Judge James Cardwell Makins

Other Events:

• Name: J. C. Makins
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-223852

Notes:

KITCHENER - Reg White was a simple man who could barely write his name, but he'll go down in history forever as the last man ever to be hanged in Waterloo Region.

His crime was sordid and brutal, and his life was nothing extraordinary, but the story of his final days still has the power to capture the imagination, even today, 82 years later.

The 35-year-old Hespeler man was convicted in February 1940 for the double axe murder of 78-year-old John Milroy, a retired farmer, and his 73-year-old sister Annie. The pair were savagely killed the summer before, after White, desperate for money so he could get married, confronted his former employer with demands for cash.

The psychiatrist who examined him testified at the trial that White was able to distinguish right from wrong but was "a borderline case as regards intelligence. He is a little subnormal."

The trial was short, and the jury deliberated for just three hours and 20 minutes before convicting White of both murders.

The imposition of the heaviest penalty \emdash death by hanging \emdash was rare and could weigh heavily even on a seasoned jurist. The judge at White's trial, James Makins, was briefly overcome with emotion and had to pause to collect himself before he could pronounce the death sentence.....

"The Final Hanging: The Last Execution In Waterloo Region". 2022. Therecord.Com. https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/03/08/the-final-hanging-the-last-execution-in-waterloo-region.html.