by
Alexandrine Gibb (in The Toronto Daily Star)
"I love my brother and I trust him. He isn't bad. He's a good
boy," insisted Irene Reynolds, only sister of Herbert Joseph
McAullife, accused of the murder of Arthur Lierman and William Goddyn,
following the bank robbery at Langton two weeks ago.
Mrs. Reynolds, one
year older than her brother, is broken-hearted over the discovery that
it was her Herb who is held in Simcoe jail on the murder charge.
"Our mother
died when Herb was only 11 months old," said Irene, who resembles
her brother not only in facial features but in curly red hair.
"Herb and I went to live at grannie's in Almonte, near Ottawa, and
only came back to North Bay when Herb was eight years old. That was when
my father remarried.
"We such a happy childhood together. Herb and I were
very close. He is just 32 year old. He left home when he was 17 and
hasn't been home since. But he kept in touch with me. When he went
overseas in 1942 he wrote to me. After all, we went through St.
Joseph's, St. Mary's and St. Rita's school together.
"He was always good
at machinery. I remember he played baseball and hockey and was wonderful
at skiing. And I was always so proud of him."
The last time Irene
McAuliffe Reynolds heard from her brother was in 1945.
"He wasn't a
black sheep of our family at all," she insists. "He went to
church regularly and he was always a good boy. He went around North Bay
with good boys, too. It was only after he left here that he got in with
bad boys. I can't understand it. I wish I could see him."
"He would like
to see you, too, Irene," said her half-brother, Ed McAuliffe, who
went to Simcoe with E. W. McAuliffe, father of the accused, last Sunday.
"Herb said be sure to tell Irene I would love to see her and am
thinking of her constantly. Tell her, too, that I didn't give my right
name to the police when I was captured because I didn't want to disgrace
the family name."
