Edwin Alonzo Boyd - Arrest and Release

Arrest and Release

They received numerous calls from residents in West Ferris and Powassan, Ontario, and from a druggist in North Bay. None of them panned out. After ten days, men were seen at a barn in the Don Valley 24 km from the jail, and the Boyd Gang was captured without incident.

Now Boyd was the only gang member left to be captured. Detective Adolphus 'Dolph' Payne had kept Boyd's brother Norman under surveillance and discovered that he had rented a flat on Heath Street, but had not moved in yet. He secured a key to the back door from the owner. Payne then watched, from a neighbour's house, as Boyd moved into the flat. Wanting to avoid a shootout, he waited until he was sure everyone was asleep. At the crack of dawn the police crept inside the house and captured Boyd and his wife while they were still in bed. Boyd's brother, who was sleeping in another room, was also apprehended.The Toronto Nugget reported the event by stating “Edwin Alonzo Boyd, Canada’s Public Enemy Number One, surrendered meekly with his henchmen to two suburban detectives, ending the greatest criminal man hunt in the Dominion’s history.” One of these officers was Kenneth Craven.

Steve Suchan and Lennie Jackson were sentenced to death for killing Detective Tong. On December 16, 1952 Steve Suchan, after a brief visit with his mother, and Lennie Jackson with his wife, received the last rites and waited for their 8 am execution. To their surprise, the executioner came at midnight, and by 12:14 am they were both dead, hanged back to back.

Eddie got eight life sentences and Willie Jackson got thirty years. Willie Jackson and Eddie Boyd were both released in 1962.

Ex Bandit Boyd Calls For Police. Edwin Alonzo Boyd, who has spent much of his life dodging police, asked for their assistance last night- to arrest his wife and her companion. Boyd was paroled Oct. 3 after serving 10 years in Kingston penitentiary for bank robbery. He set up housekeeping in a west-central house for himself and his children. Last night Boyd sent a hurried call for help to Markham St. station when a man and woman arrived at his home and battered down the front door. The woman said she wanted to pick up clothing. Booked on charges of being drunk were Doreen Boyd and Kenneth Caustan, 40. In court today she pleaded guilty and was fined $5. She was returned to the cells until she could raise the money. —Toronto Star, December 14, 1962

Eddie, under the name John, went to Victoria, British Columbia, where he drove a bus for disabled people and married a disabled woman whom he met on the bus. He took care of her for the next 35 years, until they went into a home.