Rough & Messy Justice vividly portrays Alberta's Crowsnest Pass of 1920, a rugged Rocky Mountain region shaped by its mining economy and diverse culture. An armed CPR train robbery spirals into a deadly shootout at the Bellevue Café, where police clash with Russian outlaws fresh from Montana’s mines. A surviving bandit escapes, triggering a relentless manhunt. When captured, his trial becomes a spectacle marred by overt racism in the press, law enforcement cover-ups, and a judge and jury riddled with bias. With a weak defence lawyer, unreliable witnesses, and critical legal missteps, the proceedings lead to a tragic execution. This gripping true crime account exposes systemic corruption, racial prejudice, and the fatal flaws in Canada’s early justice system. By confronting these injustices, Rough & Messy Justice challenges assumptions about fairness and equality under the law, offering an exploration of historical crime and consequence.

À propos des auteurs

Regular, W. Keith

Keith Regular holds a Master of Arts in History from the University of Calgary and a PhD from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Specializing in modern Indigenous and non-Indigenous social and economic relationships, his current research focuses on legal history and the dispensing of justice in the early 20th-century Canadian West, particularly in the Crowsnest Pass. He is also author of the book Neighbours and Networks: The Blood Tribe in the Southern Alberta Economy. Keith Regular lives in Cranbrook, B.C.

Martin, Peter W.L.

A Senior Crown Prosecutor in Calgary from 1980 to 1995 and then practicing criminal defence, Peter Martin KC was appointed to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in 1998 and to the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2005. He also served as President of the Law Society of Alberta. Peter Martin retired from the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2024. His story “Man’s Inhumanity” appears in Tough Crimes: True Cases by Top Canadian Criminal Lawyers. Peter Martin lives near Priddis, Alberta.