52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 18
Prompt – Crime and Punishment - Part 1
My paternal grandmother's brother, my father's uncle, my granduncle - Wilhelm Dueck / Dyck. Born in Manitoba on December 19,1878. He died at 52 years of age on September 11, 1931 in an unknown place. As I have mentioned before I have been working on my grandmother's siblings. I have been adding events and sources. I wanted to see if I could locate where he died and was buried. I turned to Newspapers.com, looking for a possible obituary. I did not find an obituary, however I found something way more intriguing and sensational.
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Jack (John) Krafchenko - Not Our Relative!
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The “Bloody Jack” Krafchenko Story is epic in the history of Manitoba. John Krafchenko was 7 years old when his family immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine. They settled in Plum Coulee, Manitoba. From the young age of 11 or so he started his criminal ways by stealing 5 watches. At 15 he was charged with stealing a bike in Morden, Manitoba and sentenced to Prince Albert Penitentiary. Along the way while handcuffed to a officer, Krafchenko jumped out the window of a moving train. He was caught, not such a big feat since his officer was attached to him, and sent to the prison. However he escaped when he was assigned to paint the outside of the prison. He hit the guard over the head with the paint can and he and 3 other inmates escaped. All were caught except Krafchenko. He held up a money shipment train for 2500.00 and fled to the United States where he committed bank robberies across the U.S including several in New York. He caught a ship to Europe where it is alleged that he continued to rob banks in England, Italy, France, Germany and Russia. In 1905 he married his wife, Fanica, and in 1906 they returned to Plum Coulee. Krafchenko promptly robbed the Bank of Hamilton in Winkler. He was sentenced to 3 years. When he got out he moved the family to Ontario where he got a job with the railway, but due to his “violent temper” he was demoted and Krafchenko quit and went back to Plum Coulee and fell back in with his criminal buddies. In late November 1913, Krafchenko and two buddies planned to rob the Plum Coulee Bank of Montreal. However were unable to do so because of bad weather. His two accomplices returned to Winnipeg and Krafchenko decided to rob it by himself a few days later. On December 3, 1913 he committed a robbery of the Plum Coulee Bank of Montreal which ended in the murder of the bank manager, H. M. Arnold. He escaped out of Plum Coulee to Winnipeg, hid out, was found a week later again immediately, jailed and indicted. The same night he was told his case would go to trial, he escaped with the help of his lawyer, the police constable guarding the cell and a few other business men. His escape through the cell window with a rope was his undoing. The rope (which was a clothesline bought at a local store) broke 30 or 50 feet from the ground. His fall caused great injuries to his spine and legs. None the less he did hobble away from the jail despite his injuries. One week later he was found still in Winnipeg. It is thought that his injuries did not allow him to be mobile enough to get out of town which was his original plan. He was jailed in the sturdier provincial cell in Winnipeg. He went to trial and was found guilty. On July 9, 1914 he was executed by hanging. This is just a quick synopsis. The Winnipeg Tribune covered every detail of this story.
What does this have to do with William Dyck? Well I am glad you asked. William Dyck at this time was Plum Coulee's liveryman. He had a stable for horses and two cars for hire in the city of Plum Coulee. William Dyck was seen driving the murderer from the scene of the crime out of town for some amount of miles that seemed to change depending on which story he was telling.
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Winnipeg Tribune - Dec 5, 1913
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In Part 2, I will try to put together the details of this tragic story as written up in The Winnipeg Tribune.
Wendy
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