Filip Konowal - Trial

Trial

On 19 July 1919, Konowal accompanied Leontiy Diedek, a friend and fellow veteran, to a particularly rough area in Hull, Quebec. The two men went for dinner at a restaurant; Diedek left early in order to look at some bicycles at the home of William Artich, an 'Austrian' bootlegger and bicycle salesman. Konowal became aware of a commotion and went to investigate. A fight had started between Artich and Diedek. By the time Konowal arrived, Diedek had been viciously beaten and Artich was armed with a knife. Konowal managed to gain control over the weapon and killed Artich with a single stab to the chest.

Konowal did not attempt to flee the scene; when police came, the First World War veteran stated, "I've killed fifty-two of them, that makes the fifty-third." Veterans rallied around his cause and raised enough money to bail Konowal in October 1919; the trial ended up being postponed three times, finally beginning in 1921. After extensive tests, it was discovered that Konowal was suffering from serious medical problems stemming from war wounds: pressure on his brain was increasing and his condition was continually deteriorating. Medical experts unanimously agreed that a wartime gunshot wound to the head was likely making Konowal mentally unstable; the jury agreed and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Konowal was institutionalized for seven years. By the end of this period, his condition had improved dramatically. Unfortunately, tragedy struck once again when Konowal attempted to contact his family in Soviet Ukraine: his wife had died during the Soviet famine of 1932–1933 (the Holodomor) and his daughter was nowhere to be found.