Given its nature, Mr. Burke's death was identified as a homicide immediately upon his body being discovered. The death was investigated as a homicide by the investigating officers, James Williams, James Campbell and Norman Thompson, and by other members of the Hamilton Police.
At the outset of the investigation, various witnesses reported to the Hamilton Police that they had observed three young men at various locations in the neighbourhood near the murder site, both before and after the time of the murder, causing disturbances and other trouble.
Among a number of sightings reported to police, the police were advised that three youths were spotted in a lunch-counter-type restaurant in the early morning hours, after Mr. Burke's body had been discovered. They were observed to be behaving oddly and became very nervous and fled when the topic of the murder was discussed among the patrons of the restaurant.
On December 6, 1969, less than 24 hours after the murder had been committed, members of the Hamilton Police were contacted by and then interviewed a person called Wayne Salisbury, who was employed by Canadian National Railways at the time. Wayne Salisbury worked as a railcar inspector for the railway on the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift and on December 5, 1969 at approximately 9:20 p.m., in the course of his duties, he had driven his car to a laneway close to the murder site. Mr. Salisbury saw Mr. Burke's taxicab, and after having observed the car for several minutes, saw three men run away from the cab, towards the west. Mr. Salisbury advised police that he believed that the three men were in their early 20's or late teens.
In the 48 hours immediately after the murder, members of the Hamilton Police also interviewed an individual called James Johnston who, at the time, was 14 years old. He advised the police that he was also at the site of the murder on December 5, 1969 and that he had observed a single person alight from the taxicab at approximately 8:45 p.m.
By December 8, 1969, less than three days after Mr. Burke had been murdered, it was evident to at least two of the investigating officers, Norman Thompson and James Williams, that it would be necessary to re-interview Wayne Salisbury, as a result of the fact that his statement was potentially (although not necessarily) inconsistent with that of James Johnston, in that Mr. Johnston reported seeing a single person alight from the cab at about 8:45 p.m., while Mr. Salisbury reported that he saw three persons run away from it at about 9:20 p.m.
A second interview of Mr. Salisbury was therefore conducted by Hamilton police on December 11, 1969. When he was interviewed for a second time, Mr. Salisbury advised the investigating officers that his wife was with him in his car when he had seen the three youths run away from the taxicab, but that he had not mentioned this before because it was against the railways rules for him to have his wife with him while he was working. Mr. Salisbury confirmed that he had seen three people running away from the taxicab, and indicated that he thought that they might have been joined by a fourth person after they had crossed the railway tracks. His wife verified that she had seen exactly the same thing.
There were no further significant developments in the police investigation until April 23 or 24, 1970, when members of the Ontario Provincial Police (the O.P.P) arrested an individual called Mary Conklin, in connection with break-and-entry, robbery and theft offences they were investigating. Conklin indicated to the O.P.P that in exchange for favourable treatment in respect of her charges, she could provide the police with assistance in respect of the still unsolved murder of Mr. Burke the previous December.
Members of the O.P.P. then called the Hamilton Police, and the investigating officers took a statement from Mary Conklin, in which she indicated that she had been in her home in Dunnville, Ontario, on the evening of December 5, 1969, with her cousin, Ken Shellard, and that during the course of the evening, Gary Staples had arrived and indicated that he had just murdered and robbed a taxicab driver, acting by himself. Conklin recounted to the investigating officers that Gary Staples' alleged confession to the murder had taken place in the presence of her and her cousin, Ken Shellard, in the living room of her home.
Subsequently, the police interviewed Ken Shellard, who was himself in prison at the time. No formal witness statement was taken from him, but immediately thereafter, and without any further investigation, the Hamilton police arrested Gary Staples.
Gary was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night on April 26, 1970 and transported to the Dunnville Police Station. He was later transported to a police station in Hamilton and then to the Barton Street Jail in downtown Hamilton.
At the time of his arrest, during the initial questioning and at all subsequent times up to and including the present, Gary Staples has steadfastly maintained his innocence in respect of the murder of Gerald Burke, with which he was charged.
His denial of any involvement in the murder was maintained despite a beating administered by police officers while Mr. Staples was handcuffed to a chair, during the course of the interrogation conducted at the Dunnville police station, in the middle of the night immediately following his arrest.
At one point during his pre-trial incarceration, Gary Staples was removed from the general population in the Barton Street Jail at the instigation of the Hamilton police, was segregated in solitary confinement and told by the prison guards that he would be permitted to re-join the general population if he would sign a confession in respect of the murder. He did not do so and was held in solitary confinement for 67 days as a consequence. |
