Sept. 22
CANADA:
T.W. Paterson column: McLean brothers’ murderous rampage ended quietly
“Shoot! you son of a ——-, shoot! I’m not afraid of an ounce of lead.”—condemned
murderer Allen McLean.
For those who are familiar with provincial criminal history, this summer’s
murderous but, happily, brief rampage by 2 Island teenagers was an eerie echo
of a similar outrage that dates back all of 140 years.
That’s when the three McLean brothers, Allen, Charlie and Archie, and their
friend Alex Hare, sought for stealing a prized stallion, cold bloodedly
murdered Provincial Police Constable John Tannatt Ussher and an inoffensive
shepherd then terrorized local ranchers before being captured after a dramatic
shootout with a posse.
It’s a story so oft-told I won’t go into further detail here; rather, I want to
explore their final days in the B.C. Penitentiary, the tragic conclusion of
their almost senseless crimes that could have had only one conclusion in that
age of capital punishment.
To do so I must introduce the anti-heroes of our tale: 25-year-old Allen
McLean, leader, younger brothers Charlie, 17, Archie, 15, and friend Alex Hare,
17. All were the products of mixed-race marriages, the McLeans’ father having
been a notorious firebrand who committed a murder of his own, and who, deadly
with rifle, revolver and hunting knife, were said to be “the true product of a
wild frontier existence”. They also have been described as being “of a wild,
reckless disposition, and being good horsemen and capital shots [who] preferred
enjoying a roving life to any settled employment.”
But their roving life of horse and cattle rustling came to an abrupt end with
their murders of Constable Ussher and shepherd Kelly, subsequent arrest, trial,
conviction and sentence of death. The fact that Archie was only 15 cut no ice
with the judicial system which, no doubt, was influenced by eyewitness
testimony that it was he who’d delivered the coup de grace to the wounded
Ussher.
An appeal, based not on evidence of their guilt but on a legalistic and
egotistical administrative joust between Attorney-General George Walkem and
Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Begbie (who hadn’t presided at their trial)
caused a second trial and a year-long delay.
Again, the verdict was guilty and, while awaiting their fate in the
penitentiary beside the Fraser River, in New Westminster, they were anything
but model prisoners. Their behaviour, until a month before execution, was
described as “bad — characterized by one continued resistance to authority and
defiance of discipline interspersed with small plots to escape, and exhibitions
of a disposition to gratify a splenetic vein”.
When Warden Moresby detected a knife up Allan’s sleeve, he had to disarm him at
gunpoint. On another occasion when Moresby drew his revolver, Allan snarled,
“Shoot! you son of a ——-, shoot! I’m not afraid of an ounce of lead.” The gang
constantly upset prison quiet and routine with their whistling, cursing,
shouting and dancing, behaviour that was dismissed by one journalist as an
unseemly exhibition of bravado — “like that of little boys whistling in the
dark to scare away the rats”.
Further searches of their cells turned up knives, nails sharpened to fine
points and the handle of a tin cup which had been flattened and ground to a
sharp edge. These had been stowed away in rat holes. The possession of these
weapons and Archie’s threatening to strike a guard with a bucket led to Moresby
seeking special permission to chain them to the walls which finally succeeded
in “cooling them down”.
Why they didn’t just break out quietly is a mystery considering the pathetic
state of the prison where, the Colonist complained, “Safety forms no prominent
feature of [the] cells. The walls for seven inches from their bases are rotten
— in fact they are nothing more or less than ‘plank’ and can be pulled to
pieces with the fingers. Had the prisoners desired it they could have emerged
from their confinement within a few hours by simply using the heels of their
boots. One of the doors, it is said, fell off its hinges, the wood being too
much decayed to sustain the strain[!]”
Perhaps they were relying upon a plot they’d hatched to make their escape at
almost the last minute — while being led to the scaffold. John Henry Makai, a
“half breed” [sic] Kanaka serving two months for selling liquor to Indians, had
volunteered to serve as executioner, a duty often performed by
non-professionals. Makai’s “frequent importunities” for the unpleasant job made
Moresby suspicious. Through an inmate informant he learned that Makai had
arranged with the McLeans and Hare that, should he act as executioner, he’d “by
some means secure possession of a knife and while pinioning [them] prior to
their taking their position on the scaffold [he’d] cut the ropes almost
through, leaving a few threads sufficient to maintain the ropes in their place
and thus avoid suspicion until the proper time for attempting escape had
arrived. Once in the yard, the ropes were to be burst and a desperate dash made
for liberty…”
Had the bizarre plan succeeded Makai was to have been rewarded with 100 head of
cattle and 40 horses from a McLean relative. Upon being interrogated, Makai
divulged the whole mad plot and a search of his cell turned up two knives
thought to have been acquired while Makai was working in the chain-gang.
When they were ultimately informed that the day of execution had been fixed for
11 days hence, they took it well. Allen was the first to be told by Sheriff
Morrison; asked if he had any word he wanted sent to his friends, he replied,
“No, I have been expecting this every day. I knew it must come sometime. You
will write to Hector [McLean] and tell him not to take any revenge…for our
death. It can’t be helped now.” He was returned to his cell, but subsequently
sent for the gaoler and asked him to write to his wife in the upper country and
tell her that it was his dying wish that she should take good care of the
children.
Defiant to the end, young Archie, who’d fatally shot a wounded Constable Ussher
in the face, asked whether he had any word to send to his friends he replied,
“No, I have nothing to say or send to any friends. They have done nothing for
me and I wouldn’t care if all my friends got hung. "
Charlie McLean and Alex Hare maintained a stolid silence. Of the four Allen
appeared downcast but resigned. Archie’s chest “heaved a little,” and Charlie’s
face turned pale. Hare was indifferent.
From that day forth they ate and slept well and accepted the ministrations of
the Rev. Father Horris who’d been “unremitting in his efforts to bring them to
a proper state of mind as well as a proper sense of their position”.
On the cold grey morning of Jan. 31, 1881, Allen, Charlie, Archie McLean and
Alex Hare shuffled out into the prison yard for the last time.
Under the stark headline OUTLAWS, a special correspondent of The Colonist gave
what the editor termed an “absorbingly interesting” account of the multiple
execution: “This morning at 8:30 o’clock Allan, Charlie and Archie McLean and
Alex. Hare suffered the extreme penalty of the law for the murders of Ussher
and Kelly in Dec. 1879.
“The prisoners were well disposed and very cool and collected, submitting to
everything required of them with patience. At 7.30 a.m. the hangman [not John
Makai!] fixed the ropes on the beam and proceeded at 7:50 o’clock to the cells
to pinion the prisoners. After they were pinioned they were taken out to the
scaffold, which was erected in the north-east end of the yard. They mounted the
steps firmly, accompanied by the Reverend Fathers Horris and Cheruse, their
spiritual advisers, and took their places quietly.
“They said, ‘For the honour and glory of God I acknowledge my guilt. I forgive
every one from my heart, even my executioner, and I most humbly beg Almighty
God to forgive me.’ The ropes were then put on their necks and the caps drawn
down, and at exactly 8:30 o’clock the hangman pulled the lever and dropped the
unfortunates into Eternity. They all died instantly, Charley being the only one
who struggled. They were taken down at 9:30. A jury was empanelled and an
inquest held, when the usual verdict was returned. The bodies were taken to
Douglas street cemetery for interment…”
In an editorial the Colonist declared, “In the execution of the culprits the
majesty of the law has been vindicated. The wretched men who are now beyond the
reach of earthly censure have atoned with their lives for the commission of the
most cruel and dastardly acts that stains the criminal records of the province.
“The spectacle presented of four criminals — one a boy, and 3 of the number
brothers — suspended from one beam in the gray of a winter’s morning, was a
shocking scene for the few who were admitted to witness it, and the lesson
conveyed by their sad end will not be thrown away upon their late companions,
who may have felt disposed to follow in their guilty footsteps…”
Even in death the murderous McLeans made Canadian criminal history.
Fifteen-year-old Archie is among the youngest ever executed, and it’s believed
the only time 3 brothers have been hanged together.
As recently as August, the McLeans and Hare made ‘honourable mention’ in a
series of articles on gang violence in the Vancouver Sun.
(source: Lake Cowichan Gazette)
PAKISTAN:
British couple face death penalty in Pakistan over drugs bust----The pair are
accused of trying to smuggle 24kg of heroin to the UK on an Emirates flight via
Dubai
A British couple accused of trying to smuggle Dh9 million worth of heroin from
Pakistan to the UK could face the death penalty.
Mohammed Tahir Ayaz, 26, and his wife Ikra Hussain, 20, from Huddersfield in
England, were named by Pakistani authorities following their arrest at Sialkot
International Airport.
More than 24 kilograms of top-grade heroin was discovered by the Airport
Security Force in luggage and sewn into a woman’s clothes.
They were due to travel from Pakistan to the UK, via Dubai, on Thursday. The
drugs were detected during routine scanning before they boarded the aircraft.
Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force said investigations are continuing. Officials
said the haul has a street value of about 400 million Pakistani rupees (Dh9m).
If found guilty, the pair could face the death penalty or life in prison.
The UK Foreign Office said it was speaking to Pakistan's authorities about the
case. In June, 4 gang members were convicted of smuggling Dh5.5m worth of
heroin into the UK from Pakistan via the postal service. UK Border patrols
worked with the country’s National Crime Agency to intercept 13 packages at 3
UK airports containing a total of 5kg of high-purity heroin concealed in boxing
gloves, equine dentistry tools, medical instruments, and motorcycle gloves.
M And customs officials in Dubai intercepted a shipment of 260kg of crystal
meth and heroin worth about Dh25m in August.
Drugs were found hidden in spare car parts after being detected at the Jebel
Ali Customs Centre.
(source: thenational.ae)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh Bank drafts specific law on currency counterfeiting
The Bangladesh Bank has drafted a specific law to control and prevent
production, circulation and transaction of counterfeit currencies in the
country, rearranging punishment provisions specified for the offences in other
laws.
Officials said that the central bank took the move to draft a separate law —
Counterfeit Currency Control and Prevention Act-2017 — to rationalise existing
measures taken to prevent currency counterfeiting and punish people involved in
the offences under various laws as there were loopholes and ambiguity in
definitions and other issues related to the offences.
The BB draft has a provision of life-term imprisonment and fine up to Tk 1
crore for repeated violations of the law.
The offenders now can easily get bail due to ambiguity in definitions.
The new law will prevent weakness and ensure bringing the criminals under the
book, BB officials said, adding that the offences under the draft law would be
cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
The BB finalised the draft taking opinions from various ministries, divisions
and other government agencies on the draft and forwarded to the finance
ministry.
Finance ministry has sent the draft to the law ministry for legal vetting, they
said, adding that the central bank had been trying to enact such law over the
last few years.
Currently, the offences related to currency counterfeiting are dealt under the
sections 489A to 489D of the Penal Code 1860 and section 25A of Special Powers
Act-1974, officials of the Department of Currency Management of the central
bank said.
They said that definitions of the offences and other related issues were not
clear in the sections of the two laws, which also did not cover all the
offences related to counterfeiting currency-notes and bank-notes.
Criminals also manage to escape from legal punishment taking the advantage of
legal loopholes, they said.
According to the Penal Code, the highest punishment is imprisonment for life.
According to the Special Power Act, the offences are punishable with death
penalty or with imprisonment for life or for a term up to 15 years.
Officials said that the terms of punishment had been rearranged in the draft
law to make it more efficient and implementable.
According to the draft law, the offences related to production and transaction
of counterfeit currency, possessing such notes, transportation of fake
currencies to and from the country and manufacturing, supply, maintenance and
transaction of instruments used for counterfeiting currencies will come under
the purview of the law.
The draft law, however, said that no legal steps, including filling a case,
would be taken against a person who possessed or bore fake currency for legal
transactions without knowing the status of the currency.
The bearer, however, will have to prove that he or she bore the fake currency
in good faith.
The offences where the number of fake currency will be below 10 pieces will be
settled in alternative method involving local representatives, class one
government officials or local branch manager of state-owned banks.
The minimum punishment will be two-year in jail and Tk 1 lakh fine for
committing the offence for the first time involving the number of fake currency
below 100 pieces.
The guilty will face seven years imprisonment and Tk 10 lakh penalty for
committing the crime for the first time having involvement of currency above
500 pieces.
The terms of imprisonment and amounts of penalty will gradually increase for
repeated offences.
A person involved with an offence for the third or more time will face
life-term imprisonment and Tk 1 crore in penalty, according to the draft law.
The offences under the draft law will be tried at special sessions judge court
or metropolitan magistrate or at first class judicial magistrate court.
The offences will also come under the purview of mobile courts run by the
executive magistrates.
Under the act, the Department of Currency Management will establish a database
of bearer, supplier, producer and instruments used in producing and processing
counterfeit currencies.
(source: newagebd.net)
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