Early on Sunday, June 15, 1969, a man’s body was found in a parking lot on Eastern Avenue. He lay between a parked car and a truck, behind an auto lubricating firm at Eastern and Empire Avenues. He had been struck repeatedly on the face and head.
The lot was part of a block owned by Campbell Lubricating Specialties Ltd., at about 410 Eastern Avenue. The Globe and Mail described the main working area as a converted gas station, with dump trucks parked in front and behind.
The dead man was Samuel McClelland, 51. He worked for the post office and lived on Empire Avenue, a short distance from the lot. The Toronto Daily Star called him a “bachelor postman.”
On Saturday night, he had gone to a party. Police told reporters his death may have followed an argument. They said his injuries suggested he had been beaten with a pipe or club. The Globe and Mail reported that a length of pipe may have been used.
That night, Det.-Sgts. Douglas Lewis and James Warden arrested Lawrence Whiteley at his home at 270 Roncesvalles Ave. Whiteley was 22 and worked as a tire shop vulcanizer. About 12 hours after the body was found, he was charged with non-capital murder.
When he was placed in the police car, Whiteley spoke. Lewis later told the court what he said: “I did it, sir. I beat him. He made a pass at me.”
McClelland’s family placed a death notice in the Star on June 17 and again on June 18. It said he died suddenly on Sunday, June 15. He was the son of Sarah McClelland and the late James McClelland, and the brother of James. He rested at the Washington and Johnston chapel on Queen Street East, at Broadview. The service was held on Thursday, June 19, and he was buried in the Veterans’ Plot at Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough.
On June 27, twelve days after McClelland died, Bill C-150 received royal assent. The House of Commons had passed it on May 14 by 149 votes to 55. Under the new law, sex between men was no longer a crime if both were over 21, both consented and it took place in private.
Whiteley came before Mr. Justice Campbell Grant on Friday, October 3. Charged with non-capital murder, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The Crown accepted the plea, so there was no trial.
The court heard from psychiatrist Kenneth Gray. Whiteley had told him that his father hated homosexuals, Gray said, and Whiteley became quite emotional talking about them. “His feelings of revulsion are very pronounced,” Gray said, “greater than the average man’s.”
Defence counsel Ross Mackay asked whether psychiatric treatment would lessen that aversion. Gray agreed that it would. All normal men have an aversion to homosexuals, he said.
Grant asked him: “You’re not going out to teach the average man to love these individuals?”
“No, My Lord, that is not part of our approach,” Gray said.
This was the defence. Whiteley’s hatred of homosexual men was put forward to explain the killing, and treatment to reduce it. Neither the psychiatrist nor the judge treated the aversion itself as abnormal. The only question was how strong it was in Whiteley.
Mackay told the court it was a trick of fate that Whiteley should have met “a man like McClelland” after the two had attended a party in a Broadview Avenue house.
Grant said he accepted Whiteley’s version of what led to McClelland’s death. “But there was no excuse for the extent of this violence,” he told him. “You were 50 pounds heavier and much younger than this man.”
He sentenced Whiteley to six years in penitentiary.
The Globe and Mail ran the story the next morning. Its first sentence described Whiteley as a man who “admitted beating a man who made a homosexual advance to him.” The advance came from Whiteley’s own account. In June, police had said McClelland’s death may have followed an argument.
Vital statistics
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Samuel McClelland |
| Age | 51 |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Post office employee |
| Date of death | June 15, 1969 |
| Manner of death | Blunt force |
| Location | Parking lot behind Campbell Lubricating Specialties Ltd., about 410 Eastern Avenue, at Empire Avenue |
| Accused | Lawrence Whiteley, 22, of 270 Roncesvalles Ave. (also spelled Whitely) |
| Charge | Non-capital murder |
| Defence counsel | Ross Mackay |
| Judge | Mr. Justice Campbell Grant |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty to manslaughter; plea accepted by the Crown |
| Sentence | 6 years in penitentiary, October 3, 1969 |
Sources
- The Globe and Mail, June 16, 1969, p. 5
- Toronto Daily Star, June 16, 1969, p. 31
- Toronto Daily Star, June 17, 1969, p. 36 (death notice)
- Toronto Daily Star, June 18, 1969, p. 52 (death notice)
- The Globe and Mail, October 4, 1969, p. 5
- Pine Hills Cemetery, Mount Pleasant Group website
- Photograph: 410 Eastern Ave by Google Maps
- On Bill C-150: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Law_Amendment_Act,_1968%E2%80%9369
Murder Village Map