Boyd Gang

Boyd Gang

The Boyd Gang was a notorious criminal gang based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, led by Edwin Alonzo Boyd. Edwin robbed a Toronto branch of the Bank of Montreal with a gun on September 9, 1949 while drunk, and by 1951 became the nation's most notorious bandit and leader of The Boyd Gang. Other members include Lennie Jackson (a hairdresser from Niagara Falls and the gang's fastest runner, despite his artificial foot), Steve Suchan (who is said to have traded in his violin for a .455 Smith and Wesson revolver), and Willie "The Clown" Jackson.

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 captures. For three years police, prison authorities, and bank officials were frustrated in their attempts to bring the unruly mobsters under control.

Death of a policeman

On March 6, 1952, Detective Sergeant Edmund Tong and his partner, Sergeant Roy Perry stopped a vehicle containing two men; these two men turned out to be Suchan and Jackson. As Tong approached the vehicle, Suchan drew a .455 pistol and shot him and Sergeant Perry in the police car, wounding the latter in the arm.

Tong died of his wounds on March 23, 1952. Both suspects were separately arrested in Montreal after a shootout with police that left both men wounded. Both men were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of the policeman.

Demise

On December 16, 1952, Suchan and Jackson were hanged back to back in Toronto's Don Jail. Edwin Boyd, who had not been present at the murder, was sentenced to eight life terms plus twenty-seven years concurrent. Willie Jackson was sentenced to thirty-one years. Both served their terms in Kingston Penitentiary. Boyd was released in 1966 on parole for life, and moved to the west coast of Canada where he re-married. He died in 2002.

External links

* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-543-2727/life_society/boyd_gang/clip2 CBC news article]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-543/life_society/loyd_gang/ CBC Digital Archives - Toronto's Infamous 'Boyd Gang']

Bibliography

* "The Boyd Gang" by Marjorie Lamb and Barry Pearson. Toronto, Peter Martin Associates, 1976.


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