Murderer.
Born in England on 9 June 1911, he came to Canada with his mother in 1919. During the Second World War, he served with the Fort Garry Horse and was wounded in France. He was arrested in 1946 and charged with the murder of a Winnipeg taxi driver. The evidence was circumstantial, and Deacon insisted that he was innocent. After two trials and despite petitions for clemency signed by over 15,000 Manitobans, he was hanged at the Headingley Gaol on 16 April 1948 and buried in the St. James Anglican Cemetery.
See also:
Watch the Rope by William E. Morriss, Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1996.
Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 June 2022
Memorable Manitobans
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