Double Trap: The Last Public Hanging in Canada

by John Melady

A dozen years before the Black Donnellys were butchered at Lucan, Ontario, another murderous rampage took place a few miles away. On June 6, 1868, three men robbed and killed a rich farmer, his wife, and her unborn child. They concocted an alibi, stuck to it, and almost got off. In fact, two of them did. The third, Nicholas Melady, went to prison and fell in love with a beautiful woman in a nearby cell. There to entrap him, she listened, learned, and led him to the gallows. When he was hanged in Goderich, hundreds watched, but thousands were late for the spectacle. They were bitterly disappointed because they had missed the last public hanging in Canada.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Nicholas Melady was hung for the murder of a family near Goderich in 1868 - the last time a person was hung in public in Canada.