Overview

On St. Patrck's Day, 1942, Herb Spratt, the youngest son of a prominent St. John's city councillor, murdered his girlfriend, Josephine O'Brien. A weak defense at a two-day trial in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland resulted in a guilty verdict, coupled with a strong recommendation for mercy. The Chief Justice pronounced a sentence of death on April 28th, 1942. Six years later, during a night of terror in the town of Norris Arm, Alfred Beaton stabbed his girlfriend, and shot to death another young woman. Beaton then rampaged through the town, but failed to find any other victims. Beaton was sent to trial on January 31, 1949, wherein the jury returned a guilty verdict without a recommendation for mercy. The judge imposed the death penalty. Eric Colbourne investigates the background of these two cases, cases which would ultimately result in the abolition of the death penalty in Newfoundland.

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9781927099827

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Eric Colbourne grew up in the small community of Lush's Bight-Beaumont on the northeast coast of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. His earliest memories are of the tales spun by village elders under the flickering light of oil lamps in the kitchen of the family home on the isolated island. This tradition of story-telling is captured in his first book Disappeared: Stories from the Coast of Newfoundland which has enjoyed international success. Colbourne was educated at Memorial University, The University of Reading in the UK, and at McGill University in Montreal. He has enjoyed a varied career in education, community development, tourism and senior management in the public service of Nunavut and the NWT. He currently devotes his time to writing and historical research.

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