Unfortunately, I missed the program, tuning in just in time
to catch the Armenian singer's visit to her ancestral
homeland.
Thanks for the rundown on the Dick case, Kerry.
Karin
At 04:16 PM 20/01/2006 -0500, Kerry wrote:
>At 03:14 PM 19/01/2006 -0500, Karin wrote:
>>Just got this notice about tonight's program
Opening Night. Kind of a
>>strange double-bill.
>>
>>CBC TV Program, Thursday,
>>January 19, 2006, 8:00 p.m.
>>Black Widow/A Long Journey
>>
>>Black Widow
>>A film noir musical drama loosely based on the
Evelyn Dick Torso murder
>>case, starring Sarah Slean, Tom McCamus, Mary
Margaret O'Hara and Martin
>>Tielli of the Rheostatics.
>
>So did you watch it? How was it? How "loosely based"
on the original story?
>
>The Evelyn Dick, Torso murder case scandalized Canada
immediately after the
>war. She was the daughter of a janitor at the
Hamilton Street Railway
>sheds, who had a lucrative if somewhat bulky sideline
re-selling used
>streetcar tickets. One of the more recent books about
the case suggests
>that he was sexually abusing his daughter as well.
Whatever the reason,
>Evelyne was enrolled at the city's top, private,
Catholic finishing school,
>straining the financial resources of this Protestant
family. Evelyn did not
>fit in with the other girls, and tried buying the
affection of a few, to no
>effect. It seems likely she was already turning
tricks before graduating.
>
>But she wasn't working the streets. Within a short
time of graduating she
>and her mother were living in a home at least twice
the size of the modest
>bungalow where papa still resided, and closer to the
downtown action. There
>was another apartment rented, working space, in one
of the most
>sought-after rental buildings of the time, surrounded
by the even bigger
>homes of the city's industrial and financial
establishment. Mom and
>daughter drove from one to the other in a
lightly-used Packard. Rumours
>spread that the pretty, nun-educated,
just-out-of-school girl was servicing
>the Provinces most elite clientele.
>
>Papa still had some influence on the family, however,
hooking his daughter
>up with John Dick, a Mennonite farm boy from just
outside the city, working
>as a streetcar conductor for the HSR. Evelyn quickly
married him, possibly
>as cover for her business, possibly for other
reasons. Dick misunderstood
>his purpose, loudly protesting that the marriage
hadn't been consummated
>and, indeed, that he did not appear to be welcome in
her company. Defining
>the term half-smart, Dick began to suspect Evelyn's
financial means, and
>took to hiding in the bushes outside her place of
business, gathering proof
>of the number of men who went in and out of the
building. A short time
>after that Dick's body was found by boys hiking on
the top edge of the
>Niagara Escarpment, which bisects the city. Head and
limbs were missing.
>
>Hamilton was an industrial city enjoying the war-time
boom, the returning
>soldiers but still small enough that people knew of
one another. Everyone
>seemed to know someone who had seen or met Evelyn. My
mother, for instance,
>later recalled serving Evelyn Dick at the counter of
Kresge's 5&10. Those
>sorts of connections. She was often seen in the
company of one of the
>city's top athletes, and sometimes, it was suspected,
big-wigs from
>Toronto. Supporting these rumours was the counsel
hired to defend Evelyn in
>court. Where did the money come from to hire J.J.
Robinette, soon to be the
>country's top defense attorney? The Dick case is said
to have vaulted him
>into that status, so maybe he didn't become expensive
until after winning
>the case. Evelyn was found not-guilty of the murder
of her husband John.
>
>She did serve time, however. During a search of the
house Evelyn shared
>with her mother, police found a suitcase containing
the corpse of a
>strangled baby, partially encased in
cement.
>
>After serving her sentence, Evelyn disappeared.
Periodically there are
>rumours of her whereabouts. There have been at least
two books based on the
>case, a theatrical production (later televised, I
think) and now, a
>musical, not to mention careers made and
lost.
>
>It pops up about every five years.
>
>best,
>Kerry
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>Literary events Calendar (South Ont.)
>http://www.lit-electric.com
>The evil men do lives after them
>http://www.murderoutthere.com
>------------------------------------------------------
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