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| James Drummond Ross |
Ross was from the finest of pedigree.
His father Dr. Stanley Graham Ross (1888-1980) drove an ambulance in World War I and became Chief Pediatrician at the Royal Victoria Hospital and his mom was a noted poet.
They lived at 65 Rosemount Crescent. in Westmount.
James was the oldest of four and attended Selwyn House, Trinity College, Oxford and McGill, where he served as assistant professor of Philosophy.
He spent much of 1967 in California and had decided not to continue to pursue his teaching gig at McGill.
Ross was seeing a younger man named Henry Bérubé, 20.
Homosexuality was only legalized in 1969 and it wasn't unheard of for gay men to be tossed in prison for what prosecutors called gross indecency, although in Montreal cops usually just fined men they caught having sex in bars or bathhouses during those years.
Ross was discreet about his sexual orientation, as his younger sister Helen, 13 years his junior, tells Coolopolis that she was unaware that he was gay.
Ross's problems arose when freelance photographer Mike Jenkins, 29, also felt passionate feelings for Bérubé.
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Jenkins warned the 20-year-old that he'd kill Ross if he went to see him again, a threat heard also by a man named Ray Buchanan, also aged 20.
Ross returned home after midnight on 12 October 1967 to find Jenkins on a third floor balcony where he lived at 1565 Pine, adjacent to the Montreal General Hospital.
Jenkins pulled out a 303 rifle and shot at the fleeing Ross. A bullet went through Ross, perforating a lung.
Ross managed to get across the street but Jenkins cooly walked up to Ross and shot through his temple, killing him.
Several neighbours witnessed the murder from their windows, including a woman and her two daughters.
Bérubé,also saw it. He reportedly told police that he would leave the country rather than testify as witness against Jenkins.
This did not sit well with a judge who ordered Bérubé, detained as a material witness.
Bérubé, who was not charged with or suspected of any crime, was forced to spend the winter of 1967-68 behind bars because his family could not afford his $5,000 bail.
Jenkins was charged with murder but asked for a mental evaluation, which took some time to complete.
Meanwhile Bérubé was stewing away at Bordeaux Prison without being accused of any crime.
Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, who was serving as opposition Conservative MP from Saskatchewan, heard of Bérubé,'s plight and came to Montreal to visit him in prison on April 26.
He demanded that Bérubé, be freed.
Diefenbaker said that the man's only crime was being from a family too poor to put up $5,000 in bail. He called the affair shameful.
Police blamed the judge and the judge blamed the other judge. Wthin a day of Diefenbaker's withering attack Judge Peter Shorteno, who was the Canada's first Italian judge and who married a Quebecois dancing celebrity named Chou-Chou, lowered the bail, allowing Bérubé,'s family to spring him.
It should be noted that Shorteno did not set the original bail. He did, however, oversee the release and the subsequent Jenkins trial.
As it turns out several other witnesses testified to seeing Jenkins kill Ross.
Jenkins didn't mount much of a defence. He fired his legal aide lawyer after he was told that he couldn't cross-examine Bérubé himself. He later begged to have the lawyer back. He also promised to produce witnesses that he couldn't deliver.
A jury needed just 90 minutes to find Jenkins guilty on June 6, 1968. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau overhauled Canada's criminal code within a few months. Homosexuality was made legal. And the practice of detaining witnesses was discontinued, although it is still practiced occasionally in the USA.
In spite of the ramifications, the murder and trial appear to been reported very discreetly in the Montreal Gazette, which buried a the occasional short article about the case in its back pages.
None come with a byline and none explained the homosexual element of the tale.
Ross is now forgotten although a $500 bursary is given out annually in his honour to the best second year Philosophy student at McGill.
The Ross family was devastated, particularly James' father who was aged 80 when the verdict came down and went on to live 12 more years.
Jim's sister Helen Ross, now in her early 70s and living in Toronto told Coolopolis that the wound never really healed.
"It's painful to remember but I'm glad that things have changed for the better in terms of the attitudes towards gay people."
It's unknown what became of Jenkins.
Henry Bérubé's whereabouts are also unknown. A man from his town of Kirkland Lake bears his name on Facebook, so this picture could likely be of him.
*Many thanks to Elvid Pesliad for help in the research
His father Dr. Stanley Graham Ross (1888-1980) drove an ambulance in World War I and became Chief Pediatrician at the Royal Victoria Hospital and his mom was a noted poet.
They lived at 65 Rosemount Crescent. in Westmount.
James was the oldest of four and attended Selwyn House, Trinity College, Oxford and McGill, where he served as assistant professor of Philosophy.
He spent much of 1967 in California and had decided not to continue to pursue his teaching gig at McGill.
Ross was seeing a younger man named Henry Bérubé, 20.
Homosexuality was only legalized in 1969 and it wasn't unheard of for gay men to be tossed in prison for what prosecutors called gross indecency, although in Montreal cops usually just fined men they caught having sex in bars or bathhouses during those years.
Ross was discreet about his sexual orientation, as his younger sister Helen, 13 years his junior, tells Coolopolis that she was unaware that he was gay.
Ross's problems arose when freelance photographer Mike Jenkins, 29, also felt passionate feelings for Bérubé.
Jenkins warned the 20-year-old that he'd kill Ross if he went to see him again, a threat heard also by a man named Ray Buchanan, also aged 20.Ross returned home after midnight on 12 October 1967 to find Jenkins on a third floor balcony where he lived at 1565 Pine, adjacent to the Montreal General Hospital.
Jenkins pulled out a 303 rifle and shot at the fleeing Ross. A bullet went through Ross, perforating a lung.
Ross managed to get across the street but Jenkins cooly walked up to Ross and shot through his temple, killing him.
Several neighbours witnessed the murder from their windows, including a woman and her two daughters.
Bérubé,also saw it. He reportedly told police that he would leave the country rather than testify as witness against Jenkins.
This did not sit well with a judge who ordered Bérubé, detained as a material witness.
Bérubé, who was not charged with or suspected of any crime, was forced to spend the winter of 1967-68 behind bars because his family could not afford his $5,000 bail.
Jenkins was charged with murder but asked for a mental evaluation, which took some time to complete.
Meanwhile Bérubé was stewing away at Bordeaux Prison without being accused of any crime.
Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, who was serving as opposition Conservative MP from Saskatchewan, heard of Bérubé,'s plight and came to Montreal to visit him in prison on April 26.
He demanded that Bérubé, be freed.
Diefenbaker said that the man's only crime was being from a family too poor to put up $5,000 in bail. He called the affair shameful.
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| Dief visits Bordeaux |
It should be noted that Shorteno did not set the original bail. He did, however, oversee the release and the subsequent Jenkins trial.
As it turns out several other witnesses testified to seeing Jenkins kill Ross.
Jenkins didn't mount much of a defence. He fired his legal aide lawyer after he was told that he couldn't cross-examine Bérubé himself. He later begged to have the lawyer back. He also promised to produce witnesses that he couldn't deliver.
A jury needed just 90 minutes to find Jenkins guilty on June 6, 1968. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau overhauled Canada's criminal code within a few months. Homosexuality was made legal. And the practice of detaining witnesses was discontinued, although it is still practiced occasionally in the USA.
In spite of the ramifications, the murder and trial appear to been reported very discreetly in the Montreal Gazette, which buried a the occasional short article about the case in its back pages.
 |
| Henry Berube, Kirkland Lake |
Ross is now forgotten although a $500 bursary is given out annually in his honour to the best second year Philosophy student at McGill.
The Ross family was devastated, particularly James' father who was aged 80 when the verdict came down and went on to live 12 more years.
Jim's sister Helen Ross, now in her early 70s and living in Toronto told Coolopolis that the wound never really healed.
"It's painful to remember but I'm glad that things have changed for the better in terms of the attitudes towards gay people."
It's unknown what became of Jenkins.
Henry Bérubé's whereabouts are also unknown. A man from his town of Kirkland Lake bears his name on Facebook, so this picture could likely be of him.
*Many thanks to Elvid Pesliad for help in the research