Read Practically Perfect Online
Authors: Dale Brawn
10: Skeletons Resurface
John Munroe:
Nobody Asked About Mother and Daughter
1839 | John Munroe born in Ireland. |
1840s | Munroes arrive in Canada, where father operates a lumberyard. |
1849 | Sarah Margaret Vail born. |
1849 | Mother of Sarah Margaret Vail dies. |
1862 | Munroe marries Annie Potts. |
1862 | Munroe and Annie become parents of their first child, a son. |
1865 | Munroe meets Vail at a community event near Vail’s home in Caledon. |
1866 | Munroe and his wife have their second child. |
1867 | Sarah Margaret Vail’s father dies; leaves her the family home. |
1867 | Munroe’s affair with Sarah Margaret Vail commonly acknowledged. |
February 4, 1868 | Sarah Margaret Vail gives birth to a baby girl, Ella May Munroe. |
Summer 1868 | Munroe visits Vail every Sunday in her home, remaining one hour each time. |
Fall 1868 | Munroe purchases a .22 calibre revolver. |
early October 1868 | Vail sells family home for $500; gives some of the money to Munroe. |
late October 1868 | Sarah travels with Munroe to Boston. |
October 23, 1868 | Vail checks into Brunswick Hotel as Mrs. Clarke; trunks arrive. |
October 26, 1868 | Vail goes for drive with Munroe; on return checks into the Union Hotel. |
October 29, 1868 | Vail and her baby scheduled to depart on a steamer for Boston. |
October 30, 1868 | Munroe and wife travel to Fredericton; begins planning murder of Vail. |
October 31, 1868 | Vail goes for drive with Munroe; Munroe murders Vail and their baby. |
November 2, 1868 | Munroe checks Vail’s trunks onto |
September 12, 1869 | Berry-pickers discover skeletons of Sarah Vail and her baby. |
September 21, 1869 | Munroe sentenced to hang for the murder of Vail and her baby. |
September 29, 1869 | Steamer |
late fall 1869 | Munroe arrested and charged with Vail’s murder. |
December 7, 1869 | Munroe’s murder trial gets underway. |
February 14, 1870 | Munroe confesses to committing the two murders. |
February 15, 1870 | Munroe executed. |
1870s | Annie Munroe changes her surname and that of her children to Potts. |
1878 | Annie remarries. |
1924 | Munroe’s son Frank Potts elected mayor of Saint John; dies in office. |
Maurice Ryan:
Bones of a Brother
October 1, 1907 | Nora McKeown agrees to manage brothel in North Bay for Francis Ryan. |
October 1907 | Francis refuses to loan $5 to brother Maurice. |
November 17, 1907 | Francis charged with keeping bawdy house; decides to leave North Bay. |
November 1907 | Francis closes one of his bank accounts; receives $550. |
November 18, 1907 | Maurice Ryan murders his brother Francis. |
November 24, 1907 | Ryan pays off debts in North Bay; no one knows where money came from. |
1908 | James Ryan receives letters from brother Francis; but Francis cannot write. |
1908 | Farmer clearing bush discovers skeleton. |
1909 | Inquest finds Maurice killed his brother; Ryan committed to stand trial. |
March 28, 1909 | Maurice Ryan found guilty of murdering brother; to hang June 3, 1909. |
May 20, 1909 | Federal cabinet turns down Ryan’s request for clemency. |
June 2, 1909 | Court of Appeal refuses to hear Ryan’s request for new trial. |
June 3, 1909 | Ryan hanged in Nipissing District jail; denied he murdered his brother. |
Marcel Bernier:
The Bodies Came Back
August 8, 1961 | Denise Therrien disappears on way to job interview. |
August 13, 1961 | Therrien’s killer shows up at family home; offers condolences. |
August 19, 1961 | Therrien family receives ransom note; postmarked previous day. |
August 24, 1961 | Second ransom note received; man telephones demanding money. |
August 26, 1961 | Man charged with trying to extort money; third telephone ransom received. |
August 27, 1961 | Father and uncle of missing girl consult mystic. |
August 28, 1961 | Uncle of missing girl offers $10,000 for proof she is alive or dead. |
September 11, 1961 | Father hires team of private detectives hired to help police in their search. |
November 2, 1961 | Investigation into disappearance reopened; new information received. |
January 1962 | Bernier tells wife and mother-in-law only he knows where Therrien is. |
January 18, 1965 | Police begin digging in countryside around Shawinigan. |
January 22, 1965 | Police stop digging; frozen ground makes progress too difficult. |
April 6, 1965 | Body of Laurette Beaudoin found; Bernier arrested for attempt murder. |
April 13, 1965 | Police begin digging for Therrien; tell public have new information. |
April 30, 1965 | Police find Therrien’s skeleton in shallow grave near river in bush area. |
May 4, 1965 | Autopsy indicates that Therrien died from multiple skull fractures. |
May 11, 1965 | Coroner’s inquest holds Bernier criminally responsible for death of Therrien; Bernier arraigned on murder charges; Bernier confesses. |
May 12, 1965 | Bernier sentenced to three months in jail for assaulting priest. |
May 19, 1965 | Preliminary hearing in charge of murder held for Bernier. |
June 2, 1965 | Bernier confesses; tells undercover police officer he murdered Therrien. |
February 14, 1966 | Bernier brought from Bodeaux Jail for beginning of murder trial. |
February 24, 1966 | Bernier found guilty of murder; sentenced to hang July 22, 1966. |
January 4, 1968 | Bernier’s death sentenced commuted to life imprisonment. |
April 16, 1969 | Lawyer for Bernier announces his client wrote book about the murder. |
February 24, 1970 | Bernier sentenced to twenty-five years in jail for murder of Beaudoin. |
May 1977 | Bernier dies of heart attack while imprisoned in British Columbia. |
November 8, 1977 | Member of Parliament writes book on murders; wants inquest reopened. |
Notes
1: They Got Away With It Before
1.
Winnipeg Free Press
(13 July 1933) 1.
2.
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
(12 May 1933) 3.
3.
Ibid
.
4.
Ibid
.
5.
Ibid
.
6.
Ibid
.
7.
Ibid
.
8.
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
(5 October 1933) 3.
9.
Dr. Frances McGill, “She Solved Murders in the Morgue” in
Ottawa Citizen
(22 October 1955).
10.
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
(10 May 1933) 3.
11.
Ottawa Citizen
(22 March 1932) 1.
12.
Ibid
.
13.
Ibid.
(12 December 1932) 13.
14.
Ibid.
(9 December 1932) 20.
15.
Ibid.
(12 December 1932) 13.
16.
Ibid.
(15 December 1932) 1.
17.
Ibid
.
18.
Ibid.
(16 December 1932) 28.
2: Murdering Neighbours
1.
The Conway Murder.
www.pbalkcom.com/valcartier/Biographies/conway_murder.htm
2.
Ibid
.
3.
Ibid
.
4.
Ibid
.
5.
Ibid
.
6.
Ibid
.
7.
Ibid
.
8.
Ibid
.
9.
Ibid
.
10.
Ibid
.