Read Practically Perfect Online
Authors: Dale Brawn
William Larocque and Emmanuel Lavictoire:
Murder for Insurance
October 4, 1930 | Athanase Lamarche allegedly drowns, with Larocque and Lavictoire. |
October 7, 1930 | Larocque and Lavictoire only witnesses at coroner’s inquest; verdict of accidental death returned. |
February 2, 1931 | Larocque and Lavictoire defraud father of Lamarche out of $3,868. |
July 1931 | Larocque says Leo Bergeron asked to be insured for $2,500; Bergeron warned by his father Larocque will do him in if he takes out policy. |
December 4, 1931 | Bergeron increases policy to $5,000, makes Larocque beneficiary. |
1931–1932 | Larocque and Lavictoire ask three other young men to take out insurance. |
February 1932 | Larocque and Lavictoire try to get Bergeron hired out to cut ice. |
March 18, 1932 | Leo Bergeron allegedly trampled to death on Larocque farm; post-mortem carried out; police begin their investigation. |
March 28, 1932 | Police announce they are considering exhuming body of Lamarche; body eventually exhumed. |
March 30, 1932 | Inquest into Bergeron’s death convened by coroner, then adjourned. |
April 5, 1932 | Larocque and Lavictoire arrested for defrauding Felix Lamarache. |
April 5, 1932 | Coroner’s jury conclude Bergeron’s death caused by person or persons unknown, or by being trampled by horses. |
April 12, 1932 | Lacrocque and Lavictoire charged with murder; remanded to custody. |
April 28, 1932 | Preliminary hearing ends; accused committed to stand trial. |
December 8, 1932 | Murder trial of Larocque and Lavictoire gets underway. |
December 15, 1932 | Accused murderers convicted; sentenced to hang March 15, 1933. |
March 15, 1933 | First Lavictoire, and then Larocque hanged at L’Orignal jail. |
July 20, 1933 | Company that insured life of Bergeron refuses to pay proceeds to father. |
2: Murdering Neighbours
Michael Farrell:
Fifteen Years between Murders
1860s/70s | Farrell kills his neighbour. |
August 25, 1878 | Farrell murders Francis Conway. |
August 27, 1878 | Inquest into the murder of Conway; Farrell not allowed to attend. |
November 2, 1878 | Murder trial gets underway. |
November 5, 1878 | Jury returns a verdict of guilty. |
January 10, 1879 | Farrell hanged in Québec Gaol. |
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 |
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. |