Corporal Donald Robert Irwin

1936 - 1976  (39 years)

• Name	Donald Robert Irwin
  Prefix	Corporal
  Born	7 Oct 1936	Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163293146
  Misfortune	1976	, Florida, USA
  	murdered
  Occupation	police man
  Residence	1976	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-169596
  Died	20 Feb 1976	Pompano Beach, Broward, Florida, United States   [1]
  Buried	Emily Cemetery, Omemee, Kawartha Lakes Municipality, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I169596	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Family	Barbara Ann Hutchinson,   b. 1936,   d. 28 Oct 2009  (Age 73 years)
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F63375	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Irwin,DonaldR-0001-1976.jpg Donald Robert Irwin

  
  

• Notes

  Convicted Cope Killer Wins 1-Day Reprieve MIAMI (AP) \endash Less than 15 hours before he was to die in Florida's electric chair, convicted cop killer Jessie Tafero won a one-day reprieve Wednesday to give his attorneys time to appeal to a federal court in Atlanta. US District Judge Lenore C. Nesbitt considered the case for five hours before she turned down Tafero's appeal and advised his attorneys she was giving them extra time to appeal to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Tafero, 38, convicted of gunning down two police officers, had been scheduled to die at 7 am today at Florida State Prison near Starke. His death warrant expires at noon Friday, meaning that he could still die Friday morning if his appeals are exhausted. On the advice of counsel he canceled a traditional pre-execution news conference at the North Florida prison. Attorney Marc Cooper's main contention was that Tafero's trial lawyer was ineffective in seeking a lesser punishment for his client. But the judge, in her 13-page order, said Tafero did have an adequate defense. Tafero was condemned for the January 1976 murders of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Phillip Black and a vacationing constable, Donald Irwin of Kitchener, Ontario. The law officers were gunned down after stopping a car on Interstate 95 in Broward County. Walter Rhodes testified for the prosecution that he was in the car with Tafero and girlfriend Sonia Jacobs and that the couple did the shooting. Ms. Jacobs also was sentenced to death for the murders, but the Florida Supreme Court later reduced her term to life. Tafero testified it was Rhodes who did the shooting. The prisoner is under his first warrant, and has not completed the full round of appeals in federal courts. All 10 prisoners executed in Florida since 1979 have been under at least two warrants. Meanwhile, an inmate who was scheduled to die along with Tafero already won a reprieve under an order that he be transferred to a state mental hospital. Gov. Bob Graham determined Monday that based on a report from three psychiatrists, Gary Alvord didn't understand the nature of the death penalty and why it was imposed in his case. The governor told reporters Tuesday that Alvord could have been treated five years ago, but his attorney refused an examination. "Alvord spent the last period of years on death row when he should have been getting treated," Graham told reporters. The governor said he ordered a psychiatric examination of Alvord in 1979, but the prisoner refused to be interviewed by the Graham selected experts on advice from his attorney William Sheppard of Jacksonville asked Graham to have three psychiatrists examine his client. Sheppard said he advised Alvord in 1979 to refuse the examination by invoking his constitutional protection against self-incrimination. Alvord, 39, was sentenced to death for the strangulation in 1973 of Lynn Herrmann, 18, her mother, Ann Herrmann, 38, and the teenager's 53 year-old grandmother, Georgia Tully. He was a fugitive from a Michigan hospital for the criminally insane when he was arrested for the Tampa area slayings. Sarasota Herald Tribune - 29 Nov 1984. ________________ In Remembrance Corporal Donald R. Irwin - February 20, 1976. Don (Donald) Irwin's career with the Ontario Provincial Police started on April 8, 1958. He worked at Toronto and then Peterborough. He was promoted to Corporal in 1969 when he transferred to Kitchener. While on vacation in 1974, Don and his wife befriended a Florida Highway Patrol officer and his wife. During another vacation in 1976, during a vacation with the Florida family, Don was given permission to ride along with the Highway Patrol officer during his shift. They came across an old car parked in a rest area on the interstate highway. On checking the vehicle, they discovered a couple of men, a woman and two young children and spotted a pistol which the Highway Patrol officer confiscated. After a record check and request for backup, both officers approached the vehicle. The Highway Patrol officer successfully handcuffed the driver. However, the woman and the other man both opened fired on the officers, killing them. The rest area on the interstate highway was named in honour of Corporal Donald Irwin and the Florida Highway Patrol officer. His wife and their three children survived Don Irwin. Redirecting... (2023). Available at: https://www.facebook.com/OPPAssociation/posts/in-remembrancecorporal-donald-r-irwin-february-20-1976don-donald-irwins-career-w/2048853911829472/ (Accessed: 13 September 2023).

  
  

• Sources

  [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163293146.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 7 Oct 1936 - Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Misfortune - murdered - 1976 - , Florida, USA Residence - 1976 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 20 Feb 1976 - Pompano Beach, Broward, Florida, United States  = Link to Google Earth