HANGED AT DAWN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 October 1924, Page 5

HANGED AT DAWN.

BANDITS ON THE GALLOWS. END OF A CALLOUS GANG. GHASTLY SCENES. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. OTTAWA, Oct. 24. Four Italian desperadoes were hanged at Montreal at daybreak to-day. It will be recalled that the desperadoes were members of one of Canada’s most desperate gangs. Six men, who had participated in the holdup' of a collection car of a bank at Hochelaga in April, causing the death of two employees, were later captured „ by the police. They had escaped , with 140,000 dollars, of which the police recovered 40,000 dollars. Of the six men sentenced to death at the trial in July two had/their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. In carrying out the sentence of the court unprecedented precautions were taken owing to threatened attempts to rescue the condemned men. Scores of police guarded the gaol inside and ' out throughout the night, and the executions were carried out at dawn with an electric light casting a ghastly glare on the gallows. One of the condemned men, who was a former athlete and detective, died gamely and left a pathetic letter to his children. A second whimpered, but braced himself up at the last moment and kissed the crucifix • as the noose was adjusted. The remaining two were in a state of collapse, particularly “the king of the red light district,” who was' in a pitiable condition during the last two days, and he had to be carried to the scaffold. - The executions aroused enormous interest. hundreds of morbid people collecting outside/the gaol.