
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Episode 294: On the evening of December 21, 1883, near Bloomfield, Ontario, visitor Peter Lazier was murdered by two intruders at the farmhouse of Quakers Gilbert and Margaret Jones. The community, deeply affected, quickly organized a search. They traced footprints in the snow, leading to Joseph Thomset and the Lowder family's homes near West Lake. By the next day, Joseph Thomset and brothers David and George Lowder were arrested and charged with murder.
The legal process moved rapidly. The coroner's inquest began the next day, followed by formal proceedings within a week. The trial, held at the Prince Edward County Courthouse in Picton just five months later, suggested the motive was robbery, aimed at stealing the $555 Gilbert Jones earned from selling hops. George Lowder and Joseph Thomset were found guilty of murder and hanged in June of 1884. Many felt justice was served, but others believed the law got it wrong, acting hastily without sufficient evidence.
Sources:
Prince Edward County
The Canadian Encyclopedia | Quakers
The Lazier Murder: Prince Edward County, 1884 — Robert J. Sharpe
The Kingston Whig-Standard 24 Dec 1883, page 2
Ottawa Daily Citizen 24 Dec 1883, page 1
Manitoba Weekly Free Press 15 May 1884, page 2
The Lazier murder trial of 1884 – did they get the right men?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
By 640 Toronto / Curiouscast5
1414 ratings
Episode 294: On the evening of December 21, 1883, near Bloomfield, Ontario, visitor Peter Lazier was murdered by two intruders at the farmhouse of Quakers Gilbert and Margaret Jones. The community, deeply affected, quickly organized a search. They traced footprints in the snow, leading to Joseph Thomset and the Lowder family's homes near West Lake. By the next day, Joseph Thomset and brothers David and George Lowder were arrested and charged with murder.
The legal process moved rapidly. The coroner's inquest began the next day, followed by formal proceedings within a week. The trial, held at the Prince Edward County Courthouse in Picton just five months later, suggested the motive was robbery, aimed at stealing the $555 Gilbert Jones earned from selling hops. George Lowder and Joseph Thomset were found guilty of murder and hanged in June of 1884. Many felt justice was served, but others believed the law got it wrong, acting hastily without sufficient evidence.
Sources:
Prince Edward County
The Canadian Encyclopedia | Quakers
The Lazier Murder: Prince Edward County, 1884 — Robert J. Sharpe
The Kingston Whig-Standard 24 Dec 1883, page 2
Ottawa Daily Citizen 24 Dec 1883, page 1
Manitoba Weekly Free Press 15 May 1884, page 2
The Lazier murder trial of 1884 – did they get the right men?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

40 Listeners

76 Listeners

4 Listeners

3 Listeners

1 Listeners

7 Listeners

0 Listeners

0 Listeners

1 Listeners

221 Listeners

77 Listeners

24 Listeners

555 Listeners

47 Listeners

130 Listeners

32 Listeners

5 Listeners

186 Listeners

3 Listeners

5 Listeners

10 Listeners

30 Listeners

2 Listeners

56 Listeners

43 Listeners

11 Listeners

39 Listeners

10 Listeners

9 Listeners

0 Listeners

41 Listeners

1 Listeners

1 Listeners

56 Listeners

4 Listeners