Canadian Taxi Driver Homicides, 1917-2007

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2A. Date of Attack / Date of Death Contents Date of Attack Date of Death Date of Attack Table 2A-1 lists homicides by date of attack, most recent first (right click on the link to see the table in a new window): Table 2A-1: Homicides by Date of Attack Note: This same list of homicides is sorted by name of victim and location in the following tables: Drivers by Name Drivers by Province / Home Town Date of Death Attacks on cab drivers tend to be so savage that the victim usually dies within minutes. Victims do not normally survive long enough to provide police with information about the attack or descriptions of the perpetrator(s). Out of 164 homicides, these eight drivers survived beyond the day of the attack: Alward, William -- Died day after attack. Drove himself to a police station. Badger, Arthur -- Died three days after attack without regaining consciousness. Cab stolen. Desjardins, Steve -- Died of burns on the day after the attack. Giroux, Fernand -- Died two weeks after attack. Cab stolen. Horyn, Frederick -- Lived for nearly 5 months after attack. Malloy, David -- Died two days after attack. Cab stolen. Midwinter, Ernest -- Died two days after attack. Cab stolen. Soproniuk, Ivan -- Lived for seven weeks after attack. The time between attack and death has some bearing on the effectiveness of safety devices like the Global Positioning System (GPS) and emergency communication systems. Where a driver has time to respond as a dangerous situation develops, GPS and emergency communication systems can enable help to arrive quickly. However, if a driver is attacked so suddenly that he or she cannot alert the dispatcher and is wounded so grievously that the speedy arrival of help is irrelevant -- or if the cab is stolen and the wounded driver is left behind -- the safety benefits of these devices are going to be less effective than the benefits of measures designed to deter an attack in the first place. The implication is that a combination of safety measures offers the best means of defence in differing scenarios. For other data relevant to this issue, see Cab Theft / Vandalism / Accident and Safety Measures / Safety Issues. Top of Page | Next | Previous | Contents | Taxi-L Home