Eve Lazarus's Blog: Every Place has a Story, page 29
July 12, 2019
Episode 09: Shootout at False Creek Flats
On February 26, 1947, three teenagers planned to rob the Royal Bank at Renfrew and First Avenue in East Vancouver. Seventeen-year-old William (Fats) Robertson, was upset with his friends for leaving him out of the robbery and tipped off police. Just as the teens were putting on their stocking masks, police rolled up.
July 5, 2019
Episode 09: Shootout at False Creek Flats
On February 26, 1947, three teenagers planned to rob the Royal Bank at Renfrew and First Avenue in East Vancouver. Seventeen-year-old William (Fats) Robertson, was upset with his friends for leaving him out of the robbery and tipped off police. Just as the teens were putting on their stocking masks, police rolled up.
June 28, 2019
The West End’s Denman Arena
In 1911, Vancouver had a population of less than 150,000 and yet the city felt big enough to build a 10,000-seat arena with the first artificial ice in Canada. It was built by a couple of kids from Victoria: brothers Frank and Lester Patrick (aged 25 and 27 respectively) who needed a home for their new Pacific Coast Hockey Association.
June 21, 2019
Episode 08: The English Bay Murder
In the early hours of May 2, 1945—and just days before the end of the war—a 23-year-old waitress named Olga Hawryluk, was found beaten to death and dumped in the waters of English Bay. A soldier was charged with her murder and defended by scrappy East End lawyer Angelo Branca.
June 7, 2019
Episode 07: Murder at the Canford Indian Reserve
Inspector Vance is called to a crime scene at Merritt, B.C. in 1934. Two police officers are missing, believed murdered and the investigation focuses in on an abandoned Model B Ford and members of the Canford Indian band.
Image: Crime scene photo of the wrecked Model B Ford just below the Merritt-Spence’s Bridge Road.
May 30, 2019
May is Asian Heritage Month – Meet Mary Chan
Can’t let Asian Heritage Month go by without a nod to Mary and Walter Chan, the Strathcona activists who helped keep the bulldozers at bay and rallied the community to preserve not only Chinatown, but a big chunk of our city’s culture and heritage.
This is an excerpt from Sensational Vancouver
In 1968, Shirley Chan used to accompany her mother when she knocked on doors, talked, cajoled and canvassed donations to hire a lawyer to take on City Hall.
May 24, 2019
Episode 06: The Widow
Sidney Colbourne lived in Oak Bay, Victoria, and frequently beat up his wife Vera and their five-year-old daughter. One night, the gun that Sid bought to keep Vera in line, went off and shot him in the head. It was 1938. Vera was put on trial for murder, and Inspector Vance was called in to investigate.
May 18, 2019
The Vancouver Heritage House Tour, Alvo von Alvensleben and the Old Residence
The Vancouver Heritage House tour is coming up Sunday June 2, and I haven’t been this excited since Casa Mia was featured in 2014. Don’t get me wrong, the VHF works hard all year to curate a great mix of architectural styles, neighbourhoods and house sizes, but unless you work at, or have a daughter at Crofton House School, you likely won’t get inside the Old Residence.
May 10, 2019
Episode 05: Victoria’s Ghost
In 1936, Inspector Vance was called to the crime scene of 30-year-old Doris Gravlin. Her strangled corpse was found under logs on the beach beside the seventh fairway of the Victoria Golf Course. Exactly a month later, her ex-husband’s body was found tangled up in the kelp off Gonzales Point. He’d killed himself after murdering his wife.
April 26, 2019
Episode 04: Lay Off or We’ll Bump You Off
By the 1930s, Inspector Vance had become a familiar face at crime scenes and was often called to testify in court because of his knowledge of forensics. In fact, his skills and analytic abilities were so effective that in 1934 there were seven attempts on his life—including a car bomb—and for a time he and his family were under constant police guard from criminals afraid to go up against him in court.
