BULLETIN --
At press time today the killer was still at large.
More than 100
provincial police are combing the dense woods this morning with tommy-guns,
sawed-off shotguns and revolvers in an effort to capture the killer, who
eluded his pursuers all last night. Airplanes, walkie-talkies and cruisers
are working on a two-way radio hook-up over an area of four miles. A
bloodhound has been brought in. It sniffed the bandit's car last night and
took off into the woods in full pursuit.
The amount of the
loot, which was abandoned in the ditched car, has been established at
$23,000.
The bank bandit
blazed a trail of death in a desperate bid for freedom after robbing the
Imperial Bank in Langton yesterday afternoon.
Killed were:
Arthur F. Lierman, 31, of South Middleton
William Goddyn, 24, of South Middleton
The two men were
riddled with bullets during a running gun fight at close range with the
fleeing robber, who was apparently armed with a sub-machine gun. The chase
led 9 miles west from the village of Langton to a sandy sideroad, two and
one-half miles west of Frogmore, where the gunman ditched his car and fled
into the woods.
When discovered by
taxi driver Archie Van Hooren the two men were slumped on the seat of
their car dead. Later it was determined that 22 bullets had been drilled
through the windshield by the killer into the bodies of the victims.
It was 2.45 p.m.
that the lone bandit walked into the bank armed with an automatic pistol
and revolver. He ordered everyone to "stick 'em up." In the
bank at the time were Mrs. [Ross] Leedham, teller, Miss Julia [Plais].
bookkeeper, M. W. Thompson, accountant, Grant Gamble, a ledger keeper,
and E.D. Stewart, a bookkeeper. Also in the bank were five customers,
including Lierman and Goddyn. Frank Hall, a Cultus storekeeper, who was
one of the customers, was commanded to scoop up the money out of cash
drawers and put it in the bandit's suitcase. The occupants of the bank
were then herded into the vault.
During the hold-up,
Lambert Van Hooren, son of Archie VanHooren, heard the bank buzzer ring,
while in his store in Langton. The buzzer is connected to the store so
that when a robbery occurs a roadblock can be set up. However, it is the
custom to test the buzzer at intervals and Van Hooren, thinking it was a
test went in the bank to tell them the buzzer was working. The bandit
spotted Van Hooren looking through the window of the bank and summoned
him inside.
Mrs. Leedham
described the robber as 36 years old, 5 feet 5 inches in height, well-bult,
dark-complexioned and dressed in a sun helmet, dark glasses and working
clothes.
After gathering up
the loot, he ran out the door and jumped into a black Meteor car. He
drove south to the corner and turned west at the main intersection in
the village. At this point, Lierman and Goddyn, armed with a rifle,
started in pursuit, following the car through Frogmore and onto the
sideroad.
It is thought that
a bullet from the rifle punctured the Meteor's tire causing it to take
to the ditch. Robert [Mable], [18], who was working in a field not 100
feet away, said that he saw the cars stopped on the road. Next he heard
a burst of gunfire and dropped to the ground. He looked up to see the
killer head south into the woods.
Harry Manary, who
has a farm on the second concession road, a mile from the shooting, said
he saw two cars racing at high speed by his house. He recalled hearing
two shots before the cars passed his house and several after they had
gone by. "There were two guns shooting and the cars weren't seven
or eight rods apart," he said.
When the death car
was found by Archie Van Hooren, who was accompanied by Harry Carruthers
of R.R.1 Courtland, Lierman's body was lying on top of Goddyn's. Both
men were dead. Goddyn, who was Lierman's hired man, was driving the car
and was believed to have been shot first. The rifle was lying on the
back seat of the car, which was stopped behind the ditched Meteor.
Carruthers and Howard Vannatter of Glen Meyer, who had followed behind
in a truck, went back for their rifles. They returned to aid in the
search.
Provincial police
arrived on the scene just 15 minutes after the murder, Provincial
Constable Leonard Chambers and County Constable Earl Dickson being the
first police there. Soon there were at least 50 provincial constables in
the area, coming from Cayuga, Dundas, Simcoe and Tillsonburg. After
pictures were taken of the body, a posse was organized and the police
fanned out into the bush. A relay radio system was in operation shortly
after the killing, with low-flying airplanes sending messages to
Tillsonburg airport from where they were relayed to police cruisers. In
charge of the search are Inspector Leonard Neil and Inspector McCleod,
both of the criminal investigation branch of the provincial police in
Toronto.
The bandit's new
car was reported stolen from Windsor. The area in which the search is
going on is described as rock and swampland, making the going tough for
both police and the killer.
Well-known
throughout the district as an insurance agent, Mr. Lierman was born in
Belgium and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Lierman of South
Middleton. Besides his parents and his wife, the former Mary Ver Plancke,
he is survived by two children, Maurice 11, and Diane [8]; two brothers,
Joseph and Julius of South Middleton; and three sisters, Mrs. Gus
Lefevre (Rose), R.R. 2, Tillsonburg, Mrs. Henri De Cape (Margaret) and
Miss Mary Lierman of South Middleton.
The son of Mr. and
Mrs. Henri Goddyn, R.R.1 Delhi, Mr. Goddyn was also a native of Belgium.
He is survived by his parents, his wife, the former Irma De Kutter;
three children, Julius 5, George 3, and Alice 1½; two brothers and one
sister, Wilfred, Roger and Mrs. Jack Wiebe (Maryette), all of R.R. 1,
Delhi.
Both bodies are
resting at the H. A. Ostrander & Son Funeral Home in Tillsonburg
until Saturday morning when a double funeral will be held to Sacred
Heart Roman Catholic Church, Langton, for Requium High Mass at 10.30
a.m. Interment will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery.
At 10.15 o'clock
this morning, the car in which the bandit made his getaway was taken
from the ditch into which it catapulted yesterday afternoon.
Provincial police,
under Corporal E. H. Rogers of Dundas, and including Constable Roy
Burkett of Simcoe, supervised the investigation of the car and immediate
vicinity.
They found a
quantity of loose bills in denominations of twenty, ten and five
dollars, as well as a roll of silver in the car. There were also several
empty beer bottles both in the car and in the ditch.
In the back seat of
the car there was an empty casing, probably of a .45 calibre gun. The
rear window of the car was completely shattered and there were two
bullet holes to the right of the rear window, presumably from the gun of
the bandit.
A road map of
Western Ontario, with a route pencilled on it, was found in the ditch,
as well as a number of sheets from a loose-leaf notebook containing [pencilled
memoranda.
All of this
material was taken in charge by the provincial police, who have been on
the job there constantly since the tragedy occurred. It is estimated
that about 100 member of the provincial and county police forces [are]
on the job.
The scene of the tragedy
is a wild, swampy part of Houghton Township, about two miles northwest
of Frogmore. The bandit car went in the ditch about two miles along the
sandy road leading north from the county highway. It was apparent that
the car slowed in the sand and skidded into a ditch on the left-hand
side of the road. Beyond the bullet holes and the shattered glass, the
car did not appear to be badly damaged.
A large crowd of
curious spectators were on hand this morning to witness the car-lifting
operation. There was no sign of an armed posse of civilians, but The
Reformer was told that a number of district farmers kept vigil for the
escapee last night.
The bloodhound,
flown here from Mt. Clemens, Mich., last night took up the scent and
covered a large area of wooded country, but without success. He was
called off during the morning to give him a rest.
In an interview
this morning with Mr. Beattie, Langton manager of the Imperial Bank, he
stated that in addition to his staff of six, [there] were five customers
who entered the bank during the hold-up and were herded into the vault,
along with the staff. In addition to the two deceased men, they were
Frank Hall of Cultus, [Cecial] Aspden and Lambert Van Hooren of Langton.
Mr. Beattie said
that the bandit appeared very cool until towards the last, when he
became excited by the gathering throng outside and neglected to lock the
vault door. He had compelled the staff to take off the combination so
that the door could be locked, but overlooked locking it.
