) birder at Mile3ZI-G. TP.
Construction Mystery

W. WESTWOOD
*

Hard Working Mike Turkuola Made His Stake on the Grand Trunk—But He

Never Saw His Homeland—George Popovich Saw to That.

Then George

Himself Was Trapped in a Tightening Web of Circumstances—Const. E. M.
Brown and a Young Lawyer Named Pat Maitland Closed the Net.

914 WAS A busy year in the north
ountry in British Columbia. It was the
‘ear which was to see the first through train
f the Grand Trunk Pacific from Edmonton
o Prince Rupert. This long and difficult
niece of railway construction had been
soing on for some years and had established
. series of frontier towns, which grow up
vith railway construction. Some faded away
vith completion of the line, others lived on
o be towns or cities in the building of the
erritory through which the railway runs.

In 1914, Endako was one of such towns.
it came into existence because of the build-
ng of the railway and, in those days, hun-
Ireds of labourers were employed in the
‘onstruction of the line. They came from
ll parts and all places and they represented
nany nationalities, not least of which were
juite a few of European extraction. There
vere big payrolls and much spending, drink-
ng, gambling and playing by people of all
sorts. There were no movies, no fancy
nouses nor places of business, but just
roughly constructed poolrooms, rooming
nouses and such, where men congregated to
ind such amusement as they could.

It was in the town of Endako, on the
Grand Trunk Pacific Line, that the scene
was first laid, which later led to the death
of Mike Turkuola and the subsequent trial
for murder of George Popovich. The case
was interesting because of the fact that it
was purely circumstantial, and the convic-
tion of Popovich might well be described
as the conviction of a man who talked too
much.

On the night of July 14th, in a little cigar
store of Mike Koruj, Mike Turkuola and
Popovich came about four or five o'clock
in the afternoon. Popovich was a Russ‘an,
very tall, sallow complexion and apparently
capable of being a friend or an enemy.
Mike Turkuola was a very happy man. He
had worked for a long t’'me on construction
work and had gathered together a lot of
money, which, unfortunately, he had with
him, and was on his way out with enough
money to go back to the old country—one
of the Slav countries in Europe—and take
with him the proceeds of his long, hard
srind on the Grand Trunk Pacific. He was
somewhat free in exhibiting his money and
in exhibiting his joy at the proposed journey.

Tt was rather a long way to Prince Rupert
in those days. He would have to walk to

THIRTEENTH EDITION

get the

Priestley and there train for
Smithers.

George Popovich paid a great deal of
attention to Mike Turkuola. He laughed
with him, shouted with him, slapped him on
the back and told him that he, too, was
going back to the old country and they
would travel together as friends.

Th:s was what happened in the little cigar
store of Mike Koruj on the night of the 14th

of July, in the town of Endako.

SToRY OF THE CRIME

On the evening of August 9th, Const.
E. M. Brown, of the British Columbia
Provincial Police, received notice that there
was a man lying dead in a small shack close
to the Grand Trunk tracks, Mile 321%,
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. There was

the odd shack along the line of construction

PAT MAITLAND
Now British Columbia's Attorney-General

and, as the journey was rather a long one
before an actual passenger train was reached,
these shacks were frequented by people who
travelled back and forth between Prince
George and Prince Rupert in those days.

Brown found the cabin and also found the
body of a man on the floor of the shack.
There was nothing in his pockets save a
watch chain from which the watch had been
taken. On examining the body he found
a hole in the back of the skull on the left
side. Dr. Ross Stone (who still practises
in that part of the country, being a well-
known physician at Vanderhoof) made a
post mortem examination. He found a
large gap on the left side of the skull, the
base of the skull fractured, the upper jaw
fractured and evidence of congestion over
the whole of that side of the skull. He
came to the conclusion that the wound was
caused by a blunt instrument.

Near the body was found a bloodstained
club. It was from here that the Provincial
Police started on the hunt for identification
of the man and information which might
lead to the murderer. It was, as all of these
cases are, a case of working backwards and,
in this case, the beginning of a very thorough
enquiry by the Provincial Police.

Mike Turkuola had friends and the police
were not long in hearing the story of what
took place in the little store at Endako on
the 14th of July. The clothes from the body
were all sworn to by friends and it was
clearly identified to be that of Mike
Turkuola.

This led to an investigation of the move-
ments of Mike and the police then learned
of the proposed journey by the two men
to the old country, as outlined on the night
of July 14th.

On the morning of the 15th, Mike, happy
in the thought that he was going home, came
into the cigar store and asked Koruj for his
friend George. Apparently George wasn’t
up yet, so Mike said he would start anyway
before it got too hot. Mike was still in a
very happy mood because he bought drinks
and cigars and showed a large roll of bills.
His last words to the storekeeper were, “If
George (the accused) comes, tell him I have
gone.” Fifteen or 20 minutes later, Popo-
vich came in and asked for Mike and was
told that Mike had gone a short time before.
Popovich picked up his bundle, made en-
quiries as to whether Mike had taken the
railroad or wagon road, and started off after
him.

By coincidence, one Vuska, who worked
in the cigar store with Koruj, himself
started the next day for Priestley to catch

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