Maximum Security:
BC Penitentiary was a maximum-security federal prison plagued with riots throughout its 100-year life. There was the 1975 riot and hostage taking resulting in the death of Mary Steinhauser, a 32-year-old social worker. She was one of 15 hostages shot when police stormed the prison. Long before that, there was the 1934 riot when 78 prisoners refused to work unless they were paid. But perhaps the most bizarre, was the riot of 1963 when radio news hound Jack Webster became part of the story.
The Riot:
Just after 9 p.m. on April 19, 1963 prisoners Nelson Wood, 27, Gerard Caisy 28 and Wayne Carlson, 21 escaped through an auditorium window. They were spotted by prison guard Patrick Dennis who was patrolling with his dog. Dennis fired three shots in the air, before he was subdued by prisoners armed with hand-made knives and Molotov cocktails made with electric light bulbs filled with gasoline and fused with a twist of rag.
At 10 pm Warden Tom Hall, called Jack Webster and told him there was trouble at the pen and asked for his help. “They want to speak with Lester Pearson or Webster. We can’t get Lester Pearson, so we’re calling you” Hall told him.
Webster:
When Webster arrived, Dennis was sitting in a chair, his hands bound behind his back with copper wire, and another loop of the wire running from his wrists to around his neck. Three knives were held at his face. Another 15 prisoners who either stayed for support or couldn’t get out, played handball, dozed on mattresses or just made up the audience, but otherwise didn’t get involved.
In another part of the prison a couple of hundred prisoners smashed windows, furniture, toilets and sinks. They ripped out pipes, tore doors off their wooden frames and burned walls. RCMP reinforcements and troops from Chilliwack were called in and fired tear gas into the building before storming the blocks.
After 12 hours, the hostage takers said they would let Dennis go if Warden Hall guarantee that Caisy and Carlson would be transferred to St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary in Montreal and Wood to Stoney Mountain near Winnipeg prison so his wife could be closer to her family.
Webster brokered the deal and the prisoners were put on flights to Montreal and Winnipeg, and at 11:00 the next morning, Webster told the media: “the guard is free.”
The headline on his own story in the Vancouver Sun two days later was: “Night of Terror: I was Afraid it Would End in Murder,” and can’t you just hear him saying that in his Scottish brogue.
© Eve Lazarus, 2022
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15 comments on “Jack Webster and BC Penitentiary”
Thank you for posting this incredible article. I remember Jack Webster when we both lived on Salt Spring island during the 1980s. He was a soft spoken, mild mannered…old fashioned kind of guy. ‘Twas nothing like his radio persona.
Very interesting story Eve! The prison system has changed and evolved over many years in B.C. Jack was a good man, interesting, entertaining, abrasive and didnt take bull from anybody. Very controversial is the death penalty for horrific crimes, but I for one am glad it is not legal in Canada.
I was pretty young during the Webster years but I do remember that voice. I am 51 now but I think most long term B.C. people will have his voice in their head until the day they die.
How I loved to hear Jack’s Scottish accent – never really knew what the “fuss” was all about. I only listened only for the accent!
Thank you Eve for that look back into our local history, I quite enjoy reading your accounts of past events. I was only 9 years old when this riot occurred but I do have a vague recollection of it. I took a moment to forward your story link to a friend of mine who is coincidentally Jack Webster’s son and he equally enjoyed it. Jack’s son did go on to say that he remembered that weekend like it was yesterday mentioning how shaken his Father was when he finally got home from the ordeal, his fear was that he might be killed during the night if things did not go the way the prisoners had wanted. An interesting side note here is that the the Webster family still has the original handmade shank that the rioters held to the guards throat during the ordeal, the quote from Jack’s son states “the shank is keepsake, albeit a ghoulish one”.
Thanks so much for adding to the story! Yes, I can see why Jack and now his family might want to keep the shank – yikes that must have been frightening
My grandfather and Jack were friends … Scots living on Salt Spring tended to bond … (albeit after this event)
. . . and before on the North Shore. I can well imagine Jack sharing the details with grandpa in full detail. I met him once (as a teen) on a visit with my grandad on SSI
I have the dubious honour of knowing the next ” knife to throat” inmate Dwight Lowe as his cuz family were neighbours at Crystal Water Beach @ Holiday farm. Then parents best friends were their next door neighbours Chief of Police Don Winterton and lovely wife Margo. Poor Don got really put on the spot thought when Prince Andrew came to visit his cuz Jacques and Felicity Barbou. He had no passport and the US guards were clueless to the fact he not only did not have one but did not need one. So out of the backyard hot tub in wet shorts and up the the border to smooth that incident over. I believe it was the PM who called after he got a call from Buckingham Palace.
The BCpen incidend ended peacfully and was front page in The Sun the next day. If you remember the Grader that shots werr fired at as the thief drove through the border and down the steep hill to escape it was Dons son Clark who fired them., never a dull moment.
I attended the open house at the B.C. Penitentiary after it closed. We were able to access almost every area, and after a few hours there was a definite urge to leave. The perimeter walls were extremely high. As we walked through one building a man ahead of us was showing his family a cell he once occupied. An upper tier of cells afforded a view through windows of the Fraser River . . . and unattainable freedom.
And, lucky for us that you did! Thank you for the wonderful photos.
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I remember Jack well, especially his interview with Bryan Adams when I was a teen. The other thing that sticks out in my mind is his trench coat, remember that scene where he emerges from an alley looking cautiously around and is wearing it? I found this article completely by accident when looking something else up and am glad I did. So, hello from a Victoria native in Arizona, and thank you!
Glad you found it to Paul. Welcome to my blog!