We’ve heard of skeletons in the closet before, but skeletons at Toronto’s Old Don Jail? Recent excavations uncovered three skeletons, likely former prisoners buried in the prison cemetery. Before the 1976 abolition of the death penalty in Canada, seventy executions by hanging took place at the jail. Please remind us not to go trick or treating at the Don Jail this Halloween, as we have an acute case of phasmophobia.
Illustration by Kevin McBride.
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There is a terrific new book out that covers the lives and deaths of the last men hanged in Canada. "The Last to Die: Ronald Turpin, Arthur Lucas, and the End of Capital Punishment in Canada" covers the Don Jail, where the last hangings took palce on Dec. 11, 1962. More about the author, Robert J. Hoshowsky, and the book can be found at www.truecrimecanada.com, and at Amazon, Chapters, and other stores.
Most news agencies have it wrong when they say about 20 people were hanged at The Don. It was actually 70 until the Jail finally closed in 1977.
Awesome Illustration!