Arthur Lucas

Arthur Lucas, originally from the U.S. state of Georgia, was one of the two last people to be executed in Canada, on 11 December 1962. Lucas had been convicted of the murder of a police informant from Detroit and his common-law wife. The murders took place in Toronto.

For other people named Arthur Lucas, see Arthur Lucas (disambiguation).
Arthur Lucas
Born18 December 1907 [1]
Cordele, Georgia
Died11 December 1962 (aged 54)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Capital murder
Criminal penaltyDeath sentence

Lucas, along with fellow prisoner Ronald Turpin, was executed at the Toronto (Don) Jail by hanging,[2] the only form of civilian capital punishment ever used in post-Confederation Canada, although the military employed execution by firing squad. In 1976, capital punishment for murder was removed from Canada's Criminal Code, but could still be used under the National Defence Act until 1998. When both men were informed that they would likely be the last people ever to hang in Canada, Lucas said, "Some consolation."

Chaplain Cyrill Everitt attended the double hanging and in 1986, shortly before his death, he revealed that Lucas's head was "nearly torn right off" because the hangman had miscalculated the man's weight.[3]

References
  1. Hoshowsky, Robert J. (2007). The Last to Die: Ronald Turpin, Arthur Lucas, and the End of Capital Punishment in Canada. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 41. ISBN 9781550026726.
  2. Tim Alamenciak (10 December 2012). "The end of the rope: The story of Canada's last executions". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. Capital punishment in Canada: Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin, last two hanged in Canada- Retrieved 2017-05-02


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