The Timeline: 1919

John Vegryniuk

On December 13th, 1918, an Austrian/ Polish immigrant named John Vegryniuk shot and killed another Austrian immigrant, Worzye Tomaszewaki. Both men were working on the CPR repair gang for the “Ottawa railway”. The two men were seen drinking and arguing in their containment car, which was acting as their apartment while working, by a neighbouring man. Around 11:45 at night a gunshot was heard by the surrounding men leading to the discovery of Worzye’s body and Vegryniuk with a gun seemingly having shot the now dead man. Vegryniuk attempted to make it look like a suicide by putting the gun he used to shoot the victim down beside him and told the witnesses to say that he had killed himself. About 3 hours later, Vegryniuk reported the body of his victim to Adelard Dubois, who was acting as their superior. Vegryniuk told him that there was a man “who was either asleep or dead” underneath a train car. [1]

With the discovery of the body, John was taken into custody and tried for murder. He was proven guilty and sentenced to the death penalty. He was kept at the Cornwall Gaol until his execution on March 29, 1919. That morning just before 7am, Arthur Ellis, the resident hangman came and collected Vegryniuk and marched him to the scaffold that was erected in the smallest courtyard to the gaol where he was hanged for his crimes. He was pronounced dead by the gaol’s doctor; Dr. D.O. Alguire, about 8 minutes after Ellis pulled the lever that released the trapdoor. [2]

[1] The Ottawa Journal. Dec 13, 1918.

[2] The Gazette (Montreal, QC). March 29, 1919