Canada’s most notorious prison, Kingston Penitentiary, formally closed Sept. 30, 2013.
Among its more notable inmates over the years:
Paul Bernardo: Convicted in 1995 in Toronto of raping and killing schoolgirls Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French at his home in St. Catharines, Ont. His videos of his victims in captivity sealed his conviction.
Clifford Olson: Known as the Beast of British Columbia, he was convicted in 1982 of killing 11 children. He may have killed more.
Russell Williams: The former commander of CFB Trenton, an air force colonel, was convicted of killing two women in 2010 near the eastern Ontario base. He videotaped his victims and photographed himself in their underwear.
Marie-Anne Houde: She was convicted of murdering her stepdaughter Aurore Gagnon, 11, in Fortierville, Que., in 1920. Her death sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Wayne Boden: The “Vampire Rapist” was convicted in 1972 of raping and killing three women in Montreal and one in Calgary. He was notorious for biting the breasts of his victims, leaving forensic evidence that sealed his conviction.
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Tim Buck: The general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada was convicted of Communist agitation in 1931. Several shots were fired into his cell during a prison riot in October 1932 but authorities denied allegations of an assassination attempt.
Mohammad Shafia: The Afghan-Canadian businessman was convicted along with his son and second wife of first-degree murder for drowning his three teenaged daughters and his first wife in June 2009 near Kingston, Ont. The case raised questions about “honour” killings.
Michael Rafferty: He kidnapped and murdered Tori Stafford, 8, of Woodstock, Ont., in April 2009 with the help of his girlfriend Terri-Lynne McClintic. Tori’s remains were found in a wooded area three months after the couple abducted her outside her school.
Ty Conn: The bank robber escaped in 1999 from the Pen, where he had been in protective custody. He later died of what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound while talking on the phone to a TV producer as police in Toronto closed in on him.
James Donnelly: The patriarch of the Black Donnellys, he was sentenced to death for killing Patrick Farrell near London, Ont., in 1857. The sentence was commuted to seven years.
Grace Marks: The 16-year-old maid was convicted in 1843 of killing her boss Thomas Kinnear and his pregnant housekeeper. Her accomplice James McDermott was hanged. Her story inspired a Margaret Atwood novel.
Edwin Boyd: The Toronto bank robber and folk hero was jailed in the 1950s. His story inspired the 2011 movie “Citizen Gangster.”
Roger Caron: An incorrigible career robber from Cornwall, Ont., who spent much of his life behind bars, he wrote a highly acclaimed prison memoir, “Go-Boy! Memories of a Life Behind Bars,” in 1978. He was notorious for his many escapes from custody.
Helmuth Buxbaum: The millionaire from London, Ont., was convicted of paying a hitman to kill his wife Hanna on the side of a road in 1984. Evidence was that the seemingly wholesome Buxbaum was a cocaine addict with an appetite for young prostitutes who found his wife dull and unattractive.
SOURCE: The Canadian Press, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Editor’s note: This story was originally posted Sept. 26, when The Canadian Press‘ list of notable inmates of Kingston Penitentiary wrongly included Steven Truscott, and he has since been removed. Although he did spend a night behind the prison’s walls, Truscott served his sentence elsewhere in a case the Ontario Court of Appeal declared “a miscarriage of justice.”
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