Sebastian ("John Sebastian") Giardetti
Toronto, ON / Nov. 30, 1957
Sebastian Giardetti -- known to fellow drivers as John Sebastian -- was an independent owner-operator. On Nov. 30, 1957 he picked up a fare at Union Station and drove him to a lonely one-way street. At this point the passenger pulled a sawed-off shotgun from his waistband and ordered Giardetti, 58, to place his money -- fifteen dollars -- on the seat.
Instead, Giardetti fled from the car. He was only a few feet away when his killer shot him in the back. Giardetti crawled to the nearest house and collapsed in a pool of blood on the snow-covered veranda. He died later in hospital.
Meanwhile, the killer walked a few blocks and turned himself in to a police officer. The 40-year-old unemployed laborer was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in April, 1958. Giardetti's son launched a formal appeal to the Justice department asking for the commutation to be reversed.
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