Bill Walton - Daisy Wheel Press

Preview

I was attending the Coroner=s Inquest the last week of September, hoping to garner enough information to write a follow-up article on the shooting of May 23, 1997. I had free-lanced a story for the Sudbury Star and the CBC radio on the bank robbery and subsequent capture of the three crooks. The Coroner=s Inquest was called because an OPP officer had shot at two of the villains and the government of Ontario wanted to know if excess force (firing a gun) had been used in the apprehension. A civilian had also died in that shootout and although the police report clearly stated he had died of a heart attack, not the superficial wound to his leg, the coroner wanted all the details.

One Guy Labreche, age 75, had followed the three bank robbers from the Bank of Nova Scotia on Barrydown Road, using his CB radio to contact the police, giving his location as he drove at high speed up Highway 144. A lone OPP officer had set up a road block on the narrow road, fired her shotgun at the bank robber=s car as they bounced off her cruiser, disabling their car. Outnumbered three to one, the officer would have been in a serious situation except that Mr. Labreche came to her assistance, firing an old German luger. It was determined in the investigation that both wounded and the one dead robber had been shot by Labreche, the OPP officer missing her targets completely.

The coroner wanted to know why Labreche had an unlicenced gun and what kind of a man had been allowed to have this World War II weapon in his possession. The detective in charge reported that they had been unable to discover much background on Guy Labreche, other than he was married to Sally. The coroner was not pleased.

AIs there anyone in this court who knows anything about Mr. Labreche?@ he asked.

There was a moment=s silence, then a well-dressed man, who I guessed to be in his mid seventies, stood and came forward.

AYour Honor, perhaps I can offer some information.@ Without waiting for the formality of the court clerk asking him to state his name and address, he continued, AMy name is Kerry Dodds, Inspector RCMP, retired. I live at 533 Dowdall Street in Ottawa. Sally Labreche asked that I attend this hearing since she has not been well since the death of her husband. I have known Guy Labreche since the war.