Jan. 13: CNR formed; "Dark Strangler" hangs; St. B's first Anglo mayor.

January 13, 1899 -The Canadian Northern Railway was formed by the amalgamation of the Winnipeg Great Northern Railway and the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company. Within two decades it would be a transcontinental rail system.

January 13, 1928 - Earle Leonard Nelson, considered North America’s first serial rapist / murderer, was hanged at the Vaughan Street Gaol.

Nelson, a.k.a. the 'Gorilla Man Killer' or the 'Dark Strangler', began his crime spree in his native California and moved up the American West Coast. He crossed into Manitoba in June 1927. Though he was here just a short time, he raped and killed two women, the youngest just 14 years-old.

The ensuing manhunt caused him to flee to Regina then make a run for the U.S. border. He was arrested in Wakopa, Manitoba, near Crystal City.  The trial was covered across North America. In attendance were detectives from various police services in the U.S., as well as Nelson's wife and aunt.

Found guilty and hung for his two murders here, Nelson was responsible for 22 murders and suspected in at least three more south of the border. He was 29 years old.  There are a number of accounts of the life and death of Nelson, including at the Winnipeg Police Museum website.

January 13, 1933 - Thomas Berry, the first anglophone mayor of St. Boniface, died.

© 2012 and 2020, Christian Cassidy