George Larkin, 29, was a part-time driver for City-Wide Taxi. Originally from Newfoundland, he was the married father of two young children. On May 23, 1960, he was driving home during the morning rush hour after completing a night shift. As he made a right turn at Bay and Dundas streets he came to a sudden stop and was rear-ended by the car behind him. The damage was minor (a broken head and tail light, worth less than two dollars) but the passenger in the second car leaped out and attacked Mr. Larkin in front of several shocked bystanders. One of them, Helmuth Hardt, tried to intervene and stop the beating but he was attacked by the 18-year-old driver of the second car. This man was later charged with assault. According to James White, another witness who was standing at the corner, Mr. Larkin started to get out of his car and said "I'm sorry" as his attacker approached him. "That's all he got to say," said Mr. White. The attacker, "a burly six-footer" responded with "I'll kill you!" and hit Mr. Larkin on the side of the head. When Mr. Larkin slumped to the ground the attacker picked him up and then dropped him. Mr. Larkin, who at 5 foot seven weighed only 145 pounds, hit his head on the pavement and died in hospital of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage. Police officers sitting in a nearby restaurant heard the commotion and found Mr. Larkin sprawled on the pavement. Mr. Larkin's assailant was a 30-year-old man from Detroit who had been convicted in California four years earlier on two counts of second degree robbery. Sentenced to life imprisonment he was paroled after two years. He was well known to Detroit police who said he used an alias there and claimed to be from Atlanta, Georgia. [Next column]

Looking north on Bay from Dundas in the mid 1950s past the Bus Terminal (detail). (Source: City of Toronto Archives, Series 381, s0381_fl0319_id12641-12, via Lost Toronto: Dundas and Bay/Then and Now.) The man was initally charged with murder in Mr. Larkin's death but was allowed to plead to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ironically, when asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, he answered with Mr. Larkin's last words: "I'm sorry." As he was being led out of court to be transported to jail, the killer rammed his head into a wall and then tried to strangle himself with his nectie. With tears running down his face he begged officers to "Kill me! Kill me!" It took 20 minutes to subdue him. In February, 1961, the Ontario Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to 15 years. A fund of $2,000 was collected in aid of Mr. Larkin's widow and children. The Metropolitan Toronto Taxi Drivers' Benevolent Fund contributed $1,000 and the rest came chiefly from hotels and taverns.