Every Place Has a Story

The 100-year-old Unsolved Murder of Special Constable Charles Painter

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Last year, Constable Graham Walker of the Metro Vancouver Transit Police was asked to research the history for their 10-year anniversary. Graham promptly fell down the rabbit hole and his journey has taken him to UBC Special Collections, City of Vancouver Archives, BC Hydro Archives, and the Vancouver Police Museum. Graham’s first surprise was that the history of transit police goes back far longer than 2005 when a recommendation by the BC Association of Chiefs of Police led to the creation of the Transit Police. In fact, the earliest record showing the appointment of a special constable for the BC Electric Railway dates back to 1904.

But Graham wasn’t calling me with a history of transit, he had uncovered a 100-year-old murder mystery in war-time Vancouver.

Graham Walker standing where the 1915 murder took place near Willow and 6th
Graham Walker standing where the 1915 murder took place near Willow and 6th

On March 19, 1915, Charles Painter, 34, was working the night shift for BCER. The special constable was patrolling the railway tracks at 6th and Willow when he saw a man carrying a bag of what he thought was wire stolen from the overhead trolley wire. He struggled with the thief, who managed to get his gun and Painter was shot in the stomach with his own weapon.

“Everything comes full circle,” says Graham who is also 34. “I’ve worked overtime shifts myself where we were going up and down Fraser Street looking for trolley wire thieves.”

Nowadays, transit police work foot patrol in pairs for protection, but in 1915 Charles was alone, and wandered for about an hour before he found help. He was able to give a statement to police, but later died from blood poisoning.

Painter was unmarried and lived at 1543 West 3rd Street. There’s not much known about him—Graham found out that he was born in 1881 in Ireland, and had served in the British Army before coming to Canada in 1908.

“They didn’t have any suspects at first, but a few years later there was an article in the Province saying this man Frank Van der Heiden was being tried in Seattle for murdering two people and was of interest in the murder of Charles Painter,” says Graham. According to the article, Van der Heiden, who had been in Vancouver at the time of Painter’s murder, told a soldier he was locked up with that he was responsible for the constable’s death. Van der Heiden was caught with a large sum of cash, and according to the article, the money was believed to have been provided by the German government for the purpose of persuading soldiers to desert.

graham-memorialPainter’s murder is still officially unsolved, and his death went unrecognized until Graham and his research. Now his name has been added to the Honour Roll of the British Columbia Law Enforcement Memorial in Victoria, and Graham is presently trying to secure the funds to have a headstone placed on his unmarked grave at Mountain View Cemetery.

“Something we struggle with at our work place is lack of history and culture and you look at Victoria and New Westminster and they have this proud heritage,” says Graham. “So to have this now is important.”

BCER terminal at Hastings and Carrall in 1912. CVA M-14-71
BCER terminal at Hastings and Carrall in 1912. CVA M-14-71

© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.

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4 comments on “The 100-year-old Unsolved Murder of Special Constable Charles Painter”

Interesting story. Your research on police forces is also interesting. Have you ever had any contact with the extinct Harbor Police. They were decommissioned in the late nineties because the Port of Vancouver saw the opportunity to replace a legitimate Police Force dedicated to protecting our Harbor with much cheaper and less effective private security guards. With the amount of criminal activity that tends to occur at ports of entry there must be many stories of interest.

Kudos, thanks and appreciation to Constable Graham Walker, for taking the interest and initiative to recognize the History of the Vancouver Metro Transit Police, and of the unsolved murder of Officer Charles Painter. 100 years is a long time to wait to be recognized, but I’m glad he was. This Story reminds me of a young RCMP Mountie in North Vancouver my Father knew from his home town He died as a result of a medical condition, not in the line of duty. He died leaving a young wife, and 4 little boys. When my Father found out a decade later he still had no Headstone on his grave, my Father ordered and paid for it to be placed on his grave. I am glad both Officers have had their lives recognized, and carved in stone. May they be remembered for their service, and Rest In Peace!

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