[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 22



CANADA:

T.W. Paterson column: McLean brothers’ murderous rampage ended quietly



“Shoot! you son of a ——-, shoot! I’m not afraid of an ounce of lead.”—condemned 
murderer Allen McLean.

For those who are familiar with provincial criminal history, this summer’s 
murderous but, happily, brief rampage by 2 Island teenagers was an eerie echo 
of a similar outrage that dates back all of 140 years.

That’s when the three McLean brothers, Allen, Charlie and Archie, and their 
friend Alex Hare, sought for stealing a prized stallion, cold bloodedly 
murdered Provincial Police Constable John Tannatt Ussher and an inoffensive 
shepherd then terrorized local ranchers before being captured after a dramatic 
shootout with a posse.

It’s a story so oft-told I won’t go into further detail here; rather, I want to 
explore their final days in the B.C. Penitentiary, the tragic conclusion of 
their almost senseless crimes that could have had only one conclusion in that 
age of capital punishment.

To do so I must introduce the anti-heroes of our tale: 25-year-old Allen 
McLean, leader, younger brothers Charlie, 17, Archie, 15, and friend Alex Hare, 
17. All were the products of mixed-race marriages, the McLeans’ father having 
been a notorious firebrand who committed a murder of his own, and who, deadly 
with rifle, revolver and hunting knife, were said to be “the true product of a 
wild frontier existence”. They also have been described as being “of a wild, 
reckless disposition, and being good horsemen and capital shots [who] preferred 
enjoying a roving life to any settled employment.”

But their roving life of horse and cattle rustling came to an abrupt end with 
their murders of Constable Ussher and shepherd Kelly, subsequent arrest, trial, 
conviction and sentence of death. The fact that Archie was only 15 cut no ice 
with the judicial system which, no doubt, was influenced by eyewitness 
testimony that it was he who’d delivered the coup de grace to the wounded 
Ussher.

An appeal, based not on evidence of their guilt but on a legalistic and 
egotistical administrative joust between Attorney-General George Walkem and 
Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Begbie (who hadn’t presided at their trial) 
caused a second trial and a year-long delay.

Again, the verdict was guilty and, while awaiting their fate in the 
penitentiary beside the Fraser River, in New Westminster, they were anything 
but model prisoners. Their behaviour, until a month before execution, was 
described as “bad — characterized by one continued resistance to authority and 
defiance of discipline interspersed with small plots to escape, and exhibitions 
of a disposition to gratify a splenetic vein”.

When Warden Moresby detected a knife up Allan’s sleeve, he had to disarm him at 
gunpoint. On another occasion when Moresby drew his revolver, Allan snarled, 
“Shoot! you son of a ——-, shoot! I’m not afraid of an ounce of lead.” The gang 
constantly upset prison quiet and routine with their whistling, cursing, 
shouting and dancing, behaviour that was dismissed by one journalist as an 
unseemly exhibition of bravado — “like that of little boys whistling in the 
dark to scare away the rats”.

Further searches of their cells turned up knives, nails sharpened to fine 
points and the handle of a tin cup which had been flattened and ground to a 
sharp edge. These had been stowed away in rat holes. The possession of these 
weapons and Archie’s threatening to strike a guard with a bucket led to Moresby 
seeking special permission to chain them to the walls which finally succeeded 
in “cooling them down”.

Why they didn’t just break out quietly is a mystery considering the pathetic 
state of the prison where, the Colonist complained, “Safety forms no prominent 
feature of [the] cells. The walls for seven inches from their bases are rotten 
— in fact they are nothing more or less than ‘plank’ and can be pulled to 
pieces with the fingers. Had the prisoners desired it they could have emerged 
from their confinement within a few hours by simply using the heels of their 
boots. One of the doors, it is said, fell off its hinges, the wood being too 
much decayed to sustain the strain[!]”

Perhaps they were relying upon a plot they’d hatched to make their escape at 
almost the last minute — while being led to the scaffold. John Henry Makai, a 
“half breed” [sic] Kanaka serving two months for selling liquor to Indians, had 
volunteered to serve as executioner, a duty often performed by 
non-professionals. Makai’s “frequent importunities” for the unpleasant job made 
Moresby suspicious. Through an inmate informant he learned that Makai had 
arranged with the McLeans and Hare that, should he act as executioner, he’d “by 
some means secure possession of a knife and while pinioning [them] prior to 
their taking their position on the scaffold [he’d] cut the ropes almost 
through, leaving a few threads sufficient to maintain the ropes in their place 
and thus avoid suspicion until the proper time for attempting escape had 
arrived. Once in the yard, the ropes were to be burst and a desperate dash made 
for liberty…”

Had the bizarre plan succeeded Makai was to have been rewarded with 100 head of 
cattle and 40 horses from a McLean relative. Upon being interrogated, Makai 
divulged the whole mad plot and a search of his cell turned up two knives 
thought to have been acquired while Makai was working in the chain-gang.

When they were ultimately informed that the day of execution had been fixed for 
11 days hence, they took it well. Allen was the first to be told by Sheriff 
Morrison; asked if he had any word he wanted sent to his friends, he replied, 
“No, I have been expecting this every day. I knew it must come sometime. You 
will write to Hector [McLean] and tell him not to take any revenge…for our 
death. It can’t be helped now.” He was returned to his cell, but subsequently 
sent for the gaoler and asked him to write to his wife in the upper country and 
tell her that it was his dying wish that she should take good care of the 
children.

Defiant to the end, young Archie, who’d fatally shot a wounded Constable Ussher 
in the face, asked whether he had any word to send to his friends he replied, 
“No, I have nothing to say or send to any friends. They have done nothing for 
me and I wouldn’t care if all my friends got hung. "

Charlie McLean and Alex Hare maintained a stolid silence. Of the four Allen 
appeared downcast but resigned. Archie’s chest “heaved a little,” and Charlie’s 
face turned pale. Hare was indifferent.

>From that day forth they ate and slept well and accepted the ministrations of 
the Rev. Father Horris who’d been “unremitting in his efforts to bring them to 
a proper state of mind as well as a proper sense of their position”.

On the cold grey morning of Jan. 31, 1881, Allen, Charlie, Archie McLean and 
Alex Hare shuffled out into the prison yard for the last time.

Under the stark headline OUTLAWS, a special correspondent of The Colonist gave 
what the editor termed an “absorbingly interesting” account of the multiple 
execution: “This morning at 8:30 o’clock Allan, Charlie and Archie McLean and 
Alex. Hare suffered the extreme penalty of the law for the murders of Ussher 
and Kelly in Dec. 1879.

“The prisoners were well disposed and very cool and collected, submitting to 
everything required of them with patience. At 7.30 a.m. the hangman [not John 
Makai!] fixed the ropes on the beam and proceeded at 7:50 o’clock to the cells 
to pinion the prisoners. After they were pinioned they were taken out to the 
scaffold, which was erected in the north-east end of the yard. They mounted the 
steps firmly, accompanied by the Reverend Fathers Horris and Cheruse, their 
spiritual advisers, and took their places quietly.

“They said, ‘For the honour and glory of God I acknowledge my guilt. I forgive 
every one from my heart, even my executioner, and I most humbly beg Almighty 
God to forgive me.’ The ropes were then put on their necks and the caps drawn 
down, and at exactly 8:30 o’clock the hangman pulled the lever and dropped the 
unfortunates into Eternity. They all died instantly, Charley being the only one 
who struggled. They were taken down at 9:30. A jury was empanelled and an 
inquest held, when the usual verdict was returned. The bodies were taken to 
Douglas street cemetery for interment…”

In an editorial the Colonist declared, “In the execution of the culprits the 
majesty of the law has been vindicated. The wretched men who are now beyond the 
reach of earthly censure have atoned with their lives for the commission of the 
most cruel and dastardly acts that stains the criminal records of the province.

“The spectacle presented of four criminals — one a boy, and 3 of the number 
brothers — suspended from one beam in the gray of a winter’s morning, was a 
shocking scene for the few who were admitted to witness it, and the lesson 
conveyed by their sad end will not be thrown away upon their late companions, 
who may have felt disposed to follow in their guilty footsteps…”

Even in death the murderous McLeans made Canadian criminal history. 
Fifteen-year-old Archie is among the youngest ever executed, and it’s believed 
the only time 3 brothers have been hanged together.

As recently as August, the McLeans and Hare made ‘honourable mention’ in a 
series of articles on gang violence in the Vancouver Sun.

(source: Lake Cowichan Gazette)








PAKISTAN:

British couple face death penalty in Pakistan over drugs bust----The pair are 
accused of trying to smuggle 24kg of heroin to the UK on an Emirates flight via 
Dubai



A British couple accused of trying to smuggle Dh9 million worth of heroin from 
Pakistan to the UK could face the death penalty.

Mohammed Tahir Ayaz, 26, and his wife Ikra Hussain, 20, from Huddersfield in 
England, were named by Pakistani authorities following their arrest at Sialkot 
International Airport.

More than 24 kilograms of top-grade heroin was discovered by the Airport 
Security Force in luggage and sewn into a woman’s clothes.

They were due to travel from Pakistan to the UK, via Dubai, on Thursday. The 
drugs were detected during routine scanning before they boarded the aircraft.

Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force said investigations are continuing. Officials 
said the haul has a street value of about 400 million Pakistani rupees (Dh9m).

If found guilty, the pair could face the death penalty or life in prison.

The UK Foreign Office said it was speaking to Pakistan's authorities about the 
case. In June, 4 gang members were convicted of smuggling Dh5.5m worth of 
heroin into the UK from Pakistan via the postal service. UK Border patrols 
worked with the country’s National Crime Agency to intercept 13 packages at 3 
UK airports containing a total of 5kg of high-purity heroin concealed in boxing 
gloves, equine dentistry tools, medical instruments, and motorcycle gloves.

M And customs officials in Dubai intercepted a shipment of 260kg of crystal 
meth and heroin worth about Dh25m in August.

Drugs were found hidden in spare car parts after being detected at the Jebel 
Ali Customs Centre.

(source: thenational.ae)








BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh Bank drafts specific law on currency counterfeiting



The Bangladesh Bank has drafted a specific law to control and prevent 
production, circulation and transaction of counterfeit currencies in the 
country, rearranging punishment provisions specified for the offences in other 
laws.

Officials said that the central bank took the move to draft a separate law — 
Counterfeit Currency Control and Prevention Act-2017 — to rationalise existing 
measures taken to prevent currency counterfeiting and punish people involved in 
the offences under various laws as there were loopholes and ambiguity in 
definitions and other issues related to the offences.

The BB draft has a provision of life-term imprisonment and fine up to Tk 1 
crore for repeated violations of the law.

The offenders now can easily get bail due to ambiguity in definitions.

The new law will prevent weakness and ensure bringing the criminals under the 
book, BB officials said, adding that the offences under the draft law would be 
cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.

The BB finalised the draft taking opinions from various ministries, divisions 
and other government agencies on the draft and forwarded to the finance 
ministry.

Finance ministry has sent the draft to the law ministry for legal vetting, they 
said, adding that the central bank had been trying to enact such law over the 
last few years.

Currently, the offences related to currency counterfeiting are dealt under the 
sections 489A to 489D of the Penal Code 1860 and section 25A of Special Powers 
Act-1974, officials of the Department of Currency Management of the central 
bank said.

They said that definitions of the offences and other related issues were not 
clear in the sections of the two laws, which also did not cover all the 
offences related to counterfeiting currency-notes and bank-notes.

Criminals also manage to escape from legal punishment taking the advantage of 
legal loopholes, they said.

According to the Penal Code, the highest punishment is imprisonment for life.

According to the Special Power Act, the offences are punishable with death 
penalty or with imprisonment for life or for a term up to 15 years.

Officials said that the terms of punishment had been rearranged in the draft 
law to make it more efficient and implementable.

According to the draft law, the offences related to production and transaction 
of counterfeit currency, possessing such notes, transportation of fake 
currencies to and from the country and manufacturing, supply, maintenance and 
transaction of instruments used for counterfeiting currencies will come under 
the purview of the law.

The draft law, however, said that no legal steps, including filling a case, 
would be taken against a person who possessed or bore fake currency for legal 
transactions without knowing the status of the currency.

The bearer, however, will have to prove that he or she bore the fake currency 
in good faith.

The offences where the number of fake currency will be below 10 pieces will be 
settled in alternative method involving local representatives, class one 
government officials or local branch manager of state-owned banks.

The minimum punishment will be two-year in jail and Tk 1 lakh fine for 
committing the offence for the first time involving the number of fake currency 
below 100 pieces.

The guilty will face seven years imprisonment and Tk 10 lakh penalty for 
committing the crime for the first time having involvement of currency above 
500 pieces.

The terms of imprisonment and amounts of penalty will gradually increase for 
repeated offences.

A person involved with an offence for the third or more time will face 
life-term imprisonment and Tk 1 crore in penalty, according to the draft law.

The offences under the draft law will be tried at special sessions judge court 
or metropolitan magistrate or at first class judicial magistrate court.

The offences will also come under the purview of mobile courts run by the 
executive magistrates.

Under the act, the Department of Currency Management will establish a database 
of bearer, supplier, producer and instruments used in producing and processing 
counterfeit currencies.

(source: newagebd.net)