Archive - 1970
Homicide #1970-xx
Date - 1970-06-26
Victim - Houston, Detective Ron (??)
Accused - Shand, Thomas Mason (30)
Charge - Murder
On June 26th, 1970, Detective Ron Houston who was on a stake-out for a vicious rapist, was stabbed to death by Thomas Mason Shand. After stabbing Houston in the chest, Shand took the officer's gun and fired one shot at the downed officer. Shand also fired, and missed, at Detective John DeGroot.
A trial was held between October 5 - 15, 1970 at the Court of Queen's Bench with Judge John M. Hunt residing.
Shand was found guilty and an execution date of June 10, 1971 was fixed. As the result of an Order in Court of February 24, 1972, Shand's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment at the Stony Mountain Penitentiary.