Arthur Lucas – The Last to Die

Arthur Lucas is a man mainly known for being one of the last two men to be hanged in Canada before they abolished the death penalty. Lucas was an African American man who was convicted of the murder of Therland Charter in Toronto, Ontario. At the time, Lucas was a known pimp in Detroit, transporting girls to Chicago for the means of prostitution. Therland Charter was not an innocent man himself; after he got into some trouble, he became a police informant. This is what began the investigation into Arthur Lucas for his murder due to Lucas's occupation and violent history.

Arthur Lucas – The Final Execution

Arthur Lucas’s childhood sheds some light on how and why he became the man he did. At a very young age, both of his parents passed away, forcing him to move around a lot, living with different aunts and uncles. At age 8, he was living with an aunt, but unfortunately, she passed away as well. Arthur then moved in with his cousin in the city of Detroit. By the age of 14, he was living all alone in boarding houses around the city. Thus began the downward spiral of Arthur Lucas’s life. He stopped going to school and only received a grade 8 education due to the lack of stability and authority in his life. This is shown by his IQ level, which classified him as almost feebleminded. Once he stopped going to school, he started associating himself with criminals, such as conmen, pimps, and prostitutes. From then on, he learned how to survive with small criminal jobs such as thefts and larceny. It was during his teen years that Lucas started piling more and more onto his criminal record, spending years in and out of prison. Due to his years being incarcerated, it was very hard for Lucas to keep legitimate jobs. With his incarceration and attitude, he did not keep jobs for very long. This is when Lucas started making a living from pimping out girls and hustling drugs.

Criminal Activities and Investigation

Arthur Lucas’s criminal activity then became so serious that the FBI started an investigation into him, though they had a long file on him and his crimes for a very long time. One of their investigations was under the Mann’s Act, which “prohibited the interstate transportation of women and girls for ‘immoral purposes,’ such as prostitution” (Smith, 2020). This is exactly what Arthur Lucas was doing, transporting girls from Detroit to Chicago. This led up to him doing a favor for a friend to drive down to Toronto to do some business for him, which would be his last. When on trial, Lucas was not afraid to talk about his business in prostitution. Throughout his life of being a pimp, he was known to be very violent and protective over his girls. When questioned by police, an old girlfriend of Lucas’ stated he often beat her with baseball bats, chains, or his fists, which due to his size and stature were very big and usually covered in many rings. This would all be used against him in his trial, in a way of trying to prove his guilt, showing the kind of man he was to others.

The Role of Social Learning Theory

It was Lucas’s tragic childhood that pushed him into a life of crime. Growing up, he spent his time with the only people he knew, criminals. In the eyes of the Social Learning Theory, it is not a coincidence he became a pimp. Spending so much time with criminals at such a young age, all he knew was a life of crime. It is said in this theory that behavior can be learned by observing and imitating others (Bandura, 1977). For Arthur Lucas, he was spending so much time with pimps and prostitutes, it became inevitable that he would become a criminal himself. Those were the only authority figures he had growing up since he had no parents or older family members. It would be with those conmen, pimps, and prostitutes he would learn what he needed to know to become a pimp himself and display a copying behavior, acting similar to the leader, which was getting into the prostitution business. A friend in the business asked if Lucas could do some business for him in Toronto, and that made him the prime suspect in the murder trial. It was Arthur Lucas’s life in crime and his occupation that would cause the most speculation into whether he was innocent or guilty. Near the end of his trial, the prosecutor Henry Bull would even use Lucas’s past criminal offenses against him, trying to show the jury he was not an innocent man. If Lucas had a typical childhood, it would be less likely for him to get in as much trouble with the law as he did. If his parents had not passed away and he had good role models and authority figures to teach him what was right and wrong, he would not be in the position he was in.

The Trial and Its Implications

Since the only people he could learn and observe from were criminals, especially in the line of work of prostitution, there were many different opinions surrounding Lucas and whether he was the one that committed the double murder of Therland Charter and Carolyn Ann Newman. After the hanging on December 11, 1962, many were troubled by the Arthur Lucas verdict. Even at the time, some were skeptical about sending him to jail with the death penalty. Some thought it was not a fair trial since all evidence presented was circumstantial. If this trial took place when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was in effect, the outcome and fate of his life would be very different than it had been. The most important right that would have helped Arthur Lucas was section 11(d). Section 11(d) states, “Any person charged with an offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal” (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982). It was predominant that Lucas was not assumed innocent until proven guilty. From the beginning, when the police heard of Lucas knowing the victims, they immediately believed he was the one that committed the double murder. They did have some circumstantial evidence that could make it look like Arthur Lucas was the man who killed them. However, there were ways to show their circumstantial evidence was not as good as they thought.

Racial Bias and Evidence

Firstly, Arthur Lucas’s trial was stacked with an all-white, all-male jury. This could cause an unfair trial due to Lucas’s race. In addition, in their defense, they gave evidence about the .38-caliber gun that was used, which was said to be Lucas’s. However, the .38-caliber gun that they found was said to be very old and did not always work properly. It was said it had a lot of blowback, so when it was fired, there would be a lot of debris and gunpowder landing on the hand of the person who fired the gun. When tested, there was only a small amount of gunpowder present on Arthur Lucas’s hand, which made it very unlikely he would have shot that gun. Furthermore, the murders of both victims were very gruesome. Both of them were found with their throats slashed. When the bodies were found, there was blood everywhere, meaning that whoever committed this act would have to be covered in blood as well. When Arthur Lucas's clothes were checked, there was no blood found on his clothes. Therefore, it would be very difficult in today’s day and age to convict Lucas for this murder. But, without the charter of rights and freedoms, many people's biases about Lucas’s criminal past and choice of occupation blurred their opinions on him. This is why they gave him the death penalty before knowing if he was the one who committed the murder.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Arthur Lucas was put to death on December 11, 1962, alongside Ronald Turpin. Little did they know, they would be the last two to be hanged in Canada. It would be after they were killed that many others would start to realize the negative effect the death penalty had, especially if someone was put to death even though they were innocent. This may have been the case for Arthur Lucas, highlighting the need for a more just legal system and the protection of individual rights, which are now enshrined in modern legal frameworks.

References:

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Prentice Hall.
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (1982). Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11.
• Smith, J. (2020). The Impact of the Mann Act on American Legal History. Journal of Legal History, 35(3), 45-67.