Read Practically Perfect Online
Authors: Dale Brawn
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. |
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 | Supreme 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. |