Shoot To Kill: Toronto’s Notorious Boyd Gang
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Did he miss the excitement of wartime? Was civilian life too boring? Or did he just crave the two things he lacked: money and attention? The man would exchange his trowel for a submachine gun, lead an armed gang of bank robbers, and terrorize a city. Tall and handsome to many, he was a thrilling Robin Hood character who stole from the rich. But when shots were fired and a man lay dying, the stain of murder would change everything.

Part 1: No Fixed Address One August night in 1936, in Edmonton, Alberta, a police officer was called to investigate a burglary at a local gas station. He would find the offices ransacked, but he would also find a 23-year-old man hiding under a desk. When taken to police headquarters, he would be identified as Edwin Alonzo Boyd of no fixed address.

Six years earlier, Edwin lived in Toronto in a comfortable, happy home. He did well in school and attended church. His father was a Toronto police officer, and the teenager may have considered following in his father's footsteps. But Edwin's life took a different path. In 1930, his mother became ill with scarlet fever.

The obituary in the newspaper states that she was taken to the city's isolation hospital overlooking the Don Valley ravine, and that hours later, she died. Reeling from the loss, 16-year-old Edwin set out to work. But the depression had just started. Jobs were hard to come by. So the teenager joined other unemployed men and rode the rails out west.

When he was found in the gas station, Edwin had just one cent in his pocket. He would be charged with breaking and entering, but he would also admit to 21 other burglaries and be sentenced to four years in the Prince Albert Penitentiary. While some might have shuddered at the thought of going to jail, Edwin remarked to the judge that while incarcerated, he hoped to get his teeth fixed. After serving time, Edwin's life would take another direction.

On September 3rd, 1939, war was declared against Germany, and he enlisted that same day. He would spend five years with the military police and gain the rank of sergeant. During a blackout in London, he would meet a woman named Doreen, and they married two weeks later. She had one child from a previous marriage, then with Edwin, she gave birth to twins.

When the war ended, the young family moved back to Canada and Edwin settled into married life. But not for long. Part 2: False Face Just like back in the depression, Edwin had trouble holding a job. He was a pastry chef, he washed windows, he drove a public transit vehicle less than a year, then quit.

Finally, he took a job with the city on a road crew, then in the parks department. But again, he quit both within a year. Edwin had found a quicker and more exciting way to make money. He was stealing again, but no longer robbing service stations. He had graduated to banks, and he was armed. While he told his wife he was at work all day, he was entering banks and pushing both an automatic gun and a note at frightened tellers.

OneNote said, "Don't be a dead hero, hand over the money." Before his first holdup, he had a few drinks to give himself confidence. Two years later, he didn't need any liquid courage. The tall and good-looking Edwin Boyd, with his pencil mustache, was now the leader of a gang of bandits. And no one knew his or his gang's identity because they disguised themselves. Edwin stuffed his cheeks with tissues and his nostrils with cotton.

He used lipstick to redden his eyelids and mascara to darken his eyebrows. Then, to change the structure of his face, he removed an upper bridge that supported four false teeth. He looked like a monster. The press would label him the "false face bandit." He even used a panel truck, carrying ladders and window-washing equipment as a getaway vehicle, thinking no one would suspect a slow-moving window washer.

On October 17, 1951, his gang prepared their disguises, then burst into a bank in North Toronto. One of the gang members, Howard Galt, wore a full set of dentures. Edwin made him remove the dentures during robberies. With his sunken face, Howard left the rear entrance of the bank and shoved a bag of stolen money into a waiting car. But inside the bank, a teller managed to press the alarm button.

Two minutes later, the cops were on the scene. They fired at Howard and he surrendered immediately. But Edwin would not give up so easily. After exchanging gunfire with the cops, he jumped into a car and took off. Officers would catch up with him an hour later, now driving his window washer's truck. On the seat beside him, they found wads of cotton, a cake of rouge, a bottle of mascara, and two sets of dentures.

One was Edwin's and the other fit Howard's mouth. And once he had his teeth back, Howard could finally speak clearly and confessed to his crimes. He said, "Boyd talked me into the first holdup saying, 'Come along and I'll show you how simple it is.'" Edwin would admit to seven bank robberies, netting him over $30,000, which in 1949 was a lot of money. At the time, an average house cost around $12,000.

And during his two-year robbery spree, Edwin had bought a new house in Pickering, a town east of Toronto, for his young family. People in the community were shocked when they read that their neighbor, who was fond of gardening, had been charged with armed robbery. He and the other gang members were transferred to Toronto's Don Jail to await trial. At the time, the building was 87 years old, outdated, and overcrowded.

The cells had no plumbing, just a bucket. The building stood beside the isolation hospital where Edwin's mother had died two decades earlier. Did Edwin think about his mother and how her death had changed the course of his life? Or was he too busy trying to save his own? Edwin would share a second floor cell block with Willie "The Clown" Jackson and Leonard Jackson, who had a wooden left leg.

To the guards, this trio appeared to be just like the other inmates, going through the monotonous routine of prison life. Except, Leonard had hidden a saw blade in his wooden leg and the men were secretly at work, taking turns sawing through an iron bar across their window. Just over two weeks after Edwin was caught in his window washer's truck, he was free again.

With the bar removed, the three inmates squeezed through the narrow opening. Then using twisted bedsheets, they dropped 40 feet to the ground. Then with another knotted bedsheet, they scaled an 18-foot brick wall. Waiting for them in a vehicle was Steve Suchin, a criminal associate of Leonard's. It would be two hours before the escape was discovered, and by then, Edwin and his gang were long gone.

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to start saving and investing for your future today paid non-client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote acorns investing involves risk acorns advisors llc and sec registered investment advisor view important disclosures at acorns.com crime mob part three most wanted the dawn jail escape made headlines the police put a manhunt into motion

Photos and descriptions of the fugitives circulated in newspapers and to police forces across the country. The trio were considered dangerous. And again, Edwin was named the leader and a master bank robber. Then, just two weeks later, he proved the new label was right. With Steve Suchin joining the armed gang, they hit a West End, Toronto bank.

A bank employee said the heist, which lasted three minutes, was done with football team precision. The robbers ordered staff to lie on the floor and warned them not to touch the alarm, or we'll kill you. One gang member guarded the door, another stood near the entrance, and a third, toothless man gave orders. The last two leapt over the counter to the teller's cash drawers and filled shopping bags with money.

After looking at mugshots, the bank employee identified the toothless man as Edwin Boyd, master bank robber. Later, a stolen car believed to have been used in the heist was found in a remote section of High Park. Edwin's work with the Parks Department had made him familiar with the area. This would not be the first time he used his knowledge of the park. Meanwhile, the manhunt for what newspapers dubbed the "Boyd Gang" was reaching a fever pitch.

Where would they strike again? When would the police catch them? Where were they hiding? Perhaps Doreen, Edwin's wife, had some answers. The police offered her $500 to let the newspapers print a false story that she'd been arrested as an accessory after the fact, to make Edwin surrender. But she refused. She also refused to believe Edwin was a criminal.

She said, "He's not the type of man to lead a gang. It was all for his home and family." She also said, "They have no proof it was him, and to blame him for being the head of a gang is a joke to me." She also complained that because of all the publicity, she was having a hard time getting a job. The couple had two mortgages, and Edwin's window washer's truck was not even paid off. She said, "I have to make payments."

Ten days later, Edwin would pull off the largest bank robbery to date, taking a haul of $35,000, an amount that would surely have helped with those payments. The bank was in the city's northeast, and again the holdup was perfectly timed. The bank manager said one of the robbers carried a Sten gun, a British-made submachine gun, and the others held automatics.

Miss Bebby, a teller, commented afterwards that one of the bandits was very nice looking. In fact, when I turned around, he smiled at me. The police warned that the Boyd gang were vicious criminals who will shoot if cornered. But at the same time, they were also becoming popular. Every detail of the gang's exploits filled newspapers. And so did the names and smiling faces of bank tellers. Reporters sought out the young women for reactions to their ordeal.

In one robbery, the bank staff were tied up. The teller described how one of the robbers asked her if the rope was too tight, then offered to loosen it. A large photo of the young woman holding the rope in question appeared in newspapers. Not only was Edwin, with his Hollywood good looks, and his band of robbers becoming famous, so were the people he robbed. And making things more difficult for the police, criminals started copying the gang.

They would use the same disguises as the Boyd gang and call each other by gang members' names. Then, on December 19th, 1951, the police got their first break. Willie the Clown was arrested in a Montreal tavern and charged with illegal possession of a firearm and returned to the Don jail. But where were the other gang members?

The police may not have known the men's whereabouts, but they knew one thing: blood will flow when these men are finally cornered. For the first time in its history, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police drew up a list of the 10 most wanted criminals in the country. Edwin made the list. Part 4: Cop Killer

In February of 1952, and still evading police, the Boyd gang robbed another Toronto bank. This time, the gang all wore matching clothes: blue jeans, blue shirts, and blue ski caps. They broke into the bank in the night, then waited for staff to arrive. As each person entered the bank, they took them to the basement and tied them up. They would make off with $30,000.

The robbers had money, but they couldn't go out and have fun without being caught. So Leonard started wearing dresses and wigs so he could have a drink in public. Then, on March 7, 1952, four months since they escaped from jail, the Boyd gang robbed another bank, stealing $24,000. The gang usually took a stolen car to the robbery, then abandoned it for a getaway vehicle.

This time, Steve and Leonard pulled off the heist, then drove to meet Edwin, who was waiting on a side street in the getaway vehicle. But things didn't turn out as planned. Two detectives spotted the men and waved them over. Leonard and Steve knew they were in trouble, and fired at the cops, then raced away. Detective Edward Tom took a bullet through both his lungs, and Detective Roy Perry was hit twice in the arm.

After the shootout in broad daylight that sent two officers to the hospital, the mood changed. The public saw the gang for what they were: violent criminals. Police fanned out across the city, armed with high-powered rifles. The police chief advised citizens to look at the mugshots of the three men, and especially taxi drivers and gas station attendants. He said, "Everyone can play the role of a detective in tracking down these men.

Police raided rented rooms Steve and Leonard had stayed in, and found wigs, ammunition, and a Styrofoam head with its eyes blasted out. It had been used for target practice. By now, Leonard had altered his appearance with horned rim glasses and a mustache. But the police knew this. And from a tip, they knew the men were headed for Montreal, and that Steve had rented a luxury apartment. The police waited inside.

Then, the door opened. It was Steve Suchin. But the police had left a light on in the kitchen. Steve noticed and drew his gun. But a Montreal detective drew first and fired three bullets into him. Steve would survive and end up shackled to a hospital bed.

But where were Leonard and Edwin? Were they in Montreal? Had they followed Steve? The city was locked down, and bridges were closed as the police hoped to flush out the two remaining bandits. But days later, the police made contradicting announcements. They said Leonard was hiding out in Hamilton. Then they stated that both men had flown to the Caribbean. But Leonard Jackson was in neither place. He was in a Montreal rooming house with his new bride.

They had been living there for three weeks, but again, unable to do anything for fear of being discovered. Leonard passed the time talking to the janitor, but despite the horned rim glasses and mustache, the janitor recognized Leonard and tipped off the police. Four days after Steve was taken into custody, the police raided Leonard's building, throwing in tear gas and firing a hail of bullets at his basement apartment door.

He fired back but was unable to reach the two submachine guns packed in his wife's suitcase, and she was screaming for him to surrender. Finally, after being struck by bullets and weeping from the tear gas, he gave up. Leonard would be led to a waiting police car, leaving a trail of blood behind him. The police discovered that they had just missed capturing Edwin too.

When he saw the police cars arrive at Leonard's building, he took off. Leonard was charged in bank robberies with a total haul of $408,000. But when he and his bride were arrested, the couple's funds added up to just $1.43. With Willie, Leonard, and Steve captured, there was just one man left, Edwin Boyd.

Just three days after Leonard surrendered, the police would track him back to Toronto and to a house on a leafy residential street. Under cover of darkness, armed officers slipped into the house and into the room where the wanted man slept beside his wife. One officer stuck his gun under Edwin's nose. He awoke and smiled. In the room, the police found a briefcase containing a fully loaded pistol and over $25,000 in cash.

A coat hanging in the room had its pockets filled with bags of pepper, which would temporarily blind an assailant. Neither the pistol nor the pepper would be used. Edwin surrendered without a fight. Eight days later, Detective Tong died from a massive blood clot. Doctors considered it a miracle that he survived 17 days after a bullet passed through both his lungs and severed his spinal cord.

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In the following months, detectives sorted through the gang's multiple robberies, while Edwin, Leonard and Steve stood in lineups and attended court hearings, then finally joined their gang members, Willie the Clown, who was already back in jail. Edwin would be charged with 11 counts of armed robbery, and for Detective Tong's death, Leonard and Steve would be charged with murder. Prison authorities decided to house the four men in the same cell block,

They thought it would be easier to keep an eye on them. They even installed a secret microphone in the ceiling of the cell block. But the Boyd gang noticed the wire and saluted it every morning with a few choice words. The men also observed that the cell block was not patrolled between 5 and 7 in the morning. During those two hours, they would prepare their next escape, but they needed a saw. Leonard's wooden leg had been checked for blades when he re-entered the jail.

But some guards were corrupt and doubled their salaries trading booze and drugs with the prisoners. The men would have no trouble getting their hands on a hacksaw blade, but the blade was useless if they couldn't get out of their cells to the corridor window. They needed the guard's key. Willie was nicknamed "The Clown" because he was a good-natured joker.

One day, he grabbed at the key hanging from a guard's belt and pressed his hand tightly around it until the guard shoved him away. He had also stopped drinking liquids to dehydrate himself, making his skin less elastic, so that the key made a perfect impression in his palm. The men traced the impression, then shaped a key out of a bit of metal. While their cell was unguarded, they opened their cell doors and sawed at the bars.

And six months later, they were ready. At 5 in the morning on September 18, 1952, the Boyd gang slipped out the window and jumped from the prison's boundary wall. Minutes later, they would disappear into the heavily wooded Don Valley ravine. Embarrassed and humiliated, this time, the police issued a shoot-to-kill order. They wanted the Boyd gang, dead or alive.

After the first jailbreak, Doreen Boyd refused to go along with the lie that she'd been arrested. This time, she didn't have to pretend. She was charged with harboring a felon, but still she stood by her husband. The reward for helping find the men was $26,000. But Doreen would not give up Edwin for a million dollars. She said, "You know what it's like when you love a man?

During the next eight days, the police raided criminal hangouts in their search for the fugitives. At the same time, police in the north end of Toronto complained about vagrants living in an old barn. They'd been seen stealing from local gardens. Two police officers went to the barn to investigate. The road to the remote property was blocked by construction equipment, so the officers had to leave their car and walk the rest of the way.

Then, they opened the barn door and found the four men, cold and hungry. They surrendered without a fight. Edwin would confess to his crimes and be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years. Willy the Clown got 20 years.

Both would be transferred under heavy police guard to the Kingston Penitentiary. And on December 16th, 1952, Leonard and Steve were executed in a double hanging for the murder of Detective Tom. Part 6: Final Escape Although he was sentenced to 15 years without parole, Edwin was paroled after 10,

but he violated his parole by acquiring some unauthorized debts and having a relationship with a 16-year-old girl. Five years later, he was granted full parole. By now, he'd divorced Doreen and relocated to Western Canada. And there, he did finally settle down, remarry, and become a bus driver. His boss would say, "Boyd is a very reliable person." Was that the end of Edwin's story?

Was this new life his final escape? Had he put his criminal ways behind him? And what does a man cheating on his wife in 1947 have to do with Edwin Alonso Boyd's future? Part 7: Cold Case On September 12, 1947, a black coupe was found abandoned in Toronto's High Park. A teenager recognized the car. It belonged to his friend's dad, George Vigas.

But when he called the Vigas house, he learned that George was missing. Two days earlier, George Vigas told his wife he'd be home at 6:30 p.m. He hadn't been seen since. The police arrived to inspect the car. And when they pried open the locked trunk, they found two bodies stuffed inside. The park's night watchman said, "It was the biggest shock of my life when I saw the two bodies," he added. "It was the last thing we expected to find." One of the bodies was George.

and the other was what the newspapers called a pretty blonde. Her name was Iris Scott, and her landlady would say George was a frequent visitor, and that she had no idea he was a married man. Missing from the car were wallets and keys. The police wondered if it was a suicide pact. Could the couple have crawled into the trunk and pulled it shut? But the autopsy report would point to a very different cause of death: murder.

George was strangled by a wire or object, and Iris was strangled by someone's bare hands. First, the police suspected the boys who found the vehicle, then Iris' brother. But there just wasn't enough evidence.

The 1947 double murder of George Vigas and Iris Scott would remain a cold case until 2002. CBC reporter Brian Vallee wrote a book about Edwin Boyd and was in frequent contact with him. In March of 2002, during a phone call, Brian made the half-joking comment to Edwin that after their years of interviews, he might be the one person who knows the most about him.

In a moment of ego, 88-year-old Edwin blurted out, "You don't know everything. I couldn't tell you how I had to dispatch a couple of people." Later, Brian was researching another story when he discovered the double murders. Could they be the couple Edwin Boyd had to dispatch? He decided to find out. In a series of taped interviews, the pieces began to fit together.

Edwin mentioned Bedford Park and that there were two people who caused him trouble and how he put them in a trunk of a car, then took the car to High Park. Edwin worked for the Parks Department and was familiar with High Park.

He'd hidden a car there after one of his robberies. And Bedford Park is in the northeast of the city, a 45-minute drive from High Park and George Vigas' family home. Were Iris and George meeting there secretly? A safe place to be alone? When Edwin appeared, Brian theorizes that they might have caught Edwin watching them and threatened to report him. Edwin had to prevent this from happening.

And if the location in Bedford Park was secluded enough for a couple to carry on an illicit affair, it would have been secluded enough for murder. Was Edwin really a cold-blooded murderer who never faced justice? To Brian, the answer is clearly yes. The dates fit, and so do the details. On the tape, Edwin says, "I was the guilty one."

Two months later, before an investigation could start into the sensational confession, Edwin escaped justice for the last time when he died. In England, almost six decades later, and while World War II raged, Doreen brought her handsome fiancé to meet her grandmother. After meeting Edwin, the woman warned Doreen, "You'll never know what the man is thinking. He's as deep as a drawn well."

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