The Assassination of D'Arcy McGee

A Canadian political assassination mystery: the assassination of D'Arcy McGee! Less than a year after Confederation, one of Canada's founding fathers was shot dead on Sparks Street in Ottawa, and to this day the question remains: who killed D'Arcy McGee?

#documentary #history #canadianhistory #assassination

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The story of the assassination of D'Arcy McGee is gigantic. Putting this episode together was daunting because so many details, characters, and events had to be left out. We strongly suggest that interested viewers dive into external sources to come up with their own theories and see the trial from angles we might have only touched on. We tried to find common denominators between the works of multiple historians, in tandem with primary documents, to tell the tale in as succinct (yet open-ended) a way as we could. But bear this in mind: the debate surrounding the trial and who killed McGee rages to this day—there is no definitive accepted truth, just clues, court transcripts, a whole lot of rumours, and a hanged man.

It would be impossible to share everything we came across in our research in this description, so here are a few highlights:

First, it's worth mentioning just how determined McGee was in his campaign against Fenianism. He was a rebel in Ireland, to the point he had a warrant out for his arrest—he escaped to North America on a ship disguised as a priest. In Canada, he became a pioneer of multiculturalism and equality, and he traveled the country passionately sharing his message. Undeterred by the constant real threat of being killed, McGee gave furious speeches in both Catholic and Protestant Irish societies, a lot of the time to enraged crowds. He was fearless, even though he suspected his tenacity might lead to a violent end. McGee apparently had nightmares about his death, and said to a colleague: “There is no danger of my being converted into a political martyr. If ever I were murdered, it would be by some wretch who would shoot me from behind.”

We briefly touch on how strongly the country mourned the loss of their 'Prophet of Confederation,' but it can't be over-emphasized. McGee's funeral was the biggest in Canadian history, our country’s first-ever state funeral, and an official day of public mourning. It took place on what should have been D’Arcy McGee’s 43rd birthday. A crowd of 80,000 lined the streets of Montreal—80% of the city’s entire population—to pay their respects as a black catafalque was driven to St. Patrick's Church. 15,000 mourners followed the body while the band played Handel's “Death March.” McGee had spent most of his time living in Montreal where he was beloved.

Now the elephant in the room: was Whelan a Fenian and did he have a role in the murder? Briefly: most agree Whelan was a Fenian whether or not he admitted to it, but that doesn't make him a killer. What we hoped to accomplish in this episode wasn't to project a verdict on Whelan, but on the trial itself. It's generally accepted that if this trial were to have taken place in modern times, Whelan would have received a 'not guilty' verdict. Clearly, the fact that John A. and Judge Richards worked together to make sure Whelan was convicted and hung quickly is cause for a mistrial, but there's grounds for a 'reasonable doubt' of his guilt in just considering that the entire trial relied on circumstantial evidence given by witnesses who could not be trusted. A quick list of some key points:

The guards who recounted Whelan's confession in jail may have misinterpreted sarcasm, or worse—as it's been suggested elsewhere—they may have made it up. That confession played a significant role during the trial.
We weren't joking when we said the reward money for witnesses was problematic. A majority of the witnesses who testified against Whelan didn't come out of the woodwork until the reward was raised, months after the murder.
Pistols like Whelan's were commonplace in Ottawa at the time.
Lacroix described Whelan as short and McGee as tall, the reverse was true.
Whelan appealed his sentence based on the stacked jury, a clear injustice to many at the time.
A lot of witness testimony was focused on hearsay "threats" Whelan allegedly made but could be summed up as common grievances hundreds of people had against McGee.
We've run out of space, we aim to compile our research in a blogpost one day.

*Listen with Described Video:    • The Assassination of D'Arcy McGee (with De...  

Thank you to those who graciously contributed their voices for some of the quotations in the episode: Leete Stetson (D'Arcy McGee), Hayden Finkelshtain (Patrick J. Whelan), Nikolai Efimov (Patrick Buckley), and Josef Beeby (Messenger).