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The Lynching of Peter Wheeler
At 2:21 am on September 8, 1896, authorities in Nova Scotia killed an innocent man. Peter Wheeler -- a "coloured" man accused of murdering a white girl -- was strung up under a porch with a slipknot noose. The hanging was state-sanctioned but it was a lynching all the same. Now, a re-examination of his case using modern forensic science reveals one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Canadian history. On the night of January 27, 1896, 14-year-old Annie Kempton found herself home alone in the picturesque village of Bear River, Nova Scotia. She did not live to see the morning. Shortly after midnight, Annie was assaulted and bludgeoned with a piece of firewood. Her killer slit her throat three times with a kitchen knife then coldly sat and ate a jar of homemade jam before fleeing into the night. The senseless and brutal slaying devastated the town and plunged her parents into a near-suicidal abyss of guilt and grief. At trial, the prosecution's case focused on the inconsistencies in Wheeler's statements, the testimony of two children who placed Peter near the house on the night in question, and the detective's novel analysis of the physical evidence. It was one of the first trials in Canada to use forensic science, albeit poorly. Wheeler's defense team called no witnesses and did little to challenge the evidence presented. The jury deliberated less than two hours before declaring Peter Wheeler guilty of murder. The trial itself was a media sensation; every word was front page news. Several papers each ran their own version of "Wheeler's confession," an admission of guilt supposedly authored by the condemned man. Each rendition tried and failed to make sense of the conflicting timeline. With every new iteration, it became clearer that the case against Wheeler was not as airtight as the detective in charge, Nick Power, and the media had proclaimed. The Lynching of Peter Wheeler is a story of one town's rush to judgment. It is a tale of bigotry and incompetence, arrogance and pseudoscience, fear and misguided vengeance. It is a case study in media distortion, illustrating how the print media can manipulate the truth, destroy reputations, and so thoroughly taint a jury pool, that the notion of a fair trial becomes a statistical impossibility. At the height of the Victorian era, the media created a super villain in the mold of Jack the Ripper, the perfect foil for its other creation, super-sleuth Nick Power. The masterfully constructed narrative was perfect, save for one glaring detail: Peter Wheeler did not kill Annie Kempton.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2014
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569 people want to read
About the author
Debra Komar
6 books85 followersAfter twenty years as a practicing forensic scientist, I retired and began writing full time. My current books re-examine historical Canadian crimes using modern forensic methods.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 21, 2020
I thought I'd branch out, try a true crime book. While it was an interesting topic and story the authors tangents got real boring and caused the flow of it all to feel like it dragged on.
May 29, 2014
“Violent crimes render us myopic. In the immediate aftermath of a murder it can be impossible to see things clearly; emotions run high and the desire for vengeance often trumps reason. When the crime has racial overtones, justice is rarely colour-blind, and for cases that capture the media spotlight, the wave of punditry and prognostication that inevitably follows sweeps away all hope of ever separating fact from fiction … One of the telltale symptoms of our crime-induced myopia is wrongful conviction.”
Those sentences begin the preface of this book and if the reader were unfamiliar with the subject matter one could assume the book was about one of any number of crimes in the headlines of today’s newspapers. But this particular murder took place on January 27th, 1896 when Annie Kempton was the victim of an attempted rape. She was then beaten and finally murdered. Her assailant then sat in the room with the dead or dying Annie and calmly consumed a jar of homemade jam before disappearing into the night. Annie was 14 years old, and because of a little white lie she told, was alone when someone broke into her home. She died defending her virtue.
“Her cause of death was painfully obvious. A short cut of stove wood rested on the rug, painted with her blood. Its dimensions perfectly mirrored those of the jagged wounds across her face, but the log was not what killed her. Three deep gashes across her throat were the fatal injuries, stigmata of her killer’s uncontrollable rage. Two silver case knives lay near her head. Lest anyone doubt their significance, there were coated in blood. One however, did not look sharp enough to cut butter. The far more formidable blade of a well-honed butcher’s knife lay in wait on the only standing table in the room, yet it bore no trace of her blood. It was a curious anomaly, one that escaped all notice.
Like a shadow box, her blood had captured the outline of her killer. Bloody handprints were plastered on the cutlery and the window ledge. Bloody footprints faded in the snow, flagging his escape route through the back door. The assault had been quick but he had not been careful. He made no effort to mask his crime or destroy the telltale traces of it. There was little question her assailant had left soaked in her blood, a marked man.”
Annie’s neighbour, Peter Wheeler, had the unfortunate circumstance of being the last person to see Annie alive the evening before and then, the next morning, being the one to find her lifeless body.
So begins the perfect storm – Peter Wheeler’s swarthy complexion and unknown origins; an inexperienced Dr. Lewis Johnstone Lovett heading the kangaroo court of an inquest; the daily newspapers determined to make their pennies in sales and, the citizens of the small town of Bear River, Nova Scotia desperate to apprehend a killer in their midst.
“Canada’s newspaper had learned well the lessons of Jack the Ripper. Murder sells, to be sure, but an unsolved murder soon leaves a populace uneasy. Morbid fascination (and sales) quickly waned of all that was on offer was speculation and uncertainty.”
Enter Detective Nicholas Power, the self-professed “super cop” of the Maritimes. There was not a case he couldn’t solve or a criminal he couldn’t apprehend with his unique powers of deductive reasoning, rivaled only by those of the legendary Sherlock Holmes. Before he even stepped foot inside the crime scene Detective Power had his sights set on Peter Wheeler.
The author writes, “As for Detective Power, the media’s response fit perfectly into his scheme of things. Once Wheeler was in custody, there was no need to look for alternative suspects. With blinders firmly in place, the crack gumshoe now set about proving Wheeler’s guilt, a decidedly easier task than actually solving Annie’s murder.”
Ms. Komar brings her over twenty years of experience as a forensic anthropologist to the telling of the arrest, trial and subsequent hanging of Peter Wheeler. Her thorough research certainly leaves no stone unturned. She looks at this case from all angles and in some cases even justifies the errors as “a product of the times”. Ms Komar astutely points out that obviously forensic science was, if not unheard of, certainly in it’s infancy. However, fingerprint analysis was becoming a common practice, yet even that obvious manner of conviction or exoneration was swept under the table (because it did not fit Detective Power’s agenda). She quotes from the several local newspapers of the time, but only in the context of how they served to influence public opinion about an obviously innocent man. If I had to pick one flaw in this book it would be the amount of words given to how self-serving and yet influential the newspapers were, not only for the duration of Peter Wheelers’s case but, during that period of history in general. My personal opinion about that aside, this is not only a well-researched book but also a very well written book. Though the subject matters of true crime and wrongful convictions have caught my interest lately, I am apprehensive to pick up certain books because they often read like textbooks. Definitely not so in the case of Ms. Komar’s writing. She gives the facts in a smooth flowing and very readable narrative complete with illustrations, historical documentation and photographs.
Ms. Komar clearly brings the relevance of looking at history into the present. I definitely agree with her when she states:
“The true problem remains one of focus. Because the legal system demands it, appellate lawyers stare myopically at trial transcripts, hoping to find an impeachable error but they are missing the real reasons their client was wrongfully accused, for such social factors dwell outside the courthouse: racism, media manipulations, the force field that is celebrity, a community’s need for justice, and police officers with personal agendas” as in the case of Nicholas Power, “who cared more for preserving his aura of infallibility than in the pursuit of true justice.”
I can think of more than one case in the news recently where that last statement is more than exemplified. Sadly, with regards of wrongful convictions, the more things change … the more they stay the same.
Those sentences begin the preface of this book and if the reader were unfamiliar with the subject matter one could assume the book was about one of any number of crimes in the headlines of today’s newspapers. But this particular murder took place on January 27th, 1896 when Annie Kempton was the victim of an attempted rape. She was then beaten and finally murdered. Her assailant then sat in the room with the dead or dying Annie and calmly consumed a jar of homemade jam before disappearing into the night. Annie was 14 years old, and because of a little white lie she told, was alone when someone broke into her home. She died defending her virtue.
“Her cause of death was painfully obvious. A short cut of stove wood rested on the rug, painted with her blood. Its dimensions perfectly mirrored those of the jagged wounds across her face, but the log was not what killed her. Three deep gashes across her throat were the fatal injuries, stigmata of her killer’s uncontrollable rage. Two silver case knives lay near her head. Lest anyone doubt their significance, there were coated in blood. One however, did not look sharp enough to cut butter. The far more formidable blade of a well-honed butcher’s knife lay in wait on the only standing table in the room, yet it bore no trace of her blood. It was a curious anomaly, one that escaped all notice.
Like a shadow box, her blood had captured the outline of her killer. Bloody handprints were plastered on the cutlery and the window ledge. Bloody footprints faded in the snow, flagging his escape route through the back door. The assault had been quick but he had not been careful. He made no effort to mask his crime or destroy the telltale traces of it. There was little question her assailant had left soaked in her blood, a marked man.”
Annie’s neighbour, Peter Wheeler, had the unfortunate circumstance of being the last person to see Annie alive the evening before and then, the next morning, being the one to find her lifeless body.
So begins the perfect storm – Peter Wheeler’s swarthy complexion and unknown origins; an inexperienced Dr. Lewis Johnstone Lovett heading the kangaroo court of an inquest; the daily newspapers determined to make their pennies in sales and, the citizens of the small town of Bear River, Nova Scotia desperate to apprehend a killer in their midst.
“Canada’s newspaper had learned well the lessons of Jack the Ripper. Murder sells, to be sure, but an unsolved murder soon leaves a populace uneasy. Morbid fascination (and sales) quickly waned of all that was on offer was speculation and uncertainty.”
Enter Detective Nicholas Power, the self-professed “super cop” of the Maritimes. There was not a case he couldn’t solve or a criminal he couldn’t apprehend with his unique powers of deductive reasoning, rivaled only by those of the legendary Sherlock Holmes. Before he even stepped foot inside the crime scene Detective Power had his sights set on Peter Wheeler.
The author writes, “As for Detective Power, the media’s response fit perfectly into his scheme of things. Once Wheeler was in custody, there was no need to look for alternative suspects. With blinders firmly in place, the crack gumshoe now set about proving Wheeler’s guilt, a decidedly easier task than actually solving Annie’s murder.”
Ms. Komar brings her over twenty years of experience as a forensic anthropologist to the telling of the arrest, trial and subsequent hanging of Peter Wheeler. Her thorough research certainly leaves no stone unturned. She looks at this case from all angles and in some cases even justifies the errors as “a product of the times”. Ms Komar astutely points out that obviously forensic science was, if not unheard of, certainly in it’s infancy. However, fingerprint analysis was becoming a common practice, yet even that obvious manner of conviction or exoneration was swept under the table (because it did not fit Detective Power’s agenda). She quotes from the several local newspapers of the time, but only in the context of how they served to influence public opinion about an obviously innocent man. If I had to pick one flaw in this book it would be the amount of words given to how self-serving and yet influential the newspapers were, not only for the duration of Peter Wheelers’s case but, during that period of history in general. My personal opinion about that aside, this is not only a well-researched book but also a very well written book. Though the subject matters of true crime and wrongful convictions have caught my interest lately, I am apprehensive to pick up certain books because they often read like textbooks. Definitely not so in the case of Ms. Komar’s writing. She gives the facts in a smooth flowing and very readable narrative complete with illustrations, historical documentation and photographs.
Ms. Komar clearly brings the relevance of looking at history into the present. I definitely agree with her when she states:
“The true problem remains one of focus. Because the legal system demands it, appellate lawyers stare myopically at trial transcripts, hoping to find an impeachable error but they are missing the real reasons their client was wrongfully accused, for such social factors dwell outside the courthouse: racism, media manipulations, the force field that is celebrity, a community’s need for justice, and police officers with personal agendas” as in the case of Nicholas Power, “who cared more for preserving his aura of infallibility than in the pursuit of true justice.”
I can think of more than one case in the news recently where that last statement is more than exemplified. Sadly, with regards of wrongful convictions, the more things change … the more they stay the same.
October 26, 2014
The florid language and numerous short chapters that diminished my enjoyment of The Ballad of Jacob Peck are even more noticeable in this book.
August 5, 2014
I was intrigued from the first page of 'The Lynching of Peter Wheeler'. The book is nonfiction and examines the reasons why Peter Wheeler was wrongfully convicted of killing fourteen year old Annie Kempton in 1896. Komar adeptly informs the reader about the facts of the case, what was happening in the world at large and Nova Scotia at the time of the murder, and some background knowledge about forensic science techniques (or lack there-of) in 1896. The book is well written and engrossing. I would absolutely recommend the book and will be looking for Komar's first book 'The Ballad of Jacob Peck'.
May 28, 2014
A fascinating examination of not only a technically unsolved crime, but also our legal, political and cultural prejudices in the courtroom, media and and local communities in the early years of the establishment of Canada.
March 26, 2018
Really interesting look at how the public pretty much decided the fate of this man. With so much evidence pointing to his innocence, it's interesting to read how certain people made it their goal to have this man convicted and executed.
I would love to find out who really killed young Annie, but I don't think the truth will ever be known.
I would love to find out who really killed young Annie, but I don't think the truth will ever be known.
December 7, 2018
Read this for Library Book Club, following the same Club looking at Black River Road last year. Both books were fascinating in their detailed research and candid condemnation where condemnation was required. There are times with other cases where errors abound that one wonders how much have we actually learned to better apply the adage "innocent until proven guilty".
May 29, 2016
Another incredible story about a murder and the subsequent trial that happened right here in the Annapolis Valley.
In 1896, Peter Wheeler is accused of killing Annie Kempton, a young teen aged girl. As author Debra Komar points out, there is very little evidence, and what they do have is circumstantial and keeps changing as time progresses.
The book is about how it is actually the media that convicts Peter Wheeler. At the time, there was no journalistic integrity and no bylines, so reporters had no need to print the truth - they could print what they saw fit to sell papers and make a good story.
The book is also about the need for one detective in Halifax with an ego so big, he needed to be right, and changed the facts of the case to prove his point.
Although in the end we don't know who really did kill Annie, readers are pretty convinced it was not Peter Wheeler!
The book is impeccably researched, drawing upon newspapers and other primary sources to convey the story. It is written as an academic account, that outlines the research and theories.
Although so well written, readers can easily get bogged down in the language. I often felt I needed to have Readers' Digest Ways to Enrich your Word Power beside me, as every page contained new vocabulary words. This really slows down the reading process, and you are left to get the meaning from the context. I would have preferred a bit more of a reader-friendly text, but it won't stop me from reading another of her books.
In 1896, Peter Wheeler is accused of killing Annie Kempton, a young teen aged girl. As author Debra Komar points out, there is very little evidence, and what they do have is circumstantial and keeps changing as time progresses.
The book is about how it is actually the media that convicts Peter Wheeler. At the time, there was no journalistic integrity and no bylines, so reporters had no need to print the truth - they could print what they saw fit to sell papers and make a good story.
The book is also about the need for one detective in Halifax with an ego so big, he needed to be right, and changed the facts of the case to prove his point.
Although in the end we don't know who really did kill Annie, readers are pretty convinced it was not Peter Wheeler!
The book is impeccably researched, drawing upon newspapers and other primary sources to convey the story. It is written as an academic account, that outlines the research and theories.
Although so well written, readers can easily get bogged down in the language. I often felt I needed to have Readers' Digest Ways to Enrich your Word Power beside me, as every page contained new vocabulary words. This really slows down the reading process, and you are left to get the meaning from the context. I would have preferred a bit more of a reader-friendly text, but it won't stop me from reading another of her books.
June 6, 2016
I enjoyed this book more than The Ballad of Jacob Peck, but not as much as The Bastard of Fort Stikine, but all three make for superb reading (a fourth book, Black River Road, is due out in September 2016). I especially like the way Ms. Komar uses her keen analytical and legal mind to look at the facts of the case and point out the faults of the courtroom testimonies. As she mentions, with hindsight and a distance of over a hundred years of forensic advancements, it is easy to shoot holes in the courtroom's proceedings, not to mention the capricious actions of the press.
To sum up, if you like true crime, courtroom drama and history, then any of Ms. Komar's books will appeal to you just as they did to me.
My full review is here: http://wp.me/p60sTD-zR
To sum up, if you like true crime, courtroom drama and history, then any of Ms. Komar's books will appeal to you just as they did to me.
My full review is here: http://wp.me/p60sTD-zR
April 9, 2022
This book was a fascinating piece of forgotten history. This is an extremely obscure event in Canadian history, and there is virtually zero information on Peter Wheeler's execution anywhere other than in this book. Komar's painstaking research deserves great praise. Hopefully, this case will receive more attention in the future, and Wheeler can be granted a posthumous pardon.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews