BRANTFORD — The biggest headline news in Brantford and region was the gruesome death of local hotel owner, James Quirk, behind what was then the Commercial Hotel, which building still stands at the corner of Dalhousie and George Streets in downtown Brantford.
Quirk was admittedly not a particularly kind man who was more feared than respected by those who knew him, according to police looking into his death.
A coroner’s inquest ruled the death a homicide after ruling out an accidental fall from a ladder inside a storage building between what is now the rear of St. Andrews United Church across from Victoria Park, and the Commercial building.
The coroner’s inquest found that the position of the body and the nature of the wounds were not consistent with a fall. Rather, that the victim was struck with an axe-like weapon which cleaved his skull down the middle of his forehead. There were other cuts and wounds that may have been caused by a fall, however, what was determined as the fatal blow was the axe to the head.
“There is no doubt in my mind that he was assailed just after he entered the barn,” was the determination of the inquest, but they never did find the murderer despite a lengthy investigation.
The main principals in the case were the deceased, Mr. James Quirk, who, along with business partner, Mr. Toole owned and ran the Commercial Hotel along with Quirks’ wife who managed the dining room within the hotel. Mrs. Quirk – wife and part owner; Mr. Toole, was part-owner and business manager. He found body.
“It was simply a case of someone whom Quirk had done up getting after him,” said the murdered man’s brother-in-law, who worked for Fred Westbrooke, owner of the Belmont Hotel on Colborne Street, who knew Quirk well. “He has been doing people up (beating people up) for years,” said Westbrooke. “He did me up too and it’s a wonder somebody got after him before. I wasn’t surprised when I heard.”
Where was Toole when the attack took place? Earlier, he and Ryan, who was drunk, argued over pay before the late-night killing.
Toole end of day relax with the newspaper before bed. Before being called to the situation in the barn.
What happened in the barn?
At around midnight on the second day of March of 1902, Commercial staff and a few residents of the hotel responded to the sound of a commotion and loud arguing coming from the barn, which Quirk also used as a chicken coop for his prize roosters.
It was the trial of the year in 1902 and ’03 and captured a lot of print media attention in the area daily newspapers. Both the city and the media pestered police for information relative to the crime, but they were keeping everything close to the vest and were reluctant to release anything but the known basic information.
Toronto police Detective Inspector, John Murray, who was sent to help local police solve the crime, suspected that Quirk was struck in the head with a heavy object as he ascended the ladder to his chicken coop, fell and struck his head where he was attacked again. The perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene clean and were never found.
A Mr. Toole, was the hotel manager and the night of the murder he stayed up especially late after closing the hotel up for the night. He was told of the disturbance in the barn and went out to see what was the matter. The confrontation between two men was reported by residents and staff but thinking the noise was the result of the all to familiar sound of drunken people arguing after close as they left.
Inspector Murray concluded that the murderer was perpetrated by a resident of the Commercial Hotel, who may have been in league with another individual who lured Quirk to the small barn behind the establishment. He deduced that the killer knew the building intimately with all its back stairs and servants’ passages. But who?
Detective Murray and Chief Vaughn locked up the barn as a crime scene, but locals complained that it the small shack closely investigated for the murder weapon and any other clues, however, the investigation took other turns. Interviews placed every principal named in the case in location at the time of the murder. There was never enough evidence to finger any one of them, but Insp. Murray had a strong feeling towards a suspect but would never speak openly about who he thought did the deed because his feelings were not coupled with enough evidence to make an arrest.
During the investigation, even a recognized palmist was called in to ply her talents to the case by reading the deceased palm, but nothing new came of that.
Curiously, Mr. Quirk had recently taken out a number of life insurance policies totalling $18,000, today’s worth of $676,296.43. A year following the murder, there was still no payout from the companies who waited for a decision about the death. Was it murder or an accidental fall that took Quirk’s life? If murder, there would be no payout.
Fifty years later, in 1952, the mystery was still unsolved, but by then, through court action, Mrs. Quirk got her payouts. Then, surprisingly, she married Mr. Toole, they sold the hotel and moved out of town.
Both police inspectors John Murray and continued to work on this case until they both retired and died without finding the culprit. The case remains unsolved to this day.
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