before rejecting Barrett’s plea of insanity and finding him guilty of murder; sentenced to be hanged on July 14, 1909; jury makes no recommendation for mercy.
July 14, 1909
Barrett executed at the Alberta Penitentiary by an unknown hangman.
John Boyko:
Marry Me or Die
March 1941
Boyko meets Thekla “Tessy” Oliansky; two weeks later she asks him to be her man; they go into business together.
spring 1946
Boyko wants to make business arrangement official, she refuses.
June 1946
Boycko advised his wife was murdered by Russian soldiers.
November 1946
Boyko proposes marriage to Oliansky, she rejects him as too old.
November 24, 1946
Boyko moves out of Oliansky’s house.
November 25, 1946
Oliansky’s new boyfriend moves into her house.
November 28, 1946
Boyko murders his business partner/lover.
November 28, 1946
Boyko walks into police station and confesses to the murder.
November 29, 1946
Coroner’s jury holds Boyko responsible for murder of Oliansky; remanded to custody December 6 for preliminary hearing.
December 6, 1946
Preliminary hearing for murder; Boyko committed to trial.
February 24, 1947
Murder trial begins.
February 25, 1947
Boyko convicted of murder; sentenced to hang on June 6, 1947.
May 29, 1947
Sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
November 24, 1948
Boyko murders fellow inmate at St. Vincent de Paul; confesses to the murder.
November 26, 1948
Boyko arraigned; preliminary hearing set for December 4.
December 4, 1948
Boyko found criminally responsible at coroner’s inquest.
May 6, 1949
Jurors find Boyko guilty; sentenced to be hanged on August 26, 1949.
August 18, 1949
Federal cabinet confirms that Boyko is to be hanged.
August 26, 1949
Boyko hanged in Montreal’s Bordeaux Jail.
Albert Victor Westgate:
Fascination Leads to Murder
1901
Westgate born in Kent, England.
1916
Westgate arrives in Winnipeg, and lies about age to enlist in army.
1918
Westgate receives honourable discharge from army.
1921
Marries.
1924
Westgate’s wife introduces him to her co-worker, Lottie Adams
1927
Westgate admits to friends his fascination for Lottie.
1928
Lottie refuses to see Westgate, and ends their relationship.
February 16, 1928
Lottie agrees to see Westgate one last time; he murders her.
February 28, 1928
Body of Lottie Adams found in snow bank; Westgate arrested.
November 16, 1928
Westgate convicted of
murder; sentenced to be hanged.
December 20, 1928
Manitoba Court of Appeal orders that Westgate be re-tried.
March 22, 1929
Westgate again convicted of murder; sentenced to hang June 5, 1929.
June 3, 1929
Sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
June 3, 1943
Westgate paroled; returns to Winnipeg.
August 1943
Sixteen-year-old Edith Cook moves into rooming house where Westgate lives.
December 4, 1943
Westgate strangles Cook in a Winnipeg hotel room.
December 5, 1943
Police detain Westgate on Coroner’s warrant.
May 8, 1944
Westgate’s convicted of murder for a third time; sentenced to death.
July 24, 1944
Westgate executed at Manitoba’s Headingley jail.
4: Loved Ones Tell All
Oliver Prévost:
The Piggery Murders
February 11, 1897
Two bodies discovered in ruins on pig farm near Port Arthur, Ontario.
February 11, 1897
Coroner’s inquest called; hears witnesses then adjourns.
February 13, 1897
Coroner’s inquest reconvenes to hear more witnesses; adjourns.
February 25, 1897
Coroner’s inquest reconvenes to hear more witnesses; adjourns.
February 26, 1897
Coroner’s inquest ends; two fire victims murdered by an unknown person.
March 5, 1897
Coroner’s inquest reconvenes; concludes that fire victims were murdered.
November 24, 1897
Prévost sentenced to prison for theft of furs and pork at Renfrew, Ontario.
November 26, 1897
Prévost tells authorities his wife murdered two men in Port Arthur.
November 1897
Prévost held in the insane ward in Kingston Penitentiary.
November 1897
Rosanna Gauthier charged with the two Port Arthur murders.
December 7, 1897
Preliminary hearing; Gauthier committed to trial; transferred to Port Arthur.
1898
Charges against Gauthier withdrawn and Prévost charged with murder.
December 6, 1898
Murder trial of Prévost gets underway in Port Arthur.
December 7, 1898
Jury returns with a verdict of guilty; Prévost to hang March 17, 1899.
March 1899
Psychiatrists who examine Prévost advise the government that he is sane.
March 15, 1899
Federal cabinet refuses to commute sentence to life imprisonment.
March 15, 1899
Canada’s official executioner arrives in Port Arthur.
March 17, 1899
Oliver Prévost executed.
John “Cobalt” Ivanchuk:
Too Much to Say
1887
Ivanchuk born in Austria.
1914
Ivanchuk immigrates to Canada; settles in northern Ontario.
October 15, 1926
Liquor inspector Thomas Harry Constable murdered.
October 15, 1926
Ivanchuk leaves murder weapon with fifteen-year-old Sophia Dincorn.
October 19, 1926
Ivanchuk spends two days with acquaintance; confesses to the murder.
October 1926
Ivanchuk discusses opening brothel; admits shooting Constable.
October 23, 1926
Coroner’s jury concludes Constable murdered by an unknown person.
October 23, 1926
Ivanchuk meets Dincorn in Empress Café; takes back gun he left with her.
November 5, 1926
Reward for apprehension of killer raised from $2,000 to $5,000.
November 1928
Police investigators speak to Sophia Dincorn in Kapuskasing.
November 15, 1928
Ivanchuk arrested in a Cochrane drinking club.
November 17, 1928
Police confirm Ivanchuk’s identity; charge him with murder.
November 29, 1928
Ivanchuk committed to stand trial for Constable’s murder.
April 12, 1929
Ivanchuk found guilty after three-day trial; sentenced to hang on June 21.
May 1929
Federal department of justice postpones execution for one month.
July 17, 1929
Ivanchuk executed at Haileybury Jail.
Stanley Donald McLaren:
A Fatal Mistake
August 26, 1926
Stanley McLaren born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
August 1945
McLaren moves to Calgary one month before Lum murder.
September 24, 1945
McLaren robs and beats Lum severely about the head.
September 25, 1945
Lum dies from his head wounds.
August 1946
McLaren marries Marie Kayter; couple ends up in northern Ontario.
July 1949
Stanley and Marie McLaren move to Toronto.
August 28, 1949
McLaren charged common assault; Marie tells police her husband is a murderer.
August 29, 1949
McLaren questioned by police; confesses to Calgary murder.
September 1949
Returned to Calgary.
October 13, 1949
Committed to trial following a two-day preliminary inquiry.
November 1, 1949
Criminal Code amended to allow appeal on question law; comes into effect.
November 20, 1949
Found guilty after six day trial; McLaren sentenced to hang on March 30, 1949.
November 21, 1949
Transferred to death cell at Lethbridge jail to await execution.
March 10, 1949
Alberta Court of Appeal denies McLaren’s request for a new trial.
March 28, 1949
Justice Kerwin denies request to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
March 29, 1949
Federal cabinet rejects McLaren’s application for clemency.
March 30, 1949
McLaren executed in Lethbridge; body is interred in jail yard; Lum buried.
Arthur Kendall:
Killing in Front of Family
June 1952
Kendall moves his wife and five children into a one-room cabin.
August 2, 1952
Thirty-three-year-old Helen Kendall disappears.
August 2, 1952
Kendall begins living with a woman with her own five children.
September 5, 1952
Kendall children lie to police about what happened to their mother.
September 1952
Kendall children placed in foster homes, where they remain for two years.
1954
Beatrice Hogue divorced by her husband
1959
Helen Kendall declared dead; less than a year later Kendall marries Hogue.
January 1961
Kendall’s oldest daughter tells the police her father murdered her mother.
January 27, 1961
Kendall arrested and charged with murdering his wife.
September 1, 1961
Criminal Code section imposed, dealing with capital murder.
October 27, 1961
Kendall guilty of murder; sentenced to hang January 23, 1962.
January 23, 1962
Ontario Court of Appeal dismisses Kendall’s appeal.
February 5, 1962
Stay of execution to April 17, 1962, granted to allow appeal to SCC.
March 14, 1962
Supreme Court hears Kendall’s appeal; on March 26, it is dismissed.
April 10, 1962
Federal cabinet commutes Kendall’s sentence to life imprisonment.
April 12, 1962
Bayfield Ce
metery trustees vote against allowing Kendall to be buried.
February 13, 1971
Kendall fails to return from a one-day pass from his jail.
February 25, 1971
Kendall recaptured.
5: Suspicions Linger
William Jasper Collins:
Too Much Money
1912
Braymer, Missouri lawyer John Benson defends William Jasper Collins.
August 1912
John Benson leaves Missouri to file homestead claim near Cereal, Alberta.
1913–1914
Benson sells off his holdings in Missouri.