Betty Lake's Mysterious Disappearance

In 1936, the Lake family was brutally murdered in their cabin in Pacific Junction, New Brunswick. Philip Lake, his wife Bertha, and her 20-month-old son Jackie were shot, chased into the snow, and left to die. The perpetrators, the Bannister brothers, Arthur and Daniel, also kidnapped Lake's six-month-old daughter, Betty Ann, and took her to their home. The brothers were later convicted of first-degree murder and executed by hanging, while their mother, Mae Bannister, was found guilty of extortion and harbouring Betty Ann.

The Bannisters' plan

The Bannisters Plan refers to the actions of the Bannister family, who lived in squalor in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1930s. The family consisted of Mother Bannister and her children: Daniel, Arthur, Marie, and Frances.

The plan was to obtain a baby for Mother Bannister, who had announced that she was pregnant. However, instead of adopting legally, the family opted to buy a life-sized doll, which Mother Bannister swaddled and paraded around, claiming it was the child of a railway worker named Milton Trites. This ruse proved successful, as Trites proceeded to buy the family groceries and a crib for the doll.

However, the Bannisters' scheme fell apart when Trites expressed a desire to see the child up close. The family then hatched a new plan: to kidnap a baby from a neighbouring family, the Lakes. On a January night in 1936, Daniel, Arthur, and Frances Bannister ventured through the snow-covered forest to the Pacific Junction cabin of Phillip Lake, his wife Bertha, and their two children. The Bannisters shot and killed Phillip and Bertha Lake, leaving their 20-month-old son, Jackie, to freeze to death in the snow. They then kidnapped Lake's six-month-old daughter, Betty Ann.

The Lake family murders

On a late Monday morning in early January 1936, a man named Mister Blakeney was chopping wood when he decided to go for dinner at his neighbour's house, which belonged to Philip Lake. When he got there, all he found were ashes and the remains of a fire from the night before. The burned body of Lake was found near the doorsill, and as Mister Blakeney hurried down the snow-beaten trail to the railway office, he found the frozen bodies of Philip Lake's wife, Bertha, and her 20-month-old son, Jackie, lying in the cold snow. The stationmaster, the RCMP, and the CNR police were all certain that murder and probably arson had been committed.

The footprints in the snow led in different directions, but at least one set of footprints led to the Bannister home in Berry Mills, where the previous day, one of the Bannister boys was seen walking towards Pacific Junction. A mitten was found along the snow trail, and when confronted at his home, 20-year-old Daniel Bannister claimed the lost mitten as his own. His younger brother, Arthur, admitted to being at a drinking party at the Lakes' house on the night of the fire. Both Bannister boys were arrested for murder after police found that not two, but three sets of footprints led from Pacific Junction to the Bannisters' house. Their sister, Frances Bannister, was also arrested and held as a material witness.

During the questioning, the Bannisters offered the story of an accidental fight and fire. However, the investigators didn't believe their story, and even the newspapers saw the crime as cut and dried. A small detail seemed out of place: there were only three bodies accounted for, but the Lakes had two children. The youngest Lake child, six-month-old Betty Ann, was still missing.

News from a Bannister neighbour rocked the RCMP and the entire city of Moncton: a baby had been inside the Bannister household since the day after the murders. At first, Mae Bannister, the mother, claimed the baby was hers, but Mister Blakeney identified a birthmark on the baby's hair as that of the missing Lake child. Mae admitted that her daughter Frances had brought the baby home from the burning Lake house. Despite Mae's lies and stories, a clear case of kidnapping became evident, and the motive was soon established. Investigators revealed that Mae was blackmailing a number of men, claiming that they had fathered the child and demanding they pay child support.

X-rays on Philip Lake showed that he had been shot before his house was burned. A broken .22 rifle was found in the snow at Pacific Junction, and a murder confession was taken from Daniel Bannister. His sister Frances admitted she had been standing outside the Lake house on the night of the murders and was handed a baby by her brother after shots were fired in the house.

Arthur Bannister and Daniel Bannister were subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and executed by hanging. Mae Bannister was acquitted of kidnapping but found guilty of extortion and "harbouring" Betty Ann, for which she received a maximum penalty of three and a half years in jail.

The investigation

The tracks in the snow led in different directions, but at least one set of footprints was traced to the Bannister home in Berry Mills. A mitten was found along the snow trail, and 20-year-old Daniel Bannister claimed ownership of it when confronted at his home. His younger brother, Arthur, admitted to being at the Lakes' home on the night of the fire, stating that they had been at a drinking party. Both boys were arrested for murder when police determined that three sets of footprints led from the crime scene to the Bannisters' house. Their sister, Frances Bannister, was also arrested and held as a material witness.

During questioning, the Bannisters claimed that an accidental fight and fire had led to the deaths of the Lake family. However, investigators were unconvinced by their story. A small detail that didn't add up was that there were only three bodies accounted for, while the Lakes had two children. The youngest Lake child, Betty, was still missing.

A breakthrough came when a neighbour reported that a baby had been inside the Bannister household since the day after the murders. Initially, Mae Bannister, the mother, claimed the baby was hers. However, Mister Blakeney identified a birthmark in the baby's hair as that of Betty Lake, the missing child of the Lakes. Frances Bannister admitted that she had brought the baby home from the burning Lake residence.

X-rays revealed that Philip Lake had been shot before his house was burned down. A broken .22 rifle was found in the snow near the Lakes' cabin, and a murder confession was obtained from Daniel Bannister. Frances confessed that she had been standing outside the Lake house on the night of the murders and that her brother had handed her the baby after shots were fired.

With this evidence, the authorities had a strong case against the Bannisters. Arthur Bannister stood trial for murder and was convicted. His mother, Mae, was tried for kidnapping and abduction, found guilty of extortion and "harbouring" Betty Lake. Daniel Bannister was also convicted of murder, with the jury recommending clemency due to his age. Both Arthur and Daniel Bannister were sentenced to death by hanging, while their mother received a prison sentence and was released early for good behaviour.

The trial

During the trial, Arthur Bannister was convicted of murder after a Royal Mounted Police Sergeant fainted in the witness box while examining the victim Philip Lake's gold teeth. Mrs. Bannister was tried for kidnapping, the first such trial in New Brunswick, and was found guilty of extortion and "harbouring" Betty Ann. She was sentenced to three and a half years in jail, the maximum penalty for the crime.

Daniel Bannister was tried separately and confessed to the murder. He was found guilty, but the jury recommended mercy in his case. Arthur's sentence was appealed, and a second trial was held, but the jury once again found him guilty of first-degree murder. Both Arthur and Daniel Bannister were sentenced to death by hanging, and on September 23, 1936, they were executed.

The sentence

In 1936, the sentence for the murder of Betty Lake was delivered in a case that shocked New Brunswick, Canada. The sentence saw two men, Arthur Bannister and Daniel Bannister, convicted of first-degree murder and executed by hanging. The sentence brought an end to a brutal and senseless crime that had taken place in the backwoods community of Pacific Junction, Westmorland County.

The Bannisters, a family of slack morals, had hatched a plan to kidnap baby Betty Lake and pass her off as their own. In January of 1936, the Bannister boys, along with their sister Frances, made their way through the snow-covered forest to the cabin of Philip Lake, who lived with his wife, Bertha, and her two children. The Bannisters shot and killed Philip Lake, chased his naked wife into the snow, and clubbed her to death, leaving her and her 20-month-old son, Jackie, to freeze to death. They then kidnapped Lake's six-month-old daughter, Betty Ann.

The crime scene was discovered by a neighbour, Mister Blakeney, who had been chopping wood nearby. He found the burned body of Philip Lake and the frozen bodies of Bertha and Jackie Lake. The RCMP and CNR police were certain that murder and arson had been committed. Tracks in the snow led to the Bannister home, and a mitten found along the trail further implicated the Bannisters.

During the investigation, a disturbing detail emerged: the youngest Lake child, Betty, was missing. It was soon discovered that a baby had been seen inside the Bannister household, and it was indeed Betty Lake. The Bannisters had intended to pass her off as their own and use her as a source of blackmail.

The Bannisters' trial was a sensational affair, with Arthur Bannister's trial interrupted by a fainting spell from Sergeant Bedford Peters, who was examining the victim's gold teeth. Despite the defence's efforts, the jury found Arthur Bannister guilty of murder. The mother, Mae Bannister, was acquitted of kidnapping but found guilty of extortion and "harbouring" Betty Ann. Daniel Bannister was also convicted of murder, with the jury recommending clemency due to his youth.

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