Kenneth Victor "Champ" Landers

1935 - 1975  (40 years)

• Name	Kenneth Victor "Champ" Landers
  Born	1935
  Gender	Male
  Crime	murdered
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242680908
  Died	9 Aug 1975	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Misfortune	1976	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	murdered by Thomas French and Kenneth's wife
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-169594
  Buried	Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I169594	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

• Notes

  French's murder conviction stays OTTAWA \endash (CP) \endash The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the murder conviction of Thomas French, serving a life sentence for the 1975 shooting death of Kenneth Landers in Wilmot, near Waterloo, Ont. Seven judges of the high court decided unanimously to reject French's appeal. French's lawyers had argued that the Ontario Supreme Court trial judge erred by directing the jury to render a verdict of guilty on the basis of the testimony of one witness rather than upon the evidence as a whole. The Supreme Court upheld the decisions by the Ontario upheld the decisions by the Ontario Supreme Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal. The principal Crown witness in the case was Nadine Deveau, who had testified at the trial she overheard French and Landers' wife plotting the murder of Landers. Deveau said Landers' wife agreed to split the life insurance money with French. Police found Landers' body, shot twice through the head, in the back of his pick-up truck. Deveau said French had told her he shot Landers and that he "died like a dog". The Supreme Court of Canada said in the judgment written by Mr. Justice Jean Beetz the defence went to great lengths to discredit Deveau, "a young woman of unsavory repute with a criminal record, a history of alcoholism and drug addiction and the reputation of being a liar." The Supreme Court said the trial judge had told the jury that apart from Deveau's testimony, the evidence against French was almost wholly circumstantial. The judge told members of the jury that because Deveau was a self-confessed liar they should be careful in weighing her evidence. However he added that even persons who have bad reputations are capable of telling the truth. The Supreme Court ruled that there was no miscarriage of justice. Montreal Gazette 19 Jul 1979

  
  

• Event Map

  Died - 9 Aug 1975 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Misfortune - murdered by Thomas French and Kenneth's wife - 1976 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth