... It was about 2:20 am on March 14th, 1937, while driving on a dark, almost deserted highway just outside of Kitchener, Ontario, when Mr. Copeland, a bank clerk from the nearby town of Brantford, stumbled upon the crime scene.
A sedan was stopped on the side of the highway, half on the road and half off, the driver’s side door open. Mr. Copeland became concerned, so he pulled over and got out of his vehicle. He walked around the side of the sedan, and about five feet away Mr. Copeland discovered the body of a man sprawled on his back in the muddy ditch. He immediately notified police.
The body of the man was immediately transported to the hospital, where it was there discovered that he had been shot through the heart with a 32-calibre bullet. He was identified as 29-year-old Dick Hewitt. Dick was the proprietor of his own taxi-cab business, and former hockey player for the city league, was popular and well known around Kitchener. He had run and owned his taxi business, which included five cars, for about seven years...
... At the post-mortem, physician’s estimated that the man had died at shortly after midnight on March 14th. He appeared to have been killed by a single bullet, with the wound indicating he had been shot from above, likely while on his knees. The police described it as “execution style”, and stated they believed his hands were raised at the time he was shot. There were no powder burns on his skin, or his clothing, from the gunshot, indicating the gun had not been held close to his body when it was fired.
Police ruled out robbery as a motive immediately – more than $17 found in Dick’s pockets. He was believed to have been shot where he was found, due to the lack of bloodstains found in his car. They found other potential evidence inside the vehicle, but without more information it was not of much use. A number of cigarette butts were found inside the car, and were thought to be significant as Dick did not smoke. A woman’s handkerchief was also found inside the vehicle.
There was no sign of a struggle at the scene. The keys to Dick’s car had been found near his hands, the light switch had been turned on, and the battery was dead. According the records for the car kept for his taxi company, when compared to his car odometer, he had travelled 67 miles that could not be accounted for.
The police were unable to trace the telephone call that had initially lured Dick out of his house prior to his death. With robbery ruled out, it was widely believed that it was likely connected to his murder, but without knowing who had made the call, the police could not be certain.
When the story of the murder broke, tips started coming in quickly. A passing motorist came forward, and said that he had seen Dick’s car at around 11pm, with a man at the wheel, presumably Dick, and an unknown man and woman standing outside the car.
A man who lived near the crime scene claimed that around the time of the murder, he had seen a mysterious vehicle with it’s lights out pull into his driveway. A man got out of the vehicle, checked something on it with a flashlight, then got back in his vehicle. He turned head back towards Kitchener, in the same direction from which he’d come...
Police for a time stated they believed that Dick’s death was a gang killing, but no evidence ever seemed to materialize that supported that theory, or completely ruled it out...
Some theories were that the police had been involved in covering the case up, and were possibly involved in the murder itself...
LINK:
[Unresolved Murder] The Case of the Dead Taxi Driver, 1937: Who Lured Lawrence “Dick” Hewitt From His Home & Shot Him in the Heart on the Side of the Highway? : UnresolvedMysteries
