Practically Perfect
Page 25
April 4, 1913
Benson and Collins return to Canada to improve Benson’s claim.
April 27, 1913
The pair finish building a small shack and barn.
May 1, 1913
Collins murders Benson, burns house to hide evidence of his crime.
May 3, 1913
Not aware her husband is dead, Clara Benson leaves Missouri for Canada.
May 5, 1913
Clara arrives in Saskatoon; informed that her husband has died in a fire.
May 6, 1913
Clara meets up with Collins; he tells her about the accident.
May 1913
Clara and Collins return to Braymer with body of John Benson.
June/July 1913
Collins begins spending money lavishly.
July/August 1913
Rumours circulate about source of money; friends of Benson hire detective.
August 1913
Body of Benson exhumed; cause of death determined to be criminal act.
August 10, 1913
Collins arrested; his home searched and large amount of money found.
August 10, 1913
Collins confesses to the murder of John Benson.
September 1913
Collins returned to Alberta to stand trial for murder.
November 24, 1913
Preliminary hearing into the murder of Benson begins in Calgary.
November 25, 1913
Preliminary ends; Collins formally charged with the murder of Benson.
November 27, 1913
Murder trial of William Jasper Collins gets underway in Calgary.
February 11, 1914
Federal cabinet turns down the application of Collins for clemency.
February 23, 1914
Collins hanged; his execution badly botched.
February 24, 1924
Arthur Ellis contacts the press to deny he took part in the execution.
Marie Beaulne and Philibert Lefebvre:
Poison Does the Trick
1929
Marie Beaulne begins affair with Philibert Lefebvre.
January 22, 1929
Zephyr Viau dies under mysterious circumstances; buried immediately.
late January 1929
Parish priest grows suspicious that death wasn’t natural; contacts police.
February 7, 1929
Body of Viau exhumed and an autopsy performed; strychnine found.
February 1929
Preliminary hearing holds Beaulne and Lefebvre responsible for Viau’s death.
June 1929
Beaulne and Lefebvre murder trial gets underway.
June 12, 1929
Lefebvre and Beaulne guilty of murder; to hang August 23.
June 27, 1929
Beaulne advised no one will support her bid for clemency.
July 1929
Lawyers approach federal cabinet for pardon; clients too ignorant to know murder is wrong.
August 1, 1929
Lawyer for the couple formally seek clemency from department of justice.
August 1929
Announced that reporters will not be allowed to attend execution.
August 20, 1929
Federal cabinet refuses to commute sentences; confirm order following day.
August 20, 1929
Carpenters begin erecting gallows in yard of Hull, Quebec, jail.
August 22, 1929
Couple transferred to death cells in Hull; Lefebvre collapses.
August 22, 1929
Beaulne asks to visit with her lover; Lefebvre refuses to see her.
August 22, 1929
Reporter sneaks into jail; caught shortly before midnight and thrown out.
August 23, 1929
Hangman ordered not to hang couple at midnight as planned.
August 23, 1929
Lefebvre writes father; breaks down; Beaulne unemotional in her cell.
August 23, 1929
Lefebvre hanged at 8:00 a.m. in pouring rain; father claims body.
August 23, 1929
Beaulne hanged at 8:21 a.m.
August 24, 1929
Beaulne’s body not claimed; buried in pauper’s grave in Hull.
Marie Louise Cloutier and Achille Grondin:
Married Too Soon
1916
Seventeen-year-old Marie Louise Cloutier marries Vilmond Brochu.
February 1936
Brochu hires Achille Grondin to help Clouiter operate family farm.
1936
Clouiter and Grondin begin affair; Cloutier also affair with Adolphe Gilbert.
late 1936
Brochu suspects wife’s affair with Grondin, fires him; Cloutier leaves husband.
late 1936
Brochu obtains permission to sue Grondin for alienation of affections.
November 1936
Cloutier begins lacing Brochu’s food with arsenic.
January 1, 1937
Brochu complains of severe stomach pains.
July 16, 1937
Brochu again becomes ill; diagnosed with indigestion.
July 21, 1937
Brochu hospitalized for five days after complaining about stomach pains.
July 1937
Gilbert and Grondin place curse on Brochu.
August 16, 1937
Brochu becomes seriously ill.
August 19, 1937
Brochu dies.
August 20, 1937
Cloutier applies for life insurance benefits payable under husband’s policy.
August 21, 1937
Days before marrying Grondin, Cloutier has sexual encounter with Gilbert.
August 22, 1937
Grondin moves into Brochu residence to live with Cloutier.
September 2, 1937
Grondin asks permission of local priest to marry Cloutier; denied.
September 1937
Cloutier and Grondin ask permission of another priest to marry; denied.
October 1937
Cloutier and Grondin marry.
October 1937
Brochu’s sister contacts police about her suspicion that her brother was poisoned.
October 1937
Police order Brochu’s body exhumed; pathologist finds traces of arsenic
October 1937
Cloutier and Grondin taken into custody while on their honeymoon.
November 29, 1937
Cloutier and Grondin held in custody following coroner’s inquest.
December 4, 1937
Cloutier and Grondin committed to stand trial at end of preliminary hearing.
September 21, 1938
Murder trial of Cloutier gets underway at St. Joseph de Beauce.
October 8, 1938
Jury returns a verdict of guilty; Cloutier to hang March 3, 1939.
October 24, 1938
Lawyer for Cloutier seeks permission to appeal verdict.
November 3, 1938
Grondin’s murder trial gets underway before judge who tried Cloutier.
November 10, 1938
Quebec Court of Appeal agrees to hear Cloutier’s appeal.
November 26, 1938
Grondin found guilty; sentenced to hang on April 21, 1939.
November 29, 1938
Cloutier and Grondin transferred from St. Joseph de Beauce to Quebec City.
January 1939
Quebec Court of Appeal dismisses Cloutier’s appeal.
February 19, 1939
Execution of Grondin stayed pending hearing by Quebec Court of Appeal.
June 2, 1939
Grondin’s execution postponed to allow appeal to Quebec Court of Appeal.
June 13, 1939
Cloutier’s execution date postponed to allow appeal to Supreme Court of Canada.
June 1939
Court of Appeal dismisses Grondin’s appeal; executions stayed to appeal to SCC.
October 30, 1939
Suprem
e Court of Canada hears Cloutier’s appeal; dismiss appeal.
February 1940
Site of double execution moved from St. Joseph to Montreal.
February 15, 1940
Grondin moved from Quebec City jail to death cell at Bordeaux Jail.
February 22, 1940
Federal cabinet denies applications for clemency by condemned couple.
February 22, 1940
Cloutier moved from Quebec City.
February 23, 1940
Grondin hanged at 6:45 a.m.; declared dead sixteen minutes later.
February 23, 1940
Cloutier hanged at 7:10 a.m.; declared dead fifteen minutes later.
6: The Two Rolands
Roland Asselin:
Fifty-Five Weeks between Murders
November 9, 1946
Ulric Gauthier murdered.
November 10, 1946
Body of Gauthier found on dirt road thirty-two miles west of Montreal.
November 1946
Coroner’s inquest into death of Gauthier comes to no decision.
Nov/Dec 1946
Second inquest decides Gauthier committed suicide; investigation officially ends.
February 1947
Marie Blanche Alice Gauthier, widow of Ulric, commits suicide.
February 1947
Investigation in death of Ulric Gauthier officially reopened.
Fall 1947
Roland Asselin gives statement about death of Ulric Gauthier
December 30, 1947
Asselin taken into custody.
December 31, 1947
Third inquest finds Asselin responsible for death of Ulric Gauthier.
January 5, 1948
Asselin arraigned on charge of murder.
January 9, 1948
Preliminary hearing into murder of Ulric Gauthier.
June 9, 1948
Murder trial of Asselin gets underway.
June 15, 1948
Asselin guilty of murdering Gauthier; sentenced to hang on October 1, 1948.
September 15, 1948
Asselin’s execution postponed until January 14, 1949.
November 25, 1948
Asselin’s execution postponed a second time, until March 25, 1949.
March 15, 1949
Asselin’s execution postponed third time, until June 10, 1949.
March 31, 1949
Request for another postponement denied by Quebec Court of Appeal.
June 10, 1949
Roland Asselin executed.
Roland Genest:
He Never Murdered a Woman He Didn’t Love
May 29, 1951
Charred body of Rita Genest discovered in burning bed.
May 30, 1951
Inquest finds that woman was murdered before being set on fire.
May 31, 1951
Police announce they have no leads.
February 18, 1953
Roland Genest beats his girlfriend to death.
February 19, 1953
Nude body of badly beaten woman found in farmer’s field.
February 20, 1953
Public view body of woman; picture published in Montreal newspapers.
February 22, 1953
Body tentatively identified.
February 23, 1953
Mother of Marie Paule Langlais identifies body; Genest arrested.
February 25, 1953
Genest confesses to murdering Langlais.
February 27, 1953
Genest appears at coroner’s inquest investigating death of Langlais.
February 27, 1953
Genest formally charged with murdering Langlais.
May 19, 1953
Murder trial gets underway; Genest again admits murder.
May 21, 1953
Genest found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang on August 28.
August 28, 1953
Genest executed.
7: Confessions and Presumptions of Guilt
Poral Stefoff:
Last Minute Confession of a Serial Killer
circa 1904
Poral Steffoff murders Englishman in Indiana.
circa 1906
Steffoff allegedly murders two Macedonians in New York state.
October 1908
Poral Steffoff arrives in Canada.
April 22, 1909
Simoff murdered in Toronto; Steffoff held as material witness.
April 23, 1909
Coroner’s inquest held.
April 26, 1909
Steffoff charged with murder.
May 7, 1909
Steffoff committed to stand trial.
September 23, 1909
Elia Petroff placed in a cell next to the one occupied by Steffoff.
October 18, 1909
Blood stains on Steffoff’s clothes determined to be human.
October 27, 1909
Steffoff found guilty of murder at end of a two-day trial.
October 28, 1909
Sentenced to hang December 23, 1909.
December 23, 1909
Between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. Steffoff confesses to various murders.
December 23, 1909
Steffoff executed in Don Jail.
John Barty:
The Cold-Set Killer
June 25, 1925
Triple murder, almost certainly committed by John Barty.
June 10, 1926
Barty assaults clerk during robbery; held until police arrive; arrested.
June 12, 1926
Clerk dies after being operated on.
June 18, 1926
Barty committed to stand trial at end of preliminary hearing.
October 7, 1926
Convicted of murder; sentenced to hang on December 13, 1926.
December 22, 1926
Court of Appeal allows stay after court turned down the request.
January 18, 1927
Barty executed at Hamilton jail.
John Kooting:
Confessions on the Prairies, Part I
November 5, 1921
Kooting murders friend, and builds pig pen over place body buried.
January 1922
Police arrest Kooting for the murder of his friend.
spring 1923
Charges against Kooting stayed because body of victim not found.
February 1925
Kooting falls ill, believes he is dying.
April 26, 1925
Believing he is about to die, Kooting confesses to murder of friend.
April 27, 1925
Police locate remains of murder victim.
November 25, 1925
Kooting convicted of murder.
February 19, 1926
Kooting executed; buried in unmarked grave in jail yard.
John Pawluck:
Confessions on the Prairies, Part II
November 4, 1935
John Pawluk murders wife Julia; buries her under a manure pile.
November 8, 1935
Pawluk tells wife’s family that Julia ran away.
November 1935
Pawluk tells several neighbours that he murdered his wife.
March 23, 1936
Pawluk murders neighbour.
March 1936
Neighbour of Pawluk tells police Pawluk confessed to murder of Julia.
March 27, 1936
Police start searching for Julia Pawluk in manure pile.
March 28, 1936
Police find remains of Julia Pawluk; arrest John for firearms offence.
March 30, 1936
John Pawluk charged with murdering his wife.
March 31, 1936
Pawluk tells cellmate he murdered his wife.
June 12, 1936
Pawluk convicted of murder; sentenced to death.
August 21, 1936
Executed; body buried in yard of Manitoba’s Headingley jail.
James Alfred Kelsey:
A Tendency to
Talk Too Much
December 9, 1949
Kelsey and his brother murder cab driver Sam Delibasich.
December 10, 1949
Killers attempt to sell cab in Toronto; abandon it.
December 14, 1949
Toronto police tow cab to their compound.
December 17, 1949
Body of Delibasich discovered by a hunter near St. Catharines.
1951
Kelsey confesses his part in murder to his girlfriend.
September 1951
Kelsey confesses his part in murder to a childhood friend.