- Boyd Gang
The Boyd Gang was a notorious criminal gang based in
Toronto ,Ontario ,Canada , led byEdwin Alonzo Boyd . Edwin robbed aToronto branch of theBank of Montreal with a gun onSeptember 9 ,1949 while drunk, and by 1951 became the nation's most notoriousbandit and leader of The Boyd Gang. Other members includeLennie Jackson (a hairdresser fromNiagara Falls and the gang's fastest runner, despite hisartificial foot),Steve Suchan (who is said to have traded in his violin for a .455Smith and Wesson revolver ), andWillie "The Clown" Jackson .The gang was a favourite of the media at the time because of its sensational actions, which included bank robberies,
jail break s, 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 inMontreal after a shootout with police that left both men wounded. Both men were convicted and sentenced todeath by hanging for the murder of the policeman.Demise
On
December 16 ,1952 , Suchan and Jackson were hanged back to back in Toronto'sDon 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 inKingston Penitentiary . Boyd was released in 1966 onparole for life, and moved to the west coast ofCanada 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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