ABSTRACT
The history of Canada is little known in the rest of the world and, indeed, not that well known even in Canada. Most Canadians would know who Thomas Jefferson was and his place in American history; few, however, would know who Sandfield Macdonald was and what his place in Canadian history might be. All Canadians undoubtedly know of the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy in the United States; it is doubtful, however, that more than a handful know of the assassinations of D’Arcy McGee and Pierre Laporte in Canada. Each of these had much in common: major national figures in their countries, fanatical opponents, sudden unexpected deaths, allegations of conspiracy, errors of omission and commission in the investigations, and unusual involvement of forensic science. This is a story about one of these cases, the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee in Ottawa on April 7, 1868.
