Murder on a Sunday morning
by Charles LeRoss
When I decided to add this story to the website, I tried to include information from each of the legal proceedings I list below and realized it would turn into this lengthy work that only a lawyer might appreciate. I suspect there is a book in this event with the large number of legal proceedings and the twists and turns the case took. I instead opted for a point by point list of the significant events in the case. Unfortunately all these points were taken from newspaper accounts of the incident, and you have to take into account the veracity of the newspaper reporting:
| May 23, 1926 | Miss Loretta Chisholm, a 21 year old teacher is murdered in Port Essington and Joseph Sankey a 22 year old Indian is arrested the same day for her murder, based on nothing but circumstantial evidence. |
| May 27, 1926 | Coroners Inquest opened and Inquest jury returned a verdict that Miss Chisholm came to her death as a result of foul play on the part of some person or persons unknown. |
| May 28, 1926 | Joseph Sankey charged with murder before Magistrate H. F. McLeod. |
| June 9, 1926 | Preliminary hearing for Joseph Sankey and on June 16, 1926 Sankey is committed for trial at Supreme Court Assize in Prince Rupert. |
| Nov 22, 1926 | At Supreme Court Assize, Jury trial for Joseph Sankey starts in Prince Rupert. During the selection process, and after 1 juror is selected for Sankey’s jury, the crown counsel advised the court that the court clerk had not advised Sankey that he had a right to challenge any juror. Jury selection was started over. |
| Nov 24, 1926 | Sankey found guilty of murder based on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to hang on Feb 16, 1927. |
| Dec 18, 1926 | Notice of Appeal filed. |
| Mar 2, 1927 | Appeal set for Mar 14, 1927 and adjourned to Mar 28 to allow attendance of more witnesses. |
| Mar 28, 1927 | Appeal continues. |
| Mar 30, 1927 | Crown alleges a constable with Indian Department removed blood stains from defendant clothing. |
| Mar 30, 1927 | Decision in Appeal is reserved. |
| Apr 23, 1927 | Crown counsel says his reference is confused with respect to blood stains being removed by a constable from the Indian Department and that he wishes it to be understood that the constable was not party to cleaning the waistcoat. |
| Apr 27, 1927 | Appeals Court denies application for a new trial from divided court and hanging of Sankey again set for May 25. |
Apr 28, 1927 | Counsel for Sankey advises he will be petitioning the Department of Justice in Ottawa and the Supreme Court of Canada for a new trial. |
Jun 13, 1927 | Supreme Court of Canada grants Sankey a new trial. |
Aug 3, 1927 | Application to Supreme Court of British Columbia for change of venue (location of the trial) denied. |
Oct 7, 1927 | Application to Court of Appeal of British Columbia for change of location of the trial denied. |
| Oct 31, 1927 | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court decides he has no jurisdiction to hear application for change of venue and suggests applying to Justice Morrison. |
Nov 1, 1927 | Application to Supreme Court for change of venue denied a 2nd time by same judge. Sankey case is set to be heard at the Supreme Court Assize in Prince Rupert. |
Nov 14, 1927 | News reports of summons for jury duty at Prince Rupert Assize will be mailed to persons outside the Prince Rupert area, out of concerns for prejudice. |
| Nov 23, 1927 | Supreme Court Assize opens with Sankey case delayed because not enough jurors were present to form a jury. |
| Nov 24, 1927 | Counsel for accused makes application to court for change of venue, citing local newspaper reporting. Decision is reserved until end of another trial. |
| Nov 24, 1927 | Change of venue granted. |
| May 28, 1928 | Supreme Court Assize in New Westminster opens. |
| May 29-30, 1928 | Trial of Sankey begins in New Westminster and is adjourned to Port Essington while entire courtroom is transported by train to Port Essington. |
| Jun 1, 1928 | Trial arrives at Haysport and is transported across the Skeena to Port Essington to view the crime scene and associated places. |
| Jun 2-5, 1928 | Trial returns to New Westminster. |
| Jun 6, 1928 | Trial in New Westminster continues. |
| Jun 8, 1928 | Sankey acquitted after jury deliberates for 29 minutes. |
On August 1, 1979 Dr R G Large, author of Skeena River of Destiny submitted the following information to the Prince Rupert Daily News and it was published:
An Old Mystery is Finally Solved
Prince Rupert Daily News, Aug. 1, 1979 —by Dr. R.G. Large – To tell a startling bit of news, it is necessary to recall what happened in Port Essington, B.C., over fifty years ago.
Old timers in Prince Rupert will remember that in May, 1926, the school teacher, Loretta Chisholm, went for an early morning walk along the Old Mill trail, and didn’t return. Search parties were unsuccessful until the following morning, when her body was found a short distance off the trail. She had been badly beaten and finally smothered.
Joe Sankey, a Port Simpson Indian youth was arrested and tried for the crime. The investigation conducted by the Provincial Police was very cursory, and in some details illegal. At best the evidence was entirely circumstantial, and those of us who knew the Indian people well, felt that the crime was entirely out of character, and were convinced Joe Sankey was innocent. There were many others, of course, who thought quite differently, and feelings ran high in Port Essington and in Prince Rupert where the legal processes were carried out.
Sankey was tried in Prince Rupert, was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The decision was appealed, and in a very critical decision the Appeal Court* ordered a new trial and a change of venue. The Judge and the Police both came in for criticism. In the second trial, held in New Westminster, Joseph Sankey was found “Not Guilty” and discharged. The death of Miss Chisholm joined the list of unsolved murder cases in B.C. Joe Sankey returned home to Port Simpson and lived a quiet and inoffensive life, albeit under a cloud, until his death a couple of years ago.
Recently I happened to be in the District Office in Houston, and bought a copy of the Local Centennial book, entitled “Marks on the Forest Floor.” This is a very good effort and I enjoyed reading it on my return home. One of the stories was headed “The Murder of Charlie Yoch “. It was recorded that Charlie was a lone bachelor, living in a cabin on the outskirts of the village of Houston, when in September of 1930, he was missed by his friends. Eventually he was discovered murdered, and his body disposed of under the floor of his cabin. Fortunately, Charlie had mentioned to his friends, the Middletons, that he had given a night’s shelter to an itinerant Finn, the day before his disappearance. A prolonged manhunt ensued, and finally the murderer was discovered “holed up” in a cave on Hudson’s Bay Mountain. One of the constables conducting the investigation was Andy Fairburn, who was well known in the Skeena District.
The story ended with the following statement which I quote –
“A comparison of fingerprints proved without a doubt that this was the man that murdered Charlie Yoch! An examination of his hideaway revealed a number of stolen articles belonging to the deceased.
A silver brooch bore evidence of another dastardly crime committed in Port Essington some time before when a pretty teacher went missing!
Two lady’s rings pointed to still another murder, that of a maid in a boarding house in Prince Rupert! (Esther Killas of Comox Ave.)
With a great sigh of relief, the recluse Sigurd Jussilla, was declared insane and ordered deported back to his native Finland!”
On making enquiries I found that Jack Middleton, who was a close personal friend of Charlie Yoch was still living in Smithers, and last week I paid him a visit. He told me he was sworn in as a special constable and worked with Constable Fairburn, who told him about the suspicious jewelry. Fairburn, from his work in Prince Rupert, was familiar with the Sankey case and also the unsolved murder in Prince Rupert of a “lady” on Comox Avenue. When he found the silver brooch he sent a description to Mr. Chisholm, the school teacher’s father, who identified it as one he had given his daughter. The brooch was later returned to the family. The rings he showed to a Madame on Comox Avenue who recognized them as belonging to her murdered “girl “.
For some reason best known to the police of those days, this information never reached the press. It may well be that it was the wish of the Chisholm family, who had gone through the publicity of two trials, but someone should have thought of the Indian boy who had to face the threat of the gallows, spend nearly a year in jail**, and had to live the rest of his life under a cloud! It is therefore a pleasure as well as a duty, to give this story the publicity it deserves!
“Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.”
* Newspaper reports indicate the Supreme Court of Canada had to issue the order for a new trial.
** Two years in jail, May 25, 1926 day of the murder to June 9, 1928 the day of his acquittal after his second trial.
◀
Sources:
Prince Rupert Daily News, 1926
Vancouver Province Newspaper, 1927
Vancouver Sun Newspaper, 1928
