William James (Jim) Burton
Maple Ridge, BC / May 21, 1991
Jim Burton, 28, was dispatched in answer to a call that was made from a phone booth at Haney Sewing and Sound, 22381 Dewdney Trunk Road, at 1:43 a.m. Burton radioed the dispatcher at 1:50 a.m. that he had picked up the fare. That was his last message.
At about 2:15 a.m. a passerby found Burton by the side of the road bleeding from stab wounds to the abdomen and torso. The RCMP dispatched an ambulance to the scene.
Shortly afterward, police found Burton's cab behind Westview Junior Secondary School, about six blocks from where Burton was found. A tennis shoe, the radio and other debris from the cab was scattered along the route. Police quickly arrested one suspect near the school and took the other into custody at a Maple Ridge residence about 10 p.m.
Burton was murdered by two 19-year-old men who wanted money for pizza. As he pleaded for his life one of the men stabbed him half a dozen times and the other hit him repeatedly with a club. In all the victim suffered some 54 separate injuries.
The man who did the stabbing pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was originally sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 18 years. The B.C. Court of Appeal reduced this to 14 years on Jan. 21, 1994.
The man who clubbed Burton was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with eligibility for parole in September, 1998, after seven and a half years (he had already served about two and a half years in pre-trial custody). He appealed this sentence but was turned down by the Court of Appeal on November 28, 1994.
Burton, the father of three young children, had worked for Maple Ridge Taxi for seven months. He had previously worked in construction and as a carpenter.
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