Justice...Not

On Wednesday, I left off with Mary Brown testifying at the inquest into the death of Julius Levy.She pointed out Michael O'Casey as the man she saw beating Mr. Levy. Now it was time for Shirley Parsons to take the stand.

Three sports coats were shown to Parsons - the coats were found in O'Casey's room - and Shirley pointed to the one she said was identical to the one worn by the attacker that night. Unfortunately, she never saw his face.

The alibi given by O'Casey for the time of the murder was investigated by the detectives. Somehow, O'Casey had gotten the dates mixed up and the alibis provided by his friends were full of discrepancies.

The police were convinced that O'Casey was the killer but they had a problem. With the evidence they had, the police knew it would be difficult to convince a jury of this fact. The prosecution could not inform the jury of the man's criminal past and although Mary Brown identified O'Casey at the inquest, she didn't write his number on the slip of paper during the line up. His questionable alibi might raise doubts but it wasn't enough to warrant a guilty verdict.

What the detectives needed was someone else to identify O'Casey in the store that night. And it would have to be one of the two men who had shown up on the scene that night.

After numerous press appeals, the two men were located. Sadly, both men said they were unable to identify the attacker even though he had left the store and walked right by them as they stood in the doorway.

The day of the trial, prosecutor, Mr. Stewart McMorran, spoke again to the witnesses. The two men were insistent that they could not identify the suspect. McMorran knew the case was weak and there was a strong possibility the jury would not convict O'Casey.

McMorran spoke with the detectives before asked the Judge to grant a Stay of Proceedings. (This means the Crown is not prepared at this time to go to trial but, if further evidence is found, they reserve the right to proceed then.) The defence argued that the Magistrate should dismiss the case outright. The Magistrate refused the defence's argument, a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court.

No further evidence ever appeared and O'Casey was never brought to trial. The murder of Julius Levy remains unsolved.

The really sad part of this story is that the two strong, healthy men didn't have the courage of Mary Brown and they just 'didn't want to get involved'.

Thanks to Joe Swan and his book, Policebeat, for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

A Suspect

Julius Levy, the 80-year-old tailor who was assaulted, died from his injuries. And the search for his assailant continued.  Homicide Squad detectives were called in and Detectives Hendy and McRae started checking the rooming houses in the area of Pender Street.

The detectives checked a rooming house in the 500 Block of Hornby Street. The spoke to the elderly manager, Mr. O'Casey, and his son, Michael. They asked if anyone in the hotel matched the description they had of tweed jacket man. They were told that no one staying the hotel matched who they were looking for.

However, noticed that Michael bore a striking resemblance to the description and they saw a brown tweed jacket hanging behind a door.

The detectives returned to the police station and checked Michael O'Casey against their record files. O'Casey had an extensive criminal record including three convictions for armed robbery and one for assault causing bodily harm. In fact, Michael was released from the B.C. Penitentiary earlier that year.

The detectives returned to the rooming house to bring Michael O'Casey in for questioning. They noticed he was wearing glasses with half rims.

That evening, O'Casey and seven other men were assembled for a line up and paraded in front of Mary Brown and Shirley Parsons. The two women were asked if they could identify the man they had seen in the tailor shop that night and given slips of paper to write down the number of the man they recognized.

Once the line-up was over, neither woman had written down a number. Mary Brown told the detectives that number one was the man she had seen in the store that night but she hadn't written his number down because his hair colour looked different under the spotlights. Number one was Michael O'Casey.

O'Casey was questioned by detectives but maintained his innocence, saying he knew nothing about the incident. When told he had been identified, O'Casey said, "I was not there - it wasn't me. This is unbelievable."

An inquest was held into the death of Julius Levy which O'Casey attended at his own request. When Mary Brown was asked by the Coroner if she could identify the man she saw in the tailor shop that night, she pointed at O'Casey and said "That is the man."

Thanks to Joe Swan and his book Policebeat for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Julius Levy

When we left off on Wednesday, Constables Nebisuk and Burton had just entered the tailor shop. Constable Nebisuk spoke to the victim. The man said his name was Julius Levy and he was eighty years old.

Levy had been alone in the store when tweed jacket man entered. The man asked if he could try on a pair of pants and since he only had $3.00, any type would do. Julius felt sorry for the man. He could tell he had been drinking and seemed down on his luck. So Julius offered him an old pair of his pants and, if they fit, the man could have them for nothing.

The man took the pants into the changing room and soon called for Levy to come check the fit. As Julius went to do so, the tweed jacket man came out of the cubicle and began to hit Julius about the head with a cane. The two fought for awhile and the stranger grabbed his wallet, taking out the $8.00 cash that was in it. Tweed jacket man only stopped his assault when Mary yelled at him.

Julius described his attacker as a man who was five foot nine inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds. His hair was brown with a reddish tint and he wore glasses with partial rims. The attacker was wearing a tweed jacket, maroon sweater and blue pants. He carried a dark-coloured cane with a curved handle and was around 36 years old.

The Constable asked Mr. Levy if he was hurt but the elderly man said he wasn't, just a little shaky. Julius didn't want to go to the hospital but asked if he could be driven around to look for the robber, who he would have no trouble identifying.

But, when Levy stood up, he felt pain in his left thigh. Once again, he declined the offer to go to the hospital. He got into the police car with some difficulty and the police drove him around for a short time. Then the two constables became concerned that Julius was in more pain than he was letting on and they drove him, despite his protests, to St. Paul's hospital.

Once at the hospital, a staff doctor examined Mr. Levy and told the officers there didn't appear to be any serious damage but he ordered x-rays just to be sure. 

The police left to continue their search for the suspect but, within ten minutes, they were called back to the hospital.

X-rays showed that Julius had suffered an unusual fracture to his pelvis, which was caused by a low blow to the groin or gluteal area. When questioned about it, Mr. Levy  couldn't receiving any such blow during the struggle but it could have happened.

The excitement of the robbery wore off and Levy's condition continued to deteriorate. He went into shock and, on the following evening, he died. He injuries were too great for his frail body to stand and his heart failed.

Thanks to the book Policebeat by Joe Swan for the above information. More on Monday!

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill