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| Lillian Morel, 20 |
Morel, aged just 20, had lived a tough life. She never knew her father and her mother died when she was only 14.
William Owen, 37, arrived in Canada in 1925 from the UK en route to New York City. Visa issues prevented him from working in the USA, so he found work at a brokerage firm before moving on to become a bond salesman at McQuaig. He lived a comfortable existence with his wife Elizabeth at 4215 Western (De Maisonneuve). apt 7. The couple had no children.
Owen, from Criccieth, North Wales was a hard-drinker who served as treasurer for Montreal's St. David's Society.
He told people that he had served in World War II and had been a secretary to UK Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Some of his claims might have been exaggerated, as a reputable Montreal namesake cast mild doubt on Owen's claims.
Owen and his stockbroker pals enjoyed Montreal's lively nightlife. When Owen crossed paths with Morel, described in one newspaper article as a "titian-haired cabaret singer," it was to be a doomed union that would end in blood.
Morel, who stood 5'4" and weighed 135 lbs, spent several weeks in the summer of 1934 with Owen at a cottage in Repentigny. He set her up at a love nest at 4860 St. Denis apt 3.
Owen did not conceal his affair from his wife Elizabeth. Morel had come to his home and met his wife. Lillian felt guilty enough to write notes of apology to Elizabeth for her home-wrecking ways.
On Friday 5 October 1934 Owen drove two of his bond salesmen colleagues, George F. Styles, 30, and Alan Patrick to Morel's apartment. They arrived at 2:15 p.m. and set about drinking a large bottle of whiskey that Owen had hauled in.
All enjoyed the afternoon and Owen dozed off. Morel drove the two men home.
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| Morel |
Owen - Morel later reported - pushed her back over the kitchen table and gripped her around her neck.Morel panicked and reached for a knife laying within her reach. She gripped it and stabbed it hard into Owen's ribcage.
Owen lay writhing on the floor, as Morel ran for help at a nearby doctor, Denis Hamelin at 4595 St. Denis.
An ambulance rushed Owen to hospital but attempts to save him were to no avail. He bled to death.
Morel, clad only in a nightgown and her coat, drove off in Owen's Ford to a nightclub where she downed a few drinks. She then drove off and smashed the car on a southern section of east end Cartier Street. She then got to the South Shore to her aunt's place and was found crouching in a field near Taschereau Boulevard.
Police arrested Morel and a week later, authorities found her criminally responsible for Owen's death, as they deemed that she opted to stab Owen when she could easily have fled.
Newspapers feasted on the trial, noting that Morel had employed other names such as Liliane Saint-Pierre and Dolorès Lopes, part of a spicy Latina persona that might've been useful in her employment.
Morel's lawyers Paul Desy and Gorge Duranceau portrayed her as a victim who had overcome great challenges after the loss of her parents. One later article claimed that Morel's father was the disgraced cop Louis Morel, who was later hanged for his part in a robbery. Official records do not reflect this to be true, however.
Owen's widow Elizabeth stole the show at the trial as she presented a moving portrait of a woman struggling to maintain her dignity as her husband cheated on her blatantly. She moved to Toronto following the incident.
On 17 December 1934 Mr. Justice Charles A. Wilson found Morel guilty of manslaughter and sent her to prison for two years less a day. He cited her difficult past for the lenient sentence. "If the sentence were too severe, it would deprive you of the opportunity to rebuild your life," he said.
We don't know if Lillian Morel rebuilt her life or not as she did not return to the news. She would be around 108 if she were still alive today.
Good story..thanks
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