Mayor’s brother - accident or suicide?
Caption reads: “The above photo shows the spot where Charles Rinfret, prominent Montreal businessman, met his death this morning. From the railing of the Dorchester Street bridge the body plunged eighty feet, striking the side of a CNR train which was passing under the bridge and bouncing off to a point beside the tracks indicated by the arrows.” - Front Page, Wednesday, May 10, 1933. The Montreal Daily Herald.
The story:
Charles Rinfret Plummets to death
Instantly Killed by 80-ft. Drop to Railroad Tracks
“Probable accident” was Coroner’s Finding in Rinquest Onquest — No Eyewitnesses of Actual Mishap Called to Give Testimony at Inquest
Body Hits Train
“Probably accident” was the verdict of Coroner Lorenzo Prince this morning after a private inquest into the death of Francois-Louis Charles Rinfret, aged 51, brother of Hon. Fernand Rinfret, M.P. Mayor of Montreal, who was instantly killed shortly before 9 o’clock this morning when his body plunged eighty feet from the top of the railing on the Dorchester Bridge, hit a moving train and caromed* on to the platform.
No Eye-Witness Heard.
No witness who saw the tragedy were called and in closing the proceedings the Coroner said that in view of the lack of testimony from eyewitnesses he would render a verdict of “probable accident.”
Alderman Bell who said at the City Hall this morning the he saw a man climb over the five foot bridge railing and take the fatal leap was not called upon to testify. He said that not until he arrived at the City Hall this morning was he aware that the man was the mayor’s brother.
The deceased, who lived at 4840 Westmount Avenue Westmount, was also a brother of the Hon Justice Thibaudeau Rinfret of the Supreme Court of Canada, and was a past president and director of Munderloh and Company.
Remains Identified.
The crushed remains of the well-known local club member and businessman were identified at the morgue this morning by Mayor Rinfret and by directors of the Munderlog firm.
Saw Body Fall.
Francis Portugais, a Canadian National Railway brakeman who was releasing the steam brakes of some stationary cars near the scene of the mishap sated that he was about 20 feet from the actual spot where the body dropped after striking the side of one of the cars.
He said he was going about his usual work when he noticed a dark object falling. On looking up he realized it as a man’s body falling head first. A moment later it had struck the ground. He immediately went for aid.
The deceased it was stated had been in ill health for several years and was planning a long vacation in Europe.
Before leaving the city Call, Ald. Legault and his confreres repressed deep regrets at the untimely death of Mayor Rinfrit’s brrother. At the meeting tomorrow, a resolution of sympathy will be passed by the council.
* Main definition of verb “to carom,” from Merriam-Webster Online: 1 : to strike and rebound : GLANCE
But where was the Dorchester Street bridge?
Who might’ve killed the mayor’s brother?
Camillien Houde’s gang of thugs might be a good place to look.
Houde had been mayor prior to this and war mayor again after. He had a whole load of fascist strongarms in his camp.
Also - the place he lived when he died - 4840 Westmount Avenue - appears to be the current 7 th Day Adventist Church at the Southeast corner of Victoria and Westmount Avenue. Don’t know how that’s possible, as the church looks like it’s been around at least since then.
Dear Kate M.,
The Dorchester Street Bridge would have spanned the chasm where now stand Place Ville Marie, The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Central Station and Place Bonaventure. At one time, you had to cross the bridge pictured in this posting to get from, say, Mansfield to University. The huge crater was the result of an incomplete dig for the proposed downtown station of a third railway. I spoke a bit about it on CBC a while ago:
http://cbc.ca/montreal/media/audio/homerun/20060403UNKNOWN_.ram
Hi Mega,
Good point about the street address. Perhaps Westmount changed their number designations. As for whether he was pushed … looks like that other alderman saw him climb. But maybe there’s something fishy behind that, too… .
[…] Here’s a shot from yesteryear that Kate M. might find interesting. (She asked about the Dorchester Bridge — see comments.) This picture’s from a 1953 newspaper article. It shows the south end of the tunnel running through Mount Royal. A lot of current landmarks don’t exist yet. downtown montreal mount royal tunnel railway historydowntown montreal mount royal tunnel railway history […]
Thanks JD. Too bad the CBC’s so committed to using Realaudio. Maybe you should talk them into doing mp3 podcasts of your stuff.
That’s a good idea. I’ll raise it. Can’t shun the eye pawed.
From what I could tell addresses throughout the years have remained pretty much the same.
Then it behooves me to say that, perhaps the reporter got it wrong. I guess Lovell’s directories, Bell white pages and electoral lists could be used to put that theory to the test.