The Murder on the Green

When I left on Friday, the body of Danny Brent was found on the edge of the green of the golf course at UBC. Now that the body was moved, the crime scene investigators dug up and sifted the earth beneath where the body was and found, two inches below the surface where the victim's head had been, a copper clad .45 calibre bullet. A second one was found at the depth of eight inches.

Four feet away, in the rough grass, the police found a spent cartridge marked "REM-UMC-45 ACP." Two days later, a metal detector found a second, similar casing.

A 4:15 that afternoon, pathologist Dr. Harmon performed the autopsy on Danny Brent.

Harmon reported the death was due to a hemorrhage from a bullet, which had entered the victim's back, passed through the abdomen and exited through the stomach. The two head wounds were received some 10 to 15 minutes later, but while Brent was still alive. The time of death was estimated to have been between 2 and 3 a.m. that day.

As indicated by powder marks on the head, the gun had been held no more than two or three inches away from the skin. There were no powder burns on the shirt near the rear entry would and it was concluded that his shot had been fired from some distance away.

This raised the possibility that the man was shot first at some other location, then taken by car to the golf course where the two head shots had been given to make sure the man was dead.

This murder had all the appearances of an underworld 'hit' and when the police discovered the background of Danny Brent; this is the direction the investigation took.

Danny Brent was born in Edmonton in 1911 and, at the time of his death, was working as a waiter at the Press Club at 595 Beatty Street in Vancouver. Brent lived at 2066 West 15th Avenue where he had rented rooms for the last year from his divorced first wife. Danny had remarried but he and his second wife were currently separated.

This man gave the appearance of being a respectable, hard-working man who was popular with his fellow employees and his employers. However, the police were well aware there was another, less respectable side, to Danny Brent.

What had led to Danny Brent's death? I will tell you more on Wednesday. Thanks go to Joe Swan and his book, Policebeat, for the information on this crime.

I hope you find the beauty around you.