A song entitled “Over the Hill” was written by Marcy Italiano and her husband Giasone, a pair raised in Hamilton not far from where the Dick murder took place. It appears on Gruesome, which is a soundtrack CD to promote the book Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson. The CD features songs based on the novel as well as other eerie things like ghosts and monsters — people like Evelyn Dick falling into the “monster” category. It takes the element of morbid humour a bit further in its opening:
He did not know
When he came home
That you’d be there
With a cleaver in the air
You chopped up John
Oh, did you have fun?
You said you didn’t kill
Threw him over the hill[12]
Born on October 13, 1920, in Beamsville, Ontario, Evelyn Dick later moved with her parents to Hamilton. There is evidence that her father was abusive, struggled with alcohol abuse, and might also have been siphoning funds from the Hamilton Street Railway, where he worked. Evelyn tried hard to fit in with the higher-class in town and was consistently at the heart of rumours. She was often seen in the company of older men and continually being caught in outright lies, such as her claims to be married to a man stationed overseas, who was never proven to exist.[13]
Evelyn married John Dick in 1945 after a very quick courtship and apparently engaged in her first extramarital affair within the first week of marriage.
On Saturday March 16, 1946, a group of five children found what they thought was a human body partway down the escarpment in the Albion Falls area. They scrambled up the hill and blocked the roadway on the top with a human chain, hoping to stop the first car that arrived and alert them of their find. The first adults on the scene insisted that what they likely saw was the body of a slaughtered pig, but the children insisted it was human and was wearing a shirt.
What they had found was the torso of an adult male. The head, arms, and legs were missing and to this day have not been found. A deep abdominal wound suggested that somebody had tried to cut the torso itself in two.
A report in the Hamilton Spectator read, “Clothed only in an undershirt and shorts, the torso of an unidentified man with the head, legs and arms missing, was found ... one half-mile from Albion Falls, about 10 o’clock this morning ... The gruesome find was made by a group of children ... out for a Saturday morning hike.”[14] The body was confirmed to be that of John Dick, who had been reported missing by his cousin on March 6.
Evelyn Dick was immediately questioned but denied knowing anything or having anything to do with her husband’s murder. Investigation revealed that a Packard Evelyn had borrowed from a Bill Landeg was returned to him with blood covering the seat and bloody clothing in the back. Her excuse involved a companion who had cut herself and made the mess, but the blood was found to be the same type as John Dick’s.[15]
When the blood was revealed likely to be that of her husband, Evelyn told police that an unknown man had called her and told her of John having gotten a woman pregnant, further adding he had received what was coming to him for his actions. She explained the man asked to meet and gave her a large sack containing “part of John.” She claimed to have driven this man and his sack to the dumping site.[16]
The sultry-eyed, black-haired, beautiful woman found herself at the centre of one of the most publicized trials in Canadian crime history. Hundreds of Hamiltonians appeared to witness the trial, packing lunches and shoving their way to get a good spot, and those involved in the case became unwilling celebrities of their time.
Evelyn reportedly yawned and drew sketches while in the courtroom, smiled openly for photographers, and uttered phrases such as “My public is waiting to see me.” Taxi drivers fawned over the beautiful woman, eagerly competing to escort her to court, and her admirers sent her flowers and cards.[17], [18], [19]
She later changed her story and suggested the involvement of killers hired by Bill Bohozuk. Evelyn Dick was found guilty of John Dick’s death through involvement in participating and planning the murder and was sentenced to hang on January 7, 1947 — but the case was overturned on appeal due to the fact that Evelyn’s statements were improperly admitted into evidence.
Though acquitted of the murder of her husband, the police later got her on a second charge of manslaughter related to her newborn son, who was found encased in cement in a suitcase in her family home. She was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled after a dozen years.
Evelyn Dick has not been seen since her parole, but some suggest that her husband’s tortured ghost still prowls the mountainside near Albion Falls in a futile attempt to collect his still-missing body parts. John Dick is just one of many lost souls wandering the area, reminders of the accidents, murders, and suicides it has been played to.
Chapter Twelve
Dundas District Elementary School
Actor Dave Thomas graduated Dundas District Elementary School in 1967. He and his brother, Ian, who graduated a few years later and went on in his musical career to win a Juno, are perhaps the best-known graduates from this school.
Some years after leaving Dundas District, Dave Thomas worked on Second City Television (SCTV) with a colleague named Joe Flaherty. Flaherty played a character known as Count Floyd, a low-budget local-television “horror” show host. Though Thomas lives in California, his long-time colleague Flaherty still lives in the Hamilton area. Given the legends surrounding Dundas District Elementary School, one wonders if Flaherty might occasionally be tempted to don his old costume, stand on the grounds of the school his comedic pal used to attend, and in his “Transylvanian” accent, say something like, “Gather ’round, kids, and be prepared to hear a scary story about the ghosts and pranks that took place here.” He would, of course, finish with his trademark eerie werewolf howl (despite being dressed as a vampire).
The reason the fictitious host of the equally fictitious Monster Chiller Horror Theatre might be appropriate to introduce this haunted school isn’t just due to the tie-in with a locally born alumni. The tales of this particular site range from the truly tragic and horrific to a series of pranks that don’t seem to have stopped upon death of the alleged prankster.
The Dundas District Public School stands vacant on the former Highway 8 at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. This landmark building was the perfect scenic and easily accessible location for students in both Dundas and Flamborough.[1]
Originally built as the Dundas District High School and designed by Hamilton architect William J. Walsh, the goal was to mimic a Collegiate Gothic style. Budget limitations resulted in the completed building not looking as grand as originally intended in the design; however, the result was a well-proportioned three-storey building of rug brick with finely carved stone detailing.[2]
The Gothic stone ornamentation on the building includes decorative crests, door lintels marking separate entrances for girls and boys, as well as pinnacles and gargoyles. Legend has it that gargoyles are meant to scare off, or protect the building from, any evil or harmful spirits — but in this particular case, though much of the original architecture maintains a high degree of architectural integrity, a testament to the original designers and builders, and the gargoyles still stand watch over the building, it seems as if their mission has failed.[3]
Stylistically, this abandoned school might be compared to other Hamilton schools built in the same era, such as Westdale High and George R. Allen.[4] The building dates back to 1849 when the Dundas Select Academy, a private grammar school on Ogilvie Street, was established. The original building at 397 King Street West was constructed in 1928 on the former mill property donated by Robert and Frank Fisher. The brothers agreed to donate the property containing the Fisher Paper Mill (Gore Mills) as well as the vacant lot on the opposite side of King Street. They stipulated that the property must be kept in perpetuity for educational and public playground use.[5]
A