Sebastian Giardetti -- known to fellow drivers as John Sebastian -- was an independent owner-operator. He had driven a taxi for 40 years and had been robbed four times. 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 Mr. Giardetti, 58, to place his money -- fifteen dollars -- on the seat. Instead, Mr. Giardetti fled from the car. He was only a few feet away when his killer shot him in the back. Mr. 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. Mr. Giardetti's son launched a formal appeal to the Justice department asking for the commutation to be reversed.

Taxi in front of Union Station, Toronto, May, 1971. Photo by Ellis Wiley. (Source: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 124 (Ellis Wiley Fonds), File 2, Item 117.