Centennial anniversary of shocking murder-suicide in Calgary

John C. Davis shot his wife and the detective he had hired before killing himself, all on October 6, 1912. Davis' photograph appeared in Calgary, Sunny Alberta: The Industrial Prodigy of the Great West (Calgary: Jennings Publishing Company, 1911). He resembled the actor Matt Dillon.

Front page of the Calgary Daily Herald, October 7, 1912, covering the story. The building where the crime occurred still stands at 602 - 17th Avenue SW.

A century ago today, Calgarians were shocked by a double murder-suicide that dominated local headlines for days. The central figure was John C. Davis, an Alabaman who had moved to Calgary around 1906 and established a successful real estate business. The second figure was Minnie Black, a young waitress originally form Belfast. Minnie had been involved in a much-publicized police scandal in 1910, when she accused a police officer of sexual advances but declined to appear as a witness against him. The third was Mildred Dixon, a 25-year-old stenographer from Edinburgh who worked as a private detective at the Capital Detective Agency.

Davis met Black at the restaurant where she worked, and the two eloped in 1911. Before long, John became obsessively jealous and was convinced Minnie was cheating on him. Minnie left John after he became abusive and started locking her in the house, but he persuaded her to return. John then hired Mildred Dixon to shadow Minnie.

The detective moved into the boarding house where the Davises lived, but she quickly realized that John was abusive and that his suspicions were groundless. Disobeying her employers, Mildred told Minnie the whole story and persuaded her to leave John. For protection, Minnie moved into Mildred’s apartment in a building that still stands at 602 – 17th Avenue SW. The jealous husband found the two women and tried to speak to his wife. Hev even rented a room in the neighbouring building so he could spy on Minnie through the window. Fearing for their safety, the women went to the police, but Minnie refused to press charges.

Finally, John promised to leave Minnie alone forever and return to the United States, but he wanted to meet with her one more time. He arrived at Mildred’s apartment with a .38 calibre revolver. It is uncertain whether John was admitted to the room or forced his way in, but he was heard to shout, “For G-d’s sake Minnie, don’t leave me!” He shot and killed his wife, mortally wounded the detective, then committed suicide. Mildred died the following day.

In a bizarre postscript, it was revealed a month later that John Davis was actually Spencer Holder, a bigamist who had abandoned his wife and two children in Alabama. The Davises are buried side by side in unmarked graves in Calgary’s Union Cemetery. Mildred’s unmarked grave is in the next row to the west.

—Adapted from my book Calgary's Historic Union Cemetery (Calgary: Fifth House Ltd., 2002).