Executed in Sarnia

It’s been a long time since anyone was put to death for committing a crime in Canada. 

Capital punishment was officially abolished here in 1976, although it had been effectively abolished by a series of commutations and moritoriums dating back to 1963. The last executions in the Canadian justice system happened in 1962. 

But there was a time when capital punishment was a reality in this country. 

Most of those who met the hangman’s noose were men, but there were some women who were handed the ultimate punishment. 

One of those women was Elizabeth Workman of Sarnia, who was hanged in 1873 for killing her abusive husband. 

This is her story.