Blog
Lorna shares her thoughts on a range of subjects here in her blog.
From escapes, to botched hangings, to stories of important historical events, Lorna finds unqiue and engaging topics to write about.
THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN
BLACK HISTORY AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN CANADA On July 22, 1903, the townsfolk of Picton, Ontario, were enchanted. The circus was in town! The Great Pan American two-ring circus, museum and menagerie had transformed the main thoroughfare into a grand street parade....
MARY CAMPBELL AND CANADA’S NEW DEATH PENALTY
“Canada’s New Death Penalty” was the provocative title of Mary Campbell’s presentation on Sunday, October 21, 2018, as part 1 of the Eglinton St. George’s Compassionate Justice Speaker Series. Campbell, retired director general Corrections and Criminal Justice, began...
NOTRE-DAME-DES-NEIGES CEMETERY, MONTREAL
Final resting place of Thomas D’Arcy McGee and Patrick James Whelan Sharing the north slope of Mount Royal in Montreal with three other cemeteries is Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges, the largest burial ground in Canada, which was founded in 1854 originally to serve the Roman...
REMEMBERING ELIZABETH WORKMAN, 145 YEARS ON
June 19, 1873. Executed this day for the murder of her husband was Elizabeth Workman of Mooretown, Ontario. A coroner’s inquest into the death of James Workman found that he died from “excessive violence,” administered by his wife or by Samuel Butler, the owner of a...
PART 1: A CANADIAN MURDER MYSTERY
On April 7, 1868, exactly 150 years ago today, a high profile assassination shocked the people of Canada. Who were the victim and his alleged assassin? Where was the crime committed? What was the murder weapon? Solving the puzzle will give you some of the answers....
BLACK HISTORY AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: TWO CASE STUDIES (PART 2)
“FATHER FINDS SONS DEAD ON RAIL TRACKS.” This sombre headline in the Halifax Mail on July 20, 1933, signalled the beginning of a case that dragged on for two years in Nova Scotia, with repercussions still being felt today. On July 19, Bramwell and Edward Heffernan,...
THE OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH: AN EVENING WITH THE HANGMAN
The heavens opened. Traffic slowed to a crawl. (I know. Two clichés in two sentences...) Nevertheless, people from all walks of my life turned up on Thursday evening, August 17 at Ben McNally Books in downtown Toronto to celebrate the launch of Drop Dead: A Horrible...
JOHN ROBERT RADCLIVE
PLAYERS IN THE DEADLY GAME OF HANGMAN IN CANADA THE HANGMAN “The main players are all assembled….And standing by on the sidelines, waiting for his turn, is the most contentious participant of them all: the hangman. The game is on.” Excerpted from Drop Dead by Lorna...
CBC Daybreak Alberta Interview
Death by hanging. That was the fate of more than 700 people in Canada between Confederation in 1867 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1976. How did this affect individuals caught up in the criminal justice system during this dark chapter of our history? The...
CBC Radio Interviews
On Thursday, July 27, we went down to the CBC studios in downtown Toronto, to record some interviews to be aired on various CBC morning shows on July 29. The shows are: ONTARIO: Fresh Air OTTAWA: In Town and Out ALBERTA: Daybreak Alberta SASKATCHEWAN: Saskatchewan...