Shining a light on the dark history of hangings in Canada.
Take a journey through notable cases in Canada's criminal justice history, featuring well-known and some less-well-known figures from the past. You'll meet Arthur Ellis, Canada's most famous hangman, whose work outfit was a frock coat and striped trousers, often with a flower pinned to his lapel. And you will also encounter other memorable characters, including the man who was hanged twice and the gun-toting bootlegger who was the only woman every executed in Alberta.
Drop Dead: A Horrible History of Hanging in Canada illustrates how trial, sentencing, and punishment operated in Canada's first century, and examines the relevance of capital punishment today. Along the way, learn about the mathematics and physics behind hangings, as well as disturbing facts about bungled executions and wrongful convictions.
Shining a light on the dark history of hangings in Canada.
Take a journey through notable cases in Canada's criminal justice history, featuring well-known and some less-well-known figures from the past. You'll meet Arthur Ellis, Canada's most famous hangman, whose work outfit was a frock coat and striped trousers, often with a flower pinned to his lapel. And you will also encounter other memorable characters, including the man who was hanged twice and the gun-toting bootlegger who was the only woman every executed in Alberta.
Drop Dead: A Horrible History of Hanging in Canada illustrates how trial, sentencing, and punishment operated in Canada's first century, and examines the relevance of capital punishment today. Along the way, learn about the mathematics and physics behind hangings, as well as disturbing facts about bungled executions and wrongful convictions.
Author’s Note
Introduction
1 Celebrating Confederation: Three Hangings in the First Year
2 The Deadly Game of Hangman
3 The Assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee: A Murder Mystery
4 Crowd Control
5 The Hangman’s Job
6 Treason: The Case Against Louis Riel
7 The Petticoat and the Noose
8 The Science and Art of Hanging
9 Arthur Ellis: Canada’s Most Famous Hangman
10 Reasonable Doubt
11 The Troubling Case of Wilbert Coffin
12 Steven Murray Truscott: A Kid on Death Row
13 The Last Women to Hang
14 The Last Drop
15 Under Lock and Key
16 The End of the Rope
17 Beyond Death Row
18 Britain Heads Toward Abolition
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Selected Bibliography
Image Credits
Index
Lorna Poplak is a writer, editor, and researcher, with a fascination for the stories behind the facts of Canadian history. She lives in Toronto.
Fascinating... Drop Dead shines a light on a dark history. Yet,
thanks to Poplak's ability as a storyteller, as well as the
inclusion of images and a well-curated bibliography, her book is,
dare I say, an enjoyable read.
*Canada's History*
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