Lawrence Burleigh "Dick" Hewitt

1907 - 1937  (29 years)

• Name	Lawrence Burleigh "Dick" Hewitt
  Born	15 May 1907	Woodstock, Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	murder, crime, story
  Misfortune	1937	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	murdered by person(s) unknown
  Occupation	1937	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	taxi driver
  Residence	1937	215 King St. E., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-43212
  Died	14 Mar 1937	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Buried	Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I43212	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Idella May "Della" Gabel,   b. 2 Aug 1911, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 13 Feb 2001, Kincardine, Kincardine Twp., Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 89 years)
  Children	1. Janet Hewitt   2. Helen Hewitt
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F43592	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  1937 murder of Kitchener cab driver has never been solved KITCHENER - Lawrence "Dick" Hewitt was at home, listening to the Saturday night radio broadcast of the Maple Leafs game against Chicago when a ringing telephone cut through the play-by-play. It was late, after 10 p.m., and he didn't say who the caller was. Hewitt, fighting off a nagging cold, fetched his jacket, fired up his taxi and headed out into the dark. Four hours after he left his King Street East apartment, the 29-year-old cabbie was found dead lying on his back in a frozen ditch off the Kitchener-Preston highway, on the southern outskirts of town. A bullet had pierced his heart.... Waterloo Region Record -Greg Mercer - 14 Mar 2015 _______________ MYSTERY TAXI MURDER BAFFLES POLICE "DICK" HEWITT FOUND SLAIN AT CENTREVILE Taxi Owner's Body Found Sunday Morning Cold Blooded Killing of Popular Young Sportsman Arouses Twin City.Left Wife and Children Saturday While Listening to Hockey Broadcast, to Answer Call, and Never Returned. NO MOTIVE, CLUES The most brutal and cold-blooded murder ever perpretated in Waterloo County shocked the citizens of the Twin City Sunday morning when Lawrence B. "Dick" Hewitt, 30, Kitchener taxi operator, was found shot to death, his body lying frozen to the ice in the ditch almost directly in front of the Waterloo Township hall in Centreville. Hewitt, who was popular in sporting circles in Kitchener, having starred on former lacrosse teams. left his "drive yourself" garage on King street east, a few minutes before 10 p.m., 'Saturday night to answer a call, and rer returned. He was listening with his wife and two children and a friend to the Toronto- Chicago hockey broadcast when the call came. Driving through Centreville at two o'clock Sunday morning, R. Copeland. of Brantford, Bank Clerk, noticed a car abandoned on the roadside, and on walking towards it found the body lying stretched out in the ditch. He proceeded to Preston where he notified the local police who in turn called the Provin- cial police office at Kitchener. R. Petzig, garage employee, identified the body. Said to have had no enemies, being popular wherever he went, police have so far been able to find no clues to the murderer, or murderers. Since the discovery of the body.. they have been working steadily, tracing down angles of the case, prac- tically every angle coming to a dead end. The last persons to see Hewitt alive were his family and a close friend. "Barney" McGinnis. McGinnis told the Chronicle that they had been listening to the game, and that Hewitt had just remarked that "Toronto doesn't seem to be opening up much". when the phone rang. The group were npstairs in the Hewitt residence above the garage, and the murder victim took the phone call in an adjoining room. When he came back McGinnis said "Apps just scored". Hewitt put on his cap and went out on the call. McGinnis told the Chronicle that the taxi owner was not in the habit of saying where he was going and Saturday night seemed to expect to be back in ten minutes. the usual time needed to take a call in the city. McGinnis said he waited until 11 p.m.. when Mrs. Hewitt and her elder daughter lay down on the couch in the room to rest. When Hewitt's driver. Norman Amges, came in from a call, McGinnis left for home and did not hear of the murder until about 4.30 a.m. 32 Calibre Gun Used The murder weapon used, police say. was a 32 calibre revolver. The lead slug was found imbedded in Hewitt's coat. It had entered on an angle from the left, passed straight through the heart, both lungs, and came out under the right armpit. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Fisher Twin City pathologist, who was called by Coroner Dr. J. F. Honsberger. Dr. Honsberger was at the scene of the crime with provincial police. Inspector Albert Boyd of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Provincial Police arrived in the city Sunday afternoon and took full charge of the investigation han- Mystery Taxi Murder (Continued from Page 1) died up to his arrival by Inspector Jordon of the local detachment. More Than One Friends of Hewit: believe that there must have been more than one person implicated in the killing Hewitt was in the prime of life and *ould have resisted an attack of a one person, they say No signs of external violence were found on the body, nor were there any signs of a scuffle. The position of the body seemed to indicate that it had been id in the ditch rather than fallen there The body was stretched out on the back, the face twisted to the left the skin on the face and the clothing under the body being frozen to the ice. The body was also partly trozen when police arrived shortly jarter 2 a.m. Sunday morning Mc- Ginnis states that Hewitt was clean ving, never drinking or smoking...... EXPECT BREAK SOON At press time provincial police were closeted in the office of In- spector Jordon, and with them was Police Chief Wm. Hodgson of Kitch- ener. Although nothing was de- finite, activity in the police offices pointed towards the apprehension of suspects shortly. Police, however, refused to make any statements. The time of Hewitt's death was established by Dr. Fisher, Twin City pathologist, and Chief County Coroner Dr. Ward Woolner of Ayr as about midnight Saturday. The autopsy showed that Hewitt had been dead for at least two hours when found. A Waterloo citizen called at the provincial police office Monday afternoon and told of seeing three suspicious characters standing be- hind their car just above the Free- port hill about 10.30 o'clock Satur- day night. As he passed, the three men came around the car and watch- ed him proceed down the road. Although not attaching any import- ance to the occurrence, police are checking it along with other angles. Provincial police confirmed the report that two Waterloo county youths were picked up and held for questioning on Sunday but were! later released. The youths in ques- tion had a previous police record.

  
  

• Sources

  [S87] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Woodland CC#4510 Internet Link . Hewitt/ Lawrence B. Hewitt/ May 15, 1907-Mar. 14, 1937 [A] Harry H. Nahrgang/ May 8, 1912-Nov. 20, 1988/ Della M. Gabel/ Aug. 2, 1911-Feb. 13, 2001/ At Rest

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 15 May 1907 - Woodstock, Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada Misfortune - murdered by person(s) unknown - 1937 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - taxi driver - 1937 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1937 - 215 King St. E., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 14 Mar 1937 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth