May Bannister: New Brunswick's Heroine

May Bannister was the mother of the Bannister brothers, Arthur and Daniel, who were executed in 1936 for the callous murders of Philip Lake, his wife Bertha, and their child, Jackie. May was accused of being the arch conspirator behind the crime, as she wanted her sons to kidnap the Lakes' baby, Betty, so that she could blackmail a prominent businessman. May was sentenced to three and a half years in Kingston Prison for Women.

May Bannister's role in the crime

May Bannister was accused of being the "arch conspirator" behind the crime. She wanted her sons, Arthur and Daniel, to kidnap the Lake family's baby, Betty, so that she could blackmail a prominent businessman in Moncton. May had applied to adopt a baby girl from an orphanage in Saint John, New Brunswick, but was unable to.

May Bannister had also recently given birth to a baby girl herself, and had convinced a railway worker, Milton Trites, that he was the father. She had swaddled a life-sized doll and paraded it along the roads, convincing Trites that it was his child. He bought the Bannisters groceries and a crib for the baby.

May Bannister was found guilty of extortion and of "harbouring" Betty Ann, and was sentenced to three and a half years in Kingston Prison for Women.

The Bannisters' squalid living conditions

The Bannisters lived in squalor, their home described as "impoverished". Their morals were described as "irredeemably relaxed", and their mother, May Bannister, was labelled the "township's 'fast woman'". May was also accused of being the "arch conspirator" behind the crime that her sons, Arthur and Daniel, were ultimately executed for.

The boys' upbringing was called into question during the trial, with their defence team arguing that the brothers should not be executed because they were raised in immoral surroundings, which may have included incest, and that they possessed the intellect of a 12-year-old. It was also claimed that their "feeblemindedness" was due to inbreeding, a lack of education, and their squalid living conditions.

The Bannisters' home was not searched by the police until January 9th, four days after the murders. The four Bannister children were at home, but May was out with her baby. Arthur and Daniel were sitting around lazily, while Frances played with a life-size doll, and 13-year-old Marie made lunch. The children's father was not mentioned in the reports.

The trial of May Bannister

May Bannister's trial began the day after her son Arthur's trial ended. She was tried for conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, and abduction. A large blue-eyed doll was entered as evidence—this was the doll she had used to convince Milton Trites that she had given birth to his child. The doll had been purchased in December, and May's daughter Frances testified that it was a Christmas gift for her sister, Marie, and that the squeaker had been removed because Marie didn't like it. Neither Albert Powell nor Milton Trites had seen May with the doll. However, a witness, James Sergeant, testified that he had seen May with a bundle in a blue blanket and that she had told him it was a baby. May was found guilty of harbouring a stolen child and was acquitted of the two more serious crimes. She was given the maximum sentence of 3.5 years in jail.

The trial of Arthur Bannister

Arthur's defence counsel tried to plant seeds of doubt in the jurors' minds, and there was some debate over the validity of the ballistics analysis. However, the stripes on the bullets fired from Arthur's rifle matched those found in Philip Lake's skull. Arthur's lawyer announced that he would appeal the decision, but this was to no avail. Arthur was sentenced to death and hanged, along with his brother, Daniel, in September 1936.

The case raised concerns about executing the young, as Arthur was only 17 at the time of the murders. There was also discussion about the Bannisters' impoverished and immoral upbringing, which may have included incest. It was argued that society bore some responsibility for the boys' actions, as they had been failed by their mother, May Bannister, and no one had intervened to rescue them from their miserable and depraved lives.

The trial of Daniel Bannister

Daniel and Arthur were accused of shooting and killing Lake, chasing his naked wife into the snow and clubbing her to death, and leaving their 20-month-old son to freeze to death. They then kidnapped the couple's six-month-old daughter, Betty Ann. The brothers' tracks led to their house, where the police found the baby and a life-sized doll, which their mother had been parading as her own child.

The trial of Arthur Bannister was dramatic, with a police sergeant fainting in the witness box as he examined the victim's gold teeth. Arthur was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

May Bannister was tried for kidnapping and acquitted, but found guilty of extortion and "harbouring" Betty Ann. She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Daniel Bannister was initially convicted of murder, with the jury recommending clemency. However, this conviction was overturned by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, which found that the trial judge had erred in his address to the jury.

At Daniel's second trial, he took the stand in his own defence, claiming he did not know the real purpose of the brothers' visit to the Lakes' home. After eleven days of testimony and three hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of murder, with no recommendation for mercy. He was sentenced to death and executed alongside his brother.

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