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Watching the Devil Dance
The unbelievable true story of Canada’s first known spree killer, told by a veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In June 1966, Matthew Charles Lamb took his uncle’s shotgun and wandered down Ford Blvd in Windsor, Ontario. At the end of the bloody night, two teenagers lay dead, with multiple others injured after an unprovoked shooting spree. In his investigation into Lamb’s story, Will Toffan pieces together the troubled childhood and history of violence that culminated in the young man’s dubious distinction as Canada’s first known spree killer—at which point the story becomes, the author writes “too strange for fiction.” Travelling from the border city streets, to the courtroom, to the Oak Ridge rehabilitation centre, and finally Rhodesia, Watching the Devil Dance is both a thrilling narrative about a shocking true crime and its bizarre aftermath and an insightful analysis of the 1960s criminal justice system.
In June 1966, Matthew Charles Lamb took his uncle’s shotgun and wandered down Ford Blvd in Windsor, Ontario. At the end of the bloody night, two teenagers lay dead, with multiple others injured after an unprovoked shooting spree. In his investigation into Lamb’s story, Will Toffan pieces together the troubled childhood and history of violence that culminated in the young man’s dubious distinction as Canada’s first known spree killer—at which point the story becomes, the author writes “too strange for fiction.” Travelling from the border city streets, to the courtroom, to the Oak Ridge rehabilitation centre, and finally Rhodesia, Watching the Devil Dance is both a thrilling narrative about a shocking true crime and its bizarre aftermath and an insightful analysis of the 1960s criminal justice system.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 10, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 18, 2021
While I very recently wrote that I would not any time soon read another true crime book…. But …. Here I go!
This is a true crime story that is said to be “Canada’s first, and most controversial, spree killer”, Matthew Charles Lamb. This debut novel is published in 2020. Since it is written by an author originally from Windsor, and now returned to live here, published by a local Windsor publisher, and about a tragic, it notable Windsor event, I simply had to read this one…..
The true life story takes place in 1966 in my home town of Windsor , Ontario, Canada ( just on the south shore of the Detroit River river and across from Detroit Michigan, USA). Not only that but it’s a few blocks from where I grew up and within sight of my grade school, even mentioned in the story. While I was rather young at the time, and I don’t remember hearing about this event, I certainly relate to the descriptions of riding your bike with a banana seat, and hanging your transistor radio off the handle bars as it blares music from the local radio station CKLW-AM. Music which shaped rock and roll forever, like much of Motown’s music, recorded in downtown Detroit by Detroit artists. Remembering the old buildings in downtown Windsor and taking the bus, even as a young kid with friends to shop downtown Detroit! But I digress….. although the author mentions all of these things as he sets the scene. I still live in the area, so it’s really interesting to travel the roads of this story as it is being told. I know and have visited many times, all the haunting stops he references.
The author, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, invokes his investigative skills to pen this debut book, and does so in a grand manner. Not only has he conducted many before untouched interviews, but he has researched many archives of police records and media reports to piece together a much wider collection of this tragic event and the painful trauma it has left behind.
A classic case of the wisdom of hindsight and a further application of what ifs and thens, the author takes us into the minds and psyche of the killer, his victims, the officers, neighbours, and Windsor residents of the day. We learn of how the information that was reported, as well as the information that was left out has forever scarred the players, the participants and the audience of this horrific show….. and by this point of my observations I’m only a quarter of the way into the book.
The first sentence of the very next chapter I read says it all:
“The public’s perception of violent crime could not be more different today than it was in the summer of 1966.”
After some discussion on this the author points out, “This era saw the birth of the modern news cycle, changing society’s relationship to violent crimes forever.” How true that is, particularly with the introduction of internet!
News has moved from radio, to newspaper, to TV, from local, to national, to international delivery, from daily highlights, to regular daily segments, to 24 hours a day, from just the facts, to editorial comments, to public opinion, to documentaries, to entertainment. Private stories become public news, facts are mixed with speculation and outright fiction. What was originally shocking has become fascinating! What a grand and somewhat macabre evolution!
The author goes on to reference many killing sprees and serial killers across North America over the years, how events are reported and distorted, how media has delivered and exploited the newsworthiness of them, how audiences have cringed at and idolized the assailants.
He next looks at the transformation of law enforcement and forensic psychiatry as a result of these mass murders, spree killings, serial events.
It’s a lot of information in such a short book, but don’t mistake it’s brevity for a quick gloss over of the subject. Certainly volumes could be written about these topics but this author is taking a look back at one incident in Windsor, Ontario, through the lens of what we know today and how things today are done differently and noting how events such as these that happened in many places have brought us to where we are today. Looking back through this current perspective provides some plausible explanations of events, or at least assistance into understanding why they occurred; events that at the time they happened were seldom understood.
The author next reviews the trial, an exercise in which he has opportunity to interview the well-respected then defence lawyer, who later became a much loved and respected Justice in Windsor, Justice Saul Nosanchuk. This is somewhat akin to a riveting 60 Minutes episode! The author goes on to scrutinize the trial, it’s witnesses and the shortcomings of the Crown’s case…..hindsight is often 20/20. But it makes for most interesting speculation if things had been done differently.
Next is the follow up of the assailant as he makes his way through the system after the trial concludes. Again an interesting inside look! Needless to say the system of incarceration for those deemed “ criminally insane” has changed, perhaps in some way as a result of the likes of Matthew Charles Lamb.
Lastly the burning question of what ever became of Matthew Charles Lamb is revealed. A strange twist of fate, a fact is stranger than fiction, or something else? No spoilers here!
This short debut true crime, but so much more, novel is highly recommended not only for its retelling of a very small piece of history, but more so for its great insight into the ripple effect of one incident on the lives of so many. This author looks not only at the incident but at the physical, psychological, community, cultural, historical effects, and transformations that have occurred throughout the world as a result of similar incidents like it, and leaves us wondering how much progress we have really made. It is all very telling!
I can think of no reason that this book doesn’t deserve a full five stars, so five stars it is!
This is a true crime story that is said to be “Canada’s first, and most controversial, spree killer”, Matthew Charles Lamb. This debut novel is published in 2020. Since it is written by an author originally from Windsor, and now returned to live here, published by a local Windsor publisher, and about a tragic, it notable Windsor event, I simply had to read this one…..
The true life story takes place in 1966 in my home town of Windsor , Ontario, Canada ( just on the south shore of the Detroit River river and across from Detroit Michigan, USA). Not only that but it’s a few blocks from where I grew up and within sight of my grade school, even mentioned in the story. While I was rather young at the time, and I don’t remember hearing about this event, I certainly relate to the descriptions of riding your bike with a banana seat, and hanging your transistor radio off the handle bars as it blares music from the local radio station CKLW-AM. Music which shaped rock and roll forever, like much of Motown’s music, recorded in downtown Detroit by Detroit artists. Remembering the old buildings in downtown Windsor and taking the bus, even as a young kid with friends to shop downtown Detroit! But I digress….. although the author mentions all of these things as he sets the scene. I still live in the area, so it’s really interesting to travel the roads of this story as it is being told. I know and have visited many times, all the haunting stops he references.
The author, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, invokes his investigative skills to pen this debut book, and does so in a grand manner. Not only has he conducted many before untouched interviews, but he has researched many archives of police records and media reports to piece together a much wider collection of this tragic event and the painful trauma it has left behind.
A classic case of the wisdom of hindsight and a further application of what ifs and thens, the author takes us into the minds and psyche of the killer, his victims, the officers, neighbours, and Windsor residents of the day. We learn of how the information that was reported, as well as the information that was left out has forever scarred the players, the participants and the audience of this horrific show….. and by this point of my observations I’m only a quarter of the way into the book.
The first sentence of the very next chapter I read says it all:
“The public’s perception of violent crime could not be more different today than it was in the summer of 1966.”
After some discussion on this the author points out, “This era saw the birth of the modern news cycle, changing society’s relationship to violent crimes forever.” How true that is, particularly with the introduction of internet!
News has moved from radio, to newspaper, to TV, from local, to national, to international delivery, from daily highlights, to regular daily segments, to 24 hours a day, from just the facts, to editorial comments, to public opinion, to documentaries, to entertainment. Private stories become public news, facts are mixed with speculation and outright fiction. What was originally shocking has become fascinating! What a grand and somewhat macabre evolution!
The author goes on to reference many killing sprees and serial killers across North America over the years, how events are reported and distorted, how media has delivered and exploited the newsworthiness of them, how audiences have cringed at and idolized the assailants.
He next looks at the transformation of law enforcement and forensic psychiatry as a result of these mass murders, spree killings, serial events.
It’s a lot of information in such a short book, but don’t mistake it’s brevity for a quick gloss over of the subject. Certainly volumes could be written about these topics but this author is taking a look back at one incident in Windsor, Ontario, through the lens of what we know today and how things today are done differently and noting how events such as these that happened in many places have brought us to where we are today. Looking back through this current perspective provides some plausible explanations of events, or at least assistance into understanding why they occurred; events that at the time they happened were seldom understood.
The author next reviews the trial, an exercise in which he has opportunity to interview the well-respected then defence lawyer, who later became a much loved and respected Justice in Windsor, Justice Saul Nosanchuk. This is somewhat akin to a riveting 60 Minutes episode! The author goes on to scrutinize the trial, it’s witnesses and the shortcomings of the Crown’s case…..hindsight is often 20/20. But it makes for most interesting speculation if things had been done differently.
Next is the follow up of the assailant as he makes his way through the system after the trial concludes. Again an interesting inside look! Needless to say the system of incarceration for those deemed “ criminally insane” has changed, perhaps in some way as a result of the likes of Matthew Charles Lamb.
Lastly the burning question of what ever became of Matthew Charles Lamb is revealed. A strange twist of fate, a fact is stranger than fiction, or something else? No spoilers here!
This short debut true crime, but so much more, novel is highly recommended not only for its retelling of a very small piece of history, but more so for its great insight into the ripple effect of one incident on the lives of so many. This author looks not only at the incident but at the physical, psychological, community, cultural, historical effects, and transformations that have occurred throughout the world as a result of similar incidents like it, and leaves us wondering how much progress we have really made. It is all very telling!
I can think of no reason that this book doesn’t deserve a full five stars, so five stars it is!
September 23, 2020
Thank you to the author and publisher for an e-ARC copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. Well first off you would never think this is the author's first book. Well written, paced and packed with great information not only about this case but other famous serial killers. The author does a great job analyzing the changes in society and history to attempt to understand how we evolved, for lack of a better word, state. He does this without the reading being dry. Much enjoyed.
July 15, 2022
Such a sad story about Windsor Ontario! The police being only human missed a few things but they got their man in the end!
October 12, 2021
Fascinating. Devastating. A detailed and interesting look at a very dark cloud in Windsor Ontario’s history - but what is most mind-boggling is how the story and fate of the spree-killer unfolds. Such a realistic look at the impact of trauma, how mere seconds can change history, tear families apart and the destructive and crippling aftershocks storm through life like a ripple - or a hurricane - and is felt for an entire lifetime.
Truth trumps fiction, indeed. Highly recommend.
Truth trumps fiction, indeed. Highly recommend.
October 25, 2020
Very interesting read. This will make a great movie. Watch for it!
April 2, 2023
This is William Toffan first book and I hope it's not his last, because this guy is the real deal. In this book we learn about Mathew Charles Lamb who committed his unspeakable act of violence on June 25, 1966. One day Mathew Charles Lamb takes a rifle from the closet of a relative and shoots four people wounding two and killing two, on ford boulevard in the east end of Windsor, Ontario, the town where I grew up and live in today. The lawyer Saul Nosenchuck for Mathew Charles lamb was a close friend of my father's for many years. Saul Nosenchuck decides to go for the insanity defense which almost never works, however in this case it did work. And than the story gets crazier from there if that's possible. I did read one review where the reviewer said this book had to many details, however that's what I liked about this book. I liked how the writer tells us about other serial killers of the period, and the psychological studies of Mathew Lamb and other serial killers as well so we can get into the head of a serial killer to a certain extent. As usual I didn't give many details on purpose to encourage others to read this book.
March 9, 2023
Great read for anyone interested in Canadian law, history, homicides and violent crimes.
This book was a very interesting read about a young 18 year old boy from Windsor, Ontario who opened fire on a group of people in the community. Documents various psychiatrists’ diagnoses, Lamb’s criminal history, the “insanity plea,” and the controversial decision of the provincial government to appoint someone with no criminal law or trial experience.
It also explores the failure to document key pieces of evidence as well as the struggles of five police forces amalgamating together, their communication (or lack thereof) and ensuring things are documented properly. It was interesting to hear mentions of other serial killers in Canada that I had never previously heard of.
One of the most interesting things to read was regarding a very concerning treatment program at Penetanguishene’s Oak Ridge facility from 1965 onwards. The facility had “patient therapists,” psychedelic drugs were freely distributed or force-fed into reluctant patients unwilling to submit to the mandatory drug regimen and the “towel treatment” were clients were choked unconscious. I’m glad the author wrote about the study into the long-term efficacy and law suits years later.
The most ridiculous thing of all is what happened to Matthew Charles Lamb years later.
This book was a very interesting read about a young 18 year old boy from Windsor, Ontario who opened fire on a group of people in the community. Documents various psychiatrists’ diagnoses, Lamb’s criminal history, the “insanity plea,” and the controversial decision of the provincial government to appoint someone with no criminal law or trial experience.
It also explores the failure to document key pieces of evidence as well as the struggles of five police forces amalgamating together, their communication (or lack thereof) and ensuring things are documented properly. It was interesting to hear mentions of other serial killers in Canada that I had never previously heard of.
One of the most interesting things to read was regarding a very concerning treatment program at Penetanguishene’s Oak Ridge facility from 1965 onwards. The facility had “patient therapists,” psychedelic drugs were freely distributed or force-fed into reluctant patients unwilling to submit to the mandatory drug regimen and the “towel treatment” were clients were choked unconscious. I’m glad the author wrote about the study into the long-term efficacy and law suits years later.
The most ridiculous thing of all is what happened to Matthew Charles Lamb years later.
August 5, 2021
Thankfully Canada is not on par with the United States for the amount of mass shooting and general crime rate that spirals higher on a constant basis. Canada though has had a fair number of crimes that have shocked the nation.
One of the lesser known cases took place in Windsor Ontario on June 25 1966. On that night after taking his uncle’s double-barreled shotgun, Matthew Charles Lamb headed out to the streets and began to randomly shoot people. He has no specific targets in mind. It was simply first sight, first shoot in a manner of speaking. He eventually shot four people, two of them dying.
At one point he went to a random house and after a lady answered he entered the house, shotgun pointed at her. She assumed she was going to be shot. She told Lamb her husband was upstairs. That did not phase him. He did walk out of the house as calmly as he entered, and walked toward the woods.
Toffan notes that it appeared Lamb figured the woman would call police. If that had happened he was lying in wait for them, ready to pick them off like ducks in a pond. She did not report the occurrence until the following day, going personally to the police station to tell of the visit the previous night. She had no idea until police told her, that Lamb was part of the killings.
This was the first hint of a “kill spree” in Canadian history. Lamb was abandoned by his biological mother and abused constantly through his childhood. It was not long before he showed violent tendencies toward other people and animals. He was like the proverbial ticking time bomb. After the shootings, he was arrested and the next phase of his life began, the court trial.
The defense tried to argue that he was insane and did not understand his actions. He had a decent IQ, but could not comprehend what he had done. The trial was not long and eventually he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and sent to the Oak Ridge Facility for the Criminally Insane where he would spend a decade there.
Toffan goes into great detail of the life of the Lamb. When he was released back into society he wanted to become a mercenary for the Israeli army, and paid to kill. That did not pan out as planned. He did eventually head to Africa where he fought for the Rhodesian Army in the quest for Zimbabwe’s pursuit of liberation. He was killed by friendly fire, and strangely enough given a hero’s funeral.
Toffan’s book is precise and concise in detail, telling a riveting tale of a dark day in Canadian history. Few who lived in Windsor around that time could ever forget the murders and the grim aftermath.
One of the lesser known cases took place in Windsor Ontario on June 25 1966. On that night after taking his uncle’s double-barreled shotgun, Matthew Charles Lamb headed out to the streets and began to randomly shoot people. He has no specific targets in mind. It was simply first sight, first shoot in a manner of speaking. He eventually shot four people, two of them dying.
At one point he went to a random house and after a lady answered he entered the house, shotgun pointed at her. She assumed she was going to be shot. She told Lamb her husband was upstairs. That did not phase him. He did walk out of the house as calmly as he entered, and walked toward the woods.
Toffan notes that it appeared Lamb figured the woman would call police. If that had happened he was lying in wait for them, ready to pick them off like ducks in a pond. She did not report the occurrence until the following day, going personally to the police station to tell of the visit the previous night. She had no idea until police told her, that Lamb was part of the killings.
This was the first hint of a “kill spree” in Canadian history. Lamb was abandoned by his biological mother and abused constantly through his childhood. It was not long before he showed violent tendencies toward other people and animals. He was like the proverbial ticking time bomb. After the shootings, he was arrested and the next phase of his life began, the court trial.
The defense tried to argue that he was insane and did not understand his actions. He had a decent IQ, but could not comprehend what he had done. The trial was not long and eventually he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and sent to the Oak Ridge Facility for the Criminally Insane where he would spend a decade there.
Toffan goes into great detail of the life of the Lamb. When he was released back into society he wanted to become a mercenary for the Israeli army, and paid to kill. That did not pan out as planned. He did eventually head to Africa where he fought for the Rhodesian Army in the quest for Zimbabwe’s pursuit of liberation. He was killed by friendly fire, and strangely enough given a hero’s funeral.
Toffan’s book is precise and concise in detail, telling a riveting tale of a dark day in Canadian history. Few who lived in Windsor around that time could ever forget the murders and the grim aftermath.
December 26, 2023
Short and tasty. I think I went into it pretty skeptical, the author is former RCMP and the spree killing itself wasn't such a shocking crime from today's landscape. I wasn't expecting the second half of the book which follows shooter Lamb's short incarceration at Penetanguishene asylum and early release to pursue his dream of becoming a mercenary for IOF. It details his involvement in Oak Ridge's DDT program, the most salient example of, "The inmates are running the asylum" and later the subject of a Canadian Supreme Court case. Perfect example of our government creating a killer and letting him loose to kill again.
November 14, 2020
I found the story line very accurate and filled in many details that puzzled those who have studied or experienced the crimes of Lamb himself. From an instant play-by-play of those terrifying moments in which those young people were slaughtered, the author follows the survivors and the perpetrator. During an age where spree killers were virtually unknown, the author takes us through the criminal justice system and eventually the Oak Ridge facility for the criminally insane where bizarre theories to cure violent psychopaths were put in practice - with disastrous results. Nevertheless, the spree killer
learns to play the system and upon achieving as unexpected release, the killer travels the world as a mercenary and would have been hailed a Canadian hero if not for an incidental telephone call to a Windsor case officer a decade after the horrific killings.
The book is an indictment of our mental health facilities of the 1960s, our criminal justice system failures, and serious questions raised about our willingness to protect our citizenry.
Well written, well researched, often funny and ironic while never dismissing the horrors of the victims, Watching the Devil Dance will teach you much of what you thought you already knew about Canadian crime and how it was handled in the 1960-70s. An excellent book all around.
learns to play the system and upon achieving as unexpected release, the killer travels the world as a mercenary and would have been hailed a Canadian hero if not for an incidental telephone call to a Windsor case officer a decade after the horrific killings.
The book is an indictment of our mental health facilities of the 1960s, our criminal justice system failures, and serious questions raised about our willingness to protect our citizenry.
Well written, well researched, often funny and ironic while never dismissing the horrors of the victims, Watching the Devil Dance will teach you much of what you thought you already knew about Canadian crime and how it was handled in the 1960-70s. An excellent book all around.
May 24, 2022
Not a big fan of the writing style but this is a very intriguing story. I learned a great deal about the Canadian legal system and former practices in the institutions for the criminally insane. I had no recollection of this murder case in my home town of Windsor Ontario but this case and the story of the killer is truly stranger than fiction.
January 4, 2024
Growing up in Windsor, I never knew about the dark history it holds. Reading this book was eye-opening to the horrors that the institutionalized patients at Oak Ridge had to endure and the failure to provide all the evidence during the trial on the prosecution side. At the beginning of the book, I struggled to get "hooked" on it, but as it progressed, especially the chapter detailing the trial, I found I could not put the book down. Highly recommend to someone who wants to learn about the dark history of Windsor Ontario.
March 18, 2022
Very informative as this happened in my home town.
Tedious reading as so much background included.
Tedious reading as so much background included.
September 19, 2024
True crime and very interesting.
Read
January 7, 2025DNF page 65.
October 26, 2025
Fantastic book, it was so well written and had lots of twists and turns I didn’t expect. It was captivating from cover to cover
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews