''Hangman's Graveyard'' is a Canadian documentary film which was originally broadcast in Canada on
History Television
The History Channel (also known as History) is a Canadian English language specialty channel that primarily broadcast programming related to history and historical fiction. It is owned by Corus Entertainment, with the History branding used under ...
on December 6, 2009. A work-in-progress screening of the film was presented at the
Ontario Archaeological Society The Ontario Archaeological Society is a registered charitable organization promoting the ethical practice of archaeology within the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is a public and professional society formed in 1950.
The Society produces a peer- ...
's 36th annual symposium and as the opening film of DocFest Stratford in October 2009. The film follows an archaeological investigation at
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
's old
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
beginning in September 2007. The archaeologists uncovered a cemetery behind the jail and began a process of identifying the remains. In total, 15 bodies were found, and all are thought to be remains of executed inmates. The archaeological team is led by
Dr. Ronald Williamson of
Archaeological Services Inc.
Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) is the largest private archaeological and cultural heritage consulting company in Ontario , with offices in Toronto and Burlington. The company is a part of the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) industry.
Histo ...
Produced by Canada's
Ballinran Productions, the company behind the
Gemini
Gemini may refer to:
Space
* Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
** Gemini in Chinese astronomy
* Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program
* Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...
and
IFTA
Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt
Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...
nominated documentary ''
Death or Canada'', the film follows the lives of three men found in the forgotten cemetery - George Bennett, Jan Ziolko and Frederick Davis - and examines the history of the
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
,
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in Canada and the nation's most feared hangman,
Arthur Ellis.
Production
Filming began in September 2007 as the filmmakers extensively followed the entire archaeological investigation, which ended with the reburial of the inmates in
St. James Cemetery in Toronto.
The remaining elements were filmed in the summer of 2009 and many of the dramatic scenes were filmed inside the Old
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
itself. The documentary is narrated by author and former drug smuggler
Brian O'Dea
Brian O'Dea (born September 1, 1948) is a Canadian businessman, author, television personality, and former drug smuggler. He is best-known for a large marijuana smuggling enterprise he masterminded in the mid-1980s. Set up to move marijuana in b ...
.
George Bennett
George Bennett is the most notable inmate uncovered in the cemetery. Bennett was executed for the murder of
George Brown George Brown may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter
* George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist
* George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor
* G ...
, editor of
The Globe newspaper and
Father of Confederation
The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadian ...
. George Bennett was an employee of George Brown and worked in The Globe's engineering department. Initially Bennett was a model employee but eventually he descended into a downward spiral of drunkenness and debauchery. Bennett was ultimately fired for ''intemperance''. In a drunken fit Bennett entered George Brown's office and demanded him to sign a letter of reference. Brown refused, Bennett insisted and a tussle ensued. Bennett was carrying a revolver in his pocket and the revolver was fired with a bullet entering George Brown's leg. Brown died several weeks later of implications from the wound. It was learnt later that Bennett was carrying a suicide note and had intended to shoot himself the very day of the murder. Bennett was convicted on June 22, 1880, and sentenced to hang on July 23, 1880. Before his execution Bennett gave a lengthy speech proclaiming his innocence to the very end.
''He has gone to his death through an oversight on my part. It was a foolish thing for me to have drawn the revolver, but I was in liquor or I would have never done it. I could not control the event. I went there purely on a matter of business and my business was very simple and very plain. The result was as it was. I am prepared to die.''
Jan Ziolko
Jan - or John - Ziolko was a poor
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
immigrant who moved to Canada in 1914 to find a better life and support his wife and child, who remained in wartorn
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. Like many immigrants, Ziolko lived in squalor in Toronto's infamous slum,
The Ward. As New Year's Eve 1915 approached, Ziolko and an accomplice, countrymen Tomas (or John) Cekoski, murdered the
Macedonian Borgio Trendo. The motive for the murder was robbery and Ziolko enticed Trendo with the promise of work to be had in the developing Toronto suburb,
Moore Park. Walking along the
Belt Line, an abandoned railway line, an argument broke out and Trendo was murdered, his head smashed in with a hammer. Ziolko and Cekoski were arrested following the murder. They were found with the murder weapon and $34 cash in their pockets. Both were sentenced to be hanged on April 13, 1915.
While awaiting his death at Toronto's
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
Jan Ziolko confessed to his priest that he was the mastermind behind the robbery and murder and pleaded that Cekoski's life should be spared. Cekoski was eventually saved from the hangman's noose, and his sentence was commuted to twenty years. Jan Ziolko was executed at 8 am on the morning of April 13, 1915; his executioner was
Arthur Ellis. His remains were buried in the yard outside the jail. On the morning of the execution he wrote a letter to his wife and sympathizers.
Jan Ziolko is portrayed by Matt Naporowski in the film.
Frederick Davis
In the hot summer of 1920 near the shores of Lake Ontario, Davis raped and murdered Phillip Goldberg. Davis fled and nearly a year later was found serving time in
Auburn State Penitentiary, New York. Davis had late stage
syphilis including dementia and hallucinations.
Davis was hanged despite being deemed mentally unsound by a physician.
The police circular read:
Issued September 20, 1920
"I am authorized to offer a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the above mentioned man, who is wanted in this city on a charge of on August 7 of this year (1920). Davis took a boy named Philip Goldberg to the outskirts of the city and after committing on the young lad, he cut his throat."
Description
"Description of Davis alias Davies. Nationality, U.S. : age, 43 but looks younger, 5 feet 5 inches, 115 pounds dark complexion, wears wig, has peculiar lips, one gold tooth. Was wearing dark blue suit and . Is a heavy drinker. This man is a machinist, toolmaker and die sinker. The above picture is the only one we could obtain of this man. Any information will be appreciated."
Reception
The film has been generally well received and enjoyed expansive media coverage prior to its release. Featured articles appeared in the ''
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
''
and ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
''
as well as a featured report on
Global News
Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned- ...
. ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' selected it as a Critic's Pick and warned audiences to "Prepare to feel goose bumps while watching this snapshot of dark Toronto history." The ''Toronto Star'' claimed that the "Documentary `tingles the spine' with tale of 15 men executed at jail and buried there"
and selected it as part of its TV tonight: Five Worth Watching series. Victoria Ahearn of the
Canadian Press also selected the program as recommended viewing in her weekly Tube Talk article. Joe Warmington of the ''Toronto Sun'' wrote that the film unearths a "fascinating piece of T.O.'s past."
The film's premiere screening on December 6, 2009, reached an audience of nearly 200 000 people.
Awards
In March 2010 ''Hangman's Graveyard'' was nominated for a CSC Award (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) in the docudrama category. In May 2010 the film won a Public Communications Award from the Canadian Archaeological Association. On August 31, 2010, Producer Daniel Thomson and Researcher Nancy Carter were nominated for a
Gemini Award for Best Editorial Research. On October 5, 2010 ''Hangman's Graveyard'' received an Award of Excellence from
Heritage Toronto Heritage Toronto is an agency of the Municipal Government of Toronto that works to builds a better city by bringing people together to explore Toronto’s shared past and peoples’ lived experiences. It is located in St. Lawrence Hall in the city.
...
at their annual awards celebration. When handing out the award Heritage Toronto remarked that "''this well-produced documentary, which aired on History Television, told a quintessential Toronto story – with the Don Jail itself being one of the most compelling 'characters'. The film unfolded like a mystery – with a mixture of history and forensic detective work – that held their attention.''" In January 2011 ''Hangman's Graveyard'' was officially selected to screen in competition at the 2011 edition of The Archaeology Channel's International Film and Video Festival in Eugene, Oregon.
References
External links
Official site* {{IMDb title, 1720113
History Television site
Canadian documentary films
Documentary films about capital punishment
2009 television films
2009 films
2009 documentary films
Documentary films about Toronto
2000s Canadian films
Films about capital punishment