You Be the Judge

YOU BE THE JUDGE WAYNE CARLSON: A LIFE OF CRIME

June 8, 1942: Lorne Wayne Carlson is born in Preeceville, Saskatchewan to Chester and Irene Carlson.

1958: Carlson quits school. He has a grade 8 education.

1959: Carlson receives the first mark on his criminal record for property offences.

1960: At age 18 Carlson leaves home.

September 12, 1960: Carlson begins his prison career after being convicted of car theft. He goes to Prince Albert Penitentiary after escaping from Regina Jail.

May, 1962: Carlson is release from jail. He is 19 years old.

Late May, 1962: Police arrest Carlson in Williams Lake, BC with a friend after stealing a ham from a grocery store. Carlson’s criminal record says his offences escalate to assaultive behaviour around this time. Carlson receives a sentence of four months at the Okalla prison farm in Burnaby, BC.

He goes to the east wing where seasoned criminals are held. He escapes Okalla with fellow inmates and steals a petty cash box from a movie theatre. Police arrest him on a train. Carlson transfers to New Westminster Penitentiary with a sentence of three years, eight months, and six days after being caught cutting window bars in his jail cell.

April 19, 1963: Carlson, along with two other inmates, slips out of the gym window at New Westminster Penitentiary and makes his way across the prison yard to the wall. A guard and his dog are close behind. The inmates retreat back in through the broken window. Carlson takes a guard hostage and the infamous New Westminster Penitentiary riots begin.

Carlson transfer to St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary in Quebec. Carlson goes back to New Westminster Penitentiary to stand trial for prison break, attempted escape, and for forcibly confining the guard in the gym. Carlson goes to trial in New Westminster. He and fellow inmates who escaped with him represent themselves. According to Carlson, the jury finds them not guilty of prison break and assault with intent to cause bodily harm.

November, 1963: Carlson arrives back at Prince Albert Penitentiary.

September, 1966: Carlson is released from Prince Albert Penitentiary at the age of 21. He goes home to Sturgis, Saskatchewan.

December, 1966: Carlson’s father dies.

1967: Carlson’s criminal record shows escalating offences of armed robberies, forcible confinement, and use of weapons.

March, 1967: Carlson is back in jail for armed robbery serving a three and a half year sentence. November, 1969: Carlson is released from jail. He goes to Saskatoon and starts a bootlegging business.

November 13, 1970: Carlson is arrested for possession of instruments of forgery, possession of stolen property, forgery, and uttering threats. He receives two years for each charge. He goes to the remand section of Regina Correctional Centre.

November 16, 1970: Carlson and two accomplices escape from the remand wing of the Regina Correctional Centre by breaking some glass blocks in a window, sawing through two steel bars, dropping to the ground using bed sheets tied together and going over the prison fence.

Two days later, Carlson and an accomplice try to take down the biggest drugstore in the history of Regina. They start out for Boulder, Colorado. Police move in and arrest them while they’re waiting for a friend in a parking lot.

Carlson is convicted in Regina, Saskatchewan for escaping lawful custody. He receives two years consecutive for the escape.

January 4, 1971: Carlson is charged with two counts of break and enter and theft. He receives five years for the first charge and one year for the second.

March 29, 1971: Carlson appeals sentence of January 4 and receives five years added on to his sentence of November 13.

April 28, 1971: Carlson is charged with four counts of forgery, four counts of uttering threats, possession of stolen property and theft over $ 50. He receives two years on each charge to be served consecutively.

July 28, 1871: Carlson is charged with theft under $50. He receives six months added to his April 28 sentence.

1972: Carlson applies for day parole to attend University in Saskatoon.

1973: Carlson escapes while on day parole in Saskatchewan. He goes to a bank in Edmonton, orders the teller to fill up his attaché case with money. He has a gun and threatens to kill her. Another teller joins her and they both empty their cash drawers into his case.

Carlson heads for Montreal. He meets up with some friends, travels to Bedford, Quebec and then Vermont. Police issue a warrant for Carlson’s arrest. The FBI and US Immigration Officers arrest Carlson in Vermont. He stays at the Burlington Correctional Center, but will manage to escape several times.

May 27, 1973: Armed with a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson revolver, Carlson locks up seven sheriffs and five prisoners and makes an escape from the Burlington Correctional Centre.

May 29, 1973: Carlson is arrested by detectives from the city police and taken back to Burlington Correctional Center. He is charged with escape, assault and aggravated assault. June 5, 1973: Carlson pleads not guilty to the charges against him.

July 27, 1973: Carlson withdraws his not guilty plea.

September 27, 1973: Carlson pleads guilty and is sentenced. He transfers to Windsor State Prison in Vermont.

1974: Carlson and eight friends put together an escape plan from Windsor State Prison. Carlson escapes jail, but is caught.

Carlson returns to jail. He hatches another plan to escape with a wooden gun he gets a buddy to carve for him. In court, Judge Costello sentences Carlson to three to seven years in Windsor State Prison for his most recent escapes.

After the hearing, Carlson asks to go to the bathroom. He uses the wooden gun to overpower a deputy sheriff in the bathroom. He steals the officer’s gun, takes the officer and his partner hostage and drives away in their van. He leaves them on the side of the road and continues on. Police find him about four days later.

He returns to the Burlington Correctional Center amid media fanfare and then transfers to Windsor State Prison. Carlson will attempt another escape from Windsor State Prison with another prisoner shortly after. The two men saw through their prison bars, tie up a guard and flee. The FBI Fugitive Squad arrests Carlson and he is returned to Vermont’s Windsor State Prison.

Carlson will plan a third escape with a fellow inmate. They climb over the fence of the prison and are captured shortly thereafter.

1974: Authorities send Carlson to the federal prison at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Carlson goes in front of the Segregation Review Board.

A few months later, the Burlington Free Press dubs him Wayne “Houdini” Carlson. Carlson moves to a prison in Terre Haute, Illinois, then Marion, Illinois.

January 30, 1976: Carlson is extradited to Canada and goes to Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton’s provincial jail. He escapes from Fort Sask after making a key to open the doors at the prison.

Carlson commits a series of offences while free, according to court transcripts. He steals a car and forces the owner to drive to Edmonton with him and his fellow inmates. While unlawfully at large he performs a robbery. Police will find him and send him back to Fort Saskatchewan.

May 27, 1976: Carlson goes to court and faces charges of escaping lawful custody, and being unlawfully at large. He is also charged with the old bank robbery in Edmonton and faces charges of forcible confinement, and theft over $200. He gets six years for the robbery, 15 months for escaping prison, 30 months for forcible confinement, 12 months for the theft, and 9 months for being unlawfully at large. He will appeal the forcible confinement charge.

Carlson and a fellow inmate plan another escape, but guards discover cut bars in advance. After a second failed attempt, authorities decide to send Carlson back to Prince Albert Penitentiary. 1978: Carlson is eligible for parole. He gets day parole to attend Saskatchewan Technical Institute.

January 30, 1980: Carlson is charged with a break and enter with intent, as well as possession of stolen property over $200. He receives 42 months on each charge.

1982: Police arrest Carlson for an impaired driving charge, his parole is revoked and he is sent to Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba.

May, 1982: Carlson and his friend place dummies in their beds. They hide out in piles of dirt in the prison yard and cut through a fence. They acquire a gun and bullets from a girlfriend’s father. They rob a corner grocery after a failed attempt at a drugstore. Carlson commits the robbery with a sawed-off rifle.

Police arrest Carlson and put him in solitary confinement at Stony Mountain.

November 29, 1982: Carlson receives another sentence for prison breach, prison breach with intent, and robbery. He receives two years for the first breach, six years for the robbery, and two years for the breach with intent.

Carlson is sentenced to 10 years and transferred to maximum-security Edmonton Institution.

May, 1985: Carlson meets a woman through his sister Jane.

October 18, 1985: Carlson marries his sister’s friend in the prison chapel. She lives in Edmonton.

October 22, 1985: Carlson transfers to Drumheller Institution in Alberta. November, 1986: Carlson transfers to Bowden Institution in Alberta.

January, 1987: Carlson gets a day pass for parole. He fails to return. He will commit another robbery while he’s out.

November 26, 1987: Carlson is sentenced for robbery and possession of a prohibited weapon. He also faces charges for being unlawfully at large. He gets 8 more years in prison and goes back to Drumheller.

June 25, 1992: Carlson receives a “Dear John” letter from his wife. They will later divorce.

November 17, 1992: Carlson walks out of Drumheller into a pre-release plan. He spends two months at Bow River waiting to be transferred to Bedford House.

1992: Carlson goes to Bow River Correctional Centre in Calgary and takes the Life Management Skills program in Bedford House while living in the provincial institution.

February, 1993: Carlson is involved in three bank robberies with a firearm in Calgary.

February 16, 1993: Carlson enters a TD bank, approaches a female teller with a gun in his hand, and tells her to fill up a plastic bag. When the assistant manager comes out, Carlson turns the gun on him. He approaches another female teller to also give him money. He leaves walking backwards to the door. He gets away with over $700. February 17, 1993: Carlson enters the CIBC in Calgary with a gun. He directs a customer and others by waving the gun to move them towards a wall. Another customer comes in during the robbery and Carlson pushes him towards the other people. Carlson gives a teller a bag to fill up. He gets away with $5000.

February 23, 1993: With accomplices half his age and three separate vehicles as getaway cars, there is a third bank robbery. Carlson points a long barreled gun at everyone, gives a bag to a female teller and orders her to fill it up.

One of the tellers involved in this robbery had already been robbed in Carlson’s first robbery of 1993. The three getaway vehicles leave.

Police follow Carlson. He barricades himself around noon in an 8th floor apartment at Mayfair Place. It takes hostage negotiators four hours to get him out. Negotiating by phone, police convince Carlson to allow three other persons to leave the apartment and to give himself up. He demands morphine in exchange for surrendering. Police seize the gun used in the robbery.

Carlson, 50, is charged with three counts of robbery, and three counts of unlawful confinement.

August 24, 1993: Judge William Pepler sentences Carlson to 13 years in prison as well as a 10- year prohibition order from having any firearms, which would take effect upon release from prison.

Crown prosecutor Les Grieve tells the court a stiff sentence is required because Carlson’s latest bank-robbing spree was committed while he was on parole from earlier bank robbery convictions. “He is a career criminal and professional bank robber,” Grieve says. The National Parole Board “bends over backwards to assist an accused,” Grieve added. “But it never seems to bend over backwards to protect the community from prison inmates when considering early parole.”

August 25, 1993: Carlson goes back to Drumheller Institution.

November, 1993: Carlson takes part in the Innovative Socialization Program in the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon. This is a six-month program involving separate workshops on emotional awareness, human values, principles, moral reasoning, the importance of leisure activities, and in-depth group discussions and group activities.

Carlson claims he came away “with a much clearer understanding of who I was and why I was that way.” The National Parole Board says participation in this project “demonstrated his motivation to address his needs and desire to change.”

February, 1995: Carlson returns to Drumheller. The NPB says Carlson “continued to demonstrate positive behaviour and attitudes. He maintained active participation in AA/NA, has assisted as a volunteer co-facilitator for the Relapse Prevention Program and also assisted the administration during the institutional disturbance.”

1996: The SAMS of Drumheller program begins. This is a suicide prevention program for federal inmates at Drumheller. Calrson volunteers with the program and becomes a counselor for fellow inmates. He meets program director Hilde Schlosar. 1997: Riot in Drumheller medium-security prison. Carlson receives an award for using First Aid to save a man’s life during the riot.

June, 1998: Carlson begins an escorted temporary absence and work release from jail to work with the SAMS of Drumheller Penitentiary.

August 4, 1998: Carlson stays at the Southern Alcare Manor halfway house. Carlson becomes director and program coordinator of the SAMS prison program, now operating in four prisons.

March 4, 1999: The National Parole Board grants day parole to Carlson to a community correctional centre following psychological counseling and provided he abstains from intoxicants.

May, 1999: Carlson concludes work with the SAMS program.

February 2, 1999: The Fifth Estate airs its documentary, The Samaritans, which profiles Carlson and the SAMS suicide prevention program.

September 15, 1999: The National Parole Board grants full parole for Carlson, with conditions of psychological counseling and abstention from intoxicants. Carlson continues counseling inmates at Drumheller and deepens his relationship with the SAMS program director, Hilde Schlosar.

2001: Carlson writes Breakfast with the Devil with Hilde’s help. He begins media appearances to promote his book.

2001: Carlson meets Ruth Agnes Brown in Lethbridge at Macabee’s Bookshop.

2002: Carlson marries Hilde.

December 27, 2002: Carlson files for bankruptcy.

April, 2003: Carlson and Ruth Brown begin a relationship.

July 2, 2003: Carlson and Hilde move to Vancouver Island. Carlson starts spending a lot of time on Gabriel Island, near Nanaimo, with an old friend, and on Salt Spring Island with a friend who owns a sailboat. Ruth Brown visits frequently.

July 10, 2003: A psychological assessment reports Carlson as a low risk to reoffend. Carlson no longer needs to attend counseling.

August, 2003: The National Parole Board changes the conditions of Carlson’s parole so he no longer needs to attend counseling. “You continue to make excellent progress and enjoy the support of your wife and family as you live in a pro-social life…You have demonstrated a commitment to living a positive life and the Board concluded that you have the skills and insight required to seek help when you need it…While you have maintained sobriety, the Board continues to be concerned about your use of intoxicants. Alcohol has been a negative factor in your life and consumption will put you at risk. The special condition to abstain from use of intoxicants remains in place. This condition is necessary and reasonable to manage your risk.”

September, 2003: Ruth Brown moves to Victoria. She is closer to Carlson now, who is in Nanaimo. Carlson and Ruth buy a sailboat together. October, 2003: Carlson and Hilde officially call it quits. Hilde says this is when she found out about Ruth.

January, 2004: Carlson gets an impaired driving charge in Nanaimo. He’s on a BC ferry and bumps into another car. Police conduct an impaired driving investigation. He has readings of twice the legal limit. Carlson’s parole is suspended for seventeen days while officers examine his impaired driving charge and new living situation.

March, 2004: Carlson moves in with Ruth Brown. He begins using alcohol and marijuana on a regular basis.

Late May/Early June, 2004: Ruth Brown says she and Carlson had an occasion where “things got derailed” and they separate. There had been a slow deterioration and she was quite concerned about his safety. She said he was becoming paranoid, possessive of her, suspicious of her wanting to go on trips to visit family members, and suspicious she might want to see other men.

July 7, 2004: Ruth Brown returns home from a long day of work to find Carlson drinking. When she tries to go to bed, they argue.

July 8, 2004: Ruth Brown calls police to report a domestic dispute. She blames the dispute on Carlson’s alcohol and marijuana use and says he is acting paranoid. She says her boyfriend has gone to the garage and may have a gun. Victoria Police arrive. Brown shows them where he is hiding, at the baseball diamond across the street.

Police follow Carlson as he head into a park. The find him under the bleachers in the park. They tackle him and a .32 calibre handgun is found on the ground below him.

Later in court, Carlson’s lawyer will say this is a German or Austrian weapon used in Czechoslovakia some years ago in WWII. The weapon is therefore 50 or 60 years old. Police are unable to trace the owner of the gun.

August 31, 2004: Carlson pleads guilty to impaired driving charges. He receives 14 days in prison and is prohibited from driving for one year.

October 28, 2004: Carlson’s preliminary hearing for possession of a gun.

November 25, 2004: Sentencing hearing for Carlson for illegal possession of a gun. Carlson pleads guilty. But he claims he slid the gun away before the police attacked him and he did not have it in his waist. The Crown seeks a sentence of 3 to 5 years consecutive to the sentence Carlson is serving.

November 29, 2004: The judge sentences Carlson to 18 months in jail for illegal possession of a handgun. In his oral reasons for sentence, Justice Hutchinson says: “I accept your regret, certainly, but you are getting too old for a life of incarceration. It is time to give it up. But I am prepared to acknowledge that after 35 years of living on the inside you have learned to cope for six years on the outside, and that is a fair amount of time for someone who has spent so long incarcerated. I will take that into consideration, that is, that you can cope on the outside if you remain sober and off of drugs.” “Reforming from drug addiction is not easy, and as I say, you have made some efforts for an old con that deserves recognition…Your demeanor in the witness box demonstrated to me that you still can become quickly overbearing, dominating, and argumentative, and at your age you should learn to mellow a bit. What a man with your record was doing with a gun hidden in your home is unexplainable.”

January 24, 2005: The NPB revokes Carlson’s request for parole. The board says, “misusing intoxicants and associating with people involved in crime are two elements in a pattern of behaviour that in the past has consistently led you into crime. The community parole officer is of the view that your risk is no longer manageable in the community and recommends that your full parole be revoked…Your total aggregate sentence is now 44 years, 21 days.”

August 10, 2005: Carlson transfer to William Head Institution in British Columbia.

January 5, 2006: Carlson goes before the Parole Board to request full parole or day parole. The request is denied.

January 4, 2008: Carlson’s next review date with the National Parole Board.

November 17, 2011: Carlson’s statutory release date. This is when Carlson could be released to serve the final portion of his sentence in the community.

July 22, 2015: Carlson’s warrant expiry date of his 44-year sentence. He will be 73 years old.

Adapted from: CBC News: the fifth estate – You Be the Judge – A Life of Crime http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/youbethejudge/timeline4.html