robbery with wounding
burglary with assault
arson
casting away a ship
buggery with man or beast
... and some other less interesting crimes. By 1869 (2 years after confederation created what we now recognize as Canada) only murder, rape, and treason were punishable by death.
At 12:02 am, December 11, 1962, Arthur Lucas and Robert Turpin were the last people to be executed in Canada for unrelated crimes.
Turpin, already wanted for questioning in a shooting, robbed a Red Rooster restaurant of $632.84, and was pulled over during his escape for having a broken tail light. Turpin shot the officer in the chest. He was hanged for the murder of the officer.
Lucas was an American who apparantly worked for a Michigan drug lord who was on trial for ... something. Lucas came to Canada to kill a witness for the trial named Therland Crater.
Turpin was 29 years old. Lucas was 54.
Hanging is the only method of execution ever used in Canada.
Trudeau's liberals abolished capital punishment in 1976. Mulroney's Conservatives tried to bring it back in 1987, but failed.
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