True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month: July 2012
The Murder of Reg.#4584,Constable George Ernest Willmett
Honour Roll # 32
RCMP Vets. Ottawa, ON
Henry Frank, an American, came to Canada to find wealth. In 1901, he arrived in southern Alberta and found coal. Soon, a town sprung up around the coal industry and the village took his name, Frank -- the small town is situated in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada.
In the early 1900's, the town of Frank was beset by a series of store burglaries. As a crime prevention measure, NWMP Constable Willmett was assigned to walk foot beat in the business district during the night shift. At night, the town was mostly quiet and it was the job of Constable Willmett to check the front and rear entrances of the stores and also to take note of anyone who seemed out of character or suspect. It was Constable Willmett conjecture that, for an arrest to be ideal, he would find the suspects in the act of committing a break-in.
Sadly and unexpectedly, in the early morning hours of April 12, 1908, Constable Willmett's body was found in the back alley behind the Imperial Hotel. It was apparent that Constable Willmett had been shot at close range probably by a shotgun. Reg.#1649, Sgt. William Haslett, the NCO In Charge of Frank Detachment, immediately raised the alarm. He hoped that the murder suspect could be caught nearby before he escaped to nearby British Columbia or crossed over the border into America.
Sergeant Haslett needed help. Officer O.146, Inspector Thomas S. Belcher was sent in to Frank to command the murder investigation. Accompanying Inspector Belcher was Reg.#1128, Sgt. Major Charles Raven, Reg.#2349, Staff Sgt. John S. Piper and Reg.#3309, Sgt. Peter Egan. The team put into place an investigational strategy which they thought would soon bring the murder suspects to justice.
First, a $200.00 reward was posted and every effort was made to identify Constable Willmett's killer. As time passed, however, the reward did not cause anyone to come forward with information which would lead to an arrest. Meanwhile, interviews were conducted meticulously house by house. The investigators were looking for any hint or suspicion of a possible suspect.
Over time, nothing of value was learned inspite of hundreds of interviews. As the weeks passed, the trail for Constable Willmett's killed grew cold. The months turned into years and no suspect had been arrested for the murder of Constable Willmett.
One of the investigational team members was Reg.#2349, Staff Sgt. John Storm Piper. He had gained a reputation for being a persistent detective for solving serious crimes cases. About three years after Constable Willmett's murder, Staff Sergeant Piper received a solid and worthwhile tip which pointed him to Mathias Jasbec and Fritz Eberts, both men were known to have immigrated into Canada not that many years earlier.
Staff Sergeant Piper was able to locate Jasbec in British Columbia. Subsequently, Jasbec gave a confession to Staff Sergeant Piper unhesitantly in which he implicated his friend Eberts as Constable Willmett's murderer. In his confession, Jasbec essentially said that he and Eberts had been attempting to break into a store when they were unexpectedly confronted by Constable Willmett. Suspect Jacbec said that Constable Willmett was actually shot by Eberts.
Another member, Reg.#4767, Sergeant Herbert F. O'Connell, followed up on other leads given to Staff Sergeant Piper from Jasbec. Soon, the second suspect Eberts was found living in Montana, USA and he was extradited to Canada.
The two suspects, Jasbec and Eberts were charged with murder. At trial, Eberts was found guilty of murder -- based to a large extent on the confession of his partner in crime. Eberts was sentenced to hang on June 1, 1912. In the meantime, the Crown withdrew the murder charge against suspect Jasbec who entered a guilty plea to a charge of attempted break, enter and theft. After his one year already served in jail, Jasbec received a suspended sentence.
Eberts sat on death row with other unfortunate inmates. While he was on death row, Eberts convinced a fellow inmate, who was soon to be hanged, to confess to Willmett's murder, but the plan was caught by a death-watch guard who overheard the plan. Eberts then appealed his death sentence and eventually he was commuted to life imprisonment in Stony Mountain Penitentiary, Manitoba.
Constable Willmett served from May 9, 1907 until his death April 12, 1908, in 'K' Division. At the time of his death, he was posted to Frank Detachment.
Cst. Willmett was buried in the Union Cemetery MP 32, Fort MacLeod, AB.
Reporting from Fort Healy,
J. J. Healy
July 23, 2012
