Edwin Alonzo Boyd (April 2, 1914—May 17, 2002) was a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
criminal and leader of the
Boyd GangThe Boyd Gang was a notorious criminal gang based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named for member Edwin Alonzo Boyd. The gang was a favourite of the media at the time because of its sensational actions, which included bank robberies, jail breaks, beautiful women, gun fights, manhunts, and daring...
. His career made him a notorious Canadian
folk heroA folk hero is type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
.
Early life
In the early 1920s, heavy-handed
police officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
Glover Boyd tried to get his eldest son Edwin to play the
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
, among other things, but Eddie would have none of it. An athletic Ed became a drifter after Glover signed him up to work on his uncle Christian's farm, riding the rails during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and getting into trouble with the law.
When
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
came he enlisted, went overseas, married there and had three children. After the war he came back to his hometown
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
and got a job driving a streetcar. One day, however, after quitting his job driving the streetcar he was pondering how to make a living when he read a newspaper article about an autistic kid robbing a bank with no gun and almost getting away so the next day, he took a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
LugerLuger may mean:* Luger P08 pistol** 7.65 mm Luger cartridge** 9 mm Luger cartridge* Luger Industries, a boat manufacturer* Georg Luger, inventor of the above Luger pistol* Dan Luger, an English rugby union player...
pistol he had taken from a dead German soldier in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, put on a disguise and robbed a bank.
The Gang is born
Eddie joined up with another robber and carried out several other bold bank robberies. He had a reputation for jumping over counters, moving quickly, and carrying a gun. His partner, old Howard Gault, got caught and told all. They both went to the
Don JailThe Toronto Jail is a provincial jail for remanded offenders in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Riverdale neighbourhood on Gerrard Street East near its intersection with Broadview Avenue. It gets its nickname from the nearby Don River...
in Toronto. While Eddie and his partner were robbing banks, another more violent gang was also doing the same thing. Lennie Jackson, a member of this gang, was caught at the same time as Eddie, and they soon began to swap notes. Soon another experienced bank robber, Willie Jackson, aka "The Clown", (no relation to Lennie) arrived at the Don awaiting transfer to the
Kingston PenitentiaryKingston Penitentiary is a maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario between King Street West and Lake Ontario....
for a seven-year sentence.
Lennie Jackson had lost a foot in a railway accident and had a wooden foot in which he had stored several
hacksawA hacksaw is a fine-tooth saw with a blade under tension in a frame, used for cutting materials such as metal or bone. Hand-held hacksaws consist of a metal arch with a handle, usually a pistol grip, with pins for attaching a narrow disposable blade. A screw or other mechanism is used to put the...
blades.
Over the Wall
On November 4, 1951, Eddie and the Jacksons hacksawed the bars and went over the wall and escaped. They met a friend, Valent Lesso from Cochrane, one of the violent members of Lennie Jackson’s original gang, and the four became a team. Lesso was a talented musician who couldn’t find work; he changed his name to Steve Suchan and became a bank robber. They soon pulled off a series of robberies, including the biggest one in Toronto history. The newspapers dubbed the new group “the Boyd Gang,” seeing Eddie as the brains behind the operation. Willie Jackson was arrested and sent to the Don Jail. Eddie went into hiding with his wife Dorreen.
On March 6, 1952 Detective Sergeant Edmund Tong aka 'The Chinaman' and his partner pulled over a suspicious car at a Toronto intersection. The car contained Steve Suchan and Lennie Jackson working on their own. A gun fight ensued, and Suchan killed Detective Tong. They were later wounded and captured in a gun fight and ended up again in the Don Jail, charged with
murderMurder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. Eddie Boyd was tracked down and caught in bed beside an attaché case full of money, and five loaded pistols. Eddie was put in a jail cell with his two buddies. They became friendly with one of the older guards. As the pretence of a joke, one of the gang members grabbed the guard's key ring and gripped it tightly while kibbitzing and joking with the guard. When he let go of the key, an impression was left in his hand and in short order they fashioned a key for the cell door and slipped out briefly. When the guards were not around they hack-sawed a window in preparation for escape. To be able to fit out the small opening, they all went on a diet. Just before Suchan and Jackson were to stand trial, on Sept 8, 1952 they escaped the Don for a second time. The biggest
manhuntManhunt may refer to:In film:* Man Hunt , a 1941 film directed by Fritz Lang* Man Hunt , a 1985 Western film directed by Fabrizio De Angelis* Bloodfist VII: Manhunt, a 1995 action/adventure film starring Don Wilson...
in Canadian history ensued, with a large reward — to be specific, a then-perhaps overindulgent CAD$26,000 — offered for information leading to their capture. Several jail staff were fired and a
Royal CommissionIn states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. They have been held in states such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia...
was set up to review the circumstances of their escape.
This was a period of newspaper wars fifty years ago this year, and every detail of the Boyd Gang’s activity and attempts at their capture were reported in headlines across the country. There were reports of sighting across Ontario and Quebec. Local police officers traveled in pairs and were well armed.
Arrest and Release
They received numerous calls from residents in West Ferris and
Powassan, OntarioPowassan is a municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located near North Bay. Powassan is located in the Parry Sound District, at its easternmost boundary with the Nipissing District.-History:...
, and from a druggist in
North BayNorth Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:The area was first explored by Samuel de Champlain...
. None of them panned out. After ten days, men were seen at a barn in the Don Valley, only a mile from the jail, and the Boyd Gang was captured without incident.
Now Boyd was the only gang member left to be captured. Detective Adolphus 'Dolph' Payne had kept Boyd's brother Norman under surveillance and discovered that he had rented a flat on Heath Street, but hadn't moved in yet. He secured a key to the back door from the owner. Payne then watched, from a neighbour's house, as Boyd moved into the flat. Wanting to avoid a shootout, he waited until he was sure everyone was asleep. At the crack of dawn the police crept inside the house and captured Boyd and his wife while they were still in bed. Boyd's brother, who was sleeping in another room, was also apprehended. No shootouts, no struggle, not even a whimper. The Toronto Nugget reported the event by stating “Edwin Alonzo Boyd, Canada’s Public Enemy Number One, surrendered meekly with his henchmen to two suburban detectives, ending the greatest criminal man hunt in the Dominion’s history.” One of these officers was Kenneth Craven.
Eddie got eight life sentences and Willie Jackson got thirty years. Steve Suchan and Lennie Jackson were sentenced to death for killing Detective Tong. On December 16, 1952 Steve Suchan, after a brief visit with his mother, and Lennie Jackson with his wife, received the
last ritesLast Rites can refer to* Anointing of the Sick Note: The term "Last Rites" is not another sacrament in itself. It is not equivalent to the more commonly administered sacrament of "Anointing of the Sick", since the term "Last Rites" includes two other distinct sacraments: Penance and...
and waited for their 8 am execution. To their surprise, the executioner came at midnight, and by 12:14 am they were both dead, hung back to back.
Willie Jackson and Eddie Boyd were both released in 1966. Eddie, under the name John, went to
Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria is a major tourism destination seeing more than 3.65 million visitors a year who inject more than one billion dollars into the local economy. Victoria is a cruise ship port where...
, where he drove a bus for disabled people and married a disabled woman whom he met on the bus. He took care of her for the next 35 years, until recently when they went into a home. Two books have been written on the Boyd Gang, and one was made into a successful movie. In 1998 Eddie was featured in a
Canadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
Life and Times documentary, where he admitted that he had committed many more robberies than he had been charged with.
On May 17, 2002, after a visit from his wife and his son, and a phone call from his former war bride and the mother of his three children, Edwin Alonzo Boyd died at age 88.
External links