INVESTIGATION

[ Interior, St. John the Evangelist Church, Montreal, QC, about 1896 ]

Wm. Notman & Son, Musée McCord Museum, VIEW-2814, St. John the Evangelist Church in Montreal was the setting for the private funeral services for Ada Maria Mills Redpath and J. Clifford Redpath on June 15, 1901. For more information about this image please click here

On June 14, 1901, the day after the deaths of Ada Maria Mills Redpath and Jocelyn Clifford Redpath, a coroner’s inquest convened in the mansion. Established to investigate the deaths of Ada Redpath and Jocelyn Clifford Redpath, the inquest produced two reports that provide us with the richest accounts of the incident. Thirteen prominent Montrealers comprised the jury, which heard the testimonies of Peter Whiteford Redpath, Dr. Thomas George Roddick, Dr. Hugh Patton, Dr. Rollo Campbell, Rosa Shallow, and Charles James Fleet.

There are interesting contradictions in the evidence. While several newspapers report that Clifford Redpath was transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital following the shooting, there is no mention of his admittance in the hospital’s patient registers. Dr. Roddick, the Redpath’s family physician, testified that he had arrived at the mansion and examined both bodies, but newspaper accounts note that Dr. Roddick did not return to Montreal until the following day.

Did the coroner’s inquest solve the mystery? Why were the police not involved? The official record of the Redpath case is remarkably scarce and riddled with mysteries.

Inquests

Newspaper or Magazine Articles

Notarial document

Parish or cemetery record

Photographs, Paintings or Drawings