Marion Hamilton, 68 was murdered in her Shaughnessy home in 1975. It’s a creepy story of a once prominent Vancouver family, a run-down old mansion, greed, and the shocking identity of her murderer.
The story of Marion Hamilton’s murder first appeared in my book At Home With History
When police found the body of Marion Hamilton, 68, in her Nanton Street home in 1975, they assumed it was death by natural causes. The widow suffered from dementia and lived in the decrepit old house since the death of her elderly mother nine months before.
Marion had two guardians, both cousins, appointed to look after her. Olga Young had wanted to put her into a nursing home where she would receive around the clock attention; but Elouise Roads Wilson, Marion’s co-guardian told Young that she didn’t want the estate to be “depleted” by the cost of private care. So the 47-year-old Elouise Wilson left her law practice in Victoria and moved into the Nanton Street house to take care of her cousin.
Soon afterwards, Marion was dead.
The autopsy found ligature marks around her neck. Either someone had strangled her, or she had either accidentally or intentionally hanged herself with a thin cord or wire.
The story got decidedly creepier. It turned out that Eunice Coote, Marion’s 93-year-old mother had died in the same house several months before. Apparently, she was dead for two to three weeks, lying in the same bed and decomposing and Marion hadn’t noticed.
Show Notes:
Intro: Mark Dunn
Music: Background track created by Nico Vettese www.wetalkofdreams.com
Seagulls and crows sound effects:
Sponsor: Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours
Promo: Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance
Sources:
Lazarus, Eve. At Home with History: The Untold Secrets of Vancouvers Heritage Homes. Anvil Press, 2007
McDonald, Glen and John Kirkwood. How Come I’m Dead? Surrey, BC. Hancock House, 1985
Official Report of Debates of the Legislative Assembly, June 7, 1978
Death Certificates
City Directories
Newspapers:
BC News
Nanaimo Daily News
Ottawa Journal
Province
Times Colonist
Vancouver Sun
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