User:Zanimum/William Walter MacWherrell
William Walter MacWherrell | |
|---|---|
| Born | ca. 1868 |
| Died | September 21, 1899 (aged 31) |
| Burial place | Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, Ontario |
| Other names | Victor M. W. D. Victor A. Robertson |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
William Walter MacWherrell was a man convicted of murder.
Well behaved [1]
[2]
St Thomas gets Brampton's noose [3]
[4]
Death and identity
edit
Widow McWhirrell
editHe is buried at Hamilton Cemetery under the name "William W. McWhirnell".
Gertrude was born in Scotland, around 1850. She died 26 April 1913 at the Hamilton City Hospital, from "fatty degeneration of [the] heart."[7]
Hamilton Police Chief Smith stated that he believed that William was the son of Gertrude, not the husband.[8]
His alleged widow became known as "Widow McWhirrell".
She refused to press assault and wilful damage charges against a man named George Gassett, in April 1901.[9][10] Truman herself was arrested in August 1901, after smashing a bottle over the head of Mary Allen, who had allegedly stole her monthly allowance. The Crown dropped the assault charges against her.[11][12] By 1905, Truman was identifying herself in court as "Mrs. William Thompson"; she was ordered to vacate 149 Mary Street, having allegedly not paid rent for ten months.[13]
The Merchantile Trust Co. tried to "trace the parentage... She left about $200, of which the company is trustee, but it has been said that she was entitled to a share in a Scotch estate valued at $100,000, and that she was the daughter of a Scottish Lord or Earl. It is believed that this latter claim is untrue, whatever may have been her right to a share of a big estate."[14]
Legacy
editMacWherrell and Walker's case was dramatized in 1963 on the Montreal CBC affiliate CBM, as part of the series Famous Canadian Trials. The episode, "The Shadow of Doubt", was written by Len Peterson.[15] A microfilmed copy of the script is available in the "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation collection" at the McMaster University Library.[16]
References
edit- ^ "MacWherrell the Williams' murderer". January 2, 1895. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Prisoner Discharged". March 13, 1895. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dominion miscellany". Detroit Free Press. June 7, 1895. p. 3 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "The murder at Mimico". The Ottawa Citizen. August 29, 1899. p. 3 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Men and Matters in the Dominion of Canada". Buffalo Morning Express. September 30, 1899. p. 5 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Earl story revived". The Ottawa Journal. September 26, 1899. p. 5 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Deaths, County of Wentworth, Division of Hamilton". AncestryLibrary.ca. Ancestry. 1913. p. 166.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Hamilton". The Globe. Toronto ON. 26 September 1899. p. 4.
- ^ "A Hamilton fatality". The Globe. Toronto ON. 4 April 1901. p. 2.
- ^ "A Hamilton suspension". The Globe. Toronto ON. 8 April 1901. p. 6.
- ^ "Hamilton dispatches". The Globe. Toronto ON. 2 August 1901. p. 2.
- ^ "The day in Hamilton". The Globe. Toronto ON. 3 August 1901. p. 20.
- ^ "Hamilton news". The Globe. Toronto ON. 22 July 1905. p. 5.
- ^ "Hamilton butcher sternly reprimanded". The Globe. Toronto ON. 15 October 1913. p. 2.
- ^ "Radio" (Newspapers.com). The Gazette. Montreal QC. 16 February 1963. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation collection. – First accrual. – 138 microfilms". McMaster University Library. Hamilton ON: McMaster University. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
Reel 89... Peterson, Len. The Shadow of Doubt. [n.d.]